Some Fall Fun

We have been loving the fall weather here in Utah.  It has made the Halloween festivities even more special and it has made us realize how much we missed the cold when we lived down south.  We are officially in sweater weather and its amazing!  I thank the lucky stars every time I get up and its chilly.  I love snuggling into the covers trying to relish the last little bit of warmth before I am forced to get up and feed Alex.  I thank the stars for cool fall walks, for chilly breezes, and for the beautiful rich fall colors that grace the windows every day.  

Yesterday, we had some fall fun out in the backyard.  My parents have six tall gorgeous trees in the backyard and they are now dropping leaves like crazy.  My mom swears we will see a sea of leaves that you could literally swim in before the month is thru.  It is going to be awesome!

Its not really that cold, but to us Floridians, it is freezing...

The first batch of leaves.

 

We have been prepping for Halloween here too.  We got Alex his costume, he is going to be Darth Vader this year (Will post pictures on Halloween Night).  I think I am going to be a homegrown scarecrow.  No idea what Blake is going to be-he might just be himself tee hee.  I have set up all of our decorations and the upstairs (where we are living) looks just as it should.  I added a new ghost, a sparkly pumpkin, and homemade spider webs to hang in the windows.  My mom in law is making me a wreath to go on the door of our new home for next year.  

Here's the ghost (ain't he cute!) and the sparkle pumpkin.  The hitchhiking ghosts I got last year at Cast Connections WDW.

Speaking of new home, here is the current state of our home to be.  We still have three weeks til we move in, but its coming along.  The townhome is going to be beautiful when its done.

Only eight days til Halloween is said and done and frankly, while I am having fun with it, I really can't wait for Turkey Day and Christmas this year.  I have already begun my Christmas shopping and I am making Thanksgiving menus and Black Fridays plans.  I am organizing, planning, and preparing.  I want this to be the best Christmas yet (by golly, we deserve it)!  This will be the last Christmas season before Alex might possibly go to school and it will be the first Christmas in our new and hopefully forever home.  Thanksgiving with my folks will be great-I haven't had a holiday dinner with them since I got married 5 years ago.  

I am just so excited for the future and what the future brings.  Everything is finally falling into place in perfect union and I really can't wait for everything to begin.  

We will carving the pumpkin on Tuesday and watching lots of holiday movies over the weekend.  Tomorrow I will taking Alex to the reading time in Garland @ the library for some free Halloween fun.  And in the midst, there will be lots of leaves and Christmas planning.  Til then!

Finally Getting into a Routine!

So this has been a LONG time coming (I can't tell you how long because five months feels like triple that long), but we Rawls are starting to develop a new pattern. YAY!  I love stability and predictability and we are loving having it.  As mentioned a couple months back, we were not having any luck in the job hunt.  Lots of interviews, lots of offers, and yet a hard time getting one to stick.  The great job offer that I didn't mention for fear of jinxing it ended up getting rescinded due to a failed credit check and so two weeks ago we were back to square one with a moving date lying ahead of us.  Thankfully God provided and we are finally working and earning money!  

Blake started working for mybullfrog.com-a Verizon Wireless authorized retail company.  He is a sales consultant, very similar to what he was supposed to be doing at T mobile and he is loving it.  The position is in Brigham City which will give us a minimal commute and he will also be making commission, which will help inflate our income.  He has been working full time since the 10th and there is no kinks or end in sight!  SO we are most definitely on our way.  

Our new house is still in construction phase and the move in date is now November 12th.  We are still as excited as ever and are counting the days til we move in.  Alex has imprinted onto the house and can't wait til he has his own room and a place to call his own.  I am hoping that the attachment he is developing will help with a fast and easy adjustment period in November.

Loving the progress!  It'll be so pretty when its done.

One the other hand, school is going so so.  With all the errands, distractions, job hunts, and settling in we are doing-trying to start school just seems like the wrong timing.  And unfortunately, as much as I love the idea of teaching him at home, I'm afraid I may not be being true to myself in pursuing that.  I love school, but I have never loved teaching it, and I am not sure that it is something I am wanting to do long term.  So for the time being, I have taken a step back and I am examining my options again.  We are looking at different home school curriculum's, local charter schools,  and any other options that will keep him from the public school system yet still be the best fit for our family.  It isn't an easy decision, but we are confident God will direct our paths.  We just have to trust Him  Until then, I am going back to lots of Mommy fun, cuddles, reading, outings, games, crafts, and kiddo bliss.  I am going to work on his emotional well being and stability right now as well.  He is academically ready for Kindergarten, but I want to make sure that he is emotionally ready.  He still has a few kinks that I have to polish off before the possibility of formal school comes to the table.  SO we are going to have lots of fun, learn to raise our hands, learn respect and obedience, and all together prepare for whatever God might have in store for next years Kindergarten class.  We feel that this step back is the best thing for the family and are confident it will put us that much further ahead next year and in the year's to come.
And frankly, I never had formal preschool, and I turned out top of my class for the most part, so I am not worried about his future achievements.

