A Life Update

Jeremy is home!

Two weeks ago Jeremy flew out to Savannah to finish his classes and take the exit exam for his PA program. I am happy to report that he passed and is completely done with PA school! He's going to take "the boards" in a week, which will certify him to practice in all 50 states. He has an interview in Omak, Washington at the end of the month, so we're hopeful that will lead to a job.

My Mom came up to help me out while Jeremy was gone, and Tayvin has been in seventh heaven having another grandma to spoil and love him. She brought her dog, Chipper, who is my favorite furry creature in the world because she is so snuggly. It's actually been a good two weeks, but I am so glad to have Jeremy back. My Yin was missing its Yang.

Last Tuesday I had another ultrasound because my tummy was measuring small. It turns out that I was measuring 3 weeks behind, but thankfully baby girl is totally fine and measuring right on time. What does that mean? Apparently I'm carrying in my back and hips instead of my belly, so that explains the hip pain I've been experiencing and the waddle-walk I've been trying to avoid (with no success). She is head down and ready to go, so maybe I'll actually go into labor this time. Now that Jeremy is home this baby is welcome to come at any time, except for the day Daddy takes the boards. Wish us luck. ;) My due date is April 16th, but I'm thinking that she'll come on the 19th. I think it would be neat if my kids were exactly 3 1/2 years apart.

Making some tentative plans

We've had an interesting week in regards to a job Jeremy applied for. One of the doctors looking at his CV (medical resume) actually called Jeremy last Monday or Tuesday  b/c he liked it so much. The doctor mentioned something about Jeremy coming out and seeing the facilities, so on Thursday Jeremy called to see if they wanted him to come out. A nurse wanted to check with their medical director first, but she was in a meeting, so we were waiting for a couple hours to see if he would be leaving for the weekend or not. He got a call an hour and a half later saying yes, we would like you to come to Washington to see our medical facilities. So I helped Jeremy get packed and out the door in less than 20 minutes and away he went.

Fast forward two hours, and who should open the door but Jeremy.

Huh?

The first words out of his mouth were, "Everything is okay, this is actually a good thing." Which allayed any fears of mine about car troubles or something happening with the job.

It turns out there was a miscommunication between the medical director and the nurse. Yes, they want Jeremy to come out and see their facilites, but they want to fly him out and show him the sights and schmooze a little. They actually want to fly out our whole family, but that's probably not going to happen since the baby is due in 5 weeks. When Jeremy told them I wouldn't be able to come, the medical director told him they would wait until after the baby was born to fly him out, and that he's first on their list. Apparently it's really important to them to find a doctor who is a good fit with their practice, and they're willing to wait for the right time and put the money into finding him. The more research we do on this job, the more it seems like a good fit. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

Eternal Truths

I get Daily Messages emailed to me from lds.org, and today's struck me enough that I wanted to make a graphic for it. It's by Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in an article called "Reverence for Life", Liahona and Ensign, May 1985.

Isolationism

Being sick this weekend really sucked. We had plans to go down to Logan and couldn't because Tayvin was pretty sick, and I had picked it up as well. We're both doing a bit better (it's just a runny nose and cough kind of thing), but I haven't wanted to go outside in the windy cold because we're both sick, and we can't go to things like storytime because I don't want to spread this around Malad. I haven't left the house since Sunday. I actually asked Jeremy what day of the week it was because I wasn't sure. And I'm starting to feel a little depressed. The past three days  I have lost it with Tayvin. I just want him to leave me alone so I can be sick in peace.

I also really, really miss my friends. I miss my friends in Savannah, and my friends out here because they are all so far away. I miss being able to call someone and say, let's get together for lunch, and it happens. I miss having a car to run around in just so I can get out of the house. I miss having playdates. Poor Tayvin asks me to play with him because he doesn't have anyone else. He gets so excited anytime his cousins come over because he actually has someoen to play wit. I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate Malad. I hate being so isolated from everyone. I can't wait to leave, but it seems like life is doing everything in it's power to keep us here. Tonight, I really wish I could go home, wherever that might be.

Math Games

Have you seen the image of a square with many squares inside? It looks like this:

I've always want to prove how I know there are 40 squares, so I went into geek mode tonight and made a super-quick graphic to show you. Like you care.

Malad-y.

Living in Malad kind of sucks.

