Always updating!

I pinned and customized daily planner pages today, and on them I put blog time so hopefully I will stay caught up! Well we are living in Raleigh North Carolina now. Serenity and Bryan and their family moved too, as well as Brinae and Josh. We are a family of ten living in one house. Sometimes that can cause  a little chaos and stress. So far so good though.
We had a few miracles in helping us get here and settling down.  It all started with us knowing for a few years now that we should move. One day Brinae and Serenity were looking at various states and wondering where sounded cool. When they mentioned the Carolinas I said I want to live near the ocean. I went to work and they,with Donnell, started looking seriously at jobs and houses near Greenville, then the Apex/Cary area. That is where we thought we wanted.  We started applying for houses. We were accepted for this house. We started to think it was small, we found a bigger one, and Donnell talked to the lady. There seemed to be issues so Serenity and Donnell made a rush trip out here with the hopes of securing the bigger house. They went and looked at it, but didn't feel comfortable with it, it smelled musty in the full basement. They decided to just drive  the smaller house and cross it off the list. They pulled in the driveway and immediately the handyman pulled in behind them. He was very nice and let them look at the house and gave them ideas, they realized that the bedrooms were a very good size. They talked to the landlady and met her. She is extremely nice and talked about how even though we sign a years lease with her, if she gets a bigger house(supposed to have one ready in August) we will have the option to go with that one.  They really felt like it was all an answer to prayer.  We decided to take the house and got to work packing. Bryan and my last days of work was at the end of May. Our tentative date to leave was the 10th of June. We had a few setbacks due to 401K getting released. THe day we were supposed to get the big Penske truck it rained, so it was a little miracle that we weren't ready for it. We got the truck on Wednesday and Connor Whitson was off and able to come and help pack it. That day we had a few miracles, one was the fact that Connor was able to help. When the guys were trying to get the queen size mattress in the truck they just couldn't get it, all of a sudden a neighbor(whom we didn't know) just walked down the street and jumped right in to help. He stayed and kept helping. Right near the end of  filling the truck, the guys were trying to load our ride on lawnmower and once again there was not enough help when all of a sudden the neighbor's friend just happended to be walking by helped load the lawnmower and then off he went.The truck was loaded and we still didn't have all the stuff packed, we realized that we needed another little trailer. We called and the little one we wanted was not available in Alma. They called Ft Smith and off they went. They got there and found out that they didn't have one either. they got the next size and it was still small too. We were able to get some more of our stuff packed on the trailer. It was so late and we were exhausted. We did not have enough room to take everything and our house was left a mess. My bestie Sara Howard and a lady from her Church went and cleaned and got it ready for the Morgans-which was another miracle in that they decided to move in our house and take over payments.
Traveling here, Donnell called the Elder's Quorum president and left a message. He called back and they made arrangements to help us unpack on Saturday morning, We pulled in Friday at dinner time, our landlady Yan pulled in with fried chicken for us and the lease. She also called her handyman to come and help unload on Saturday.
Saturday morning at 8:00 five priesthood holders and Brock the handyman showed up at our house. What took us fourteen hours to load, those men had it unloaded in less than a hour and 1/2! The missionaries came later that day and helped us move boxes and such around. What blessings all the help were! We went to Church on Sunday(they start at 9:00) and there were so many people ready to greet us! We felt welcomed and at home there-9 weeks later we still do!!!
To date, Donnell and Bryan both have factory jobs, Brinae started a nanny job, and Serenity has an interview on Friday morning that she is beyond excited about.
The city is beautiful and we are feeling like we are home!

When a door closes......

