Some Updates

April 10th

Well our big news of the first of the year of 2012 was our big move. Tyson started with ESS on February 1st, and less than two months later he was promoted to manager of the 96th and Federal location. This obviously meant we would move to that location - which btw is TWICE the size of what we were living in Broomfield.
A great thing that happened was that we had my mom, grandma and stepdad come visit on April 28th and our goal was to be moved in and set and surprise them. The only thing that was a little tricky was that when the old manager moved out, the company did some much needed updating - including brand new carpet upstairs, painting and tile all of downstairs. We were so excited because the old manager smoked AND had a dog so we were glad we would not have to worry about Sydney getting on the floor. The renovations took 20 days. Tyson and I painted the upstairs 2nd bedroom and the downstairs. ESS painted the master bedroom. We were finally able to move in April 22nd.
It was stressful living in boxes, since you know I HAD to start packing three weeks earlier. I'm amazed that even though we do not keep that much stuff, it felt like we had wayyyyy too much stuff. I did pretty good until the night before the move when I wanted to throw away everything in sight because it all felt like it was going to eat me.
We had 8 people show up from the Red Leaf Ward and we had the 26 foot truck packed in 45 minutes. We also 6 people from the Westminster ward come and help up unload. It took less than 40 minutes for the truck to be emptied. Eric - the Elder Quorum Pres from the Westminster would not leave until "everyone had a place to sleep and a place to sit ..." it was awesome.
We also had Melissa Jones and Allison Meakin watch Sydney from 8:30 am - 5:30 pm. It was amazing! I was able to unpack 80% of our stuff and by Sunday night I had 90% of everything unpacked and placed. Oh man it felt awesome. We, of course, were beyond exhausted. I keep finding ramdom bruises on my body from bumping into stuff. Saturday night April and Mark Reynolds helped us by hauling our little trailer over and we had chinese on our new kitchen.
Saturday night we were in bed just about to fall sleep when both Tyson and I were overcome with this massive sense of gratitude. Just weeks earlier we were complaining about unanswered prayers, disapointments and all the other stuff we whine about - and here we were. A new house, gorgeous, bigger and closer to Tyson so we could max out our family time. We are so blessed. We said a prayer and said thanks for our blessings.
It's been a great first couple of weeks. We are constantly amazed at how BIG this place is. Our master is like 2.5 rooms into one. Sydney's room is gigantic. We feel blessed. The best part was surprising our parents!



March 27th, 2012
Tyson got a promotion this week to be a store manager. We are excited for this because it means more money and Tyson will be able to run his own store the way he wants. He's really excited but also feels that he needs to start thinking of other business ideas. He is so motivated by freedom. Having this job at ESS has really humbled him. It's a great position, but not where we wants to end up.
We thank God for our blessings and realize how lucky we are to work where we live and live for free. We have been able to save so much money but living here. We are able to max out our IRA's, save for Sydney, save for emergencies, save for goals  and we get to live in an awesome area.

Rough Day

It's been a rough day. Not home wise but work wise. I'm good at my job. I rocked at being the manager. My property was clean and always a top performer. I loved my time management and awards. I really took pride on it. When Sydney was born I knew I wanted to quit working full time and stay at home more with her. I took 12 weeks off and came back three days a week. At first it was hard even leaving Sydney but after a month I actually realized that leaving her refreshed me. It felt so good to be back.

Well it's been 4 months and my once excitement has kinda died. I feel like I lost my mojo. BIG TIME. I've come back and made rookie mistakes, I'm just not in my A-game. To make things worse ESS has started this new shopper program and changed everything that I was used to . The results, now instead of getting my 95% to 100% I'm use to I'm getting 50% to 60%. It should not be that big of a deal. Say it with me "this one thing does not defy me .." Except it still hurts.

To make things worse I was pulling out the golf cart up a hill and it died. Right on the spot. I tried pushing it myself but I could not get it rolling. I started crying. I was soooo done. I was emotional exausted and my ego was the size of a lima bean. I had to get the manager on her day off to help me. I was embarressed and just sad. I have not had a day like this in so long.

I remember litsening to a marriage tape years ago and one of the things one of the authors talked about was that it was "healthy to have a day every so often that just stinks ..." well today is that day for me. Part of me wants to eat EVERYTHING in sight and the other part of me wants to go run five miles. I'm hoping that when I get home I was just shut off the world and try again tomorrow.
I know this is a new phase in my life. I love being at home more and I get a lot of pride from being a great home manager - I just have to realize that work won't always be great and that now i'm the one taking orders instead of givin them out. It's ok. It's all going to be ok. I need to go on a walk and just take deep breaths.

