Into the Frey: 2015

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Washing machine "woes" have turned into a nightmare!

My washing machine still isn't fixed. It has been an absolute nightmare. Thankfully it is still under warranty, but that is part of the problem. I don't get to decide who comes to repair it. I have had 3 different repairmen (from the same company) come out 5 different times and it still isn't working properly. It is sort of working though, which is better than it was for a while in the middle of all this.
Visit #1- The repairman tightened the disc on the bottom of the tub and told me he would order a new one "Just in case that doesn't solve the problem". It didn't. First load I ran, the disc came off again. (Jim)
Visit #2- The disc is replaced. (Jim)
Visit #3- After the new disc was in (and I think overtightened) it started making a grinding sound, which a few days later turned to a high pitched squeal. It was completely out of commission at this point. This visit I was told by a different guy that the transmission and motor both needed replaced. They ordered the parts. One week into the waiting was when I last wrote about my woes. (Ron)
Visit #4- 3 WEEKS LATER!!! After calling every week and being told the parts still weren't in, they finally called to schedule the repair. They wanted to come on Wednesday afternoon- the same day as YW in Excellence. As anxious as I was to have it fixed, I said NO. They came Thursday. He "fixed" it and then showed me the test cycle. It seemed to be working. The instant he left I threw a load in. I was never so excited about doing laundry! 5 minutes into the cycle it started shaking and making an awful clanking sound. I called the repairman and he turned around and came back. He tinkered with it again and this time had me start a load to test it. It seemed to be working, but then he said the motor sounded funny. I had thought that was one of the things he had just replaced. It was supposed to have been the transmission and motor and he had only brought the transmission. He said they don't normally work on Saturday, but that he would come then and replace the motor. (Jim)
Visit #5- A completely different repairman from all the previous visits came to replace the motor. He asked what had been wrong with it and did a test cycle. He then said that he could replace the motor, but that it wouldn't solve my problem. He said the issue was the shocks and they would have to be ordered. That's when I lost it! I know it wasn't this man's fault and I apologized for yelling at him, but I had to vent. I said every time someone comes it's a different diagnosis and then parts have to be ordered. I had been waiting for 3 weeks, unable to even use it, and I was waiting for the wrong part?!? He apologized and said they would make it high priority to get back with the shocks. (Jimmy)
SOOoooo frustrating! After he left I burst into tears and then I felt guilty for crying over something so stupid as a washing machine. I was really excited about doing laundry this weekend... for real! And now I have to wait, AGAIN!

YW in Excellence

This past Wednesday our ward had YW in Excellence. I could just kick myself for forgetting to take any pictures during the evening. I even thought about it earlier in the day, but in the excitement of the night it completely slipped my mind. So you'll have to just visualize it...
The theme for the year has been "Embark in the service of God", and we took a nautical approach to that this year. We continued that with our theme for YW in Excellence. We decided to go on a "cruise" and make stops at places like Port Faith, Divine Nature Bay and the Isle of Good Works, as we saw all the things the girls have been working on in their Personal Progress this year.

Our invitations were boarding passes

After hearing the conference talk by Elder Ballard, we decided to name our ship "Old Ship Zion". In my welcome I talked about how the ship was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and that is how we'll get safely to our eternal destination. "God is at the helm!" I also referred to the talk by Elder Cook about being "Ship Shape". He likened that to being temple worthy and I said that living the YW values are what will help us to be "Ship Shape".

All the girls wore these badges and I had Captain's badges for all the leaders. I made two that said "First Mate" because we had one girl who received her YW Recognition award and one who received her Honor Bee this year. When they first came that evening I gave them crew member badges, but as part of the program I brought them up and promoted them to First Mate and gave them each a captain's hat, as a way to honor them for their hard work.

