A much needed night out!

So as Ben's job gets closer to finishing up, the hours that everyone works goes up. Ben worked like crazy last week. He worked over 80 hours, which in reality means that I worked over 80 hours too. It was a long week!!!!
After he got home on Saturday I talked him into letting me go shopping and him keeping the boys at home. I called my friend Katie, and we, along with Ethan( I had to sweeten the deal for ben a little :) went out shopping. We didn't even go out shopping for anything exciting. I needed leggings for my Halloween costume. But it was just going out with a friend and doing something I love. I know first hand why they call it retail therapy! Finding that killer deal will make you forget a lot of stuff that in the big picture isn't very important. My killer deal was finding a pair of hot pink heels on clearance for $10!!!
The shopping was fun but the conversation was better. I love having friends that we can talk about anything and everything. or nothing. And the friendship stays the same. I have been blessed with some greats friends and I know the conversation would be the same no matter how long in between talks. Girlfriends and cute shoes.....two things that I will always love!!

I'm back!

I've been told by numerous people that my blogging skills suck and that I haven't updated in a while. Oops!!! I guess life got in the way (again) but Ben is gone for the day and the kids are playing quietly, so lets purge! I can get everything out that I haven't done for the last 4 1/2 months.

The strange thing is that for the most part, there's not much to purge...I think that may be why I haven't kept up on my blog as much as normal. I'm content. I know, doesn't happen very often. But I really am content. Yes, I have those days when I'm pulling my hair out, but who doesn't?

I feel like by moving here, we finally found the place where we belong. Everything just fell into place. The kids are happy, Ben is happy, I'm happy. Simple enough.

We love our neighborhood, we love the kids' school, and we love our ward. Ben and I both have callings and I've really found that we seem to be happier when we are active in our ward, i.e. Riverdale and Eagle. The thing that makes this place different from those places is that we had to get involved on our own. There's no family to ease us in or friends from work. We started out knowing noone and this time, we actually felt welcomed from the start.

I know that some of our family and friends still don't get why we moved to....how did they word it...oh yeah, BFE! But this is the part that I get know....they don't have to. They don't have to understand it. Hopefully, after a while the teasing will wear off and they will see just how happy we are and in return be happy for us. I don't have to rely on outside forces to be happy now....and that my friends is contentment :)

Just kidding everybody!!!!

hey all, i guess i should've updated this a while ago, but life got in the way. Soooooo, yeah, things have changed yet again. (surprise, surprise) We are no longer getting the house that i posted pictures of last time. The bank informed us after the fact that they were going to increase the price by $20,000. We told them thanks, but no thanks.
The next day, the house we originally thought we were going to get was back on the market. We put in another offer and by the end of the week we were under contract! I know its confusing to me too, but the bottom line is unless fate decides to play another joke, we are getting the house we wanted in the first place :) They were making the needed repairs this weekend and should do the appraisal on Tuesday. Our bank told us that our tentative date to close was around the 20th of this month. So if everything works out like i hope it will, we will be moving the last weekend of June! I'll try to keep this updated better if things change again :)

Is it possible for a bank to hurry?

So we got everything squared away with the house. We got our acceptance and we filed our paperwork for our loan. They told Ben it will probably be about 4 weeks. That puts it around the 18th-21st of June. Somewhere in there.... things are moving along and we are getting really excited!!! We gave our thirty days notice and need to be out by June 12th. What are the chances of the bank actually processing our loan faster than they said? Yeah, that's what I thought, too... slim to none! Oh well, my parents said we could invade their house in the lapsing period. I have such a great family. They are always there for me. It's been nice that they are all so excited for us. And just so they all know, Liz and mom volunteered to have a painting party before we move in. Everyone is free to join us :)

We've made a decision!

We heard from the bank today and they gave us a counter offer that we felt like we could accept. After praying about it, we still have a good feeling about this first house. We've looked at other ones and just keep coming back to this one. With this house, we feel like we'll have more freedom to do the things we want to do. We won't be house poor! For us, that is a huge thing. We don't want to get in over our heads on our first home. We want to be able to enjoy being a home owner and when the time is right, we'll sell and either build or buy a different one. Thanks for all the prayers. We feel like we have really been blessed. The bank said they would ok everything in the next 3-5 business days so sometime next week this should all be official!