SO handsome!!!  Loving his new fall jacket!

Funny thought to share!  Yesterday, Blake and I were rating our best holiday moments since being married and I really enjoyed the walk down memory lane.  It was nice to see and recognize that not all holidays have to be perfect for them to be magical.  I sometimes get caught up in the perfection of it all that I miss all the little moments.  So just for the heck of it here's the list we came up with.

2013 @ Mickey's Not So Scary Party.  Best Disney Moment Ever!  Definitely want to go to another on our next Disney Vaca

Top Three Halloweens of Ages Past

#1) 2013-Mickey's Not So Scary Party, free Disney World hotel stays and trips to the parks, phenomenal trick or treating, Halloween party for Alex and his little friends, and lots of fun!

#2) 2012 - Lots of Disney Halloween, lots of pumpkin carvings, Mimi and Do daddy visit, Halloween party, lots of yummy treats

#3) 2009- First Halloween married.  Party @ newlywed apartment, costume shopping, campus plays, fall walks

2013- Got to see the castle light up with my buddy just a couple of days before Thanksgiving.  What a way to start the holiday season.

Top Three Thanksgiving of Ages Past

#1) 2011- despite the fact that I was super sick all day and the food sucked this was still my favorite Thanksgiving.  I didn't even get any pie, but it didn't matter.  We played lots of games at my sister's house, cooked food, watched TV, talked and laughed, and then did Black Friday shopping that night-again despite my being deathly ill.  It was great lol.

#2) 2013- This is a close second.  Last year was the first time I ate two full dinners.  We fed two of the best missionaries in the field down in Florida. I cut my finger on a green bean can of all things, but that didn't matter.  We deep fried turkey at our FL families house, laughed, talked, and then went Black Friday Shopping at nine that night.  It was cold for FL and that made it even better.  That weekend, we ate pie, listened to music, the elves decorated the house, and watched our favorite movie Holiday in Handcuffs.

#3) 2010- Again with my sister, but this day was an epic because we made on emergency run to the store to get a turkey platter before we could eat the dinner.  It was really funny.  Blake worked Kmart that day but only til four, so it was a great time.  We made all Christ themed ornaments on the tree and had all the right focuses for our life.

2012- Went to see Xmas lights and snow in Celebration on Xmas day 2.0

Top Three Christmases of Ages Past

#1) 2014- I get the feeling that this Christmas will be the best one yet!  We will hopefully have snow, a new home, and lots of love.  Possible trip to SLC for the lights and the Mo tab concert (featuring Sesame Street!).  Maybe the Forgotten Carols.  We will be with family and that's all that matters.  The theme this year is Home For the Holidays. hee hee

#2)2012- First one in FL.  We had NO money for anything, but we had a lot of help from friends and ward members.  There was an ugly sweater Christmas Party, Disney @ Christmas for the first time, and three days of presents due to Blake's insane work schedule at Epcot.  But it was made up for in love and friendship.  We had two Xmas Eves, and two Xmas Days.  Saw snow in Celebration!

#3) 2010- Bittersweet for me b/c it was the last time we got to spend with Blake's grandmother.  It was tough because we all got sick with colds and there was a lot of funky vibes that year, but it was still special b/c we got to spend it with her and make her last Xmas super special.  The next year, she was in the hospital and then we lost her.

So there you have it!  The line up for the Rawls holidays awards ceremonies. lol. Well have to get the kiddo some lunch.  Next post will be on some Halloween festivities!

Our Future Home

Oh how I can't wait to put down roots again.  I have been so grateful to my parents for letting us stay and eat their food, but I will be so ready to have a place to call our own.  Which shouldn't be to far in the future...we signed on the townhome and we are set to move in on the 8th.  

I spilled all the details last post, but I will refresh.  

