"I hope ya know, we had a hard time"

A favorite general conference address by Quentin L. Cook Oct, 2008  click here for the article

The title is adequate  for this blog post as it is going to be a quick run down of the past few months.

March:
We filed our taxes, professionally prepared and we found out that we owed. Joseph's "cancelled debt" {i.e. student loans that were forgiven due to disability} became taxable income this year. so suddenly we had to pay 10% of that. Our best option was to pay it all at once. The IRS charges you to set up a payment plan and all payment plans come with interest.... anyway really crappy situation.

**Blessing*** We had the money to pay the IRS, all of it, all at once, and it took every penny we had. We're still ridiculously broke because of it, but so glad that we were able to pay off the IRS.

April 11th- Wrote the dreaded IRS check.

April 13th- Jessica takes 3rd in her pageant! So proud of you Jessica! She did an amazing job and we were so sad that we had to miss it.

April 29th- Shaylee had a large cyst rupture, on her left ovary.

**Blessing*** No hospital this time

April 30th- Doctor appointment with ultrasound. My doctor and another performed the ultrasound, my first ultrasound in this office. The main objective was to evaluate my ovaries, and see if I required surgery to drain or remove the cyst or cysts. Luckily, I did not need surgery as the cyst on my left ovary had already ruptured, there was however, free fluid behind my ovary as a result of the rupture. I was allowed to keep working  as long as I spent as much time as possible resting, bed rest at home. I brought a heating pad to work- and I refused to take my "good pain killers" while working, because they make me high. I prefer to be mentally present while teaching.

**Blessings*** Amazing doctors and modern technology.

May 4th- Flood! Yup, our neighbors' sprinklers flooded our yard, then water went under the garage and into the house. Our living room, closet and bedroom were affected.

**Blessing*** We were home when it happened, so we were able to stop the water and clean up before the damage was extensive.

May 5th- Our 7th wedding anniversary! We spent it in bed together as the night before we hurriedly moved furniture and removed water from the house. So naturally we were both exhausted & as I had violated my bed rest I was is lots of pain.

May 10th- Joseph's neurology appointment in Spokane. Great appointment, very uneventful, still seeing small improvements each visit. We decided to elimnate one of Joseph's MS medications.
While in Spokane we were able to see Kaelee and Calvin! Calvin was teething and grumpy but still enjoyed flirting with his favorite Aunt Shaylee :) We stayed in Spokane that night, so the trip served as our anniversary celebration.

May 11th- We watched Iron Man 3 in IMAX 3D. It was my (Shaylee's) first IMAX and it was a great movie, so glad that we stayed and did that soo worth it.

May 19th- We were preparing to get the carpets cleaned so we texted Dustin to come and help. His friend saw the word "flood", and half of the Pasco singles branch Elder's Quoram showed up at our house and emptied it. Before we knew it our possessions went flying out the door, we weren't quite prepared for that.

**Blessing*** The men were a HUGE help, even though it was shear craziness, oh yea and we still held choir practice that afternoon.

May 20th- "Dan the Carpet Man" came, said that we needed to call our insurance due to the type of water that came in the house (irrigation). So he cleaned the carpets in the rooms upstairs, and gave us numbers and recommendations for restoration companies. A restoration company came a little later and gave and estimate of $3,000-4,000 in damages. Including: mold treatment, wall removal & repair, and new carpet.

May 21st- Dad, Mom and I ripped out the sections of the walls that got wet, in preparation to have the restoration company come and treat it for mold. During that we did find mold in our closet.

May 22nd- Mold treatment

June 10th- We gave up waiting on the insurance companies, had Dan come and clean the downstairs carpets.

Music Recital!! I am once again a proud teacher, I had about 25 people perform in recital. It was a beautifully diverse show, as far as age, ability and styles of music.

We moved our bed in this night as well, let me tell you it was a beast!! It's a crazy king size bed that's floppy and has cooling gel-like topper built in, it took Mom & I 30 minutes to get it in the house, it went faster when Joseph was able to lend a hand.

June 11th- Mom and I went paint shopping, and bought new vent covers.
I had a practice for a special musical number I was a part of on Father's Day. Once that was over we painted my entire bedroom, and Joseph's office corner, we moved in most of the furniture: bookshelves, his desk, love seat and piano.

June 12th- Dad & I put up sheet rock in my bedroom and living room, including mudding and taping.

June 13th- Bought and installed more vent covers, Dad textured all the new sheet rock. I painted the walls.

June 18th- Summer Lessons started (I have 20 students, which is good, but not great)

June 19th- Dad and Joseph put up new wood paneling, Dad was able to make it match, texturally but we can't stain it to match exactly.

June 20th- painted wood paneling in the living room.

**Blessings*** As a family we are incredibly handy, we we able to do all the work ourselves and it looks great. Dustin works at Lowes, we got to use his employee discount for all our supplies.