Just along for the ride....

So, for those that haven't heard the latest news on our house hunting adventures, here you go... We had put two offers in on two houses in Eagle Mountain. Being bank owned properties, that left it out of our hands. We were told at the beginning of last week that we were the lead offer on both, and if we wanted either one, we could have them. It just may not be in time to meet the deadline for the housing credit.
We decided to hold out for a mini miracle that the banks would approve our offer faster than normal. Well they called on the 22nd and said that one of our offers was approved. We went forward with it and began planning on what we would do with our new house. On April 29th ( one day before the tax credit ends) the bank withdrew their approval of our offer and decided to put the house up for auction instead.
I was devastated at first but within an hour, our realtor called with one more change in our plans. Apparantly we were also approved on the other home and our offer was never dropped. So if we still wanted it, we could get it and the tax credit. I think I was too overloaded to really appreciate what a blessing that was. I had Ben call and double check that everything was really working out.
I was still bummed out that we weren't able to get our first choice home, but I tried to remind myself that all along we had prayed that if this was where we needed to be, that everything would work out. Maybe this was the Lord's way of letting us know that no matter how bad we thought we wanted that house, it was not the best choice for our family. I guess only time will tell, but I have faith that our prayers were answered.
I stayed up looking for more houses, hoping that maybe we would find a house that was not a bank owned property and that we could make an offer on and get approved faster. So we went out tonight (april 30th) and walked through two more homes. We fell in love with one of them. It was bigger and move in ready but it was more than we had planned on. We(meaning I) tried to scramble and find out if this was at all possible on the budget we had given ourselves. Ben and I started arguing about stupid little things and for us, that is never a good sign. The more I thought about it, the more I realized.....I can try to force a situation as much as I want, but if its not what needs to happen, it won't work out.
After a long talk, we decided that as much as we loved that house, we just didn't feel good about it. And in realizing that, we realized how good we did feel about the first house. We'll continue to pray for guidance and see how this all ends up. If you want to join us, feel free :) we're just along for the ride.

Time for round two!!

The one awesome thing about a short sale is that if you make an offer on a house, its not a binding agreement. So we've continued to look at more houses. On Tuesday we saw about 7 more houses and found one that we really liked. It's a little over 2500 sq ft and this one has an unfinished basement which is something that Ben really wanted. We put an offer in on this house too and our realtor told us we should know the outcome by next Friday! Keep your fingers crossed for us, cuz we really like this one.

I've got my big girl pants on now!!!!

What a month its been...Ben and I have been dipping our toes in the housing market to see if we can find a great deal that would be worth jumping in for. Well, we went and looked at some homes yesterday and after putting my big girl pants on for the first time, we are planning on making an offer on one of them. It's a 5 bed/4 bath house in Eagle Mountain. It's almost 2400 sq. feet and its on a short sale so its only 135,000. We're trying to keep our payments low because we don't want to be stuck with a crippling mortgage if Ben were to lose his job. We've seen too many friends laid off with no warning and its always looming in the back of my mind.

I was talking to Liz yesterday and told her that the only reservations we had was the location. But after some further discussion, Ben and I decided that we were close enough for him to carpool to work with some friends and it also makes him eligible for the $300 gas allowance at work. So even though its not any closer to family, its closer to some friends and it seems like it would be a great opportunity for us. Since its a short sale, there's a good possibility that we won't hear anything for a while, but we'll see what happens. For me to make such a big decision and not feel crazy is a big thing....I guess this is what it feels like to be a grown up.

update from last weeks post!

Ok, so for Steve and Jayme, I'm fine....I promise. Last week was the peak of a very long and drawn out month at our house. I was coming off a three week period where I had 3 sick kids and had only left my house 3 times. I was overwhelmed and just sick and tired of being up here with no one to talk to.

Like I said, putting my thoughts to words is very theraputic for me and I woke up the next morning feeling much better. I finally decided that I'm not going to be so passive about everything. I'm not going to leave invitations open ended any more. If I want to go shopping, I'm going to say " I'm going this day, and this time. Do you want to come. " Where I am so isolated from everything, I can't keep working my schedule around other people. I can't keep myself cooped up in the house. It's not fun, and its definitely not something I can take too much of.

