Not Me! Monday

Here is to another week of Not Me's!

As you all are very much aware of after you move you are loaded down with empty boxes. A few you save for the when you move again, and a few you save to store things in, but the majority of the boxes MUST GO! Therefore, you did NOT see me load the empty, flat boxes in my Buick Rendevous and you did NOT see me wait until sundown just so I could sneakily drive all over town looking for dumpster's to put these boxes into. You know! The Dumpster's that say $500 fine if caught dumping into? Nope that was NOT ME! I wouldn't think of doing that.

I will be the first to admit that I DO NOT SNORE! So the other night after falling into bed, exhausted from moving, I was startled awake by this strange "whining" type sound. It sounded like some animal nearby and it scared me and woke me up. My husband was laughing as he informed me that it was ME making that noise. I say, "It was NOT!" Believe me, that was NOT ME! It had to have been some other creature! Nope that was NOT ME! Because, I don't snore!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Nieceful Memories

One of the hardest things to leave behind besides my kids are my beautiful nieces and nephew. I have 8 nieces and 1 nephew. My nephew, Parker, lives in Texas and I don't get to see him very often. Three of my nieces (Fiona, Sinead, Ciera) live in Delta, Utah and I don't see them often enough either. The other 5 (Megan, Melanee, Madison, Mikayla, and Lillie) all live in the Salt Lake area and so I have spent much more time with them at family gatherings for birthday's etc.

I love all of these kids so much.... as much as I love my own kids. I have tended them, had them over for sleepovers often, sometimes for my nieces that live further away, they have even spent part of their summers with me. We have done many fun activities together. Last summer we had so much fun having swimming parties at my home in our pool. We love getting together often for games and movies and so many other things. Parker usually comes during Christmas and sometimes during the summer. Last Christmas I took Parker snow sledding for the very first time. He had a ball and we made wonderful lasting memories.

Mikayla

Melanee

Megan

Madison

Lillie

Sinead

Ciera

Fiona


Parker

So with me moving so far away from everybody, and knowing I will be missing out on the birthday's, possibly Christmas and Thanksgiving and all the many other get together's, I really wanted to spend some time with these kids before I moved. The Sunday before I moved I was able to take Megan, Melanee, Madison and Mikayla on a special date with Aunt Sherrie. We decided to go to Chuckee Cheese's. And we sure did have a wonderful time. Besides the usual, Pizza and watching the Chuckee Cheese show on stage, the kids spent their tokens and got lots of tickets to go towards prizes. We also were able to get our photo's taken together in the photo booth. They each got a photo of us together to take home, and I also got a duplicate set for myself. It was so much fun spending that one on one time with them. Mikayla's birthday was in a couple days, and she kept saying that it "seemed like she was having a birthday today".

Mikayla & Me

Melanee & Me

Megan & Me

Madison & Me

I am so glad they had fun and enjoyed being with me as much as I enjoyed being with them. I only wish I would have had the chance to do the same with all the other kids. I love you all so much and I really do hope I can see you soon!!

My Adventures in Moving!

Now that I am all moved and mostly unpacked and somewhat settled I thought I would share the adventures of our move. When one moves, we always hope that things will go smooth, that it will be easier then it really is, that there will be no pot holes along the way. That is "hope" dangling in your face. The fact or reality is that usually nothing goes as planned and there ARE pot holes that get in your way, just to create a "moving adventure". Well here is mine....