I have not been posting due to a few things, sickness had been through our home and recently something happened that I just didn't want to broadcast.
My sweet hubby lost his job. We thought it might happen and over the weekend, we kept praying for Heavenly Father's will be done. I know that He knows what is best for our family. Donnell and I made different plans according to different scenarios. He had his meeting on Monday and when he picked me up for my lunch break, it broke my heart to see him like he was. He kept apologizing for letting me down and promising to do everything and anything to make sure the bills get paid. I assured him that he did not let me down ever and that his past actions since the day I married him has shown me his character and that I knew he would still provide for us. I know that this has the potential to be a very big blessing for us, if we lean on Heavenly Father. He went today and applied for unemployment, this step will allow him to go back to school in the fall and finish his computer programming. He will have this time to heal his back and get healthy and to be able to spend more time with Josh in preparing for a mission. The things I am most afraid of is the lack of insurance for my husband and son. Donnell takes blood pressure meds and Josh needs to do all the dentist and doctor stuff for his mission. I love Donnell and I know that we will be fine, just need to learn to budget better and we won't have as much "fluff" stuff that we like to do. Trials are to make us stronger and I am determined to help this one become a true blessing. I have fear and worries a lot, but am trying. Each day another thought will creep in my head, yesterday it was the lack of life insurance. We had a really good policy through his work and heaven knows I want my Donnell here, it was a safety net. I did not want to post about this as I wanted to protect Donnell. Sometimes people judge and then I realized that anyone that knows him. They know the strong, funny, hard working man that he is. I am grateful for the family that I have.
Gratitude list:
1. thankful for my job-although it doesn't pay great, it is something I love to do and it helps with the bills now.
2. Donnell being accepted for unemployment although we don't know when it will kick in.
3. My testimony of the gospel and how I know Heavenly Father is aware of me.
4. That Brinae has a good job and has good health benefits.
5. grateful that I just got my new glasses on Donnell's insurance before the loss of job!

Keyboard is going to make this blogging so much easier

I had been using Serenity's laptop as mine is messed up, imagine Savanna wanting it back haha(She loves to watch Seventh Heaven on it), so Donnell bought me a keyboard yesterday so I can use my Ipad to do my blogging and computer stuff-can I say I love it!!!!
This has been a busy but fun weekend. We spent the day yesterday shopping, a lot of it was window shopping and planning. Josh had gone with the youth to the Oklahoma City Temple, so Brinae went with us.
I'm still having a hard time with trying to figure out how to document my OLW project. I'm not sure that I want to use the divided page protectors, but I can't find a Smash book that will work either. I'm leaning towards making my own.  I need to take some more time and just really delve into studying my word-light.
My gratitude list:
1. being able to go to Church to hear Brinae's talk on kindness.
2. Brinae being willing to teach my lesson today as I was sick.
3. Donnell making dinner for us-yummy pork chops and mac and cheese.
4. Learning a new game Settlers of Catan-fun fun fun
5. being able to take Cassandra's kids to Church, all my grandkids were able to be in Church today-a good feeling!

Ice and cold

Today was a weather nightmare! It started with rain and then bam! ice everywhere. We watched as the sidewalks and parking lots froze at work, just wanting to leave for the safety of our own homes. We were able to leave at noon. Driving home was slow, I saw remains of an accident on the side of the road. I went and picked up Josh, he said the office was calling student names every few seconds, as more and more parents came to pick up their kids. Alma school district only ran a few of their buses, after parents that could picked up their kids, approx. 25 kids were left to maybe stay the night at school. The county sheriff took them home just a while ago. Crazy weather!! I just found out that one of my story time parents and her twin boys were not able to make it home and were holed up in a motel room, the last room they had available because of the ice.
We had cake and karaoke to celebrate Elvis Presleys birthday-he would have been 79 yrs. old.
Today is also my dad's birthday. He passed away in 1989 from brain cancer. I sure wish my younger kids could have met him. Serenity and Cassandra had him when they were younger. I have many happy memories of him.
I was able to work a bit on my OLW pages today. Still looking for a picture to make my word visible and a quote. I will post pictures soon of my pages.
Gratitude list:
1making it home safe and sound.
2. getting to leave work early
3 trying a new recipe(white chicken chili) and loving it
4 so grateful that all my kids and grandkids are safe in their homes tonight
5 grateful that Donnell was able to make it to work safely amidst all the ice(he said it was awful)

yesterday's gratitude list

Gratitude list for Tuesday Jan 7
1/ had fun at work
2. bought yummy healthy snacks at Walmart
3Donnell's dr. report was not as bad as feared, have to work on his taking meds on time and daily for blood pressure
4able to take a hot shower in my own bathroom
5 grateful to climb in bed tonight!

