Job hunting took over my life

This post is mostly about me.  So let's start it out with a selfie.

I've been putting off writing a blog update for a few weeks. Most of this month has revolved around my job hunt. I've been a little bit depressed and even scared about my job search situation. I didn't want to make you depressed or worried about me so I didn't want to write about anything until I could say that I had found a job.

And thankfully, I can finally say that I HAVE A JOB! And it's an awesome job. And I'll tell you all about it in a little bit. But first let's go back to the beginning of October when I was starting to get panicky about not having a job. Because not having a job meant that we didn't have money coming in, and we sure had a lot of money going out.

Brandon had to buy tools for his school program, and they were not cheap. We had to pay for Veronica's day care/preschool (which is very affordable, but still costs money). We had to pay rent, and utilities. And we found out that since Brandon's student loans were private loans we couldn't put them into an income based repayment plan and we'd already used up the forbearance options. Oh and we also had to eat.

We did have some money coming in. The Post 9-11 GI Bill pays for Brandon's tuition and our housing costs. So rent and utilities were taken care of. There was also a modest stipend for books and supplies - though it would hardly cover the cost of professional tools. We'd sold the RV and so we made back all the money we'd put into it. That money certainly helped, but it wouldn't last forever.

Brandon and I made the gut wrenching decision to take out ANOTHER student loan to cover the cost of the tools and pay for his monthly student loan payments. (We had the small consolation of knowing that at least this loan would be a government subsidized loan so it would have better repayment terms than the stupid private loans.)

Brandon also got a small work study job after school. It didn't pay much, but it was better than nothing. (And it will look great on a resume.)

But I was still worried about how long our finances would hold out. The biggest worry in my mind was Veronica's pre-school. I felt bad that I had her in there every day, and it was costing us money every day, but I wasn't making any money during my kid free time.

So I decided that it was time to donate plasma. This is something I've always had in the back of my mind as an income option, but I've never done it before. I've always been able to donate blood without any problems and donating plasma isn't much different. Well there is one difference - I get paid to do it. I told Brandon, "this is great. I get paid to sit down for an hour, listen to a podcast, and I can even play around on the internet if I want. Who cares if I have a needle in my arm the whole time." Donating plasma offset most of the cost of Veronica's pre-school.

But I was still worried about how long our money would last. I kept running the numbers over and over in my head, and things kept coming up short round about December. Which is a terrible time to run out of money.

And so it was time to go to the LDS church for help.

Now before we talk about this we need do a little flashback. Imagine that this is one of those memory sequences in a TV show where the camera gets all wiggly and we fade out.

Back in 2011 Brandon was working for Frontier Airlines as a baggage handler. Or should I say, having his life force sucked away by Frontier Airlines. The job just kept getting worse and worse and eventually ever single good thing about that job disappeared and it was time to quit.

He was hoping to get a job with the FAA, and we figured that our modest savings could keep us going until he had a new job.

At the same time I was in the Relief Society Presidency in our branch. We had a lot of needy families in our branch (which is one of the reasons it was a branch instead of a ward) and so I often helped with filling out food orders that people could take to the Bishop's Storehouse to get food. And I realized that the people getting help from the church were eating better than Brandon and I were.

So Brandon and I decided to ask our Branch President if we could also get help from the Bishop's Store House. We figured our savings would last longer if we didn't have to use it to buy food. So we started getting our food at the Bishops Storehouse and it was such a blessing in our lives. Charlotte and Lydia were babies then and the storehouse even provided disposable diapers for them. We received food from the Bishop's Storehouse for 5 months until Brandon found a new job. I've always been so grateful for that help.

I'd also kind of thought that those days were behind us.

But at the beginning of October, as I kept running the numbers in my head, I knew that our money would last longer if we didn't have to worry about buying food. And so I made the decision to ask the bishop for help.

I called the Ward Executive Secretary who handled the situation so professionally. He told me that in this ward there was a husband and wife who were called to help with Food Orders. Brandon and I and the kids met with them on a Tuesday night and they filled out the order with us. They were so kind. They kept telling us that this what the church Welfare program is all about. Its here to help families who are in need. They were so happy that they could help us.

Then on Thursday I went to pick up the order. The kids were out of school so they all came with. I was a little worried about having them all there, but really it was such a learning experience for them. I told Charlotte and Lydia, "watch, we are going to get all this food and we don't have to pay for it." They were so impressed when we walked out of the store with three (THREE!) grocery carts full of food.

