Home Sweet Home

I remember, when I was living in Santee, Ca, walking around the neighborhood dreaming about the time when I would own a house. I visioned how I would decorate it, what I would plant in my flower garden, what the house would look like etc... I had a dream of the white picket fence, a yard filled with flowers and of course a dog. It was such a happy picture and I had no idea when it would be fulfilled. I walked several times a week for years day dreaming of a house and 10 years later my dream came true. A beautiful 2 story stucco house 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 living rooms, a fireplace, 2 car garage with an enormous yard filled with tulips and roses many of which I planted myself. The dream came true. We have lived in Utah 4 1/2 wonderful years and now it is time to move back to San Diego. I am so excited to be close to my family again and everything that is familiar but it comes with one draw back I must give up my home. The home that I had dreamed about and now have. It always had something missing though - my family. Sure they came to visit a couple of times a year but it wasn't the same. So a house with no family OR a family with no house...its not the perfect situation I had longed for. We are moving this summer and I have no idea, at this point, where we will live. My parents and in laws have generously offered that we can stay with them as long as we want until we find a place which is comforting and yet I still want my own home. We will probably have to rent an apartment or if we are lucky a house but we will not be able to own a home for a few years and that is hard for me. This new chapter will be an exciting adventure and I will enjoy every last moment I have in my home here. So for memories sake I am adding a few pictures so we will always remember our Lehi home. I know in time everything will fall into place and we will have our ultimate dream of home and family combined but until then I will choose to be content with the blessings I enjoy.

Fablehaven 5

"SALT LAKE CITY -- March 23 was the day thousands of Utahns waited for: It marked the release of the fifth and final book in the Fablehaven series.

Tuesday night's launch party looked more like a rock concert. Nearly 3,000 Utah kids and their parents -- some dressed as Fablehaven characters -- crammed into the Cottonwood High School auditorium to celebrate the release.

Local author Brandon Mull says he's glad his work has become so popular with kids."( KSL news)

Well, Jordan came home a very happy boy last night from the FableHaven 5 launch. He got all the signatures he wanted from the author & illustrator. He even got some of the props to be mailed to him! So glad he had fun and so grateful to Brandon who enjoys this type of thing. A great father & son night!

"Slimy"

Noah loves the character "slimy" on sesame street. A while back the kids were studying insects at the local library here in Lehi and their activity was to make caterpillars out of old gloves. Well with so much talk and play with our one finger puppet "slimy" and our move, we decided to make some of our own. I have to admit it was very therapeutic to cut up our gloves knowing that we will be in sunny San Diego very soon!

Soda Free!

I have been soda free for 2 months as of today!! Its awesome! One month to go for Jordan's challenge to be complete! I have to admit that I do miss it at times, especially when I am stressed or eat pizza. (some foods just go so well with soda) I also have to note that I feel empowered by taking control over what I put into my body. I used to drink diet soda daily , (only one can but yes-daily) and now I feel so much healthier drinking lemonade or water. Its a lot of extra calories drinking juice or additional milk but the health benefits have been worth it!

Unique Neighbors

It hit me today how much I am going to miss my dear neighbors and this great neighborhood. Now I don't mean one neighbor in particular because here in Utah the neighborhood is your ward (church group) so you know everybody on the block! When I first moved here, I was overwhelmed by the lack of privacy. It is sad to admit but I was even looking for a house with plenty of land (compared to California) so I would have "space" from my neighbors and not even have our front doors too close to each other and I did get just that. I still felt the need to plant more trees in my back yard because I swore everyone could see into my yard and right into my living room and kitchen 24/7. This was confirmed to me on the first snow storm that arrived. We had no idea how to shovel snow properly and our neighbors finally admitted to seeing us out their windows and laughing and they live two streets over!! Before moving to Utah, Brandon and I had spent almost 10 years in apartments with almost no privacy at all, the walls were thin and you heard practically everything - I would study and the neighbors would be having a party, I wanted the kids to play in the back patio and my neighbor would be smoking and using foul language so naturally when I had an opportunity to buy a house I knew that I wanted privacy and space-- lots of it!! Of course, we would say "hi", bake the occasional loaf of bread, but we didn't really have a relationship with any of our neighbors back home. It is so different here. It took a while to get used to. I always felt like I was being watched, not that I was doing anything wrong, I just wanted some peace. So even though I got plenty of space in Utah because of the close knit neighborhoods and wards it felt like everyone knew everything about everyone and I DIDN'T like it. Now I have grown to LOVE this set up! I have complete peace and feel so safe and secure. The boys can go up and down the street and not a single worry or concern enters my mind. I literally know ALL of my neighbors up and down about 4 or 5 streets. I know the couples, their children, their thoughts and feelings about many issues including their goals and I have even heard many of them bare testimony in church. We chat on facebook, we read each others blogs, and I LOVE knowing my neighbors! The thought of moving to San Diego and leaving this type of neighborhood behind is very sad and even a little scary for me. I have gotten so used to this that now NOT knowing my neighbors seems odd. I will make every effort to get to know my future neighbors and those on my block- it will just be so different.Isn't it interesting how your perspective changes!?! I don't know what it will be like but one thing I know for sure is that I will surely miss my Utah family! Thanks to all my wonderful neighbors and friends we really do love you, you are amazing, we have learned something from each person in this ward and we are so grateful to have known you and hope to continue our relationship with you regardless of where we are in the world!

