So it has been over a year since I have posted anything. What a dozzy of a year. I lost my dream job, took another one that I was unhappy in, quit that job, and got another that I am happy with, we closed the shop, went back to school, got a dog, got pregnant, and now have put our rinky dink house on the market. We also had 3 more births in the family and now have 2 more on the way. We had a move from Idaho to California, new jobs and new adventures. We've finally started some of the projects in the house as well. I'll post more on those in the next coming days. So here is to another year and hopefully a full year of keeping up with this blog. I'm hoping it will be something our children can look back on and know what is was like for us as their parents just starting our family.  

Update

First and foremost - HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG BRO!
Okay, now for a quick update...
I'm about a month and half into my program and so far I like it. We are down to five people in my class which is SO nice because we get more one on one time with the instructors. One thing I am noticing is I don't like to tell people what I am in school for, they look at me like I'm crazy. So here is an explanation for those of you who have a one track mind and the only image you can conjour up is an ugly one. I am in a MEDICAL massage program. MEDICAL meaning there is some scientific proof behind this method of healing. For those of you who know me, research is my thing so I would not have taking this route if it was not morally or ethically sound nor if there was no proof behind the method. I am NOT a masseuse. I am a massage therapist. There is a difference. We are similar to a chiropractor and a physical therapist; we just use a different modality. We are expected to know all the bones, muscles, their origins, insertions, and actions. We take Anatomy and physiology, which just so happens to be the core in Kinesiology, the undergraduate degree I currently hold and soon down the road I'll hold a master degree in exercise physiology. Medical massage has gotten a bad rap over the years. Slowly but surely things are changing and more people are understanding that massage is a useful modality for certain sports injuries, low back pain, even cancer. We increase circulation not only in the circulatory system, but in the lymph system as well. As you can see it is not a crock. The best part is is the program is faith based, which means I have prayed more in the last month and half than I have since high school. At a point in my life where I feel lost and back to square one, deciding to attend this school is a blessing in disguise. The instructors and my classmates are supportive and I feel like at least here I belong.
So if anyone ever needs to explain what I do, I'm in the medical field, helping people.

In a Nutshell

Okay, so this is everything in a nutshell. We have not posted recently because we've had a lot going on. Mom and I have been discussing off and on putting the shop on the market. In August we or rather I committed to a decision; we would list the shop for sale. So, I went to a realtor that had sold the shop 3 times over, put all the paperwork in. The next day the business that was underneath us made us an offer we couldn't refuse. They would take over our rent for the space. This was the only thing we were really worried about. In the last month I had used close to half my personal paycheck to cover the bills for the shop, I reached my breaking point. Plan changed and we decided to close a shop that had been in the town for over 30 years. We cried for last three weeks we were open and I felt like such a failure.
     In May I had taken a job I knew in my heart I shouldn't have said yes to. On top of being upset about how things were going with the shop, I was completely miserable in my job. The week before closing our doors at the shop, I quit. I took a part time job that paid way less than my full time job. I was that unhappy, I wanted out so badly. So that is everything that happened in the last few weeks of August. Plus I started medical massage school in September. So far I love it! I am not as stressed and I feel like I'm waking up. I'm realizing how much I missed in the three year fog. You know what though, I don't regret buying the shop, I do wish things had been better economically, but that was a risk that my parents and Jarvis and I took. We would NEVER have been able to accomplish what we had without my mom and dad, NO WAY. They were the main reason we lasted as long as we did.
     So know everyone keeps asking us, "what are you doing with your spare time?" I have to chuckle at this question because we don't really have that much more spare time. My mom's house has one roomed filled with product that we have yet to finish going through, it's October and I have finally caught up on the large pile of laundry and the never ending pile of dishes, my home is slowly but surely getting cleaned and put in order and we are very close to finally starting on the upstairs floors. So I have SOME spare time, but not a ton. The hardest part is finding things to do with myself. The last three years I have worked 7 days a week for most weeks. I felt stressed 99% of the time, but I always had something to do and somewhere to go. My life was work and shop. I was tired most days. I'm now finding that in order to feel like I'm contributing to the household I have to keep up on laundry, dishes, and learning to cook. Those are not all bad things and for the last week I've felt like I'm on my way to feeling more stable. Thank you to God, my supportive and loving husband, and of course my wonderful parents, for being my life lines for the last three years. And this is hopefully the start of more entries and more projects getting done around this wonderful home. Here is to a second chance and starting over (I am back to square one in regards to my career).