Charlotte has been asking questions like, "why do we go to church?" After this experience I told her, "we go to church because people need help. Sometimes we are the ones helping people and sometimes we are the people who need help. And when we go to church we have opportunities to help and to be helped." I'm not sure if she fully understood, but she has seemed to have a better attitude about church the past few weeks.

This experience certainly helped strengthen my testimony too. We received so much food. They had us fill out the order with the next two weeks in mind, but it's been three weeks now and we still have tons of food everywhere. It reminded me that Heavenly Father is just waiting to pour out blessings, we just have to remember to ask for them. 

Having a house full of food helped calm down my money worries. We would at least be able to survive the next few months until I could find a job. Brandon also gave me a priesthood blessing. In the blessing I was told that there was a job out there for me that would work well with my schedule. I clung to those words every time I started to get depressed and think that I'd never find a job.

I did have several good job prospects. Some that had even shown up before we went to the church for help with food. The school district called me about an Administrative Assistant Job that I'd applied for a few weeks earlier. I needed to take a typing test with the department of Labor, and I needed to score 60 words per minute with only 5 errors. I had no idea what my typing speed was so I was really worried about this test. (This is when I asked Brandon to give me the blessing.) I took the test and scored 55 words per minute. Considering the last formal typing class I took was in 4th grade I was pretty happy with that score.

Later I got a call from the district again asking me if I would retake the test. They were very interested in me so they wanted me to have a second chance. I was even more worried about that test. I didn't want to do worse the second time. So when I scored 56 word per minute I was at least happy that I hadn't done worse. I hoped that the district would count my score as "close enough" but I didn't hear back from that department

I did hear back from another department. The Director of the School Food Service department e-mailed me and asked if I would be interested in being a substitute food service worker (lunch lady.) The position had the potential to become permanent and would work around my kids school schedule. I wasn't interested in that job, but I was interested in working for the district, and didn't have many other job prospects so I agreed to an interview.

I also went to the LDS Employment Resource Center and asked them for any job search advise. Back in college Brandon and I had taken the employment workshop classes at the Logan Employment Resource Center and they'd really helped me with my job search before I found my job with Conservice. Since I'm new to Pocatello I wanted to talk to someone from here who might give me a lead for places to look for work. I got the lead I wanted. One of the Sr. Missionaries at the center asked me if I had looked at any jobs with Bannock County. I hadn't even thought about the county. We looked up their website and found two jobs that I would love to do. One was an administrative assistant for some department and another was a Deputy Treasurer position. I read the job description for the Treasurer position and I KNEW this job was perfect for me.

I went home and wrote the best cover letter I'd ever written detailing how I was a good fit for the position. The county only did paper applications so I went to drop off the application in person the next day. It was Friday and I didn't know that the HR department was closed on Fridays. I'd written the date on all the pages of my application so I didn't want to wait until the next week to turn it in. So I hurried to the store and bought a package of manila envelopes so I could mail my application in. Then I hurried to the post office so I could have the envelope mailed to the county. The next week I called the HR department to verify that they'd received my application. They said they had and they'd turned it over to the treasury department.

 A week or so later, I went to a job fair at the Department of Labor and talked to the County HR ladies in person. They told me that they also had a position with the Department of Motor Vehicles available. They urged me to apply for that. So I applied for that as well. (I made sure to drop off the application on a day other than Friday)

I got a call from the LDS Church Welfare Department about an Administrative Assistant Job position that I'd applied for the day after I'd quit my ridiculous night auditor job. This position would help oversee the Deseret Industries Thrift Store. Ironically, they asked me to come in for a job the same day that I was scheduled to go pick up our food order. I joked with Brandon that I could say in my interview that I was very familiar with the purpose of the Welfare Department.  Since the kids were out of school that day I asked to reschedule for the next week which they did. That interview went very, very well. The man who interviewed me had lived in Kearns years ago and so we talked about Kearns for a while. He also gave me high praise for my economics degree - it was the first time I really felt like that degree was special. I walked out of there feeling like I was actually a qualified job candidate. Unfortunately, it would be several weeks before I would even hear back from them about a second interview.

Meanwhile I had my interview with school food service. It went well enough. I made it clear that I was really interested in a job with the district and not necessarily one with food service. They understood. A few weeks later though they offered me the substitute food worker job and told me that if I wanted it I needed to get fingerprinted by the sheriff's office and have a back ground check. I debated it for a while, but I figured this was the best way to get in with the district. If I already had a background check on file they would be more willing to consider me for other positions. So I decided to do a stint as a lunch lady. Plus the schedule worked around the kids schedule so it would be a good temporary job while I was still looking for work.

