Nelson Review- Moving Is Our Life

Ok, so clearly, blogging has fallen to the side lately. Our lives have been busy and lots of changes are in the works/have just happened, so here's an (ideally) condensed version of what we are up to and what's keeping us busy.

- Jonathan has a new job working at BCA (Bicycle Corporation of America)! He started working on 10 May. It pays better than his last job, has more time off (he went from 4 holidays to 9!), and he gets to be home more with the boys (new hours 7:30-4:00). The company is 49% Chinese owned and 51% US owned. So, Jonathan gets to go to China 3-4 times a year. He was hired as translator/whatever else they decide for him to do.

Ezra the firefighter
(We went to a park when Jonathan had his first interview with BCA) 

Peter climbing cypress tree roots at the same park

- Nelson Family Beach trip! After three days of Jonathan working at BCA, we left for a week for the NC Outer Banks. It was a little crazy getting ready for the trip since Jonathan was gone and I got really sick- high fever, achy and super sore throat. I was supposed to be packing for the beach and for moving. Instead, I laid on the couch and made Peter get me more blankets. I'm pretty sure Peter and Ezra survived on graham crackers and apples for a couple of days. Ha! But, we made it through that week and got rewarded by a beach week! We got to see lots of fun things, hang out with family, and spend lots of afternoons on the beach.

Ezra, Jonathan, Peter and Robin and the Bodie Lighthouse

- We're moving again! The new job is in South Carolina, about 2 hours from where we are now. Presently, Jonathan drives down at the beginning of the week and stays with some friends and comes back on Friday. Hopefully soon we'll get down there too....which leads to....

- We are buying a house! Short version- a lady from church's daughter is moving to Kentucky and they are trying to sell their house fast. They hadn't even listed it, and they are selling it for less than it's worth. It needs some work, but it has good bones (and a nice backyard, which we've been needing) and I think we can make it really cute. It took more to convince me to buy it than it did Jonathan, but it's really happening. We hope to close in the end of June. But, we hopefully get to move in within a week or so and just rent from them until it closes.

- Peter is getting eye surgery mid-July. Our current eye doctor is still in our insurance network and we'd rather stay with him than have to start over getting to know a new doctor. So, we'll drive up and stay with my parents a couple of days for the surgery. He'll have the surgery and then 4 days later he'll have a post-op appointment. It's an out patient surgery, and I'll try to write a post about that in the future.

- Ezra has started talking more! It's still at the parent understood level, but he's getting more and more words! He says, Mama, Dad, dog, apple, up, help, bubble, shoes, a word for plant/tree- but it doesn't sound like plant/tree, and a few more. He signs- more and please.

- Robin- I started working for a cool company called Tinkergarten. It's a nature based learning class that meets once a week for 8 week seasons. I was hired to be a Tinkergarten teacher! They have great curriculum and send me all the materials I need for the classes. I get to bring my boys with me to classes. We go and explore and create things outside. It's super fun and we love it. I have to recruit kids to come, but the company does lots of the other work. I started teaching, but then Jonathan got the job and with being sick and packing and crazy life, we canceled the classes here and I'll get going again once we get moved down to SC.

Ezra making stone soup

Peter and his potion

- I just asked Jonathan what things were happening in our life, just to check and see if I forgot anything. He laughed and answered, "Everything is happening."

It's crazy, but we feel like we are progressing and that all these big changes will give us a better life. We are excited to move and to be able to see Jonathan more everyday. I'm excited to be able to paint the house any color I want. The boys are excited for a backyard- we've been telling Peter for about a year that we can get a dog once we have a yard with a fence...and he has not forgotten that. It's crazy, but it's good. Onward and upward.

Nelson Family Update

I'll write a short update first and see if I have time for anything else afterwards. All the boys are asleep now (Jonathan included). I know some people would say, "You should be resting too!" But sometimes I think it is better for me I write some things down instead of sleep- get it out of my mind. Sure I'll be tired, but I'll have some memories stored. So, I'm writing and eating some Easter candy...none of which made it into baskets...because it was that kind of a night (I also spaced the Women's Conference address...good thing I can listen to it later online), and because I was trying to finish up a church talk because my brother is the bishop (leader of our congregation here) and asked us to talk in church today. I'm glad Peter is too young to know about Easter baskets, because he wasn't sad not to have one. Maybe we'll do it tomorrow, that can be our family tradition. But in the meantime, I'll eat some chocolate eggs and let you know what we've been up to.

