Sunday Dinner

We had the missionaries over for dinner today. We've been having them over a lot lately. We are one of the families in the ward closer to their area, and we like their company. Their names are Elder Harding and Elder Luckhoo, and they are both fun guys to talk with. We had a fun conversation about Harry Potter, movies, and all that stuff. We used to always have people over for dinner in Utah, so it's been lonely here because we weren't able to do that for a while. I'm glad we have food stamps, and generous ward members, so that we can share our time and dinner with the elders.

Good Stuff

I had a great birthday yesterday, but I'll have to elaborate later because Mitchell and I are in the middle of an "at-home" date. I just had to take a break to send the content for the RS Newsletter that I work on, and I didn't want to take a hit for not blogging today.

Stressed

I'm feeling extremely overwhelmed and stressed tonight. It sucks also because tomorrow is my birthday, but I'll probably have to spend the whole day at the laundromat, which is probably my least favorite place in the world. I need to stop complaining, but I just felt like I needed to blog tonight. Maybe if I get a good night's sleep, I'll feel better by morning.

The Good and Bad.

The last few days have been pretty crazy. Last week, I had some kind of virus. I'm pretty sure it was the flu because of the severity of the symptoms and how quickly it went away, but Mitchell says it was a cold. Pretty much everyone else got it, but I had it the worst. And then I threw out my back on Sunday morning, and it's been slowly healing since then. So I've been barely doing the minimum requirements to get my family by.

The best things that have happened were being brought groceries from ward members both yesterday and today. We've also received clothes and a gift card. It has been so amazing how much help we have been receiving from our amazing ward. We also FINALLY got our food stamps card in the mail. And we got an Amazon gift card from our credit card rewards that we are using to get some of those more expensive home supplies like A/C filters and printer ink.

So I guess the point of this all is that there are always great blessings even when it seems like things suck.

Oh, and it was Mitchell's 30th birthday last week. It was fun!

Debating

I have trouble focusing on multiple big projects because I prefer to put all my energy into one project at a time. Lately, I've been struggling between job hunting and home organization. We need some kind of income, which is why I've been trying to spend time looking for jobs, but I'm starting to feel pretty discouraged. My house is also in complete chaos because I just haven't had time and/or energy to take care of everything.

Part of me is feeling like I have to make a decision between the two options. This thought especially came up yesterday when I started brainstorming what I thought was an amazing idea, but now I'm just worried it's too complicated. I joined a website that helps you with service-type business with a pet care service. I was pretty excited thinking I could start pet sitting and dog-walking, and then I was thinking about eventually expanding to party planning, decorating, and other interests. But then I found out you have to pay to send quotes to the different job ads. So I lost my momentum...

I just don't know if I should continue to try dividing my attention, or if I should focus on one thing at a time. And should I try to pursue this pet business idea through different avenues? I don't know... Why do I have to be so indecisive?!

Off Duty

You know those nights when you just can't handle anymore? That was me tonight. At around 8:45, I announced to the house that I was "off duty" and would not be doing anymore responsible things. I managed to convince myself to wash my makeup off and brush my teeth. I even managed to read a couple pages from the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith for my gospel study. And I'm only blogging because I needed to rant a little bit. And, I've been having a lot of abdominal pain, which I'm sure is contributing to my crankiness.

Off-Day

Today was an "off" day for me. I just felt moody and frustrated most of the day. I've been working really hard to be patient with myself, and with the Lord's plan, as we try to figure out what to do. We haven't had much come up in the way of work yet. Mitchell is on his last week/paycheck for the freelance indie game he's been working on. He has been asked to do some illustrations for a friend, so that will be great. But that's all. The only time someone seems interested in hiring me, it would cost more to work there than I'd be getting paid! So we keep applying and keep praying and something will happen when it's time.

On the good side, Joseph has been doing well in school. He's going to a martial arts class several times a week, and it's really helping him with his focus, respect, and discipline, as well as getting energy out. We had a great family home evening with a good lesson and a fun activity. I'm also getting really involved in Joseph's school, so that should be fun.

