Welcome Back

AHHH! So glad to be back in the world of technology. I have been out of the loop since my ancient computer was more of a hindrance than a help in my writing, but now I'm back and praying I can make this a more of a regular thing. I've missed the simple action of typing on something other than my phone. Only being able to browse the Internet of the tiny screen of my phone for over a year was not good on the eyes. Needless to say, I'm thrilled with my new iPad!

Thinking, and other dangerous past times

So over the past few days I've been thinking of a thousand things to blog about and since it's been a while and I finally have a quiet moment while A is sleeping and I have nothing better to do, I thought I'd share some thoughts. I need to make room in my head for other things! So, just to update everyone who doesn't know about what has been going on in our lives this past week. We are currently homeless...well sort of. Our home is in no condition to be lived in at the moment. Last Saturday evening the apartment directly below us caught on fire. Our apartment was damaged by the large amount of smoke and we haven't been able to stay there since. Luckily we have the best friends in the whole entire world! Our dear friends from church have been so gracious to allow A and me to stay in their home for the last week. I can not begin to express how grateful I am for them and all that they've done for little A and me.

But, I've been doing my best at thinking positive lately since I have a tendency to think on the negative side of everything. Positive thinking as it turns out has been to my huge advantage as of late though. I might be crazier if I'd only focused on the bad things that have been happening. But, here is a list of some of the things that I've come up with that are the silver lining of the unfortunate events that have happened to us lately.

1. Because of the fire we will be saving on our rent what it has cost us to make two car repairs in the last month. (which was money we didn't really have)
2. Because of the fire we were able to be with friends who love us and care for us, and we were not alone during the hurricane that just went through.
3. Because of the fire we are getting our carpets cleaned which will also help us have a better chance of getting our security deposit back at the end of our lease.
4. Because of the fire I've become a little more assertive (I had to yell a little to get the apartment complex to do anything for us!)
5. Because of the fire our renters insurance is going to cover the clean up of all of our belongings (Lucky me I didn't just do laundry)
6. We just got our renters insurance policy, thank goodness!
7. Because of the fire I've learned a lot about my rights and how to get what I need done

These are a few things that I've come up with, but I'm sure there are more that I'm missing. I just know that the Lord works in mysterious ways and I'm so grateful that he has a plan for us. In just the past month my testimony has grown so much in several areas, and I know more today that we will never be given more than we can handle and that our challenges make us better people if we let them. Yes, I am a 23 year old single mother of a 2 year old, but that does not mean that I am stupid, less capable, or less deserving. I can still help others and I deserve respect as much as any other adult.

Enough of my little rant, on to one other thought that wouldn't make a decent post on it's own so I'll tack it on here...I really hope that my future husband is handy...the end =D

New developments

So it's been a while, but life has seriously been busy. I feel like I've been struggling to keep up with the demands of life, just doing the bare minimums to get us by day to day. Being alone has really been getting to me lately, just feeling like everyone around me is moving forward in life with their families and I'm stuck, just me and little A. But then I met a boy, well became reacquainted with a boy. I wasn't expecting him to walk back into my life and be such a big part of it, but that's exactly what he did. He's in the National Guard and currently deployed in Iraq right now, but we talk everyday and he'll be home around October and we plan on spending as much time together as we can squeeze in. We've known each other since I was in 7th grade, which was a LONG time ago!   I'm so excited for the future, it's looking bright again =D Also I haven't written since we decided that...wait for it...we're moving! We will be moving to Durham, it's about 30 minutes west of where we live now. We will be living in the apartment on the bottom floor of my boss's new house. We will have a ton more space, won't have to drive to work, and my favorite part of the whole thing is I'll have my own washer and dryer! We'll be moving at the end of July, which gives me a little over 3 months until the big move...i'm dreading the actual moving part, it's going to be a challenge with a two year old, but I'm sure I'll survive with a little help and we'll have a new house to settle into. We are very excited!