• Loading Day (Wed)- things actually went pretty smooth. We had some help show up early and we were able to get most of our stuff loaded on the Uhaul within 4 hours. Thank You to my Mom, Gordon and Jacob!! We still had last minute stuff and tricky things to load and we were running out of space fast! Good thing Bill is an expert at loading trucks as that is what he did for a living with FedEx in years previous. We did get everything to fit and nothing shifted and nothing broke. Yeah!!
• Moving Day (Thur) - We woke up early hoping to get finished up so we could leave by noon. We still had a few things to load and we still had to clean the house, as well as load my car onto the car hauler trailer. We got everything done by noon and were ready to put the car on the trailer and leave, but the car's battery was dead. So we had to jump it with the Rendevous. I got in the car to start it and let it run for a bit. I stepped out and shut the door and realized the doors had locked. Not only did I realize the doors had locked and the car was running, but I had packed the box that held all of our extra keys in the car. I totally had a meltdown right there on the spot. I could not believe I could be so stupid! As I look back I can laugh, but it was not funny at the time. There was no way we were going to get in without help. My mom tried to get a hold of some people she knew that could help but they were out of town. I tried a friend of mine who works for the police department and has a slim jim but he was out of town. The only thing was to get a locksmith out there. Luckily from the time I called and he arrived it was 1/2 hour. It took him less than 2 minutes to get into my car and I paid him $41.00. Not bad for a 2 minute job, but it was worth it. We finally get the car loaded, say our goodbye's and leave at 1:30 for what we planned on being around a 9 hour drive because we were each pulling trailers. Bill was driving the uhaul pulling my car and I was driving the rendevous pulling the trailer with the hovercraft. We get 2 hours out of town just before reaching the Utah-Idaho border and the tire blew out on the trailer I was pulling. Luckily it did not cause any driving problems or scary issues... it just went flat. Another delay to fix that. And since we didn't have another spare in case the other tire blew, we decided we better stop in Pocatello to get one. That delayed us again. Luckily the rest of the drive went smooth but it was very long. We finally pulled in to our new home around 1:00 a.m..... 11-1/2 hours later.
• Unload Day (Fri) - It just happens to be the hottest day of the year in Bozeman on this very day! It was very Hot and miserable! However, I was very smart and hired a local company to help us unload. Two guys showed up. One small and skinny and I was worried and the other very large and was already short of breath as he walked into my house, and I was even more worried. However, they ended up doing an excellent job and it was the best money I spent on this whole move. Those two guys alone, lifted and carried my piano into my house when it took 4 of us to take it out of my house and load it into the truck in Salt Lake. They had everything unloaded in less than 3 hours. So that part ended up being great! But after the long drive and the morning full of unloading the truck, Bill and I were completely exhausted and famished. We went to eat at the local Pizza resteraunt Old Chicago where they specialize in the best calzones I have ever eaten, and we totally crashed (not sleeping, but dead physically) there for 1-1/2 hours. We did get back home and found what we needed to make up our bed for the night and we began to unpack a few boxes.
• The rest of the weekend consisted of doing nothing but unload boxes and organize our house. Bill had to start work on Monday night and he woke up Monday morning feeling like he had a sinus infection. Great way to start your new job, driving truck 10 hours at night while you are sick. Tuesday it moved from sinus infection into the bronchial area. Now he is miserably sick and can't talk, but still has to work. I feel so bad for him. I am sure that with the stress of the move, the job, and being exhausted from it all, his immune system has been weakened. Today he is feeling slightly better but he doesn't have much of a voice and his energy and stamina are very low. I sure hope he gets over it soon so he can get back to his usual self.
• We are moving into a much smaller house than we had in Salt Lake and a house that has little or no storage space. We were fortunate to have in Salt Lake a house that had tons of closets and storage areas. This house doesn't even have a linen closet. It does have an unfinished partial basement. But we have had to spend some money on organizers and shelves etc...
• I was worried that our furniture would not all fit and the house would be cramped, but it actually is looking good. Little by little we are getting things unpacked and finding places for everything (so far). We are very happy with how it is taking shape. I will take pictures when it's all in order and looking good.

And now we just want to be DONE!! There are still a few boxes to unpack and decorating to do. For over 4 weeks we have done nothing but "moving activities" and it is getting old. I hate moving and I always tell myself that I will never do it again. Unfortunately, I know that sometime down the road I will be doing this all over again.

I am very thankful for wonderful friends and family who helped us get packed, loaded and the house cleaned. I am even more thankful that while we did hit a few pot holes along the way, we did have a smooth and safe move overall. I am here in beautiful Bozeman, Montana. I have wonderful family and friends and kids who support me in all I do. I also have a terrific husband who loves me unconditionally and who is my best friend. And now I get to embark on many more adventures as I start my new life here in Montana. I am truly blessed.

