"God has you in His arms"

I'm back in sunny SoCal after a fun trip to New Jersey.  This was the first time we have traveled from the complete opposite side of the country and man did we get spoiled flying out of Denver for a couple years.  We did an hour flight from here to Phoenix and then a 5 hour flight to Philly! That stretch was hard and I never thought it would end.  Bashlyn did great and slept 3 out of the 2 hours but we were all more than ready to get off the plane.  We had an amazing time at Eric and Laurens wedding.  They were truly such a beautiful couple, obviously in love and very thankful for everyone that came out to celebrate them.  The wedding was perfect, no detail left undone and very much them.  Their ceremony was beautiful and made me think of the love and commitment I've made to Brandon and areas I can work on to be a better wife.  It was just such a beautiful day and I am so happy we got to be a part of it! After the wedding we filled our days with time at the pool, the shore and going to the Orange Cat Farm one last time.  Bashlyn loved eating all the pears which I paid for for two days straight, lol! It was worth it though, I know Great Gpa was getting a kick out of seeing her grabbing the pears and eating them.

Our trip didn't completely go as planned.  We were planning on announcing our pregnancy to the whole family on Saturday at a BBQ.  We were so excited and I was hoping I could keep it a secret until then! I scheduled an ultrasound for Tuesday right before we left because I just wanted to double check that everything was ok and get a more solid due date than my estimated April 9th.  I was 8 weeks 6 days and knew I should be able to see the heartbeat at 6 weeks.  I went in and she said I was only measuring 6 weeks 1 day but maybe my dates were off.  My heart broke, I knew my dates were not off.  There was no heartbeat but she said because the baby was just barely 6 weeks maybe it was just too early.  She wanted me to come back in a week to check again but I couldn't because I would be out of town. I was setting up an appointment for when I got back and I asked her, since the baby is measuring over two weeks behind and no heartbeat my chances are not good right and she said "no I'm so sorry, chances are not good" and I started sobbing.  She didn't say anything I didn't already know in my heart but I was just hoping there was some type of hope to hold on to.  I felt horrible for being such a mess in front of everyone waiting :( About 5 hours after the ultrasound I lost the baby.  My mind was racing, was it something I did, I wasn't even breastfeeding this time, I stopped working out, drinking coffee or eating anything bad because I wanted my little bean to have the best chance and it still didn't work.   Is there something wrong with me since I've had Bashlyn? The answer is no, its nothing I did.  1 in 4 pregnancies end in miscarriage.  Most of the time it is due to a chromosomal abnormality and the baby would not have been able to survive had the pregnancy continued.

This is the second miscarriage I've had since having Bashlyn.  I had one in March at about 7 weeks.  I was still breastfeeding Bashlyn at the time and the doctors said that could have had something to do with it but not for sure.  I got my positive pregnancy test and 8 days later lost the baby.  8 days doesn't seem like a lot of time but its long enough to plan, love, get excited, talk about names and tell a few friends.  This last time I lost the baby a month after my positive test. A month of excitement and love, planning, buying big sister shirts, guessing if its a boy or girl, talking with girlfriends about every little detail of how this pregnancy is so different than the last.  Losing a baby at any stage is hard, days, weeks, months, its hard every time.  One of the more difficult things is going through something SO difficult inwardly but nobody knows outwardly.  I felt like I was in such a blur, I had just seen my baby on the screen and now its gone just hours later.  How can it just be done and over?  And its not like you can just walk up to someone and say "so I had a miscarriage, even though you didn't even know I was pregnant".  You have to wait for someone to ask how you are doing, when are you going to have another, or any question like that and even then its hard to just tell them.

I thought a lot about if I was going to talk about this. I had told a few friends I was pregnant and have since told a few others about the miscarriage.  This is an impacting time in my families life and it is important to me to talk about.  I know there are a lot of women, and families that have gone through this heartache and they don't talk about it, its almost a "silent suffering".  Some may be too scared or think since they miscarried so early they shouldn't talk about it because their pain is nothing compared to a woman that carried longer.  Losing a baby is so unfair.  Pain is pain, loss is loss, grief is grief, heartache is heartache, no matter how long you carried that sweet angel.