We decided to move back east (I don't think I even wrote a post on that decision). So, we packed up, sold a lot of things and drove out. We made it across America!! We took 5 days for the trip, staying at various friends and family of friends along the way. The boys did surprisingly well and we saw some neat things. We stayed with my parents for about a week as we got paint and floors into the house we will be living in for the next bit. It is looking pretty great now, although we still have some projects we are working on.

The best news is Jonathan got a job!! He's a lucky charm. He will be working as the purchasing man for a Chinese textile factory based in South Carolina (about 30 minutes away from our house, so we don't have to move again!). Most of the workers speak Chinese, so Jonathan will get to use his language skills everyday. Their goal is to transition from Chinese workers to American's. So, Jonathan will also help in cultural differences and how to work together. We will really really miss having him home everyday to help with life, but it will be nice to have an income again. Also, another Jonathan update- he shaved his beard! My dad said that it might help in job acquisition as many people in the south equate beard with redneck. I'm pretty sure Jonathan would have gotten the job even with the beard, he'd spoken with them before and they really liked him, but we thought we'd better be safe. He looks good, and said he might grow it back sometime, but take a beard break for now.

Ezra, Peter and beardless Jonathan
These faces are my favorites.

We both spoke in church today. I spoke on how we can improve our lives by following Christ's example, and Jonathan spoke on the Atonement, justice and mercy. The talks went pretty good. The boys sat great as we switched speaking and sitting with them.

Peter: He is having a little bit of a tough time adjusting... again. We know from the last moves/Ezra's birth to expect about a 2 month transitional period where he is extra cranky and emotional, and boy are we getting it. Overall, he is doing great. He loves playing with his cousins, seeing Grandpa and Nainai, and playing with his Uncle Ian and William. He loves being outside to play and seeing the birds by the pond. There are just many more tears than a "normal" day and more foot stamping when we ask him to do things. It's exciting. He's also been really lovey to us, extra snuggles and hugs. So it's nice and hard at the same time.

Peter at the church Easter egg hunt

Ezra: He is growing and growing. He is in 6-9 month clothes for the most part. He is getting better at grabbing things. He is still super smiley and happy. He has developed the love of falling asleep not while being held. He will wiggle and squirm and then I can put him in his swing and he will calm right down and close his eyes. He is currently napping in the swing. I love that thing. Quick Ezra story: Today he was dressed up for Easter- and super adorable, as was his older brother and I was going to get an Easter picture of the family when we got home from church. So, naturally, Ezra pooped out his entire outfit- giant diaper explosion...it was terrible. And, naturally, I'd forgotten to pack an extra outfit. So, for the remainder of church, Ezra wore a zip up hoodie and shorts that I didn't know I had in my bag. He was pretty stylish. I learned my lesson to take pictures as soon as they are in their cute clothes and not to wait for any diaper explosions.

Ezra loves his thumb.

Robin: I'm also adjusting to living back in the South. Everything is simultaneously familiar and foreign. Buildings along the roads have changed and areas have grown. I get lost half the time when I drive because I don't have mountains to guide me and I didn't drive most of these roads when I lived here as a teen. There are people at church I've know since I was 11, but I haven't spent time with them since I was 18, so they don't know me and I don't know them, but we both think we do. I've been away longer than I lived in this city and the person I was when I left is not the person I am now. I am usually a visitor here, but now it is my home and I have to figure out where I fit in. But, I love it. My "yard" is full of trees and birds. We had a good rain yesterday and today, and I love it. This is a good spot for us right now. We'll see what comes next in life.

Taking selfies while we wait for Jonathan and Peter

Jonathan's Job Update (Warning: Long Post)

We made it through 2015. It was a little bit of a crazy year. Jonathan started a new job, we moved 3 times, and I made a baby. But we made it through, and I figured 2016 would have to be calmer. We didn't have any reasons to move, I'm not pregnant, we live in a great place, and everyone is happy. As it turns out, 2016 is not going to be any calmer than 2015 was....well maybe it will, but right now it's a little crazy. So this post is to update everyone and to think through things.

