Red Ribbon Week

 Last week we had Red Ribbon Week and everyday was a different dress up day. I definitely enjoy dress up days! Christy needed help with Luke so I last minute took Friday off. I was able to go volunteer at Ryan's school that afternoon as well and it was fun to see him. That night I chaperoned a school dance. Saturday night was Krista's annual Halloween party but it was kind of a bust in the best way. Everyone bailed and it was just Lisa and Krista and Riley. Sometimes a small group is the best! We watched a scary movie that was not scary and I of course fell asleep during. Lisa and I dressed up like Paulette and the UPS guy from Legally Blonde. Lisa was SO on point! Today is Ryan's birthday and he celebrated with his dad but we will celebrate next weekend. I did make him pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and hung up birthday decorations. 

I'm applying to be a surrogate. It might not work out but if it does it might be crazy. Christy planted the seed over the summer and I decided to go for it. I applied with one company but was on pause for awhile until my divorce was final. I proceeded with the application process after that but was rejected after the social interview. I didn't expect my personality to be a problem and that certainly surprised me. I went ahead and applied with a company that seems like a better fit for me. The pay is not as good but it just feels like it would be an overall better experience. I had my social interview with them last Friday and did not get rejected. Now it's a matter of gathering tons of documents like my medical history, background check, etc. At any point something might not pan out and the journey may be done but I will continue to try until I get rejected, succeed or I don't feel good about it anymore. I just think it could be an empowering thing to use my body to take care of myself and my children AND to do a really good deed to some future family. The fact that is seems really challenging is appealing to me on some level as well. I like doing hard and challenging things. We will see what happens!  

I got to help Ryan's class make Idaho salt maps.

I went to the dance in a llama onsie. It was warm and perfect for working outside.

70's day! 

Piper sent me a pic from her dress up day!

"Bend...and snap!"

Parent Teacher Conference Week

Wahoo, I made it through the dreaded parent teacher conferences. I always worry a parent is going to come at me (hasn't happened at parent teacher conference...yet) and it's just tiring to work 2, 12 hour days in a row. It wasn't bad though. They feed us dinner and I'm able to do work on my computer during down time. I usually have quite a bit of downtime since parents aren't generally too concerned about their child's grade in Teen Living. If the parent is quiet and the kid is doing great I have nothing to say and that can be awkward but I got through. I asked Scott to keep the kids on Tuesday night to help conserve time and energy resources. I also asked him to drive the kids to my house on Wednesday night to again save time and energy and he did and that was so nice. We always get a day off of work during parent teacher conference week and that is the best. I ran some errands. I tried to get a new license thinking my new social security card would be sufficient but no, they needed to see my divorce decree. That was a big waste of time. I will have to do that next week. I went ahead and got the regular flu shot and the covid flu shot. We will see if it helps. I couldn't talk any of my kids into get them. I just figure it might help so why not. I am around a million germs everyday and need all the help I can get.

I have the kids and we are mostly just hanging out this weekend. I think we might go to my brother's climbing gym today and clean the house. I take them to Scott's tonight. I wish they could stay with me all of the time. 

Ryan is earning a free Wahooz pass by getting exercise through his school. He is very diligent and makes sure to cross things off of his chart everyday. 

You can't read it great but his teacher said Ryan is doing great. At first I thought she had a giant list of concerns for him but then I noticed there wasn't one check mark next to the areas of concerns. Good work Ryan!

Gabby asked me to make cookies Thursday night. This was such a good batch! 

Pictures are Up!

 I don't have much to say from this past week. I got my canvas family pictures and I hung them up. Yay! The quality is not amazing but for the price it's good! On Friday in class we made pumpkin pancakes while I played Nightmare Before Christmas music and it was Friday the 13th so that was fun. I had various meet ups with friends this weekend to keep me from being totally alone all weekend. I have had the perfect blend of rest and productivity so that's good. Today I am going to make a few dinners so that my week will be easier-ish. My kids come back tonight and it's parent teacher conferences this week so it should be an extra exhausting week. I can't wait until Friday. I will have the day off and will have survived parent teacher conferences. So here's to Friday...may it come swiftly and somewhat peacefully. 

