Muchas Thankas

Did you know there's a National Volunteer Week? I didn't, which I suppose is not a good thing, but now I do. It's in April, which is also National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Because Safe Harbor had so many other things going on in April, we delayed doing any celebrating and thanking for our volunteers.

I had the idea that I'd like to do a gathering/party for our classroom volunteers I'd been working with. They all stayed much longer than their required 15-50 service hours and became such good friends that it seemed that we needed to do something a bit bigger for them. So a BBQ was planned right before we moved so I could be there too, not to thank me but for me to to be there to help thank them.

The crisis nursery had been given some small, portable grills which Dan and Bryce put together. After that was finished we loaded it with charcoal, the only problem is that there wasn't any lighter fluid in the charcoal and I didn't buy any. We used come paper to try to start the grill but with the winds whipping around us, all we lit was the paper. So much for a traditional summer BBQ.

We moved inside to finish prepping the food. There was plenty so if anyone walked away hungry, it was their own fault.

The party wasn't a surprise. So as part of the fun we drew names and gave that person a $5.00 white elephant gift. The ideas started popping and everyone did a great job coming up with some super creative ideas.

Marta was so creative with her gift. She hunted thrift stores for just the right items. Her person (Karson) wasn't able to attend but Marta show us Karson's gift anyway:

Marta determined (correctly I might add) that Karson is one who would suddenly break into song while strolling through the forest in a Snow White kind of way. So Marta hunted for all the little figures and hot glued the figures and flowers onto the hat for Karson to wear when that urge strikes.

Nick received a package of mustaches similar to these:

Found the picture here.

It didn't take long before everyone was sporting a different mustache while we played games:

Abby

Nick

Marta

Sarah & Bryce

I don't understand why everyone laughed hardest at my mustache. It got so that no one could look at me without cracking up. And Dan wouldn't give me a kiss either. So much for building my self-confidence.

This is where I received our little one. Definitely another creative white elephant gift.

We played games together and just laughed and laughed. Karson, Kourtnee, and Hannah were all missed. We tried to schedule it so everyone could be there but life has a way of altering the best laid plans.

Those I worked with at Safe Harbor are as much apart of me as the children we helped. Each of teens at the party graduated from high school this year, as did Karson and Hannah. I wish them all the best as they move forward with college, work, and all else their futures have in store for them. I truly miss each one of them and hope we will continue to stay in contact. Everyone I worked with at Safe Harbor have left hand prints on my heart.

Survival of the Fishest

So when we loaded up the truck (the 2nd and final time in WA) I had to work. Hesitantly I left Dan in charge of moving all our things with the aid of the ward members who volunteers. I left for work confident it would all be moved but concerned that it wouldn't be done quite right without my expert overseeing. When I came home I was anxious to see how everything went.

Now you need to realize that several of the friends who helped us load the truck this 2nd time were some of the same who helped us move in the first time only three weeks before. Talk about giving service!

Anyway, when I returned home I surveyed all that was done and began asking about various items to be sure that everything was done. Good thing I didn't trust Dan when he said he got everything packed up from the kitchen and I checked cupboard and drawers to be sure. I opened a drawer and found ALL of our silverware still there. Whoops. Major Whoops.

I continued to survey and double check then realized our addition was missing. Since I received him/her (that story to come) Dan continued to tell me we couldn't take him with and threatening to send in down a drain to the ocean before we departed. Of course I protested each time seeing as it was our "child" he was talking about. Noticing that it was missing I began to get very suspicious of his actions while I was away all day working.

Thankfully he confessed. He said that he gave it to our home teacher's daughter who had come to help us move, for the 2nd time. She's 10 and just adorable. She was thrilled to take over our little guy/girl and introduce it to their other fish.

I was ok that our little Sushi, Fish, Goldfish, Plates (as in Golden) Guppie, Nemo, Captain Jack, Moby Dick, Shamu, Willy, Scales, Agent Orange, Joe Fierce, Jaws, Snuggles, Chowder, Zhivago, Bond James Bond, Pip was going to a loving home. I suppose it could have been difficult for me to try to transport a live fish in the car, but this doesn't mean that Dan was right.

Bye my little pet, it was nice knowing you for a little while.

On the Move Again...

...Not real thrilled to be on the move again...

I know that my post right before this one (2 in 1 night! A new record for me.) but I did include pictures to break up my ramblings.

Here are a few more pictures which are from Dan's departure from Kennewick and my drive to Boise and I'll  do my best to keep the commentary to a bare minimum...

My car, loaded with lots of last minute stuff...

 

Just me driving along the highway.

I always thought this sign was pretty cool and I finally stopped to take a picture.

Truly a beautiful day for a drive!

As I reviewed my pictures for these last two posts I realized there are a few more things that I want to blog about. So here's my list and a teaser all in one:

Our Fish's Move Survival

A Thank You Party

The toppling of a great tree

Seeing Sid for Mother's Day

Memorial Day Weekend Road Trip

June Birthday Celebrations

Are you looking forward to more??

