moving...

Basically this blog has become useless. I just can't seem to keep up with everything. I am still blogging over at www.pameladonnis.com/blog though if you want to catch up with me.

Maybe I should update!

Well, it's been long enough, maybe I should update...

We're in Kentucky now! We've been here about 6 weeks, and we really love it. It's very different from what we are used to, but being here feels right, comfortable. Like home. And we haven't felt that way about any place we have ever lived.

Jared is loving his new job. He's teaching two sections of English and is the Writing Center Coordinator. It's perfect for him and although he sometimes comes home stressed (beginning of the semester is always so busy), he comes home really happy. And I love seeing that. It makes the sacrifice of going back to school worth it, and I know it was the right thing to do although I really dragged my feet and complained through a lot of it.

We have a cute 3-bedroom 2-bathroom house with a huge yard, and we love having more space. And I LOVE having a dishwasher again!

We attend a small but super friendly branch. Everyone has been so welcoming and being so far away from family has not been nearly as hard as I expected since we have this new "family." One thing I love about the church is that you have an instant family wherever you go. And the gospel is the same wherever you go. We're so blessed. Jared and I both got callings today. I am going to be the Activities Director, and will also do the weekly Sacrament Meeting programs (bulletin). And Jared is going to be Young Men's President. We're a little overwhelmed, but super excited. When the branch president visited us last week to ask us to serve, he told us that since this branch started (I think about 15 years) there has never been a missionary go out from this branch. Jared is a really great example for the young men because he is a returned missionary, married in the temple, and a college graduate. He blushes and thinks it's not really that big of a deal, but it is. Plus he's really good with teenagers and college-age kids, and they think he's cool. He'll do a great job.


This next part may be a little braggy, but hey, this is my blog, so I'm allowed to do that!


Ryan is almost 4. He is so verbal (like his daddy) and talks all day long. He's been reading for a few months now and loves books. Reading books together is one of our favorite things to do every day. And he is still obsessed with Thomas the train.


Emery is almost 2 and is talking quite a bit too. She is starting to put two or three words together. She knows all her colors and recognizes a lot of the letters in the alphabet. When we moved here we decided not to set up the crib, but to just put the mattress on the floor. She has been doing great in her big girl bed. Pretty soon we'll get Ryan a twin bed and Emery will get his toddler bed frame. She is also potty training right now. Seriously, already? I swear my baby girl was just born. She still has quite a few accidents, but has been doing really well. She hates wearing diapers, so luckily we have mostly wood and tile floors in case of those panty-wearing accidents. But please don't get me started on poop and our white carpets. I curse these carpets every day.... Luckily the carpet cleaner seems to take care of it. Ryan did this too. I don't get it.


And our newest little one will be here soon. About a month until my due date (October 1st). I'm really praying that she will be here sooner though because last week they did an ultrasound and she is already over 6 lbs. Ryan was 6 lbs. 7 oz. and Emery was 7 lbs. 3 oz., so I'm nervous about having an 8 or 9 pounder. And really, I'm not sure my body can stretch much farther (or is it further? I'll have to ask Jared...)


I'm super busy with all the above mentioned, plus tons of designing which is going very well. I'm going to be one of the featured designers at The Daily Digi next month, which I am very excited about!

Relief

Jared got the job!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kentucky, here we come...

(Yes, I'm very nervous, but I think it will be a great adventure!)

Moved out!

We're out. This move kicked my butt. Jared and I have now moved eight times in our eight years of marriage (hey, we like change!), but this time by far was the hardest. I guess cause we have two kids and I'm pregnant this time! Anyway, we're still waiting to hear back about the job, but the interview went really well, so we'll see. Although it's really hard to wait, I'm confident that it will work out if that's what's best for our family right now.

Have a design deadline weighing on my mind, and am desperately trying to get out of tired packing mode and back into creativity mode. So I made a couple of layouts tonight...

And don't you just want to eat her up? I so love those curls!

What a week...

Our apartment is basically empty--except for an air mattress, some toys, and duffel bags with our clothes. Jared left this morning for the airport. He's flying out to Kentucky for the second interview! Crossing our fingers and saying extra prayers. It's SOOO far away, but if no one has noticed, jobs are kind of hard to find right now, so we'll take what we can get. He gets back on Thursday and then that night we leave for Washington for the summer!

