Church and FHE

I am blessed that every morning I wake up is another chance at life. One thing that is somewhat discouraging about life is realizing just how mortal we are. So far from perfect. I am grateful for the experiences that cause me to be humble. When you are humbled, the only way you can look is up!

And you know, the sun has come to Pittsburgh! The days are getting longer. We take walks a lot. It's warm! You don't even need a jacket!

Yesterday was another Sunday. Mornings are a little scary at our house on Sunday, especially when we have church at 9 AM. Nate has meetings starting at 7 AM so I fend for myself getting all 4 of us ready and out the door! It is wild.

This picture really expresses how I feel about Sunday mornings.

This is the view we get on our way to our church in Oakland.

 Here is our chapel. There is even a parking lot. You have NO idea how rare parking lots are in the city!

The theme of sacrament meeting was honesty. Becoming completely honest. Having integrity. I think having integrity is something that has to become part of our personality. It is expressed in all our behavior. I want to be honest. Because when you are completely honest, your heart is pure. You speak no guile. That is the person I want to be.

I am still getting used to sitting by myself at church. It's cute though, every time one of the kids catch Nate looking at them from the stand, they start waving. Ammon always yells out, "Daddy. Daddy." right in the middle of the sacrament. He also tries to run up to him. He also enjoys climbing under the benches several rows back. I'm sure people wish I could control my children. To tell you the truth, so do I!

On the way home, Ammon fell fast asleep. Usually when I carry him into the house, he wakes right up. But this time, he stayed asleep. I shouldn't be surprised the way he was bouncing off the walls during sacrament.

 

 

Last night we had the missionaries, the Westover family, and my friend Katherine Pentz over for dinner. We had a big pot roast (2 actually). I just love our ward family! It helps fill the void of having our actual family over the way we used to! (We did skype, but it's just not the same.) I think anyone can be as lonely as they choose to be! Plus our missionaries are great. They always have a lesson. Last night they even had a cool activity for all the kids.

My knee still gets swollen if I do anything more strenuous than walking. So I have been walking a lot. I can still get in a good workout when I walk up the steep hills in our neighborhood. I forgot how much I miss being outdoors in the morning. It just clears my head.. I would like to run again though. I still want to run a marathon someday. Maybe if I train slowly enough I will be able to. Last night Katherine said she would like to start running with me. Hopefully this week!

Today has been a blogging day. I am still recovering from a sore throat. I love days like this, though. Free of any real obligations.

On a side note, Kaylee just told me that cupid hit her with his arrow and made her fall in love with her friend, Declan. She's in kindergarten! She is too young to have a crush, isn't she?

Tonight for FHE we made paper Easter eggs garland and got out all the Easter stuff. The kids had a blast. Kaylee says Easter is her favorite holiday.

Orientation

Jan. 30
Orientation

The first day of orientation was so boring. Don't be late, parking fees, wear your personal protective equipment, get your FBI clearance, blah blah blah blah! And to finish it all off...insurance! Everything was SO fancy. UPMC is basically the IHC of Pittsburgh.The biggest tower in the city is nick-named the 'Steel' tower, with a big, fat, UPMC across the top. The only company on the east coast that is bigger is Walmart.

I sat by a girl named Alyssa. She was very nice. Another woman at our table just graduated from nursing school and was starting in the ICU. She was in her 40s and never had kids...said she never wanted them. I just can never understand that...but I suppose it's better not to have them if you really don't want them.

Jan. 31
More boring

The second day of orientation was at UPMC Mercy. Mercy used to be on the South Side. It was a Catholic hospital that recently merged with UPMC on the condition that they keep their Christian standards. They want the employees to think of their jobs as a 'ministry' rather than a career. They also do NOT cover contraception on their health insurance plan. Interesting.

After the day long meeting, I met with my manager who informed me that for clinical orientation I need to be there 5 days a week for 3 weeks. What the heck? I about had a heart attack! Thanks for the short notice, geez! I eventually told my manager it was not going to work and she agreed to me coming just 3 days a week.

