Summer happenings...

A lot has happened since the last time I was on here. We've had a full and beautiful summer so far. In the last few months we...

moved away from the Pioneer House. It was so hard to leave that place. We really did need to leave, we were packed like sardines in that tiny home. Our land lords sold the home in April and the new owner let us stay a few more months so Blue could finish out the school year and we could find another place to live. We had been waiting to move into a home up in Perry, Utah, but things fell through and we were scrambling to find another place. Anyway, long story short... we found a great home that is more than twice the size of the Pioneer house and on half an acre. We have room to do a big garden here and our chickens have a nice run and barn to live in (seriously... a barn!). We are still trying to get settled in here, but it's starting to feel more like home.

We've been on some really fun vacations! We went to California and Disneyland in May and Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in July. The kids were amazing on both drives in the car.... sleeping in the hotel was a different story though. Yikes! We had a great time in both places though!

And dear Baby Gray turned one this last week! I can hardly believe that he is one! This year has flown by. The other day I was thinking about how the first year of both Blue and Gray's lives have been then best years of my life. Some of the hardest days for sure, but so full of love and hope for these sweet boys. I'm so grateful to be their mom!

Anyway, now that life looks like it's starting to calm down more I hope that I'm able to find some time to write. I really miss it! Hope you are all having a wonderful summer.

Half marathon training...

I've always wanted to run a half marathon. The farthest I've ever run before is the 8.something mile race that I did in Hawaii over 5 years ago. So I added this goal to my list and decided to try and do it. I asked my best friend C if she wanted to do it with me and she jumped on board the crazy train with me! She found a race that would fit with both of our schedules this summer and that race is just over a month away.

I started running in March and would do about 3 runs a week. But I was slooooooooow and not progressing very much. It took me 2 months of running to be able to struggle through 3 miles. The beginning of May that was all I could do... 3 miles. I was starting to panic a little. How was I going to add 10 miles onto that and be able to do this race? I noticed that I started having this inner dialogue with myself that the reason it was so hard for me to improve my running is this extra weight I'm carrying on me right now. I've got a good 35 lbs of weight I'm running with this time around that wasn't there 5 years ago. It's like dragging a dead horse behind me, I would think as I slowly worked my way through my route.

C and I had a heart to heart one day. I told her that I didn't know if I would be able to do this race. It was so hard to run and I didn't want to drag her down if I couldn't do it. I told her that I felt like I was too heavy to run that far. It hurt to run. She then told me of a few people she knows who run races who are my size or bigger. They run marathons and half marathons just fine. I could do this.

I decided that I needed to change a few things if I wanted to run better, longer, faster.

1- I needed new shoes
2- I needed to run more - 5 days a week.

I was still running in the shoes that I had 5 years ago in Hawaii. It was time for new running shoes. I found these beauties and I love them! They have helped my feet, knees, legs, back so much. It's a whole new world running in shoes that actually fit and help correct the problems that I have with over pronation, etc.

I then downloaded a half marathon training program that I have been following pretty closely. I run 5 days a week. The first week of running 5 days I could barely do a full 3 miles on Monday. By Saturday I ran 4.5 miles.

Last week, I finished off my week of running by doing a 7 mile run!!! Amazing! It felt so good. I could not believe what I've actually been able to accomplish in this last month. I'm still pretty slow, but I'm moving! And I'm getting better every week.

The runs are getting longer and harder. Every run is a challenge, but I get up everyday and do it. I finally passed the point where each step is a struggle. Now the first mile is a struggle, but once I've made it past that the runs are really enjoyable and feel great on my lungs.  My legs have a constant dull ache to them but I'm starting to see my body toning up again. I'm sleeping so much better at night since doing this and have not needed to take any sleep aids (melatonin) for the past month. That right there makes it worth it to me.

So yes, my life has suddenly become consumed with running. But in a month I will be accomplishing a big goal that I've had for a long time!

Leap...

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I've been thinking a lot about faith lately. How we need to actually have times in life where we need to exercise our faith in order for it to grow and become stronger.

Moving back home to Utah was a really scary thought for me. I knew that we wanted to move back, but just because you want something doesn't mean it's the best decision or what you should do. I knew that my husband really, really wanted to move back, but there was so much at risk... this was not a decision that I could make or do just based on want.

So I did what I usually do in situations such as this. I prayed. I prayed a lot. I prayed that if this was what we should do that I would know it, somehow. My answer came the first weekend in September. I was driving up to central Utah to go camping with my in laws. My boy was asleep in the back of the car and I was longingly gazing at the beautiful mountains around me. Is it time to come back? I wondered and prayed for the thousandth time....

Yes, I felt it throughout my whole being.

Yes it was time. This was what we needed to do. And somehow, all the little details of life would work out so that we could.

