Been Looking Forward To This

Watch "Swimming!!!" on YouTube

Yes. That's right. We took Warren swimming and it was a great success! I've been prepared for this day since before he was even born, thanks to my best friend who got me swim.diapers and baby swim trunks.

It was so fun. He wasn't even phased by going into the water. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't super warm either. I think they said that the small pool (where we were) is 88 degrees and the large pool is 83 degrees. Warren didn't even really make a sound the whole time. He just looked around as we played with him. He's such a chill kid!!

After about 20 minutes we noticed his jaw starting to chatter so we.realized it was time to come out.

Ray took Warren with him to the change rooms and I guess that's where the adventure began. Turns out Warren HATES showers. Ray said he was screaming hard even though the water was warm and he wasn't getting any in his eyes. Good thing Ray laughs at stuff like that!

I'm so glad we had that experience together as a family. It's so wonderful being all together again, and this time for good.

New Toy!

Well as frustrating as the whole process was, I finally got my phone. My very first smart phone and it seems to have opened up a whole new world to me! For example... I can now blog on the go. This freedom is awesome!

By the time I got my phone, I was pretty sure the world had conspired against me because NOTHING was going smoothly. I went to get my car registered and after the third time going to the office, they finally told me they couldn't do it until my actual green card came. Time. Wasted. Got a letter from immigration welcoming me to the USA and saw that my zip code was wrong. Whoever input that information switched two numbers. When I called to correct it, I realized that would slow down the arrival of my green card. Signed up for the YMCA and they got one of my credit card numbers wrong so I had to fix thY before they tried to charge me for the monthly fee. Had I not realized that had happened I would have had a $20 fee to pay. All the while waiting for my phone to come in the mail. 

So after more than a week of my phone not coming, we found out that it was because there was some money owing on the account and my phone wouldn't ship until it was paid off. We wouldn't have known unless we asked and we'd have just kept waiting endlessly. One the money was paid, the phone was shipped but still... Three days later it wasn't here still. Some overnight shipping eh?? Well Ray got an email that day with a UPS tracking number and when He checked it, it said it had been delivered the day before. Ray went to the apartment office and they said that nothing was there for us and there was nobody in the office that had the name that the tracking number said it was signed for by. So confused. Ray called UPS and as soon as they checked the tracking number they saw that it had been delivered to the wrong address. Ray got the address it was delivered to and instead of letting them deal with it (which would have taken another two weeks) he just went to pick it up on his own. Turns out it was delivered to an actual Sprint store. Makes no sense.

Anyways... After all that I finally got my phone. Complete gong show.

I'm pretty stoked to have a smart phone. Like I said. A whole new freedom. Haha. I feel like I've finally caught up with the rest of the world. Awesome.

Don't Worry. I'm Alive.

Yes. I took a blogging vacation. My loving husband tried to fill in for me, so I appreciate that. Sorry if you were confused by the last post with the sudden change in writing style. It wasn't me. haha. Anywho...

I had a really really REALLY hard time leaving Canada. I didn't want to blog because I didn't want to acknowledge that I was leaving my home, the place where I was raised, forever. The thought of making my home somewhere else was entirely too overwhelming for me. I realized that I would still be going back to Edmonton for visits, but thinking that I would probably never LIVE there again was the cause of many many tears. The thought of being with my husband again was definitely exciting, but I think I almost forgot what it was like. That made moving even harder.

But I tried to be tough, and made it through the packing (I LOATHE packing), the multiple goodbyes, and the hardest goodbye of all with my parents. I love that my relationship with them grew as I stayed with them these past few months, but that just made it that much more difficult for all of us. And to top it off, I felt like the most evil person for taking their grandson away from them. They both love him SOOO much..

Needless to say, my attitude was more on what I was losing and less on what I was gaining. I'm thankful that my parents, the rest of my family and my friends understood that I was doing the right thing by going to be with my husband. We all agreed though with how much it sucked that joining my husband meant being so far away, especially considering that my whole family is all in Edmonton. With the exception of one aunt and two cousins, I'm the only one who's ventured out. The understanding of my loved ones made it a little easier for me to move on.

The morning I left was pretty rough. I've said goodbye to my parents before, but this one was different. I'm not coming back to stay. They were both crying, and I was crying, and it was just not a happy experience. I drove out of the driveway and I didn't wanna look back. I think that would have made things even harder.