3 bed/1.5 baths.  Brand new (obviously).  In Tremonton, Utah.  Located in quiet residential area (cept for the train track right alongside the town homes, but Alex will love that right?).  1360 square ft.  Washer/Dryer hookups.  Black Appliances.  Private Patio.  Community Playground and Splash pad (to be completed).  Renting a year lease and then month to month.

I could just go on and on about how great the place is.  As you can see from the picture, its not quite done yet and so I will patiently wait until then.  After all, good things come to those who wait and I believe that this is one of the best things that could have happened to us.  The reasons and blessings awaiting us in Utah have started to present themselves and I must say it is refreshing.  Not that I haven't enjoyed the trials and the learning experiences along the way, but some good news has been terribly refreshing.  Our unit number is #17 and I can't wait!  I think my new home will look great with my new car, don't cha think?

In other news, there hasn't been much else.  Blake has a b-day this Saturday.  And school at home has been going.  Its been trying doing it in a home that has so many distractions and I have had a hard time staying motivated, but I have enjoyed it.  Blake starts the new job on Monday and then we begin to decorate for the spookiest time of the year.  Due to the situation, I don't have any elaborate crafting in my near future (not like last year), but I will decorate, eat lots of candy, come up with clever costumes, and make it as memorable for my son as possible.  One thing we learned from Disney-we know how to have fun and create magic!

Some Really Good News

So, I don't want to ruin anything by telling before things finally set into place, but I'm not sure I can contain it.  Blake finally has a job offer that looks like it is going to stick.  And before you question the Tmobile job, I will explain.  They decided to close the kiosk that Blake was supposed to manage, and Blake's job offer fell through.  He never even made it to the training portion of the the position.  So, we fasted and prayed all weekend (a few weeks back), and we were blessed with a job opportunity in Brigham City which is much closer than Ogden.  Blake is due to start in the next week, and as I said, I don't want to give details because I don't want to jinx it before it begins.  So after Blake starts, I will have to cave in and give the details.  

On the other side of things, tomorrow Blake and I are going to put down a deposit on an apartment.  Well, its not really an apartment...its a town home!  Yes!  That's right!  Blake and I will move into a starter home.  It's still a rental situation (as we cannot afford to buy), but the rent is right in our budget.  Its a 3bd 1.5 bath, 1360 square feet, and its brand new.  So new that the unit we will moving into isn't even completed yet.  They are having a $100 deposit special so Blake and I are going to snag it up before they rent out.  Since they are building and leasing at the same time, there is only a few to rent out at any given time.  They are in Tremonton, Utah which will keep us close to my parents and keep our commute to Brigham City and Logan to only 20 minutes.  When we move in, which will be November 8th, I will post pictures of the place!  I'm so excited that we will get to spend Christmas in our own place.  

Blake is now serving in a year long temple calling as well.  Every Saturday from 12-4pm, he serves in the temple doing general cleaning, greeting, and directing.  He has only done this once, but already loves it and knows this next year will be a great one for our family.  This service, we know, will bring many blessings.  

We are headed to the Ogden Temple dedication today and then in another week, we will be blessed to hear from the prophets at General Conference!  I am so excited!  Love General Conference and the spirit that it brings.  I'm excited to learn and be edified.

School is going well.  We have done camping week, train week, and farm week.  We have taken a couple of field trips to some train places, like the Golden Spike Museum at Premonitory Point and the Union Pacific Train Museum in Ogden.  I will post pictures in the next post of the fun we have been having in the last few week of school.  The next two weeks will be focused on Autumn and then we will start in on Halloween festivities.  We have already watched the Nightmare before Xmas movie and I am waiting for Michelle to leave town before I pull out my Halloween decorations.  

Blake's bday is next weekend.  And that is about it.  All good stuff this time.  Just keep praying that the new job sticks, the apartment is secured, and the bills get paid.  Love to everyone.

A Pinch of Good News

So as you probably gathered from the last post, the last few weeks haven't been filled with fabulous news.  The job at T-mobile is having a hard time taking off, and honestly, we are not sure how long we can stay with our life on the pause button.  Blake took a second job as a server at Pizza Hut in Brigham City just to pull in some extra dough so we can expedite the moving out process a little bit.  Blake working, even only as a server, has perked him up.  It was getting really hard on him to not work at all-or very sporadically.  The consistency has been good for him until we can get the other things sorted and clarified.