Brr it's cold!

This morning I woke up to very cold weather. I went to take a shower and found out our pipes had froze in the night. I had let the water drip in my bathroom, but I guess not enough. I melted ice cubes in the microwave so I could brush my teeth, I faked everything else and went to work.
Work was steady today, I didn't get half my to do list done, but I kept plugging away.
At lunch today we talked about one little word and Lynnette said she thought of a word for her this year and it is build. We explained to Amy and she picked less. I was so excited to have girls understand what I'm trying to do. It just makes it nice to have someone to talk to about and share the excitement.
Gratitude list:
1 Serenity sharing her shower with Josh and I tonight
2. Coming home to finding our water back on(at least to half the house)
3. Fuzzy warm blanket to cuddle on couch with
4. scripture study everyday so far this year
5 kneeling around the coffee table for family prayer together

Another quiet day

There were a lot of empty seats at Church today, probably due to the weather. I t was snowing, although it wasn't sticking, and cold. We did find out some of the people in Mountainburg and higher areas, could not get out.
Our Relief Society lesson was on repentance and God's open arms. Sister Pinot did a great lesson.
Gratitude list:
1 able to get my numbers transferred over to the new phone
2. quiet afternoon-even took a nap
3 Sister Pinot's lesson
4 yummy lunch waiting when I got home from Church(Donnell's back only allowed him to sit for Sacrament)
5finished my letter to Kyle.

Quiet simple day

I had a nice quiet day with Donnell, Josh, and Brinae. Josh is starting to feel better, his fever broke, but he is still tired. Sometimes simple days are the best!
 Gratitude list:
1. enjoying a movie with the family all bundled up in blankets.
2. Cheddars onion rings for lunch, mmmm!
3. Getting and looking at my Smash book stash(I'm making a weight loss journal)
4. Seeing Brinae get excited about making her own Smash book(her's is all about tasty stuff-recipes, kitchen, etc)
5. finally getting pages printed off (been a headache getting computer and printer to communicate) for my OLW and my Relief Society lesson next week.

Decluttering

I wanted to accomplish something this Christmas break before going back to work. Today we tackled decluttering our bedroom.  I  thought of my word light and decided that  I needed to be brave and not be afraid to throw away-thus making our room lighter. I managed to fill one of those big black garbage bags with clothes that I don't wear, I will donate them to the Outreach Center. I tried to use the "everything you touch -toss it, give it, or put away in its spot" rule. We did it! The sad part of the day was half way through and I figured Donnell would not be able to go on our date tonight due to the amount of work he was doing with his back, I was so looking forward to going out with him. It seems like forever since we had a date. I love him so much and felt guilty for feeling selfish. THe bedroom looks good and feels great, hopefully we will be able to go soon.
My gratitude list:
1. a clean bedroom
2. Downloading my new class from Big Picture Scrapbooking
3. My BPS class was free due to rewards!!
4 I was able to see Cassandra, Abby, and E.J. for a little while today-I just love them to pieces.
5. Sonic happy hour-little nuggets of ice and diet coke!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Another brand new start. The beginning of another year, the making of new year resolutions, the excitement of new goals, hopes, and dreams. I have always liked the beginning of everything-the first line or two of a new book to pull me in, the excitement of two lines on a home pregnancy test, the sense of willpower at the start of a diet, the thrill of the phone when starting a new relationship, all starts of new journeys-don't get me wrong I love the whole journey, but I relish the beginnings! This year is no different, new goals, or old goals reborn again-weight loss, eating healthy....., but along with those are the feelings of something new, something resonating deeper in me this time.
 My one little word for 2014 is Light. I want to invite more light into my life, I want to become lighter -weight wise, emotionally, stress wise, I want to stand in Christ's light more, I want to illuminate goodness more, there are so many opportunities with this word and I own it this year. My word last year was Be and even though I didn't quite accomplish everything I wanted to do with this word, I feel like I did learn to just be!
 My gratitude list today is :
1. Dr.'s for my Mady-she had to have surgery to rebreak her arm so it could be put in a cast.
2. So grateful that Mady did well in surgery.
3. Days off!
4. physical therapy for Donnell.(on his back)
5. My Josh-he is sick today. I am grateful that I can be his mom.