There are definite pros. We pay no rent or utilites, for which I have my generous mother-in-law to be thankful for. She has been so good to us, I don't really know where to start. We also have instant babysitters for Tavyin, including grandpa, who lives 5 minutes away.

What is getting to me is the boredom. We do pretty much the same things every day, and getting out to "town" is a big deal. Getting out of Malad is an even bigger one because the nearest city that's worth going to for the shopping is Pocatello, then Logan, and both are about an hour away. I don't know anyone here, and I'm used to us socializing with our friends regularly. I'm sad that Tayvin doesn't have any friends to play with, and I don't have any girlfriends nearby to chat with or go to lunch with. There are nice people here who we could get to know, but we're moving in 2-3 months, so what's the point? Of course, I have no idea where we'll be moving to, so that's another item of stress.

Our ward is neat, and I would really like to serve so I would have something to do, but I'm pregnant and am moving soon, so there's no reason to give me a calling. I haven't been called to one yet, and I think doing it now would feel like a waste of time.

The good stuff? I do have friends out here, they're just a couple hours away. Jeremy has been so good about letting me get away for weekends so I can cram in my girl time all at once. I think that has been what's keeping me sane. It was also really nice to have Jeremy so close, and for his schedule to be flexible. If he wanted to take time off, he could. He started a new rotation today that is in Tremonton, about 45 minutes south of us, which stinks b/c he has the car all week, but he also gets 3-day weekends this entire rotation. Jeremy's mom has also said we can use her cars anytime we want.

Really, my life is pretty good right now. I think what stresses me out is the feeling of being in limbo. I'm having a baby in 2 months, and if she comes early there might be a chance that Jeremy will still be in Savannah or taking the PANCE exam. We'll also probably be moving shortly after the baby comes, which will be hard with a VBAC, and nigh impossible if I have another C-section. I have a lot going on in the future that I have no control over and can't plan for, so I have to try and just let it go and live day to day and see what happens.

Our little cabin

We're mostly settled into Malad, and it's a little weird being back here. The last time we lived in the cabin was when Jeremy and I were first married. We lived in Malad for a summer a couple years later and stayed at Jeremy's Mom's house. Jer's Dad lived in the cabin and fixed it up quite a bit while he was here, so it's been a lot nicer than the last time we lived here. There's wood floors in the kitchen and bathroom, and the walls were painted and wallpapered. The biggest difference is the kitchen. Honestly, I think the kitchen will make or break a house for me. This one has a newer stove, dishwasher, microwave, and a walk-in pantry. We will definitely be able to make it here for the next few months.

 Something neat about this cabin is that it's one of the original buildings on the farm. It was supposedly built around 1870, and when we first lived here you could see the logs on the outside. Jeremy's Dad was going to put new siding on (which never happened) so everything is walled off now, but the walls are a foot thick.

Tayvin was being silly while I was trying to take a picture of the door frame, so you can see more of him than anything else, but if you look at the door frame you can see how thick the walls are. Tayvin's room was added on later and the walls are a standard thickness. There's built in shelves behind the door, which is really nice to store his toys. It's a tiny room, but so far it's been working for him.

This is the window in my kitchen. The angle doesn't show it too well, but again,you can see that the walls are so thick. For some reason I really get a kick out of that. The doorways are also super short, they are only 6 feet high. Jeremy barely clears the one leading to our room. I guess the pioneers really were shorter.

And yesterday Tayvin put his snow boots on his doggy and actually posed for a picture instead of being a blurry mess.

While it is much nicer than the last time we lived here, the cabin isn't perfect. It gets really cold, so Jeremy's Mom put in a new furnace/space heater that runs on propane and heats the back room and Tayvin's room pretty well, although we have a little space heater in Tayvin's room, too. We also have a space heater in the kitchen, and I got a little one for our bedroom as well. We've been pretty comfortable, so thank you modern heaters!

This past summer the box elder bugs were also really bad, and when Jeremy's Mom turned on the heat they woke up from hibernation, along with a horde of flies, and have been drunkenly stumbling around the house. Jeremy says they were really bad when he first got here, but he got some Ortho Home Defense and sprayed the house really well before Tayvin and I got here. It seems to be helping. I still find bugs in the house, but they're usually dead or dying, and box elder bugs are easy to squish. It's funny to see the flies, though. They're still too cold to function really well, so they can't escape the fly swatter. Bwahaha.

The good thing? No spiders. I have seen two in the week that we have lived here, and both have been very small. All the same, I'll be glad to leave come spring.