Sandy, Ut

We have been in Utah for 11 days. In the past we have spent longer than this visiting Utah so in a way I am still just a visitor here. However, the house we bought needs a lot of work (more than we realized) and so I certainly won't call this a vacation.

Before I rant about the negatives, let me stress that people have been very friendly to us here. We love our little cul-de-sac and the neighborhood. People at church have introduced themselves and as soon as school gets out here I know we will have playdates with our new friends. The first week here we were able to spend a lot of time with my mom and her husband, Bert. We also saw my siblings a few times. That really helped ease our loneliness and perpetuated my feelings of being here for a visit. We love being closer to family.

I have enjoyed the downtime. Had this been the first week of summer in Arizona we would have been running from activity to activity, with my kids constantly needing friends over and swim time. Here my children have played outside everyday. They are discovering box elder bugs and worms. We have a huge backyard and wonderful, soft grass.  I have spent a lot of time cleaning up the front yard. (The back yard is a mess which we will get to next week). We have dozens of rose bushes that are beautiful now. I went through a phase where I preferred to be working outside rather than in. So much easier and the outcome is more noticeable. Needless to say, inside the house we are surrounded by boxes and I am unmotivated to unpack them.

I have been working on the house. My sister, Arycca and I painted two of the bedrooms last week. We will get new carpet in those rooms Friday. Tomorrow we have a contractor coming to make an opening in the wall between our kitchen and family room. As soon as this gets done I have to paint the rest of the upstairs. This is a daunting task and I feel like I'm on hold, waiting, and I hate it. We had the month between finishing preschool and moving here that we were in limbo, living out of boxes. Now we are here, not exactly living out of boxes, but in my mind I am still not a permanent resident.

I do not love this house. I am not excited to unpack and live here. Some days (particularly the ones where the sun hasn't been out) I still feel like I am in mourning for my good life in Az. Last week we noticed pools of water behind the wall in our laundry room. Scott discovered a leak that ran from the kitchen sink down to the laundry room. He spent many hours repairing it and I am grateful he figured out how to do that. Now we will have to repair and repaint the laundry room. Our fridge does not fit in the space allotted in our kitchen so that is in the garage. Our kitchen is small, old and cramped. I have not unpacked the boxes of food because I have no room in my kitchen. And Scott's car did not pass safety and emissions so it looks like $900 will be required in car repairs. Yes, I am complaining and now I am done.

Myles will turn 6 on Sunday so this week we have been busy planning his pirate party for tomorrow. I am going to attempt to make a treasure chest cake. We have games planned, a pirate piñata and of course the cake and goody bags. Myles is so excited and we will have fun. We are expecting ten kids (in addition to my three): seven neighbor kids and three cousins. I'm stressing a little but it will be great.

I will post pics of the house as well as the before and after pics of work we have done when we get the computer set up. For now, know that I am doing the best I can (sometimes hanging on for dear life) and enjoying this time with my little family. Scott is around more (a huge blessing) and has even come home to see us at lunchtime a few times. I am grateful for my little family and know we are growing closer together through this time. We are working to make life good again.