Frosty funny

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The Extended Table

I was recently asked if Mark and I would ever live alone in our house. To some, this may seem like an odd question, but to those that know us, it makes perfect sense. You see, since we bought our house in 2005, we have not lived alone in it for more than a few months. We have been the home to strangers, family, friends and acquaintances. Sometimes these situations have worked out great. For example, we hope that the G family, who are living with us now, never leave. Others, we have had to ask to leave because of issues with their drug use, and the drama that they brought into the household. Every single person that has lived with us is someone that I have come to love and every night, my bedtime prayer includes best wishes for each and every one of those people.
For me, the extra bodies in our home over the years have represented the very core of homemaking. Love. Homemaking is a labor of love, just as opening your home to those less fortunate is. So, we set a few extra places at the dinner table, and love a few extra people. What more can you ask for?
Opening our home has also had other benefits for us. Sometimes we have benefited financially, sometimes we have struggled because of the extra expense. We have always been able to make it through, and I believe that that is because we have been willing to serve others in a way that was often best for them, and best for us.
So extend your table today, open your homes and your hearts to the joy of homemaking an open home.

Silent Monks sing Halleluia

Still Unemployed.

Mark is still unemployed. He has been since July 1st. Five months. We will soon be running out of unemployment benefits, and within the next few months, we will most likely enter into foreclosure. We have both been desperately looking for jobs, but there are no jobs to be had.
I don't know where we will go at that point. We really have very few options. I am so stressed, and I am doing so poorly in school because of it. I think my health is paying the price as well when you consider that I have been sick for three weeks now.
Keep us in your thoughts. Let us know if you hear of jobs and cross your fingers for us!

Windows 7 Pre release party

So, back in October, our friend Alex won a contest with windows 7 where he could get a free pre release copy if he threw a party when the product came out. So we threw together some food at our house and had a blast being the uber nerds that we are!

Fall is officially here!

Fall can't start until a leaf pile is jumped in! So when we were out walking the dogs with the G. family kids, and saw a neighbor with nine giant bags of leaves, we brought them home. Admittedly, I wanted the leaves for the compost pile and gardens....but they were fun before they got there!

New Furbaby

Once again we have a new furbaby. This time it is a terrier mix puppy named Willow. She is a sweetheart. We are having a few issues with housetraining, but for the most part she has been a joy. The decision to get her was based on our older dog Mazie getting mildly aggressive due to boredom as a result of our decreased time to play due to school and other obligations. Mazie's behavioral issue has disappeared with the arrival of a playmate and we all have someone new to love!

An Ode to my Husband

Dear Sweet, Sweet, Mark,
Even though you will probally not see this until it mentioned to you by someone that actually reads this blog, ahem, I wanted to dedicate this post to you. As of today, we have been married for six years, and have seen challenges that many will never see. You have stood by me steadfast and true through glaucoma, infertility, job loss, temper tantrums (who me?), legal issues and countless long term house guests. You have supported my desire to go to school, and my desire to be a homemaker...even though our nest has remained empty. You listen to me overreacting..and let me do it, while knowing that I will eventually come to see reason. You do yard work with me even though you hate it, and don't see the point beyond mowing the grass. Yet, you do it because it is important to me. You are my best friend and closest confident, and my every day begins with thankfulness to have you in my life.
Happy Anniversary baby,
Me

Preparing the garden for winter....and spring!

