Bloom Where Your're Planted

Hey everyone! So it's been almost 2 months since we moved to big sky country. You know, our first couple of weeks were rough, which I think is to be expected, but we are finally starting to feel at home here. Mike's job is going well and he really likes what he does. It makes me so happy to know that Mike enjoys his job, otherwise we'd both be in a miserable situation, right? So, although his hours are a little long (in my opinion) everything is going well.
Vessel is growing up fast. He probably knows over a hundred words now and is putting small sentences together like, "watch movie," "I'll do it," or "made a mess." Of course a lot of words still come out sort of unclear to other people, but being around him all day I've learned what he means (i.e. "ah-dai-kit" means "I like it.") We got him is very own potty recently and he loves the thing because it has a little button on it that plays music. The first thing he said when he woke up this morning was "Vessie potty." It made me laugh because he thinks it's his toy or something. He is such a sweet kid and I just love that boy so much! He's always copying everything Mike and I do and say, which is a good thing since it reminds us to set a good example. We have been striving to have FHE every week and family scripture study (something we've always struggled with in the past.) We aren't a perfect family, but I've noticed that when we are making an effort to do these things, our lives go more smoothly and there's less contention in our apartment.
Things for me are going all right. I have had time to work on a number of projects that I never had time for before. I have almost completed the editing and compilation of my journals. I have also been able to read books for pleasure (imagine! for pleasure= not required for school!) and do some painting projects. I have also been honing my cooking skills and that is a huge accomplishment for me. Last week I got called as secretary in the Primary of our ward. I've never had a calling in the primary, but I anticipate it will be enjoyable. I have been able to make some friends (members and non members) since living here. You know, I had been praying to meet some people I could relate to and hang out with. And then just last week I had a cool experience. It was hot so I thought about taking Vessel to the pool. I kept going back and forth with the idea, just because I wasn't really in the mood, but I knew Vessel needed to get out of the house and would have a good time. So eventually I had this feeling I should go. At the kiddie pool I was able to meet a nice girl and her son that is about Vessel's age. We had a good time talking and laughing and it turns out we had similar moving experiences (she's new to Montana too.) So we swapped numbers before I left the pool. Then when Ves and I arrived home, there was a young girl walking down our sidewalk pushing a stroller. I didn’t think anything of it, but she saw me and asked how old Vessel was. She was very outgoing and if it wasn’t for her friendliness, I probably wouldn’t have talked to her. But I’m so glad I did! She is very nice and I found out that she and her husband just bought a little place 3 houses down from our apartment building. She invited us over so we hung out in her backyard and talked while her son and Ves played together. We’ve done a few things like go to the farmer’s market and shopping, and then she came over for dinner a couple nights ago (her husband is out of town for new job training.) I feel like I can connect with her and she is straightforward (a quality I like) and very easy to talk to. So I’m glad I went with that “feeling” to go to the pool, because if we hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t have met that first girl at the kiddie pool and I wouldn’t have been outside right as the other girl was just walking by our car when we got home. It’s so interesting how Heavenly Father answers our prayers.
In an earlier post I mentioned that our new ward was questionable. But after attending for a few weeks now, we feel more comfortable and have come to realize that there are lots of nice people who we can see ourselves being friends with. We are going to Billings this weekend for a ward temple trip. We get to bring Vessel with us, which is really convenient! I guess while some couples are doing a session, the youth and other couples will watch the babies, and then swap. We are going the night before and staying in a hotel the ward reserved for us. We are so excited because it’s been awhile since we’ve gone to the temple.
We’ve been thinking about taking a trip up to Glacier National Park at the end of August and visit Canada while we’re up that way. Why not, right? We have some friends up there who offered to let us stay with them if needs be. It would be nice to see them. I hope our plans work out because I’ve heard Glacier is beautiful. Erma, you going with us? :)
In other news, Mike and I are in the beginning stages of buying our first home! We found one we really liked and seemed to fit the bill of what we wanted. It had remodeled EVERYTHING, new carpet downstairs, hardwood upstairs, 4 bedrooms, a spacious kitchen, a yard, a 2 car garage, etc. And it was in our price range. Unfortunately it turns out someone had already made a solid offer on it. We were bummed, but we kept looking. We’ve scoured the neighborhoods and looked online for stuff in our price range and what we want. Like I said, we don’t want a fixer-upper. We want a house that we can just move into as-is. Yesterday, the realtor we’ve been talking to mentioned a cheap house we should look at. So we drove over there last night and fell in love! The house is incredibly affordable for us, and it’s just the right size. The main floor has the living room, kitchen, dining room and a bathroom. Upstairs has a master bedroom, bathroom, and two more bedrooms. The basement is unfinished and I don’t see us finishing it if we actually buy the place. Basically we’d just do laundry and keep food storage down there. We like the house, and although it’s been updated, it still scares me to buy such an old house. I think it was built in like 1910 or something. So we need to get the low down on the place like if the foundation is good and get it inspected. The yard needs some major TLC, but I’m not too worried about that. I’d rather have a nice house and a fixer-upper yard than a nice yard and a fixer-upper house. We would probably plant more trees, make a garden and start over with new grass and build a picket fence out front. I have all these ideas swimming in my head of what I would do with the place. It’s got really high ceilings, which Mike and I LOVE, a deck, a balcony leading out from the master bedroom and all new windows and doors. There are a lot of things we like about it, especially the price. Oh, and it’s in the ward boundaries that we’re in now. But who knows if we’ll end up getting it. I guess we’ll just have to pray about it.
Anyway, like I said, life has just been good. Of course we’ve had our ups and downs since moving, but what normal person doesn’t? We've just tried to focus on the ups and make the most of our lives. And the Lord has really blessed us and I am grateful for that. Since finding out that Montana was going to be our new residence, I've been repeating in my mind the adage "bloom where you're planted." Montana wasn't our first choice of where to live. But I know there is a reason for us to be here. And I suppose I could complain a lot and hate it here and constantly think about our old life with all our family and old friends (who we still miss dearly by the way!) or I can make our life here as great as possible. I think I'd rather do the latter. And so far Montana hasn't been so bad at all...


Here we are at the Pet and Doll parade in GF.

Montana has some really cool storms. Here after a storm Mike, Vessel and I were blowing bubbles off the deck. The humidity in the air made it possible to blow really big bubbles and made them last longer. I had more fun blowing bubbles than Vessie did.

Some cool looking clouds. I'd like this kind of paint job on our bedroom walls.