Livin' the Cali Life :)

We've been in Cali for about 3 1/2 weeks now.  We are really settling in and enjoying it so far.  We've checked out a lot of the fun beaches around here: Laguna, Malibu, Huntington, Newport, Long Beach, Crystal Cove and Seal Beach.  We also drove up to Santa Barbara a couple weekends ago and it was beautiful.   They had the most incredible farmers market up there and I was in heaven! We have just been loving life and getting in as much daddy time as we can.

The Books are moving fast here.  You always hear about how fast they move but its hard to understand until you see it first hand.  Brandon took a call and showed up on the job but it was vault inspection….totally not what he wanted to do so he basically turned down the job.  He had to go back to the hall and sign the books again and he was on the bottom of book 2.  That same day he got offered two different calls.  Its just crazy how fast they are moving! He ended up taking a short call for Par and worked with them for 5 days.  He enjoyed the work and got to work with some really great lineman.  When the short call ended he took another call for Asplundh.  The best part is….his show up is a MILE away from the house! So he doesn't have a commute or traffic, its incredible! This is the second week with them and its going well so far.  They are kinda moving crews around a bit so we don't really know what type of schedule he will eventually have.  Last week he worked Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, then Thursday day off, then worked from 10pm-11:30am Thursday night and Friday.  That was the first time Ive been with Brandon that he has worked overnight.  Last time I think I was home in Idaho when he did it in Colorado.  It was not my favorite, I don't like having to go to sleep without him but we made it through.  I really don't know how these guys do it, I would be so tired come 2 am!

We leave for New Jersey in 3 weeks.  I can't wait to get back there and see everyone.  My cousin Eric and his beautiful bride to be are getting married Sept 5th and its going to be one heck of a party.  Bash and I are going to stay for 12 days so we are excited to get in a lot of time with everyone.  We'll see how flying with a 1 year old goes, I really hope I'm not THAT mom with a screaming child….

Speaking of Bashlyn, yesterday she turned 1! We had a great day.  She woke up and opened presents, then cake, then the beach! She was just a happy little babe like she always is :) I did really well all day, I didn't cry until I started looking back at pictures of when she was born.  I just can't believe it has been a year.  What a fun year it has been!!

We Made it!

I can finally update you all because we got Charter Internet yesterday! Its so nice being in a big city and having affordable options for things like internet.  So its been a few weeks so I'll start from the beginning….

We were so lucky to spend a little over 3 weeks at home.  We saw friends and family, played in the lake, went to ironman, went to a gorgeous wedding and danced til our feet hurt. We went camping up the St Joe for a night, had bbqs and went to Yakima to see Uncle Chance while he was home. We ate at all our favorite restaurants more than once and had delicious drinks.  I had this picture in my head of sitting outside of piper and relaxing every day, friends coming out to hang and just having a lot of down time.  LOL that didn't happen because we were so busy soaking up everything that Coeur d Alene in the summer has to offer.  I got to throw Brandon a top out party and that was a lot of fun too.  My mom and I made a delicious spread of croissant sandwiches, salad, fruit, chips, potato salad, wine, beer and cake! I was most excited about the lineman balloons, temp tattoos and the tribute video I made for him.  You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsDVCPlncnc :)  We pretty much celebrated for 4 weeks straight :)

Our Beautiful spot we got to call home for 3 weeks! 

We talked about staying longer, there were a couple jobs opening up close to home that Brandon could work and we wanted to stay so bad.  We realized though that even if we stayed for 3, 6, 10 more weeks we still wouldn't want to leave.  It is our home and we love it there, no amount of time would be long enough until we are HOME so we stuck to our plan and hit the dusty trail on Monday the 14th.  We made it to Salt Lake Monday night about 8:30.  We were so tired and ready to just hit the hay.  We stayed in the walmart parking lot cause we figured we would only be there for a few hours, no since in hooking up.  We crawled into bed, Bash of course was wired because she'd been sleeping all day. We opened our windows in the bedroom because it was so hot, trying to get some air flow in there.  It had been 103 (the hottest day of the year) in salt lake and it was still  90 that night.  We both tossed and turned all night cause we were so hot and didn't really get that great of sleep.  We woke up early the next morning and went and saw Justin, Kelli, Easton and Steston before Justin had to go to work.  I got to hold that sweet little babe and he fell asleep in my arms, it was precious! Bashlyn got to play with Easton and check out all his toys, Brandon and Justin got to catch up as did Kelli and I.  It was so nice to see them in person again! We headed back to the 5th wheel to hit the road again.  I went inside to close the windows so we wouldn't get dust inside as we were driving and thats when it hit me……. the slides were still in so there was no air flow coming from those windows….they were inside the slide.  Talk about embarrassing!!! I blame it on the fact that we had driven for 14 hours the day before and couldn't think right!