Charlie's Words

Today, I'm going to try to keep a running list of all the words that I hear Charlie say, and what they mean.
The ones with the star are words he learned today; he's at the point now where he will repeat a lot of what we say, so his vocabulary is growing really quickly.

"ah bee-bee" = one of the things he calls himself
apple = used to refer to all round-ish fruits
"back-back" = backpack
"bah guy" = anyone who looks "bad" to him or who fights good guys, usually said kind of growl-y
"bah-bah" or "bah-boo" or just "bah" = bottle
*"bayn-bow" = rainbow
ball
"bay-nkie" = blanket
"bay-ps" = grapes
"beh-gs" = eggs
"bi-pahd" = iPad
"bi-per" = diaper
"bi-psh" = wipes
bite
"boe-ch" or "woe-ch" = roach, 'cause we have had a lot of them here...
"Boh" = Annabelle
"boke" = broken
book
"boop" = poop
"doe-sh" = toes
bug
*"bum" = plum
*"bunchies" = Honey Bunches of Oats, he learned this from Annabelle
"Dah" or Daddy = Mitchell
"daht dog" = hot dog
"day doo" = thank you
*"dee-yahs" = tortillas
"dhoys" = toys
"dosh" = trash
hey
Mama or Mommy
"Maht-mahn" = Joseph, Batman, himself, or all other "good guys"/superheroes, depending on context
money
"nah" = banana, which is his favorite food
"nigh-night"
oh
on
ugh = usually growled in frustration
"unh-unh" = usually the only way he says "no", although he will say it occasionally
uh-oh
"yite" or "wite" = light


In addition to his words, he growls and grunts a lot, but it's all on purpose because he's being a monster or a bad guy or something like that. He can make several different animal sounds. He also has a few different "stage" laughs, depending on how silly he wants to be or what's going on. And he has a full range of sound effects, from guns to lightsabers. He can also sing "Twinkle, Twinkle," the "Imperial March," and the Tim Burton "Batman Theme" well enough that they are recognizable.

As I've been compiling this list all day, I'm kind of amazed by the number of words he knows; this is a list of mostly what he said today, so there are many more words that he has in his vocabulary. I'm just so amazed by how intelligent and "mature" this little guy can be!

Striving

The past two months have been very stressful. It's been so hard trying to find our path amid all the adversity that is in front of us. But, as I contemplate how much I have changed in the past two months, I have to be grateful for these trials. 

This is the first time in years that I have felt this close to my Father in Heaven. I am striving daily to be worthy of His spirit so that I can be guided. I have been humbled; I know that we can't do this on our own, so we've been turning to others for help. I am also more willing to sacrifice for the greater good, even if it's just staying up until midnight to get the kitchen clean so that the roaches don't get bad again. 

I'm grateful for the help that we have received from family, friends, our ward family, and even acquaintances. We are truly being blessed by the Lord each day as we try our best to do His will. I know that, in His own time, we will be able to find the work we need and we will be able to provide for ourselves. And I know that while we are working towards that goal, we will grow to become more like the disciples that He would have us be.

Battle of the Roaches

We've been waging an all-out battle this week against the cockroaches that have infested our kitchen. We completely emptied the kitchen out and used THREE foggers, one on Monday and two on Wednesday. We spent yesterday afternoon sweeping up all the dead roaches and spraying all the ones that were still alive. We spent all day today cleaning the kitchen and putting everything back in very orderly. It made me happy all afternoon to look at my kitchen because it finally feels like we "moved in" to it.

That happiness has been short lived, however. We are continuously finding more roaches in there. We used all the foggers the landlord gave us, sprayed nearly the entire kitchen, and put boric acid down anywhere the roaches would be and the kids wouldn't. So why are there still so many roaches?! And what are we supposed to do now? The landlord just keeps saying we need to spray more, but we can't spray INSIDE of the walls and countertops and cabinet crannies in which these roaches are hiding. My frustration was doubled when I found two adult roaches in our dining room cabinet where I keep all my favorite books and special items.

I think we're losing the war...