A couple of weeks ago, Jonathan lost his job. The company likes him, but Jonathan isn't as good at analyzing numbers as they needed him to be. So, job search 2016 has begun. Jonathan and I have had lots of conversations about where to look for jobs and the type of jobs to look for.

The more we talked about it, the more we realized that this can be an opportunity to move wherever we want to and find a job there. We can find our dream location and move there! But turns out, that is terrifying...because it does not feel like a good idea to move somewhere without a job. What if it takes a long time to find a job? What if we run out of savings? But then we think, Jonathan could get a job just to get by (cashier at the grocery store, pizza delivery, etc) and that would make our savings last for longer until he finds a great job. It would be an adventure to go somewhere new! But, then I think, "We have two kids! We can't just take a chance like that!! We need to get a job first then move. I need stability!" And back and forth, back and forth- adventurous to cautious, feeling confidant in our abilities to feeling super stressed about what to do. It's fun.

We currently have 3 main ideas
1- stay where we are, and find another job in the Salt Lake City area
2- move to North Carolina, live in a rental my parents own, for cheap rent, and find a job in the Charlotte area
3- move to (fill in dream location here) and find a job

And here are the main pros/cons for these ideas
 1 (Staying in UT)- Pros: Jonathan has lots of connections here for networking with jobs, we know the area, have friends here, and know it is a good safe place to raise a family, and we wouldn't be moving again (which after last year, would be nice to be stable for a bit).
Cons: Our rent here is on the higher end, but fine when Jonathan was working full time...so a lack of incoming money would be more stressful until we found another job.

2 (Moving to NC)- Pros: Super cheap rent so it wouldn't be as stressful looking for work (and could save quicker to buy our own house), and really close to more family (both Gleaves and Nelson sides), less snow, new places to explore, and closer to a beach.
Cons: Neither of us have ever worked in NC (outside of my in-between college semesters jobs) so we have no networks in place (aside from family looking for things for us). We'd be taking a chance that we would be able to find a good job in the area without a long commute, and so we might have to move again once we find a job.

3 (Dream Location)- We have no idea where our dream location is... We know of places we don't want to live (middle of the country because Jonathan likes beaches, and really expensive ares because we want to be able to buy a house with some yard). But we haven't lived in enough places to know where the dream location is.

We have also found that as we look at these ideas, it brings more choices to make. If we move, do we rent and drive a moving truck, pack a pod and just drive one car, or drive first to California to borrow Jonathan's parents' trailer and drive that and the van and get our car back later? All of those options are being weighed for ease of move and cost.

Also, if we move to NC, we have to decide between 2 houses- both of which we've seen while video chatting with my dad. House 1: we'd only pay utilities, on 17 acres, has a pond, and a barn the boys could play in, and has a smaller fenced in area by the house. But the house is also older and needs work- the laundry room is outside the rest of the house, small bathroom, and a small-ish living and kitchen area. House 2: yard has no fence and its on a corner lot, so I'd have 2 streets to worry about Peter running into, more expensive rent (but still much lower than what we pay here in Utah). But the house is a 3 bedroom with a great kitchen and it's in much better condition.

Other questions that run through my head...constantly: Are we considering moving because it's easier? Did Jonathan lose his job to push us to move (bigger plan thing)? Is there a bigger plan, or was this just more bad luck? Is staying here the easier "safe" option- we know people, it's familiar? Should we push ourselves- which place would push us to grow more? Where is a better place to raise our family? Is there a better place? What type of job would Jonathan be good at? How do you find that job? Are we ever going to hear back from the government on that dang background check? If we stay here looking for a job, how long do we try before trying somewhere else? Do we look at the military as a use for Jonathan's Chinese? Is moving again worth it for the boys to be closer to more cousins (both Gleaves and Nelsons)? Should we decide to move to be close to family or should we decide where to live based on a good job for Jonathan? How long will it take to find a good job? How can I save money on groceries? If we move do we sell most of our stuff here and then re-buy furniture in NC or do we try to move all of our stuff with us? And so on and so forth.

