A Change Can Do You Good

Well, it's only a couple of weeks into the new year, and changes are definitely coming our way. Of course, Jared and I made some New Year's resolutions to improve ourselves both physically and spiritually. Neither of us have been great about exercising. Jared does better than I do. He at least has been playing soccer every week. I pretty much just sit at home and have basically had no real exercise since I graduated from college, except for the couple of months in the summer when we went to a walking trail three times a week until Jared hurt his ankle, and then there was that month that I worked out at the gym right before I got pregnant, and then I never felt like going. Unfortunately, we live on a busy road, so we can't really get outside and walk down the street, but since the beginning of the new year, Jared and I have been doing push-ups, sit ups, squats, and cardio stuff for 30 minutes about 5-6 times a week, and I've been stretching a lot because I want to get some of my flexibility back (and hopefully when Taylor gets old enough, she and I can take a mommy and me gymnastics class!). The first night that we started was rough. I think the push-ups were the hardest for me. I've always been really good at push-ups, but ever since I got pregnant, I have really felt like my upper body strength has decreased, and it definitely showed that first night. It has quickly come back though, and even Jared has to work hard to keep up with me during push-ups ;-)

Jared and I also made a resolution to be better at reading our scriptures together every day. We've been doing good with our personal study but not with our family study, so now, we're really making an effort and doing very well so far. We're reading the Pearl of Great Price and even using the study manual to help us understand it better. Another resolution was going to the temple more often. It has been hard to go because we haven't been able to leave Taylor wtih a babysitter for that long in the past and because she was breastfeeding and wouldn't take a bottle, but now, she is officially weaned and doing much better with staying with a babysitter. We haven't had a chance to go yet, but we're in the process of getting our new temple recommends since they expired in December, so at least we're working towards it!

Another change that is coming our way is that we are getting ready to put our house on the market to sell it. At first, we were really excited because our neighbor told us that she wanted to buy it, so we thought, "Okay, we can just take our time looking around for a house that we want, and when we find one, we can sell our house to her, and everything will work out perfectly." Plus, we could have sold it for sale by owner and avoided realtor commission fees. We love our realtor, but who doesn't want to save a little money, right? Well, our perfect little scenario hasn't played out the way we wanted it to. Our neighbor wanted the house so her mother could move in next to her, but now her mother says no, so she's not going to buy the house anymore. So, now we have to actually put the house on the market and do a lot of work so that people can come in and look around at it. Our realtor came by one day to let us know things that we need to do around the house. She told us that we basically needed to pack up everything that we don't absolutely need and store it somewhere, and we have to rearrange our furniture so that it is more appealing to buyers, etc, etc. She also made the comment, "When you sell a house, it's no longer your own. It belongs to the public." I have been very stressed just thinking about all this. I've had a hard enough time trying to take care of Taylor (especially when she is whiney), work on the medical transcription stuff, and keep the house clean well enough for ourselves much less having to worry about constantly keeping it clean well enough for other people to look at because you never know when a realtor might call and say, "Hey, I'm bringing someone to look at the house in an hour," and it could take us several months to sell our house. Plus, we're going to have to sell our house first (because we can't afford two mortgages) and then move in with my mom until we find a house of our own to buy which means packing and moving twice. I HATE packing, and I HATE moving, so none of this is appealing to me whatsoever, but I know that I just have to suck it up and get over it. It's just something that we have to do. Now is the best time for us to sell our house because we would rather get into a new home, fix it up, and get settled in before we have another baby, preferably before I even get pregnant because then I could be more helpful with painting and stuff. So, needless to say, I have been very stressed and grouchy and hard to live with lately (just ask Jared). HOWEVER, when it is all over, I know that this will be a good change for our family. We hope to get into a bigger house to accomodate our growing family whether it's for a short period of time or a long period of time if needs be and to be able to be in a neighborhood (and not on a busy street) where our kids can go outside to play, and I won't have to worry so much.

So, basically, this is why it has been a couple of weeks since I have posted anything new, and it is why I may not be posting very often in the future. I'm just forewarning you. I will definitely try to keep everyone updated on what is going on though, and if you know anyone who is looking for a house to buy, let us know! ;-)