Monday, May 30, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
slowing down
Becoming a mother has forced me to learn how to slow down. I admit, I still haven't found the perfect balance....and who knows if I ever will. I've always given myself plenty of tasks on my daily to-do list, which typically results in unnecessary stress to deal with. These last few months have been no-exception. Between trying to get a few hours of work in for my dad each day, taking care of lawn-mowing billing, keeping up with Arlene's Kitchen, staying on top of my callings (which I no longer have due to the recent changes in our stake and ward...we'll see what callings this new ward will present), remodeling a house, nurturing my little peanut, and finding plenty of other things I "need" to do (or ought to be doing!) I find myself frustrated with "never getting anything done!" or never having time to do anything! This frustration spills over into other aspects of my life that don't need to be frustrated!
I had a special moment this afternoon as I came home from work with Gracie and she just wanted to be cuddled. I feel guilty for initially being frustrated that this little 11 month old couldn't console herself with her toys on the floor while I got the dishes done and the kitchen swept. As I picked her up and she lovingly nuzzled into my neck and grabbed my fingers to hold, I was quickly brought back to the real meaning of what it means to be a mother to this little one. As we walked around the living room, "talking" to each other and tickling her back, I remembered how good it feels to just slow down and enjoy the times that dishes and sweeping could be put on the back burner. I was reminded of the more important moments in life that too quickly pass by if we don't take the time to slow down and relish in them. I know that as more little people join our family and as life gets even more crazy, I will appreciate the times that I take NOW to slow down and enjoy this crazy ride!
I had a special moment this afternoon as I came home from work with Gracie and she just wanted to be cuddled. I feel guilty for initially being frustrated that this little 11 month old couldn't console herself with her toys on the floor while I got the dishes done and the kitchen swept. As I picked her up and she lovingly nuzzled into my neck and grabbed my fingers to hold, I was quickly brought back to the real meaning of what it means to be a mother to this little one. As we walked around the living room, "talking" to each other and tickling her back, I remembered how good it feels to just slow down and enjoy the times that dishes and sweeping could be put on the back burner. I was reminded of the more important moments in life that too quickly pass by if we don't take the time to slow down and relish in them. I know that as more little people join our family and as life gets even more crazy, I will appreciate the times that I take NOW to slow down and enjoy this crazy ride!
Monday, May 23, 2011
the Huntsman Fam as of late....
SERIOUSLY?! It's almost May already (even thought it still feels like March here in Pocatello...) WHERE has 2011 gone??
I've had this sickening feeling that I'm not living up to my motherly-responsibilities by not at least semi-documenting what has been going on in our lives since we've been married/had a child/moved to Idaho/bought a house/remodeled said house/spent awesome times with family and friends/been places/seen faces....the list goes on and on! You would think that I'd be good at this stuff -- I was the religious journal writer type BEFORE I got married. You would think that habit would continue and that I would journal the even more important happenings I'm experiencing as a wife and mother. Life has definitely been a crazy ride and I'm not going to make any more excuses! I might as well get goin' on the updatin'!
Since my last post so much has happened...
As of today, Gracie Elaine is 11 months and 14 days old! It's hard to believe that she will be a year old in 2 weeks. I think part of the reason it is hard to accept is because she is such a little peanut! However, what she lacks in size, she makes up for in her personality -- so full of spunk, sass and amazing cuteness! She definitely keeps us entertained and is keeping us on our toes! She is a super busy little girl and makes us smile everyday!
Justin got a job working as a Physical Therapy technician for a friend of ours. He loves his job and his boss and it has truly been a HUGE blessing in our lives. Physical Therapy is one of the things he's considered....but we'll see.
At the end of last summer, we bought another family friend's lawn mowing business with over 50 lawn accounts. Justin mowed for 2 months last year and recently just started up the business again last month as the grass decided to start growing here in Pocatello. My brother Johnny has been working with him and they stay busy for 3 afternoons a week, working their lawn mowing magic for their clients.
When he's not working, he's using his muscles to remodel the house we bought! More on that in a second....
In addition to working for my dad, I've been Justin's book keeper for his lawn-mowing business as well as owner and operator of my own online business Arlene's Kitchen (which I've had for the last 2.5 years) where I sell grain mills and other kitchen tools....It's been a HUGE blessing to have the extra income on the side and the business has tripled in the last 6 months since we added our product to Amazon.com. If you know anyone who is in search of an AWESOME grain mill, send them my way and I'll give them a deal!