I just have to brag a little on my husband. This morning as he was rushing around to do last minute packing and preparing for his trip, he stopped to hold my hair while I puked my guts out. We were late leaving because of it, but it meant a lot to me that he would try to support me with all that he had on his mind.

Packing, packing, packing

Trip to the Zoo

We took a day off from packing to take the kids to the zoo! My sister Chelsea came up from Provo and we had a great time. I think Ryan's favorite part of the whole day was planning out the route and following the map. This kid's going to be an architect one day!

While we were there Jared received a call from Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky, wanting him to fly out for a second interview! (His first interview was over the phone.) He was so excited he was jumping up and down in front of the giraffes. It was especially exciting because the day before he had gotten a letter from BYU-I letting him know someone else had been selected for the position and he was feeling depressed. In some ways it's a blessing we didn't get that job though, because it was for a one year position with the expectation that you will go on for your PhD the next year, and he wasn't sure that's exactly what he wanted to do. So he flies out to Kentucky next week. We aren't necessarily thrilled about the location, but the job opportunity is amazing. If chosen, he will be the Writing Center Director as well as teaching two composition classes at the college, which as he says "marry his two academic loves." It's a lot of responsibility, but he is very passionate about both, and I know he will be up for the challenge. Say some extra prayers for us!

Growing

I'm not sure why I have been so hesitant to post this. Maybe because of the recent miscarriages, maybe because some of my friends' recent losses. Most likely because I have recently shared my story of infertility with several people, and in this case it just doesn't seem to apply. If there is anything I have learned over the past several years, it's that God is definitely in charge and has a plan for me that is greater than my own.

We weren't necessarily planning to have another baby anytime soon. In fact, I was completely fine with just Ryan and Emery, especially considering how difficult getting and staying pregnant has been for me. But, as mentioned above, my plan isn't always the best plan, and there is another little one that is supposed to join our family. It's been a rough pregnancy so far. Lots of sickness--more than with my other pregnancies--and lots of worry of miscarriage. But now at 20 weeks with a belly I can't hide anymore, it's time to "announce." We also just found out last week that we are going to have another little girl. We would have been happy with either, but we are excited to add some more pink to our family and to not squish Emery between two brothers. Before we found out, Ryan wanted to name the new baby "Google," "Gopher," or "Thomas" (Thomas the train). He was determined it would be a boy. But when we found out it was a girl, he immediately started thinking of all the girl trains from Thomas the train--Rosie, Annie, Molly, etc. Silly boy.

SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are NO LONGER home owners!!

So that probably doesn't seem too exciting, but really it is. We moved from Las Vegas almost 3 years ago, and today we FINALLY closed on the condo. I loved that little condo and it was really perfect for us at that stage of our lives. It was the first home we bought, and the place Ryan was born. But it was time to move on. We rented it for as long as we could, but when we started having problems with our renter paying the rent, and the market taking a major dive, it was time to list it for sale. Unfortunately this is the worst time you could possibly try to sell in Las Vegas right now. It's been a long frustrating adventure, but we just got the call today that it finally CLOSED and is no longer in our name, and we couldn't be happier!!

Mmmwwaa to you little condo! We have some great memories.

Curly Girly

Just a few pictures I took of my baby girl last weekend while we were on campus for Jared's graduation. Emery is growing so quickly and is becoming such a sweet little girl. And I soooo hope her curls stay as she gets older!
Yes, that's a binkie. Grrr... We usually only let her have it at bedtime and naptime (and I'd really like her to be done with it then too), but it was a really long day and she didn't get a nap that day, so the binkie helped keep things under control.

Graduation Gift

Wanna see what I got Jared for graduation? I've been saving my design money for a while, and I was pretty excited about the purchase.

Jared was THRILLED. He's been wanting to learn to play cello since we discovered Yo-Yo Ma when we were in China (7 years ago!) I found a great deal on E-Bay, and decided to go for it! Can't wait to start hearing some music around here! Except we might have to wait until we move, cause it's REALLY loud and I'm not sure the neighbors are thrilled.

