Something good happens every day. Here's what happened in September 2015:
Tue 9/1/15: My mom was so amazing today-- she washed my carpets for me again. She did Emma's room, my room, the upstairs hallway, and the kids' room. I had to clean everything really quickly to get everything off the floor in the kids' room. It was so nice walking barefoot on the clean carpet.
Wed 9/2/15: We started dog-sitting for the Harmans today. We'll be taking care of the dogs and the house while they are in San Francisco for a wedding this weekend. Marian, Natalie, and Collin dropped of Collin's puppy, Sieg at our house this morning. The plan is for Sieg to stay at our house during the day today and tomorrow, and spend the night at Marian's house in her crate. Sieg is a border collie/German shepherd mix. She did not want to have anything to do with me and David at first, but she gradually got used to me as the day progressed. I think she's starting to like me.
Thu 9/3/15: Today was a busy, busy day! Right after Lizzy went to school this morning, I drove to West Jordan to take care of the dogs and water Marian's plants. Then I drove Sieg back to our house, walked David to preschool, and then went to the gym. After the gym, I picked up David from school, cleaned the house for my mom, and quickly got ready to volunteer for Discovery at Entheos. Lizzy had a great time at her Discovery class today. I think gymnastics was her favorite Discovery class so far. I carpooled everyone home after school. I was a little bummed that I got home too late to see Scott off to his new job. Scott started his first day of work at Banzai Teppan Yaki. My mom washed the dishes for me while I was gone, which I was really grateful for. The kids and I got ourselves all ready to go to Marian's house after my mom left. Sieg, of course, came with us. We picked up a Papa Murphy's pizza for dinner on the way. Brad joined us for dinner, then we all went swimming afterwards. The day ended with us driving back home late from Marian's. Brad picked up Scott from work at 10 pm. Scott had a great first day. He brought home some Japanese soda for us to try. It had a marble inside, and you had to make the lid pop to open the bottle. It was a toy and a drink at the same time. No wonder the Japanese kids love it.
Fri 9/4/15: My day took an unexpected turn for the worst, unfortunately. I had so many plans for today, but everything changed drastically in a matter of seconds. I was in a terrible car accident on my way to Marian's house this morning. It happened at the intersection at 9000 South and 3400 West. I was approaching the light when it turned yellow. I decided I had enough time to drive through the light, so I did, and I hit a Mazda that was turning left onto the SLCC campus. My van was totaled. David and I were okay, except for a few minor scrapes, bumps, and bruises. Brad left work as soon as he got my phone call. The rest of the day turned into a blur of doctor visits, insurance drama, and lots of tears and stress. But I am so incredibly grateful for Brad. I told him today that I was very glad that he and I were on the same team. It was nice eating In-and-Out together and hanging out with the dogs. I have fallen in love with Seig. She is my little shadow.
Sat 9/5/15: I was very relieved when morning came after my sleepless night. I am feeling better today than I was yesterday, but still not normal. Recovering slowly. It was nice having my parents and the Hydes come over for an early dinner this afternoon. Lizzy and David had fun swimming with Valeen. I liked the company of my parents, Roxana, and Gordon. Brad and I watched a lot of My Little Pony, Season 5 today when we weren't hosting guests.
Sun 9/6/15: I slept better last night than the night before, which was a relief for me. We went to church at our home ward this morning. It was nice receiving love from other ward members who had heard about the car accident. I spent the afternoon and evening recovering at the Harman's. I made my first "real" meal at Marian's house-- spaghetti with chicken. It was very yummy. I began learning to play "It's Impossible" on Marian's piano downstairs. It's a beautiful song, and I am learning to play it well. I wish we had a piano at our house.
Mon 9/7/15: The Bruce-Clan joined us this morning for swimming and lunch! Mom and Dad came, too, as well as Scott and Emma. We had sandwiches, salads, chips and salsa, and a potato casserole for lunch. The potato casserole was definitely my favorite. Thanks Mom! It was nice spending Labor Day with our extended family. The kids liked being with their cousins again.
Tue 9/8/15: It was nice sleeping in our own bed last night. Things are starting to feel back to normal. Brad and I picked up our new rental van from Enterprise today--- a brand new Kia Sedona. Very luxurious, with lots of special features, including a rear camera. After getting the van, we drove to West Jordan to say our final farewell to our Honda Odyssey. It made my heart break to see it looking so sad and smashed up. We cleaned out some of our last remaining items, I took some photos, and then we walked away. We stopped at Walmart on the way home and bought a new car seat for David. We told David it was a Spiderman car seat, because it was red and black. That got him excited.
Wed 9/9/15: My highlight of the day was getting some down-time at home for the first time in a while. I enjoyed watching some vlogs on YouTube. My favorite vlogger channels are April's Life, J House, Shaytards, and Sam and Nia. April's Life is my current favorite. I find that I can relate to April's and Davey's family the most. Sam and Nia are on a hiatus right now. Things turned sour for them after they went viral, unfortunately. I hate that the world has become so anti-religion lately. Christians are being attacked left and right, just for standing up for their beliefs.