Well, normally it would work around the kids schedule. But I had to do four days of training and two of those days were Derrick's "off" days from Kindergarten. So I needed to find a babysitter. Once again I turned to the LDS church for help. I texted the Relief Society President and asked her if she could recommend anyone. She gave me a list of about 4 people who she thought might be able to help. We also announced it in Relief Society. From that announcement I found one lady who could watch Derrick on Wednesday and from the list I found a girl who could do it on Friday. Problem solved!

I also finally heard back from the Bannock County Treasurer job. They wanted me to come in for an interview on the same Tuesday that I started training with food service. I was able to schedule it for late in the afternoon when Brandon would be home. And then I heard back from another job that also wanted me to interview the same week I'd be doing food service training. I scheduled that interview for late Wednesday afternoon.

So on Tuesday morning I dropped the three older kids off at the bus stop, dropped Veronica off at pre-school, and drove up to the elementary school where I'd have my first day of training. I learned that lunch ladies are amazing. They work hard and fast. They zipped around the kitchen and laid out food with lightning speed. And I was super slow. I've never worked with food before and I knew this job wasn't for me. Part of me wanted to quit within the first hour. Then I thought to myself, "Valerie, If someone asked you to come down here and volunteer your time to help serve these kids lunch you would gladly do it. So you should just pretend you are volunteering." And somehow, just pretending that this was a volunteer position instead of my job helped me have a much better attitude about the whole thing. But I still ended up with a "first day of work headache."

After school, Charlotte and Lydia thought it was so cool when I came home and told them that I'd helped make grilled cheese sandwiches and hot dogs. They said, "That's what we had for lunch!" and they wanted to know when I would come work at their school.

After Brandon came home I hurried to my interview with the County Treasurer and one of her deputies. They were so friendly and the interview went very well. I knew it would be a pleasure to work in that department. At the end of the interview I had to take a 10-key test. I was a little worried about this since I haven't done a lot of 10 key since leaving Roosevelt lodge 2 months earlier. I was worried I'd be rusty. Plus I still had that head ache so I wasn't sure if that would affect me. I didn't need to worry. The test went fine. The ladies were so impressed by my speed. (I thought I'd been slow) and my total was only 9 cents off. Which was pretty impressive since the total was well over 7 figures.

I walked out of there knowing that I had a really good chance of getting the job. They told me they would get back to me by the end of the week.

The next day I worked at the central kitchen for the school district and was again blown away by how good the other women were at their jobs. Seriously lunch ladies are amazing.

And that afternoon I had another interview with another company for an accounting position. This one went well too, but I didn't know if they liked me or not. They told me they would get back to me at the beginning of the next week.

So then I had a decision to make. My first choice was still the LDS Welfare Department job. It would be full time and came with benefits and I'd get to handle cash - which I love. My second choice was the County Treasurer Department Job. It was only 30 hours and came with no benefits, but I'd get to handle A LOT of cash and work with really nice ladies. And my third choice was the accounting position. It was full time with benefits, but no cash handling.

I kept trying to get Brandon to help me decide which job was better, but he was no help. He told me, "they all sound exactly the same to me." He said, "It's like if I asked you if I should take a helicopter maintenance job or an airplane maintenance job."

That night I woke up in the middle of the night and thought and thought and thought about the jobs. I realized that the county treasurer job was actually my favorite. It was the one I'd gone out of my way to apply for. It was the one that would work well with my schedule. It was the one with the most cash handling. And it was the one with the best co-workers. I knew that if they offered me the job I would happily accept it.

At work the next day I was sent to a Middle school to train. This was my favorite location, but I still felt out of my element. I'd learned enough at this point that I felt like I was actually helping, but I still felt like the other ladies were superhuman in all they could do.

At lunch I checked my phone and saw I had a missed call from the County. I checked my voicemail in the small storeroom off of the kitchen. I was so excited when I found out I had been offered the Deputy County Treasurer job! I called right back and accepted it. Then I called Brandon and told him. He said that was the job he'd thought was best for me all along. And then I went back to work with the biggest smile on my face.

I still finished out my food service training. I came back to that same middle school the next day. By that point I felt a lot better about my skills in the kitchen and I knew I could do that job if I had to. But I was also really glad that I didn't have to.

After work I talked to the girl who had babysat Derrick that day. They'd had a good time together and I asked her if she'd be willing to be our after school babysitter when I started work. She said she could do it three days a week. Then I asked my friend from the bus stop if she'd watch the twins on that other day. She happily said yes. I already knew I could put Derrick into ISU's childcare on his "off" days. So all my childcare needs were taken care of perfectly.

And I was able to sigh a big sigh of relief. 

