ABC's

I was tagged to do this by Renae. I hope that it comes out interesting and maybe even have some surprises.


A -Age: 21

B - Bed size: King, but I think it's too big....next one will be a queen.

C – Chore I hate: All of them, but especially laundry just because it takes so long and we have to go to the laundromat to do it.

D - Dog's name: I wish we could have one, Lorraine loves dogs.

E - Essential start your day item: Shower, most often

F - Favorite color(s): blue and red

G - Gold or Silver: silver

H - Height: 5'8"

I - Instruments you play: Viola and violin and a bit of piano

J - Job title: Mom, Housekeeper, Cook, Wife, Mary Kay consultant, violin teacher, full-time student....

K - Kids: Lorraine Emily

L - Living arrangements: I live with my husband and sweet daughter in a rather small upstairs apartment (another reason I hate doing the laundry, carting it all down the stairs)

M - Mom's name: Kalyne Scott Utter

N - Nicknames: Boo-Boo, Shannanana

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: None.

P - Pet Peeve: Morgan asking where things are before he really looks for them

Q - Quote from a movie: Moses supposes his toses are roses....etc

R - Right or left handed: Right, though in playing both violin and viola you must have lots of dexterity in your left fingers.

S - Siblings: 2 sisters and 1 brother

T - Time you wake up: Whenever Lorraine gets up

U - Underwear: Garments

V - Vegetable you dislike: Most of them....though I do try and eat some vegetables.

X - X-rays you've had: shoulder, head, foot, hand, dental, and probably others that I can't remember

Y - Yesterday's best moment: Seeing Jason and Renae and their two boys.

Z - Zoo favorite: Cats...lions, tigers, mountain lions, bobcats....etc

Another Post...about my little girl this time

I've been busy on my blog the last couple days. I think it's just that I've got so much to share. Well Lorraine has not had the best week here in Virginia. She has not felt well due to cutting teeth and getting lots of bumps and bruises from falling on the hard cement floors and lots of concrete walkways. I am glad that I didn't bring the stroller because it would have been useless on this campus. There are stairs EVERYWHERE! So I've carried her a lot lately, but I've also let her climb the stairs too, which is where she has fallen most often. But yesterday while I was on the computer and Morgan was sleeping on the bed she tried to climb onto the bed and fell hard. We didn't think it was that bad of a fall until her face started to swell and bruise a half hour later. I feel bad that she got so hurt. So here is a picture of her poor face, and it actually looks much worse in person. Though she became a bit infamous with the event staff here, they ask about her every time they see us.

Almost a graduate!

Today was the hooding ceremony where Morgan got the funny thing hanging around his neck! It was quick and simple and afterwords we took pictures with all his favorite professors.

Morgan, Lorraine, and Dr. House

John "Capstone Czar" Greenier

Morgan and Audra with ALL of the professors, ask Morgan for their names....I don't know them all

Audra and Morgan

Audra, Shelley(yes that is a guy), Morgan

The happy family

The "Almost" graduate

Morgan and Dr. Broom. Dr. Broom was his adviser with his thesis.

Walking past at a quick pace! I almost didn't catch him!

I am so proud of Morgan for what he has accomplished. It was a tough two years because of the birth of our daughter, two moves, and a multitude of other challenges that we faced. I am proud that he graduated with good grades and good reviews that will get him into a great PhD program. I don't know what the future holds for him or us but I know this isn't the end of the road with his education. He is so intelligent and genuinely loves to learn. He would love to be a researcher at some think tank or a historian for the military but those jobs require a PhD so onward and upward through more education we go.

Mormon War

Morgan has his own blog, www.mormonwar.blogspot.com, where he discusses the historical accuracy of the Book of Mormon. He focuses mainly on the war chapters on Alma. He has written a post recently that moved me. It talked about the relationship between the 2000 stripling warriors and their commander and how it related to an ancient chinese tradition. He can explain much better than I. SO go to his blog and check it out!

Vermont!

We are in Vermont for Morgan's graduation. Today we went to Sharon, VT, to see the birth place of Joseph Smith. It was beautiful and serene. I would have enjoyed it more if Lorraine wasn't trying to tromp all of the beautiful flowers, but hey she was pretty good otherwise. It was great to get away from campus because there is no cell phone service nor is there much for Lorraine to do here.

