You can pick your nose and you can pick your friends...

But you can't pick your friend's nose.
On a more serious note, I am so very grateful for our friends. January was a pretty hard month for us and I can't even put into words how appreciative I am for all those who helped, offered to help, lent us a husband, let us (or mainly me) vent, and took time to hang out with us and distract us from all the craziness. I'm especially grateful to have Jeremy and Nicole who we can call almost anytime and invite ourselves over for some cards or who will go blindly on our 'cultured/try something new' date nights with us. (Thanks again for joining us for the Dillinger Festival and watching Public Enemies with us at the Fox Theatre.) I'm sure some of them have not been that enjoyable, but they keep coming back for more. I guess the awesome ones make up for the failures. I am also extremely thankful for my very best friend - Landon. He has been so amazing and understanding this last month. I think all the craziness has even brought us closer together. I am so lucky to have him in my life and even luckier I get to spend everyday with him (even if I'm not feeling so lucky someday ;P). Just wanted to focus on something positive today and I can't stop thinking about what great friends we've been blessed with.

The BIG Move

Back in May of last year we decided to let the house go. We could have tried a short sale, I could have gone back to work full time, Landon could have picked up more overtime, we could have sold the Jetta (to get rid of the payment), we could have rented out a room (the banks advise). But after much diliberation and advise from realtor friends, we realized it was a lost cause for us and stopped making payments. It came down to family being more important. And we were just so backwards in the house - for us it was more financially responsible to let it go. I'm in no way saying that I think everyone in this situation should forclose and start over, but I do think it is a necessary choice in many cases and was in ours.

We really didn't expect to be out on the 'street' so quickly. We've heard of people being in their house for 12 months or more after starting the proccess. I guess Fannie Mae thought our house was super special. That's right, Fannie Mae, who the government bailed out, bought our house with both houses on either side of ours for sale. I hope they have a lot of fun selling it. We were served with a letter dated December 29th on January 6th giving us until January 5th to get out. Fun. It was time for our plan to begin. A little sooner and quicker than I would have liked, but that's life.

Landon's parents have a mother in law suite and offered it to us for next to nothing a month. It wasn't quite ready for us and made the move and settling a lot more stressful, but it's getting there. The kitchen is now 98% finished and we've only got one box of stuff that goes on the bookshelves to upack. I'm debating whether or not to unpack it when I know we have another move in the near future. The space has it's own entry, a bathroom, living space with kitchen and room for a table and Rory's furniture, and a bedroom. It's separated from the rest of the house by the laundry room. It's really not that bad of a deal. It is a little close to the parents, but we're able to save money to get going on our own space and it's not permanent. I have to keep reminding myself of this.

So, we're saving money to get started on building a shop/living space on an acre of land we're buying from my aunt. If all goes to plan we should be moving in there 5-6 months from now. And after we're living payment free will be saving again to slowly build an actually home. It's going to be a rough road, but I know it's the right thing for us. Landon doesn't want to work at the railroad forever. I know that he would like to go to school someday and I would like to go back and get my masters. So many opportunities will be open to us without a huge mortgage - or any mortgage for that matter. It's nice to know that if all goes to plan, we will have an acre of land with a house and a shop on it in 5 years and NO monthly payment.

So this is where we're at right now and hopefully where we'll be going. It's been tough and I know it's just going to get harder. But, I also have no doubt that this has been the right choice for us and that this is what we should be doing. Keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you in ours.

December

The holidays just flew by... actually all of 2009 just flew by. My parents used to always talk about how time flies. I now know what they meant. The month of December was pretty eventful for us. We didn't get to do everything we wanted, but it was still a great month.

We did get the chance to take Rory to see the Temple lights. I've only been once and that was back in 2004 before I was baptised. It was an experience that solidified that decision for me, so naturally I've been wanted to go every year since then. We just never had the time. I'm so greatful we snuck it in this year. Despite being tired, Rory really enjoyed being there. It was her first trip to the Temple and I'm pretty sure she can't wait to go back. :) Unfortunately, when I pulled out my camera to take pictures I realized it wasn't charged. :(

We were also able to make it to Winterhaven. Landon didn't really want to go, but he knew how much I wanted to and made time to take us. He such a sweetheart! We took Rory in her wagon. She had so much fun waving and saying 'Hi' to all the people passing by on the hay rides. She also love seeing the horses. I'm terrible with cameras, so I forgot to take pictures till we were back at the car. We took a couple anyways...

I made time to do a couple of small projects I saw on some craft blogs. They were super fun and easy and made great gifts.

These are super cheap pieces of ceramic tile that I mod podged with a picture and some scrapbook paper.

This was a Christmas card I made for my cousin. He wanted everyone to give him money, so I did.

Christmas was pretty good. We had Christmas Eve dinner with Landon's family then spent some time at my grandparent's house for my Tata's birthday. Christmas morning we opened presents just the three of us - a new experience that I insisted on. My camera has gone missing and the pictures along with it. But we did use our video camera to to capture Rory opening her presents. Santa brought her a play kitchen and a Sleeping Beauty baby doll. She also got a new book. I'm so thankful we didn't go crazy with presents for her because our family did. I was a little upset at the aftermath of trying to find room for all her new toys. She got another baby doll and tons of accessories for her, a play tent, a rocking horse, more books, a shopping cart, a rocking chair, her own table and chairs, and more. It was really rediculous. Next Christmas I'm just going to ask people to donate to a college fund for her.

New Years Eve was spent with Landon's family. We ate lots of fried food, cake bites, and played games. Rory decided to bite a couple of her cousins and has since been labled 'the biter.' We made it home 15 minutes before midnight, stayed up for the countdown, and then crashed.

I know it's late, but we hope everyone had an amazing holiday season!