These past few weeks have certainly been stressful, but they've also been good for me.  They helped strengthen my testimony about prayer, priesthood blessings, fasting, going to the temple, the church welfare program, and really just faith in general.  There was one day in particular where I was praying and worrying about how I didn't have a job.  The thought came to me, "three months ago you were praying about how worried you were that you hadn't found a house in Pocatello yet, and that worked out.  Two months ago you were praying about selling the RV, and that worked out.  Can you just trust that getting a job will also work out?"  After that thought came I changed my prayers from, "please bless I'll get a job" to "please help me know the right job when I find it."  And Heavenly Father certainly helped with that.

So now what? Well I start work on November 6th. I'll work a little less than 30 hours a week which is great because that gives me one day a week to do "mom stuff" like take kids to Doctor's appointments and stuff at home.

And now I have two weeks before I start work. I briefly considered still doing food service sub work during those two weeks. But one look at the calendar told me that would be a bad idea. Between the twins birthday and Halloween and normal life stuff I think there is one day that I would be able to work.

So instead I'm taking this time to get caught up on projects that got pushed to the side while I was searching for a job. Things like updating this blog.

So let's finally do the picture recap which I know you have been waiting for.

First up lets go back again to the beginning of the month. The kids were out of school on Thursday and Friday the first week of October. Thursday was a busy day because I'd scheduled dentist appointments for the twins and then found out it was also parent teacher conference. So we went to Parent Teacher conference in the morning. The kids all received high praise from their teachers. 

Then we went to the dentist where things weren't so perfect. But considering this was their first appointment in something like 16 months I'm okay. I have to say that I'm really happy with the dentist office. It's a pediatric dentist and they really know how to make kids happy and comfortable. I'd taken Derrick and Veronica in the week before and they were super sad that they couldn't go back to the examine rooms with Charlotte and Lydia. They literally cried because it wasn't their turn. We've never had that problem at the dentist before.

The next day we went out to the airport and had lunch with Brandon. I've gone out and had lunch with Brandon a couple times when the kids have all been in school, and I thought they would like a chance to eat with their dad. When I eat with Brandon we just eat in the lunch room. But with the kids we decided to go eat at a picnic bench that is close to the airport terminal. The kids thought that was fun. Derrick kept asking to go on an airplane ride. We kept telling him "Someday." (Charlotte keeps telling me that I need to say "one day" when I tell Derrick stuff like that. She says "Someday" sounds too much like "Sunday.")

When we took Brandon back to his building he took us inside for a tour. The kids loved looking at all the airplanes that the students are working on.

Brandon is LOVING school. Actually that's not the right word. Brandon is EXCELLING at school. He's never been a straight A student, but in this program he is at the top of his class. And he's so happy with everything he's learning. There is a little bit of work involved with the program, but it's not excessive. He has homework every week night, but the tests are always on Friday and so he never has homework on the weekends. They have class in the morning and then spend the afternoon doing hands on work. His teachers are impressed with everything he can do. There is even talk of making sure he gets a scholarship next semester.

We keep wondering if he should have done this program from the very beginning. If he had been a mechanic instead of chasing his dream of being a pilot our financial situation would be a whole lot better. But I'm not sure if 22 year old Brandon would have been as good at this program as 34 year old Brandon. Part of what makes Brandon so good at this is that he already has a wealth of aviation experience. He took a lot of aviation classes for his first bachelors degree. So he already knows about weather, hydraulic systems, flight principles, etc. He also has all that Army helicopter training that has helped him a ton as they learn about helicopters.

In a way its like his whole life led up to this. So now he just has to put in a little bit more time and work to become certified as a mechanic. Then he can finally get a job that he loves.

On Saturday we decided it was finally time to go on an adventure. Living in Yellowstone for 3 months really filled up our need for adventure so we've hardly done anything since moving to Pocatello.  But the kids were driving me crazy during their two days off of school and I had a feeling none of us would enjoy spending Saturday at home.  Luckily, I have connections. My friend Sarah in Idaho Falls has connections to the Museum of Idaho and she told me she could get us a free family pass.  So I texted her and asked for one.  She said there would be one waiting for us on Saturday.  I told her she might have just saved our lives. 

So we went to Idaho Falls that Saturday and checked out the Museum of Idaho.  They had a space exhibit set up that was cool to see. 

 The kids liked it, but I kept comparing it to the museums we've been to that are completely dedicated to Space History.  Places like Rocket Park in Houston, The US Space and Rocket Center in Huntville Alabama, and the totally amazing Cosmosphere in Hutchington Kansas.  Compared to those museums this exhibit was just satisfactory.  Not amazing.  Still it was really nice that we didn't have to drive far to see this exhibit.  And I really can't complain since it was free for us.