Too Much On My Plate

Today was a hard day for me. I feel like I just have a lot going on right now.

The "Bad" Things:

I didn't here back about the job at Veritas, Inc.

We bug bombed our kitchen yesterday, but the infestation is so bad that we have to do it again tomorrow.

I haven't had any use of my kitchen for about 36 hours, so we've had to eat out a lot even though we're completely broke.

We don't know how we're going to pay our rent for September, but we can't move anywhere else because we can't pay a deposit. 

I think I have a UTI. 

I'm having my period for the second time in 2 weeks because I had to stop my birth control pills prematurely; they were making me feel "morning sick" all the time.

The "Good" Things:

I had a job interview at a different PetSmart. They seemed really interested in me.

Joseph is starting Kindergarten tomorrow! And we have all his stuff ready for him.

We've been the recipients of many charitable acts over the past month.

Our landlord is providing all the supplies to take care of our roach problem.

I'm hoping and praying really hard that everything evens out soon.

Annabelle's Prayer

I helped Annabelle say a personal prayer before she went to bed. She asked for help, but she didn't need too much prompting. It went something like this:

"Father in Heaven...."
"Thank..."
"Thank you for the day. Thank you for cleaning our room. Thank you that I can be with my mom and dad forever. Thank you for the missionaries coming over two days."
"Please..."
"Please bless it."
"Please help.."
"Please help me to be a good girl to my mom. Please help Charlie to be good to mom, too. Please help Joseph to play his video games when he cleans his room. Please........................... okay, that's all. Amen."
"You have to say 'In the name of Jesus Christ.'"
"In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

I might have forgotten a few things she said because it was a pretty long prayer. But it was just so cute! And I'm glad she's learning things in Primary and Family Home Evening.

Yesterday's Interview

So, I'm going to give a few more details about the interviews that I've been doing. The company is called Veritas, Inc., and it happens to be the suite next door to Bento Box Entertainment, where Mitchell was working. It is a marketing company that contracts with AT&T. I was surprised when I got the call because I didn't remember applying to the company, and I later found out that CareerBuilder applied for me. I was intrigued because they offer training in business management, but it's paid. The HR Manager liked me at my first interview, so she had me come back the next day for a second interview. They do their second interviews a little differently than most people would imagine. I went in at 9:30 yesterday morning and spent the next 8 hours shadowing one of their trainers. Her name was Sarah, and we got along with each other really well, which was great. We drove out to Stockbridge and then we just went from business to business. Technically, it's a sales job., at least for the first few years. You get a list of leads, and they are all companies who have, or have had, AT&T. You go to their business and make sure they have been switched over from DSL to the new fiber optics internet. If they don't have AT&T anymore, you try to show them that AT&T is cheaper than what they have. Being with her the whole day, I was able to see all the different responses. She saved the first guy over $150 by switching him over. There were some people who just needed their equipment updated, so she sends a request in for them. Some people either weren't in charge of the internet bills, or they pretended that they didn't speak English. And some people said they hated AT&T and didn't want to talk to us. It made me wonder if that's what it's like to be on a mission... I've always been afraid of "sales" because I didn't feel like it was something I could do, but I felt comfortable with this. It really just felt like we were just getting to know people and trying to help them out. Sarah thought I did really well, and told the CEO, Ed, that I was great at talking to the customers. I had an interview with him at the end of the day, and he really seemed to like me, too. The position starts as sales, and you work to progress from Entry Level, to Leader/Trainer, to Assistant Manager, and then to Manager. It's about 50 hours a week, which is really intimidating. That's how much Mitchell was working and it seemed like he was always gone. The second phase is entirely commissioned-based pay, and you're required to make at least $500 a week, but she said the average is around $800 a week. Sarah has been with the company about 2 years and is just about to become an Assistant Manager, so that's an idea of how quickly you can progress. Towards the end of the day, she did mention an administrative position that she felt would be good for me and she was going to mention that to Ed when she talked with him about my performance. I should get a call Monday or Tuesday to find out if they want to hire me. I'm excited because I think it would be an amazing opportunity for growth and learning, but I'm a little scared as well.