So the giant exodus began...

I drove to Calgary, and stopped at their new shopping center, Cross Iron Mills, to feed Warren. He slept the whole way there, so I was pretty lucky. I found the nursing area in that mall, which was insane! It was a room with at least 8 rocking chairs, two changing stations, a microwave, and a big TV playing the Treehouse channel. haha. I wanted to make sure Warren was getting enough attention throughout this road trip because the poor guy would be stuck in the back of the car facing away from me in his carseat for the next three days. So I made sure to play with him at every stop I made and hope that I tuckered him out enough to sleep through the next stretch. It worked relatively well. I think the fact that Warren is such an amazing baby added to how successful we were at travelling together.

Once I was done feeding him, I made a pit stop at Peter's Drive-In. I probably won't be going there anytime soon, so I binged and got two cheeseburgers and a banana-oreo milkshake.

Next stop was Lethbridge. I wasn't so successful at finding such an amazing nursing area there. I went to a mall, but just ended up feeding him in a fitting room in The Bay (department store). I also stocked up on my Canadian Olympic Team swag. I got myself a Canada t-shirt and new gloves, and I got Warren a super adorable Canada track suit. It's still a little big, but babies grow. haha.

After that, I crossed the border. For the first time in two years, I crossed the border without being interrogated. I had all my immigration papers so all I had to do was go inside the building and wait for them to process some papers and stamp my passport. Once they did that, I again had no luck finding a nursing area, so I just fed him in the waiting area. That nursing cover is probably the best investment I have ever made. I'm just glad I crossed the border in the evening. I was the only one there.

The last leg of the day was to Great Falls, MT. Nothing to see there. haha. I checked into a hotel and got a room with a King size bed. What I learned about King size beds is that they're too big because when I put Warren in the middle of it, I couldn't reach him without crawling onto the bed myself. haha.

The next day of travelling was BORING. I was driving through Montana and Wyoming. Nuff said. I really just wanted to go the rest of the way that day, but Warren definitely let me know it was time to stop when we did. I made it to Casper, WY on the second day.

The last day was the shortest day of travelling at six hours. I made one stop in Cheyenne, WY. From there, you just have to drive through Ft Collins and Denver, then it's a 45 minute to Colorado Springs. It was the Denver part that was the hardest. I ended up getting there at around 3:00 and it was already full on rush hour traffic. Stop and go for a whole hour. Warren doesn't like stop and go. He just likes go because he sleeps. As soon as you stop, he wakes up, and that's just not always the happiest experience for him or I. So the whole hour it took me to drive through Denver, I was trying to calm Warren, keep his soother in his mouth, and pay attention to traffic. Ugh... It's an experience I would rather never repeat. Actually... This whole road trip doesn't ever need to happen again.

I made it though. An hour late, but I made it to my husband and my new home.

He was so happy to see us both. Warren didn't show any signs that he recognized his dad, but they were only together for a week after he was born. It didn't take long for Warren to become reacquainted with his Daddy.

So now I'm here. Colorado Springs is where I call home. I have so much more to talk about but there's so much to say that I'm just gonna spread it all out.

I love being with my husband. He makes me so happy. Despite leaving my family back home, my own family is once again together, and that's how it should be.

I needed that.

Finally decided to make a appearance on this blog!

I would like to tell you about a awesome experience that happened this weekend. On friday night I was contacted by Kayla Muraya. She was someone that found the gospel because we shared it with her. It was an amazing story of faith and action. We found her tracting the first week of the transfer and she was baptized within 6 weeks. As a missionary in the south, it was a miracle! As time went on she got married and has traveled the country with her husband Steve. Who is from Kenya. Way cool, I know. We spent a couple hours catching up over food. During our visit we went through my mission journals seeing what I wrote giving them my perspective of what happened. Which helped me realize the power of what I had done while a missionary. On your mission the whole point is to invite everyone that you see to come unto Christ. Hopefully that bears some sort of fruit. Since I came home I have thought a lot about that. I really want my life to be a example of living the gospel, touching peoples lives, and enjoying everything that happens along the way. The hard part about looking back is you cant see the end until it is the end. I have had times where I have felt my efforts didn't add up to much, outside of what it did for me. So, when Kayla said "If it wasn't for Stewart and you, I wouldn't be where I am now." She continued to elaborate on that explaining that because she joined the church. She went to Virginia selling pest control, which took her to Vegas, where she met her husband. Which has brought her a lot of joy. Just because Elder Stewart and I went tracking in our own apartment complex after planning meeting. A apartment complex that was tracted every time there were new Elders in the area. In fact we had to hide from the apartments managers from seeing us. We overcame the stigma that it had already been all knocked out. Because we did it caused this huge reaction that I wouldn't and couldn't have seen there or after my mission. The ripple effects of what happened aren't even done! That's what is crazy! I am so thankful for Steve & Kayla coming over! Its good to remember. 