A September nears its end, so does good weather in Utah. Mark and I are beginning to work on all the projects that we put off over the summer due to the oppressive heat.
We are slowly tackling the pile of branches from pruning the trees that has been behind the garage for WAY too long. (Just as a side rant on this, I think every homeowner should own a truck. That way they don't have to cut all their branches into little itty bitty pieces in order to fit them into a dumpster, and take six months to get rid of the branches from one pruning. And no, we do not own a truck, or have a friend that owns a truck.)
We are also continuing to dig out the lilac and forsythia bushes along the fence line in the backyard. The would be beautiful plants, except they were planted way to close to the fence, and I don't think the previous owners ever cut them back. I have been babying them for five years now, trying to get them to look nice, but I think it's a losing battle. Out they come! On the upside, removing them has made the yard seem larger.
We also splurged and spent twenty dollars on wood chips for the flower beds in the front yard. I know that this seems extravagant when you consider Mark's unemployment, but we have been so good financially, and sometimes you just need a little reward. I also chose to do this because this has been the first year that we have done really well as far as having flower beds instead of weed beds like they were when we purchased the house. BTW, Thanks for weeding the bed under the tree, Martin (Mark's brother)!
I am also considering another big splurge on lumber for the vegetable garden. I have a plan that I have been dying to implement. It would allow me to create raised beds for square foot gardening..and allow me to do lasagna gardening. It is a little bit of an expense, we could pay cash for it right now, but I am debating on the wisdom of it. It just seems like we need a reason to get up in the morning right now, and a project just might help with that.
In connection with wanting to do some lasagna gardening, we have been composting like crazy so that we can have some super fertile soil in the spring. For those of you that might not know, lasagna gardening is a process of creating a no till garden. Basically you lay down several layers of newspaper, or a layer of cardboard on the ground in order to smother weeds. Then you layer (like a lasagna), organic material to make the material to plant in. Let it "bake" all winter and the plant in the spring. It results in great soil, good water retention, and weed suppression. Sounds to good to be true, I know, but I want to try!

Photo shoot

Last night Mark, Nathan and I went out in search of great photos of the four oldest Glanville kids. We got some great ones if I say so myself. We went to a really neat amphitheater that had some great scenery.I haven't been able to open the raw picture files from Nathan's camera, but here are a few from mine.

A New Perspective

The last few weeks have been incredibly difficult and incredibly rewarding. I feel as though I am turning a corner in my life. I am moving forward full speed ahead with my education, and I'm becoming closer to Mark as we spend more time together during his layoff. I think I am also gaining perspective on my infertility.

This semester I am taking Human Sexuality and I feel as though I am learning many things about myself that I never expected to learn. I am beginning to come to terms with the fact that we may never have children. This class has helped to realize that that is okay. That I can be okay, if that is what happens. It has also helped me come to terms with my sense of personal failure that is connected to infertility. Really, it's ironic that I am gaining so much from a class that I thought would be pointless!

New Fridge and Dishwasher

We won the appliance lottery! Well, sort of. Our dear friend Nathan had a brand new fridge and dishwasher that he no longer needed due to his new home providing appliances. So we ended up with them! The dishwasher is a wonder machine! We can actually get through the day with all nine of us without needing to run 2-3 loads! Thanks Nathan, you made my week!

Busy Busy!!

Oh, how I love the sound of jars sealing coming from my kitchen! These last few days have been super busy as I have bottled 36 quarts of peaches and 27 pints of salsa. Reecie and I have also been batch cooking in order to freeze some meals for during fall semester. Having the ability to pull something out of the freezer and pop into the oven was so nice when the work load was high during summer semester. Mark and I also baked 10 dozen cookies, and put 6 dozen balls of cookie dough into the freezer to pull out at a later date.

Layed Off

Mark was layed off a few weeks ago, much to our disappointment. Even worse, NO ONE within a two hour commute is hiring electricians. So far we are holding things together financially, but emotionally it is an entirely different story. We have so many things going on right now between the lay off, Mark's legal issues, both of being in school, having the Glanvilles live with us (not that we aren't happy to have them!)and just the normal issues of life. There have been many days recently when I have just wanted to pack things up and run away. I am so overwhelmed, and I just don;t know where to start in order to straighten things out.

On the other hand, we do have a few good things going for us. Mark is about to start his last year of school. Well, maybe. He is actually looking at pursuing a degree in electrical engineering, so he may well have many more years left, but we'll see what happens. I am back in school after a four year hiatus, and I am enjoying the challenge. During fall semester I am taking seven classes in order to get done faster. Once I do that, all my general eds and prerequisites will be complete.

So all in all, some good, some not so good. We are just plodding along and we'll make it work no matter what comes!

School

Oh my! This semester really has gotten the better of me. I have never put so much effort into classes to do so poorly. I will get pretty much straight B's across all my classes, but I have never worked so hard for B's! There are only two weeks off before I get a break, and I am anticipating it with glee.....