Ben and I are getting a membership to our Fitness and Aquatic center and I'll be going every other day to lift weights or work out there. That will be a much needed out for me. Some alone time to clear my head and get in shape. And who knows, maybe I'll meet some volleyball players in the mean time. All I know is that actually going outside with no coat on this weekend was so rejuvinating for me! To feel the sun and not be freezing was long overdue. I love the snow, but I'm so ready for it to be gone. I'm ready for spring....bring it on!

Just need some down time.....

Let me just start by saying that I love my family more than anything. That being said, this is mostly a theraputic way for me to vent. When I put things in writing, it helps me to sort through my feelings. So this may not make sense to anyone else, but hopefully it will help me.

Since we haved moved up to Francis, we are in an interesting situation. We are definitely closer to family, but we are still far enough away that we only see them once or twice a month. Sometimes its just too hard to get out the door early enough to drive for 3 hours (round trip) and still have time to do something fun. Well, with me being the introvert that I am, I haven't made very many friends up here... and the ones that I am friends with, don't seem to have time to do anything.

So basically, I sit in my house all day long, chasing kids and cleaning, and thats about it! Going to the grocery store is about the only time I ever get out of my house, and anyone that knows my children knows that it can be more stressful than staying home( where they are contained :) )

I don't know how to describe what I am feeling besides saying that I am suffocating. It's gotten a lot worse during the winter. The weather has only added to how much I am stuck home. I spend so much time cooped up in my house, that I am no longer a patient mom, I'm actually quite the opposite. I feel like I am not myself. I feel isolated from the rest of the world. My close friends that I made in the past are busy with their own lives and so I feel alone in this.

Ben is great to try to keep my spirits up, but between work and training for his half marathon, we don't have much time. He doesn't understand why I am so irritable sometimes and there's not really any excuse. I just am.

I finally saw some sort of light in the form of a volleyball league up here. But when I called to see if any teams needed players, I wasn't given much hope. Hopefully, I can find something that I can do for myself to alleviate some of the drab that I'm feeling.

Random thoughts

So here we go.....
-On the way home I got frustrated at a rude driver. If this guy were any closer to my car he would've been pushing me up the hill. I'm sorry but I don't feel like going 80 mph up a canyon is that slow.....so back off! I was only in that lane to pass a slower vehicle. Anyway, when he flew past me, I had a surge of road rage and flipped him off! Well, after I did that and as he got a little further ahead of me, I could see that he was a sheriff! OOPS!
-Today at church, my five month old was the noisiest of my kids. How does that happen??
- The kids got a new bunkbed. Brett fell off the bottom bunk on the first night.
-Feeling like I need a change... not sure what kind, but something. My hair, my house, my routine...something.
- Got a new calling in Primary. I teach Adam's class...CTR 4! Kids are good, and its helping me to actually feel involved in our ward.
- I feel like I have no energy. I've been running and instead of getting easier, it seems to be harder lately. I have to get my thyroid checked again...its been a while.
- I could really use a night out. I don't care who with....just out. I get too melancholy being cooped up in my house all winter. If anyone wants to get together, I'm a cheap date :)

Happy Birthday Brett!!!!!

My little Brett Packer is 3 years old today!!!! That seems like it flew by so quickly and yet I still have those days when I cannot wait for him to be a little older. :) So much has changed and he has grown up so far beyond his years.

Brett is a fire cracker of a kid and he definitely keeps me on my toes. He is loud and proud and 200% boy! He is the most polite little terror I have ever met! (Grandma Jo has nicknamed him her precious stinker) He is constantly busy and therefore, I am constantly busy. Even when he is playing in the other room, he comes out about every 5 minutes to make sure he hasn't missed anything.

He is totally loving being an older brother to Ethan and he takes advantage of every opportunity to hug and kiss his little "E-fan James". He loves to make Ethan smile and is the first one to say good morning when Ethan wakes up. He has learned that he is supposed to kiss him on the top of his head, but every once in a while he sneaks one in on Ethan's face.

Brett is by far a daddy's boy. He loves to talk to Ben on the phone and comes running when he knows his daddy is home from work. They have almost the same sense of humor and it usually has to do with potty talk.