New Toy

Our friends the Scottorns got a similar toy two weeks ago - Karynn loves it and she is exactly three weeks older than Sydney. Sydney has started more and more to be on her feet and not on her back, so our little play mat wasn't working too well. I started looking on craigslist cassualy one day and viola! A great bouncer/exersaucer! Best part was the price. Originally $100. I got it for $25. It was sweet. Getting the thing home was another story. First the seller lived by the airport, which is 45 minutes away. No biggie. I jumped in my car at 7:30 am the next day and headed down with my trusted google maps directions. Everything was going well except that I missed my exit because some semi on an ego-trip decided to cut me off. urg. So got off the freeway. Back on the freeway and on my way. My map said exit 56th, 2nd exit. I saw exit 56th but not the "2nd" exit, so I kept driving until I realized I missed it. Not a big deal except it was nothing but 10 miles until the DIA airport. I could not find an exit go let me turn around. I drove 7 miles before I could find an exit. I turned around finally started on the right path. I got off the exit and found her house. Then I looked at the clock and realized it was 8:30 - tyson had to be at work by 9 and I was 45 minutes away. I quickly called Danielle Siagel from our ward, she rescude us and watched Sydney while Tyson left for work and I made it back home. It was a long morning. The only thing that makes it worth it is that Sydney really really loves it. The things we do for our children.

Happy Easter

Easter was really really chill this year. We went to church, Tyson sang in the choir, Sydney pooped TWICE during sacrament and was grunting the entire time. (sidenote - she seriously grunts like a truck driver when pooping. It's hilarious. Tyson even has a pooping song for her and sure enough he can tell when she needs to go. It's like a weird bond between father and daughter. Anyway, her grunt is super loud but soooo cute and funny.) After church we came home, grilled some hamburgers and chilled the entire day. We watched movies, went on walk, gave Sydney a bath. The funniest part was the Easter egg hunt. I hid 20 eggs and Tyson and Sydney tagged team to find them. Ok ok Ty found them while Sydney drooled on them, but they were effective. The Easter bunny even hid a $5 bill for Tyson to find. We had pizza for dinner. It's funny because now that we have Sydney we love to just spend time at home. We get out often but holidays are nice because we can plan stuff for Sydney even if she just drools in excitement. Sydney has been much more smiley. I can make her smile pretty much every day. I also found a ticklish spot - her thighs. She just goes crazy when I hug them or kiss them. Her really big laughs still sound like she is crying. It's hilarious. My mom, grandma and Fredy come on April 28th to visit us for a week. I'm so excited!!!

Conference Weekend

Ah conference weekend. The time to relax, eat good food and soak in the spirit. We started Saturday by cleaning and watching it during our lunch breaks. Sunday we had a breakfast with the Romero's, came home, took naps and finished watching it. Saturday Tyson went to Preisthood Session and then Yogurt Brothers with the ward guys. I have to say how much fun it is to be with Sydney. We get to relax and be with each other. My favorite talk with between Elder Holland and Elder Packer, who talked about defending the family and letting go of envy. I have been really trying hard stop comparing and trying so hard to be genuanly happy for others when good things happen. We have been so blessed and we continue to grow and see Gods had into our lives. My favorte part of conference is that Sydney now loves to watch outside the window and her favorite person to step on is sweet daddy.

Five Months

Fun Facts: Weight: 15 lbs 1 oz Height: 27 inches You are now grabbing your toes - both when you are laying down and sitting up You can sit up assisted You are much louder and love to make noises You can play independantly for 15 minutes at a time You take 2 (two-hour) and 1 (45 minutes) naps during the day You got to bed around 7:10-7:30 and sleep until 7 am You recognize mommy and daddy. When we walk into the room you light up You love songs and being sung to You love the Ergo Baby carrier and love to clean with mom in it You loving going walking and running with mom You still have your first nap after 1 hour of being awake for the day You can still wear 3 month old clothes but they are short on you You eat 6 oz every feeding You are in the 90th percentile of height and 25 percentile of weight (long and thin) You still hate tummy time if longer than 3 - 4 minutes You still get really cranky after 2 hours of wake up times You still don't have any solid foods - mostly because mom is terrified to give some to you You laught and smile sooooo much more, although never for pictures. You like to pull up your head and look like you are doing mini sit ups You love big eyes and smile when we give them to you You are an absolute joy!