Since we got back from Utah, I still don't feel like life is back to normal yet. We ended up driving home to California with Tyler's parents instead of flying home. We had a great time with them and saw a lot of neat things. After we got back to being just us again, we had to seriously decide what we were going to do for the income deficit we are in when our savings runs out this month. We had discussed it quite a bit before we left for vacation and came up with about six different options that would work, each of course had its pros and cons. After weighing the options and praying and praying and praying about the decision we decided that me going back to work would be the best for our family right now. I have been trying to get a job as a medical transcriptinist since October of last year, but the company I was going to work for didn't have work for me until now. A couple of times I thought it was going to finally work out, but then it would fall through, so I gave up in July and decided to spend the 300 dollars and send in my application for my LPN California licensure. Wouldn't you guess that a week after I sent in my application and made arrangements to get recertified in CPR so I could start working I got a call from the medical transcription company to start work the next day. I was in shock! I should know by now that Heavenly Father does things on his time and not ours. He wants to give us what we need, but we have to be willing to accept it on his terms. So, I started work last Monday and am very happy with the way things are going. I am probably still going to have to work a day or two at a nursing home for right now, but that will be okay. I miss being a nurse and am excited to get back into it.
I have the greatest kids! Last week when I was glued to the computer all day every day trying to get my new job figured out they entertained themselves and eachother so well. They have been playing together all week. Halle has been the greatest helper to me and plays so well with Donovin. She loves to help me clean and that has really helped me this week too. She does dishes, makes beds (as best she can anyway) picks up and helps me clean the bathroom. The poor things didn't leave the house for like three days, and handled it all really well. Things are already getting much easier as far as my job goes, so I don't think this week will be nearly as rough. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to work from home and not have to leave my kids.
It's been a little over a year now since Tyler left to come to California in search of "the dream". It's so strange to look back and remember what our lives were like a year ago. So much has happened and so much has changed. We are not the same as individuals, and we are not the same little family we were a year ago. So many people think we're crazy for being here and having to struggle so much, but as I've said before, we wouldn't trade this experience for anyting else in the world. Tyler and I gained our testimonies by going through those trials. I can't fully put into words what exactly happened to us. I just know that we have been through our own little refiner's fire (with a lot of other fires to come in the future I'm sure) and we are more dedicated to the gospel and to eachother than we ever have been before. Struggling keeps us humble, and apparently we need to be kept humble a lot, but I've also never been happier, and our family and faith has never been stronger. We have grown so much and continue to grow here in ways we couldn't anywhere else.
Anyway, sorry for the LONG post, but I just wanted to express my feelings a little and say how grateful I am for this answer to our prayers even though the timing seemed all wrong to me at first. I can see now that it has worked out for the best just as it always does, because Heavenly Father knows what we need and when we need it.
Oh yeah, one more thing. I know it's been almost a MONTH ago... yikes, but we did feel the Los Angeles earthquake on the 28th of July. It was about 11:40 am and I was just on my way out the door with the kids to go to the police station to get my fingerprints done for my application. I got to the car and the kids all buckled in and remembered I should probably bring some documents with me from inside. I knew exactly where they were and it would only take a minute. What's the worst that could happen? So, I went inside, leaving my kids in the car, (I know... I am a STUPID, AWFUL, HORRIBLE mother), and called Tyler because I couldn't find the key I needed to get into the drawer we keep all that kind of stuff in. So, I'm talking to Tyler and all of a sudden he says, "Oh my gosh! It's an earthquake." My heart froze. I felt a surge of heat run through my body and I was running out the door screaming "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!" My neighbor probably thought I was seriously mental. I felt the floor shaking at first, but then I didn't notice anymore as I was running out of the apartment and to the garage where I had stupidly left my precious children to be crushed to death in the car. I don't know how long the shaking lasted. It was over by the time I got to the car. Halle was really frightened, and said that she thought it was a robber shaking the car, but Vinny was just sitting there sucking his thumb like nothing had happened. Nothing was knocked down, or over or even off the walls. There was virtually no damage done to anything in the whole city, so we were very, very blessed. I freaked out so much because I thought this had to be "The Big One", and I was expecting all the madness and mayhem and destruction you see in the movies. Well, at least I learned a lesson and will never leave my kids alone in the car again, even if it is in my own garage! You never know what may happen. I called Tyler back when we got back in the house and he said his building was still swaying about 20 minutes later, but every one was all right. It was a scary experience, and I hope we never have to deal with a bigger one, but the odds are against us on that. It also made us realize that we have some more preparing to do to get ourselves ready when the big one hits.