Nate was leaving on Valentines Day for a conference in AZ, and thankfully, Cindy booked a flight to come in that same night to help me out! Heavenly Father was clearly watching out for us. Otherwise I have NO idea what we would have done. I would have had to quit or something!

And the rest of January.

Ammon's favorite thing lately is putting on shoes that are much too big for him. He has really been favoring Brenna's pink boots lately, and I think it's because they make a loud 'clomping' sound when he walks.

He has also taken an interest in helping mommy put away the laundry. Now if only he could get his PJs into his PJ drawer instead of daddy's underwear drawer...

We started out with like a dozen binkies, and now we are down to two. I refuse to buy more. We are going to help him quit.

The following pictures really don't need explanation. :)

Big girls with their backpacks. Off to school!

Tomorrow is my first day of orientation. There will be an all day meeting at UPMC headquarters. I know exactly what lies in store. At least I know there will be free food!

The feeding of children. And husband.

I got this cookbook from Cami (my very favorite sister-in-law in the entire world) and I love it. There is SO much good information in this book. Basically, you sneak nutrition into your kids' food. Like squash in pancakes, spinach in eggs, broccoli in spaghetti, yogurt in cake, etc. You buy the veggies, puree them, and freeze them. Then you just pull out a bag and dump it into whatever you're cooking.

Look. Just look at them. They're eating! A mother's heart couldn't be more full than when her children eat vegetables with enthusiasm. Ah....life is good!

(Brenna giving Kaylee a crusty for hogging all the attention)

Also, since we have moved to Pittsburgh, Nate and I noticed very quickly that our date night is...well...obsolete. We don't get to go on dates anymore. To improvise, I decided to set up dinner in our bedroom on Friday nights. We feed the kids, hurry and get them ready for bed, put them in front of a movie, close the door, and hope for the best. Isn't it pretty? Candle light dinner! I try to make something special for date night. Nate always requests five spice chicken.

I wish I could say that we always end up with a romantic evening to ourselves. It's usually 5 minutes into our dinner that we get a loud banging on the door followed by crying and 'Mom? Dad? Mom? Dad?' Oh well. As long as I get to have a turn dancing with the man first, that's all I care about. :)

Oh the randomness of January...

 January was a little lame. Here in Pittsburgh, the sun is basically non-existent. Until March, really. It's so gloomy outside! We didn't have a lot of snow though, which is unusual for Pittsburgh. I think January is kinda like the downward slope after the peak of Christmas. Plus my camera broke, so I haven't really enjoyed taking pictures because they all look...well...like crap. Until my camera gets fixed, I am going to have to *tongue in cheek* take pictures with what we have! 
 

Jan. 1
New Years was awesome

Nate had to prepare a talk for the next day. He worked on that, and the rest of us went to bed. How's that for a new years eve???

And the next day, New Years Day, we...went to church! Ha! It was actually very enjoyable because we were all rested! The rest of the ward looked slightly more tired than usual...

Inge (our land lord) came to collect our rent. She said to let her know as soon as we open doors for the business because she gets calls from owners who need property managers. Yes! Score!


Jan. 3
Interview with Pain Clinic

Ugh. I hate interviews. I get so nervous! I really just usually hope my resume will speak for itself...but that would defeat the whole purpose of meeting someone before you hire them.

It went really well. The manager that conducted my interview asked me why we came to Pittsburgh from Utah. I told her about the business. She was actually very interested in our property management business for her own house! I gave her my personal number in case she was interested. I left feeling good. It was a good area, more quiet than Oakland or downtown Pittsburgh, and very clean. I thought,  “I could work here."



Jan. 6
Hobby Lobby trip

Today I got a call from yet another hospital for an interview...Magee Women's Center. How on earth will I ever know which job to choose? I also got a call from the pain clinic, and they are interested in me. They set up an interview with Dr. Cortazzo, who is the head Physician.

I got a gift card to Hobby Lobby for Christmas. I have been trying to gender-neutralize the kid's bedroom. So I decided to get nuts and make my very first quilt...and second and third. I want to make all 3 of them a quilt. Hobby Lobby happens to have *adorable* fabric, so I was on a mission. After all, there is a Hobby Lobby in Pittsburgh!

