The First One Out of the Way in 2014

I have been on hiatus from Open Diary, and now that I am ready to write again, it seems to really have completely disappeared. Which is unfortunate, but the way things go sometimes. And my apologies in advance, but I don't feel much like starting over, so I will be writing this as if it was just a continuation.

Since arriving to Georgia, pretty much nothing has gone to plan. I would never go as far as to say that I regret moving here, though there was a time where I was pretty sure that was what my heart was saying. I have fallen in love with this place, though I miss home everyday. I'm hoping that with a start if a new year here, things will stop feeling new, and this will start really feeling like home.

When we left California, we had placed an offer on a home, but were not sure whether or not they were going to accept. It was a 4 bedroom house, with a finished basement the size of a two bedroom apartment, and that is basically what it was. Dining room, living room, two bedrooms and one bath downstairs with a private entrance. One day before crossing the state line, we learned that they had accepted the offer. One day after arriving we learned that they were not willing to let us rent the property until escrow closed, but they would let us store all of our stuff in the garage so we didn't have to unload more than once. And so when we saw the house I fell in love, and so did the kids. The neighborhood was a dream come true and unlike anything I had ever seen.

Unfortunately, our lender went way over on our closing date, and we started spending the 20% we were supposed to have put down living in hotel rooms at $600 a week and eating out more often than not because we had no kitchen to cook in. Rather than waiting for a new loan to be drawn up and continuing to live in hotels, we decided to pull out on the property and rent.

The question was, did we find a big house for us all to live in, or find apartments so that Scott, myself and the kids could finally be on our own. We decided on the apartments and so our hunt began. The agreement was that we would pay off bills, one of those things being my car. So we set a budget based on what we could afford eliminating bills and excluding the costs of the way we lived life in California and found the perfect apartment complex. I simply adore our apartment, and its bigger, and cheaper than our 4 bedroom house in California which is a dream come true. We have 3 bedroom plus a computer room, and the kids really enjoy having their own spaces.

One week after moving in, I was having very bad issues with my anxiety and depression and Scott basically told me to get out of the apartment. I had no where to go, no one to talk to and felt so completely alone. So I drove up and down the only street I knew and just kept crying. It was a Friday night and I drove past a church with a full parking lot. Three times I drove past and every time I felt God telling me to pull in. I finally did and entered the cutest church I had ever seen. I heard the music being played in the sanctuary, and while I didn't go in and meet anyone, I decided we had to go to church there on Sunday. Ian and I ended up going alone, but it was everything we had been looking for in California, that we couldn't find. We went back as a family the following Sunday and Scott agreed we had found our home church. I signed up for Bible Study and made friends fast. We have a community there and we absolutely love it!

Salem started school four days after moving in. I love her school. I love her teacher. I love everything about it. I can't believe the differences between here and her school in California. It's a dream! And Salem loves taking the bus. I love the bus system. In California, we had ti pay to use the bus, and it was only for students who lived a certain distance away. Here, every kid can take the bus to and from school, cost free, no matter how far they lived from the school. She actually gets upset if something happens in the morning and she has to be driven to school. She's gotten two report cards since the beginning of the school year, and both times she had straight A's. She has an actual PE class she attends twice a week, a music class she goes to once a week, and art class that she also attends once a week. In California, PE was her teacher telling her to run to the fence and back, and there was no music class, and art came once a month on a volunteer basis. I seriously can not say how happy I am with it.

Three weeks after moving in, Scott's dad told us he wasn't going to pay off my car after all, but that he would be giving us a set amount of money that we could us however we wanted. It wasn't enough to pay off my car, but we decided we would use it to make the car payments until Scott started making more money at work. A week later he cut the amount he was going to give us, and then a week after that he said not at all. To top it off, Scott's new position never paid out the way it was supposed to, and we have struggled basically every month since September. So badly that we have had to have money given to use month after month to make sure we could buy groceries and put gas in our cars. When Fall came and temperatures starting dipping into freezing zones, I was so distraught with my kids thin jackets from Target, that all of my amazing friends from church bought my kids new clothes and winter coats. If we didn't have them I don't know what we would have done. Both kids had also outgrown there simple winter basics like long sleeve shirts and jeans.

After lots of praying, crying and screaming, we decided that I had to get a job. I wasn't ready and every time I filled out another application, I prayed that God would make another way. Eventually I got a call for a seasonal part time job at Sephora, and just accepting the call for the interview ruined me. I was sure God was punishing me somehow and I completely lost it. I had a complete anxiety attack and couldn't stop crying for over 3 hours. But, I knew I had to do what I needed to, and took the job after my interview. I was unhappy the entire month and a half I was there. I hated working at night and on weekends when my family was home without me. I still had days with Ian, but I was missing time with Scott and Salem. When our schedules overlapped, Scott's dad would watch the kids, which I had to force myself to be comfortable with. But I got used to it.

At the beginning of the month I started looking for new jobs because I knew that Sephora was going to start making decisions about the seasonal people they had hired. We also started a corporate fast with our church at about the same time that ended yesterday. I found a position that I just had to apply for with a small publishing company the next city over from us. Scott also applied for a position with a sister company and a manager position within his department he is in currently. And well, last week was my first week of work at the Publishing company, Scott was offered the position with the sister company, and he is being lured into staying with his company by being told he was one of two being considered for the management position. Either way, we are looking at him making a minimum of an additional $16,000 a year, which would mean I wouldn't want to keep my job unless I wanted to. Which I do. It is seriously like a dream come true for me. And the best part is that it is only 3 days a week, 5 hours a day, and I miss out on no family time. We are even thinking of putting Ian in pre-school just so he gets some social interaction, and just because we can.

I realized I haven't really talked a whole lot about Ian. He's two and a half now and pretty much failing at potty training, but he is so smart and amazingly sweet. I seriously love my kid. He has always liked being outside, but here, there is so much for him to explore with trees, and birds, and bugs. He loves church, and cried so hard this morning when I told him we couldn't go because he was still sick. He's still nursing, but sleeps in his bed most of the night now which is just fantastic.

I think I'll finish here. I have months of things to write about, not to mention more new adventures to come.