I am Mountain Woman hear me ROAR!

Okay so I know I haven't posted in awhile, but it just so happens that I got home early enough to spend 2 hours shoveling my car out of 3 foot burm and I figured..."What an accomplishment. Spend 9 hours at work, come home and un-bury the car...I should post about this" like anyone cares...BUT I DO because I am all alone yet again to deal with bad weather, broken water heaters, non-draining showers, and dripping faucets. God bless Superman who is my father and the source of sustenance who is my mother; without them I would have a flooded house and an empty belly. So while I am here typing I might has well complain, my one moment so please let me vent. Since my last post Jarvis has started a job that requires night shift hours so of course as I leave to go to work, he is coming home and when he leaves for work I am just coming home. For the next few months I get to see him for a whopping 6 hours before he leaves to go back to work...may I say that the days he is off I am once again on my way to work either at the shop or the school. With Mom and I alternating weekends off I do get to spend a whole day with him so that is a little better...okay back to my venting. Whenever Jarvis is home nothing happens. As soon as he starts his week it's like God says..."Oooo she's alone lets see what happens if I make the water heater bust a water converter, or clog the shower, or toilet, or how about I make it rain cats and dogs, ooo even better lets make it snow 2 feet!" Proof that God has a sense of humor. I may vent, but in the end I guess it makes me even more independent...like that was a problem in the first place. Jarv always says I have become soft after I started dating him, but who can fix a water heater, or un-stick a snowed in car, un-clog a shower or toilet, or kill spiders the size of my palm...yeah that's right ME!!!!! Soft my A$#! I can make a meal out of nothing and have had to do it on many occasions. I'll give you soft, come to my door threatening me and I will beat you down with my shovel, that's right my shovel! Guns, I have 'em but my bro's would be a little disappointed I didn't use my fists first! I am Mountain Woman hear me ROAR! Speaking of shovels here are 2 pictures of my car endeavor... Not very good pictures but the first one was where it was parked during the entire storm. Burm high on one side and not on the other and about 3 feet of snow on top of the car. The second is where it is parked now until tomorrow evening when I have the time to get to the gas station to put gas in it. I shoveled that driveway for an hour and half at 3 in the morning! Soft? I think NOT!

*NOTE: Okay so 3 feet is nothing compared to what we had last winter, but hey still an accomplishment especially after working all day.

Found Pictures

I was looking through some files today and came across some better pictures of our house....the interior of the house, without furniture.

Kitchen

Quarter bath: toilet and sink

Our one and only shower since this photo I have removed the door and put in a shower curtain

This completes the half bath...


Hallway, the 2 doors are the bathrooms. Since this picture Jarvis and Eric have removed the closets and now boxes are stacked here.

The other side of the living room

Fireplace. Yes that is cinder block. I don't like it, but it has potential.

The living room.

Bedroom #1. The second looks exactly like this one just without the itty bitty closet. :)

Quick Fence Quick Blog

Quick Blog because I need to get ready for my 7th day of work. Jarvis and Eric worked 2 days on the first half of our fence. The one downside in this creation they found was getting to and from the water spigot. None the less, it's a BEAUTIFUL fence and I LOVE IT!!!! Kudos to my wonderful husband and our great friend for their hard work.

Isn't that Awesome!!!! I picked the design. :) It's in preparation for when we can afford our first dog...a great dane.