Pros v. Cons

Today confirms to me the reason I should sleep in. Getting up at 7 instead of 10 gives your day three extra hours. Your day could be stressful three hours earlier. Yes, sleeping in prevents you from getting more done, but it keeps things from going wrong. This morning we got up at 8, which only gave my day an extra two hours, but here are all the things that went wrong:
*A broke all of the candles for the menorah
*A took most of the keys off of my laptop
*A threw his oatmeal all over the dining room, and then with oatmeal covered body sat on my crushed velvet chair

It's not even 10 am and I'm ready to give up on this day! Now R is coming and the mess is multiplied...i love my life :/

Sick, and playing a little bit of catch up

So, we've been sick for about..a month! We were hit with a cold and A and I were breathing through our mouths for about two weeks, then we or I should technically say I got hit with the flu, and now A has Strep. We seriously need to rebuild our immune systems! But, since it's been over a month since I've posted I'll do my best to catch everyone up on the happenings of the past month.

We had a great Christmas, A did a great job opening presents and really enjoyed playing with them. We spent the morning with my brother, Uncle Justin and then spent the afternoon and evening with Grandma Itzel and Papi, and the Aunties. Then, there was new years, A almost made it to the new year, but crashed a little shy of midnight. 

In the past month, we've gotten a hamster (christmas gift) and a cat. Fancy is our little rodent and Mulan is the newer addition, she's our stray calico kitty. A likes her, and she is a pretty good cat, she just kind of walked into our lives. We were at my parents house for my step mom's birthday and Mulan just followed my step mom into the house, it was just like this was her home and she was so comfortable. We gave her a little food and water, and she stuck around. We ended up with her a little over a week later. 

We also went to visit GiGi and Grandpa Dan and the little Aunties and Uncles. A had a blast playing with everyone and he actually got to play on their playground and with the chickens. He got to help GiGi collect the eggs! We also got to make a trip to IKEA, where I had most of the fun. It was a stressful situation (A was a pill, with no nap!), but it was fun, and we got lots of cool stuff, mostly for the kitchen! 

This week was Valentine's day, and we didn't do much, just ran a few errands and had Thai food for dinner. We ended the night watching The Bachelor and my favorite show, Castle! 

Now that I'm feeling better, hopefully I'll be able to keep a more steady stream of posts so you don't have to bite off a month at a time...Sorry!

It's not all about winning, but it sure is nice

So last night we were invited by friends to join their family for their gingerbread house making night. A and I joined them for dinner, hot dogs and french fries, and then we jumped right in to building our little houses. I've never successfully built a gingerbread house, many attempted, but never a success; but last night I was determined to complete this one. I didn't know how attractive it would be, but I knew I wasn't going to give up. I started building my base around a good and plenty candy box, and it seemed to be going well. After I struggled with the roof it was time to decorate. I added a few things, and a few more things. We had good conversation and people came and went but I stayed there and dedicated my night to making this gingerbread house the best I could. I think all in all I spent around three hours on it, but it was very worth it! It turned out great, at least I thought so. Then it was time to put everyone's houses on the bar and have them judged. The judge walked around and commented on all of the houses, and then he picked the winner...drum roll please...HE PICKED MINE!!! I was so proud! At this very moment it's taking up a significant amount of room in my fridge and I will keep it in there until I get sick of moving around it.

You know it's been a hard day when...

...you find stale bread in your hair. That pretty much sums up the kind of day we've had. The day started out nice and slow, sleeping in until almost 11 and cooking breakfast with my little A. Then it just went downhill from there. A started screaming during breakfast, he was completely inconsolable! I was so frustrated, but I finally concluded that it was his teeth and with a little Tylenol he settled down.
We proceeded with our day, grocery shopping, little more christmas shopping for the fam. A did alright while we were out, but he did fall asleep at about 4:30 in the afternoon...dangerous! He ended up sleeping until 7:30, which explains why I'm still awake. I did however get to see most of a movie, cook dinner, and eat dinner all in peace. When A woke up it was a whole different story, peace and quiet was gone and he was on top of his game with driving me crazy! His favorite thing is to climb into the bathroom sink with a box that's filled with washcloths, he throws all of the washcloths out and flips over the box to use as a stool, then he climbs in the sink and either plays with the toothbrushes or turns on the water and gets soaking wet. It's my favorite! Now we're laying in bed and he's kicking the computer screen, another favorite of mine. But it's time to call it a night before tomorrow is hard before it even starts.