After fueling up we hit the road about 8 and were on our way, our goal was Vegas for a few hours, then we'd finish the trek to Cali.  We stopped for lunch and ate at Cafe Rio - did you know they give kids a free quesadilla?! I had no idea but we got it and Bash loved it.  Of course the strawberries on the side were her favorite.  We made it to Vegas and traffic was a little crazy. I had been talking with Sandy Larsen and we were planning on meeting at the hall.  We found a Lowes about a mile away and parked the 5th wheel there.  We decided we were all 3 too tired to continue on to Cali so we headed out in my car to check out rv parks.  We were not going to make the same mistake as the night before! After checking out a couple parks ( and not being successful) we headed to the hall.  As we were driving past Lowes we saw a tow truck headed towards our truck and piper! We raced into the parking lot and Brandon got into the truck and we just took our whole outfit to the hall :)  There was a union meeting that night and we got to meet so many incredible people.  Sandy is one of the nicest people I've ever met in person and I am so excited to be about 3 1/2 hours away from her! We got to meet President Shannon Skinner and she is so cool, it was a little surreal to see her and Brandon talk line work a bit, I loved it! What a badass lineman.  Everyone there was so nice, so welcoming to Brandon.  That was the first hall he'd been to as a journeyman lineman.  It was really an incredible feeling.

The Beautiful Sandy Larsen 

President Journeyman Lineman Shannon Skinner! 

We stayed at a crazy RV Resort in Vegas, it was gorgeous and huge, pools, workout rooms, just down the street from the strip. We didn't have a ton of time to enjoy it, we just ate dinner, drove the strip and went home to bed.  Before we went to sleep Brandon called the job line for local 47 and there was a standing call for a lineman out of Long Beach.  We looked at the weather and the location and it was 70 degrees for the next 10 days! We though ok this is where we need to be living and working! If the call was still there when we got to the hall Brandon was going to take it.  We decided we would just get to Long Beach if we could find a park to stay at and go from there as far as a job.  But JUST LIKE THAT our plans changed from San Dimas to Long Beach…it happens fast! We got to the hall and the call had been filled.  Brandon signed the books and we made our way to the RV Park.  I have a friend staying in the park and thankfully she was able to talk to the owner and got us a spot! Everywhere in San  Dimas was full and we would have had to pay weekly at almost $300 a week, and move every week to a new spot.  So being able to find this park for a great price and having it for at least a month is a great (and much more affordable) thing! Driving here wasn't too bad. We were driving at 5 and I thought we'd hit so much traffic but we didn't. The nice thing about here is yeah there are a lot of cars but there are 6 lanes and everyone is going 80! I can hang with that, unlike Denver which has 2 lanes and you are at a standstill every day! I don't mind traffic as long as its moving :)

I love this park.  Its not a resort or anything but its home to us now.  The owner is the sweetest 80 year old lady.  She is a spit fire! She came out and helped us park, got us cribbing because we were not level.  She brought us a welcome packet that had directions and addresses to nearby grocery stores, rv repair guys, rv detailers, cable and internet in the area, a phone book (lol) and she pro rates the rent from the day you move in to the day you leave (this is unheard of)  She is so sweet, always has stories to tell, loves to talk to Bashlyn and visit.  I'm not going to lie I got teary eyed already thinking about having to say goodbye to her :( One of the best things about this park…we have our OWN address…with our own mailbox! We haven't had that in over 2 years!! :) There are fruit trees all over in this park too, lemons, oranges, nectarines, avocados!

Home Sweet Home….with our cute little mailbox! :) 

Brandon is currently on the books.  There have been a couple short calls and a couple calls that were 2+ hours away so he turned them down.  We have prepared for time off and being patient will pay off in the end.  The books are moving fast, just yesterday they put 17 lineman to work so I'm sure it'll be this week.  In the mean time we are LOVING all the extra daddy time we get!

We are absolutely loving California! We are 15 minutes from Target, Costco, Winco, Trader Joes, In and Out, oh and THE BEACH!! We've checked out Huntington Beach, Malibu and Seal Beach so far.  Bashlyn loves the sand AND the waves! I don't have to drive the freeway to get to the stores or the beaches really, its all pretty easy so far :) I'm already feeling pretty settled in and it hasn't even been a week! Change and the unknown is scary but if you just got for it, the reward is so so great!

