I know I don't get on this too often (I'm resolving to do better), but I wanted to let you all know that I'm moving the blog to a new address.
asparkstale.blogspot.com
It may be dumb, but I was tired of just having some generic blog address. All new posts will be at the new address.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Why I shouldn't blog
Reason #1- I'm no good at it.
Again, it has been a while since I last posted anything. I see others updating their blogs frequently and they're very cute, yet mine hasn't been touched since August and I did something funky to my layout and I can't get it to do what I want it to. Oh well. Here is my not very creative, not very regular update.
Todd's job has been keeping him busy. He's gone to Colorado, Iraq and he's currently in Las Vegas. He's preparing for his Major's board. BUT the Air Force has realized that it has about 2,500 officers too many, so they are planning on cutting that many. Some of those cut will be JAGs and some will be from Todd's year group. We should know this summer if he is one of the people who will be cut.
I started school back in September. It has been a little crazy, but I enjoy it. I was going to school for Dental Hygeine, but I've decided to switch to Business Administration and transfer to a four year program for Accounting. I believe that I will enjoy that more since I love math and budgeting. My ideal goal is to become a Financial Planner so I can help teach people how to budget, get out of debt and save for retirement and such.
We really like our new area. We're hoping to stay here 3 or 4 years. (I know, crazy idea, huh?)
We've been looking at selling our house, but that's a little scary. We'll probably try to continue renting for another year or so, but being a long-distance landlord is no fun.
Well, there you have it folks. I will TRY to update more regularly. I've seen a couple of things from friends blogs that I think I could do that would help motivate me to update things more regularly. ... Maybe I'll give them a try. :)
Again, it has been a while since I last posted anything. I see others updating their blogs frequently and they're very cute, yet mine hasn't been touched since August and I did something funky to my layout and I can't get it to do what I want it to. Oh well. Here is my not very creative, not very regular update.
Todd's job has been keeping him busy. He's gone to Colorado, Iraq and he's currently in Las Vegas. He's preparing for his Major's board. BUT the Air Force has realized that it has about 2,500 officers too many, so they are planning on cutting that many. Some of those cut will be JAGs and some will be from Todd's year group. We should know this summer if he is one of the people who will be cut.
I started school back in September. It has been a little crazy, but I enjoy it. I was going to school for Dental Hygeine, but I've decided to switch to Business Administration and transfer to a four year program for Accounting. I believe that I will enjoy that more since I love math and budgeting. My ideal goal is to become a Financial Planner so I can help teach people how to budget, get out of debt and save for retirement and such.
We really like our new area. We're hoping to stay here 3 or 4 years. (I know, crazy idea, huh?)
We've been looking at selling our house, but that's a little scary. We'll probably try to continue renting for another year or so, but being a long-distance landlord is no fun.
Well, there you have it folks. I will TRY to update more regularly. I've seen a couple of things from friends blogs that I think I could do that would help motivate me to update things more regularly. ... Maybe I'll give them a try. :)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Catching up
My last post was in March . . .it's time to catch up a little.
Todd was home about 2 months when we were told that we would be moving this summer in stead of next summer like we thought. So with 2 months notice, we got things ready to move. Todd's mom had already decided to stay in Rome, so she moved out in May.
We were told that Todd would be working in Roslyn (sp?) in the DC area, but that eventually he'd be moving to Andrews AFB. Then we found out that, although the main headquarters is in Roslyn and he'd have to go there sometimes, he would actually be working at Bolling AFB. Needless to say, we were a little stumped as to where to look for housing. Todd asked some people from the base and they told us to look in the Waldorf area of Maryland. We looked on militarybyowner.com to check out houses. I found a couple that looked good. When Todd came home, I started showing him the houses. I showed Todd the first place that I had up on the screen still. It looked nice, had at least the 4 bedrooms that we needed, and it was in a good school district. After showing Todd the house, I went to show him the next one and he said no. This was the house he wanted. The house was available exactly when we needed it to be, and with a short notice move, that was a blessing. It turned out that they were an LDS family and some people in their ward had joked with them saying that they could only rent to an LDS family.
