Okay, okay, I suppose I should wait to write blog posts with that title until a little later in the year, but it really has already been a full year!
Let's see, the year began with Daniel arriving one month early. (Although he is determined to show the world that he was ready to come—at his last appointment his weight moved from the fifth percentile up to the seventy-fifth. Yay for mommy's milk!)
We had a mouse problem. Or two. Or three. I think we totaled out at four before solving that issue.
We had frequent flooding in the basement. At this point, the basement is completely emptied out. We had to throw away the only one year old carpet and padding. After extracting over 150 gallons, we bought a temporary pump to suck water out of the crawl space, which requires a hose running out the back door. I am going to be very excited for when I don't always have a door open.
We also seem to be dealing with sewer issues. The house smells horrible, and you probably don't want to know what alternatives I have been resorting to in lieu of my toilet, but let's just say that I have gained an appreciation for modern indoor plumbing.
There is a leak in my car. In the back. Whenever it rains, the water trickles in along the door and makes the carpet soaking wet.
Again with the sewer/plumbing issues: the bath tubs fill up with nasty water. Since the toilets are basically no longer used, we're not getting poopy water any longer, but I am still seeing things that went down the disposal. I have now stopped using that as well.
Since the basement is out of commission, almost everything from down there is spread out through the rest of the house. I finally have it so my house almost looks uncluttered, but I hate all of the extra stuff. If we aren't able to get this fixed soon, I might start making donation trips that I will regret once I have the room back.
I had to have a root canal last week. I can't help but feel too young to already have had a root canal.
However, I must admit that life is still awesome. I have friends and family that let me crash at their houses to do laundry, bathe my children, and breathe pleasant air.
I have a healthy son and an intelligent daughter.
My parents have been able to visit, and my mother has been able to visit many times!
Even though some of the flowers I've planted were sacrificed for the good of digging up ground to explore water issues, I have enjoyed many beautiful blooms and sweet scents.
It is warm enough to leave my windows open most of the time to get fresh air.
It is only my basement. I still have a roof over my head and four walls protecting me.
My car still runs and gets me where I need to go.
A root canal saved my tooth! Yay for not living back in the day before modern dentistry. And Jeff's company added dental insurance at the beginning of last month. A miracle! (They also added vision insurance and a retirement IRA. Did I already exult about that?)
My husband and I celebrated (and haha celebrated is used loosely, because this has been our least celebrated anniversary) our fifth anniversary. I remember when we were first married, looking at couples that had been married for three or fours years and thinking about how LONG they had been married. Ha. Oh, does time fly. I am so happy to be Mrs. Collett!
And not only is life not all that bad, but I also have a lot to look forward to. I have two new nieces that I will meet before the year is out. My parents are coming back for a WEEK long visit at the end of this month. Jeff's brother Ryan and Cyanne are getting married at the end of this month. My sister and her family will visit for a while. One of my very best friends from Provo, her husband, and their dog are planning on visiting us this summer. My mom, sister, sisters-in-law, myself, and our eight children are going to have a fun five days in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at the beginning of this fall.
Here are some photos to prove that things are good!
Let's see, the year began with Daniel arriving one month early. (Although he is determined to show the world that he was ready to come—at his last appointment his weight moved from the fifth percentile up to the seventy-fifth. Yay for mommy's milk!)
We had a mouse problem. Or two. Or three. I think we totaled out at four before solving that issue.
We had frequent flooding in the basement. At this point, the basement is completely emptied out. We had to throw away the only one year old carpet and padding. After extracting over 150 gallons, we bought a temporary pump to suck water out of the crawl space, which requires a hose running out the back door. I am going to be very excited for when I don't always have a door open.
We also seem to be dealing with sewer issues. The house smells horrible, and you probably don't want to know what alternatives I have been resorting to in lieu of my toilet, but let's just say that I have gained an appreciation for modern indoor plumbing.
There is a leak in my car. In the back. Whenever it rains, the water trickles in along the door and makes the carpet soaking wet.
Again with the sewer/plumbing issues: the bath tubs fill up with nasty water. Since the toilets are basically no longer used, we're not getting poopy water any longer, but I am still seeing things that went down the disposal. I have now stopped using that as well.
Since the basement is out of commission, almost everything from down there is spread out through the rest of the house. I finally have it so my house almost looks uncluttered, but I hate all of the extra stuff. If we aren't able to get this fixed soon, I might start making donation trips that I will regret once I have the room back.
I had to have a root canal last week. I can't help but feel too young to already have had a root canal.
However, I must admit that life is still awesome. I have friends and family that let me crash at their houses to do laundry, bathe my children, and breathe pleasant air.
I have a healthy son and an intelligent daughter.
My parents have been able to visit, and my mother has been able to visit many times!
Even though some of the flowers I've planted were sacrificed for the good of digging up ground to explore water issues, I have enjoyed many beautiful blooms and sweet scents.
It is warm enough to leave my windows open most of the time to get fresh air.
It is only my basement. I still have a roof over my head and four walls protecting me.
My car still runs and gets me where I need to go.
A root canal saved my tooth! Yay for not living back in the day before modern dentistry. And Jeff's company added dental insurance at the beginning of last month. A miracle! (They also added vision insurance and a retirement IRA. Did I already exult about that?)
My husband and I celebrated (and haha celebrated is used loosely, because this has been our least celebrated anniversary) our fifth anniversary. I remember when we were first married, looking at couples that had been married for three or fours years and thinking about how LONG they had been married. Ha. Oh, does time fly. I am so happy to be Mrs. Collett!
And not only is life not all that bad, but I also have a lot to look forward to. I have two new nieces that I will meet before the year is out. My parents are coming back for a WEEK long visit at the end of this month. Jeff's brother Ryan and Cyanne are getting married at the end of this month. My sister and her family will visit for a while. One of my very best friends from Provo, her husband, and their dog are planning on visiting us this summer. My mom, sister, sisters-in-law, myself, and our eight children are going to have a fun five days in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at the beginning of this fall.
Here are some photos to prove that things are good!
My mom and dad spent Easter with us!
Jill turned two and had her first haircut!
Here's our beautiful family after five wonderful years!
Jill's wildest dreams came true!!
(For more pictures, go to her facebook profile.)
Life is very, very good.
Despite all your house/car troubles, I agree- you truly are blessed. You have such a cute family. I love the family picture on this post. Daniel is chunking out to be quite the adorable baby!
ReplyDeleteThat said, I am so sorry to hear about your house troubles! That stinks! (literally!) I hope everything gets fixed soon and without too much headache on your part. You are an example to me of looking on the bright side. You are awesome.
and to be as optimistic as you are makes life just that much better!
ReplyDeletei am so so sorry for everything you have going on. i wish i was there for you more. jill is welcome to come bathe over here ;) that is so cute she got to meet elmo!!! andrew would love that!
Sounds like through all the nasty stuff you've found a "little things" list! :) I'm so glad to have you as a follower of squeezing it all in! Your kids are welcome to bathe with mine whenever they need to...
ReplyDeletesuch a positive spin on things, you are welcome to come and hang out with us anytime you want- we could even go for a walk! I almost stopped by the other day when I drove past your street.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add- try contacting the sewer district, if it the problem is possibly on their side they will come out and put a camera down to see where the problem is- if it is on their line they fix it. That is what happened to us- after we replaced the sewer lines we started having problems and they came out- the problem then was theirs and they had the tree removed as well as the pipe that was clogged. Just FYI
ReplyDelete