 Derrick and Veronica particularly liked watching this rocket launch video.  They watched it over and over again.

 After we were done with the Space exhibit we checked out the children's room.  The kids LOVED this.

 There were cute little areas and props they could play with.

 Even Derrick really enjoyed exploring the area (though later he went back to watching the rocket launch movie.)

 We also enjoyed the local exhibit area.  Honestly my favorite part of the museum was the part dedicated the history of the Idaho National Laboratory which pioneered a lot of Nuclear Powerplant technology in the 50's. 

 After the museum we drove over to a parking lot near the Idaho Falls Greenbelt so we could find a place for lunch.  We found a cute little Japanese garden.

And we saw some of the man made waterfalls.  They were pretty impressive.

The kids loved the garden area.

 They all loved running around and exploring.

 The kids insisted on eating lunch on these stones that they called their lilly pads.

 Then we crossed the street and looked at the larger section of waterfalls.  I've driven through Idaho Falls a lot, but usually we've been on the Interstate/Highway. I've never seen these falls. They were so pretty, and the temple in the background added to the beauty.

 The girls wanted to pose with Lydia's doll Rose.

 We wanted to walk around the whole greenbelt, but the day was super windy so it wasn't as pleasant of a stroll as we would have liked.  And Veronica didn't seem to be feeling well.  So we made it this far and then turned around.

 On Sunday Brandon was able to do his church calling for the first time.  He teaches Gospel Doctrine to the Adults.  He did a great job.

The next week I had my interview with the LDS church Welfare Department.  I took this picture after the interview because I was so excited about how well it had gone.  I also really liked how I looked. 

 Less than 12 hours later I looked much different.  I was putting the girls to bed and reading them a bed time story. Veronica was making gagging sounds in her bed, but I was ignoring her because she's always testing out new sound effects.  She can mimic sounds really well so it's not uncommon to hear her making funny noises.  All of a sudden I heard a much different and yet too familiar sound. I asked her, "Did you just throw up?"  I looked at her and yes she had.  I went over to her bed just in time to get projectile vomited on ALL OVER!"  Oh it was gross. 

Charlotte and Lydia ran upstairs to get Brandon and he came down and helped clean everything up.  Soon we had Veronica asleep in a clean bed.  But our throw up adventures weren't over.  Veronica threw up in the middle of the night the next night. And the next night I woke up to Derrick standing by my bed.  He threw up all over me as soon as I sat up to ask him what was wrong.  And later he threw up on me again.  I'm no stranger to throw up, but I've never been thrown up on so much. 

Lydia also got sick, but she at least knew how to throw up in the toilet.  And Charlotte took a turn as well.  I had different variations of sick kids staying home from school on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Oh it was a long week.

Brandon got sick too, but he couldn't stay home from school.  Any time he missed would have to be made up later.  He was really worried about his test that Friday, but even with multiple bathroom breaks he still scored a 97%.  I told you he was doing well in school.

By Friday the kids were doing better.  Veronica had her 4 year old check up so we went to that.  Since Derrick is out of school on Friday's he came along too.  I wanted Veronica to get her pre-kindergarten shots at 4 since that was the same age the other kids got theirs.  So we did those along with a flu shot.  And I wanted Derrick to get a flu shot too.  I told them that we'd get ice cream after shots.  So we did that. 

 I was pretty happy that Veronica got all her shots.  Way back when the twins were born I told myself that I would always make sure my kids got their shots on time.  I have been to countless appointments in order to make that happen.  And now we are FINALLY done with shots.  The next ones we need to worry about are the booster shots the kids need at age 11.  But for the next 4 years I am done!  (Aside from flu shots.)

 Lydia and Charlotte are little art machines. They are always making such creative things. One day Lydia made her own little computer.

 It even had mouse and a spot for a disk and a jump drive.

 Charlotte found some buttons and made a bracelet.

 Fall has arrived in Idaho.  This is probably our first "real" fall with falling leaves and chilly weather since 2012.  The kids are so excited to rake up leaves and jump in them.

 Lydia lot two more teeth within two days.  That brings her total up to 7, but only 2 have grown in.  She had picture day with 5 teeth missing.

All month long we've been receiving packages with Brandon's tools.  He's been so excited to get them.  He keeps showing me them and saying, "look at this cool _____. Isn't that just awesome?" Last week his big tool box showed up. Now he has a place to keep his tools at school.  It's like he's a real mechanic now.

