Life, Updated

I guess it's time for my monthly check-in. I promise I try to write more often, but my life isn't exciting or glamorous, so there's nothing to write about more often. Trust me, I would if I thought anything was worthy of attention.

Life is good. Emma started school a couple of weeks ago and I think she likes it, every time I ask her about it she doesn't divulge much information, but tonight when it was just her and I grocery shopping she started saying little things is Spanish while we were conversing, it made me smile. I love that girl to pieces and I can't believe how much she is growing up before my eyes. I still don't know where the last 6 years have gone.

Emma's first day of 1st grade. Uniforms are the norm in these parts.

Claire, I don't know what to day about that girl. She is starting to come out of her shell and she is probably the funniest girl in the world. She has a heart of gold and a smile to match it. She is her mommy's best friend and I never want that to change. She hardly eats a thing, some days I find myself wondering how she isn't hungry. On small bite of chicken and one small bit of broccoli and she refuses to eat anything else. It's like that for all three meals (the equivalent of that...). But she loves her fruits and veggies. She's a mystery to us all.

For dessert Emma chooses an ice cream bar while Claire chooses a carrot

And Clarkie, oh that boy has my whole heart. He is the funnest baby in the world, he is growing by leaps and bounds and I want time to freeze. He will be in nursery in 3 short months, while part of me is counting down the weeks praying I make it, the other half isn't sure how I feel about him getting so big so fast. He's the exact opposite of Claire and will eat all day. From the time he wakes up to the time he goes to bed he is usually sitting by the fridge or pantry begging for food. His favorites are fruit snacks and meat, any kind will do. He's all boy and I love it.

When my mom came to visit we headed for the beach, for Clark it was love and first fist full of sand

Neil and I are still in love with Texas, we wouldn't change it for the world. My mom came down a few weeks ago and stayed with us for a week and it was heaven, but upon her leaving I became more homesick than had been in a long long time. Tears were shed and the reality sunk in all over again, I couldn't get online fast enough to book our flight to Utah for Christmas.

Things are different in Texas than Utah, but one thing that never changes is the gospel, living here has made me even more grateful that I have the gospel in my life. I see the way people live, the way the treat the ones they love, and I think that I could never talk to my loved ones the way they do, they are precious to me, my heavenly Father entrusted then to me, and need to do my best to raise them as he would.

People down here do love God though, and they truly want to help others make it to heaven, Neil has been told by people that they fear we are going to Hell because we are Mormon and don't believe in God, so to help us they invite us to church with them. Neil tries to strike a deal about reading the Book of Mormon or attending church with us, but they don't want to go to Hell with us, so they pass. Neil and I giggle over these stories, if only they knew and understood like we do. There is still so much work to be done, I wish I knew how I could help better, Neil tries a work, I need to start looking for more missionary experiences.

One more for good luck

As I sit.

I hear Neil picking notes on the piano, I hear the clicking of the keys as I type, I hear the whir of the fan overhead, and I hear the hum of our home; our home in Texas.

This is our home now, I never thought I would call any place other than Utah home, I always dreamed of one day calling somewhere else home but I never thought I would have (the nerve? the courage? the confidence?) the something to be able to find a home elsewhere. But I have. It's only been a few short weeks, not even enough to say we've been her for 2 months, but it feels like we've been here for years and years. Not in a bad way, nothing of the sort, in the way newlyweds explain to others that it feels like they've been married forever, or the way a new mother will tell others that is feels like her newborn baby has always been a part of their family, I mean it in the most magical way.

I'm still scared, when I think of what's next, I've always known our plan of attack, I always imagined Neil and I in 5, 10, some-odd years building our final home and being content. But that's no longer the case, I don't know where we will build our final home. I want to go back to Utah, but I don't know if Utah will be able to offer what our family needs (mom, skip that part). .But Utah has family, familiarity, comfort, and, yes, home.

Everything has fallen into place more perfectly than I could have ever imagined, it has been as if Heavenly Father has been telling me every step of the way, "See, simply do as I ask and I will take care of the rest. I will never let you go not cared for." It's been a humbling experience, from the small things such as being able to enroll Emma in dual immersion in Texas, to the thoughts that plagued me the most...me.

That deserves more explanation. I'm an introvert, I will openly and proudly admit to that. I think it's fairly safe to say that in Utah, more specifically in our ward in Utah, I had very few to no friends. I don't say this for pity, I state it as a fact, I didn't mind. I had/have acquaintances and I had family...that was enough. Our ward in Utah was, dare I say, very unwelcoming. We had lived there for almost 5 years and upon leaving Neil and I could both say we left feeling as though we were still visitors to the ward. I had a couple friends from our ward and neighborhood, but one had moved almost 2 years ago and the other had moved just a couple of months prior, both out of state. That was all I had pretty much, only 2 people that I felt comfortable enough to stop off at their house and visit. When Neil and I moved I can tell you that only 2 people offered to help, one was out of obligation (he was just called to the bishopric and I could tell that he would have helped but he seemed relieved when we said we think we had it handled), the other was from a new girl in our neighborhood and I could tell she was genuine, but I didn't want to burden her. No one offered to help with children. Moving with 3 children was hard, hard doesn't even start to describe what we went through. I shed many tears of frustration those last few days. We weren't essential to our ward and we felt it, but again, I don't say this for pity, just as a fact and for a background for what's to come next.