Talk soon!

Its time to go HOME!!

When we found out Brandon was going to be testing in June we were so excited.  I of course wanted to start making tons of plans but didn't.  The journeyman tests is 3 written tests and a pole yard test.  The 3 written tests you have to get a 75% or better and the pole yard is pass or fail.  During the pole yard you will take on 3 roles, the foreman, where you are completing your own task and using your crew (lineman and groundman) to help you complete it, the lineman (where you are doing what the foreman tells you to do) and the groundman, where you will just be the grunt.  You can be failed on anything done wrong during any of the 3 roles.  You can also be failed if the foreman tells you to do something and its wrong and you don't tell the instructor its wrong.  You can be failed if the lineman does something wrong and you don't tell the instructor.  So as you can see there are A LOT of ways and chances to be failed during the pole yard and there is no second chances, you fail and you will be waiting 2 months to take it again, IF the invite to test again is even offered to you.

In this trade there are union companies and apprenticeships, IBEW, like Brandon completed and there are non union companies.  Non union companies can put on their own apprenticeship, have their own standards and their own level of "A" "B" Lineman.  A non union lineman that wants to be able to work out of the union hall has the right to challenge the Journeyman Lineman test.  If he passes this test he will be a Lineman and he can sign book 3 at the union and go to work for a union company ( most of the time, some locals are different and he can sign book 2). He will be considered a white ticket, it means he challenged and passed the journeyman lineman test but he DID NOT complete a union apprenticeship.  The only way to get the golden ticket and be a journeyman lineman is to go through the 7 step (or 6 step utility) apprenticeship.  A lot of older guys, guys that have been in the trade for 20+ years don't want to put 3-5 years into an apprenticeship so they just test out, get their white ticket and go on their way.

On test day for Mountain States there were 6 guys testing (4 non union and 2 mountain states), 5 were doing pole yard and 1 was retaking a written portion that he had failed previously.  The guys all drew their numbers and Brandon was paired up with a guy testing for his white ticket.  Brandon did his task first and everything went smooth, took about an hour. Then it was time for the other guy to do his task and it got a little messy. He had been doing linework for many years but unfortunately he just wasn't up to speed with all the new safety regulations and made some poor choices.  A couple hours later it was time to meet with the instructors and talk about how the tasks went.  Brandon had to say everything the guy had done wrong, because if he didn't they would fail Brandon.  It was nerve wracking because what if Brandon missed something or he forgot to mention something that happened 3+hours ago! As you already know Brandon passed and everything went well but this is some insight as to why we just couldn't make a single plan until after test day.  There is just so much that goes into the test and its not just on YOU, its on your pole partner too.

We had decided that if Brandon passed we would work the following week.  We wanted to be able to take our time packing up and cleaning everything since we hadn't moved in over a year.  Let me tell you, its incredible how much stuff you can accumulate in such a small space! We were also paid up with our rent until the end of the week and it would be nice to get one Journeyman Lineman paycheck so we tried to do the practical thing and stay the extra week, how hard could that be?  Well it was HARD! I had the whole 5th wheel packed up, washed up and ready to go by Monday afternoon and Brandon was hooked up Tuesday.  We really wanted to leave Wednesday to get home Friday Morning but Brandons crew was in transition trying to get a new apprentice so they needed him to stay.

Wednesday night the tv started flashing that there was a tornado warning for our county.  This usually happens once a week and we never even get rain.  I had stopped even paying much attention to them all at this point.  Brandon said to me " wanna  head out, looks like theres a bad storm coming" and I said "no they do this all the time and we never even get rain!" As soon as I said that the tornado sirens started going off. I looked at Brandon and I said "what do we do" and he goes "I don't know!".  We didn't know WHAT the sirens meant, did we have 5 minutes, did we have 20 minutes....no one knew.  Everyone was coming out of their trailers and looking at the sky.  It was the weirdest sky I've ever seen.  Different layers of clouds and so dark but then some areas were really bright.  The manager of the rv park started running around the park telling everyone "the safest place is in the showers, get to the shower house"  As soon as we started making our way up to the showers the wind started coming so bad.  The whole rv park is sand so it was just a mess, we were running for the showers and covering our eyes and Bashlyns to try to protect them.  There were about 20 other people up there and I was really started to get nervous.  Then the police and firetrucks started coming through the park talking on their loud speakers 'Tornado has touched down 5 miles away, get to the showers, do NOT stay in your trailers" Thats when I got a lump in my throat and tears on the brim of my eyes.  I was scared, I couldn't believe this was happening the day before we were leaving and I didn't feel like we were in a very safe place, but it was the safest place we had.  Everyone was tracking the storm on their phone and when it was right over top of us it was bad.  There was rain so hard and wind blowing in every direction.  The trees were blowing into each other and it was pitch black.  We stayed up there for a little over an hour until it passed and then we were able to make our way back to the trailer.  There was talk of a second big storm coming through but it wasn't a tornado.