NOT ME! MONDAY - Not without the Internet!

Since my last post, we have moved to Bozeman, Montana. And because I am without internet service for several days, I actually wrote this ahead of time so I would not miss "Not Me" Monday. Only now it's Tuesday (and I am reconnected) and I realized for some reason it did not automatically post and I don't know why. It's a day late, but I am posting anyway.

Even though my last official last day of work was August 15th, I did not actually pretend I was working for several days before that date when I really wasn't. Nope not me!

I did not buy a carton of White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie dough, just so I could eat the dough. Nope not me! I would never do that.

I did not clean out the cupboards that hold all the left over containers and throw perfectly good containers away just because I had too many. Nope Not Me! I did not do that.

I did not drive our car on a near empty tank of gas to pick up Bill from work, just so he can fill it up with gasoline. Nope not me!

I did not notice the lawn needed mowing and I did not leave it unattended for several days, just so Bill could mow it on the weekend. Nope not me! I would never dream of doing that.

I did not drink 2 pepsi's in one day when I have vowed to go off of carbonated drinks completely. I just wouldn't do that. Nope not me!

I did not stay up until 4:00 in the morning when Bill was gone to work, just because I hate going to bed alone. Nope not me!

And I definately would not take a 3 hour nap later that day when I wasn't even tired! Nope not me!

Having no access to the internet for several days does NOT drive me crazy. I would never think that the internet is the staff of life. Nope not me!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post. I can't wait to have the internet connected in my new home. I have missed being able to stay connected with all of you. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and reading my blog.

Bittersweet Goodbye!

I just wanted to tell you all goodbye for a short time while we finish up packing the truck and get moved to Montana. Our internet will go down tomorrow and I will not have access until sometime after August 25th.

You all take care! I will be anxiously waiting to catch up on reading your blogs. Thanks for stopping by to read mine also.

See you soon!

NOT ME! MONDAY - I JUST LOVE MOVING!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

My friend, Rae, suggested this to me and I thought it looked fun, so I joined this blog carnival just so I can tell all about what I have NOT been doing this week and each week to come. I hope you enjoy! So without further delay, here it is.. my first Not Me Monday Post!

This move to Montana is a huge move for us and we are down to just a few days. So while I pack my house up into boxes, you will not find me taking several breaks to read the Anita Stansfield book "The Silence of Snow", nope not me!

And because I love moving so much you will not find me spending many hours of time on Facebook, nope not me! I am NOT addicted to Facebook, not even a little! Nope not me!

Nor will you find me changing my blog template, adding pictures to my blog, or reading ALL my friend's blogs, especially while I should be packing and cleaning. Nope not me! I would never do that.

And I definately would not take the time to go see the new Harry Potter movie. No Way! Nope not me!

I am definately NOT sick of moving already. Nope not me!

Feelings of Nostalgia

As we are getting closer and closer to our moving date, I am overcome with so many emotions. I am moving several hundred miles away from my home town, the place where I grew up, the place that holds so many fond memories. It's not just a hop, skip and a jump to come home. As I start to ponder this, I get a homesick feeling inside of me. But how can that be when I haven't even left yet?

Well it's like this....

I start thinking about my sweet, beautiful nieces who range from 1 to 15 and how much I will miss them and being part of their every day lives and watching them grow up. I will miss birthdays and other special moments in their lives and it truly makes me feel "homesick".

I think of my Grandma, who is getting on in years. There is the possibility that I may never see her again. I am so glad I was able to spend a little bit of time with her the other day when she was in Salt Lake. She is such a wonderful person and an example of a woman of strength. I wonder when or if I will see her again, and then I get all choked up because I have wanted to spend so much more time with her than I have these past few years. I already miss her so much.

Most of my immediate family members live near me here in West Valley City. My parents live a couple blocks away and are in the same ward as I am. My sister and her family live in West Jordan. My little brother and his family live in Kearns. I have another Brother that lives in Delta and a sister that lives in Texas. So for the most part we have been pretty close. Close enough that we would always get together for special occasions or just because. These have always been fun times. I have enjoyed these times so much and I will miss being part of all the activities my family will be having in the future. I know there have been some hard feelings between us all most recently, and I hope that with time and distance we can start to mend our hurt hearts so that we can be a close family like we always have been. Even if I haven't always shown it, I do love you all so much!!!