For our decorations, we tried to make it look like we were boarding a ship. At the entrance to the RS room I had quilt stands with rope draped on each side to look like the ramp as you're boarding. We had life preservers that said Welcome Aboard. Inside the room we had placed the rolling white boards along one wall as a backdrop. They were covered with white sheets and there were four of these portholes taped across. We had put a whole bunch of maps on all the other walls. One of my counselors has 5 wooden trunks of all different sizes. We had them stacked in the corners.

This is the front of the program.

For refreshments we served pie and ice cream, and then we had these handouts attached to a bag of chocolate bark. It was a very lovely evening.

Celebrating Alyssa

Alyssa turned 24 on October 4th. She wanted to celebrate by going to Fat Cats, which recently opened nearby. Originally she invited her latest crush, Dylan, but they "broke up" a few weeks before her birthday. So then she invited a friend, Kim, but she ended up cancelling at the last minute. So, it was just me, Alyssa, and Garrett.

We first went to dinner at Pizza Pie Café, a family favorite. Then we headed to Fat Cats. She has talked about wanting to go bowling, but once we got there she decided to do Glow Golf instead.

Family Selfie- Garrett was being funny and added just his elbow to the shot.

Second try. He tried to move last second, but I got him!

For almost a year, Alyssa has been eyeing a pink camouflage cake mix and saying that's what she wanted for her next Birthday. I broke down and bought it (even though the other cake mixes were on sale for .88 and this one was 2.98). I went to bake it and it was just a white cake mix with a small pouch of food coloring. Oh well. I got it baked and went to take it out of the pans after it cooled and it wouldn't come out, even though I had sprayed the pans extra with oil. It came out in pieces and I had to try to put it back together. It wasn't pretty, but it still tasted good, and she as happy. That's all that matters!
For her Birthday gift (and part of her Christmas) I got her season tickets to the Hale Theater. We'll be seeing 5 plays together over the next several months. Mary Poppins is the first one, in November, followed by A Christmas Carol in December. We're both really excited!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

Fall Break

I am on fall break right now. I have had this past week off and I'm off next week as well. It was very much needed after feeling like I didn't have a summer. My house is in need of a really good cleaning and I just needed some good ole R&R.

The last day of school before break I got an email from the storage facility where we have the boat stored. It said I needed to move the boat to a different slot because they were going to be doing construction in the area it is in now. I had no idea how to hook the boat to the truck and I knew I could probably watch a youtube video and figure it out, but I was overwhelmed having just come off the car battery situation a few days before. I broke down and asked Mike to come help me when we did the "kid swap". Instead of meeting halfway for both drop off and pick up, I took the kids all the way in to his house on Friday and then he brought them all the way home on Sunday. We met at the storage facility and he helped me hook the boat up. One of the tires on the trailer was flat (of course!!!), but I am not dealing with that right now, and the cover was completely gone. I guess the cows completely destroyed it. We were due to get a huge rainstorm on Monday and Tuesday, so my first job of fall break was to go buy a new cover and put it on the boat. I did that first thing Monday morning and just as I finished it started to sprinkle. The storm turned out to be a bit of a dud, but at least it's covered now.

Job two was to help Garrett get caught up in some of his schoolwork, particularly physics. He had fallen behind because he hadn't done some of the lab experiments. We had to build a ramp and then time it took a rubber ball to roll down different distances. He then had to plug in the numbers to find velocity and acceleration. It was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun.

Overall I have felt really lazy this week. I have spent way more time on the couch watching TV than I should have, but as I mentioned I needed some R&R. I was feeling really unproductive yesterday and then while I was on my morning walk today I thought back over the week and realized I accomplished more than I thought I had. (Maybe not as much as I wanted to, but still quite a bit.)
In addition to the above mentioned jobs, I have a clean oven and fridge- neither of which have been deep cleaned in probably a year. (YUCK!!) I took the tree branches (that my friend's husband and brother-in-law had trimmed off an overgrown tree a few weeks ago) to the dump. I took both the Yaris and the truck to get the oil changed. I baked bread and homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls to thank the men who trimmed my tree. And, all the other normal mom things like cooking dinner, doing dishes, buying groceries etc... The only I haven't done is LAUNDRY! (But I wish I could have.)

