So, I realize I get caught up with Lydia's development most of the time on here and then totally neglect mentioning how we are progressing, living, and enjoying our life as a family. So here it goes.
Since moving to Rexburg in January, we live at a spacey 2 bedroom apartment at a really good price. The only downside is, that now that it's getting warmer outside we're experiencing more bugs in the house. Not sure why it's working like that, but just yesterday I killed, not one, but two! centipedes on my kitchen floor! Long big, squirmy ones, too! Disgusting. Not to mention, the ants are somehow back again. Well, they come and go. Sometimes I'll see a few and then for days, nada. Besides our bug infestation (that no matter how hard I try I can never get rid of!), we really like our place, a lot. We even decided to not be so antisocial, and hung out with our upstairs neighbs! ;)
When we moved back, we got our boxes we had left last spring from our friends, our bed, and began collecting furniture. While we're borrowing a table from a friend's at the moment, we now own a couch and a recliner, a coffee table, and an entertainment center, the last of which was recently donated by a member of our Elder's Quorum Presidency. We live in such a good ward. We weren't expecting that at all, and the man who dropped it off explained to us that "[They] believe in taking care of our members." We really are blessed to be here! We have wonderful home teachers, and today I finally got assigned to a visiting teaching companion. I can't wait to start visiting some sisters in the ward and making more friends, giving me something to do each month and someone to look after.
In addition, our tax refund was really nice to us this year. We were able to splurge a little bit and got a new printer, which I've wanted for a long time so I could print pictures of our wedding and of Lydia to put in frames around the house. We also got a few other luxuries. The only problem with having more money than usual is thinking you always need more than what you have which makes it hard to stay satisfied. But we're doing really well on our budgeting. We've also made a promise to donate plasma each month to pay for bills. They say an individual can make up to $220 a month if you go twice a week for the whole month; $20 the first time, $30 the second that week. If you go. Haha. For the whole month of March, the second time you donate in that week, instead of getting $30, you get $35. This last week we both went twice and made $110 together. I think that's a pretty good deal.. and you get to help people. :) It's a win-win situation.
As for Lydia, everyone falls in love with her, no matter where we go. She makes me popular at Church, what can I say? Haha. She always has someone wanting to hold her there, and babysitters will always watch her for free! Can it get any better? Seriously! (I know I always make it sound like she is the perfect baby; while she is happy a lot of the time, she does have her really whiney moments..which drives me bonkers!)
I enjoy being here with my little family. It's nice having a little person around who loves you as much as you love them, and I am quite convinced she definitely knows who Mommy and Daddy are, by now. She gets excited every time we go pick her up from the babysitter's; she has a grin a mile long, and kicks her legs as if to keep afloat in water. She is too cute.
Jonathan is enjoying all his classes. He is taking Special topics in sociology, General psychology, teachings of the Living Prophets, Family Foundations, Family interactions, and aforementioned in one of my other posts, an Infants and Toddlers class. He learns something new every day and is always eager to come home and share with me the new insights he has learned, which is pretty cool seeing how the President of the BYUI is one of his teachers! He has brought us to a movie day for his class where we watched Star Wars (for a grade!) and he even gets to take me and Lydia to his Infants and Toddlers class this coming Tuesday to show her off.. cough, I mean so he/they can observe her behavior. I'm glad he is learning a lot from all his classes and shares his knowledge with me. Sometimes I feel left out, and almost.. almost want to return to school just so I can feel like I'm exercising my brain. But then I remember the amount of homework that must be done, and quite enjoy where I am in life, at home with my baby girl. I can assure you though, we do enough to keep busy. :)
Oh yeah, and Jonathan has a job now working as a Sub at the testing center. Whenever one of the employees can't work a day they send out an email and he has the chance to take their hours. They aren't long shifts so it's not overwhelming, but just enough hours to get a nice little paycheck. It works out pretty nicely. And next semester he will be the so called employee who can call out if he needs a sub.
As for me, I am loving being a mom - a mom of my own household where I makeall most the rules. ;) When I am not playing with Lydia I tidy up the house and think of a meal to make. In my spare time, I sit down with my current book, The Count of Monte Cristo. And when I can remember, I tend to my journal writing. I must admit though, I have been a really crummy journal writer/scripture reader. I would have never liked to admit that to anyone, especially because I was so good at it in the past, but ever since being a mom, my scripture reading/journal writing habit has dwindled, unfortunately. And it takes all I can to get back into the groove of it. I have no idea why it's so hard for me to do that. I have renewed my promise though, and I will be 10X better than I was last week at it! There. Now, the cyber world knows, and I must follow through. :)
In closing, we both really feel we made the right choice by coming down. Some might have thought it wasn't a good idea, always telling us that Jonathan should go to school up in AK and stay put for a while. It was very good advice, I will admit. But while we might have made more money staying in Alaska, being near friends and family, and enjoying the scenery (or freezing our butts off), we have grown so much more here together as our own little family unit than we could have up there. We have been blessed so much since we have been here, temporally and spiritually. We're learning new things and expanding our horizons. Jonathan has taken his place as the head of the family, providing and protecting us, and I have decided to get my "mothering on" and be a master cleaner while also being a bit adventurous by cooking new dishes. As for Lydia, she is too busy discovering the world around her to be disappointed by anything.