Anyway, so maybe that's a lame update, basically we don't know what we are doing still, but there are some of our (Robin's mostly) thoughts. On the plus side, I've learned that I am a stress cleaner...so our house is looking pretty awesome on a regular basis. Also, we are going through things (again) and downsizing, so even if we don't move, we will declutter.

Right now, Jonathan has one guy here in Utah (a relative of a friend who working with China and travels there frequently) who might have a job for him- he's out of town and will call Jonathan on Monday. But that's the only real lead we have. Jonathan interviewed for a job on Tuesday, but didn't get it (lack of experience). We just need to decide which place would be best for us to live and which place would be best for Jonathan to find a job and then we can figure out the other things. But that is a hard thing to decide. Big decisions to be made. Hopefully we'll have a real update soon!

Nelson Family Update...because it's been a crazy December

It's time for an update. It's been a crazy year for us, and a crazy December thus far. I don't know if I'll ever get all the stories written, so it's time for a summary.

Where We Live
We moved again...so we have officially made it to 4 houses in one year. We are still in Bountiful, and beautifully enough, still in the same ward (which is a huge miracle as Utah ward boundaries are really small). We really wanted to stay in the ward, so we would have support when the baby came, we really like it here, and I wasn't ready to totally uproot again. So far, we love our new dwelling and have gotten all but 4 boxes totally unpacked (not counting all of the book boxes that we left boxed up because we don't have enough bookcase space for all our books, and because we need to go through our books more and downsize, but the time for that is not now). We are pretty expert at moving now. We were packed, moved and 95% unpacked within about 1.5 weeks. We have also gotten even better at getting rid of things we don't need. Hopefully the next move we make will have less boxes.

Weather
We have had incredible amounts of snow the last weeks! We had a couple of great snow storms come through. Jonathan stayed home from work one day because the plows didn't come through until 11am, and it was still snowing at that point, and we live at the top of the hills (plural, hills), and Jonathan was worried he wouldn't be able to make it home (super valid concern). But other than that one day, the plows were amazing and kept the roads clear. We bundled Peter up a couple of times and went out. He had to crawl through it because it was too deep for him to walk in. We still have a few feet of snow on the ground, and even more on the drifts along the roads. It's crazy, but fun too.

Clearing off the car (17 inches at this point)

There is a sidewalk under there somewhere...

Baby
Nothing new. He hasn't come yet. But we are all ready for him when he gets here. We have his bed, his car seat, clothes cleaned and mostly organized, diapers washed (need to fold them), and Peter is excited to meet his brother. We toured the hospital last week, and Peter was most excited to see that xiao didi had his own bed, but he was sad to learn that he couldn't climb into the small bed. I'm due on Monday, and my midwife is out of town for Christmas until Monday morning, so I'm hoping I don't have the baby until then. Time will tell, but I promise everyone, we'll let you know when he is born.

Peter
He's had a hard time adjusting to all the recent changes lately. He's pretty defiant, stubborn and emotional these days. He has way more tantrum breakdowns and he is sleeping pretty awful at night again. We have to remind ourselves that he's gone through a lot lately, and it just trying to adjust, but lots of days are tough. Luckily he is pretty cute and when he is being sweet, he's a blast to be around. Peter is still super social and really really happy whenever we have visitors. His vocabulary is increasing all the time and frequently says words I have no idea he knew. He currently loves to have "sleepovers" (I don't know where he learned that word), with me...sleepovers are the same thing as naps except in the big bed with Mom. He loves attacking Jonathan with pillows, making houses with the couch cushions, and playing with flashlights. He likes eating cereal, cottage cheese and sweet toast (cinnamon rasin toast), all separately. His favorite color is orange (sometimes red) and his favorite animal is a triceratops.

That's all for now, it's time to hit the sack so we can be awake and ready to go tomorrow for Christmas. Loves!

Bowling with Peter

Last week, we went to go look at a house. We are looking at moving again...it's been 3 months, so it's about time. We are looking at buying a home, but also looking at renting in a different area. We don't really know what we are doing, but we are doing things.

