I Know where the missing socks go....

Do you ever lose something, like say a sock when doing laundry and wonder where did it go?  Are you the type of person who hunts up and down, over and under and all through the house trying to find the missing barbie shoe your daughter lost?  Does it drive you crazy not knowing where the two sweat shirts your son had went?  Or did you lose something like your mothers lucky rabbits foot when you were little and still feel bad it never got found? 
If so then here is the book for you to read "There's No Place Like Here"  By Cecelia Ahern.  This book is about a woman obsessed with finding lost things, from lost socks to missing people.  In the beginning of the book she tells one other character in the story "what has to be worse than not finding what is lost, would be to be lost and never found".  Well in the book she becomes lost in the world of "Here" and the book is all about the world of  "Here"  where all the lost objects of our world go, and how one man is determined to find her.
I have to say when things go lost I don't really look to much for them.  If my keys are lost then yes, but if a sock or other item goes missing I'm not one to search the house to find it."( Of course at this point I have learned where my missing socks go they are either on the walk way between the house and the car or the walk way between the car and the laundry mat at our apartment complex.)  I guess my children have inherited that trait from me.  They lose a toy and it's gone, and they don't look for it.  My son has lost two sweat shirts and a pencil holder in the past few weeks and has not looked for them.  Oh he'll complain they are gone but will not put any effort into finding them.  His math teacher finally after 3 weeks gave him his pencil case back. 
So are you a frantic searcher of lost things or do you just simply go on without?

Dear President Obama: There are many part -time workers who want to work full time HELP!

Dear President Obama,
     Sorry I did not write last week, I worked crazy part time hours.  I get up at 3am two mornings a week and help unload a truck where I work and then I had one evening shift ( If you saw a photo of me you would say "You help unload a truck?"  At least everyone who knows me says that, but it gets me 10 hours more a week).  at a grand total of 24 hours.  The adjustment to the morning hours kept me from writing.  The sad thing is that I would like more like 30 to 35 hours a week.  I'm not even looking for 40 hours that's a retail workers dream, that only the stressed over worked managers get.  I have to say everyone is so excited about the hiring of people for the holidays by retail stores.  But if you work at one you know that this is to keep the regular crew under 40 hours a week.  Yes it may get busy, but with more people you can keep everyone at the same low hours.  Is there nothing you can do?  There are so many people out there who would like to work more, who would like to be able to support their families, and put money away for their children to go to college, or even for retirement.  That just is not happening.  When will you and the other political leaders see that for many the "RECESSION"  is not over and perhaps its really a "DEPRESSION!"
Well if you can figure out how to help all the part time workers who would really rather work full time it would be a great bonus to you.  In my opinion one of the reason employers are this way is so they don't have to pay for full time health care benifits.  Perhaps in my next letter to you I'll share with you my adventures in the world of health insurance.  I have to say at this point I'm happy to be insured but hope no one in my family gets sick, because I really don't know what my health care covers.  All the pages of legal jargon is just beyond me.  Hope you enjoy good health care with no worries, for most Americans that's just another dream in this supposedly "POST RECESSION" world.
Sincerely
G.G.

Draper Park: A new Utah Adventure.

The first thing that caught my eye at Draper park was this giant tree in the middle of a field.  I love trees.  When and if I ever have another house I'm going to have a "Tree" room where I have all kinds of tree art.  I think I love trees because I love family history and you are always working on a family tree.  I remember when my kids were young we watched a Winnie the pooh movie where tigger looks for his family tree.  He goes off climbing all kinds of trees hoping to find all his relatives.  Only to find that all his friends were his family.  I could go get a blanket and a book and just sit under this beautiful tree and read all day. 

Draper park is more like the park that we visited when in New Jersey.  It has pavement trails that you can walk on, and it has a bunch of play grounds for the children to explore.  A playground for every age seems to be there.  Some for the little children with a cool train play ground.  And then one for adults where you can work on strength training if you choose to. 

We didn't take a long walk so I can't tell you how large the park is.  The kids wanted to check out the big tree and the play grounds.

This is the area that I think adults would like.  Or at least my husband would like to try out all this exercise equipment.  Each one has you work against your own body weight.  My kids did not have much luck with working with them.

One thing about where I live in Utah, you are never very far from a beautiful mountain scene. It's hard to tell from this photo but the leaves are changing.  The mountain is more red than green. there are also patches of yellow and orange.  And yes that white at the top is snow.  I'm determined to love the snow this year just so my dad can't  have the last laugh with our move out here.  One day the mountains had clouds surrounding their tops and it was just beautiful.  Unfortunately I did not have a camera.  Well off to do laundry.  I have lots of ideas to share later though.  Thanks for reading.
G.G.