When Gracie and I aren't holding down the fort at work, we have been painting and helping as much as we can with the remodel....which brings me to the next big update in our life....
WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!
Yes, it's true, and we couldn't be more happy! We got a steal of a deal on a triplex (two upstairs apartments and one basement unit). It is right across the street from where we are living right now at my Grandpa's and 1 block down from my parents. Poor Justin -- I'm such a homebody and love the proximity of everything....he is either a great liar, or he really doesn't mind living SO CLOSE to his in-laws either!
The house was a foreclosure, and it was quite the process of obtaining (we made our offer the week before Christmas last year and closed on it FINALLY at the end of this March), but it's officially ours! It came with one of the apartments rented, which was a blessing - she is in our ward and she didn't want to leave and we were happy to keep her! Her apartment didn't need a lot of work, so that was also a blessing. The other upstairs apartment, however, needed quite a bit of work...cleaning, painting, electrical, plumbing. We got it all fixed up and rented just a few weeks ago!
We are currently working on the basement apartment which is where we will be living until our family out-grows it (AKA, when more little Huntsmans are crawling around and taking up space). Basement pics:
We decided that by living in the basement for as long as we could = we basically have our mortgage paid for with the 2 upstairs rentals = more money we can put towards our student loans and mortgage = pay off our house sooner! After we outgrow the basement. the plan is to move upstairs into the larger apartment and rent out the basement and second upstairs rental.
It has a huge blessing to be house-sitting for my Grandpa this last year, but it will be fun to have our little space of a basement completed and "ours!" Grandpa gets home in exactly 1 month....we have a lot to do on the basement, but it's all coming together!
OTHER HAPPENINGS....
Between working and parenting and house remodeling and other day-to-day doings, we've managed to sneak a few trips in here and there to spend time with friends and family as well as take a few pictures along the way....here's a few updates for 2011
January, 2011 -- cabin trip with Justin's sister Jennifer and her friend Carlos
March, 2011 -- my good friend, Garrett Smith, passed away in a back-country avalanche. He left behind his sweet wife, Molly who he'd been married to for 9 short months. I became friends with him as we served in the Madrid Spain LDS mission together. He was a true friend who will be missed
April, 2011 -- trip to Utah for my friend Garrett's funeral, General Conference and Justin's Des Moines Iowa Mission Reunion. We were also able to visit with my Grandma Brown and Justin's Grandmother Huntsman on our way home.
April, 2011 -- trip to Boise for Easter where we spent time with Mom and Dad Hunstman (they flew in from OR), Grandma Gurney, Jennifer, Jason, Stephanie and Austria
that brings us to May! -- After a hard day's work of remodeling and yard clean-up, we visited Lava Hot Springs with Johnny and Whitney. Gracie was a little unsure of the hot water, but it was also her bedtime...she lasted about 30 minutes :)
Whew! That was a long post...let's pray (for ALL of our sakes) that I can get my act together and update this thing more than once every 6 months! I'm anxious to have this record for my children and update friends and family who are too far away from us to experience it all in person!
I've had this sickening feeling that I'm not living up to my motherly-responsibilities by not at least semi-documenting what has been going on in our lives since we've been married/had a child/moved to Idaho/bought a house/remodeled said house/spent awesome times with family and friends/been places/seen faces....the list goes on and on! You would think that I'd be good at this stuff -- I was the religious journal writer type BEFORE I got married. You would think that habit would continue and that I would journal the even more important happenings I'm experiencing as a wife and mother. Life has definitely been a crazy ride and I'm not going to make any more excuses! I might as well get goin' on the updatin'!
Since my last post so much has happened...
