July photo shoot

We took pictures through Maggie Quackenbush while we were all in Utah. They turned out great. Take a look!

Random Thoughts

Tonight, we were eating dinner at Red Robin and wishing that we had kept the kids home and eaten Taco Soup again because they were out of control when this Lady (probably my moms age) came over and thanked us for how well behaved our children were. We both politely said thank you and after she left just looked at each other in shock. Really?? She said that it was nice to see that people still had control over their children and taught them how to behave. I wanted to ask her if she needed glasses AND a hearing aid. We were both in shock. Aaron said he had noticed her staring at us, but thought it was because the kids were acting crazy. Not being good. Oh, funny!

In other news, we are almost finished with the boxes. Aaron got both cars in the garage yesterday. Oh, and ya, Aaron bought a car. He got a 2002 Chevy Blazer. It was very nice to be able to pay cash for it and not have another car payment! Hopefully, from here on out, we will be able to pay cash for all our cars.

I am doing very good with my weight loss. I have become very aware of how much of what I am eating. I am making smarter eating choices and making the effort to work out. I am anxious for Monday's weigh in. Hopefully I can pull some big numbers. I always do better if I can see results quick!

Kennie starts school on the 19th. We have an appointment to have Justin tested to see what level he is on and where we should put him. I am sure there will be more news to follow. Well, off to bed. Hopefully the kids will sleep in again in the morning so we can as well!!

Weight Loss Goal..

To my weight loss friend,

Yes, you know who you are. The game is on!! The first to lose 35 pounds gets the stated prize. I am a competitive person, so I will do better if I am in a challenge. (I also do better with a friend doing it with me...hint hint Stacie!!) Anyway, no need to leave a comment to reveal yourself. Just send me an e-mail to know that we are on!! You can see my tracker on the side of my blog. This way, I am accountable. You can see, I have already made progress.

Your friend! Sassy

P.S. If there is anyone else that would like to join me, just let me know! Shelby, you don't count though!!

Rant part 2!!

Okay, just a few things tonight since it's late....

#1 - I realized tonight that we have been here 1 week and 5 days. (Yes, I am counting!!!) Okay, we sitting in Costco (YEA!) eating lunch and I realize that there are only a handful of people I would recognize. BJ & Stacie (but they don't have a membership), Laura & Heath (they don't have a membership either), Kathleen (A Dr. at Aaron's work who lives in Eagle River and wouldn't be shopping in my neck of the woods anyway), Chris & Linda (good Dr. friends from Ohio) and Ron & Arianna (From medical school, also just moved up here). That is about it. Only 1 set of people from our ward. When we were in Ohio, after 2 days, I would have known at least 15 families or more. Oh, I want to go back to Ohio.

#2 - I WANT MY VAN! Seriously, why does it take more than 2 weeks to get a car from LA? (That's in California.) It took 5 days to get to Seattle and then 5 days to get from Seattle to Tacoma. WHAT??? Oh, I could spit nails! I realize that I really need to scrapbook to get some of this aggression out.

#3 - Not specific to Alaska, but I was standing in the line at Fred Meyer tonight and could have thrown something at the couple in front of me. They had 2 orders. #1 - 3 gallons of whole milk and eggs. This is a WIC transaction. Order #2 - 5 gallons of Ice Cream, 3 bottles of Chocolate Syrup, 3 bags of peach ring candy, a beard trimmer and a package of crackers. Okay, seriously?? If you can afford 5 gallons of ice cream, you should put them back and buy milk for your kids. Why, if you can afford it, does the state of Alaska have to provide your ice cream for you?? Oh, sometimes Government programs really don't do what they are intended for.

Now that it's 11:25 and the sun just set, I am going to go to bed and hope that I am not up with Maggie until 2:30 tonight!!

My rant

I need to rant for a moment, if you don't want to read, just go to the next blog. I am going to prohibit comments on this post and maybe the next few because I don't want anyone to feel like they need to make it better. Maybe if I rant, I will feel better.

I knew when I moved here, I wouldn't find the Beavercreek Ward. I knew if I expected it, I would be disappointed. However, I didn't expect to be totally ignored. If I wouldn't have stood up to introduce myself, which they didn't ask me to do, no one (besides Stacie, my neighbor) would have said a word to me. The RS President told me in front of everyone that she assigned me visiting teachers because they had my records 3 weeks ago and when I sat down, the lady behind me asked me what my husband did at the base.