Two months of this new world and yet I feel like it's been so much longer!

My family has been here together now for two months.  Yet some days I feel like we have been here for an eternity.  I can't remember what my house in the east looks like, and I try hard not to think of what has happened to my garden.  I have asked the realtor to hire a landscaper for us to have them mow it down.  With out my daily care I'm sure it has become a giant mess.  I remember loving the sun coming in the window, the too big kitchen in my favorite colors.  I don't long to be back, but sometimes wonder how we all got here.  I sometimes look at life and think had we made a choice differently would we still be there?  If my husband had left his job sooner and gone back to being a mechanic years earlier would we still be there?  If he had taken college courses earlier would we still be there?  Or should we have taken the offer of this job on one of the earlier offers.  Would we then be more settled here?  I don't often think this, but every now and then I do.

I can't say that I miss New Jersey.  I miss my friends, but I'm making new friends and I have what is most important my family.  I have not been called out as a non-Utahan.  People don't pick up an odd accent or way of being that makes me stick out like I did in New Jersey.  In fact I feel I blend in quiet well here.  So do my children.  They are doing so well here, I'm happy for them.  I'm not sure my husband feels that he fits well.  He still misses the ocean.  Though we barely got there this past year.
I'm beginning to feel like I belong at work.  I enjoy doing the different jobs that I'm asked to do.  I look forward to having some more organization and not having to run around so much.  I hope that my husband's work levels off a bit so that we see him for awhile before bed.

One thing I'm trying hard to do is live in the moment, in the day.  I try not to look back on the past, or look to far into the future, but just enjoy the moment.  It helps me to keep calm.  I found that this is called "Mindfulness".  I'm beginning to look more into this. Just being day by day.  My parents are having a hard time with our move.  It surprises me as we only visited a couple times a year.  But my mom will e-mail and say "don't you feel sad this was the weekend we would come visit and go to the pumpkin patch."  Honestly I hadn't even thought of it.  I guess I'm not a big person for family traditions.  They ask me aren't you sad you won't be able to come for Thanksgiving.  But I wouldn't have been able to anyways as I would have to work black Friday at my job.  I don't plan yearly events and have to have them happen.  I think it is better that way.  In my mind I don't let myself hope for great things to happen.  I find when you do you are typically let down.  I just hope the day brings a bit of joy.  A good memory to tuck away.  I'll let you know how this living for the moment goes. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Dear President Obama, Please Help Displaced Home Owners!

I've decided that every week I'm going to try to write a blog letter to President Obama on a subject that is causing me stress.  Will he read them of course not.  But it will help me with my stress. 
Dear President Obama,
I'd like to tell you about something that is happening in our country.  There are lots of displaced home owners.  I'm one of them.  I own a home in New Jersey.  Which is for sale, but the market is not good.  People are looking at homes, but not many are being sold.  While I would love to be living in my home, I'm not.  I'm living in a two bedroom apartment in Utah.  Why?  Because that is where my husband has found a job.  It's a good job, and we like Utah, but it would be nice to have our house in New Jersey sold so that we can afford a little bit bigger place to live in.  I don't even mind if I can't ever own a home again, I just don't like having to pay a mortgage and bills for an empty house, plus rent and bills for an apartment.  Isn't there anything you can do? 
I have to say though I feel lucky.  My husband and I both now have jobs, and we are making enough to afford both.  I have met several people here in this apartment complex who are also displaced.  They are barely making ends meet or they have lost their house from the state they were living in.  I met a lady last week who is living here and has had her house on the market for a year and a half.  She and her husband are now ready to sell their house at a price where they will walk away with no money made.  They can't afford to pay the mortgage, rent and college payments for their children.  I wish there was some way that people in this situation could be helped.  This is probably one of the causes of foreclosed houses.  The job market is so bad, people have to move when they get an offer and sometimes the move is not around the corner but across the country.  I hope soon that this economy will get better.  But I fear it will not.  While I keep seeing reports that we are out of the recession, I can't say I feel that we are.  I have always felt that we were actually in a depression.  There are a lot of depressed people out there.  So please think of a way to help the displaced home owners.  There are lots of us out there.
Sincerely,
GARDEN GIRL

If you read this and you are living in one state and waiting for your house to sell in another please tell me about your story.  I'd love to see how many displaced home owners there really are.  Seems like there are many in the apartment complex I live in.

Our First tour of Salt Lake City!