But, as mentioned, we needed to put our vehicle to pasture because of the accident in June.  The fender was really starting to sag and the idea of Blake driving it caused me some panic.  Anyways, today we went out and got a new car!  Yay!  And this one is pretty!  

2004 Ford Focus SE.  Power everything.  Drive great, engine strong.  And pretty apple red!

Back end.  The trunk is spacious.

Interior shot.

It was nice today to see things start to come together.  We are one step closer to setting up our life here and despite the hardships, it is a life we are still so excited for.  

As another update, Alex starting preschool and I took some shots.  Forgive the misspelling of preschool; I was in a hurry and trying to ward Alex from smudging the marker and totally missed the "typo".  But my adorable little man makes up for the mess up.

Can't believe my baby is in school!!!

Loving Life!  Peace out friends!

Over the River and Thru the Woods....to Idaho we go!

So today is the start of a new outlook for me.  I have been kinda hung up on the negativity surrounding our situation lately and unfortunately, I think that that attitude is effecting my sons behavior and the feelings of those surrounding me.  Its not like we are BAD off, cause we are NOT!  I'm just getting tired of the mattress on the floor, clothes in a suitcase, no kitchen to call my own, lack of productivity.  I am an independent person who likes a place to call hers once and while.  But, I also realize that my attitude affects the attitude of all that's around me.  I think that Alex's persona would be alot better if I showed an example.  In a nutshell, I just need to stop venting and suck it up.  Complaining will get me nowhere and it wont make the money faster, nor will it change anything.  So, today is the start of my goal to try and remain positive thru the thick and the thin.
On a brighter note, the weather is cooling off and we haven't been sweating all day long; high 70's at the peak of the day and it has been so nice.  I don't have all the much more to share cept the great news of sweater weather.
We went to the Ogden Temple open house with my parents and brother.  Alex loved it and wanted so much to stay.  His favorite was the baptismal font and the "soft" feeling he felt in the temple celestial room.  We took lots of pictures and had a great experience.

Blake has been interviewing to find a second job just to help pull in the extra income.  We are wanting to find one that will work with his schedule, and since it is a second job we are not that picky about where it is or what he would be doing.  It wouldn't be a career or anything; just something to help pick up the income flow and get us back on our feet.  We are waiting for him to start his training class at T-mobile and once he has started that, he should have hours pick up beautifully.
Speaking of possible jobs, keep Blake in your prayers.  he just this last week interviewed for a PT faculty position at the ole Alma mater!  Yep, BYUI interviewed him to be a PT Spanish online faculty, which is great cause he could teach from his office and not have to live up there.  It wouldn't start until January 2015, but it would great experience and a convenient road to extra income.  So Monday, we took the family up there and took a trip down memory lane.  We were remiss that we didn't have time to announce anything; it was sudden and we only had a couple hours to kill in the city itself.  But, Rexburg, for the most part looked the same.  There was a few things different about it (more apartments, nicer apartments, better doctors offices, a second McDonald's, and some places where you could see the flood damage), but all in all- it hadn't changed a bit.  We took some great pictures and I got myself a souvenir tee in honor of the occasion.

In other news, we have one more month with our clunker junker before we have to put her out to pasture and secure a new vehicle.  It will be about time to since we are keeping her together with duck tape (quite literally).  I start makeshift preschool with Alex in the morning.  Its the first of September tomorrow, and I am already thinking and planning Halloween and Xmas.  Trying to figure out what Blake and I want to be for Halloween.  Alex has, of course, already figured himself out.  I have found some potential rental situations that I like, and other than that, everything is pretty day to day.  

A Little of What's Up

So I have decided that in order to be more consistent on the blog, I will begin blogging every Saturday morning while my kid is consumed with cartoons.  It will be the perfect time to catch up and it will hopefully help me meet my resolution of better journaling habits.  Let's hope I stick with this plan, which I hate to admit is a hard thing for me.

Let's see. what's up with the Rawls?  Well, first of all, Blake scored a job as an assistant manager at the local T mobile store!  The job is going to be great.  The pay meets our needs, the growth opportunities are inviting, and the full time benefits are topnotch.  He starts on Thursday and he is super excited.  He will have two weeks of training down south in Bountiful, and then he will begin work at the Ogden store.  WE are super excited to get this Utah adventure underway.  Living with the parents has been fun, but the vacation of it is wearing off and we are starting to miss our furniture and things.  Its amazing how the little things that we take for granted (like walls, doors, and closets full of clothes) become super important after months of living without them.  