The views on my walk this morning...

Cars and Testimonies

Somehow I have ended up with three cars (and a boat) that I'm responsible for, even though I'm the only driver in my household right now. I got the van (that I drive) and the Yaris (that Hayden drove) in the divorce. Mike got the truck and boat. He stored them for about a year and then one day told Hayden that he would be getting them as a graduation gift, and we had one week to make arrangements for them. Mike did make sure the registration was paid up for the 2 years Hayden would be gone on his mission, but other than that it was now my responsibility.
We temporarily stored the boat at our previous bishop's farm while we figured things out and the truck became Hayden's mode of transportation until he left. He thought it was cooler than the Yaris. Before Hayden left on his mission I had him go talk to the Nevitt's about whether the boat could stay on the farm or if we needed to make other arrangements. He came home and said we better find somewhere else because the cows were eating the cover. I paid for a space where we stored it when we first bought it and he took the truck and moved it. The truck then became a permanent fixture on my driveway, parked behind the Yaris so I could get the van in and out.
My job while Hayden was gone was to go out and start the truck every week, which I did for the first 2 weeks. By week 3, it was dead. I didn't think it could be the battery because we had replaced it just a few weeks after we "inherited" it from Mike. I had to just let it sit because I didn't have the time or money to deal with it. I did go out and start the Yaris every now and again though.
One day I realized that the registration for both the van and the Yaris were coming due and so something would have to be done about the truck since it was blocking the Yaris. I went out to check and they had both already expired. They had expired in August, not September. First chance I got I took the van to get emissions tested and then registered it online. I had to pay a late fee as well, which I was not happy about. Then I stewed about what to do with the Yaris. No one was using it, so I debated about letting it just sit unregistered, but then I thought if something happened to the van, it would be nice to have a back up. Also, Garrett has his learner's permit and although he has no interest in driving right now, if he ever does, it's a great car to learn in. Even if I decide to sell it or trade it in, I'll need it to be registered.
One day my visiting teachers came and in the past I have always said I'm fine when they ask if there is anything I need. I'm not good about asking for help. This time when they asked I blurted out that I needed help getting my truck running so I could move it out of the way of the Yaris. One of the ladies said she would send her husband over. He came and it turns out it was just a dead battery. I guess with the AZ heat, even a week is too long for it to sit without starting it. (I have since figured out that I have to take the key out before turning it all the way to the lock position or the clock light stays on. That may have drained it faster as well.) He jumped started the truck and I took it to Walmart to get the battery tested and charged.
With that taken care of I was ready to take the Yaris in for emissions testing, except now it wouldn't start. Are you kidding me?? I went and bought jumper cables so I wouldn't have to bother anyone AGAIN and used the van to jump the Yaris. First I had to clean the battery off though. It was so corroded I couldn't even see the cable. It took three times of cleaning it with baking soda water and a toothbrush. I would let it sit and dry then try it again. Finally on the third try it started. The Yaris is now roadworthy as well. Now I have to decide what to do with all of these vehicles. I might sell the van and just use the Yaris since there are only three of us now. I would really like to trade in the van and Yaris for something newer, but I don't want a payment. I feel like I have to keep the boat and truck for Hayden. He would be heartbroken (and really it's not my decision since they're technically his).
Between cars and my washing machine I was starting to wonder where the blessings of having a missionary were hiding. In fact, I was even feeling a little sorry for myself. Then I read a facebook post from another missionary momma who had felt some of the same things. She had come to the conclusion that the blessings of having a missionary aren't that our life is going to go smoothly while they're gone. The blessings come by being able to work through those problems and coming out victorious. If we expect our children to go out into the world, serve, have trials, and come home with a stronger testimony, then we should be ready for some of the same growth in ourselves.
So, I have realized that my blessings are in the knowledge I now have of how to clean a battery and jump start a car. I have the blessing of friends and visiting teachers who are willing to help if I'm willing to ask and receive that help. And I was blessed to somehow be able to pay for the registrations of both cars (and oil changes and a boat cover, which I'll explain later) without dipping into my savings. I know that I am blessed and will continue to be blessed by having a missionary serving. I'm just realizing that many of those blessings are disguised as trials.