The move to Texas scared me, what if I didn't make friends? Sure, in Utah I didn't have friends, but I had family. I'm an introvert and don't make friends easily...I need some sort of social interaction other than my children. I was scared, but Neil comforted me by simply saying that if we (I) absolutely hated Texas we could live there a year and come back to Utah. The first few days were rough...like extremely. I cried every. single. night. I regretted moving, I kept asking myself what I had done. I was the driving force behind Neil's decision to move. But then the first day of church came, never before in my life have I felt so loved and taken care of. After church I told Neil that people who move to Utah probably think Utahns are jerks, because seriously nothing compares to the love I felt that first terrifying Sunday in Texas. And it's never stopped. I have more friends here than I could have ever imagined possible in Utah, me and the kids are constantly going and doing with someone most days of the week. It's absolutely amazing. I have yet to hear something bad said about someone else and I LOVE it. It's a complete 180 from what I have experienced elsewhere.

Texas has been good to our family, Texans have been even better. I'm home, listening to the hum of our home, our Texan home.

The girlies ready for the new adventure!

Probably Neil's 2 favorite things about Texas.

I need to get a picture of Clark walking. It melts my heart and make me want to push him over every day! He's not allowed to grow up and not need me.

Geddy Up, Cowboy!

Has it felt like it's been forever since I've updated this thing of mine? Probably because it really has been. Whew...but we're back...I hope.

Life has been more than hectic for the last few weeks-getting our house ready to sell, finding a place to live in Texas, getting all the itinerary ready to go for our move, finding movers(!!!!), getting our butts down here in Texas, and moving into our new house....a very long few weeks. But in all actuality, it went by way, way too fast.

Texas is good, but it's just not home. I know it's only been a couple of days, but I'm missing mi casa (not my townhouse...believe you me, but my home in general). Everyone here is extremely friendly and very welcoming, and our ward...don't even get me started. I think this ward was picked just for us. It's a breath of fresh air.

A few things I have learned from our extremely short time here:
*In Texas it's not about Diet Coke, it's all about Diet Dr. Pepper...not kidding it's EVERYWHERE! I'm not complaining, I love both so it's nice to now have the option. Diet Dr. Pepper is even at McDonald's yo.
*Diet Coke here tastes really funky...I don't like it out of the fountain, it's a bummer.
*Texans are very aggressive drivers...it can get a little scary.
*Their freeways are CRAZY!
*I have yet to see a family outside playing together in their front yard...
*Restaurants use Styrofoam cups. I hate it, but you need it or else your ice melts and your drink goes warm within minutes.
*If you want to play outside it needs to be done in the morning, it gets too hot and muggy.
*Donut shops everywhere.
*Rain comes hard and fast.
*Strangers aren't afraid to parent your children. It's really interesting to be out in public and hear a complete stranger tell you child to do/not do something and then give them their reasoning. This has happened on more than one occasion. I just laugh it off, they don't mean any harm by it and they aren't rude about it.
*I get called all sorts of fun names...sweetheart, sweetie, ma'am, the list could go on.

All My Exes Live in Texas

Guys! Guess what? This is huge, like huge, huge! Are you ready?

Neil and I are taking the plunge. What plunge, you may ask. Why, we're moving....to Texas! It's not officially official (as in Neil hasn't signed the contract, because he wants to make double sure I will like it there), but it's pretty darn official.

Neil LOVES the company he works for, but these last few months he's found that there are a lot of great guys in great positions, and they are probably set for life, which is great, you want the executives of a company around for a long time. But, for people such as Neil, looking to move up in the company, it's not so great. So, Neil and I have tossed around the idea of looking for other employment, it never was that serious until a couple of weeks ago when 2 great job opportunities came up, one of which was in Texas. Long story short, Neil was offered a wonderful job in Texas, he let the other company he was interviewing with know, and we are headed out to Texas next month.

It's funny, after Neil's interview, well before he got an offer, I just knew we would be moving there. I felt at peace with it and started mentally preparing for it. I'm nervous and scared, too. I mean, I've never lived outside of Utah, and I've never even visited Texas, but that's going to be our new home.

Emma and Claire are excited, and Clark won't even know what hit him. Neil , Clark, and myself head out next week to find a house to live in for the next year (Neil's new company is playing for our housing for the next year), and we're getting our house ready to sell. It's almost surreal. I feel like I should be stressed out, but with Neil's new company taking such great care of us, it's hard to be. They have taken care of every little thing, and I couldn't be more grateful.

It's going to be hard, though, and I know it. I'm going to be away from everything I know, especially my family. I love my family and I can usually see them whenever I please, but that is going to come to a quick end. Just today, we had a family get together to celebrate my great-grandparents' birthdays and it hit me that I won't be able to attend these types of things (no matter how large or small) very much anymore. I won't be able to sit on my parent's back lawn while Emma, Claire, and Clark chase the chickens around (Claire has already informed me that she will miss Grandma Sue's chickies).

But I think I'm ready, as ready as I can be. Here's to the next chapter of life.