GRACIE ELAINE
As of today, Gracie Elaine is 11 months and 14 days old! It's hard to believe that she will be a year old in 2 weeks. I think part of the reason it is hard to accept is because she is such a little peanut! However, what she lacks in size, she makes up for in her personality -- so full of spunk, sass and amazing cuteness! She definitely keeps us entertained and is keeping us on our toes! She is a super busy little girl and makes us smile everyday!- June 9, 2010 -- Gracie Elaine Huntsman joined our family! 4 lb, 2 oz, 18 inches long. She spent her first three weeks in the NICU before we could bring her home
- June, 2010 -- brought Gracie home from the hospital
- August, 2010 -- Lake Powell with the Brown Family
- September, 2010 -- Gracie's baby blessing....Mom and Dad Huntsman flew in for the occasion
- October, 2010 -- Gracie's first Halloween as well as many Poky High Football games to support Uncle Sterling in the #55 mini football jersey I made her
- October 25, 2010 -- audibly LAUGHED at three dogs we were playing with at a friend's house
- November, 2010 -- Gracie's first airplane ride to Corvallis, OR to spend Thanksgiving with Justin's family
- December 1, 2010 -- rolled over from back to front for the first time
- December 17, 2010 -- she got so mad when I laid her down in her cradle (all swaddled up) that she got both of her arms out of the tight swaddle and rolled over as she screamed
- December, 2010 -- Christmas in Pocatello
- February, 2010 -- beginning to army/belly crawl but mostly ended up moving backwards instead of forwards
- February, 2010 -- sings when we would sing and growls when we growl
- March 1, 2010 -- made the "s s s" sound of Keys
- March 17, 2010 -- got to a sitting position from laying on her stomach
- March 22, 2010 -- first actual crawl on all fours
- April, 2010 -- making the sign for dog (patting hand on thigh)...she definitely knows what a dog is, and loves them even though she gets a little unsure when they get too close! She makes the "hissssss" sound for my aunt Casie's dog named Sissy. She's a smart little girl -- even though she won't say all these words yet, she knows the difference between dog, book, bear, dada, horse, toes, water, "more", coconut. She's been sleeping in funny positions -- either on her bum with her face all the way down to the mattress, or on her belly with her bum in the air.
- April 3, 2010 -- cut her first tooth during a trip to Utah
- April 9, 2010 -- waves hello and goodbye with her parade wave ("elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist!"), makes fishy lips when you say "fishy"
- April 11, 2010 -- Patty Cake for the first time...crawling around and climbing on EVERYTHING (including couches, open dishwashers, open drawers....)
- April 24, 2010 -- began giving open mouth kisses as well as cuddling and hugging her teddy bear. Easter weekend also included "How big is Gracie? SOOOO Big!" She lifts up her hands and puts her chin to her chest like she's doing a big "hoorah!"
- May, 2010 -- Gracie's repertoire of baby signs includes dog, more and cookie....VERY essential signs to know! She has been starting to hang her head and pout when she gets upset....our little drama queen :)
- May 1, 2010 -- grabbed her "fat chick" (a big stuffed animal) and kissed it over and over and then pushed it towards me to kiss while making the kissing sounds so I would know to kiss it :)
- May 5, 2010 -- stood on her own for about 5 seconds before deciding it was too much work and she'd rather just sit down and crawl
JUSTIN DEAN
Justin recently finished up his sophomore yearat Idaho State University. He wowed us all again with good grades -- I have a smart husband! As happy as we were about the outcome of his classes, we (especially HE) were/was/ARE excited that summer is here and a break from school is in store. He is finishing up general ed courses and coming to the point where he must decide which direction he will take. I don't envy him. It's a tough call....especially as a father and husband with that role of "provider" looming over him. But, I'm confident that whatever he decides will be good and mostly, I just want him to be happy!
Justin recently finished up his sophomore yearat Idaho State University. He wowed us all again with good grades -- I have a smart husband! As happy as we were about the outcome of his classes, we (especially HE) were/was/ARE excited that summer is here and a break from school is in store. He is finishing up general ed courses and coming to the point where he must decide which direction he will take. I don't envy him. It's a tough call....especially as a father and husband with that role of "provider" looming over him. But, I'm confident that whatever he decides will be good and mostly, I just want him to be happy!Justin got a job working as a Physical Therapy technician for a friend of ours. He loves his job and his boss and it has truly been a HUGE blessing in our lives. Physical Therapy is one of the things he's considered....but we'll see.
At the end of last summer, we bought another family friend's lawn mowing business with over 50 lawn accounts. Justin mowed for 2 months last year and recently just started up the business again last month as the grass decided to start growing here in Pocatello. My brother Johnny has been working with him and they stay busy for 3 afternoons a week, working their lawn mowing magic for their clients.
When he's not working, he's using his muscles to remodel the house we bought! More on that in a second....