Washing Machine Woes

I have an LG top loading washing machine that we bought when we moved here 4 years ago. I love it! I haven't had any problems with it until recently. About 2 months or so ago the disc on the bottom of the tub came loose and would lift up during the spin cycle. Clothes would get stuck underneath it and then the "uneven" signal would come on. I would have to go fix it, sometimes more than once each load. I lived with it for a while because between work and school I just didn't have time to even make a call, let alone wait around for a repairman. Finally it got so bad I had to call. Thankfully, it is still under warranty and I didn't have to pay anything. The repairman came and tightened it back down, then said if that didn't work they would order a new disc. (That's not what it's called, but that's what it looks like to me.) During the very first load I tried after he left, it did it again. The part was ordered and he came the following week to install it.
I'm not sure if he over tightened it or what, but it made a loud grinding sound when the disc would turn at the beginning of each cycle. I lived with it for a week or so, because again I didn't have time to call and I needed clean clothes. Then one day it not only made the grinding sound at the beginning, but it made a squealing sound throughout the entire wash as well. The load took much longer than normal too and then didn't drain after the rinse cycle. I ended up having to just stop it and wring everything out by hand so I could dry the load.
A repairman came a third time (thankfully a different one this time) and said now it needed a whole new motor and transmission. He said he had never seen one that bad before. Not sure if the first repairman did something or if it was coincidence, but it is completely out of commission until the part comes in. That was over a week ago, and I'm still waiting on the parts. I'm going crazy not being able to do laundry. I have had people offer to let me come use theirs, and if it's much longer I may take them up one it. I'm fine as far as clothes go, it's towels and sheets that are getting to me. Ugggh! I just wish the parts would get here already!

Garrett and school

The last few months of Garrett's sophomore year were rough. Most of it was his own doing to be honest. He has made some poor choices and spent his time doing anything but studying. His grades were falling, which meant his dad and I were upset and there was a lot of contention. He had quit baseball as well, which we weren't real happy about either. He kept mentioning wanting to go back to doing his school online, like he had done a few years ago. I was against it, because he is already so anti-social and that would just make it worse.
Over the summer he brought it up again, but this time with a new argument. His high school only offered 2 computer courses (which is what he wants to go into) and the online school offers about 6 different ones. To add to the mix, his dad was now on board with it, because he is planning to move to Florida in November. If Garrett is doing online school there will be more flexibility with him going to visit and being able to stay longer than if he's at his traditional high school and having to work around breaks/holidays. Now it was 2 against 1, and I ended up losing. I did set some conditions, which to be honest he's not really following, but he is doing better with his grades for the most part. One of the conditions his dad set was that he play baseball again. Hopefully he will follow through with that next spring.

Weber State University

Earlier this summer, as my time in the Pathway program was coming to an end, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do in regards to my education. I had assumed that I would continue on at BYU-I and get my bachelor's degree, so I had applied and gone to see my bishop and stake president for endorsement. BYU-I had a few majors to choose from and I had been thinking about public health. When I had received my AS in dental hygiene 24 years ago, there as no bachelors degree in my field. If you wanted to continue on, they encouraged either public health or health administration.