My Fur Babies

I haven't posted any pictures of my fur babies in a while so I thought that I would. I mostly wanted to show everyone how much Nutmeg has grown now that he is a year old, but I can't leave Mazie out, right?



Mazie still doesn't like the camera, but every once in a while I manage to get a shot before she slinks away.


Lazy Nutmeg kitty...what more can I say?

Montana Again!

Once again we took a road trip to Montana to visit my parents and little brother. We had to be about a month and a half early for Christopher's birthday, but it is the thought that counts right?


While we were there we visited the 40 foot "coal chute" slide in Anaconda, It was a blast even with the risk of friction burns! I particularly love the sheer look of joy on Robert's face as he and Mark race down the slide.


We also managed to find time to go fishing at Georgetown Lake with our family friend Garrett and his daughter. My mom and I mostly just sat in the shade and chatted, but it was good to have the opportunity to bond.


While we were at the lake, Christopher decided to try wading...I love the look on his face from deciding that it was too cold!


While we were in Montana we also got the opportunity to visit thrift shops, tour an old state prison, visit a western museum, toy museum and car museum. We also got to stop and play at Prospector's Playground which was fun because we got to try to pan for gold. We also were able to stop and see the trout hatchery...sounds boring, right? It was actually really neat, they had a visitors center with all sorts of cool displays and information.

The Fourth of July

We did all the typical 4th of July things with the barbecue and fireworks. Thanks for joining us Glanville family and Nathan!!!

Camping at Castle Rock

This past weekend we had a blast camping at Castle Rock Campground in the Freemont Indian State Park. We took the usual suspects with us, in the form of the Glanville Family, Nathan, the Morgan Family and our dog, Mazie. Our Trip was great for a lot of reasons even though we got rained out on Saturday night, only to have the sun come out as soon as we had the tents down and packed up. The top ten things were:

10. Other than two or three other campsites, we had the place to ourselves. This was really neat because we could be as loud as we wanted to be, and Mazie was able to be off leash.


9. We had Frequent visits from local wildlife. The squirrels even ran across the hot fire pit to drag out potatoes that we had roasting in the coals. We also saw lizards, snakes, rabbits, and some sort of raptor.


8. No one was bitten by this...or any of its friends.


7. Our campsite had a really cool stream and foot bridge behind it, that was perfect for skipping stones and playing. It was neat because just a few hundred yards in either direction of the stream it suddenly changed from forest to desert because Castle Rock is a riparian zone. Thanks for the vocabulary word, Nathan!


6. Another wonderful thing about our trip was the really cool mountains that surrounded our campsite. We spent a lot of time climbing them, and even more time trying to not be pulled off them by Mazie.


5. I also enjoyed all the different plants that surrounded us. Thanks to being in a Riparian zone, we were able to see wild roses and cactus right next to each other.


4. Just a few miles down the road there was a REALLY neat Freemont Indian museum. The really cool part was that the campsite admission also paid for the museum admission. The museum was doing a special festival where the kids got to make Indian flutes and thing as well. Nathan, the Morgans, Mark and I all decided to go hiking while the Glanvilles did the kid things.


3. While we were hiking at the museum, we got to see a lot of rock art from hundreds of years ago.


2. On that same Hike, we found tons of really cool rocks that had eroded away into strange shapes. Most of them were big enough to sit in, or to crawl into.


1. The landscape was amazing!!

Community Politics

Mark and I have just recently become involved in a small community project to change the zoning in our subdivision. We are attempting to change the zoning to include an "A" overlay. This would allow owner-occupied accessory apartments in our subdivision. A lot of these apartments already exist illegally, but the home can not be sold because of the lack of an A overlay. So we are hoping to gain 50% of all the homeowners signatures on the petition in order to get the city to even look at the issue. Tonight there is an informative meeting for everyone in the neighborhood at the nearby elementary school, so wish us luck!

Rattlesnakes and More

What do you get when you add 5 adults, 5 children, 1 dog, 3 rattlesnakes, 5 miles and one river? An amazing hike to Diamond Fork Canyon's Hot springs! The going was slow and children were carried, dragged and cajoled into moving, but we had a ton of fun. The Glanvilles and Nathan are great for letting us talk them into such things! We only saw three little baby rattlesnakes, but it was enough to scare us, so I am not so sure we will visit that particular trail again.
The hot springs were great, even though the near by waterfall was really loud. Jacob was the only kid almost washed down the river, so that is always a plus. Mark fished him out with no harm done other than a missing swim shoe.
We made it home with tired kids that slept in the next morning, and life was good.