Thu 9/10/15 to Fri 9/11/15: I did not write. :(
Sat 9/12/15: Brad and I took the little ones to Liberty Park today, in hopes of playing in the splash pad before it closed for the season. Alas, we were too late and they closed it last weekend. So we walked a little around Liberty Park, then headed downtown to City Creek. We went to the Disney Store, which is always a fun experience for Lizzy and David. We had some frozen yogurt at Roxberry Juice Co., went window shopping at Go! Games and Toys, then we went to the water fountain in Richard's Court where the kids had fun getting wet and watching the water show.
Sun 9/13/15: We visited our old ward this afternoon, to listen to Jordan Turner speak in sacrament meeting. Jordan is going to be serving a service mission in the publishing department at the Church Office Building in downtown SLC. Scott was thrilled to spend time with his old friends, Jordan and Brett. It was nice spending time with the luncheon at Jordan's house afterward.
Mon 9/14/15: I did not write. :(
Tue 9/15/15: David dressed up like a cowboy for preschool today. He wore a plaid shirt, my large brown cowboy hat, and Lizzy's big red boots. He was so darn cute! He was the best dressed cowboy there.
Wed 9/16/15; I enjoyed watching Lizzy and Valeen play together after school today. They put on a rock "concert" for me, using my old guitar, Valeen's plastic Dora guitar, and dressing up in Lizzy's dress-up clothes. They were very stylish.
Thu 9/17/15: Scott's birthday
Fri 9/18/15: I did not write. :(
Sat 9/19/15: Celebrated Scott's birthday
Sun 9/20/15: Hobbit Day... Moon family
Mon 9/21/15 to Thu 9/24/15: I did not write. :(
Fri 9/25/15: Got the settlement check this morning for just over $2700. That means it's time to go van shopping! We decided to look at a white 2000 Honda Odyssey in Riverton. The owner had dropped the price by $500, it had only 102,000 miles on it, and it was closer to us than a few other Odyssey vans we were looking at. Brad and I drove Lizzy and David to Riverton. We prayed to have inspiration while looking at the van, and we were ready to walk away if something didn't feel right, which is ultimately what happened. We took the van for a test drive, and something just felt off. So we did not end up buying it. Lizzy was very disappointed. She liked how the van looked. It reminded her of our old van.
Sat 9/26/15: We bought our "new" van today! It's a 2004 silver Honda Odyssey EX. Brad and I felt we had the Lord's hand in helping us get this van. When I first saw the ad pop up on KSL a few nights ago, I immediately felt a connection to it-- like it was the right one. I should add that this was the FIRST time I had felt that feeling after looking at many Honda Odysseys in the last few weeks. I was disappointed last night when we called Wendie (the owner) and she said she had another interested party coming to view the van this morning. I wish that we had not gone to see the white van last night, and that we had called Wendie earlier. The only reason why I hadn't was because Riverton was so much closer than West Point, which made the white van more appealing. Brad and I prayed. We hoped that something would happen to make us get the silver van. And something did! After we got back from the gym this morning, I saw that Wendi had called us back. Sure enough, the other party canceled their appointment. We drove up to West Point (50 minutes away), and fell in love with our new van. We took it for a test drive and decided it was the right one for our family. Brad drove it home and we took some photos. Lizzy and David are looking forward to trying out the new DVD player in the van!
Sun 9/27/15: We had dinner at my parents' house again tonight. We went there last night, too. This time the Loveless family joined us. It was cute seeing Lizzy and David play with Jacob and Helen. It was my first time meeting Helen. She's an adorable 18-month-old with curly blond hair. Jared and Stacy are going to be staying at my parents' house for three days this coming week, so they can attend a training session at a place in Bluffdale. It was nice seeing Jared again. He was such a dear friend of mine in my young adult years. I am glad to see him so happily married with children of his own.
Mon 9/28/15: Brad and I registered our new van and got our new license plates today. Hooray! I drove the van for the first time this afternoon when I went to pick up the carpool kids from school. David, who did not get any coaxing from me, grabbed "The Nightmare Before Christmas" DVD, and put it in our new van's DVD player. The kids loved watching the movie as we drove home. We took our first family trip tonight to the library. I checked out a bagful of DVDs tonight at the library. A lot of them were musicals I used to watch as a child, like Annie, Sound of Music, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I want to introduce them to Lizzy and David. Maybe they will even get to watch them in the van.
Tue 9/29/15: I loved that Brad came home from work early today. I was surprised to see him, and it was nice having his help with car insurance and medical insurance issues. I am grateful to have him as my partner. Brad went with Scott to his parent/teacher conferences at Hunter in the late afternoon, and later he went with Emma to Emma's seminary parent/teacher conference. After the conferences, Brad, Scott, and I watched the very first episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D, Season 3. So glad good shows are coming back this season.
Wed 9/30/15: I did not write. ;(
