Yep that is what I would call the past 2 months. 4 months really. Tomorrow we move into our house. Our beautiful "we each have our own bedroom" house. Living in our studio apartment in downtown Las Vegas has been quiet the experience for me. I've lived in Utah my entire life. Kirk and I have always said we wanted to experience living outside of Utah. And while Las Vegas isn't very far from Utah (less than 2 hours) it is so different in so many ways.
The walmart shopping carts have a locking system so they cannot leave the parking lot, the wheels will literally lock if they are taken across the yellow line. Before living here I didn't think stolen shopping carts was an actual problem. But I counted 8 outside my apartment complex just tonight.
And walmarts down here don't sell fabric. How am I supposed to be dirt cheap fabric and shop for groceries at the same time? And the eggs come in styrofoam containers, for some reason it just doesn't seem as sanitary to me.
In the mall parking lots there are signs that say "Hide your belongings, Lock your car, Take your keys". Not feeling so much like leaving my car and going shopping after reading that note. Actually I get nervous that someone will steal my purse right out my arms, but I do my best not to be afraid.
At least half of all signs are in Spanish. I can only read about half of what is advertised.
Hispanic men lining the sidewalks waiting for someone to pick them up and give them a job? Totally a real thing, it's not just in the movies!
A lot of jaywalking going on down here. Moms with tiny babies, old women stoping lanes of traffics while the shuffle across the road. The most frightening is the kids, 7 year old boys running across 6 lanes of traffic in the dark. I've seen it twice and we don't go out after dark much.
It takes at least 20 minutes to get anywhere in Las Vegas. The traffic lights steal minutes of your life away. We can usually get through the entire wheels on the bus song 4 times at each light.
People begging for money all the time. Random people will just come up to me in the grocery store always asking for bus money.
After getting a glimpse of a life that I never had to live I have really learned how lucky I really am. I see the moms with the young babies on the street and I wonder if they are afraid every minute for their children. I know I'm always checking over my shoulder, I just don't feel completely safe in this apartment ever. And I know the families living her are doing the absolute best they can. They make life wonderful and bloom where they are planted but I realize how absolutely blessed I am. Soon each of my girls will have their own bedrooms. And a room just for their toys! We are extremely blessed. And before I lived here I didn't appreciate these things as blessings. Tomorrow we move into our house. We can have dinner around a table again. Have a family conversation about our day (it's hard to have without a table, really!). And couches! It will be so nice to sit next to Kirk and cuddle up into his strong arms. A Dishwasher! A bathtub that drains water! Cupboards clean enough to put dishes in! A bed...oh a bed! Naps for my girls (neither have been able to take good naps here). Yes we are ecstatic to move into our house tomorrow.
We have decided to try life without the internet for a while. Save money and stop wasting time that could be spent doing better things. So if you don't hear much from us for a while that is why. We are really happy though. The girls are healthy and happy, Kirk LOVES his job, and I'm making lots of new friends. Life is fantastic!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Vernal
As I was going through the pictures on my memory card I realized there are some pictures and memories from Vernal that need posting on our blog. We were in Vernal for 2 months. It was great to be there for the holidays. Of course now that I look back on our time there I wish we had enjoyed it more and stressed less. We had a lot of fun times with our family.
All four of us stayed in one bedroom. I thought it was really crammed, until we all moved into a studio apartment and now I realize we were lucky to be in my parents house. It was the same bedroom I had in High School. It was very weird living in it again with a husband and two kids. One day after I got out of the shower my mom told me I was wanted on the telephone. It was totally high school dejavu and then when it was a friend from high school I had to quickly find Kirk and the girls to make sure I didn't slip back into time :)
Kirsten and my dad were good buddies. She loved to sit on his lap in the evenings. You can't see her but Chelsey's dog Fergie is on the floor at their feet. Kirsten loved Fergie, unless of course she got too close.
Amanda and Kirsten hung out all the time. They didn't like to be away from each other for very long. I love this particular picture because she is clutching her cougar...so cute!
