But honesty, lately I haven't been thinking of all those "lasts." Instead I've been thinking about the "firsts." The first time I went to the day care and didn't quite know where to park. The first time I walked into the Treasurer's Office for a job interview with strangers. The first time we drove out to the ISU hangar at the airport to see what the program was like. The first time we found the bus stop. The first time I donated plasma. The first time we went to the park, and church, and Winco. The first time I took the long way to Walmart.. Or the first time I talked to the Elementary School Principal.
All those firsts were full of nervousness and anxiety. But they were also full of opportunity. Gradually I figured out this community and our place in it. I learned the roads. I learned the store layouts. I found dentists and doctors that we like. Gradually I ended up on a first name basis with the elementary school Principal and teachers. I've thrived in my calling at church. Parking at the daycare is something I hardly think about anymore, and I love seeing the teachers and staff every day. Oh and those strangers I interviewed with at the Treasurer's Office have become a great work family.
Moving to a new place isn't the easiest thing to do, but I love doing it. I love how a place can go from being completely unfamiliar to being a place that I know well. It takes some bravery and some initiative, but it's worth it every time.
And so, even though I'm not looking forward to all the "lasts" that we are going to have in Pocatello, I am looking forward to the opportunity to have more "firsts" in the next place we live. All those new firsts will help us turn that new place into our new home.
And where will that new home be?
The short answer is that we don't know yet.
The long answer is also that we don't know yet, but that we are beginning to look at options. I'll talk about some of them throughout this post.
Let's go back to two weeks ago. We had big plans for Martin Luther King Day. I've wanted to go to the Hardware Ranch Elk Refuge near Logan for several weeks. I thought it would be a great thing to do on MLK day. But when I checked the website for more details about the place I discovered that they were only open on weekends. So that cancelled that plan.
It actually was for the best because there was a HUGE snowstorm that hit southeast Idaho that morning and so we probably wouldn't have traveled down to Logan anyway. So instead we stayed home and relaxed.
For weeks Charlotte and Lydia had been pestering me about selling hot chocolate on the corner like they did with lemonade. When our MLK day plans fell through they started saying that this would be a perfect time to do the stand. On Monday morning they were still asking about doing the stand. I pointed to the snow falling outside and told them it was a terrible day to be trying to sell hot chocolate. I didn't want them sitting on the corner in the cold and snow. I told them they could sell hot chocolate on a sunny day.
Well, what do you know. In the afternoon the snow stopped falling, the wind stopped blowing, and the skies cleared up. We had a sunny day after all. So I agreed that the girls could do a hot chocolate stand. They were so excited and got to work right away. I helped them set up the card table on the corner and provided hot water and supplies, but they were basically on their own for everything else. Their sign especially advertised that this stand was run by 8 year olds. It reads "Hot caklet for sale."
I kind of regret letting them do the stand though. Lydia had had a cough for a couple days and sitting out in the cold didn't do her any favors. She ended up staying home from school on Tuesday, and Wednesday, and coming home early from school on Thursday. UGH. Derrick had a cough too and didn't go to school on Tuesday. Veronica wasn't too happy about having her Tuesdays with mom interrupted by Derrick and Lydia. But she did enjoy watching movies with them. She put herself into a laundry basket and watched movies like that for a while.
Back at home we had dinner with my parents which was really nice. I'm glad they live so close.
They came in handy again on Wednesday. My mom watched Lydia for most of the day. Derrick had driven me crazy for most of Tuesday so he went to school. Since the kids had been sick we cancelled our plans to babysit our friend's baby on Wednesday. Charlotte had gone to school so she was able to go to Activity Days. But Lydia didn't get to go since she hadn't gone to school.
Thursday was another day of mixed illness and wellness for everyone. Lydia hadn't seemed very sick on Wednesday so I sent her to school, but she called me after lunch and so I picked her up. Later Charlotte told me she'd been feeling sick all day and she wished I'd picked her up too. I felt so bad that I hadn't even thought to check on her while I was at the school. Parenting is hard, and parenting sick kids is even harder.
Derrick's latest obsession is puppies. His behavioral therapist often takes him to the local pet store and he loves looking at the puppies that are for sale. He is CONSTANTLY talking about getting a puppy and we are all so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so tired of hearing about it. Finally I sat down with him and made a little picture schedule to try to help him understand that the timeline for getting a dog. It has sort of helped.
There is a aircraft maintenance company in Provo called Duncan Aviation. They specialize in maintenance and repair for private and corporate jets. They are expanding like crazy and so are hiring like crazy. One of the Brandon's friends that graduated last year works there and she has been texting Brandon and telling him about how great the company is. She encouraged him to apply, and told him that she's been telling everyone about him. The company is EXACTLY what Brandon is looking for in a place to work, and we should be thrilled about the opportunity except for one tiny little detail - it's located in Provo, Utah.