As grown up as he thinks he is, he is still my little boy. I love when he comes in my room in the early morning to snuggle before we eat breakfast. He is loving and is always up for a kiss or hug. He is obsessed with superheroes and one day, I'm sure he'll have little boys of his own and will be able to be their superhero. Love you Brett Packer!!!!!

The after holidays hangover......

I've never had a hangover, but I'm pretty sure this is how it would feel. During the holidays, I stayed up late, woke up early (with a little help from my boys) and now that its all done and over....I just can't seem to shake this funk I'm in. I'm tired all the time, I'm sooooo not motivated to do anything. I finally started to take down my Christmas decorations today, but I never finished. But I do have a cure.....its called "the inlaws are coming to visit on Friday!!!" I can guarantee that is enough to snap me out of la la land. My house will be getting a head to toe overhaul tomorrow to make sure its presentable for my neat freak in laws.

8 years, 4 kids, and lots of laughs later.......

December 7th, 2001....that's the day of my first date with Ben. We doubled with his parents ( I know, you're jealous) to his company Christmas party. Little did I know that within 2 weeks we would have gone on 7 dates and fallen head over heels for each other. We got along with each other from the start and had an eerily close sense of humor! Anyone who knows Ben knows how scary that is that I think the same way sometimes!!!
Now, over 8 years we have made so many memories together. We've had our up and downs and through it all, we're still standing. I couldn't imagine going on this journey with anyone else. Ben, I love you and I'm glad Shannon gave you my number 8 years ago.

Thankful!

This week has been an emotional roller coaster for me...(big shocker there, I know) I've seen people around me have struggles that I would crumble with. And I find myself torn between feeling thankful that I don't have that problem and feeling somehow guilty that it is them and not me. I know my thinking is a little irrational, but I hate to see people I care about hurt. It also makes me worry that my trials are not far off, and for anyone that knows me well....I worry incessantly about the unknown. So with all of these emotions running through my brain, I want to try to stay focused on the great things in my life....my family, my health, my faith, my freedom, my friends. If your reading this, you're someone that I care about... and your trials are my trials, but your happiness is my happiness too!!

I'm a slacker!!!

Ok, so I haven't updated my blog since we left Colorado. I know, its been a while. I'm not even sure that anyone will read this, but I just checked all my blog lists and realized how much I've missed out on.
For those who don't know, we welcomed our 4th little boy to our family on Aug. 20th. His name is Ethan James McClurg and I'm amazed at how natural it feels to have him here. It seems like he has always been there for Brett to kiss as he walks by, or for Adam to pat on the head. He is a wonderful baby that I feel so blessed to have.
I feel like you can learn a lot about people by reading their blogs. There is something very honest about the way people can talk about their lives when they blog. Whether they are experiencing sorrow, new found joy, or just everyday living....It's interesting to me to know what and how they are feeling. I always feel like I learn something when I read other people's blog. So to those of you that are faithful in your blogging, thank you....It helps me to feel connected to you even if I'm not always close by. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up on my blog a little better now that my life has calmed down a bit.

Not quite the ending I was picturing.....

Well, if you would've asked me 2 months ago about moving, I would've griped about the HOA. Ask me today, and it's a completely different reason. Layton's job at the Four Seasons inVail is no more. On Thursday, the owners notified Layton employees that they were terminating the contract. It was written as a "termination of convenience". That, from what I am told, means they could find no fault with Layton, but decided to finish the job with another contractor. This means that we, along with all of our Layton family here in Colorado, will be moving in the next few weeks. As of now, we don't know where we will be placed or when we need to be there, but a move is coming.

We've had some great times here and have met some truly wonderful people. Working out of state has been a great experience for our family and has made us closer than I could've ever imagined. We're both leaving behind callings that we love and people that we are better for knowing. I will look back on our time here with very fond memories.

We don't know what the next chapter of our lives will be yet, but it is our prayer that we will have the faith to know that things will work out. So, even though its not the ending I was picturing in my mind.....It's the ending that needed to happen.

HURRAY!!! THE HOA IS BACK!!!