Gratitude list

Clean sheets especially after a shower.
Sitting on the couch in a newly rearranged front room.
Clean kitchen floor.
Church and teaching relief society today.
Going to egertons for dinner after church- she is a really good friend and I am thankful for her!

UPDATE

Well Mom has the internet again, so I thought I better get busy and get caught up!
Josh is in public school and seems to enjoy it, he is quite funny, I hear(imagine that!) He is in grade ten. He is a Priest at Church and blesses the Sacrament every Sunday.
Brinae is leaving me and going to BYU-Idaho, her start date is April 17th, we are all going to be lost without her around. She is working at Walmart and enjoying the paychecks!
Serenity is going to College and doing very well, her gpa is 3.6 that is incredible with four kids and a husband!
Donnell is still working full time and going to school fulltime. I miss him so much, but am very thankful he is trying to better our lives. We just celebrated 20 years of marriage! He is still my soulmate and best friend! I love him so very much!!
Cassandra is pregnant and due in April, I am so worried about her, I want the best for her. I am so happy that she has gone to Church the last couple of Sundays.
All the grandkids are doing great and they are so much fun for us.
I now work at the Van Buren Library as the youth services programmer, I LOVE it!, I get to plan all the programs for the kids and teens. I enjoy my job so very much.
I can't wait for Mom to get her webcam and then we can skype!
Love to all, B

Women bonding

Robin, , Patty, and I have been staying here in Bloomington, Illinois while our kiddos are at EFY. We are sharing a suite and having a good time. We have been swimming, eating, driving around, and vegging out.
One of our major concerns happens to be my Brinae, she is pretty sick, but she refuses to leave EFY. We think it is her gall bladder acting up, it is only working at 3% and she is to have surgery on it. She has been having stomach pains, and she has sores under her tongue. We took her meds yesterday and a home remedy today, neither seems to be working. We are praying that she makes through this week and we get home and she can see her surgeon. It breaks my heart to see and hear her in pain. This is her last EFY now that she has graduated.
Donnell had to stay home and work, I miss him. I worked on my project life abit today. It is coming along.

Others' blogs

I just finished reading Amanda's and kristina's blogs. they live in Arizona now. Amanda was just another one of my kids. She is happily married and doing great. I miss her.
Her sister Kristina haas a very busy life full of kids and all sorts of happenings. Reading her blog and facebook always brings a smile to my face and so causes me to want to be a better mom, wife, and friend.
Lindsey is another one I love to follow, she has touched my life and has made my life richer for her being a part of it. She lives in Salt Lake and I miss her-even though I have only been able to see her a couple of times after her mission-her influence continues to be a part of my life.
I love all these awesome ladies and I wish I could hopefully touch someone's life like they have touched mine.
Can you believe that my Brinae is a senior this year??? She is doing great in her schoolwork-she does it all on the computer and her teachers live in all parts of the country-Alaska, Nevada, Virginia, California,etc. We joined the homeschool group so she is on yearbook staff and student council. She is getting ready to take her ACT so she can apply to BYU Idaho! One of her reasons for going there is they have heated sidewalks!!!!
Josh is in grade nine. He does not like school-no big surprize there!! He still has to do it though. He is so funny and reminds me of Donnell so much.
Donnell is working full time and going to school full time. He is getting all A's, but he is so tired. I am so proud of him. He loves programming, he really feels like it is his niche.
I have been doing ok-struggling with myself on so many levels. I love my life, but sometimes I feel like I am not doing a 100% in any of my "jobs". I desire to do better and am working on it. I guess life is always a work inprogress-hey that is a good title for a layout~~
Love to all