Our move was not the smoothest move we've had. We almost didn't get our shipment of stuff, they messed up the leg on my piano, they dropped some of our stuff while loading and unloading, etc. Before we left, we gave Jenny our bookshelves and desk planning on making new ones once we moved. So while we were unpacking, we also had to start making bookshelves. (The bookshelves are not finished, so we still have boxes of books out in the garage, but their almost done.)
Todd took leave for the first two weeks we were here, which was nice. But with his current job, he'll be gone a lot. He is part of an Accident Investigation Board (AIB) so anytime there is an accident, he has to leave to investigate it. He left in the beginning of August and is still gone. He's estimating that he'll be home the beginning of September.
After moving here, we got the kids started up with piano lessons again. Abigail and Andrew were already taking lessons, but we were also able to get Nathaniel into lessons as well. Nathaniel will still be playing the clarinet this year in band, and William will be picking an instrument on Tuesday to start playing. Abigail wants to play the viola since I already have one here, and we're hoping that we can get her into some lessons for that soon. There is a Mormon Orchestra here in the area that I was planning on auditioning for (although I was fairly nervous since it's been 14 years since I've played the viola), but I don't think I'm going to try for that anymore. (I may still do the Stake Orchestra, but I'll have to wait and see.)
The biggest change, besides Todd's schedule, is that I've decided to go back to school this semester. SCARY!! I've been wanting to go back to school for awhile now, but it's never been the right time. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I started looking into it again. The more I looked into it, the more it just felt right to start. I'm kind of surprised that I'm supposed to start now, because with Todd's schedule, I can't rely on him to watch the kids regularly, because he'll be gone for weeks at a time. I know that I'm supposed to do this now, although my head says that being home by myself with 7 children doesn't seem like the right time. But I'm going to make this work. I'm trying to find the best schedule I can. A combination of an evening class (so I can hopefully just find a babysitter for the weeks Todd's gone) and a day class where I can hopefully swap babysitting. My plan is to take 2 courses/semester.
So, our time here in Maryland will be kind of crazy, but hopefully we'll have good things and many blessings come out of our time here.
Todd was home about 2 months when we were told that we would be moving this summer in stead of next summer like we thought. So with 2 months notice, we got things ready to move. Todd's mom had already decided to stay in Rome, so she moved out in May.
We were told that Todd would be working in Roslyn (sp?) in the DC area, but that eventually he'd be moving to Andrews AFB. Then we found out that, although the main headquarters is in Roslyn and he'd have to go there sometimes, he would actually be working at Bolling AFB. Needless to say, we were a little stumped as to where to look for housing. Todd asked some people from the base and they told us to look in the Waldorf area of Maryland. We looked on militarybyowner.com to check out houses. I found a couple that looked good. When Todd came home, I started showing him the houses. I showed Todd the first place that I had up on the screen still. It looked nice, had at least the 4 bedrooms that we needed, and it was in a good school district. After showing Todd the house, I went to show him the next one and he said no. This was the house he wanted. The house was available exactly when we needed it to be, and with a short notice move, that was a blessing. It turned out that they were an LDS family and some people in their ward had joked with them saying that they could only rent to an LDS family.
Our move was not the smoothest move we've had. We almost didn't get our shipment of stuff, they messed up the leg on my piano, they dropped some of our stuff while loading and unloading, etc. Before we left, we gave Jenny our bookshelves and desk planning on making new ones once we moved. So while we were unpacking, we also had to start making bookshelves. (The bookshelves are not finished, so we still have boxes of books out in the garage, but their almost done.)
Todd took leave for the first two weeks we were here, which was nice. But with his current job, he'll be gone a lot. He is part of an Accident Investigation Board (AIB) so anytime there is an accident, he has to leave to investigate it. He left in the beginning of August and is still gone. He's estimating that he'll be home the beginning of September.
After moving here, we got the kids started up with piano lessons again. Abigail and Andrew were already taking lessons, but we were also able to get Nathaniel into lessons as well. Nathaniel will still be playing the clarinet this year in band, and William will be picking an instrument on Tuesday to start playing. Abigail wants to play the viola since I already have one here, and we're hoping that we can get her into some lessons for that soon. There is a Mormon Orchestra here in the area that I was planning on auditioning for (although I was fairly nervous since it's been 14 years since I've played the viola), but I don't think I'm going to try for that anymore. (I may still do the Stake Orchestra, but I'll have to wait and see.)