Coming back was a path of great resistance. We both had jobs in Vegas, something we did not have up in Utah. My husband was even offered an amazing nursing job in Vegas, straight out of school {I haven't told this to very many people, because then I just feel like we are super crazy}. He turned it down. When he told me he turned it down I felt really good about that decision. Somehow this was all going to work out, I just didn't know how. Trent was delayed in taking his nursing licensure test by two whole months due to misplaced paperwork. At the time this felt like huge problem, but in those two months we were able to save up enough money with both of us working for us to live on when we got here. That money lasted us until last week when he started his new job. Huge blessing. We also needed to sell our little condo that was worth half of what we had bought it for 3 years earlier due to the housing crash in Vegas. We waited till August to put it up on the market and attempt to short sale it. We had an offer two days later, in cash, for our asking price. We still had to do a short sale, but it was not as bad as I feared it would be. Our closing papers came as we were driving the moving truck up to Utah... I miss my cute little place, but it worked out for the best. One of my biggest hold ups... health insurance. Hello!?! I'm in remission for cancer, and leaving my job meant I would lose coverage. Have faith Meg, have faith. This was the biggest pill for me to swallow, and like everything else... this too has fallen into place and we were able to keep me covered until new insurance started. It's been a blessing to watch these small and simple miracles take place as we've made this transition in our lives.

In my mind we needed to have a job before we made the move, but as I realized this was not going to happen I also realized that sometimes we can't see how things are going to work out. If we did, then it wouldn't be required for us to have faith. I had my confirmation that this was the right thing for us, and now I needed to put my trust and faith in that we would be taken care of, somehow, some way...

I wish I could say that I had perfect faith through this process but I did not. So many times I said, maybe we did the wrong thing... we should have stayed in Vegas... things are not going to work out. My poor husband. I don't know how he stands my wavering faith. But he does, and for that I'm grateful.

As I have sat back these last three months since we made the move I have been in complete awe as to how everything has worked out. Trent would not have been able to get the job he did get if we had still been down in Vegas, sending in applications online. The little details of our lives that have been thrown up in the air are all falling back into place right where they need to be.

I'm grateful for this experience and what it has taught me. There were lots of people who I'm sure thought we were totally crazy for doing this, at this time, in this economy... but it was right for us. Every day I feel great peace in knowing that we made the right move for our family.

I still miss Las Vegas everyday... I miss my friends, I miss my amazing job and co-workers, I miss the warm winter, I miss our jewish grandma that we adopted, I miss my ward, I miss teaching lessons in Relief Society, I miss being able to walk to Target whenever I pleased, I miss my life down there. But I know that I'm where I need to be now. I know that this is where we want to raise our little boy. I know that we will be blessed for doing what we felt was right... we already have been. I'm grateful that we were able to take that leap, and that the landing has been wonderful.

I'm excited for this next step in life... whatever it may be, and am grateful that I am able to take it at home, with my family and friends by my side. I'm thankful that my faith has been strengthened through this process, and hopefully next time I'm required to leap I can do it without hesitation.

... and happy leap day by the way...

Leaving Las Vegas...

Leaving the desert...

Everything that I hold dear... my sleeping boy, and my hubby driving all of our stuff behind me...

About 7 days ago we packed up all of our earthly belongings and moved back home to Utah. This is a move that we've been hoping for and anticipating for a long time, and quite honestly we really just picked a date and made it happen. We have a lot that needs to "work out" and happen before we are settled here, but one thing's for sure... we are no longer in Las Vegas. More on our decision to move back home later, right now I want to talk about Las Vegas.

If someone would have told me that I was going to spend four years of my life living in Las Vegas I would have never believed them. We are not city people. We just aren't. We are outdoor loving, mountain people. We love rivers, fishing, hiking, camping, and spending our days out in the trees. So Las Vegas was a different type of experience for us. I had never even been to Las Vegas until we went to check it out before moving there. Our reasons for moving to Vegas dissolved soon after we got there, but we decided to stay... and I'm so glad we did. Vegas really grew on me...

 Las Vegas is where we became parents. It's where we also became grieving parents. It's where we fought and won cancer. Las Vegas means a lot to me, it's where I feel like I grew up to be an adult. The people that we met and associated with in Las Vegas are some of the finest I've ever met in my life. It was really hard to leave that place.

The wonderful ward that we lived in the last three years we were there really became family to us. They carried us through the hardest time in our lives. I could never have made it through cancer without them. So many people were so supportive and kind. I learned how to serve others there by being served myself. It was really hard to leave these wonderful people.

It was hard to leave my job. I loved my job in the ER. I never have wanted to work outside of the home but I had to, and it became one of the greatest joys of my life. I looked forward to being at work because it gave me something to do besides sit at home and feel sorry for myself and my current situation. It forced me to get out there, make friends, see what I was really made of. I was so worried about going back to work after being sick for so long. But I'm happy to say that I thrived at work, I worked hard and became very close to many of the doctors and nurses that I worked with. It gave me a piece of confidence that I had lost, and I am so happy about that. Leaving my job was hard, but now I get to be home with my boy and I am so grateful for that.

It's hard to leave a place that has been so good to you. I left a piece of my heart in Las Vegas, and I will always treasure the time that we spent there, the lessons learned, and the friends that touched our lives.

 So long Las Vegas. Thank you for being so so good to us...