This past weekend we took our first day trip into Salt Lake City.  Here are my children and husband in front of a log cabin that the early Latter day saints lived in.  Have to say I'm glad for my falling apart apartment.  The photo is taken in the Church history museum.  There is so much to look at and read.  Of course two kids even their age don't stay focused that long.  My husband was still in the log cabin area while we had walked all the way up to the top floor.  The top floor has all the Latter day prophets.  I loved the portrait of President Hinckely.  It looked like he could just come right out, it was so life like.  We kind of hummed the Latter day prophet's song as we walked by each portrait.

Here is one of the Sun Stones that I think are found on the Navoo temple.  The work that went into making the temples is unbelievable.  So much hard dedicated work.

Here is our family sitting on the steps to the Salt Lake Temple.  I think it took the early saints 40 years to build this temple.  I can't imagine how much work that would take.  It is so beautiful.  The kids liked walking through the visitor center and seeing what the temple looks like inside.  There were a lot of weddings taking place when we were there.  My daughter met a missionary from Japan and was able to share some Japanese words.  We had such a great time walking around the Temple and the Temple grounds it is so beautiful!  We also went and watched the Joseph Smith movie.  It was a good movie if you are in town go and see it.

We walked down main street.  My daughter wanted to go window shopping.  It is amazing how you can look down a street and see the mountains in the distance.  This is a view you wouldn't see in New York city.  Can you see the snow on the mountains.  Kind of cool!  I like the grid system out here.  Once you understand it you can figure out how to get places really easily. 

Here are the kids at the conference center.  We hope to go back this weekend and take the tour.  I want to go to the top of the building and see the gardens.  I didn't realize they had trees up there.  The waterfall coming down the building is so cool!  We also want to check out the art museum.  The biggest blessing was having a day together as a family.  It's been a long time.  I'm just glad we are all back together.  Hope you enjoyed the photo's.

My First UTAH SNOW!

I remember one day in September walking from the UVM main campus to the horse farm and having snow flurries, but I don't ever remember having snow that accumulated in October in either Vermont or New Jersey.  But Here is a photo from the balcony at the apartments in Sandy Utah.  Snow accumulating on the ground.  It is October 6th and we have snow.  Granted it will be gone before the kids come home as it has turned back to rain.  I can't wait for the clouds to move so I can see the snow on the mountains!

My Kids will be jealous that they have missed this grand event.  They can't wait to play in Utah snow.  That is one thing they talk about constantly.  I have to say I'm excited too.  I hope we get to some good sledding hills this winter.  I guess our motto might be "if life gives you snow go sledding!"  Perhaps we'll even try skiing out.

Today in the laundry room I met a woman from Oregon.  Her husband has been living here for a year and she is back and forth between both states.  They too have been displaced by the economy.  They have been trying to sell their house for a year now.  They are to the point where they are willing to walk away with nothing.  They are in their 50's and having to start over with two children in college.  I feel blessed that we are here, and able to afford rent, and the mortgage.  People are looking at the house and there seems to be someone who may be interested.  Keep praying for us.  One thing I've learned these past few months is to give my life to God.  I have placed my hand in his and let him lead.  I no longer worry where he takes me I just follow.  I have less stress that way, I feel calm, I feel blessed.  I ask for his guidance and I do what he wants.  I told my husband I felt I had had the harder trial.  I'm not sure he has seen it that way.  I don't think he comprehends the work I did alone in New Jersey.  I once told a neighbor, I'm no longer stressed.  I realized that you could only get so stressed and then there was no more stress that you could take.  I think the Lord did this to make me bend to his will.   And in bending to his will he has made me strong, and made me see how silly some of the things of the world are.  I am happy to have a warm place to live, food, clothing, a job for me and my husband, cars that run, healthy children and my computer.  I've begun what I'm here for in my mind.  I'm here to finish my family history research and to work in the Lords temple.  That is my purpose and I look forward to many days of this work ahead.  Each day as I get on my computer I find 10 to 20 more family names.  If this is my work, I better get to it. Next time I write I'll let you in on some good books I'm reading.  Good luck to you and have a wonderful day:)

Dear President Obama: how your back to school speach inspired my daughter.

