We Made It! Now, Let Me Recap

Reception was horrible all the rest of the way to Virginia, which made it difficult to post anything.  Besides, I was typing on a kiddie like keyboard made for my tiny tablet.  It was annoying.  So here I am, sitting at a desk, in a house that we live in!  Crazy, I know! So let me recap the rest of our trip. Hopefully I can remember the most important details.

Nauvoo (day 2 and 3) Monday and Tuesday
We planned on spending 3 days here.  Monday was super fun.  We started out by attending a children's theater performance, "Plain Old Anna Amanda".  It was a riot!  Its not easy to find something that our entire family can enjoy!  The kids all sat up front and center in the Cultural Hall there in old Nauvoo.  The performers told jokes (most of which I totally wish I could remember, it'd make me the cool mom if I could), sang songs and they included the kids in everything!  Then the play began.  What an amazing job these "missionaries" have! The story was about a young girl, who, just plain old didn't like who she was.  It was comical as she tried to change everything about her, from her appearance to adapting to be little bits of others by swindling them out of their accessories.  The highlight for us was watching Audrie let herself smile...like, for real.  She didn't know we could see her, and her eyes were bright and her laugh was genuine.  I hadn't seen that in some time.  Talk about perfection!  As you can guess, at the end, "Just plain old Anna Amanda" was happy to be just herself!  As we walked out of the building the actress was standing right there and pulled all three of my kids aside and talked to them about how important they are and how happy she was that they came to the show.  She told them that she hoped they know that being exactly who they are is just perfect!  My heart melt.  Truth.

We decided to just "walk around" old Nauvoo...oh my, were we nuts.  The humidity was crazy.  All the missionaries were saying it was the hottest day of the summer so far.  My kids didn't complain ONCE.  I am being serious!  I was in total amazement all day long!  We visited so many fun spots that day.  The kids got to play pioneer games, make ropes, learn about pioneer life, see homes that belonged to some of the most well known leaders of our church.

We ended the day with a good old ice cold root beer, from the Red Brick Store. We sat and overlooked the river and visited and talked about what we liked about that day.  Carlee kept saying the water slides were her favorite.  I think that our disruption of days and nights had something to do with her confusion! Maybe it was the heat....maybe both.

We finally had a night where we got back to our hotel room at a decent hour and all 4 kids fell asleep horizontally on the bed in minutes.  How glorious!  Also, how stinkin perfect!  We totally had a plan to get the kids on this new 2 hour time difference schedule thing!  Back home it was only 6 pm!  We were gearing up for more of the same fun tomorrow!

The next morning we headed to the visitors center.  Our kids really wanted to watch Meet the Mormons, even though they can see it anywhere.  Halfway through the movie my phone alerted me of a message that our check in at French Lick, Indiana was at 4pm.  This is why you should ALWAYS have someone look over your itinerary before you secure dates.  I was super bummed that we were going to miss the pageant as well as our paid hotel room for that night.  Grrrr.... I think that I learned that having specific reservations is a bad thing on a trip like this.  There is always a hotel somewhere along the way, right?  Unless you want to go somewhere specific and stay put, I'd say, just wing it!  We ate a chunk of change that night.

I also want to brag for a second.  Up to this point we had not needed to buy food or eat out once!  It was so nice to just make sandwiches and eat snacks whenever we felt like it!



French Lick Indiana, Wednesday
Even though I was super bummed that we missed the pageant that night, French Lick totally surprised me!  I had booked a room at a family friendly hotel with an indoor water park.  We could have totally nixed "Worlds of Fun" and been just fine!  we got up early the next morning, took our stuff to the trailer, ate a huge breakfast in a pirate ship and swam all day.  They had slides for Cameron, Carlee and daring Audrie and Andrue.  We all had a great time!  French Lick was short lived but so worth it.  After swimming that day we took of to some town in West Virginia, and spent the night.