 This last Saturday we went to Utah for a Halloween Party with Brandon's Family. This was our first trip to Utah since moving to Pocatello.  This was actually my first time back in Utah since we left for Yellowstone.  We could have made it an overnight trip, but those are just so hard to prep for.  So instead we made the trip down and back in one day.  First we went to the Model Train Museum in Pocatello to appease Derrick.  He had been looking forward to going back for a MONTH so we couldn't skip it. 

Then we drove all the way down to Salt Lake to visit my sister Hillary.  She is due to have a baby boy within the month. But that didn't stop her from doing everyone's hair for the Halloween Party.

I've already posted about our costumes on instagram/facebook, but I'll save talking about them here until the next post.  We are coming into Birth-o-ween so they'll fit better with that post. 

Anyway, as always thank you so much for reading.  I know these posts get long, but somehow you all enjoy them.  Thanks for being interested.  

Enjoying our new life in Pocatello

At some point during our summer in Yellowstone Brandon asked me an important question.  He asked, "If someone had given us a choice between living in Yellowstone this summer or getting the job at Airport #2 in Salt Lake which one would we have picked?"

That was a hard question to answer.  On the one hand the job opportunity in Salt Lake represented financial security and a stable life, but it also meant living in the one place we didn't want to live. (Nothing against the west side of the Salt Lake Valley, but we weren't interested in moving back to the area where we grew up.)

Living and working in Yellowstone on the other hand represented adventure and exploration, but was temporary and came with a small paycheck.  

But given the choice I would have picked living in Yellowstone over taking the stable job in Salt Lake. The summer in Yellowstone was one that my family will treasure forever. 

Of course I didn't know that back in February.  I was devastated when Brandon didn't get that job with Airport #2. I'll admit I spent a little bit of time questioning God about why things didn't seem to work out. Brandon was perfect for that job, and it would have helped us out so much.  Why didn't he get that job?

In hindsight its easy to see why Brandon didn't get that job. Getting rejected is what led us to look into getting his A&P Certification.  And that led us to ISU in Pocatello.  And that led us (sort of indirectly) to spending the summer in Yellowstone.  Which was amazing.  So maybe God does know what he's doing after all.  

And now that we are here in Pocatello I can really say that God knows what he is doing.  We LOVE Pocatello so much.  And ISU is amazing.  Brandon is excelling in the Maintenance Program. He's happy to go to school every day.  For the first time in his life he is getting A's in school. It's wonderful to see him enjoying school so much. This is exactly where we are supposed to be right now.  

I think this picture sums up how Brandon and I felt this last year.  We've had to give up a lot dreams and plans, but we've been given better ones. 

Well that was the inspirational thought for this post.  Let's get on with the picture recap.  My camera died the day of the eclipse so most of these pictures are from my phone. 

The kids are loving our new house.  We have a back yard, but they all prefer to stay inside.  After a summer in an RV in Yellowstone they are pretty happy to have walls again. 

Derrick sets up his train set in his room every day.  And every night he puts it away without complaining. 

When we announced we were moving to Idaho I got an almost immediate facebook message from my friend Sarah.  She and I were in the same married student ward back in Logan, but our friendship really happened online after we both moved away. I've considered her one of my best online friends for years.  Her message said that she was also moving to Idaho.  She would be in Idaho Falls which is about 45 minutes from Pocatello.  We knew we had to get together.  So we made that happen during the second week I was in Idaho.  She moved back west from Virginia so we've formed a little bit of a support group for the re-adjustment to Utah/Idaho Culture.

Kindergarten here is every other day so that means Derrick is home every other day.  I like spending time with him, but it's kind of hard to keep him occupied.  We usually make a trip to the Library so he can play on the I-pads there.

We didn't do much for Labor Day Weekend.  We just hung out at home and unpacked. My sister Hillary and her husband Joe came to visit and we had fun catching up with them.  And I completely forgot to take a picture

In the afternoon on Labor day we  checked out the splash pad in Chubuck.

The kids thought it was great.

Yellowstone had a lot of fun stuff, but it didn't have splash pads.  So the kids were excited to do this.

I forgot to bring towels so I let the kids get warm in the skirt I'd thrown on over my swimming suit.

It was very stretchy.

On another day the kids played in the gutter while it rained.

Brandon and I weren't able to go on a date the whole summer so we made sure to ask around in the ward for a teenage babysitter and so we could go on a date. Our first date was dinner at a local restaurant and  walking up an down Pocatello's historic main street. 

We live only a few blocks from this area and I love all the old buildings. 

We found this cute little park between buildings.  Pocatello has little park everywhere.