June 21st & 28th- called in for jury duty didn't have to report.

**Blessing** no missed work!! I am quite curious about juries, but not about the violent crimes that are coming up for trial.

Somewhere in there: Alisha and kids came to visit, Mechams came through town,  Mother's Day & Father's day & lots of softball games... Posts to come: Flood Fiasco with pictures!!, the never ending wheelchair battle, and our new puppy Rylee

We didn't mean to...

Buy a new car. We were just looking, honest! On Saturday February 4th we bought a used 2009 KIA Spectra, it's white & lovely. We need a car with air conditioning, that fact had been weighing heavily on my mind lately and I told Joseph to start looking at cars online. He started looking for cars within the parameters we set (and our bank would approve) 2006 or newer and & 10,000 spending limit. I know, these are really tight to meet, but we did. we both looked and just kept coming back to the white KIA, so I had Joseph call so we could run down  and look at it. Well, an hour and a half later we drove home in our new car. And we're loving it. Oh, and her name is Constance. Sorry Val, Bessie just didn't make the cut! And Joseph calls her "Connie Lou"

News

First off, I am sorry for the lack of posts...it's not because of lack of interesting blogging material but rather a lack of interest in blogging. Don't worry I am over it, now some news. 

 Around Christmas time we "fired" Joseph's employment agency. He had just gone through so many different agents, we were done. Then a few days later we got an email from Joseph's vocational counselor, Daphne telling us that  EnTrust Services (his ex-agency) called and wanted to interview Joseph to work for them! Long story short, he got the job, it will start initially as a 3 month internship through DSB, but they are already talking about keeping him on after that. Tuesday his computer and CCTV move to EnTrust, and Thursday he starts work! We are absolutely elated! We kept it quiet until we knew more, the details were hashed out Friday.

 Insurance: starting in June Joseph will be enrolled in Medicare. We've been fighting for 2 years to get Joseph on Medicaid, unsuccessfully. So how does medicare fit in? Good question, after being on social security for 2 years he is becomes eligible for benefits. Soon we will know what to expect for dues or co-pays etc.  We are still very angry and disappointed that we didn't succeed in getting Joseph on Medicaid, it is still our plan to write an article to the paper about our struggle against our state programs that failed to help him. Hopefully it will cause quite a stir, that's what we're going for. We want to help create change and improvement so others won't have to go through what we have, and get the help they need.

And the good news continues... I am beginning to work on my certification to become a member of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA). My boss has agreed to pay for my certification and I purchased my books (set to arrive on Monday). I agreed to stay with TCAB for 2 years as the deal for helping me get certified. I have no intention of leaving so its a win-win situation.  More about what I have to do to become a certified teacher later, it merits a post all on its own.  And lastly, Joseph's student loans have been "forgiven", he doesn't have to pay them back as long as his income stays below a certain level (same limits as his social security) for 3 years then it's forgiven forever. We'll also have to file taxes separately for the period of time.  That's all the news for now.  Huge blessings!

Thank you Thank you thankyou

I reserved my spot for the FSA conference and I am so so so excited to go. When I realized that it was located so close I felt a real need to go. I am so happy that I was able to make this happen. I wish that Joe could come with me but my schedule is much easier to finagle (nice word huh?) I am going to print out some business cards with my contact info and hope to make some more amazing adoption contacts. I will attend a variety of classes on a plethora of different adoption topics and take copious amounts of notes to share with Joe and you blog readers of course.

Did I tell you I am excited?!

Thanks to all who offered me a place to stay. I am overwhelmed and grateful. I hope that Joe and I can plan a fun trip so we can see you all, I forgot how many people we know in Oregon. Lunch sometime somewhere in or near Portland anyone? (probably after the new year, we have holidays coming up so soon! Can you believe it?)

Thanks so much! :)

-S

Quickly... GOOD NEWS

I have lived with insulin resistance for over a year now I have modified my diet, I modified my activity level I have changed my life... and I was retested last week for Insulin Resistance.....

I AM NOT INSULIN RESISTANT ANYMORE.... but I will keep up the life changes because I am still going to be at risk for diabetes... finally good news at a doctor appointment... and I HATE doctor appointments!!

It is finals week so I haven't had any new posts.. I want to..no time!! So until next week when I am a college graduate!

-S

quick update!

Aahh! So much to do. We just found out this last week that we can move into a 2-bedroom apartment in our complex the weekend of April 18-19th. Good thing too since Joe's brother Jake is getting married the weekend before!! :) So my new hobby is going to be packing! But seriously I am happy to move and happy that I can lift some heavy things this time! I am also doing paperwork for graduation. It is going to be a crazy summer but then I'll be done!!! Wish me luck, and Joe too, he has to deal with me this summer.

P.S. if I do end up graduating this summer it will be in July and then we will plan for a 2-week vacation to the Tri-city area.. hopefully!