Some town in west Virginia, Thursday
I don't remember much about this place, let alone the name.  We were so close and we just wanted to get there!!!!  I think we ate a nice continental breakfast and just headed for Blacksburg.  We were only about 4 hours away.  The kids were spoiled rotten with car activities.  It was the quietest 4 hour drive ever.  And let me tell you why.  Be forewarned.  My true colors might come out here!

The weeks it took to prepare for this "vacation" as we call it were stressful!  I spent many nights searching and looking for homes.  We had this "ideal" setting we wanted for a home, location, price, space, whatever.  I finally found it!  I had talked to the landlord, secured everything, was preparing to send him our deposit when him and Martin had a "chat".  Now let me say this.  Martin is honest to a fault sometimes.  He is so genuinely good, I can't really blame him, in retrospect that is.  At the time, I was hotter than hot.  Martin wasn't sold on the house so I thought that he had intentionally sabotaged this conversation.  Silly me.  I know him better than that.   Anyway, he stated that he wouldn't sign a 1 year lease because his program is only 9 months. Also, that we needed a place for our trailer, which this place had, just not in a nicely secluded area.  Yada yada yada.  He hung up the phone and calmly stated that we no longer had a place to stay.  But that we will find something, super easy.

So here we were, 4 hours from our new home, with no where to go.  I was having NO LUCK at all with calling agencies and craigslist people...there was NOTHING available.  I was burning a hole in my seat and melting all the plastic in the car, I'm sure.  Everyone knew it too.  So, it was quiet.  For everyone's safety.  See how smart my family is?  I am so proud of them.

We finally roll into town and have nowhere to go.  Our hotel budget was gone so we went and checked in to a $50 a night room at Super 8.  Oh. My. Gross.  This didn't add to my fury.  Martin quickly tried to convince me that we needed to go somewhere else, but at this point I was completely irrational and stubborn.  And who knew how long we would be living in a hotel??  Maybe it'd be for 9 months for all I knew!  Heck, I'd be the first to bring a newborn home to the Super 8.  Maybe I'd get my picture in the paper.

We dropped off the trailer and started to drive.  Just looking and hoping for something!  We stopped at apartment complexes, condominiums, and were calling everything we could find on every rental website my friend Traci sent me.  (What a huge life saver she was!  Diving in, in a moment of crisis over 2000 miles away.  Talk about BFFs!)  TO NO AVAIL!  NO one had anything!  There was one place that was brand new, three bedroom apartment, and nearly over $200 more a month than we would have been paying for a home with a yard in a cul de sac.  No pool included, no fitness center.  Just an apartment.  Out of our budget.  I think I might have been the happiest person on the planet that day!

I couldn't handle it, so we all went to the hotel early, I shut the blinds and made everyone go to sleep. Martin said a very thoughtful family prayer, and I cried myself to sleep.  Martin and his ever positive attitude kept reassuring me that it would be OK.   I knew that we weren't going to be living on the street, it's not like I was use to living in the Ritz.  I could do this.  I believe that the rigor of travel had gotten the best of me.

A New Day, a New Attitude
Martin woke up early to go look at a 2 bedroom home, probably over 100 years old while I stayed and let the kids sleep.  When he got back he had a very positive attitude and really wanted me to come look at the house.  So we loaded up and took a jaunt over.  The house was cute, and had 3 strange living rooms that could easily be turned into awkwardly located bedrooms if need be.  I was feeling a lot better, with a new sense of positivity.  I could do this!

At this point it was between the over priced apartment, and this home.  I suggested that we head to campus, and drive a loop around surrounding neighborhoods to see what we might see.  I refused to look on the phone anymore.  If we were to find something, we had to do things the old fashion way.  We stopped and found a 2 bed 3rd floor apt with a loft, again not my top choice, but it was something.  So we added it to the list.  At one point martin came to a stop sign and asked me which way to go.  I don't even remember my answer, but I remember feeling very strongly about it.  Not more than a few hundred yards down the road we see a "for rent" by owner sign. We pull up the tree covered dirt driveway, past the old barn and see this 70's style, yellow and red brick home, nestled in the trees.  We get out, walk around, look at the pictures on the door, call the landlady and ask for an appointment.  We hang up and are excited about this possibility!  4 Beds, 3 Baths huge yard and lots of trees!  Less than 2 miles from campus and within our budget.  Are you for real?  I thought there would have to be some give and take when it came to our "ideal" situation!  We walked around again and decided that we'd better be aggressive.  So, Martin calls her back and says we want it without even looking at the inside.  Her and her husband show up, we sign the papers, they work on a few things as we unload and there you have it.  Within 2 hours your life can turn upside down.  Instant blessings for trusting that everything will be OK and following promptings with surety.