Bowling Field Trip

Zoie, Cameron, Aidan

Madison, Jessica, Allison, Aidan, Zoie, Cameron, Jacob

Today was Aidan's first field trip of the year! (Due to budget cuts the school has been taking the kids on fewer and fewer field trips.) They went to the bank, the grocery store and finally bowling to study gravity and force. Luckily, they invited the parents and siblings to come along which is very rare. Noah and I were so excited to go bowling, we LOVE to bowling...there is just something about hitting those pins down with force the is so satisfying!!! It also doesn't hurt that since it is a field trip it's so much cheaper- so a win win for everyone. Once we got there it was pretty full so they had us change lanes and go over the the VIP section. Jack N Jill lanes in Lehi is brand spanking new so this VIP lounge was so cool. Couches instead of chairs, it is sectioned off and around the corner from the other bowlers, they play awesome music while you bowl and everything is new from balls to shoes. We had a GREAT time and Noah even bowled a 119 using this special bowling ball slide!!! He was so excited!

Peace & Health

I have been on a quest for "truth" for many years but more specifically I am in search of "Peace & Health." I feel at my best in all areas of my life when I am healthy, fit and at peace. I feel such balance in my life. Lately, we have been a bit off balance as we have made some big decisions in our family including moving to San Diego. So I feel a bit out of sorts as I have been going through my "list of things to do" which is so much longer now with the move. I hate to admit that in the process I have let my physical health slip by indulging in too much comfort food. It has helped feed my soul during a stressful time but I am not happy with the outcome. Today I feel more in balance as I worked hard this week to make better decisions. We have a lot going on between now and spring break and after that time I will rededicate myself to getting in shape and make the EXTRA effort. I simply do not have the time and energy for it right now. I have been making an effort but will need to do more if I want to progress and not just maintain. I have been reading some excellent books that I have truly enjoyed by Joyce Meyer. The first: In pursuit of Peace, the 2nd: Knowing God intimately and now the 3rd: Look great Feel great 12 keys to enjoying a healthy life Now and finally I am also beginning the 4th book: Conflict free living-how to build healthy relationships for life. She has written over 60 books so I will have plenty of reading to do in the months and years to come. I absolutely love Joyce Meyer and her ministries. She has some wonderful insight and has helped me tremendously! I would highly recommend ANY of her books. I am excited for this new chapter in my life and I know there will be bumps along the way but if I am healthy and fit I can handle them better and feel at peace. I am simply maintaining when I need to lose about 5 pounds to get back to where I was last summer.

This is what I accomplished in the exercise department so far this week:

Tuesday: Walked one hour at the Legacy Center with my shape up shoes and did my ZUMBA class

Thursday: Walked one hour at the Legacy Center with my shape up shoes & strength training

Friday: Rode my bike for 16 miles, burning 300 calories

Its a great start but I need to do more to jump start my body to lose weight and I need to make better food choices instead of grabbing my comfort food! Its a beginning but I know that as I workout I release a lot of tension and stress and feel wonderful and then after spring break I will focus more on my eating habits and get back on track! I know I can & will accomplish this goal!

First Showing!

When the phone rang this afternoon we were so surprised to find out that someone wanted to see the house ALREADY! It hasn't even been 24 hours since we listed it- we don't even have a sign outside our house yet! Luckily, the house was pretty clean considering I needed it as nice as possible for the realtor to take pictures the day before. So a little extra tiding up and we were ready. I admit, I was nervous to have someone walk through my home, as if the home isn't mine any longer, since we still own it and dwell here. We just needed to be out of the house for an hour but it happened to be right smack in the middle of drop off and pick up for scouts with only a half hour in between for dinner until Jordan has to go to his scouts so I was a little concerned about how the timing was all going to work out but luckily it did. We left the house all nice, dropped off Aidan, went to the dinosaur museum, picked up Aidan and circled the block a couple of times until 6pm on the dot. Brandon reassured me (he was at work) that if I came home at 6pm and they were still there that it is still my home and to just walk in and introduce myself and get ready for our next time crunch. We wondered how we were going to know if they had come or if they were delayed and still coming and I would be antsy for the night. Sure enough we came home and all the lights were off - we left them all on- so we knew they had come and we were happy. First showing successfully complete!!!! We are one step closer to San Diego. Its exciting! You know I had no idea when I would own my first home let alone sell it. I have been so blessed to be in this beautiful home for 4 years. It was a dream come true and now on to bigger and brighter dreams!

MOVING!!!

It's official... so I might as well make it public. Brandon has an incredible opportunity to open a Primerica office in San Diego and we are taking it!! So we will be moving as soon as school is out! We already have a realtor coming on Monday to take pictures of our home and list it. We are so excited! It will be so great to move back home.

Brian Willey

Welcome home.

Margherita Lamanno

OH MY!!! That is very exciting!!! let's talk soon!

Kirsten Elise Cline

Congrats! Maybe one day I will be able to follow.

Wendy Owens Sherman

A dream come true for you! Great news

Ben Mathews

That is wonderful professionally and that you get to move back home is the icing on the cake.

Omar Harris

congradulations

Nicole Stengel Browne

How exciting! Congrats!!

Shawna Cesario

awesome!!! This is great news!!!

Emily Wilson

Wow back to San Diego. That's great and what a great opportunity for Brandon. Just a question...what exctly is Primerica? It's obviously something you like a lot, but I'm not sure what it is.

Amy Springer

We'll certainly be at a loss of some terrific neighbors, but so glad that you'll be living close to your family and the beach! :)

KaiLynne Davis Osborne

Congrats! How exciting to go back to So. Cal and be closer to family! so happy for you, but will miss your family bunches!

Karen- Dave Moreau

so exciting for you guys!!! what a great opportunity!

Sheri Harrison

That is great news! Congratulations!