Post Graduation Vacation

It wasn't really a planned vacation, but Jared had to go to Boise and Rexburg, Idaho to visit colleges and for an interview, so we all went with him!! It was so nice to take a break for a few days, especially after the stress of the last few weeks of the semester. The kids and I spent most of our time shopping, hanging out in the hotel, and swimming. When Jared wasn't in meetings we ate out, did more shopping, and talked a lot about our near future.

Jared has applied to several colleges and universities for teaching positions this fall. We are still anxiously waiting (although we are currently packing and plan to leave Logan by the end of May). This past week he had a day-long interview at BYU-I. He had a teaching experience, plus five interviews (including one with a general authority). It went very well, and he felt really good about it, but we won't know if he got the job for a few weeks. While he was interviewing there, he received a call from a college in Kentucky. He will be interviewing with them next week. We are also looking into PhD programs, although we will probably take a break for a while since we are both pretty exhausted right now. Going to school is definitely harder now that we have kids. So many possibilities right now... We have no idea where we will be or what we will be doing over the next few months, so we are saying lots of prayers!!

Here is a picture of Ryan at one of the hotels we stayed at last week. Aren't hotel comforters the BEST? lol

Graduation!!!!

It finally came and we couldn't be more excited!!!!!

Congrats Jared! We are so proud of you and all your hard work!!!!

A Fun Mom Blog

My friend Catherine is a stay-at home mom and SUPER talented writer. She is so awesome at taking the ordinary moments of motherhood and turning them into something funny. Anyway, she just started a new blog, and I wanted to let everyone know about it! Some days when I am going crazy with my own kids I love to read what she has to say because she outs things into perspective.

http://nutsinanutshell.blogspot.com/

Currently her husband is going to school as well as working, and she is hoping her blog will generate enough traffic that she can help him get through school (she gets paid per 1000 viewers). You don't have to buy anything, just viewing her blog helps her out! And I don't know about you, but I'm always all over supporting stay-at home moms (hey, I am one!) in whatever way I can.

I hope you love her writing as much as I do!!

No blogging

Cool me thought I was going to be so much better about blogging, but nope. Things have been too too crazy this final semester. We think of our lives in semesters lately, and it occured to me the other day that it might always be like that since Jared will be done with school and teaching soon.

If you want to know what's going on with me, best to check my design blog (I have a new one by the way) cause that's really what I've been up to!!! Tons of designing. www.pameladonnis.com

I'm REALLY trying to remember this today as I am going crazy in this apartment! I think I'm just ready for warmer weather, and more space. And, not to sound trunky or anything, but only 2 1/2 months til Jared graduates and we can move from this place! Unless we decide to stay for the summer... just depends on what the job situation is. But all the jobs he's applied for so far won't start until fall semester. We won't buy another house for a while, but we've made a deal about what kind of place we'll rent, and I'm not compromising on having no dishwasher or washer and dryer this time! Am I being too bratty?

I didn't have my babysitting kids today so I got my kids ready and we set out to do some errands. I even promised Ryan a treat of chicken nuggets at Wendy's for lunch. But when we got out to the parking lot, the car wouldn't start. I was freaking out a little and called Jared and he calmed me down and said it sounded like it just needed a jump. We're pretty sure one of the doors wasn't closed tight so the battery died overnight. So we treked back inside and Jared will jump the car when he gets home. We ate lunch here, put Emery down for a nap and then Ryan and I made chocolate chip cookies. Guess we'll have to get our errands done on Saturday (I babysit tomorrow).

(Graphics by CD Muckosky--Home is Where the Heart is)

ETA: Jared jumped the car and it's working fine!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Lately I've been getting e-mails wondering where my Christmas posts were and why I've disappeared. LOL. And once again, I've been blog neglectful. Mostly just very, very busy. If you've kept up with my design blog at all, you'll know that I've recently left Elemental Scraps, and am now designing and selling at The DigiChick and Funky Playground Designs. Both are really awesome stores, and I'm excited to be a part of them.