In light of the new job, I have begun the apartment hunt.  I had hoped to score a town home and get out of the apartment lifestyle, but with us having to replace the car after the accident, I'm not sure that will be in our cards.  So we are car shopping and apartment hunting-and I have to say, the search has been frustrating.  But I have to trust that God's timing is in everything, and that he will make available the car we are supposed to buy and the house we are supposed to rent when the time is right.  I actually really wish we could just buy a home outright and forget all this rental crap, but I have to keep telling myself that it will all come into place someday.

In other news, Alex is growing like a weed and is approaching the start of preschool.  I can't believe my little one is old enough to start school in a matter of weeks.  

This news brings other and better news, though.  Despite loving the idea that he could go to school, preschool is quite hard to come by and carries a hefty fee here in Utah.  So instead of plunking down $100.00 or more a month to have someone else teach my child, Blake and I have prayed and decided who better to teach our child then us!  SO homeschooling it is for the Rawls, at least for this year.  We are going to take this homeschooling thing day by day and year by year, but for now, we have decided that we need to give him a firm foundation and teach him all the things that are super important.  I also think this will be the better fit for Alex because he struggles with emotional maturity and I want him to get his anger under control before I send him into a fast paced, stressful situation.  Again, we are going to take it year by year, and maybe in the future we will send him to a formal school.  But with the way the formal education is taking itself, I am beginning to have my doubts.  We have found some local activities that he can start participating in like swim lesson next May and little ninja Karate.  I also want to send him to summer camps next year and perhaps get him involved in soccer or little league. 

 I am actually super excited about this adventure I am about to embark on!  So over the last few weeks, I have been pulling a semblance of a preschool program together, so that I am ready by September 1st.  Its coming up fast and I am a little panicked about getting it all together in time, but God will sustain me because this is what he wants us to do for the sake of my kid.

This week, we went to a dollar movie and had a mother/son date.  We also worked on little projects around the house, rescued a poor lost kitty form certain demise, and had lots of fun enjoying to cooling weather.  It has been in the 70's all week and I have been LOVING it.  I have been thinking about cool weather and falling leaves, Halloween and Christmas bells.  I am so excited for my first cold season in a while and can't wait for it to get here!  Well, the kiddo is calling.  TTFN and tata for now!

Fourth of July

Fourth of July was great.  It was the first fourth that we have had in awhile that we have actually enjoyed and gotten into the spirit of the occasion.  In the morning we got the kids dressed in their American Flag shirts and got an adorable picture of the three of them together.  Then we all got into our American themed garb and started in on the cooking of the barbecue feast.  I blasted the patriotic tunes on my new iTunes speaker that I got for my b-day.   Nana and the kids put together an American states puzzle and I made the Flag themed sugar cookie that I make every year while Dad BBQ-ed hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill.  ;0)

My cookie creation!  I love it and it is sooooo good!

Selfie with the cookie!  

After the length of the day, filled with food, family, and National Treasure, we tuned into the National broadcast from Washington DC on PBS.  It was really fun to listen to all the patriotic songs and the boys danced the evening away.  We watched the fireworks the hovered over the Washington Monument and then we loaded up in the cars for the end of the evening.  Brigham City was having their fireworks at dusk and so we went over to the big park in town, found a decent spot, and settled in for the wait to sundown.  I was actually pleasantly surprised.  Having just come from Disney World where they pride themselves in having the best fireworks in the world, I was shocked at just how good the small town fireworks show turned out to be.  There was music streamed through speakers placed throughout the whole park and the bugs weren't too thick, so I definitely enjoyed it.  It is something I believe we will add to our list of traditions.  It truly lightened my spirits about the kind of family memories that can be made here.  It has me terribly excited for the holiday season now!

Since then, we have been avidly job hunting.  Some of the job opportunities we had lined up fell through or turned out to not be what we thought and so we have been scrambling to get something to bite.  We have been going to the temple a lot to gain peace and calm through all the disappointment and God has been with us every step of the way.  Sometimes when I think that He has forgotten us, He manifests himself in the smallest of ways and I am humbled to know that we are still significant to Him and that He is mindful of us.  We have had some pretty promising opportunities that have been definite "nos" from God and it has been hard to walk away from potential opportunities when we are so desperate to have our lives start.  But we know that we have been making the right decisions and that God will bless us immensely in the end.  We just have to continue to exercise our faith.  (And we are grateful for all the temple time!)