BRITTANY ARLENE
I have found PLENTY of ways to stay busy chasing my little mover around! She's so busy and so fun! We spend lots of hours on the floor talking and playing with her stuffed animal dog and her books and Uncle Josh's old cell phone we somehow ended up with. She's a riot! In addition to that, in February I started working part-time for my dad. It's great because I can bring Gracie down to his store and put her in the playpen or the Johnny-Jump-up and let her entertain all the customers. It's a win-win situation!
I have found PLENTY of ways to stay busy chasing my little mover around! She's so busy and so fun! We spend lots of hours on the floor talking and playing with her stuffed animal dog and her books and Uncle Josh's old cell phone we somehow ended up with. She's a riot! In addition to that, in February I started working part-time for my dad. It's great because I can bring Gracie down to his store and put her in the playpen or the Johnny-Jump-up and let her entertain all the customers. It's a win-win situation!In addition to working for my dad, I've been Justin's book keeper for his lawn-mowing business as well as owner and operator of my own online business Arlene's Kitchen (which I've had for the last 2.5 years) where I sell grain mills and other kitchen tools....It's been a HUGE blessing to have the extra income on the side and the business has tripled in the last 6 months since we added our product to Amazon.com. If you know anyone who is in search of an AWESOME grain mill, send them my way and I'll give them a deal!
When Gracie and I aren't holding down the fort at work, we have been painting and helping as much as we can with the remodel....which brings me to the next big update in our life....
WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!
Yes, it's true, and we couldn't be more happy! We got a steal of a deal on a triplex (two upstairs apartments and one basement unit). It is right across the street from where we are living right now at my Grandpa's and 1 block down from my parents. Poor Justin -- I'm such a homebody and love the proximity of everything....he is either a great liar, or he really doesn't mind living SO CLOSE to his in-laws either!
The house was a foreclosure, and it was quite the process of obtaining (we made our offer the week before Christmas last year and closed on it FINALLY at the end of this March), but it's officially ours! It came with one of the apartments rented, which was a blessing - she is in our ward and she didn't want to leave and we were happy to keep her! Her apartment didn't need a lot of work, so that was also a blessing. The other upstairs apartment, however, needed quite a bit of work...cleaning, painting, electrical, plumbing. We got it all fixed up and rented just a few weeks ago!
We are currently working on the basement apartment which is where we will be living until our family out-grows it (AKA, when more little Huntsmans are crawling around and taking up space). Basement pics:
We decided that by living in the basement for as long as we could = we basically have our mortgage paid for with the 2 upstairs rentals = more money we can put towards our student loans and mortgage = pay off our house sooner! After we outgrow the basement. the plan is to move upstairs into the larger apartment and rent out the basement and second upstairs rental.
It has a huge blessing to be house-sitting for my Grandpa this last year, but it will be fun to have our little space of a basement completed and "ours!" Grandpa gets home in exactly 1 month....we have a lot to do on the basement, but it's all coming together!
OTHER HAPPENINGS....
Between working and parenting and house remodeling and other day-to-day doings, we've managed to sneak a few trips in here and there to spend time with friends and family as well as take a few pictures along the way....here's a few updates for 2011
January, 2011 -- cabin trip with Justin's sister Jennifer and her friend Carlos
March, 2011 -- my good friend, Garrett Smith, passed away in a back-country avalanche. He left behind his sweet wife, Molly who he'd been married to for 9 short months. I became friends with him as we served in the Madrid Spain LDS mission together. He was a true friend who will be missed
April, 2011 -- trip to Utah for my friend Garrett's funeral, General Conference and Justin's Des Moines Iowa Mission Reunion. We were also able to visit with my Grandma Brown and Justin's Grandmother Huntsman on our way home.
April, 2011 -- trip to Boise for Easter where we spent time with Mom and Dad Hunstman (they flew in from OR), Grandma Gurney, Jennifer, Jason, Stephanie and Austria
that brings us to May! -- After a hard day's work of remodeling and yard clean-up, we visited Lava Hot Springs with Johnny and Whitney. Gracie was a little unsure of the hot water, but it was also her bedtime...she lasted about 30 minutes :)
Whew! That was a long post...let's pray (for ALL of our sakes) that I can get my act together and update this thing more than once every 6 months! I'm anxious to have this record for my children and update friends and family who are too far away from us to experience it all in person!
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