A DECADE

stole this idea from my little sis.  (which you can read HERE)  wow.  it took me a long time to put this together!

2000:
We experienced living in New York and Chicago while doc M worked as a traveling surgical tech on contract.  We spent the summer in Salt Lake and moved to northern California for med school.  I struggled to find a job in CA.  I was still selling scrapbooking supplies and began selling Mary Kay.  I contemplated leaving my family.  We moved 4 times during the year and had a psycho pervert for a roommate.
Learned: bad experiences can be great teaching moments

2001:
We wrapped up the first year of med school.  After finals, the doc broke his leg on a bike ride and we lived our summer in Utah. We started year 2 of med school and a 3rd pregnancy.  I spent time on Coronado doing contract work related to an old job I had when we lived in Utah. We had a fabulous roommate from India and watched the twin towers in NY burn on tv.  Our bank account and overdraft was drained just in time for the holidays from an online hacker.  We got a midnight phone call about a murder in the doc's family.
Learned: life is precious and money is just NOT as important as it seems

2002:
We flew to Utah for my sister's wedding.  Our 3rd child was born and just a short few weeks later we moved to Vegas.  We then hear about a suicide in doc M's family and headed to Utah for the funeral.  We met fabulous, life-long friends in Vegas.  We ended our Montessori run and put kids back in public school.
Learned: good friends can make all the difference in the world

2003:
We attended my sister's sealing in Utah.  We moved out of an apartment, into a rental home and then finally into a home that we purchased (all within 4 months).I spent another week enjoying a contract on Coronado.  The doc and I spent 3 months separated while he did med school rotations out of state in an attempt to secure a residency interview.  Turned out none of those spots wanted to interview him.  I attended Mary Kay seminar in Dallas for the third summer in a row and had a blast.  We spent our family Christmas vacation in San Diego.
Learned: having a home of our own means more to us than we thought

2004:
After much tedious waiting, we found out we would move to NJ for residency.  We got stranded in a freezing car on the side of the freeway on our way to St. George late at night.  We enjoyed a tour of the Hoover Dam while living in Vegas.  We attended med school graduation in CA and celebrated with a trip to Hawaii (no kids) in May.  We flew to NJ in June to begin internship year. We dealt with a  miscarriage in the fall and flew to Utah for a wedding November.  We had constant worry over whether or not we would get a permanent residency spot in Jersey.  The doc contemplated giving up orthopaedics for ER and I had to suffer through turning 30.  We bought our first brand new "right off the lot" car and we baptized our first child.

Learned: there is actually a place we could be sad to leave behind, we hate the Jersey shore, and sometimes experiences just cannot be related to until you go through them yourself

2005:
Time provided acceptance of the miscarriage and we began our training and home study to get licensed for adoption.  I contemplated leaving my family again and the orthopaedic residency spot was finally offered to doc M.  I had foot surgery to remove some hardware that we thought was causing pain.  We flew to CA for a family reunion in Carpenteria.  We took a family trip to a timeshare in Massachusetts and I starting qualifying for directorship with Mary Kay. We were completely caught off guard by the start of a 4th pregnancy. I got to see Wicked on Broadway.  We attended a Sting concert in Atlantic City and baptized child #2.
Learned: we hate winter and sometimes the Lord just has other plans

2006:
We were mistakenly asked to do foster care even though we had put "adoption only" on our state app.  We took a fabulous trip to Panama in February.  I had planned all sorts of great things, some of which we had to skip since I had no idea I would be 4 months pregnant when I made the plans.  I cried during the entire takeoff of the flight home because the camera was lost, along with over 300 pics I took on the trip.  I wanted to go camping for Mother's Day and we nearly got killed by the swarms of mosquitoes.  We contemplated moving to a different town to change school districts. Our 4th child was born and we pulled our older kids out of public school to begin homeschooling.  The older 2 kids learned new instruments in their homeschool band.  We took a family road trip to see New England in the fall.  I was sad to stop working Mary Kay, but life was taking a different turn.
Learned:  taking leaps of faith is tough sometimes
 

2007:
We surprised the kids with a cruise to the Caribbean in January as our family Christmas trip.  I struggled with homeschooling and finding the best learning style with each kid.  We took trips to Vegas in June and September because the flight prices were so great.  I took the kids on a road trip to the Outer Banks with some friends in March.  We played on the beach, visited the sand dunes, and learned about the Wright Brothers.  We took our annual "no kid" trip to Belize in April and came home wanting to move there.  I lost one friend to death and another to an out-of-state move, while the doc worked 6 months of rotations hardly being home at all.  I'm still not sure I've completely recovered.  My sister moved to NY and it was fun for us and the kids to be close to her and see her more often.  We spent family time in NY and DC in November to see all the fun holiday displays.  We signed a contract for a fellowship in San Diego and jumped for joy!
Learned:  not much.  Too self absorbed and messed up to see any lessons in life
 