After I got my transcripts evaluated I was discouraged at how many classes I still needed. I already had 130 credit hours, they just weren't the right classes, and I was told I needed 57 more. That was going to take much more time than I wanted to spend, so I began looking for other alternatives. I decided to check out Weber State (where I received my AS). I looked at the options for online degrees and there was one for a Bachelors of Integrated Studies that interested me. I could use my dental hygiene degree as one of the 3 areas of emphasis and then pick 2 others. I was looking at nutrition and health promotion. I contacted all the advisers for each of the three areas to get approval. Two contacted me right away and were very willing to help. The person of contact for dental hygiene, however, was very hard to reach and she seemed to be discouraging me from pursing this degree. I was so frustrated until I realized what she was saying. She kept trying to convince me to get a bachelors in dental hygiene, which I didn't even know Weber even had. I also didn't realize that I was only 10 credits away and that I could do it all online. So, that is what I'm doing and I am once again a WSU Wildcat.

I don't regret my year of Pathway for a single second. It helped me tremendously! I couldn't have gone to Weber (or anywhere else) any earlier anyway due to financial aid issues. I had to wait a year after my divorce so I could file taxes singly or I wouldn't have received any aid. Pathway gave me confidence and taught me study skill and habits that will help me both at Weber and in my job. I'm very grateful to have gone through the program (and graduated from it in August) even though I didn't continue on at BYU-I.

New Job

At the end of last school year, the school district I was working for voted and decided to go to a 4 days school week. As appealing as that sounded, I was worried about my hours. Even with a little bit of a raise that I would be getting, it wasn't going to be enough to make up for the lost hours and I have a missionary to support. I decided to start looking around and seeing what other options I had, just in case. In May I attended a job fair in the district that my kids attended. I interviewed for a few different jobs at different schools in the district and was offered one as a paraprofessional (what I was currently doing) at Skyline Ranch K-8.

The difference was that I would be working with the middles school aged kids who were part of an inclusion program. What that means is that they are higher functioning and attend general education classes, but with modifications. One of which is to have a teacher or para pro attend with them to give them support. It's more along the lines of resource, which I had been helping with at my current school since January and really enjoyed the challenge. As much as I LOVED my little SPED kids, it got really boring teaching the same things (ABC's, simple sight words, addition, subtraction etc...) over and over every day. Changing districts also meant an increase in hours, rather than a decrease, and a little bigger jump in pay. So, I bit the bullet and accepted the job.

The week after I got back from girls camp I began at my new school. I really didn't feel like I got a summer, between getting Hayden off and planning camp, but I also wasn't getting paycheck for those 2 months we were off, so in that regard it was good to get back to work. It's now been a little over 2 months and I'm getting the hang of things. I still dearly miss my sweet little SPED kids (in fact I'm going to go visit them next week), but it has been a good move. It's a much calmer atmosphere and I'm using more of my strength in academics. I attend all the science and social studies classes for the 5th- 8th graders. It keeps my hopping to go from classes to class and I've had to learn about 200 students names (even thought I'm really only there to help about 20-30, I ended up helping them all.) We have one period in the middle of the day that is like a study hall for all of our kids. We meet together in the same classroom and the teacher and I can assist with any homework they may have. I knew the very first day why I had gone through the year of Pathway (BYU-I). My math skills were put to the test and I was able to use what I had just learned the semester before. If I would have had to draw on my high school knowledge of math, I would have been no help to these kids at all. I'm so grateful I was lead to Pathway!

Monday, August 17, 2015

Onica's Baptism

When I was first called into YW's I was told about Onica. She was on our roll, even though she wasn't a member, because she loves to come to girls camp. They said that come summer she would show up at church and mutual for a few weeks so she could go to camp and then we wouldn't see her again until next year. They also said she is a sweetheart who is a ton of fun! I couldn't wait to meet her. She actually showed up to one of our first activities last fall. She probably heard there were new leaders and came to check us out. I fell in love with her that first night. She is a sweetheart!! It was true, we didn't see her again until almost time for camp. She had been to going to camp for four years, so this year she was of the age to be a YCL. She asked if she could be one even though she wasn't a baptized member. I talked to the bishop and he said that although there aren't any specific guidelines on it, he would feel more comfortable if she were to show more commitment, since it was a leadership role. He said if she would not only attend church and mutual, but also meet with the missionaries twice a week until camp, she could serve as a YCL. She agreed, although just to appease us. She was super excited to be a YCL- especially to do the morning wake up calls. She plays the trumpet and wanted to play TAPS each morning (which she did to perfection!)