Here is one of the best photo's I have of my daughter.  It catches her true attitude as a daring, determined person.  Recently her school played President Obama's back to school speech.  After listening to the speech her teacher had her write a letter to my husband and I about how she felt about the presidents speech.  I was very impressed by what she wrote.  Here is her letter:

Dear Mom and Dad,
     Today we listened to President Obama's back to school speech.  I liked when he said that life goes on after high school.  I find that true. I want to go to a good college so that I can be a veterinarian.  I was really interested in hearing that we can make a difference now.  I want to figure out how to save an animal with out having to put it down.  Finally, he really made me think when he said that our country used to have the most college graduates, now we are at #16.  That makes me determined to get good grades and get a scholarship so I can go to a good college and make a difference.

Love,
Your Daughter.
I'm glad that the presidents speech has made a positive impact on my daughter.  I know that once she puts her mind to something she will work hard towards that goal.  Right now she is working hard to try to do chin ups so she can get money from her dad.  She is also trying to teach herself Japanese because she wants to go to Japan some day.  She works hard at school and gets pretty much straight "A's".  I hope that the economy turns around so that when she is ready to go to college there are scholarships for her to have.  I hope that the economy turns around so that when she is ready to go to college my husband and I will be employed so that we can afford to help her go to college.  And that there will be jobs for her and those her age after college.  I hope that President Obama and future presidents will be able to strengthen our country so that these children who have been inspired by their words will have the ability to go to school and make a difference.    I know my daughter will work hard, I can only hope those in charge of our country will actually do their part. 
I'm told that by the end of the week there will be snow on the mountains.  I hope to see it.  My family is very excited about Utah snow!

The Mommy Wars: Why we need to give each other a break!

Over the last few weeks while I have surfed the Internet I've discovered some news articles by the Huff Post about motherhood.  I've found them quiet interesting.  One mother who I take from the article is a working mom who takes a week off and finds out what life is like as a stay at home mom.  Which she calls a SAHM(.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laurie-puhn/an-experiment-in-being-a-_b_965352.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl9%7Csec1_lnk3%7C97386 ) How do you pronounce that.  After a week she is glad to be back to work and praises the women who stay at home calling it a truly difficult job.  Then there is the Under Cover Working mom article.  So is she a UCWM?  She is a mom who works from home, so everyone thinks she's a SAHM but she isn't.  She gives good advice on how to get a little more respect when out with the kids.  Basically dress like you are a corporate manager and you won't wait as long as if you dress like you are about to go to yoga class.  Does the SAHM really want to buy a suit though to get waited on faster at the doctors office?  Is it worth it?  The last article was about the SAHM who has a hard time making MOM friends.  I can say that is hard.  If you are a SAHM it's hard to make friends and have time to visit among all the crazy schedules you have to balance for your children.  And as your children age you find that you lose contact with some friends, and have to work hard to keep contact with the friends you have.  As your kids become teens and don't need you at their "Hang out date".  My kids have told me they are so not play dates anymore!  You have to forge your own new friendships.  Plus sometimes that mom that you are friends with has a child that your child is no longer a good friend with.  That can make it awkward.   
As I read the articles I thought where do I fall in to this now?  I'm at home during the day, and work nights but only part time.  I still feel I'm a full time mom, but I'm working too.  I guess I'm lucky as I now have an idea of what it is like from both views.  I know it is hard to be a SAHM.  Not only is it hard it can be very isolating.  And people have such varying opinions on the subject.  I left many social gatherings with my husband absolutely annoyed at the working men and women who told me I should be working.  I also felt pangs of embarrassment when someone would ask what I do for work and I said, I'm a homemaker.  The peoples eyes would glaze over and they would seem to not know what else to say to me.  But for all of it I wouldn't have changed those at home years for all the money and success the world had to offer.  I loved staying home with my children.  I taught them to read,count, and other academic things.  But I also gave them a sense of security in a world that seems ever more insecure.  Now that I'm a working mom.  I find the balance hard some days.  But I enjoy working.  I enjoy visiting with people where I work.  I enjoy getting a paycheck, and just having time where I do my own thing.  I have an identity outside of my children.  I enjoy that.  Plus the kids are gone more than at home so it keeps me from being lonely.  I do have to say though, lets as mothers give each other a break.  If you are a working mom then that is your choice and I'm happy for you.  It's hard to be a working mom.  You miss your children, and you still have house work to do.  Unless you are lucky enough to have a cleaning service.  You are still a mom though and being a mom is tough.  If your a stay at home mom.  Enjoy every moment with your children.  And don't worry about what others think.  You chose this for your children and someday they will be thankful for that.  It's tough to stay at home with your children all day.  It's harder than any job out there.  Hopefully someday the rest of the world will see that.  Anyways whether your a working mom or a SAHM.  Feel happy in the choice you have made and be kind to others who have made a different choice.  We all have to do what is right for ourselves.