2008:
We took a trip to Utah in January for holiday celebrations with my family, and then spent a few days in Vegas on the way back to Jersey.  I contemplated leaving my family yet again and am still living on an emotional roller coaster.  We took a short family cruise to the Caribbean in May and then went straight to my sister's wedding in Utah.  Just a few shorts weeks later we returned to Utah for the funeral of my brother-in-law.  In July we took a road trip to NY with friends to attend the Hill Cumorah pageant.  I put 3 kids back public school for a short stint out of anger and looked for a part-time job while researching the prospect of a live-in nanny.  I visited Chicago twice with the doc on trips for conferences and had a heyday with my camera.  I discovered facebook and strangely reconnected with people I hadn't seen or talked to in over 17 years.  I brought kids back home for school in the fall.  I enjoyed a TOFW conference in Philly with some friends.
Learned: life is precious(again) and obsessive thinking can be destructive

2009:
I continued the emotional roller coaster with lots of soul searching.  We took our annual no kid trip in January to Isla Mujeres.  I finally began feeling progress with homeschooling and enjoyed a homeschooling conference in Virginia led by the author of the book "The Well-Trained Mind".  I ended a 14 year friendship (reasons are too private to post).  I was taken on a fabulous date to Longwood Gardens by my oldest.  I made attempts to read fiction and got more active in the blogging world.  I reconnected with a friend from high school whose music and life has had a huge influence on me.  We took a trip to SD to scout out neighborhoods, met a fantastic new friend, and fell in love with SD.  We made the move to SD over the summer and were excited to finally get out of Jersey.  We sent the oldest off to scout camp on Catalina and child #2 off to girl’s camp for the first time.  I took a short trip alone to SF to attend the TOFW conference with a great friend from college.  I also got to squeeze some time in with my cousins and my aunt.  We spent time away in Alabama and Texas interviewing for the future.  We had a house full of people for Thanksgiving as we love to do, and were able to spend Christmas in Vegas with family.
Learned:  things can get out of hand before you realize it and taking life one day at a time helps me to get a little closer to the balance i so desperately long for
 

I look forward to what adventures 2010 will bring.  It seems our lives have always been filled with adventure and I'm glad because I really hate monotony.  We have our "no kid" trip coming up in just a few short weeks, along with a trip to AL to look at homes and schools.  Besides the yearly scout camp and girls' camp, this will be the first summer we send a kid away to EFY.  We will also have a child getting baptized in June and another starting high school in the fall.  We're doing the big move to AL in August, along with a family cruise to Mexico right before the new job starts.  There are lots of things in the works.  I hope the continued soul searching will bring me continued progress and that 2010 will continue with good news as it has started out with.  I will learn how to be a surgeon's wife, how to be the mom of a high school student, and how to homeschool in the state of AL.

counting down

here is what will arrive at my doorstep in just 5 short days...

 

of course, i have the best of luck and have an afternoon appointment that day.  all i can say is the UPS man had better arrive before i need to leave!!!

and in the news...

2009 seemed to be the time for bad news for us.  of course, in almost 15 yrs of marriage, it wasn't the only year for bad news, but we won't go there.  so many things tried to get in the way of this move to SD.  we knew 2 yrs prior that it was the right decision when we accepted the job.  but 2 yrs is a long time to get distracted and lose focus on the goal.  there was so much doubt and so many times when we wanted to just cancel it altogether.  then there was the forever long list of things that seemed to go wrong with the house in jersey.  we kept wondering when we were going to catch a break, or if we were just blinded by trials and couldn't see the blessings when they came our way.  we tried to laugh about it as often as we could and it helped us push through.

2010 seems to be starting off on such a better foot.  of course, january always is a good month for me.  after the holidays are behind me, i seem to be able to get excited about all that is ahead.  we had good news about the house closing next month.  i got news from doc macgyver that he has an educational fund through work and that it can be used on a new camera!  i have already done all the research and put in my order!  we are headed to puerto rico in several weeks to relax without kiddos.  we also got word from the hospital in alabama that my trip out in a couple months to look for housing will be covered under our moving allowance!  and after researching all the expenses related to the move in august, we will be able to ship our cars and fly to alabama and still be within budget!! we will be able to enjoy ourselves on the cruise ship in mexico while our belongings and cars get transported for us.  yippee!

so here's to good news always following the bad.

there can be miracles...