After that crazy ordeal we were ready to get out of there.  We hit the road the next day after Brandon worked at about 4:30 for our big 18 hour drive.  We wanted to drive as much as we could through the night so Bash would sleep.  We stopped in Casper, Wy for Subway and Brandon said he was feeling good so we both got an XL soda (40 ounces) I know how terrible but I needed caffeine.  I drank mine and was feeling awesome....wired in fact, I could have drove until 1-2 am! Brandon called me at 11 and said he hit a wall, he was so tired and needed to sleep.  My exact response was "well thats too bad cause I'm WIRED".  That didn't matter, we pulled over and tried to sleep.  Brandon and Bash slept like little babies...I on the other had was jacked! I slept from 11-12:30 and then I couldn't sleep anymore.  I woke Brandon up at 2 and asked if we could get going cause I couldn't sleep, he said he wanted to get 4 hours of sleep.  So I waited and waited until 3.  We were on the road by 3:20.  Everything went great.  Bash slept pretty much the whole time.  She never cried.  She would wake up and play when we stopped for fuel and lunch and then take another snooze when it was time to go.  We stopped in Missoula and caught up with one of Brandons friends.  We made it into town about 8pm on Friday night.  Our reservation at the RV Park didn't start until Saturday so we went to none other than good ol walmart to sleep for the night. I fell asleep immediately and gosh my bed has NEVER felt better! I gotta say its such a tease to be SO tired, following your bed for 18 hours, lol!

Since we've been home we've just been hanging with friends and family, loving Idaho and relaxing with not a stress in the world! Friday I get to throw Brandons top out party and  I am super excited!

Talk soon!

Journeyman Lineman Test!

I am SO excited to be writing this post so I apologize in advance for the excess use of exclamation points and smiley faces!! :)

To be able to sit for the journeyman test with mountain states you have to be a 7th step apprentice.  Brandon wasn't scheduled to turn 7th step until the end of June which means he wouldn't be able to test until August.  After he went to Aprils upgrade class he felt ready and wanted to test.  He emailed Don asking if he could test in April..as in 6 days away.  Don said he would look at his file and see if they were able to step him early.  They were not able to step him in time for April but they were for June! The countdown began until Friday June 13th! I knew it was friday the 13th immediately but I didn't tell Brandon....Tuesday before he tested he goes "I'm testing on Friday the 13th?!" haha I just laughed.  As Cayla pointed out, it was also a full moon so it balanced everything out.

He didn't want me to tell anyone he was testing, aside from Cayla (thank you!! I COULDN'T have made it through without you and Brandon knows this :) )  and obviously the guys in his class knew, which I completely understand. There is enough pressure as is, he didn't need the whole world knowing.  It was REALLY hard and I just wanted to shout it from the rooftops cause I was so excited!  It was a long few weeks, the days seemed to drag and I thought we would never get to single digits until test day.  Brandon practiced pole yard, did hookups on his whiteboard until the sharpie wore off from writing on it so much and always had a book in his lap.  I don't know how he remembered anything with Bashlyn climbing all over him.  We left the house a few times to give him some silence, going to the park or grocery shopping :)

Wednesday morning Brandon left to go to his hotel for studying and peace until the test.  It was a little weird sending him off alone.  Since we've been so far away from class for the last year, I usually always go with him to class or upgrade class so he doesn't have 4 hours of driving alone.   Watching him drive out of the park, I knew the next time I saw him, our lives would be totally changed! I talked to Brandon Thursday and he said he got the best nights sleep he has in well...10 months! LOL! Not gonna lie I was a little jealous! My time will come though, someday I'll get a full nights sleep :)