Time Now Accounted For (and our Temporary 3500 sq ft Home)

One small piece of information that wasn't mentioned in my "Why?" post is that we moved out of our apartment on April 30 but I didn't leave Kennewick until May 20th. Yes, that is approximately 3 weeks unaccounted for. Let me back up just a little to explain...

Amanda visited us the weekend before our lease expired. On Sunday (April 24th), when we took her back to Spokane we were without any idea of where we would be staying after the expiration of our lease the following Saturday (April 30th). We figured we'd be putting things in storage for a few weeks and so we had movers arranged to help us out Monday night (April 25th) to do just that.

While we were driving home from Spokane Dan's phone rang and our friend (and Home Teacher) called and said his sister and brother-in-law had a home they'd purchased and planned to remodel before moving in. The remodeling was caught up in red tape and so it was not going to be started until May 10th. There was a chance we might be able to stay in this family member's home until the permits were obtained and remodeling began but he wasn't sure, we'd have to ask his brother-in-law.

Dan quickly called Britt, the brother-in-law, to see about this option. Britt contacted those hired to do the work and confirmed that everything was set for a couple weeks and we were welcome to stay in their new house. What a relief!!!!! This was the answer we'd been praying for for weeks and just in the nick of time.

So later the evening of the 24th, we met with Britt to go see the house. He said it was 3500 sq ft and we were welcome to use any of it we needed to. We were thrilled. He gave us a key and said they signed the papers the next day and to go ahead and move things in the next night, and no, don't get a storage unit, just store everything in the garage or house, whichever we want.

Monday we quickly made adjusted our arrangements. The truck we'd cancelled we rescheduled and when everyone showed up to help us move, we took everything, especially the big stuff. See...

Our bedroom on the left and the living room & kitchen on the right.

The empty spare room.

We spent a couple more nights in our apartment on the floor with sleeping bags as our mattress and our comforter as our sheets to get the final things out and the place cleaned. Then it was onto our "new" home.

Our new place was in North Richland and further from our jobs and church but that was ok. It was much better than being under a bridge somewhere!

The night we moved our things in a friend's wife came along with their children to help out but also to sneak a peek at the new house of their neighbors. Their 11 year old said the house reminded her of her grandma's house (how nice), old, smelly, and scary (ok, not so nice). Now this temporary home was probably quite stylish when it was built around 1962 or so. However, tastes and decor have changed quite a bit since then and the house never caught up to any newer styles. I kept thinking Jan would come stomping down the stairs complaining, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!" at any moment. Let me just let the pictures be the 1000 words here...(Of course I might have some commentary to add here or there...)

Welcome! Come on in and take a look around at the museum we get to call home for now.

The Oh So Lovely kitchen wallpaper.

Cool, huh?!

Yep, the controls for the stove were on the range hood.

I know these are retro and cool again but with 40+ year old rust too???!!!

The head at the bottom of the picture is a horse head hook on the back of the bathroom door. (Never knew those existed.) The bathroom had the wallpaper border all over plus the matching shower curtain; guess you really have to love horses to use this room

I loved the light fixtures. All of them on the main floor matched this design. One of the few things I had absolutely NO complaints about.

A Talk-A-Radio...an intercom system that was throughout the house, including the work room in the basement. (Don't you think the Brady's would have benefited from something like this?)

So speaking of the basement...Let's head down that way...

I think these are late 60s early 70s, what do you think? Didn't Greg Brady have pants out of this fabric? If he didn't I'm pretty sure my Aunt Jane did.

Lovely brick wall, right? It's brick paneling. When I touched it it felt nothing like brick and was somewhat bouncy.

The basement bath. The fish swimming on the pipes crack me up. (I didn't notice those until I looked at the picture. Ha ha ha...)

What's that? A pencil sharpener. This was in the workroom.

I never found the light switch in this room, thank goodness for flash photography.

Now for the 2nd floor....

Can you believe the new owners were getting rid of the blue carpeting???!!!!

Not much else upstairs picture worthy.

So the main floor was the entryway, living room with connected dining room, kitchen, family room, 1/2 bath, and master bedroom and bath. (The horse bathroom was the master.) The basement had a workroom, rec room (complete with a Nautilus home gym left by the previous owners; nice but the new owners have one too), a bedroom and bath, plus a 2nd family room, without a light switch. The second floor was a bathroom and three bedrooms.

Very lovely, isn't it all? Any wonder why the new owners wanted to remodel BEFORE moving in? As they informed us, the remodel required making the kitchen completely inaccessible and knocking out an outside wall. Guess no kitchen or wall would be difficult to deal with when you have a family from 11 years old to 9 months.

You should feel lucky, you saw the basement and upstairs  with quicker timing than we did. We'd been at the house for a couple days before we ventured to other parts besides the main floor.