Well, my favorite people in the world are back at it making people's lives a living hell. We just got another letter put on our door siting the violations this time. This time we were only in violation of 5 of the 6 listed!!! WooHoo!
The wording in this letter is absolutely appalling. "we continue to have residents violating some of the basics thus jeopardizing those exact reasons we moved to MacDonald St." If my kids using sidewalk chalk, riding bikes and having a stroller set on my porch "jeopardize" anyone's reason for moving here, then we moved here for completely different reasons. I thought this was a kid-friendly neighborhood, but apparently I was wrong.
As I have stated before, were my house not attached to 3 houses on either side, I would have no problem putting bikes in the garage at night. But, where I am 6 1/2 months pregnant, I don't really want to have to carry 3 different bikes around all of the houses to the back where the garage is located. I think storing them on MY porch should not make a difference to anyone else. And now they have said that if they are not actively in use, they must be put in the garage. I don't know about any of you, but my kids don't ride their bike one time a day. They ride it, get off and play, ride it, get off and play, etc. To ask a mother who is already busy chasing 3 little boys, to put their bike away whenever they are not on it, is retarded.
We've been told that sidewalk chalk must be washed away every night. Even though the sprinklers wash 90% of it away anyway. We also got our reminder that only owners can have dogs. I still stand by the fact that my dog is better behaved than the dog of the lady on the HOA board. Her dogs sits outside and barks all freaking day! And it's not my dog pooping up and down the street.
The thing that really gets me is they had the audacity to tell my friend Elissa who has 4 small children that she isn't allowed to run a daycare out of her home. SHE DOESN'T RUN A DAYCARE....SHE JUST HAS 4 LITTLE KIDS!!!!!! They told her that her car is constantly pulling up and driving away from her house. Hello!!! Mother of small children!!!!! Errands need to be run! And they told her all of this to her face!
So, here I sit, waiting for my landlord to call and say"well, the HOA sent me another letter about renters having dogs and you not obeying the rules. So, I guess you'll have to find another place"
And with only 5-6 months left here in Eagle, its not the best timing. I told Ben that if we don't get kicked out, I'll do my best to abide by the most retarded and controlling rules I have ever heard of.
BUT, just for spite, I'm gonna leave all kinds of crap out on the lawn (not my porch) for the next nine days and then move it right before they can fine me!!!!!!!! I'll show them! HA!

Happy birthday Adam!!

Adam is now officially 4 years old. He has been asking me for months when he would be 4. I think it was so the neighbor would quit calling him a baby.(unfortunately, that didn't work) Adam is such a special part of our family.
He is our sweetest boy, our cuddliest boy, and the one who looks the most like Ben. His smile is perfect and for the most part he is a very happy kid. He has a love for animals and never misses an opportunity to kiss Beau on the head when he walks by. He is by far our best eater and never misses a meal either. It will be fun to watch him grow up even more this year. We love you Adam!!

Teacher Appreciation....its finally done!

Well, for those of you who haven't talked to me in the last few weeks, I've spent the last month(or two or three) helping to plan and get ready for our teacher appreciation night. The youth of our ward have a tradition of nominating their favorite teacher. Most of the teachers are from school, some are private music teachers. This year, a favorite substitute got nominated and much to my disapproval, so did I.
Things went soooo good this year. Out of the 16 teachers that were nominated, 14 were able to come(one was at a funeral). So with the teachers and their guests, the students and their family, we probably had somewhere around 80-90 people. We set up enough seats for 100 and there were not very many empty seats. It was a great turnout. We also did a dinner for that many people. In the past it was thought that we couldn't do a dinner because it would be too crowded, but we did it and it turned out so great.
I got the job of making enough cole slaw for 100 people!!!! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it turned out great. I got a lot of compliments on that cole slaw. I also was in charge of buying the supplies and making the gifts for the teachers. We did an 8x6 tile with a vinyl lettering quote from the student about why their teacher is special. I think I spent at least 10 hours cutting, peeling and transferring the vinyl. There were 20 different quotes done in .40 inch font. Can you say a pain in the butt!!! But I must say, they looked so good when they were done. We also did a slide show, played the newlywed game and parodied a song for the video.
So after all the preperation, the night came and went. I think the best part for me was having the girls in our ward come up immediatley after and say "Thank you so much Sister McClurg! You guys did such a great job. I know how much work it was." That to me, makes it all worth it. They were so gracious. Their parents were so gracious. And the teachers were so gracious. It was a ton of work, but to be able to show a teacher just how much they are appreciatied is awesome.