Brandon and I are very hesitant to move back to Utah. We are concerned about the housing market, and the cost of living in general. We also never pictured ourselves living in Provo. We are active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, but I don't necessarily love the idea of living in an area full of other members of the church. I love the church doctrine, but I have a lot of problems with elements of church culture and Provo just seems to be the epicenter of "Mormon Culture."
Every time Brandon and I thought about working for Duncan Aviation in Provo, Utah my stomach clenched up. I just pictured myself house-poor and constantly rolling my eyes at my neighbors.
Anyway, like I said the company is hiring like crazy. So they paid for a bus to pick up all the ISU aviation maintenance students and bring them down to Provo for a tour. And since I had so many concerns about living in Provo I asked if I could come along too. I planned to drive down and meet up with Brandon and the other students who took the bus, but his teachers gave him permission to drive down with me.
My sister Hillary agreed to watch our kids at her new house while we went to Provo. We were told we had to be at the Duncan Aviation Hangar at 9:00 am which meant we had to leave Pocatello early in order to beat traffic into Salt Lake, drop the kids off, and make it down to Provo in time. We ended up waking up around 4:00 and leaving at 4:30. Ugh. What a way to enjoy a day off of work right?
The kids were so excited to spend the day at Hillary's. They had such a fun time playing with their cousin Walter.
Brandon and I made it down to Provo before 9:00. We found the airport and then still had time so we drove back into Provo to find a Burger King for a breakfast sandwich. Brandon's friend was texting him from the bus and showing us pictures of the traffic around them. There was no way they were going to arrive at 9:00. We went back to the Duncan Hangar and went inside. Some one came out and told us that they weren't quite ready yet. They said it would start closer to 11:00. Apparently that's they time they'd told everyone to come. I don't know who told us 9:00, but I was not very happy with them at the moment.
All the students immediately forgot about the long bus ride and the wait time as they walked into the giant hangar and saw the four jets that were being worked on.
After lunch we learned more about the company. Some of it I already knew, but I still learned a lot. They are based out of Lincoln, Nebraska and have been in business for over 60 years. It's a family owned company and the 4th generation of the family is currently working in different positions of the company. They have been in Provo since about 2010, and they are currently building their own facilities to become and full service maintenance shop. When everything is up and running they will a paint shop, a woodworking shop, an upholstery team, and of course the maintenance area. They aren't just hiring mechanics they are hiring upholstery, painters, cabinet makers, etc.
Here's a video that gives you an idea about what the company has been doing and plans to do in Provo.
And here is a video of what the exciting world of corporate and private aviation maintenance looks like.
Brandon went on a tour of the whole facility. He also had a chance to sit down for a job interview. The interview was more of a personality interview rather than a skills interview. The company isn't just looking for anybody with an A&P License. They want employees who will be a good fit in the culture.
Meanwhile I was listening to the recruiter do a Q&A. Someone asked about the pay rate which I was super glad about. One of my biggest concerns was that the job wouldn't pay well enough for us to afford to live in Provo. The answer the the question eased a lot of my concerns. The Level 1 mechanic pay isn't great, but within 18 months to 2 years they become Level 2 mechanics. That comes with a pretty decent pay increase. Things would be tight at first, but overall we could afford to live in Provo if Brandon worked for Duncan Aviation.
As I listened to the recruiter I also realized something. I knew this company was based out of Nebraska, but I was realizing that a lot of the employees were from Nebraska, or the other full service location in Battle Creek, Michigan, or on of the smaller satellite facilities throughout the country. At the very least we would know some non-LDS people through Brandon's work.
Income and Diversity had been my two biggest concerns about living in Provo. Those concerns were mostly erased by visiting the facility. I'm still not wild about the idea of moving back to Utah, but if Brandon works for Duncan Aviation then I'm okay with that move.
The tour was over around 2:00. Brandon and I said goodbye (and laughed at) his friends as they got back on the bus for their long ride back to Pocatello. We hoped in the car and drove around the lake to Saratoga Springs to pick something up from my Grandma Mary Ann who has moved there with her sister. (By the way, I like the idea of living with my sisters when we are old. Not that I want any of our husbands to die, but it's kind of nice to think about living with my sisters again.)
I wish we could have stayed at my Grandma's house longer. But I was anxious to get back to Hillary's in case our kids were starting to get restless. So we picked up a box of family history things from my Grandma, saw her new house for a minute, and then had to be on our way.