Aside from being busy designing, I'm still babysitting at least 3 days a week. The kids are still almost constantly sick, and right now my family is battling what they brought us last week. It's so frustrating, and believe me, I would quit if I could. I was furious last week when I found out they had had pink eye over the weekend. I don't understand how kids can get SO sick SO often. We've been blessed to avoid MOST of what they have brought with them.

Jared is in his last semester of his masters, and we are so excited and anxious to be done!! Right now we are looking for and applying for jobs, anywhere from Texas to California, to Washington. We'd love to be close to home, but we also know we need to go where we can find work.

Ryan and Emery getting so big, so fast. Ryan LOVES preschool and Sunbeams. And Emery is not such a baby anymore, which makes me a little sad. But she still loves to cuddle, so I'm happy!

I have tons of things I want to say, but my brain is so cloudy from being sick, so I'll just leave you with a few layouts. And a hope to be better about blogging!

First Snow (that stuck)

I've been blog-neglectful. Actually, that's not totally true. I re-did my design blog and have been posting over there, I just haven't done much here and am very behind on commenting on your blogs. Sorry :(. I still love you!

Anyway, just wanted to post some layouts I did this afternoon during naptime. Our first snow (that stuck)! It's mostly melted now, which I'm happy about since I have errands to run, but the kids thought it was kind of fun. I'm sure it's just a taste of what we have coming.



Credits go to me :) A new kit I'm working on.

Party Pics and my Twi Review

Party Pictures! I didn't take a lot because I was too busy having fun, but here are a few:The food! I did the punch (notice the "blood" dripping down the sides? It turned out so cool in real life.), "blood" filled cupcakes (with fang marks), and taffy apple tarts. The other girls brought Bloody Mary (non-alchoholic) mix, Meiers (Meyers) Sparkling Grape Juice, Chocolate Vampire Suckers (they had vampire faces on them), red velvet cake, and goldfish crackers (in honor of Charlie). It's hard to see cause the table was a little crowded, but I had a cute black and white damask runner sprinkled with red punched out apples. And notice the apple votives :). Very good food.

We played a couple of games (sorry, no pictures). We wrote down our most neglectful moment while reading the book (stole from someone else's blog idea) and then voted. The prize was to someone who read the book in about 12 hours, and her kids ate animal crackers and played Nintendo all day. (Hmmm...that sort of sounds like a lot of us...exept mine was movies...). Her prize was Fudge Marble cake mix (in honor of Edward), Polar Ice Eclispe gum, a book mark, and a black and white damask note pad. Then we played a trivia game and the winners got beaded apple book marks that I made--and didn't take a picture of :(. I thought they turned out kind of cute though.

Here's most of us right before we left for the movie:

A couple of the girls decided to go straight to the theater to save us seats instead of coming to the party. It's soooo good they did because the line to get in was sooo long. I wasn't sure everyone would fit in that theater! We were able to get decent seats altogether though.

Here's part of the line, and us waiting in line:

And now for my "review," trying to keep it vague enough I don't spoil it for anyone.

I know there is a lot of controversy going on about this movie right now, but I have to say I loved it. I mean, really loved it. Was it perfect? No. Was is great for me? YES.

I went into it with a very open mind though, having seen many trailers, and released (and unreleased) footage. I knew it was going to be different from the book. It had to be. I went into it wit the idea of separating the book I love from the movie to give the movie a fresh chance. So I was okay with a lot of the changes that were made. I felt the essence of the story was there and the characters were for the most part captured. I would have liked to see a lot more of the beginning of the romance scenes, and a lot more of the Cullens as I felt the movie did move very fast. I think the movie experience is definitely a lot better if you've read the book(s) because you have an inside perspective and will understand subtle things you would not have picked up if you don't know the story. But I think this movie was a good introduction to what we will (hopefully) see in the upcoming movies. And I loved that they threw in parts of Edward's perspective that you read in Midnight Sun, and that it was a really great lead-in to New Moon. I loved Robert as Edward, and I have to say I was a little skeptical. I had high expectations for Edward in my mind. Of course, I think the book-reading experience is ALWAYS better, so yes, I like the book much better, but I'm glad I saw the movie and I thouroughly enjoyed it.

Can't wait until Wednesday when Chelsea gets here and I can go see it again with her and Jared!