On another date we saw Wonder Woman in the  the movie theater in the Student Union Building.  We both got in for free since Brandon is a student and I have a spouse card.  The movie was great!  I've wanted to see it ever since we came out, but movie theaters are hard to come by in Yellowstone.

Derrick is doing AMAZING in kindergarten. We are still working on evaluations and paperwork to make sure he gets all the services he needs, but in the meantime everything is going really well. I'm so glad he went to pre-k for 2 years because transitioning to kindergarten has been a breeze.

 His teacher has a private instagram account set up so she can share pictures with parents.  I love it because Derrick doesn't tell me much about his day, but with the instagram account I can see some of what he does.  For example, he wore this mask home one day.  He kept telling me he was a ghost.  On the instagram account his teacher posted that they'd learned that they were super heros and can do great things. 

During the early part of September the kids would choose otter pops as their afternoon snack and then go outside and eat them.  (We woke up to frost on the ground this morning so this picture feels like it was taken a long time ago.)

We live right by the Portneuf River.  I love how it flows through the neighborhood. 

We are pretty big fans of the library.  We don't have the internet at home yet so we rely on the library for our internet needs, and our movie needs, and our binge TV show needs (Brandon and I are currently enjoying Community), and our book needs.  It's also has some fun toys.  Here's Veronica playing on the Triceratops (and determined NOT to smile for me)

Here's a better picture - she looks like she's smiling, but really she was yelling at me.

I took a little nap one day and woke up to Veronica covered in marker.  She told me it was a map to Fairy Falls.

Here's more Library Pictures.  They have a little cafe area and the kids really enjoy playing there. 

Charlotte wrote this by herself.

I promised the kids that we wouldn't drive anywhere outside of Pocatello until September 22, but I broke that promise and took Derrick and Veronica with me to Idaho Falls so we could hang out with Sarah again.  We did "real mom things" like take our kids to McDonalds and Target.  We also saw this giant potato truck.  I thought it was really funny at first, but I've seen it several times since then and the novelty has worn off.

Brandon had a welding class on a Saturday so the kids and I were on our own that day.  Luckily there is a model train club here in Pocatello and this was the one Saturday a month that they were open.  So we went to check that out.

They kids were so excited to see Thomas as well as all the other trains.

I was so impressed by all the layouts.  We've paid money for places that weren't this detailed.

The kids had fun following the trains all around the layouts.

Derrick asks every day if we can go back to the "Train Museum" and every day I tell him that we have to wait a month.  (This is actually progress though because before we went to the museum he kept asking me if for a train to go around the Christmas Tree so at least we are talking about something that can happen sooner then Christmas.)

The missionaries helped us move our heavy furniture into our house when we moved in.  So when the calendar for feeding the missionaries came around I made sure to sign us up.  We had a really good meal that included jello fruit mousse.

Veronica had her first day of Pre-school on September 18th.  I'd been hoping to get her into the free head start Program, but we didn't have an address in time to get her into the program.  Instead we were on the waiting list.  I thought I was fine with hanging out with Veronica for a few months as her name worked its way up the list, but then I changed my mind.  What changed my mind was that we were watching the Cars movie for the billionth time.  Veronica was reciting the lines word for word and I was sitting there wondering why one character refers to Lightning McQueen as a person when he is clearly a car.  And in that instant I realized that we could not do this anymore.  We had already spent two years together with the older kids in school.  I couldn't do another year of this.  We both needed outside stimulation.

And so an hour later we drove over to ISU and I signed Veronica up for their pre-school.  It cost money, but it was money I was willing to spend in order to get Veronica to interact with children her own age.  Because, quite honestly, I've been a little worried about Veronica's social skills.  Since Derrick is on the autism spectrum I've been keeping an eye on Veronica.  She definitely has some odd tendencies, but I think most of them are just things she's picked up from Derrick.  I'm hoping that time spent in a classroom with other kids will help her develop some social skills.

Veronica is pretty excited about school too.  She is so happy to have a backpack.  She happily walks to the bus stop with the older kids and once they are on the bus we go to the car and drive her to her school. 

I think her favorite part of pre-school is the toys.  She's looked forward to playing in a pretend kitchen for months.  My favorite part of school is that she takes a nap!  This girl hasn't napped consistently in over a year.  But she takes a nap every day at school.  I thought it would make her harder to put to bed at night, but really it just makes her more pleasant in the evening.  She used to be so ornery during dinner time.  But now she's a happy little girl. 

Part of me is a little sad about the end of this era of having kids at home, but mostly I'm feeling pretty happy.  I feel like I can be a better mom thanks to the break I get every day. 

