House talk

Lately I have been thinking a lot about our future, mainly houses! When we moved here to Indiana we decided to rent a house since we knew nothing about the area or the market out here. We found a house online that fit our criteria but we never even got to se it before we moved here. We like our house, it's big and the kids have tons of room to run around! There are a few things that I really don't like, the main one is location. Because it's on a golf course, the majority of people in this neighborhood are retired. My poor kids haven't met any friends :( Also, Andy has found himself driving into he city most days which takes about 1 HR or more with traffic. Basically, if we could pick our house up and move it closer to downtown in a more family friendly area that would be perfect!! Obviously, that is not possible so now we have to consider moving... Again.... The thing that frustrates me most is that real estate here is so cheap, and we could serioulsy buy our dream home for 150,000-175,000, which would be cheaper than rent! The problem is we don't really know where Andy's job will take us in the comin years. I don't know if we are ready to buy something here, and then get a job opportunity somewhere else down the road. When you work in the sports industry, moving is inevitable really. The job he has now could likely be the first of many as he works his way up in the industry. So, you can see why I am battling the idea of buying a house vs renting. I will tell you one thing. I hate white walls and not being able to decorate MY house the way I want. It's hard being away from everyone here, and coming home to a boring house that I can't make my own... It's killing me! The plan as it's stands now is start looking for a new rental house around July (we won't move in until September when our lease is up). We want to know where we will be living by the time school starts in August! I can't believe Dallin will be in Kindergarten! But, I will continue tossing around the idea of buying a house...

The best tree EVER

I had to post a picture of my Mom's Christmas tree this year! THis picture seriously doesn't give it justice. Every year I look forward to seeing how my mom decorates, and this year she chose the theme "winter wonderland". She is so talented, and we all keep telling her she needs to make a business out of it! Cant wait for next year!

Home for the Holidays!

We were so excited to make it back to Utah for Christmas! We flew out in the evening and didn'e make it to Utah until 2:00 in the morning (4am Indiana time). We were all walking zombies and my kids only slept for like an hour during the whole time traveling. AHHH. But, we bounced right back and were ready for some Cafe Rio the next day! LOL! We stayed in Utah for 15 days, and had a lot of fun visiting with family and friends. We spent some time with our friends, watching football, girls night out, guys movie night, snowboarding with the boys, and much more! Our Christmas Eve was spent at my parent's house for our annual Christensen family party! I look forward to this every year, it's the only time I see my mom's extended family! Since we were staying with Andy's family, Santa came there and brought the kids lots of presents! We only opened Santa gifts before heading out to an amazing breakfast at the Little America down town with Andy's family! YUMMY! After breakfast we made it over to my mom's where we opened gifts and spent the afternoon visiting! We headed back to Andy's parent's house where we finished opening our family gifts and had dinner! We were busy until 8:00, which although tiring, was so nice! It was better than having Christmas over at 9:00 AM. My kiddos were so spoiled, and so were Andy and I! Dallin was all thing super hero... and I mean EVERYTHING. Costumes, action figures, shaving set, books etc. etc. etc. Claire was showered with girlie things like an Ariel Doll and Princess TuTu! It's nice to finally have some girl stuff in the house, although I will say she sure does love all of Dallin's toys. It might take a while for her to learn how to be girlie! Andy and I got lots of clothes, gift cards, money, and a Wii! Dallin is totally excited about this one! I also got a beatuful necklace from vintage pearl with my kids names engraved on the pendant. So cute! Well after all of the Christmas hype died down, we enjoyed more time with family and friends. I wasn't able to get everyting done that I wanted to, even in the 15 days we were there :( Sorry to anyone who I wasnt able to see. We are hoping to make it back in late March to see my neice June after she is born! I had to fly home alone with the kids, which I was totally dreaing. Fortunately, the kids did great, both flights were faster than expected and it worked out fine! Here are a plethera of pics from the trip. Sorry for not commenting on each one, but you all get the idea!

SNOW!!!

My kids love the snow, everything about it. Whether it be sledding, making snow angels or just shoveling the driveway, they are not hesitant to get out and have fun! We have gotten lots of snow here in Indiana so far, more than usual (so we hear) so we have taken advantage as best we can. We made it out sledding before all the good snow melted and the kids had a blast, even Claire. SHe is fearless, just like her brother! Here are a few fun pics of some of our witner activities!

Back to work

Since moving to Indiana the finances just have not been in order (story of everyone's lives, right). After much contemplation, we decided that it would be best for our family if I went back to work part time. I was okay with the idea. It's no surprise to anyone that I love my job, but part of me felt a bit hesitant because one of the big reasons for moving out here was so I could be a stay at home mom. I thought about it a lot, and this is what I concluded: I could stay home every day and be bored and poor, not being able to afford to do anything fun with my kids like soccer, or museums, or the zoo, or even McDonalds for cryin out loud... Or, I could work part time and give my kids the opportunity to do more. I guess you figured what I picked. I applied for a few jobs, with no response. I was getting a little frustrated because I feel like I have great work experience and was surprised to not hear back from them. Then right before we left to Utah for the holidays, a job was posted for part time every other weekend and two 6 hour shifts during the week. Alright, this sounds like it could be good... so I applied. I got a call the next morning and interviewed the next day. That interview went great, and she immediately scheduled me for a second and final interview. I found out there were over 40 applicants for the position! Crazy! So we headed out to Utah and I got a call New Years Eve from Human Resources offering me the position! HOOORAAYYY! I was so excited, and the best part, the pay is great, almost $3.00/hr more than I made in Utah! I will be working at an Urgent Care facility, which will be different from the Hospital setting I am used to, but the xray techs there do a lot more than just xrays. I am excited to broaden my skills in the medical field. As far as childcare, we have it pretty much figured out... Andy will be home for the every other weekend shift (8-5) and then he will be able to work half day at home once a week when I work the 2-8 shift, and we just hired a nanny to come to the house on the other day when I work 8-2! It's nice to know that my kids will still be with me and Andy most of the time, and not needing to be placed in day care! The whole goal of me working is this: SAVE MONEY. We decided that if I went back to work it would be temporary, and that's the plan. We are hoping to use the money to pay off a little debt, save, and then once that's done I can hopefully just go PRN and work occasionally after that! I will admit, I am excited to get back to work, it will be a nice break and a good place to socialize and hopefully make some new friends too!!