Milestones

Two important milestones this week:

1. Joseph started kindergarten.


2. I turned 25, which means that I am half-way to being "over the hill."
   

Kindergarten:

Joseph's first day of kindergarten started off great! He has an amazing teacher, is going to a wonderful school, and is thriving. We're so happy that he's doing well. After I left Joseph's school, a friend and I took a little road trip. We ended up getting lost and had to frantically call around to get someone to pick up our kids from their first day of school. I felt so bad that I wasn't able to be there to pick up the poor little guy from his first day of school, but he seemed to emerge unscathed.

The handsome little guy before his first day of school.

Joseph and his friend Mackenzie. Thankfully her mom was able to pick Joseph up from school and the two had a good time playing together until I was able to get home.

Joseph trying to do a "K" in sign language. We thought that it would be cute to take a yearly photo of him holding up the number of fingers corresponding to the grade he's in. So, "K" for kindergarten, but it didn't work out quite as well as we had hoped.

My Birthday:

For starters, my awesome present - Brad bought me a t-shirt from the season 5 finale of The Office. Woohoo!

And, my parents pre-ordered season 5 on DVD, so I should be getting that in a few days. It's being released on September 8th. Squee!

My parents (as shown below)...

...threw an amazing party just for me!

All of this, just for me?? Not really. We actually went up for their annual company picnic, which just happened to fall on my birthday. It was loads of fun, and a great way to spend time with my family. Tons of food, games, and good times.

Grandpa with a Spongebob pinata.

Joseph had a great time painting (including painting himself).

He also had fun carrying around this bowl of pretzels and "serving" everyone.

This kid had a blast playing in a mud puddle.

On the way home, we stopped at Cabela's. The kids were amazed by all of the taxidermed (is that a word?) animals.

And that ends our fun week!

In other news, Brad LOVES his new job! We feel so blessed to be in this area. Brad feels like he hit "the job lottery." We are really enjoying Parkersburg. Everyone is SO nice here. We like being close to family and we are making new friends. Thanks to everyone - Joseph's teachers, Pleasants County schools, our new friends, and our family - for making us feel so at home here. We know our prayers have been answered!

Being Tested

The last two weeks have been a serious test of my patience. I don't say faith - I know Heavenly Father gives us trials for a reason and he'll help us through the difficult times if we remain faithful and follow his commandments. So I just need to be patient and wait for the light at the end of the tunnel.

For starters, we moved into our new place. It's wonderful; a three-story townhome with a finished basement. It's in a great neighborhood, it's affordable, and we love Parkersburg. However, a few days after we moved in, Joseph decided that it would be a good idea to dump an entire bottle of laundry detergent all over the brand new carpet!!! It took an entire week of late nights to suck up all of the detergent, and now our carpets smell all mildew-y.

On top of that, I got a part-time job to help our family out a little. I'm working as a shift-manager at a restaurant at the mall. I work evenings, and by the time I come home every night, I am completely exhausted and I smell like a disgusting grease ball. I miss being home to spend time with my family. I know that this is for the benefit of our family, but it's hard to feel like I am being of any benefit when I am not home to cook nutritious meals, help unpack and organize our new home, help out with bedtime, etc. Even when I am home, I don't spend any time with my family because I am exhausted from working, so I spend most of the day sleeping. I feel like I am going through this vicious cycle of caffeine highs and total exhaution meltdowns.

To further add to the problems, out truck broke down, and it cost more than my first paycheck to fix it, and I had to pay for the traffic citation that I received the day we moved from Martinsburg to Parkersburg, leaving us flat broke. Ugh. But, I don't want my driver's license suspended and/or have a warrant out for my arrest and we need to have our truck to finish moving all of our stuff out of my brother-in-law's basement.

So things have been a little rough around here. I really could use some prayers and the support of family and friends right now. I know these probably seem trivial, but I feel like I am being tested to my absolute limits right now. Having a meltdown surely won't help anything! Thanks to all of those who read this blog. Knowing that I have friends and family who care really means alot. I hope my next post comes bearing better news. Until next time, please keep me in your prayers. Thanks!