Friday morning Bashlyn and I did our best to sleep in, take our time packing and drag our feet as long as possible before we left for the hotel.  Brandon was able to get a late checkout so I just had to be there by 2 to pack up the room.  We left about 10 and made it to the hotel around noon.  We hung out in the hotel until 1:58.  I decided to go to JC  Pennys and look at everything in the store to distract me...yeah that took me a whole 22 minutes! Brandon was told by one of the instructors that if pole yard goes well, somedays they are all done by 1 and other days they are there until 6.  There were only 5 guys testing so Brandon and I thought they'd be done by 3 with so few guys testing.  I felt like I did ok stress wise (Cayla might disagree :P) until 3 came around and I hadn't heard from him.  I didn't have a lot to distract me or do because I wanted to be right next to class so as soon as Brandon called me I could see him within minutes! Bashlyn and I went to the park, subway, starbucks, washed my car, the gas station and just hung out in the car, face timed with my mom but time was just not moving.  By 3:30 I couldn't take it any longer and drove by class.  Brandon saw me drive by and called me.  He said they were just waiting on their tests to get graded and was hoping he'd know within the hour.  4:30 rolled around and still nothing.  At this point I was about to have a breakdown, Bashlyn was DONE being in the car and I couldn't keep her entertained anymore.  Tears of frustration, worry, pressure, nerves, excitement, they all started flowing.  Brandon called at 5:32 and said "Journeyman Lineman" ahhh I started crying and said  "I'll see you in 2 seconds!" I raced into the yard, jumping out of the car and giving him the biggest hug ever!!!
My biggest piece of advice to you linewives about to go through test day....Don't expect to hear from your man until 6 at night....it doesn't matter if there are 5 or 20 guys testing, it WILL be an all day thing.  Save yourself some of the heartache and stress and just know it will be all day.

After we got the great news he passed, we made our way to Arvada for pizza and drinks.  Chance was with Brandon in the afternoon while he was waiting for the test results, thank goodness since it took forever! We all went to Beau Jo's pizza and had delicious pizza, margaritas and beer.  It was the perfect night, the best way to celebrate and just chill after the day.  Thank you Chance for being such a big support, we can't wait to come see you while your home! Saturday Brandon and Chance were going to go Skydiving but the place he wanted to go in Denver was booked and the other place in the springs didn't answer their phone! I was bummed cause I know he really wanted to do that and it would have been so fun for him :(

I cannot even begin to express how proud I am of my husband.  I met him shortly after he finished Avista Line School and I watched him apply for numerous apprenticeships with utilities and the JATCs.  We drove all over the Northwest for orientations and interviews only for it to not turn into anything.  The Day he got the call for Mountain States was amazing cause we knew he was "in" now it was just a matter of putting in the time until Journeyman.  Well my love you put in the time and then some! During your apprenticeship you accrued 7,812 hours and 782 hot hours.  You have worked your ass off, with great crews and some not so great crews, just trying to get through the day to day.  You have excelled on every job and you are a hand guys would love to have on their crew.  You have made great friends and brothers throughout your apprenticeship and I am happy to have those friendships for the rest of our lives.

Today you went to work for the first time as a Journeyman Lineman.  At the end of this week we will be driving HOME to spend 3 weeks with our friends and family.  Cheering our friends on through ironman, catching up with everyone at your top out party, spending the 4th of July on the beautiful lake and watching one of our great friends get married.  We get to live LIFE with our friends and family, something we haven't been able to do in almost 3 years.  Bashlyn and I are so excited to have so much time with you! Then we will make the big drive down to Southern Cali and start our next adventure! I love you so much and I am so lucky to have you!

Oh hi there!

Well hello! Yeah I am still here, just being completely lame and not posting! In all fairness I have read 2 other blogs that have had 4-5 month "catch up" posts so I'm not the only one slacking! :) I honestly just felt like things here are pretty boring and same ol same old so I didn't know what to write about...sorry about that!

So my last post was in January, catching you up about our holiday adventures and working out of town.  Since then, things have slowed down a bit.  Brandon isn't working weekends anymore so we are back to the normal 50 hour weeks with class and upgrade class on 2 of the 4 weekends a month.  Its a nice change of pace and its been nice not having to drive 6-8 hours a weekend.