update

Yep can you believe it-i haven't been keeping up with this blog. We have a laptop now so I'm hoping it will make it easier for me, how you ask-well I can blog anywhere now and not have to be stuck at the desk.
Cassandra moved back home with her two little ones until tax time, she is trying to fill out her forms and receive a Habitat for Humanity home. She is working full time at Cedar Ridge-a home for handicapped clients. Aden is now in kindergarten and Abby is in her last year of preschool.
Serenity is homeschooling all her kids now. It is actually public school done on the computer at home. They are using the K12 program, this is the program we were apart of from 1st grade through 8th. They seem to be loving it so far. Noah is growing up so fast and losing all his baby looks-it is breaking all our hearts.
Brinae is now a senior and Josh started high school. They are both part of the Lincoln Virtual High School. It is part of K12 but different in that I am not the main teacher, we have teachers from all over the country: Alaska, Nevada, California, Tennesee ,etc. It is different and Brinae is loving it, Josh says it is okay.
Donnell is working full time at Baldour and going to college full time. He is working on finishing his computer programmer program. He has wanted to do this forever. I am very proud of him for all tha he does for our family.
I am still working at the library, although I turned down the Children's coordinator position as we felt I needed to be home more. I was sad about it, but I will still do the HeadStart storytimes and the teaching of scrapbooking and card making.
I was able to go to Canada for over a week thanks to Wilma. She and her girls were making a trip up there and asked me if I wanted too tag along. It was awesome seeing my family again and seeing Mom doing so much better. I really had the best time. I already miss them like crazy.
I really want to do better at this blog thingy so for now have a great night!

Sunday

I only went to CHurch in time to teach my Relief SOciety lesson. i just cannot believe how much my mouth hurts. Josh is still not well either.
The Elders are here giving Cassandra another lesson and Donnell is finishing up dinner. They are going to eat with us. She really is trying and I am so grateful for that.
Serenity was at Church today and thanked everyone in Relief Society for all their help. She enjoyed being pack in Church.
The library pipes froze and when they started thawing out I guess they were leaking from the ceiling and it started smelling burnt. THe fire department was called, Eva was there, police, and Amy. It seems like it is ok but it is closed to the public on Monday due to no water. Wow they day I havae no work all excitement happens-glad I was at home!!!!!
I really don't feel good, so I am getting off of here.
I love you all! B

Can you say COLD!!!!!

I know that I grew up with -40 degree weather, but this cold is crazy here. I cannot believe how cold it has been-they are saying it has been more than 25 years since it has been these temps. Today we woke up and our pipes are froze. I even left the water in the bathroom on-silly me that is the only room with water-go figure. Donnell is trying to thaw them out now.
i went back to the dentist on Wed. and they just gave me another round of antibiotics, they will try to pull them next week. I have been taking Ibprofen around the clock and the pain pills he gave me. i am here to tell you they don't work, I have been crying this morning and if I could I would rip them out myself. They are still telling me the top teeth look fine, I know the pain can cause it to seem like it is all over BUT I know that it is also one of my top back teeth. The weird thing is with growing up deaf in my left ear and NEVER feeling in there-it is killing me. My ear hurts so bad I can't describe it. It is right down in there-weird with the nerves damaged in there.
My Josh is very sick as well, he is running a fever and bless his heart is covered in poison ivy. He broke out after a couple of days back from the campout. He keeps coughing, he just keeps resting and drinking ginger ale. Have I told you how deep my boy's voice is? His hairline above his lip is getting darker and boy his legs are covered with hair!!!!Help my baby is growing into a man!!!!!
Brinae is still loving her life. Her camera is always in use and her fave subject is herself-lol. If you don't know her you would think that is very vain-but she really truly loves herself in a good way. She is such a joy and heaven help me another chip off Donnell's block-she has his humor too.
Cassandra is doing so good, she is coming to Church and staying for all meetings. She meets with the Elders, she is paying tithing, and her goal is she wants to go to Girls Camp with Brinae. She has a long road ahead but is looking forward . I am extremely proud of her. I hope and pray that she continues to have the strength and desire to do so.
Serenity if off to the doctor today to see how her broken leg is doing. She is so tired of all the limitations it has put on her and her family. It has been over two months I believe.I know she just wants her life back and to be in control of her own house.I feel sad for her and I pray she gets good news today.
I love you all and hope you have a great day! B

