Here we are, almost a year since I last posted. I had planned to start blogging again, but that just didn't happen.
What a year we've had! Starting from where I left off I guess back in January.
Derek had just gotten his first covid vaccine, then got his second covid vaccine just days after he got a pneumonia vaccine, and so he was really sick. I have to admit, after seeing his reaction to his second shot, I felt hesitant to get my covid shots! However, when they opened it up to all the public, I did it, and I had no reaction other than a sore shoulder. Jadon got his a little less than a month later, and he ended up tired, with a headache and a little nauseated (which may or may not have been anxiety related!) Avery got hers right after her birthday and had no reaction but a headache. Carter had his first one a couple weeks ago, and next week on the 9th he gets his second one. Derek also got his booster, and I suppose its time for me to get my booster now as well since its been over 6 months. So, soon our whole house will be vaccinated!
So lets see, what else has happened since then that's significant. Well, I tweaked my back somehow in January. I could barely walk for a week, and then for another week or so after that I could only stand for short periods before it would hurt again. I have no idea what I did. I had not done any heavy lifting or weird bending. Anyways, I started doing yoga everyday to see if that helped. Between the stretching and strengthening that yoga offers, plus a lot of the stuff yoga does is the same exercises they had me do at physical therapy many years ago. While yoga didn't help my back, it has done many other great things for me. My balance has drastically improved!! I did not expect that! I always just thought i was a clumsy oaf, but now I can actually put my pants on standing up without losing my balance! Yoga is slowly strengthening me. Its completely vanished what I can only describe as nerve twangs in my elbow and in my foot. I am certain that all the stretching helped my plantar fasciitis in my heal as that also. And just all the stretching feels great! I've been doing it now for around 10 months, which is the longest I've ever stuck with an at-home program! And I have no plans of stopping anytime soon, i really enjoy it!
At the end of March, and the first day of April, Carter and Avery got to go back to in-person school for half days, then at the end of April they went back full time! I was so worried about Carter since we struggled so hard doing school online! But he was thriving from in-person school! And he's made a lot of friends really fast and he's loving the social aspect, and its been great for him all around! He's smart as a whip, and reads crazy good! He started swimming lessons in September and just passed level 1 this week, and he's come a long ways. He will start level 2 in January as well as soccer.
Avery was so happy to be back for her last month of elementary school. We had planned to send her to East Linn, but in the end of July we decided she would be happier at NAMS. It was the right call, she is so extremely happy there. She's made new friends. She loves middle school. She got straight A's for her first quarter, and is on the same path for the second quarter. She's on her 4th year of viola. Her swim team was nixed in like May, and she doesn't want to join a new team, so she's not doing any sports or anything.
Jadon started high school!! HOLY COW!! Its so weird to think that we have a high schooler! High school seemed so far away when he was in elementary school, and yet, here we are now, just a blink of an eye later! I think school is getting harder, and sports are definitely different! They practice every day for up to 2 hours sometimes, and its taken more seriously. He did cross country and he ended up really liking it. Even though he was the only boy on the team. Right now he just started basketball. There's a ton of JV kids though so they split the team and he's on the JV2 team. He is now taller than me and hairier than his father. 😄
I don't think much has changed for Derek. He's now working from home full time and no plans to be back in the office ever again. It is really nice having him home. Many days during the week we get to have lunch together. And it helps with transportation for school and after school activities. He likes it.
I decided its time to quit my job, so December 31 is my last day. I decided to quit for a few reasons. Having a break last year gave me time to reflect on how crabby and exhausted I was from being so busy, especially between april-june. And like i mentioned in the last post, i felt like I was missing out on the kids. Since we opened children's ministry at church back up in April, my heart hasn't been in it. My heart is with my family, and so I have trouble working. Perhaps if the job was a normal 9-5 job or something, where I could leave my work at the door at the end of the day, then I would feel a little differently, but I cant just leave the work out of my head. Except now, i am having a hard time actually thinking about work, which isn't fair to our children's dept. I'm afraid once all our programs are back up and running I'll be back in the same boat I was in of not being able to think about anything else, and laying awake at night thinking about all the things I'm needing to do at church, or how to run programs, etc.
Another reason, I've just become very disgusted with so many people there. Some people refuse to come to church because they refuse to wear masks. However, 95% of the people there aren't wearing masks at all anyways. I'm just sick of peoples stupid comments and selfishness. As Christians, we should be so much better than this. This is setting a terrible example, and will 100% not get non-Christians through the doors.
Another reason, we are burned out. Since we opened back up, we've struggled to get enough volunteers, so Derek and i are working in a classroom almost every single week. Over the summer, we had several volunteers decide to take the whole summer off (mind you, we opened back up in April, which means that they all had a year off already!) We had to limit the number of VBS attenders because of inadequate volunteers.
Another reason, I'm finding it hard to keep up with life. With kids back in school, all at different schools and different release times, and we opted to not do the bus this year to minimize more covid contact. Plus, they are so short on buses, almost every week there's a route cancelled because no drivers for that route, so it was just not worth it. Also, the kids are all doing things after school, and Derek and I already have to tag team each other to make things work. Adding Wednesday night church to the mix just doesn't work.
Also, since I started working, I quit volunteering at the schools. I was exhausted and had no desire to add something else to my plate. Since I am only halfheartedly working right now, I have been volunteering at carters school twice a week. I love being there, and he enjoys it when I'm there. 💗
We've been eating so much better now too because I'm cooking all our meals instead of just throwing a box of chicken nuggets or corn dogs on a tray all the time. I have spices in my cupboards that I've finally been using from half a decade or more ago! (Side note, last year we had thanksgiving with just us and no other family, and I cooked my first thanksgiving smorgasbord, and it turned out great! We had mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, ham, rolls, bradley salad, and a couple pies! And it all turned out delicious so now I feel more confident making those dishes.)
Unfortunately I'll have to find another job eventually, as life is just too expensive. We could make it work but then we'd never be able to save anything for vacations and home improvements, or at least it would be very slow going. Hopefully I can find something that works with our life, and that I can put away at the end of the day.
So there you have it, that has been our life since my last post. I wish I could say I'll blog more but i doubt that would be true.