Class is beginning

Monday was the beginning of my summer semester at Weber State University. After hours of phone calls because of difficulties signing into my online classes, proctor issues and the like, I am finally on my way. So far I am about a week ahead on all my classes except for my art class. My book for it has still not arrived. I am starting to get nervous because I have an assignment due by Sunday night. I am taking six classes (18 credit hours) this summer as well as working full-time so I should be kept on my toes!

Today, the tomatoes made it into the garden, so hopefully soon I will be harvesting the bright red beauties. I still have squash, zucchini, lettuce, cucumbers and radishes to plant, so it may be a busy weekend.

In honor of NIAW

In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW), I wanted to share some thoughts. These are not directed at any one person, nor are they the result of any one person. These are just simple statements that are laying my emotions and struggles bare.

Infertility is hard. It is a condition that turns hope into a minefield. With every twinge, ache and bit of bad shrimp, hope appears that maybe, maybe this time, I am pregnant. Then when the real cause of the discomfort appears, I have to attempt to dodge the shrapnel as my dreams explode again. Infertility steals my faith in God, and the general good of the universe. It creeps into my life until more and more of my time and energy has become dedicated to researching new treatments, creating budgets to be able to afford those treatments, and finding support from others like myself. Infertility has made the world a harsh, treacherous place where the simplest sight of children playing can cause actual physical pain. The sight of a baby shower invitation, birth announcement, or child's birthday party invite is enough to make me shrink inside myself to that special place in Hell reserved for the barren.
I want to be happy for others and their joys, but infertility robs me of that ability. I find myself angry that even after desperately trying to prevent pregnancy, So and So is expecting once again. I find myself crushed that So and So is on baby number six and can't care for them financially or emotionally. I find myself worthless when So and So who never wanted children is now pregnant...again.
Most of all I feel lonely. I have nothing to input into the conversations of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting. I don't belong to the "Mommy Club". I can't brag about Johny's performance in sports or Suzie's grades. Most of all, I can't bear to hear you do it about your own children. So I avoid you. I smile a little too brightly for a little too long when the invitations roll in for the birthday parties, baptisms, and award ceremonies, and then I just do not show up.
I know that you should be proud of your children, and I am glad that you are, but I just can't bear to listen to it. Reserve your praise for their ears, not mine. You wouldn't pour water out onto the ground in front of a man dying of thirst, so don't torture me with what I want most. Please.
Please, let me talk to you, let me be open and honest with you. I need someone to listen to my struggles. Listen and be thoughtful in your responses. I need to be able to go to church on Mother's day without someone pressing a flower into my hand and stating that "I'm like a Mother" or some other drivel. What am I supposed to say to that..what does that even mean? I know that you mean them to be comforting, but comments of "Just relax","Don't worry about it", "Adopt and you'll get pregnant" and so on, are not only insensitive, but they are just not true. Infertility is a medical condition. If cancer does not go away simply because you "don't worry about it" and file some paperwork, then why would infertility? Also, please don't say "that it just isn't meant to be", because if that is the case, when you get cancer, you must not need any treatment because it is meant for you to die.
With all of this, in honor of NIAW, I am hoping that all of you out there in fertile land will come to understand me better, and recognize the pain the I go through EVERY SINGLE DAY. The pain of infertility is real and all encompassing, and seeps into every aspect of your life until that is all there is. So cherish you children, and be a little more careful of what you say to whom.

NIAW

It is National Infertility Awareness Week!! NIAW starts this Saturday (the 25th) and runs to the next Saturday (the 2nd), though there are also unrelated yet in-the-same-vein activities happening on the Web or in the face-to-face world up until May 10th.

So find someone that could use someone to talk to, and let's make infertility less of a taboo. Perhaps that will help insurance companies realize that infertility is a quality of life issue, and not just an elective treatment!

A new beginning??