Since moving to Rexburg in January, we live at a spacey 2 bedroom apartment at a really good price. The only downside is, that now that it's getting warmer outside we're experiencing more bugs in the house. Not sure why it's working like that, but just yesterday I killed, not one, but two! centipedes on my kitchen floor! Long big, squirmy ones, too! Disgusting. Not to mention, the ants are somehow back again. Well, they come and go. Sometimes I'll see a few and then for days, nada. Besides our bug infestation (that no matter how hard I try I can never get rid of!), we really like our place, a lot. We even decided to not be so antisocial, and hung out with our upstairs neighbs! ;)
When we moved back, we got our boxes we had left last spring from our friends, our bed, and began collecting furniture. While we're borrowing a table from a friend's at the moment, we now own a couch and a recliner, a coffee table, and an entertainment center, the last of which was recently donated by a member of our Elder's Quorum Presidency. We live in such a good ward. We weren't expecting that at all, and the man who dropped it off explained to us that "[They] believe in taking care of our members." We really are blessed to be here! We have wonderful home teachers, and today I finally got assigned to a visiting teaching companion. I can't wait to start visiting some sisters in the ward and making more friends, giving me something to do each month and someone to look after.
In addition, our tax refund was really nice to us this year. We were able to splurge a little bit and got a new printer, which I've wanted for a long time so I could print pictures of our wedding and of Lydia to put in frames around the house. We also got a few other luxuries. The only problem with having more money than usual is thinking you always need more than what you have which makes it hard to stay satisfied. But we're doing really well on our budgeting. We've also made a promise to donate plasma each month to pay for bills. They say an individual can make up to $220 a month if you go twice a week for the whole month; $20 the first time, $30 the second that week. If you go. Haha. For the whole month of March, the second time you donate in that week, instead of getting $30, you get $35. This last week we both went twice and made $110 together. I think that's a pretty good deal.. and you get to help people. :) It's a win-win situation.
As for Lydia, everyone falls in love with her, no matter where we go. She makes me popular at Church, what can I say? Haha. She always has someone wanting to hold her there, and babysitters will always watch her for free! Can it get any better? Seriously! (I know I always make it sound like she is the perfect baby; while she is happy a lot of the time, she does have her really whiney moments..which drives me bonkers!)
I enjoy being here with my little family. It's nice having a little person around who loves you as much as you love them, and I am quite convinced she definitely knows who Mommy and Daddy are, by now. She gets excited every time we go pick her up from the babysitter's; she has a grin a mile long, and kicks her legs as if to keep afloat in water. She is too cute.
Jonathan is enjoying all his classes. He is taking Special topics in sociology, General psychology, teachings of the Living Prophets, Family Foundations, Family interactions, and aforementioned in one of my other posts, an Infants and Toddlers class. He learns something new every day and is always eager to come home and share with me the new insights he has learned, which is pretty cool seeing how the President of the BYUI is one of his teachers! He has brought us to a movie day for his class where we watched Star Wars (for a grade!) and he even gets to take me and Lydia to his Infants and Toddlers class this coming Tuesday to show her off.. cough, I mean so he/they can observe her behavior. I'm glad he is learning a lot from all his classes and shares his knowledge with me. Sometimes I feel left out, and almost.. almost want to return to school just so I can feel like I'm exercising my brain. But then I remember the amount of homework that must be done, and quite enjoy where I am in life, at home with my baby girl. I can assure you though, we do enough to keep busy. :)
Oh yeah, and Jonathan has a job now working as a Sub at the testing center. Whenever one of the employees can't work a day they send out an email and he has the chance to take their hours. They aren't long shifts so it's not overwhelming, but just enough hours to get a nice little paycheck. It works out pretty nicely. And next semester he will be the so called employee who can call out if he needs a sub.
As for me, I am loving being a mom - a mom of my own household where I make
In closing, we both really feel we made the right choice by coming down. Some might have thought it wasn't a good idea, always telling us that Jonathan should go to school up in AK and stay put for a while. It was very good advice, I will admit. But while we might have made more money staying in Alaska, being near friends and family, and enjoying the scenery (or freezing our butts off), we have grown so much more here together as our own little family unit than we could have up there. We have been blessed so much since we have been here, temporally and spiritually. We're learning new things and expanding our horizons. Jonathan has taken his place as the head of the family, providing and protecting us, and I have decided to get my "mothering on" and be a master cleaner while also being a bit adventurous by cooking new dishes. As for Lydia, she is too busy discovering the world around her to be disappointed by anything.
That's what's keeping the Hernandez family busy these days! Happy Spring!
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