Anyway, back to the house. It was a duplex in Bountiful, across from a lovely park, cost more money than I want to spend at this point, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look, so we did. We did a tour of the house and were upstairs in one of the bedrooms talking house things. Jonathan was looking around the attic area, and I was talking with the realtor about changes to make to the house to increase property value. Peter was checking out everything- the house was empty, so we let him wander, knowing he couldn't really get into anything...that was our first mistake- never let your guard down.

Peter happened to find, of all possible things, a bowling ball. The house was totally cleaned out, except for a black nine pound bowling ball in one of the closets. Peter rolled it to the edge of the closet, but couldn't pick it up over the closet lip, so I helped him get it out so he could roll it around the room. Again, I thought, "He can't pick it up, so he can't really do any damage, and it will keep him occupied while we talk." Second mistake...never give a small child a bowling ball unless you are keeping a good eye on him.

The realtor saw the bowling ball and laughed, "Where did he find that?" he exclaimed. I told him that Peter fished it out of the closet, and the realtor looked at Peter and jokingly said, "You know what you do with that buddy? You take it to the stairs and push it down! Hahaha!" Third mistake- never joke with a toddler...they don't get your humor.

We continued looking around, talking about removing walls, adding a tub, putting in new windows, and I clearly wasn't paying enough attention to Peter, who I thought was just pushing the bowling ball around the room. Then, I hear the first fateful, "Bump!" followed by many more bumps. The adults all ran to the stairwell, where Peter was sitting peacefully, watching the bowling ball bounce down the stairs. To my horror, I notice a huge window at the bottom of the stairs. I gasped and held my breath as the bowling ball took its last few thumps on its way down. It happened so fast, there was nothing we could do, but watch. There was no way any of us would be able to run down and stop it, so we just watched.

I heard the last "Thud!" but, I couldn't see where the ball had hit because Jonathan was already heading down the stairs and he was blocking my view. I knew the sound wasn't a breaking window, so that was a relief, but I was terrified that I was going to see a bowling ball embedded in the wall, or a hole through the wall or something equally terrible. Jonathan yelled up the stairs, "It's fine! It only left a small dent in the window casing!" Meanwhile, the realtor was laughing and said, "I am so sorry. I didn't think he would actually do that! He did exactly what I told him to do! Haha." I was just glad he wasn't telling us we would have to pay to fix the dent...and I was wishing Peter listened to me as excellently as he did this stranger.

All ended well. We didn't break a window or put a hole in the wall. No on got injured and the realtor thought it was humorous, he still wants to show us more places, so I figure we must not have been too bad. We decided it is a no on the duplex. If I had a couple extra thousand dollars to put into renovations, I'd have considered it. I could see it being a great house, but I'd have to bust out a couple walls, re-carpet, paint/tear off paneling/both, change the bathroom and master bedroom closet. I had too many ideas of things I'd do. So, lack of funds...and being very pregnant with a toddler, put a stop to the duplex. It's a lovely place, but a lovely place for someone else to take on. And it comes with a new slight dent to the left of the window in the stairwell!

New House for the Nelson's...Again

So, I thought it would be good to give a quick run-down of the house, the things we love about it, and how we found this place. 

We'd been looking for places for longer than I would have liked and we'd posted on facebook a couple of times looking for leads, and found nothing that worked. One night, Jonathan said, "You should post it on facebook." I told him, "I already did a week or so ago, and nothing." He said, "Maybe just do it again." So, I relented and posted it. About 30 seconds after I posted requesting any info anyone had on a 2-bedroom place in the area, I got a message from a friend of ours we had met in China (she's American). She had just moved back to America. She told us that her parents were leaving on a mission the next week and that they would have a basement for rent. We went to see the place the next day, and saw that it was good. 

It wasn't the perfect place, but she was fine with doing a month-to-month contract which was one of the biggest things we needed. We are paying more a month than I'd like to, and it's up in the hills and further from shopping (1.3 miles one way to the nearest grocery store), so no more walking to the grocery store (it's a 500 ft elevation gain going home from the grocery store, straight up hills- which is death when you add in a stroller full of groceries and a 25-ish pound toddler). But it's a good space, we live with good people, and it's a nice area. Here's a quick tour of our house.