One of the most emotional and difficult feelings I have been having is that I am leaving my kids behind. They have both chosen to move back to Cedar City and live with their dad. They love living there and have many friends and I am truly happy for them. However, it is not easy for me as their mother to move so far away. To not be part of their every day lives is going to be very difficult. What will I do without Football, Baseball, Dance, Softball, Orchestra, Band, School Plays, etc??? I really don't know what I will do. I just want my kids to know that I love them with all my heart and I want them to be happy. I will miss them beyond description and I will be counting days, hours and minutes until I can see them again.

I am currently living not only in my home town, but in my "home" ward. This ward has always been so welcoming and truly makes anyone feel at home. I look around at the people in Sacrament Meeting and I know almost everyone. They are parents of my friends, or teachers that have taught me in Primary or Young Women's. They are my neighbors, my friends, and most importantly, they are "Family" to me. And they are also getting on in years. There will be many of these wonderful people that I may never see again and that is what makes this move the most difficult.

I have so many wonderful friends that I am so greatful and blessed to have in my life. You have always been there for me when I needed you. Thank You for your listening ears and your eagerness to help me out when I've needed someone. And even though we might not always have opportunities to spend time with each other, I know you are just a phone call away. I will miss you all so much and hope that you will come and visit me while on your next Yellowstone vacations!!

When we moved into the home we live in, and into this area, we did so thinking we would be living here for the rest of our lives. I guess God has a different plan for us. For some reason we must be needed in Montana. So even though I am having such an emotional time with feelings of nostalgia and saying goodbye to all that I know and all thats comfortable, I am also looking forward to new experiences and a start of a new life.

Getting down to the wire!

We got Shellise all packed up and moved down to Cedar City. The house is not the same without my babies. Luckily, I have been so busy packing the house and organizing our move that I have not had time to dwell on it. Oh, but I do miss them both so much.

On July 25th Bill and I drove to Bozeman and spent 3 days looking at houses and getting familiar with the area. Wow! It is such a pretty place and close to Yellowstone too! I think we will really like living there. The people are very warm and friendly. The summer temperature is really nice. The scenary and landscape is very pretty. It is larger than I thought and more spread out, but still much smaller than Salt Lake City.

After looking at home after home after home, it came down to 3 homes we really liked for different reasons. One was an old Farm home on 2 acres in a secluded part of town. Another was a brand new, gorgeous home, with all the updated amenities in a very nice part of town near an LDS Church Building. And the other one was a newer home, really close to Bill's work, smaller than we are used to, small yard, and the price was more economical than the other two.

It was such a hard, stressful decision. We decided to go with the more economical house. The house payment will be easy to make and will give us the extra money we need to pay off bills and make some necessary purchases that we are needing to make. However, it was a very very hard and emotional decision to make. I really loved the other two homes the most and we were leaning towards the new house. We just couldn't do it, however. While we could have made the payment without too much problem, it would have made it more difficult to have the necessary money to make those purchases and pay off bills.

Now that we know what kind of house we will be moving into, it makes it easier to know what we take with us and what we get rid of. So for the past week I have done nothing but sorting out the things we will not take, getting them advertised on KSL Classifieds and organizing a moving sale for tomorrow. Besides doing that, I have spent countless hours packing up everything else into boxes.

We are getting down to the wire. We will be moving in less than two weeks. We pack up the moving truck on August 19th and leave on the 20th. Yes, It is really happening! The time is just flying by.

I am already so tired of packing and really do hate moving, and looking forward to the move just being done with. And while I am mostly excited to move and start a fresh new life in Bozeman with my sweetheart, I have such mixed feelings about leaving. It will be very difficult to be so far away from my kids, as well as my family, and my nieces and nephew. I also had to say goodbye to my Grandma a couple days ago, not knowing if I will see her again. She is getting up there in age and you never know what might happen. That makes me feel so sad but something I have to face and be prepared for. The feelings I have regarding this move are definately bittersweet.