Well, apparently, the time that it takes a person to get somewhere in Utah takes TWICE as long in Pittsburgh. So what should have been a 15-20 min. drive ended up being a 40 min. one. I prayed so hard that I wouldn't get lost, because once we got off of the freeway, it looked really confusing. Things are so much more cut and dry in Utah, especially when it comes to driving! Thank heavens I did not get lost. I couldn't! I had a short amount of time, and then I needed to go get Kaylee from school. I had left Ammon at home because he was napping, and Nate just worked at our house. It was a little date for me and Brenna!

This Hobby Lobby was awesome. SO quiet! I was like the only one in there! Nothing was picked over, GREAT clearance selection. The lady in the fabric department was so kind! She saw me browsing through the fabric, and kept checking on me. Once she even said, "I am just running to take a 5 minute break, but I'll be back to help you out!" People here in general are really so sincere and genuine. I love it.

After finding the perfect fabric, I checked out and dashed out of there to go home. I thought I would be in the clear for rush hour traffic because it was before 3 PM...WRONG! It was stop and go the whole way home! It took me almost an hour and a half to get home and Nate ended up having to go get Kaylee...I felt so bad. I guess next time I will need to take an entire day out just to visit that store!

Jan. 13
Jan. 11 was the first day of school  for Brenna at Woodland Hills high school with Mrs. Fair. She cried for 20 min. but warmed up after a while. She got in the car afterward and said, "I was happy today, Mom." The next day,  we got to the door and a security officer was standing there telling parents they couldn't come in. Brenna got spooked and was clinging to me for dear life. She started screaming bloody murder when I tried to leave. She came home but said she was scared today, but won't be scared tomorrow. The third day, Friday, she went without crying and had her purple blanket with her. When she got in the car, she said, "I was shy today, mom."

P.S. These are the pictures of Brenna on her first day at her new school. Our camera was dropped by some little boy and is now ruined...and we can't exactly afford to get it fixed! :( So sad. These pictures are equally sad...blurry.






 Our water has been off since yesterday because of a line break. Today was the day I had an interview with Dr. Cortazzo at the pain clinic. Thank goodness I didn’t do my workout before the water turned off... no shower...not good for a first impression for an interview! Hehe. She told me in the interview that she liked me and would hire me unless someone else ‘blew her out of the water.’ I was elated! I felt so good when I left.

Jan. 20
New hire physical

So...after much prayer and pondering, I decided to accept the position with the Pain Injection Clinic! I agreed to a tier 1 casual, meaning I am required to work 16 hours per month. However, I will be working every Wednesday from 9ish to 5ish.


I had my new hire physical today. They drew my blood and placed a TB. I know I'm a nurse, but I really hate needles. So bad. I get anxiety. I love poking people. But getting poked...different story! I took this picture of myself (to the left) right before I went in to capture the whiteness of my face, but you can't really tell in the picture. You can see how thrilled I am though.


They were very nice. People here are nice in general here. Have I said that before? I had to fast for 8 hours prior. I made a lunch to take for after my appt, but my blood sugar was so low, my brain wasn't working and I forgot it.

Right after that I went downtown to get my fingerprints done. I didn’t get done until close to 4. I was beginning to feel depressed. This job is not enough to pay the rent. The car died 6 times while I was driving it. I gave my change to a homeless man. We need blessings. I felt so much better after that. At least I had a warm home at the end of the day, and a lovely meal waiting for me!




Jan. 21
V-day mailboxes!

Kaylee took her first shower today! When we visited the Lopez family last month, the girls noticed that Veronica, who is the same age as Kaylee, takes daily showers. By herself.  So Kaylee decided to try today. (I helped her a little at the end to wash out all the soap.)

Later after cleaning the house, we made valentines day mailboxes. The ice was frozen solid on the expedition! Very snowy, very icy. Fun day to snuggle inside all day! :) Hope you enjoy these blurry photos. (Better than nothin', right?)

Nate and Kaylee tried to make a snowman...it was a no-go. The snow here is too wet and heavy, doesn't pack! Oh well, Kaylee loved an afternoon in the snow with her daddy.