The biggest change, besides Todd's schedule, is that I've decided to go back to school this semester. SCARY!! I've been wanting to go back to school for awhile now, but it's never been the right time. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I started looking into it again. The more I looked into it, the more it just felt right to start. I'm kind of surprised that I'm supposed to start now, because with Todd's schedule, I can't rely on him to watch the kids regularly, because he'll be gone for weeks at a time. I know that I'm supposed to do this now, although my head says that being home by myself with 7 children doesn't seem like the right time. But I'm going to make this work. I'm trying to find the best schedule I can. A combination of an evening class (so I can hopefully just find a babysitter for the weeks Todd's gone) and a day class where I can hopefully swap babysitting. My plan is to take 2 courses/semester.
So, our time here in Maryland will be kind of crazy, but hopefully we'll have good things and many blessings come out of our time here.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Todd's home!
Well, OK, he's been home for a couple of weeks now, but this is when I'm writing about it. The first night home, Todd and I were able to stay at the Turning Stone Casino. It was nice to just have some alone time and to be able to have time walking around looking at things. The next day we came home. The kids were very excited to see him, as you can imagine. Originally he was going to come in on a Saturday, but he got in on a Thursday instead, which made it nicer so the following morning wasn't rush-rush to get kids ready for church. The only problem was that school was cancelled on that Thursday and Friday because of the weather, so there was still a bit of rush-rush to find babysitting, but it all worked out.
The following week, we took the kids to an indoor water park for about 4 days. It was nice to have that time as a family to just have fun and not have to worry about kids not doing chores or homework or having to do various activities. It was wonderful! We've visited family before, but we've only done a 'real' vacation maybe once before. I can now see why people try to do vacations every year. :)
The following week, we took the kids to an indoor water park for about 4 days. It was nice to have that time as a family to just have fun and not have to worry about kids not doing chores or homework or having to do various activities. It was wonderful! We've visited family before, but we've only done a 'real' vacation maybe once before. I can now see why people try to do vacations every year. :)
Saturday, February 20, 2010
One week left!
Only 7 days until I get to see Todd again. It's so close, but still doesn't feel any closer. Our schedule will still be the same up until I leave to pick Todd up. Next Saturday I'll head to choir practice and then leave from there to pick him up. Of course, there are still things I want to do around the house before he comes home, but that's all my regular daily stuff anyway. (ie, laundry, dishes, clean out the cars, more laundry . . .) I don't think it's really hit the kids yet either. They know he's coming back next week, but it's still just life as usual.
Todd had his going away dinner today and was given his various medals and awards that he earned while there. He was able to earn an award that usually only higher up officers earn, so of course I'm as proud as a mama bear, because I know he's brilliant and it's nice to see others recognize it too. :o)
HE'S COMING HOME IN 7 DAYS!!
Todd had his going away dinner today and was given his various medals and awards that he earned while there. He was able to earn an award that usually only higher up officers earn, so of course I'm as proud as a mama bear, because I know he's brilliant and it's nice to see others recognize it too. :o)
HE'S COMING HOME IN 7 DAYS!!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Lillian's 1st Birthday!
Yesterday Lillian turned one! The kids were all very excited. Especially Sophie. She thinks it's cool that she can now say Lillian is one instead of zero. :o) We started the festivities as soon as all of the kids were home from school so that we would still have time for dinner and to get to Boy Scouts. Unfortunately, Todd missed her first birthday, but I sent him lots of pictures. We did presents with her (she refused to open any, so we pretty much just opened them and gave them to her), sang 'Happy Birthday' (which she absolutely loved!), and had the first-and-only-time-they-get-to-make-as-big-of-a-mess-as-they'd-like-to cake. She loved all of it. Even the bath at the end.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
New blog
For any who are interested, I've started a new blog. This is going to focus on bettering myself. It will include any different area. Weight loss/health/spiritual/whatever I feel like writing about.
http://abetterme-priceless.blogspot.com/
http://abetterme-priceless.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)