Oh and I guess now is a good time to mention that I'm looking for a full time job.  One of the reasons I wanted to put Veronica into school is so I can get a job.  I know that I wrote about how I had a night auditor job at a hotel, but that didn't last long.  The schedule was brutal, but doable.  What ended the job for me was the company's complete disorganization regarding policies, specifically cash policies.  As someone who has carefully tracked every dollar going in and out of cash offices I was appalled at how lax they were on their cash drawer. It was just one of many problems, but it's the one that convinced me I couldn't work for this company. 

And so I've spent most of this month applying and interviewing for jobs.  I know that I will find a job eventually, but it's been a discouraging month.  I'd appreciate any thoughts, prayers, or job tips you might have.

Veronica's first day of school was also the day of the Kind Community Festival in downtown Pocatello.  We went there and had fun looking at all the booths.  The kids really liked this display trollery, we also went on a real trolley ride later in the evening.

There were free bounce houses, free balloons, and lots of other free things.

We had fun walking through the tunnel under the rail yard.  Usually this is for cars, but it was for pedestrians this night.

The kids were able to paint a metal sign that was hung up around the fence to the rail yard. 

Derrick was no happy about all the noise, but he put up with it and later told us he'd had fun.

Here we are walking back under the tunnel.

Lydia was so exited when a train went over us.

Charlotte lost both her top teeth a few months ago and she has had the cutest little smile and lisp.  Lydia lost her other top tooth a few days ago so now she had a matching smile and lisp.  I think we need to teach these girls to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my too front teeth."

Since Veronica is in school every day, but Derrick only goes every other day, Derrick and I have been able to spend one on one time together for the first time in his life.  Previous to this the only one and one time we've ever really had has been when we went to doctors appointments.  We enjoy going to the library and looking at the Halloween Decorations at stores.  He's also a good grocery shopping buddy.  I also decided that he needed to learn about Star Wars so we've been working our way through those movies.  If/when I get a job I'll put Derrick into the childcare program at ISU on his "off" days, but until then I'm enjoying this extra time with Derrick. 

 On the days that all the kids are in school I spend a lot of time with the job hunt.  Last week I realized that I could go out to the airport and eat lunch with Brandon.  That was really fun.  He showed me the replica of the Wight Glider that he and a few other guys had been putting together. 

 On Thursday night we went to the Idaho Falls Temple with our ward.  Our friends, Elder and Sister Coombs were military relations missionaries when we lived in Fort Hood.  They are back home in Idaho Falls now and they offered to watch our children when we go to the temple.  So when our bishop announced that we'd have a ward temple night I knew that finding babysitters wouldn't be a problem at all.  So we were able to go to the temple for the first time in two years.  It was so good to go again.

 On Saturday we had the ISU home coming parade. I'd been planning to  go to this and watch from the sidewalk like everyone else.  But Brandon helped with the float/trailer for the Aviation Maintenance Department.  They wanted him to be on the float.  When he told them that he was planning on watching the parade with his family they said he could bring his family.  That sounded like a great idea.

Brandon walked over to the parade staging area around 7:30.  The kids and I walked over there around 8:30.  We passed a few buildings that had ISU themed decorations.

We made it to the staging area and found our trailer.  It was fun to be in the middle of so much activity.

 Everyone around us was very excited.

 The kids were cold, and bored so they all wanted to sit on me.

 But once the parade started they all perked up.  The kids LOVED throwing candy.  Even Derrick, who we'd worried would be scared, thought this was the greatest thing ever. 

 We had a car behind us that was playing loud music.  The twins really got into it and danced and danced.

 The trailer had two large airplane engines on it. 

 This is the view from behind.

 Here I am.

 The kids had been sad about not getting any candy, so when we reached the end of the parade we walked back on the route and got candy from the floats and entry that were still coming up the road. The kids FILLED their hats with candy. Then we walked the 18 (little) blocks back to our house. 

In the afternoon we listened to General Conference on the radio because we don't have TV or the internet.  The kids build elaborate houses from lincoln logs while they listened. 

It was kind of ironic that we had to listen to conference on the radio.  9 1/2 years ago Brandon and I were living in Logan and we decided to take a road trip in our new jeep on conference weekend. We didn't have TV or the internet and our tiny basement apartment didn't even have radio reception so listening to conference from our car radio made a lot of sense.  Guess where we went on that little road trip? None other than Pocatello, Idaho.  That was actually our only visit to Pocatello until last February when we came up here to check out the school that Brandon had already applied to.  Back in April of 2008 we had no idea that the town with the cute main street would one day be our home. 

It's funny how things like that happen.