To her surprise, the first meeting with the missionaries went very well and by the time camp came around she had committed to baptism. She told us when she bore her testimony at camp. She was scared to tell her mom, who not only isn't a member, but is atheist. He dad is a member, but hasn't been active for some time. She had a date for later in July, but it got pushed to August, partly so her dad could prepare to be able to baptize her.

This past Saturday was the day. Onica was so excited to tell everyone at mutual last week. She was absolutely glowing! The baptism was amazing. There were around 120 people in attendance and we had to move into the chapel for the program portion. The baptism was so special and the spirit was stronger than I have ever felt at a baptism. She was beaming when she came out of the water and then hugged her dad so tight, it made me cry.

After the Onica came back in the chapel after changing, the YW had a special musical number prepared for her as a surprise (at the request of one of the missionaries). They sang "His Hands" by Kenneth Cope and it was so beautiful.

Onica (short hair) after the baptism and Zoe, another of my laurels, who has been Onica's friend for years and has never given up on inviting her to church.

Onica with some of the YW who sang and a few other friends. Her younger sister (who came to camp as a first year) is in the green and white dress. Onica thinks she'll be next!

Saturday, July 18, 2015

Girls Camp 2015

We were able to throw together a plan for girls camp and it ended up being a very fun week. We went to some private property owned by the grandma of a sister in our ward, It was on a pond/lake in Show Low, AZ, about 3 hours away. There weren't cabins, but we did have bathrooms with showers and a mess hall. We had 23 girls on the roster, but within the last 24 hours we had 8 cancel. We still had a good group with 15 girls and 11 leaders/priesthood. I ended up taking Alyssa with me because I didn't want her home alone with Garrett. (She has tried to sneak out of the house recently and I didn't want her trying it while I was gone.)

Setting up the tents

We took a drive the first day to the Snowflake, AZ Temple. One of the crafts we had planned was a wire picture holder, so we took individual pictures of the girls by the temple.

The fearless leaders (minus Michelle and Amber who were hard at work getting dinner on for us when we got back.)

The mess hall

Starting the first night (during the night), it rained off and on the whole week. I had been checking the weather and it was supposed to be clear and sunny. Oh well, we made the best of it! The priesthood made runs every day to the Laundromat to dry the sleeping bags. They were our lifesavers!!

The girls had a great time swimming and canoeing on the pond every chance they got.

"Let Your Light Shine!"

Fourth of July Weekend

Fourth of July weekend I had two sets of company. First, my sister, Tisha, and her boyfriend, Alex, came to stay and go to a few Diamondback's games. They arrived on Friday and I met them at Chase Fields. We went to dinner at Front Row Friday's (TGIFriday's inside the stadium).

I got a "Churro Dog" too!

My friend, Michelle, was at the game with her family too. they were clear across on the other side of the field, but we kept texting pictures to each other. Her kids were struggling at the end of the game. She sent a picture of one of them that said "bored" and another that said "meltdown". Tisha decided we needed to send some back.

"Bored"

"Meltdown"

It was a great game! It went into extra innings and I was dying. 2 years ago I was with Tisha at the record setting longest game in Diamondback history. I was worried we might do it again, but we won in the 10th.

The following night (the 4th), Tisha and Alex went back to see another game. Our cousin, Jessica, and her family were on their way to Utah from Texas and came to stay the night and then go to church with me, so I didn't go to the game. It was a busy, but very fun weekend.

Mission Blog

From now on, everything related to Hayden's mission will be posted on a mission blog I started for him. You can find it at www.alaskanmoosesionary.blogspot.com .