The past 4 months has been filled with many memories.  We got the incredible chance to go to Vail and go snowboarding with Chance and Jamie.  We stayed the weekend up there and it was just so much fun.  Bashlyn had her first day in the nursery up there ( and caught her first cold) and she did great.  She was very busy and kept them busy the whole day.  She was the youngest there at 6 months old but they said the older kids loved her! I really thought I would have a harder time leaving her but once I got on the mountain I was fine.  Brandon had to peel me out of the daycare room because I was talking too much and being the crazy mom that acts like these people have never been around a baby before (whoops) ;)  I knew she was in good hands, the men and women there were super sweet! After a full day of boarding we all went to the vail village and got the best tasting burger I have ever had.  I don't know if I was just starving or it was really that good but I've been craving it since! It was a really fun weekend and I'm so glad we got to do it with such great friends.  On the drive home we got stuck in 11 hours of traffic and that was pretty brutal.....

In February Bashlyn and I went home for a week and got to catch up with all our friends and family.  Bashlyn got to meet her Mema and Pops for the first time.  The first night we went there for dinner she was pretty cranky from traveling all day but then we went back a few days later and she was her normal happy self and had a lot of fun.  We got to catch up with all our girlfriends, meet Baby Beck, play with Luke and the boys, and see little Whits belly before Racine arrived.  It felt so good to see friends and catch up, it makes it hard to leave when you see everyone and miss everyone so much.  We stayed with my mom and there were a lot of laughs and play time with Nana.  Bash Stayed with Nana while I went to dinner for Codys birthday, of course I was texting my mom the whole time and she said Bashlyn slept the whole time! haha of course she did! Why does she always sleep when I'm gone?!?

In April I discovered there is Bountiful Baskets in Sterling.  The crazy thing is, I checked when we got here in March and I didn't see a pickup location so I just assumed they didn't have it.  I never even though to check again.  I was getting my hair done and my hair lady and I were talking about produce and I said I wished there was a bountiful baskets here and she goes, "There is!"  Turns out it came here in April of last year, so its pretty much been here the entire time I have been struggling to get my produce from Walmart or making the 2 hour drive into Costco.  Anyway, now that I know there is one here, I am completely obsessed.  I love it.  Its changed how we are eating 110%.  I used to pack chips in Brandons lunches and he would go through a bag a week.  Now I pack fruit and veggies! My husband is eating (and asking for) grilled chicken salads for lunch and dinner.  Chicken stir fry with more veggies than chicken is a huge hit and Brandon cleans his plate! He's snacking on carrots, celery, cucumbers, strawberries, grapes, apples, nectarines and bananas during work.  If anyone knows my husband, you will understand how HUGE this is!! He is eating MUSHROOMS! :) We're eating tons of mangos and I learned I love artichokes! I just love how much this is bringing new foods into our home and really making us feel great because we are putting great food into our bodies!

Bashlyn of course is keeping us very busy.  She is crawling all over the place and literally climbing the furniture.  She is starting to get separation anxiety so she has full on melt downs, tears streaming down her face, whenever I leave the room.  I feel terrible but I do have to pee at some point during the day! I really really REALLY hope this phase passes quickly.  I love that she loves me so much but I hate that she gets so upset, poor girl.  We are currently working on night weaning too.  I've tried this once before but she was teething and I felt bad for putting her through too much at once so I stopped.  Now she has 8 teeth so I think its a good time to try again.  Its going ok, we've definitely made some progress.  She's still waking up 3 times a night but the first two times I can just give her her paci and she goes back to sleep instantly.  Around 4:30 it gets rough and she really wants to nurse but I'm trying not to give in.  I'm hoping with night weaning success will come sleeping longer periods which means longer in her own bed.  Right now she sleeps the first half of the night in her bed and usually comes to bed with us around 1.  I admit, I'm trying to sleep train her AS WELL AS me.  I sleep so much better with my little babe snuggling me.  <3

Well heres our quick little catch up, thanks for hanging in there, sorry it took so long! Talk soon <3

Christmas and the weeks to follow...

Gosh time has been flying and I feel like I can hardly catch up! I've had "write blog" on my to do list for over a week now and I am just now getting to it.  Better late than never!

We have been on the go for about 3 months now.  The week before we left for New Jersey for Christmas, Brandon was working in Castle Rock on the helicopter job I told you about.  We stayed in a hotel Sunday - Thursday night.  Friday morning we got up about 4 and drove back to Sterling so Brandon could work Friday.  Saturday we drove to Lochbuie so Brandon could go to class and then Sunday morning we flew out to Philly! We had been going so fast for so long we couldn't believe we were finally going to New Jersey for a week of fun, family and relaxation!