This summer looks as though it is going to be rather packed with activity. I just accepted a full-time job at rock Canyon Care Center, and I will also be taking 18 credit hours from Weber State. I am looking forward to it, yet dreading it at the same time. I feel like some great change is just around the corner, yet I have no idea what it might be. At least it will be an adventure, right?

Clinicals

Wow...what to say about my first clinical? It was easier than I had anticipated and harder at the same time. I ran the gauntlet emotionally through out the day as I went from nervous and excited, to terrified, to feeling so bad for the residents in the nursing facility. There were four residents in particular that just tugged at my heart strings. One kept asking for his wife and was so confused, another went from threatening to cut off all my hair to telling me that I'm a sweet girl. The third just laid in bed and moaned (I just wanted to sit by her side and make it better...she loved holding my hand, and being told it was all alright.). The fourth one didn't tug on my heart strings due to her condition, but rather to want she represented to me. My great-grandmother died when I was about 6 and she and I were really close...and this lady could have been her twin as far as my memory serves.
The day was spent with showers (oh my, that first one was SOOO awkward, I'm glad that she was not quite lucid), brief changes, hair brushing and helping people get dressed. The work was relatively easy for the most part. I am nervous about transfers still, and I am still not entirely comfortable changing briefs...it still just feels very awkward still.
As to whether or not I can keep doing this long term...I don't know. This first day was either the best or the worst work experience I have ever had. I'm not sure which. I think I need to wear my heart a little less out in the open if I am going to make a go of this. Despite this indecision, I am excited to go back this coming Friday.

CNA

Well, I have officially finished the first week of my CNA class and my first clincals are tomorrow. I am a bit nervous, because I feel really unprepared, especially because about the only real "skill" we have learned so far is taking blood pressure (which we are not allowed to do during clinicals!). I'm sure everything will be great. I have my new scrubs in the wash and the alarm set for 4:45 am, and just need to go pack a lunch. Good night everyone! Wish me luck!

Birthday Celabrations!

Last Wednesday was my 26th birthday, but we put off celebrating until Saturday, and celebrate we did! We spent the day at Rock Canyon Park with our friends Nathan and the G. Family. We had a picnic lunch, flew kites, blew bubbles, played wacky baseball, and rolled down hills until we were too dizzy to walk.

Afterwards, we came back home and were joined by Mike and Julie for Pork Barbacoa (thanks, Reecie, it was delish!), cake and ice cream, presents, and board games. I am really glad that I had so many people with me this year to celebrate my birthday, this year was a bit difficult for me, and the support helped me get past it. You guys are great!

Ha Ha Ha!!!

Spring Fever?

Now that it is "officially" spring, I have been anxious to get out and get my hands dirty out in the yard. I have so many projects intended for this summer, and I am intimidated by the amount of time they will take. This weekend we dug out most of the lilac, rose and forsythia bushes that were lining the side fence in our back yard. I think both Mark and I are more drawn to an ease of upkeep type of gardening. So anything that needs constant fertilizing, trimming, dead heading and pruning is out! Also having them gone makes our yard seem tidier and larger.
As always we also have the vegetable garden to put in. Every year this is my greatest challenge because I want to put in about three times as many plants as the garden will comfortable hold, and about five times more than we can eat. I think I am going to approach this year differently. I am creating a layout plan in advance and am planning on sticking with it. I am also trying out nasturtium this year, I planted the seeds for the early crop this past week, using large patio containers. I'm really excited about these, I think it will be fun to have bright colorful flowers to throw into our tossed salads.
Our third project is digging out 5 tree stumps, from the trees we cut out last year. I am not looking forward to that project at all. Yet, it will give us so much more use able space in our yard.
If there is enough time, and enough funds, we are also looking at replacing the back fence as well.
All of this brings me to wonder if all of this work is worth it. I mean, we recently had our home on the market, before deciding to stay so that the G family could live with us. So, after they are in their own place will we still want to stick around? If we don't will all this time, effort and money be worth it?

ka-ching!!!

Okay, I know that many of you think that my bargain hunting is silly, and that I get overly excited about it, but I just had to share my deal from this weekend!

albertsons
Kellogs products are on sale for $2.50 a box, a price that I would NEVER pay. Yet, it was the beginnings of a great deal.