Cheers

Today should be my 18th wedding anniversary. Life is crazy. that's all I have to say about that. On Monday I got the email with the official divorce decree. I am happy that my divorcery will also be in October, my favorite month. I bought myself some Ted Lasso merch to celebrate. A mystery person sent me some crumble cookies and I had a celebration with my friends on Thursday night while we watched Golden Bachelor. One of my Krista friends, who makes amazing professional type cakes made me a pumpkin divorce cake. She drove it to the other Krista's house to drop it off because she couldn't come Thursday night, talk about going above and beyond. I have the best friends! To some degree I still don't feel relief because I have to deal with the hassle of changing my name and not having a house and still figuring how to survive financially, BUT I have to stop and celebrate this GIANT step. I have to take breaths because everything will work out, everything has worked out so far. My family and friends have been incredible and there have been MANY miracles along the way. Also, let's circle back to the divorce being final, what a relief. The stress and burden that comes with going through a divorce is substantial. One night two of my friends came over and I was overwhelmed by the amount of documents I needed to send my lawyer. My friend Jaynee sat on my computer for 2 hours and did it all for me, she also wrote out my parenting plan. Stuff like that happened ALL of the time. I am overwhelmed by the love and support I feel. 

I had the kids this past week and I just love it when they are here. It is tiring, the work is double but it's worth it!  Gabby and I made cinnamon rolls on Saturday. Normally I only make those at Christmas time but Gabby has been wanting them forever so we made them. I also made some creamy chicken noodle soup to take to Gabe's annual soups and sweaters birthday party. Corbin and Ryan swam with their cousins all night. Ryan was so excited to go over and swim last night. We had a fun time visiting and eating all of Christy's amazing food. She knows how to throw a party. The kids are going to Utah to visit Scott's family this week because they have a few days off of school. They are so excited, Ryan especially. Scott's family is so good with my kids and I love that they love to see them. Nothing much for me this coming week. Well, that's all.

Love!

Love!

So good!

Baking Buddy.

Ryan fell asleep on my bed Friday night. Cute boy!

HAHA!

HAHA!

HAHA!

Family Pictures

 My friend Krista offered to take my family pictures and I was so excited about it. She is so talented and I knew they would be amazing. I can't wait to order some and put them up on my wall! This will be very healing for me to have these pictures on the wall. I love my new temporary home. My kids are so cute and they are the best! 

About a month ago I reached out to an old classmate because she is also divorced and she goes on hikes all of the time. I told her that I hate to camp but I love being outdoors and I asked her if there was a day hike we could do. We made a plan and made it happen. At different points there were a variety of people that were planning on coming but in the end there were just 3 of us. I drove to her house in Twin after a very long day on Friday. I felt like a grown adult driving in the dark which I hate! I had a field trip to Farmstead with my AVID kids that day and scored volleyball for extra money after school. I was very happy to pull up to her house. We got up at 5:00 the next day and drove to Sun Valley. Sun Valley was extra gorgeous. I love fall so much! The hike was about 8 miles and took us 5 hours. I am not in the best shape of my life right now so it was challenging. Walking steadily uphill for 3 hours was a lot. Haha. The view on top was incredible. It was cold up there! It was really cool and fun. After the hike we went to a thrift store in Ketchum that Shannon loves to go to and then we drove back to Twin. Brooke (classmate) and I went to Miracle Springs Hot Springs after that. That felt really good on our muscles. I brought taco soup with me to share and we ate that for dinner and watched a scary movie...tis the season. I got up and drove home this morning in the pouring rain...which I also hate. Doing all of the adult things. Growth. Haha. Now I'm just getting ready for the week. I can't wait to see my kids tonight! 

Pic at the trailhead. Shannon (Brooke's hiking friend) in the middle Brooke (classmate) on the right.

The cabin was fun. It had pads and beds and a fireplace. It's well taken care of and people stay there.