The kitchen: pre-paint and love

The kitchen is amazing compared to where we came from. There are drawers! Our last house didn't have any drawers, which initially doesn't seem like a problem, then you start unpacking and realize how much you utilize them. Also, this kitchen has more working counter space (the only counters are the ones you see in the above photo, so it's not a lot, but it's about twice what we had in the last home). As long as you can ignore the floors and dark cabinets, it's a decent space- and we painted (and by we I mean Jonathan's parents, I didn't paint a single part of the kitchen), and it's great now.

Living Room- still in the process of being unpacked

 The living room is a good space, and it came partially furnished- so the couch, giant tv, and coffee table (pushed against the wall), were there along with 2 chairs. It was nice to not have to worry about getting a couch. We still have lots of boxes in this room, but it's slowly coming together. One thing that is tricky about this basement is that there isn't a door on either end of the stairs leading to the main floor. So, Peter sometimes creeps up there when I'm in the middle of something, and there is no sound barrier between the two floors. We live with 2 sisters, and so it's like living with roommates, only we are married and have a kid. Sometimes if feels awkward to me, but most of the time it's fine.

Robin and Jonathan's bedroom- and our front door.

 Our bedroom is ginormous! Initially it was Peter's room, but we switched rooms for the size as well as this bedroom has doors that lead outside. It's a little weird having people come visit and walk through your room first thing, but so far, we haven't had too many visitors, so it's been not too bad. The bed frame also came from with the house, and it's so fancy. Someday we will have our own bed frame, but for now we are enjoying this borrowed one. Also, this room has no windows, so when the lights are off- no matter what time of day- it's pitch black in there. They were going to install doors with windows, but they got quoted about 3 times the price they were expecting, so that change is on hold. It's the perfect room for naps though!

View looking in from outside- and closet!

 We also love these bedrooms because they both have closets! Again, our last house had only one small closet for both bedrooms, and we quickly learned that one closet for 3 people isn't enough. At our old house I used Peter's room closet and a cheap cloth wardrobe, and Jonathan used the front living room coat closet, and we were grateful we lived there when it was warm and didn't ever have to use the coat closet for coats. But we have closets again! And closets are a wonderful thing.

Peter's Room and catch-all space.

 Peter's room was Rebecca's (our friend who lives there) old room, hence the purple wall. Peter's room is a great space for him. Once he goes to bed, we have to be pretty quiet because the living room is on the other side of his room. But so far he is sleeping great through the night. There are a couple of furniture pieces in his room as well that belong to Rebecca, but she is using her parent's furniture upstairs, so she doesn't need it. We have more storage space than we can use!

Biggest closet we've ever had!

 Again, coming from one tiny closet to this beast of a closet has been amazing. Everything fits in one place! And we have room for all the book boxes that we most likely won't be unpacking during our time in this house. We unpacked some of Peter's books, but all other books are staying in their boxes. Also, our little tv is being stored in here since we have the big one that the Reidler's put on the wall.

Fenced-in Backyard with play set

This house also comes with a great backyard! We miss our creek and all the trees- and the shade from the trees, but it's lovely to have a space for Peter to run and that it is fenced in. Also, it has a sweet playground set with swings, a slide and a climbing wall. Right now it's too hot most days for Peter to want to play on, but soon it will cool down. Also, there are a couple of fruit trees! So far Peter's favorite thing to do in the yard is play with the cat- who is not as fond of him as he is of it. The Reidler's have a cat and a dog. The dog's name is Sadie, and the cat's name is Cat...at least as far as we know. Peter thinks Cat's tail is amazing, and likes to put grass on Cat when she is laying outside. Then Cat bites at Peter and he cries, but so far he hasn't learned his lesson.

The pool room

 Another cool thing about this house is that it has an indoor infinity pool! It's Michael Phelps size pool, so Jonathan fits just fine. Peter loves the pool. We need to use it more than we have, but the times we have used it, we've had a blast!

Peter and Jonathan testing out the pool

Pool Pirates!

We are still getting settled in- there are no pictures on the walls, and there are still unpacked boxes in every room. I have a million projects for Jonathan everyday. But, we're getting there, and eventually we'll be able to call it home.