Are you board? Come have your nails done with me!!

Saturday was an eventful day for us. With help from some of the most fabulous men in the world our old western store was turned into a war zone as we worked hard at pulling the old planks off the walls. Pulling more than the original 2500 feet of wood we thought we had we brought it a whopping total of over 3800 feet of recyclable wood. That is the best part. The old barn look is apparently in demand. THink about those old BBQ joints you love to frequent. All the old worn wood lining the walls have to come from somewhere...this time it is from us. Figuring it all out I will be earning approximately $1 per foot. In a better economy the price would be tripled!!!
The good news is all the wood is down. The bad news...every single plank needed to be "de-nailed" so to say. All day, Saturday my sister-in-law and I hammered the nails and pulled them from the wood. We managed to finished what looked like the tiniest pile in the universe. Today however, my parents and older brother came down and we managed to finish almost everything in three hours. Both my Dad and my older brother are planning on coming down and finishing the pile on Wednesday for me. I am so gratefulo for their help. I figured I'd be out there for another 4 days and with the buyer planning on coming to pick up his shipment on either Friday or Monday it needed to get done.

It's these days, when life gets to be harder than ever expected, and your family stands behind you cheering you on and throwing in their help when you need it that you learn what blessings you have. I am grateful for me my family and today when I watched my Mom and brother carrying those 18 foot long planks of wood, watched my father quietly hammering the nails out, knowing my father-in-law nearly knocked himself out working so hard to help me and my sister-in-law who is coming tomorrow to lend a hand tears gathered in my eyes. I feel so thankful for my brother-in-law and sister-in-law hosting my hubby in their home for several months while he obtained a job.I am truly thankful. Now I need a manicure...my nails are horrible!!

Stuck in Germany...

I've blogged a lot about my Laurels as of yet with them beginning their new lives as the newest members of Relief Society. One of my older Laurels who graduated last year has been on my mind a lot lately. My dear friend Meaghan has been on the adventure of her lifetime. Plans for a marriage were put on hold while her significant other plans to depart for his mission. Instead of sitting around pining for him, she had found a job a friend had recommended as an au pair in Germany. Having been offered the job the family flew her over to Germany. Unfortunately, upon finding she suffers from depression from time to time they declared it was a disease and wanted her to leave. One thing led to another and she fled their house that very night. She moved from place to place and unfortunately in her short journey she lost her passport. She is now, for all intensive purposes, stuck on an American military base waiting to receive a new passport or travel visa so she can fly down to Milan to meet another family who is interested in her nanny services. Through all this she has made friends and is maturing at a rapid rate. She has kept a good head on her shoulders and makes her decisions prayerfully. I am so proud of her and I know her parents are as well. I pray she will remain safe and all will be well in the end.

Until then she is weaving a beautiful story she will tell her children of someday...being stuck in Germany.

Good-bye My Laurels!!!!

Tonight was our official good-bye to the seniors who've graduated over the past few weeks. I wanted to share a photo of my girls. I had all but one of them present and they are truly awesome. I truly adore these girls and aside from their parents I am their biggest fan. I am sad to see these girls go, but I know they are heading off to their adventures in their lives. These girls are incredibly talented and I look forward as they all intend to keep in touch over the years sharing their adventures and hearts with me. I feel blessed.

Garage Check!!!!!

So, this morning I kicked it into high gear packing wise. Today the garage was on my agenda. After dropping off the kids I headed straight for the garage. Our garage is nothing like a normal garage. It is a ginormous 3-4 car garage made with heavy steel beams and heavy duty aluminum...in other words: every man's dream!!! However, needless to say the creepies and crawlies make it their favorite hangout. Today I killed one wolf spider, it was the size of a silver dollar, put my finger through another one's exo skeletal remains and saw rat droppings everywhere as they tried desperately to make duck ala orange out of hubby's duck decoys. Unfortunately, I ended up finding the remains of that same rat. Bummer!!! I am happy to report...garage is finished!!!!

Marbles Gone...Check!!!

Ok! We all know moving is never a pleasant situation. There is stress involved and I learned early on during our first move you've got to give and take a little. This has been ...hands down...the hardest move we've ever handled. I believe it is most likely because the situation of dealing with the recession and everything which has made it more difficult. In these hard situations our families have surrounded us and been supportive. Our friends have been supportive as well and we could never make it this far without our family and friends.

Today my dear hubby presented the straw that broke the camel's back. Last night, while talking I explained to him I had several items on my list to complete before I could leave and these items were so large in my eyes that until I arrived in San Antonio I was not going to take on anything else. He understood completely after explaining all of my thoughts.

This morning however I nearly lost it. He called while I dropped the kids off at school and told me he was having problems with his phone. In my defense I kept my cool and didn't fly off the handle. I asked him very simply what he would like me to do and he told me he wanted me to fix it...4 states over. I told him I would call tech support to get their advice. However, I already knew what they were going to say....bring it to a store and have them test it...and they said it. I called him back and told him the verdict. He seemed very sad that I couldn't snap my fingers and make everything all better.

Then I realized. I love to serve my husband. I love to serve my family. I am a control freak to a point. I do have my anxieties about such things as flying, but every time I step foot on an airplane I have to make the conscious decision to let go. Why is that? I always try to pictures all the many amazing adventures and experiences I would have to give up if I didn't let go of that control.

Back to the point at hand...I serve my husband to the point where I've taken care of everything and he hasn't had the experience of building that independent spirit. The last thing I wanted him to do is not be able to make up his mind on how to do these simple things. What I have done all of these years?! I felt bad, but I have a renewed determination that when we are back together we are going to change it up a little bit. Slowly and surely I will help him to gain that self confidence and independence he needs and deserves. With us both working down south we will need to work as a team in different capacities, but we will work together.

Through this experience I am amazed at the growth my children have gained. We talk and make daily decisions. They feel as if they have a voice in all of this. They cook more and complain less. They are good now telling me things they need from the store ahead of time. I am grateful for this experience to open my eyes to our continual improvement and how far we've come!!!