8 boxes of frosted flakes
1 box of Fruit Loops
1 box of pop tarts (can you tell Mark was with me?

-$8 in manufacturers coupons
-$4 from Albertson's double coupons
-$10 in store special (when you buy 10 Kellogs products)

For a total of $3.33!!!

Quilting and Composting

This has been a busy weekend at the Carney house!
First off, I finally finished my first quilt. It is far from perfect, but it feels great to be finished with a project that I have been working on for over a year! I want to make a rag quilt for my next project...I'll keep you posted, hopefully it won't take me a year!


This weekend we also assembled a new compost bin for our backyard. I am excited about reducing our waste, as well as creating a lot of yummy compost for our gardens. I am determined to have a nice yard...someday! Tomorrow our grass is being aerated so hopefully that will help!

Free Fixes!

For any of you that may have ever been to my house and have had the great fortune to hear my pipes hum to you anytime the faucets turned on, or the dishwasher ran, or the clothes washer filled, or, or, or....The performances have come to an end...or so it seems! I am terrified of doing plumbing ourselves, because niether of us know anything about it. Sure, we can change a faucet, toilet flapper or shower head, but tracking down why the pipes are humming? I don't think so. So, I finally broke down and called a plumber, over coming my fears of a ginormous repair bill. The repair bill never did materialize, and the pipes learned to sing in under ten minutes (which included finding the problem!). I did not pay a single dime and when you turn on a faucet now, you hear.....water! I can't believe we lived with our humming pipes for three years!

Our Weekend!

Cousins, big-horned sheep and hours of driving, oh my! We spent this past weekend taking a road trip out to Montana to see my family and it was great. This picture was of Mark, bright and early as we set out for the open road. We went up to celebrate Robert's birthday with him (early, but better than not at all!). We got to spend some time with my Aunt Karen, Uncle Dana, cousins Honey and Michael and my Grandma as well. I'm glad we went. We got to see some amazing scenery, like this neat lake that we stopped at to stretch our legs...

We will be heading back out again in August for Christopher's birthday, so maybe I will remember to take some better pictures !

I sold my soul....

or at least it felt that way when I signed the master promissory note for my student loans. Last Friday, I officially finished high school, and I registered for nursing school at Provo College. Their program is nice because it is condensed into 27 months instead of 4 years. Also they accept 70% of their applicants while still following the same criteria as UVU and BYU, both of which only accept 8-10% of the applicants. March will be spent recertifing for my CNA license because I let it expire about eight years ago. Then come May I will officially begin nursing school, I am terrified! My friend Reecie will be going through the program with me, so at least I will have a study partner!

Egg noodles

So this year I have a goal of learning new cooking techniques, and adding a few new recipes that are entirely from scratch. So I rolled up my sleeves and delved into the world of noodle making. They are SOOOO easy and SOOOOO good. I don't think that I will ever make chicken noodle soup with store-bought noodles again. Give it a shot you will love these noodles to!

moving day!

No, we did not sell our house, it is actually off the market currently. However we still spent last weekend moving...sort of. We cleared out all our belongings from the basement, and condensed our upstairs belongs (thank heaven that we have a garage for storage!). Why might you ask? My BFF and her husband and five kids moved in. The g family has been good friends for over a decade so we are thrilled to have them. Space wise we are doing really well, a lot better than I expected. Since our dining area in the kitchen is so tiny, we converted our office upstairs to a dining room and I am really leaning towards permanently knocking out the wall in favor of that arrangement.
Having so many extra people in the house has been a little crazy as we have been adjusting, especially with Mark in school and me looking into starting a speciality program next month, but we love their kids so its been a blast so far!
A special shout out to Nathan and Kai for all the help!

Sauerkraut and Latkes

In an attempt to reconnect with my German heritage I decided to make a German meal. Out came the sauerkraut, bratwurst...and I made Latkes!. I had never made Latkes before and I was impressed with how easy they were! I served them with warm applesauce and sour cream. Yumm-o! Find the recipe here. I have to say that I changed it up a bit. I omitted the eggs, added a few tablespoons of lemon juice to help with the oxidation, and I switched the onion for a whole carrot (grated of course). They were still delish! I did all the shredding and grating in the food processor to make it quick and easy.