...even when you don't believe.

i for sure did not believe we would get out from underneath this jersey house any time soon.  i had pretty much accepted that foreclosure was unavoidable.  i've talked to so many people and those with experience had said that the first position lien holder never allows the second any payoff unless it's extra.  but this week we got word that we are the exception to the rule!  i know it's not set in stone yet.  the goal is to close on feb 5.  we'll see how quickly the loan can be processed after all these months in limbo awaiting decisions from the banks.

i will probably regret getting ahead of myself.  i've already started perusing the MLS and we're still not sure what the short sale will do to our ability to qualify for a loan.  but just knowing that there's a slight chance now...i couldn't help myself. 

here comes the sun

i have never been a big fan of monotony. i need little changes and spontaneity every so often otherwise i get bored. and i hear people who live or have lived in SD say that not seeing seasons just gets boring. i can tell you that this is one monotony that i'm absolutely in LOVE with and will have much sorrow for when i have to leave it behind in just 7 short months.

i LOVE that i can look outside my window and forget that we're actually in the middle of january. saying the word 'winter' just doesn't feel right around here. i don't feel like i missed out on anything by not having long seasons. it's all the stuff i don't like anyway. we got a full day of rain and gloom yesterday. a couple of those a year is plenty for me. i don't need a few months in a row of that. and we got bright colorful leaves on the trees and watched them fall to the ground, just like we saw in jersey.

i LOVE that not everything around me is dead, as it is in most places this time of year. i love seeing small colorful flowers poking out of the bushes. i feel better when i'm surrounded by life instead of all the death.

i LOVE that i get to see the ocean so often, just in my weekly local travels. i can't explain the hold it has on me. but even yesterday, on a cold, rainy, gloomy day... as we drove past and i looked out the window...the movement of the waves just mesmerized me. i love the sound of the water and the foam of the white caps as they form and fall. whether it's hot or cold, sunny or gloomy, sunshine or moonlight...that ocean just captures my attention. it's another thing i will be sad to leave behind in several months.

i'm grateful for this year we've been given to spend in this great community with perfect weather. hopefully i can embrace our next adventure well, without looking behind to SD too often.

peeve control

what is up with pet peeves? and why do the little things IRK me to no end? be forewarned that if you offend easily, please do NOT continue reading. friends of mine... you know who you are. you know how i feel about you. nothing i say in this blog post will change that.

i sometimes wish i could trade in my pet peeves. in exchange for what, i have no clue. but it often seems that no matter what i got back in return, it would be better than the little itsy bitsy things that cause my blood to boil. and the funny (or not so funny maybe) thing is that i'm probably guilty of ALL the peeves that i am perturbed by from others.

first and foremost is probably words spelled wrong. why that bothers me, i couldn't tell you. but it drives me absolutely nuts! of course, you all know how much value i put on a public school education. but some of us finished college, for crying out loud! how did we ever pass a college english course without being able to spell simple words? even blogger will indicate when you have misspelled something!

slippers and pajamas to the grocery store? for real? do we really need to show everyone else the dirty, grungy edges of our flannel pants and our filthy fluffy slippers? i am a horrible housekeeper, but i have HUGE problems dealing with the dirt of others.

when did a public street become an extension of our private yard? are we just waiting for our child to get hit so that we can put the blame on someone else? seriously. if we aren't blessed with a yard, we should be utilizing a park. street and playground are NOT synonymous.

i should quit while i'm only slightly behind. why do these little, insignificant things bother me SO much? and if i really value my individuality, then why do i get SO obsessed when others don't think or act like me? wouldn't that be missing the point? oh i'm so confused.

odd girl out

usually the time from mid-november until the end of the year gets everyone excited. most look forward to time off, celebrations and whatever else these several weeks promise to provide. i, on the other hand, don't quite fit in with the masses. the 'holidays', as they are commonly called, tend to put a feeling of dread through my blood. i don't equate this time with a whole lot of enjoyment and fervor. instead it drums up thoughts of chaos, extra cleaning and cooking, extra financial strain, extra family fighting, too much sugar (which directly translates to grumpy, whiny kids), silly & impractical traditions, and a number of other things i can't recall right now.

i can't seem to understand why the world thinks we should only be nice to one another and remember the SAVIOR just one day out of the year. are we not to strive always to treat each other as we would want to be treated, and recognize always the SAVIOR and his life?

i don't get why the world says that goals and change should occur just because of a specific date on the calendar. are we not to always be thinking of how we can change for the better?

i never have figured out the purpose of giving meaningless presents just to watch someone shred the wrapping paper in seconds. we must think we 'enjoy' it because it's what was done to us when we were children. have we been conditioned to tie our self-worth to what boxes we open up on a single day each year?

i never have been one for traditions, just for tradition's sake. there has to be real purpose in it for me, or it just seems useless. i have more than enough to be grateful for. and i guess while the rest of the world sets a million new goals they will probably be ignoring in a week... i should make a resolve also. i RESOLVE to strive to increase my gratitude.

these last several weeks of the year seem to make the masses so happy and reflective. i envy those who are happy with just what they've been given, and don't find the need to constantly look outside the circle. my friend crystal is one such person. i've always looked to her to figure out how to click into that line of thinking. just how DOES one truly be grateful for things they don't even like? i'll be working on the answer to that one.

okay, enough of the cynicism. moving on to more positive notes...