It was such a wonderful time as always but this time was extra special.  There is just something about the holidays and being surrounded by so much family that just warms my heart.  Sunday we arrived and it was surprisingly warm! Monday we had the Gingerbread house competition with the whole family.  Brandon and I won in the "creative" category but part of me thinks they felt sorry for us.  Brandon says ours was the ugliest "house" he has ever seen! It definitely took some work and there were a few moments I thought we were in big trouble and were going to end up with a pile of frosting and candy but somehow, someway we pulled it together and presented our "gingerbread camper" :)

Tuesday was Christmas Eve and we all went over to my mom moms and pop pops cabin for christmas eve dinner.  We ate a delicious meal, took the traditional family pictures and watched the kids very creative performances.  It was a wonderful night and such great memories.  Christmas morning was so fun!! Bashlyn started to get the hang of ripping the wrapping paper (mostly because she was trying to eat it!) Great grammom, Adam, Jen and the kids came over for Christmas diner and it was by far the best prime rib Brandon and I have ever ate!

Friday was going to the farm in Maryland.  It was fun to see the farm and have Bashlyn there but it definitely put a lump in my throat being there without gramps :(
Saturday was Philly with Adam, Jen and the kids.  We rode the train and of course I had to feed and do a diaper change on the train.  Hey when duty calls you do what you have to! :) We went to the Comcast building and got to see Adams office and building.  Its so crazy, when you go up in the elevator your ears pop! We could see so far from his office building and it was really cool to see Philly from that perspective! We then went to Redding Terminal and  proceeded to get pizza, cheesesteaks and of course chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookies for the train ride home! :)

Erin and I got pedicures and it was the first pedicure I had since way before Bashlyn was born.  It was so relaxing and fun to just catch up with Erin and girl talk.  Almost every day we were there we got to go see Uncle Tommy.  Him and Aunt Connie sure put a smile on my face every day, they are so cute together! Bashlyn had a great time too, she showed Uncle Tommy her tummy time, standing up and of course smiling a bunch!

These are just a few of the highlights of our trip.  There are so many more.  It was one of the best Christmases I have ever had and one I had dreamt of for a very long time.  It was so fun to have Brandon and Bashlyn there.  I spent so much of my childhood there, running around my Aunt Seans house and to have my family there was pretty surreal. My mom got to come with, she actually met up with us in Denver! I am so glad she came and spent Bashlyns first Christmas with us there. It truly was so special Christmas morning to just look around and take it all in.  We are so BLESSED with such loving, caring and fun family! Thank you to my Mom, Aunt Sean, Uncle Brian, Erin, 3 Mom, 3 Pop, Aunt Connie, Uncle Tommy,  Chris, Kathy, Logan, Aiden, Jeff, Dawn, Alex, Eric, Lauren, Adam, Jen, Grace, Connor, Becca, Megan, Brandon and my sweet Bashlyn for making this Christmas one of the best ones yet.  It was so special!!

When we got back from our trip we went to Castle Rock for a week for Brandon to work.  We came back to Sterling Friday night to no furnace :( We tried everything we could think of to get it to reset and come back on but nothing worked.  I knew we were out of warranty on our 5th wheel so I thought I had to go through the furnaces warranty which was two years.  Well they were not open on weekends so Monday morning I talked to them.  Our dealer called me back too and said we had an extended warranty and we should go through them instead of the furnace company.  Turns out they are open 365 days a year and the repair shop that fixed our furnace WAS open Saturday so we could have had this mess fixed Saturday instead of TUESDAY!! :( It was a long, cold 4 days, bundled up in the bedroom with space heaters.  Turns out the board went bad in our furnace but we got it all fixed up and I am so thankful for heat!! On a sad note though, when the furnace went out our pipes froze and now one of them is dripping.  Frozen pipes are not covered under warranty either so thats just great :( Brandon is going to take a look at it on Friday and see how bad it really is, we're hoping its just a fitting that separated.  Have I mentioned I HATE winter!!! :(

Brandon is turning 6th step in less than two weeks! I can't believe how fast it is going.  One step closer to being able to decide where we work, and it WONT be in the freezing cold! Hawaii, Cali, Florida, they are all looking pretty good right now!