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Last night was so much fun with family and friends. We used the community room at the library and played Rockband and various games. I enjoyed it and am very grateful for my friends and my family.
I am hoping and praying that we may all have a great New Year. Some of my goals for the year are:
renewing my Temple recommend-it has been like forever
getting healthy-blood pressure, weight, mind(I know it might be impossible to get mind healthyLOL)
live a more destressful life
learn to say it is ok to say NO
making time to play by myself and with friends
get connected and stay connected to old friends and family members
enjoy this year's journey!

I called my cousin Ann and had a great time talking to her. We talked for over a hour and it was so nice. I miss my family. I had been remembering spending so much time with her and her family growing up. They are a big part of my fave memories as a child and youth. I tried to reach Ed her brother, but just got to leave a message.

Tonight is Donnell's and i first date of 2010. I love him and am so happy I met him and was able to be blessed enough to become his wife and eternal mate. He makes me so happy and fills my life with joy. Mom often asks me if he still makes me laugh and I in all honesty can say yes almost EVERYDAY-no lie! Some days I only see him for 5 minutes, thank goodness my hours have changed again so I will be home more now. His laugh is music to my soul, I count him twice when I count my blessings(I read that somewhere and love that quote!)

I love ya all and Happy New Year! B

Well Christmas is over

and I am sad. It was a very nice one. I had gone to the dentist on Tues. thinking I was gonna die!! They took xrays and couldn't find the tooth, they asked about sinuses and I told them I had just got over avery bad infection. They gave me strong antibiotics and pain pills. I was still feeling not quite myself so we just had our family. It was so nice we decided that is how we want it every Christmas Eve. Bryan played the guitar and we sang Christmas songs and carols, read the story from scriptures instead of a play. It was especially nice because I called Mom and her and Glen joined in the festivites via the phone. They loved it and sang with us. Serenity, because of her broken leg, with her family spent the night(she told us later it was really fun to spend the night-remember last year they went home for the night and came back in the morning). They had Josh's room. Cassandra, Abby, Aden, Josh, and Brinae slept in Brinae's room. Serenity was the one to wake everybody up this year!!!! Gerry spent the night too and loved it. He gets very lonely in the nursing home where he lives. We had our brunch and the Elders came. Cassandra put them to work putting Abby's kitchen together. They called home from our phones and then they were off. We played Rockband COuntry version, played DDR-I still got the moves-NOT!
We bar-b-q'd for dinner. We did not want turkey. It was really a great time and I am so excited-are you ready???? WE HAD A WHITE CHRISTMAS!!! i kept calling Mom and telling her it was a blizzard! It was so cold and pretty falling down. love love love it!
Today was the best Sacrament meeting I have been to in like forever. Joseph McCollum got home from his mission and gave an absolutely beautiful talk. It was awesome. He sure is a cutie for those single girls out here!!
Love to all! B

Merry Christmas!

I know it has been forever since I posted. Things have been so hectic and when I get home from work all I want to do is veg and crash.
Cassandra has both liver failure and type 2 diabetes. She is trying to get a hold of it, it has been scary and hard for her.
Serenity has a broken leg and has been off of it for over a month now and it is still not healing.
I have been working fulltime for this last few months, I can't wait for January when my time will be cut way back. I will be able to be mom and teacher again.
Christmas is here and I am homesick for my family. My mom is not doing well and I miss her like crazy. I wish we could all be together for Christmas. i wish i could see my brother and sister, I am missing them so much.
I am trying to get everything done for CHristmas, I still have a few things left to get, then done.
I am hoping for a fun and loving filled few days with my kids and grandkids.
Merry Christmas to you from me I love ya all!
I am going to do so much better with this bloggy thing in the new Year!!(I promise!!!)