We also took a picture of the lake and mountains from the Saratoga Springs side. I see why people live over here. Too bad it's too far from Provo. We clocked the drive at 30 minutes at 2:00 in the afternoon. I'd hate to see what its like during rush hour.
My grandma had seen my facebook post about Derrick wanting a puppy so she gave me a white stuffed dog to give to Derrick. He LOVED it. It's always my favorite thing to hear Derrick ask/exclaim, "For Me?" When he is given a gift. He kept saying Thank you so I made a video of it. Of course I had to prompt him on the video, but he was saying all of this on his own before I hit record.
Hillary made us dinner. We had Keto and non Keto Lasagna. I don't think Veronica noticed that she ate the Keto Lasagna. We wanted to stay longer and talk, but my kids were fading fast. So we said goodbye and drove up to Brandon's parents house in Eden.
Most of the kids were crying hysterically as we went into the house. It was about 7:30 which is after bedtime on a normal night and certainly after bedtime when the kids got up at 4:15. So we put them all to bed and they fell asleep almost right away.
We were staying overnight at their house because our niece Oakley was getting baptized the next day. We figured out that Brandon's parents were over at his sisters house for a little birthday party Oakley. We were invited too, but we were just too tired. I was about to go to bed when Brandon's parents came home. We talked to them. Then Brandon's other sister and her family arrived and we talked to them. I was so tired, but it was so fun to talk. I finally went to bed around 10:00.
The next day was a good day, but my phone was dead and my camera was misplaced so I didn't take any pictures.
The baptism was very nice. The room where it was held was very small though and that kind of affected me in a negative way. I was in a much better mood as soon as I got out of that tiny room. Melanie hosted a luncheon at her house. I enjoyed talking with everyone there, but my favorite part was when I fell asleep on Melanie's living room couch with sunshine streaming in through her giant windows. That was so nice!
We'd been debating whether we would come back to Pocatello on Saturday night or Sunday night. I'd been leaning toward coming back on Saturday, but then we were asked to say the prayers in our ward in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. That cemented the come back on Saturday plan. We stayed at Melanie's for a long time, then went back to Steve and Jacque's and hung around there for a bit, and then we drove back to Pocatello. I drove since I'd had that glorious nap.
On Sunday we had a good day in church. After church Derrick and Veronica were super squirrely. So I took them on a walk to the park. As soon as we got on the bike trail Veronica took off running. She had a TON of pent up energy. I realized I've never taken a picture of the suspension bridge that spans the Portneuf river and connects the bike trail to the park. We cross this all the time. I figured I'd want a picture to remember this bridge after we move away.
On Monday all the kids were healthy again so they all went to school!
I'm trying to go for a walk on my lunch break every day that there is sun shining and Monday was a sun shiny day. I went for a walk and ended up on ISU's campus. I listened to the latest episode of Baconsale while I walked. They were ranking Tear Jerker Movies. I don't know if it was the descriptions of the movies, or the sad music they added in post production, or what, but I looked around the campus and started crying. I thought about the first time we came here, almost two years ago. We'd been so full of hope, but also apprehension. Would moving to Pocatello and attending ISU really pan out? I looked around the campus and realized that we'd been right to come here. This has been the best place for us. I truly am going to miss this place so much.
That night we went to Pocatello High School for their Spaghetti Dinner fund raiser for the band. Several of the teenagers in our ward are in the band and we bought our tickets from our friend Paige. Her brother is one of my favorite kids at the bus stop and he'd talked a lot about how fun the spaghetti dinner is every year.
I'd bought the tickets weeks earlier, and hadn't thought much of it. But I was so thankful the dinner was this night. We usually go grocery shopping on Saturdays, but we hadn't been able to do that because we were out of town. I planned to go on my day off on Tuesday and I'd been wracking my brain trying to think of an easy dinner to have on Monday night when I remembered it was the Spaghetti dinner. I was so glad I didn't have to cook.
The jazz band was playing while we ate. Derrick didn't like the music and covered his ears at first, but other than that he did just fine. Lydia thought the music was fun and told me, "my heart feels like it's dancing." A lot of people from our ward were at the dinner and we ended up with a friend at our table for a little while.
Charlotte wanted me to take a picture of all the lego creations for her show and tell. I e-mailed the picture to her teacher who displayed it on the classes smart board during Show and Tell time. Welcome to the 21st century.
After school my parents came over again and watched the kids while Brandon and I went to Parent Teacher conference for Lydia. Then I came home and finished dinner while Brandon took Lydia to her Ukulele lesson. My parents stayed for dinner again. We love having them over.