I expected to feel the blues in the winter, but I didn't expect them yet. I have cried myself to sleep the last few nights wishing our family back to Ohio. Most of you know I didn't want to leave in the first place, but psyched myself up for the adventure and got to the point of being excited to share this new place with my husband and kids. I know there is a reason for us being up here, but this is hard.

A silver linning

Just a quick update because there is still so much to do. We did make it safely to Alaska Tuesday around noon local time. We arrived at our house and got the keys. I spent All afternoon Tuesday and all day Wednesday and part of the day Thursday cleaning the kitchen so I could unpack the kitchen stuff. I am almost there. Aaron put together the beds and played with the furniture until it all fit in the kids room.

This has been a very hard time for me. This house wasn't what I was lead to believe. With every thing I have had to do, I have been met with a huge road block. It takes 5 times as long as it should to get things done.

What is my silver lining? The Holmes family. BJ came over Tuesday evening and introduced himself. He is a CRNA (An Anesthesiologist minus the MD). His family lives 7 houses away. They have 4 kids. An 11 year old, an 8 year old, a 5 year old and a three year old. He went to the medical school Aaron went to, he went to Sacramento for a short time and then did his residency in Dayton. As you can see, we have a lot in common. Here's the best news, they are in our ward. Too good to believe, I know. I was thrilled, to say the least. They watched the kids tonight for a couple of hours so we could go car shopping.

Time to run, but I thought I would let you know we are safe and well. It's going to take a while for me to get to the point where I can really post. So much to do and I am pretty emotional right now. Continued prayers on our behalf would not be wasted :) Thank you to all our friends and family for their continued support!!

Love,
Sassy

A small update

We have had an amazing summer. Today is the first time in weeks that I have had access for longer than a minute to a card reader, so I wanted to post a few pictures. These don't even come close to capturing our summer in Utah, but at least it will give you a sneak peak!

Generations shot - Nana & Papa Wixom and the kids

Nana & Papa Wixom, Aaron, Sassy & kids

Nana Schwendiman and us in our football shirts! (They had these made last year at the annual reunion, but we weren't able to make it. This was our first shot getting pictures with Grandma.)

Swimming in Green Canyon (warm water!)
Part 1 of our anniversary time. 1 nights stay at the Crystal Inn (Same exact room we got our wedding night) and a trip up Snowbird the next morning.
Our trip downtown to visit Grandpa Lewis. We rode Tax, visited the Conferance Center, to the top of the Church Office Building (pictured) and other things.

Looking at the Temple.

Generations shot with Papa Lewis, Grandpa Lewis, Aaron & the kids.

A good read....

Lately, I have been reading the book, The Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox. I am loving it. I have developed a deeper relationship with my Savior and understand things so clear right now. At times when I am reading, I feel the spirit so strong, testifying of the things I am reading. I bought a small journal to record my feelings and the words that touch me. This has been such a fun process for me. I wanted to share one of the things that really touched me.

"Doctors and nurses record the exact minute of a birth, but ask the mother who carried the baby and endured labor how long the process really took. Our spiritual rebirth takes even longer.

..At a BYU Women's Conference, Janet Lee said: 'Christ healed bodies, minds, and souls. But after he healed the lepers, were they free from other struggles? After he restored sight to the blind, were they free from fear? Were the five thousand Christ fed every hungry again? Was the sea calmed by Christ's hand stirred by future storms Yes.' Our needs -- including the need for forgiveness -- are continuous, and so is Christ's Atonement in its ability to meet those needs.

...Christ referred to Himself as the 'light.' he doesn't always clear the path, but he does illuminate it."

I would love to share more with you. I can not say enough good about this book.

I told you so??

If you don't wan to hear/talk politics, switch blogs now!!

While listening to talk radio this morning, we heard that Obama's approval rating in Ohio and Virginia (2 key states) has fallen below 50%. Americans are starting to doubt his ability to help solve our problems. They don't approve of the stimulus plans, they don't approve of his spending and they don't approve of his health care.

So, my question to you is this: How long to we have to wait before saying "I told you so?" A lot of people voted for him just because he said he wanted change. Why didn't people ask how he was going to initiate change? What was he going to change, and how was he going to do it? Well, we have another 3 1/2 years for him to tear our country down. Hopefully he can do some positive soon!