So here's how things looked while we resided here:

This is pretty much how we lived. With only two of us in 3500 sq ft there wasn't a need to unpack any more than absolutely necessary.

Yep, dressers, ironing board & our couch all in the living room.

I think Britt and Dan thought I was joking when I suggested putting our bed in the dining room. No point in trying to maneuver our bed around corners for only a couple weeks so it was put straight in making it easier to move it straight back out.

So now you've seen residence #3 of our marriage. Though only a couple weeks here, it's not the shortest residence we've had.

As predicted, we had to be out of this place by May 17th, and we were. You probably noticed I said I didn't leave until May 20th for Boise...right you are. Still a little time unaccounted for...again.

The truck was all packed up on Monday night (May 16th and yes, another one very close after the one into the house) and Dan mentioned to one of our volunteers that he was concerned about where I would stay for the remainder of the week. That helper offered a spare room in their home. Monday night Dan and I stayed with them and then Dan left for Boise on Tuesday. I stayed at their home while I finished out the last few days of my two weeks notice before leaving on Friday.

The Mohlmans were great to let me stay. I felt a part of their family. One night their 7, almost 8, year old daughter came on into my room, climbed up on the bed next to me, and just told me about her day at school and anything else that came to mind. Then after a bit she announced she had to go take her bath. After her bath she returned with wet hair and visited some more until it was time for bed.

Another night when I arrived back from work their 2, almost 3, year old saw me pull in and started loudly announcing with great excitement, "Sister Horrocks is here! Sister Horrocks is here!" I suspect she's the cutie who left the little baby stroller in my room while I was at work one day.

From my interactions at church with the Mohlman's I thought they were an amazing family. After staying with them for almost a week, I KNOW they are an amazing family. What a blessing for me to stay where I felt so at home at a time of such upheaval.

A, R, J, L, D, A, and E, your kindness will not soon be forgotten.

Love This

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was greater than the risk to bloom" ~Anais Nin

Found it here. Thanks for sharing, Heidi.

Why?

Because for some reason we need to have a sixth address in our 2 ½ years of marriage...

When we moved to Kennewick, WA we suspected that our time would be temporary. As the months came and went, Kennewick began to feel more like home. It was a tough move in so many ways and full of challenges we couldn't foresee and don't want to experience again. Yet through all that, as I type this I ponder on the things that brought us joy in Kennewick. Despite the challenges, it was the right experience and place for us for that time in our lives.

So as our lease ended in February and we continued renting month-to-month until April because we knew a move was happening. We'd felt for some time that the time to relocate was coming and that Boise would be the next place for us to call home. Dan began his job search in Boise and after his work ended with Biomat he spent part of a week looking for work and finding us a place to live. I kept busy finishing up my time at both of my jobs and even had the chance to teach seminary one more time before we moved.

While Dan was in Boise that first week he had a great interview and was very excited about the opportunities presented by the company. He then proceeded to find a house for us to rent. He returned to Kennewick excited about what was coming next and looking forward to our new opportunities. If only life were that easy...

Dan was to hear something from that job on Friday. Friday came and went and no call came. The next week Dan called to follow up and left a message with the individual he'd interviewed with. We stayed in contact with the rental agent for the house we wanted and were working with her on the lease. A few days passed and still no call from the potential employer. We let the house go and continued looking for work while not completely letting go of the job possibility.

After several days, Dan tried calling the secretary who'd scheduled his interview. No answer there and then we began to realize this job wasn't going to pan out after all. Now the panic began to return. I'd given notice at my jobs to leave within a few days and neither of us had any employment after that. With uncertainty and faith we went ahead with our plans to move.

Dan left for Boise on Tuesday and I followed on Friday. We stayed with his brother & sister-in-law and their children when we first arrived. Then began the frantic search for employment and a place to live. Right after arriving, we received counsel to find housing so we put aside the job hunt for a couple days and searched for someplace for us to live. Thankfully we found an apartment within a short time frame but the manager was going on vacation and we wouldn't be able to move in for another 10 days or so. We discussed this with Andy and Angela and thankfully it worked out ok that we could stay with them longer than we first thought.

After our wait we submitted our application as soon as we could and then we waited the couple additional days to be sure we'd get the place. Yea, our application was accepted and we now had a place to move into. The day we signed our lease we unloaded a few carloads of our things and started the moving process.

The dreams of a house larger than what we left in Kennewick have faded as we are trying to settle into our 900 sq ft apartment. Finding locations for all 1200 sq ft of stuff is very challenging but we're making progress and being creative (our bed and the spare bed are on 5" risers so we can store boxes under the beds).

No, I haven't forgotten to mention our employment, that's still pending. We are looking and keep looking since our small savings will be depleted soon. Hopefully that will be another blog update in the VERY near future.

Stay tuned as our adventure continues...