-Ray

Too Fast

Pretty sure I'm in denial about moving... Every time I think about it, I push the thought away and out of my head. I'm afraid that in doing so I'm gonna have one big giant melt down, instead of just letting myself cry it out whenever the thought comes up.

I have stuff to blog about with my going to the Matthew Good concert on Tuesday, but I'm afraid that in doing so that's acknowledging my leaving Edmonton. That concert was so much about how my friendship with Monie has come full circle since our friendship really solidified because of concerts, particularly Matthew Good concerts. I guess I'm just not ready to let go of my home here in Canada yet, and writing about the things that I'm doing for the last time and to say goodbye make it too real that I'm leaving. Bah...

Ignoring things is just easier for now.

Monday is coming too fast...

How Do People Do It?

I don't get it. People move away from home all the time and I'm sure it's hard for them, but I'm seriously freaking out right now.

I've decided that I'm officially starting my trek to Colorado on November 21. That means in two weeks I'll be leaving my home, the place where I grew up, forever. To be perfectly honest, I'm more terrified than excited right now. Don't get me wrong. I'm way happy to be with my husband for good now and to have our little family together again, but it's really hard to be here in Canada and seeing the pain in my family's eyes when they're around me. They're all happy that I'm with them and that they get to play with Warren, but I can see it. In the back of their minds they're thinking about how they won't be able to see me in person and they won't be able to hold Warren soon. It breaks my heart to see the pain that me leaving is causing.

I'm so grateful for the understanding that everyone has that I need to be with my husband, but I'm so sorry for the hurt that it's causing them. I'm so thankful for technology that will be able to keep us connected. I will rely on that a lot.

Tonight we had a family dinner at my Grandma and Grandpa's and it was amazing. I had such a good time. Things like that are what I'm going to miss the most. I love being able to get together with my whole family each Sunday and just laugh and enjoy each other's company. It's going to be up to me to start new traditions with my family in Colorado but I fear it'll feel empty without the people I've had around me my whole life.

So how do people make it through this transition? How can I do this and not be so sad?? Bless my husband for being willing to put up with me post-family separation. He's a good man.

I'm so thankful at times like this for the Church because of the instant family it provides. Ray keeps telling me how excited the Ward is for me to be there, and I'm so thankful for people who are fully prepared to totally embrace me, both those I already know and love and those I don't but soon will.

These next two weeks will be full of emotion. I take comfort in the fact that I know I'll be coming back home to visit in September though to celebrate the homecoming of my amazing little missionary brother. Maybe if we're lucky, we might even be able to celebrate Warren's first birthday up here too. I can make it to September, and by then I'll have had more time to adjust to my new life and find joy in where I'm at.

This is the path I chose. I just didn't expect it to be so difficult. But I know Heavenly Father will help me along the way.

My Kid is Fun

So now that Warren has reached a stage where he's actually interactive, I've started recording videos of him. I'm such a typical mother. haha.

This week Warren has started playing in the tub. He used to just lay there in the water and look at me with this "what the heck are you doing to me" look. Now he's discovered that when he kicks, something actually happens. He's actually a bit camera shy in this video but normally, he's got a look of complete bliss on his face when he's kicking around in the water. But this video is still ridiculously cute.

I also went to Babies R Us yesterday to find a rattle for Warren. They have pink rattles, but they don't have any boy rattles. I was disappointed. They DID however have JOLLY JUMPERS!!! Those things are the best, and I know when I was really little that I LOVED it. So because it was on sale, my agency was taken away and I HAD to buy it. hahaha. It took him a little bit, but he eventually started figuring it out. Enjoy. My kid is amazing.