Wednesday was the real day for parent teacher conference so the kids were out of school. Brandon had school and I had work so the kids were at day care all day. Charlotte was pretty mad about that until I texted Miss Wenda and found out that they were going skating at Deleta. That changed her attitude very quickly.
I'd asked for Derrick to have extra therapy on Wednesday so he spent a lot of his day with Miss Christy. She is great with him. But something was wrong this day. Derrick had a HUGE melt down at library story time. He finally was able to tell her that he was tired and so they went back to the day care and he took a little nap. Then they joined the other kids at Deleta. I'm sorry that Derrick had a melt down, but I was glad that Christy could see him have one. It's kind of nice for her to see why we have him in behavioral therapy. She says that she's going to work with him on vocalizing his emotions so next time he feels a melt down coming on he can tell her (or us) how he feels.
Wednesday night we were able to babysit. But he slept the whole time so we didn't have to do much.
On Wednesday evening Brandon checked his voicemail and had a message from Duncan Aviation. They were offering him a job! They know that he is looking at other options, so he doesn't have to make a decision right away. If he does take the job he'll start there in mid-May. It's nice to know that there is a job offer on the table. If nothing else pans out we do have a job. That's a huge blessing.
But Brandon is looking at other companies. There is one in Boise that we are very interested in. Brandon has requested a tour of the company and we are going out there in a few weeks to check it out. They aren't hiring for Level 1 mechanics at the moment, but that could change at any time and we want them to know that Brandon is interested in working for them.
Boise is out top choice right now because we would really like to stay in Idaho. There are a few reasons behind this, 1. The cost of living and housing prices are lower in Boise. I have Zillow searches set up for both Provo and Boise. I get more e-mails with homes in Boise than I do in Provo. 2. We already have Idaho drivers licenses, License plates, and an Idaho fishing license. We don't want to have to get new. 3. Derrick is set up on the Children's Developmental Disability Services here. Getting him into that took over 4 months and quite a bit of paperwork. I really don't want to have to do it again in another state. And from what I've heard he may not qualify in Utah for the same services he qualifies for in Idaho.
So right now we are still looking at options in Idaho.
Thursday night Brandon asked me if I wanted to help him study about Magnetos. I made some job about Magneto being from the X-men movies and then agreed to help. All I had to do was read him questions from a quiz and he would answer them. But it turned into a huge lesson comparing and contrasting car and airplane engines. (It boiled down to Cars have alternators, airplanes have magnetos.) I was super interested and really enjoyed listening to Brandon explain it all to me. On Friday he asked his teacher if he could bring a magneto home to show me. So he did. And that's how we spent our Friday night - looking at a magneto.
Historical inaccuracies aside, the movie shows women doing math and doing it well. And I want my girls to like math so we watched the movie with them. Derrick liked the rockets, the girls liked the math, and it was a successful movie night.
We put the kids to bed, looked at the mageneto, and then watched Ready Player One. That was a fun movie and I recommend it.
On Saturday we were hoping to go to the Elk Refuge. But the weather forecast said there was a high chance of rain or snow. I really didn't want to drive all the way down to Logan in bad weather and then wait in line in the rain to go on a wagon ride in the rain so we cancelled the plan - again. Next weekend is the last weekend it's open so hopefully it works out.
It's good we hung around the house because we were able to clean the house and get the laundry done. In the evening we watched Ground Hog Day with the kids.
Today we slept in which is always nice. Our church doesn't start til 10:30 this year while is also nice.
Veronica has about 3 dresses she likes to wear, but her closet has about 8 dresses in it. Today she picked out one of the other dresses. After she put it on Charlotte told her that it looked like a dress I would wear. Charlotte said Veronica looked like me, but she needed glasses. So Charlotte let Veronica borrow her reading glasses. I burst out laughing when Veronica came up to me and said, "Mom, I look like you!" She was right.
We decided to take a picture together to I picked out an outfit that matched her dress and we took a twin picture.
Okay, one final thought at I finish up this post. Two years ago today, on February 3, 2017. Brandon and I decided to move to Pocatello. I've written about this before so you can go back and read that post if you want to, but I just want to mention something really briefly.
That morning I'd woken up with the thought, "Miracles Have Not Ceased." I'd been thinking that we'd used up all our miracles already. I had been ready to just settle for whatever we could find in Utah and make the best of our miracle-less lives.
But that thought reminded me that amazing things could still happen in our lives. That thought kicked off a talk with Brandon that led us to talking about moving to Pocatello to go back to school.
We certainly have seen many miracles in the last two years.
And I have faith that there will be more miracles coming as we decide where to live and where to work.
Keep reading, these next few months are going to get interesting.