"Ketchup"

I finally did it. I'm really not interested in Facebook and a friend of mine told me I should just do a blog. So here I go, here's a little "ketchup" on me and me best mate:
Jarv and I have been married almost 3 years. We lived for a year in San Berdo after we were married. I couldn't take it and we moved closer to our parents. At the same time as our move back, we purchased a gift store that has been around for nearly 30 years. We became business owners at the worst time in economic history. Needless to say, Jarv backed me, Mom and Dad backed us, and come to find, our community backed us as well. We talked about it being an investment for our future. Some place I can raise our children and still contribute to the household income. That's when the roller coaster started, we have yet to slow down. We rented a beautiful home from family friends for a year. Our first year open came to a close around the time we moved in with my brother Scott and his awesome wife Molly. We were planning on purchasing a small home and had started looking in January of 2010. At the time there were a lot on the market for amounts we could afford. We qualified for a particular loan that didn't require a down payment, however, it had restrictions on the home you could try for. It took almost a year to find the right one. We finally did and moved in September of 2010. Well...sorta. Jarv was in training for his new job and he was away during the weekday so I stayed at Mom and Dad's and slept on their couch. It took awhile just to get our bed into the house. We knew we had a lot of renovations to do so we didn't unpack. I did have them rip out the carpet that was throughout the ENTIRE house. So now we have nastly old limoleum floors that still has some of the rubber from the carpet stuck to it. We have to wear slippers or shoes all the time. Oh and LOTS LOTS of spiders. EVERYWHERE. The house is a cabin built in the 1960's. Of course there are spiders. We have 1/4 bath and a 1/2 bath (a shower that is about the size of a small square closet). It is where I reside with my husband, that makes it home.

So Jarv has a good job. My job as a lab tech has been in full force since the end of 2010 and it's coming to an end in about 18 months. I can't just run the store, I have to find another job, sadness, but it's the way things have to be for at least 3 more years. I have emotional breakdowns every few months, I survive on lots of coffee and the confidence and love of my best friend. As a female I feel sorry for him that he has to deal with me in those moments. He has come a long way, and he keeps surprising me. Let me say this about him...well...he's my most favorite person in the world. I'm a control freak (surprise surprise), letting go and relying on others has proven to be a difficulty of mine, and he bares the brunt of it very well. I'm getting better and it feels good to relax and let him take the reigns when I remember to hand them over.

We don't have any kids, and don't plan on having any, any time soon. Our business and home are our "babies". Our house is the biggest project that is underway. Jarv and our good friend Eric starting demo on the interior of our 900 square foot home. It may be tiny, but it's cozy, it stays warm in the winter (except at night and that is because the windows are single paned; and there is A LOT of them), lots of sunlight, walking distance of town, good neighborhood, a view of the lights of the city, and the best part, it's like sleeping in a tree house. To follow are 2 pictures of the start (yeah only 2, it's a small house there's only so many angles you can take)

Jarv and Eric took the downstairs closest out, except for that small wall you see at the back. There's an air intake from the heater that we are not sure where we want to move it or even if we want to move it all. There were 2 long bulky closets that took up from where I'm standing taking the picture to that small wall. It opens it up SOOOOOOOOO much! I love it! They did such a wonderful job.

This is from around the corner from the first photo. There use to be a pantry at the end of the kitchen counter. Now it's just the shell of one. It has a few electrical outlets and a phone line so we have to figure out where to put those. Once again, it adds to how much more open it feels and how less dark and eerie it feels.

A quick layout of the house: The cinder block fireplace sits smack dab in the middle of the house and then the house, as we are founding out, was kinda thrown up around it. I hate the cinder block look, Jarv likes it. I want to change it, like cover it up with rock, an idea that Jarvis is all for. It's going to be a fun project to build and create this home with him. He's got good ideas, I've got good ideas, and we LOVE hearing ideas from friends and family, so if you have any lay 'em on us.

Side note: This is not the best I can do as far as a blog goes, it's a start.