My parents have these two mini bean bag chairs in their basement. Kirsten loved to watch movies on these. Audrey just loved being cool like Kirsten.
Kirsten loves headbands! Anything that even resembles a headband goes on her head.
This picture was obviously taken before Christmas because their is a doll and not a bunch of cars.
We found this cute little cradle at the Santa's Workshop. She wouldn't leave it alone and the owner gave us a steal of a deal. She had to carry it out of the middle school all the way to the car (with my help requiring me to walk backwards the entire time). She then put her bears and dolls to bed every night in it.
Every time Kirk took the girls downstairs he did it the cool way. The girls LOVED it!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
Audrey at 6 months!
My Audrey is the most lovable baby. She smiles with her whole body, if she smiles while she is sitting up on her own she will quickly fall over once her huge grin spreads across her face. She loves to cuddle in my arms. She adores her older sister and spends most of her day trying to see everything Kirsten does. No one can make Audrey laugh like Kirsten. These two feed off each other and spend a few minutes everyday just laughing at each other. They have the same laugh, it's really adorable. Audrey doesn't like to be left out and demands to be a part of everything. Audrey loves loves loves solid foods. She will happily clean her plate and Kirsten's too! She's a total tease and loves to takes things out of Kirsten's hands just to see Kirsten react. She adores her sister and doesn't like when Kirsten leaves the room without her. Audrey loves plastic water bottles, she prefers them over any toy. She is still having a hard time sleeping through the night, but we hope that will get better in the coming weeks with her own room. Audrey will absolutely not take a binky, she is the opposite of her sister in so many ways. My Audrey has the sweetest most amazing spirit and I could spend all day cuddling her in my arms staring into her pretty blue eyes.
Our Two Year Old
My favorite things about my Kirsten Sue being two
- Kirsten is a big help around the house. She loves cleaning and picking things up. She is also a huge help with Audrey. If Audrey cries Kirsten runs to her rescue and keeps Audrey nice and entertained. Sometimes she even lets Audrey play with her cars!
- She is a genuinely happy person. As long as she gets all of her required sleep she is one happy content little girl.
- Kirsten really enjoys the little things in life. Going somewhere with her is not done quickly. She takes her time and enjoys the tress, birds, grass, rope, and bugs. Walking in the store she likes to touch everything and explore her surroundings.
- Kirsten gives the best hugs. She really throws her whole body into it. Kirk gets most of her hugs. Before he leaves for work and when he comes home she stands by the door with arms open wide waiting her him to pick her up, which he does with a huge smile, and she wraps arms around his neck and snuggles into his shoulders. Ok, I admit it I'm jealous.
- She is a big sweetheart. When Audrey falls asleep in my arms Kirsten comes and rubs her head (most the time waking her up) and gives her kisses.
- Kirsten has a huge imagination! She could entertain herself for hours with her stuffed animals. We find them in the most random places.
- She loves baths still and would spend all of her time at home in the tub if I would let her.
- She lives off of chocolate milk, fruit snacks, and posicles
- She's really brave. There is nothing to high for her to climb!
- She loves singing and dancing. If there is music playing she will stop dead in her tracks and start dancing moving her head back and forth, her arms bent at the elbow moving up and down. She loves ring around the rosies, teddy bear song, and head shoulders knees and toes.
- Kirsten's run! She swings her arms in the opposite direction than she swings her hips. It's quite the site and always makes me smile.
- Shopping with Kirsten is nothing short of an adventure. She loves to ride on the bottom of the cart or hold onto the side. Or she is army crawling across the floor. It can be embarrassing but it's all part of that imagination.
- And as her nursery teacher put it "Kirsten is the only girl I know that would rather play with cars than anything else"
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Kirsten Sue is Two!
Thursday our Kirsten turned 2. We celebrated at the park with balloons and cake. She got a tricycle for her birthday and spent the afternoon riding it all around the park. Karen gave her a cute Noah's ark set and she loved transferring the animals between the ark and trike basket.
We are so glad you are part of our family!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
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