We have gone through stages of spirituality that I never knew existed through all of this.  This hasn't been an easy decision for me to make.  For us to change careers at this point in our life.  Martin was gone A LOT these last three years with full time school, full time work and then as  scout master.  He would plan his only night off of school to be Wednesdays, which was mutual, and then he was gone one weekend a month for camp outs.  We never saw him.  When he was home he was studying or fixing something.  I went through the "super supportive" stage to the "resentful" stage to the "what the heck" stage to the "woe is me" stage and a few more I am sure.  Near the end I went through the "trust me" stage.

I finally accepted that difficulties and sacrifice is apart of life!  What I choose to do with it is my problem.  I had a bout of ugly depression just before hitting this stage.  I couldn't see anything positive (it didn't help that I was newly pregnant, and all those fun hormones raging through my body).  As I began to pull out of it, I noticed Martins unwavering faith, his attitude of positivity through the hardships.  I saw his patience.  That is not something that comes naturally to me!  I decided that as he prayerfully plans with me for our family, that I needed to let go of my "issues" amd trust him!  I needed to trust him!!  He has helped me so many times not give up, just as I am ready to, and viola, our patience paid off (really, his patience and encouragement).

So it was with this "are we going to school this year or are we not?"  I had reached the bottom of my rope.  I was drowning in the unknown.  I needed to know either way.  One day, it just clicked.  That trust thing clicked!  I knew I could trust in Martins patience.  I could give myself fully to the understanding that I trust him, because I knew that he trusted the Lord.

Within the next week we found out that we had gotten into this program.  We had less than a month to prepare.  Instant blessings to me for finally giving into the "trust me" stage.  I trust that my Father in Heaven is watching out for my family, and I trust that Martin is the Man he needs to be to lead our family!  I am proud to be in this traditional family setting!  I love being the Mother to my children and the one taking care of their needs as well as Martins!

The morning we woke up with no house to live in and me needing a serious attitude adjustment, I remembered those feelings.  I remember that I am not in control here, that I need to TRUST Him.  I had to ACT, but I also had to succumb to the will of the Father, and I believe that it is His will to allow his children to go through learning times in their life so that the can remember that He is ALWAYS there for us!  He is always watching over us, whether we allow him to or not, where we wonder "where is the pavilion that Covereth thy hiding place?" (D&C 121:1).  When we do allow it, and willingly give ourselves over to Him, He works Miracles in our lives.  I know He does, because there have been many miracles in my life these past few months.  He has shown me His love through my friends, my family and my trials of faith.

I am so thankful for this time in my life.  I know that my Savior lives and loves me.  He loves all of us.  This Sunday in our new ward, we sang the song "As I Have Loved You".  I had a new perspective come over me.  Christ died for us, because He loved us, more than we can comprehend!  John 13:34 "A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another as I have loved you".  Not only do I know of His love because I have felt it, but I also know he loves us because of the wonderful people he has to act out his will in serving others.  Many people have shown me what it is like to love one another in the recent past that it is undeniable, that in "serving your fellow beings you are only in the service of your God" Mosiah 2:17.  I have seen his hand in our life, we have felt his blessings, we have been served abundantly.

We are forever grateful.  We will never forget this time in our life as a time that we were lifted, cared for and served in so many ways.  We can't even begin to show our gratitude.  We hope to be better servants, to love more freely.  We pray with gratitude for the blessings that are ours in this life.

We love you all!