The 12-hour Trip

We made it here!!!! It was a long couple of days but we made it here. Lorraine did quite well on the trip, we thought that she would have some major meltdowns but she didn't. Our car ran well the entire time, I was a little worried about the car because it was such a long drive that we would have trouble. Thankfully though nothing went wrong. Hopefully going back to Virginia will be the same way. We only made one stop the first day and one stop on the second day. However on the first day we happened to get off the exit where my friend, Autumn lives. We didn't plan it that way but it just happened. So we got some gas and food and thought we pay Autumn a visit. At first we didn't see any cars in the driveway so we thought that they weren't home. So we sat down on their front porch to eat. Thankfully though, Scott, walked by and saw us sitting there. We are so thankful that they let us come into their home and get out of the car for a while. Lorraine loved their two little border collie puppies as well as their swing set and trampoline.
Lorraine going down the slide for the first time.

Having fun

Happy in the car after getting to stretch her legs.

After we stopped in at Autumn's we had about another 3.5 hours to go. We stayed overnight in New Hampton, New York. Then we got up early and had another 5-6 hours to go. The drive was beautiful. Lots and lots of LUSH greenery! Thankfully, Lorraine slept most of the way. We are happy to be here.

Morgan officially graduates on Friday morning. I can't wait!

Awake again

All of this stress is keeping me awake again. I have spent the last several nights awake with thoughts of what I need to do for next week's graduation, for Morgan's conference next month in PA, what must be done before the end of the week, how I can get Lorraine to eat better....and the list goes on and on. The crappy part is that by the time I get to sleep I can only get a few hours of sleep. When I finally drag myself from my bed I am too tired to put any of those great ideas to work. So now what do I do in the middle of the night? I can't go do laundry in the middle of the night at the laundromat. I can't book Morgan's hotel room for the conference because he probably can get a better rate with his work discount. I can't clean out the car to get it ready for the 1400 mile journey. I can't pack clothes because they aren't clean. I can't go to the grocery store in the middle of the night to get Lorraine some food that I think she actually might eat.

I am rather just frustrated that this vicious circle of insomnia keeps coming back. I've dealt with it before. While I worked at Ruby Tuesday, I wouldn't get off work until usually 12am, and many times later. I would have to come home and unwind at least a little, and then try to get to bed for my 6:30am wake up call to get Morgan from work, and then class for the day. Yet I found it very hard to get to sleep at all most nights because I would obsess over what I could have done differently to get more tips. It's stupid, I know. Now, the same thing is coming back. I am obsessed about what I need to do because of the busy schedule that I have and can't get any rest and I hate being a walking zombie the next day. I can't get anything done in that state, and yet here I am awake and staring at my computer screen.

WHAT DO I DO?

Sorry, just needed to rant.....

Humbled Today

As many of you can probably tell, we are struggling a bit financially. Morgan has not had a steady job since the beginning of May. A couple of weeks ago we made an unscheduled stop to the Department of Social Services and applied for food stamps. However, the process is very long and can only be expedited in exceptional cases. Today we had our appointment to bring in all the paperwork for verification purposes. It was a very humbling experience for sure. I never thought in a million years that we would be unable to completely pay for groceries or anything else for that matter. It looks as though we qualify but aren't quite in dire need of assistance and so it will take another 2-3 weeks until we get any benefits. It is very hard for Morgan to have his Masters' Degree and not be able to provide for his family. It is also hard not being able to find anything other than part time work at fast food joints. He now works every other weekend at the Wingate Hotel at the front desk and it is the dreaded graveyard shift :( He also got a job working at Pizza Hut being a delivery driver.....but that was a week ago and the manager is very disorganized. It doesn't appear that he will be getting many hours there.

As for me, I haven't looked anywhere yet. There aren't many jobs around here that Morgan has NOT applied for, and if he can't get them is there any chance that I would? However, there is always my Mary Kay business. It hasn't been all that successful in the past but I am at least going to try to give parties again soon.

We are hopeful though. Morgan has been offered a job that will start in the middle of August. He will be developing and subsequently teaching two online courses for Trine University. He will make decent money doing that and can stay HERE in BV while I finish school. The hardest part is just waiting until the job begins.

All in all though, we really can't complain too much. We are still living in our own apartment and are caught up with all our bills. We do have a bit of credit card debt to take care of (which is mostly my fault because I wasn't willing to say no), thankfully though it isn't too bad in comparsion with others. We just can't wait until August when more money starts rolling in.

Pictures as promised

Lazy Days....Finally

Well school's out for me for the summer! I was going to go to the semester in the month of June but finances didn't allow me to do so. But I am so glad that I didn't go back for another semester right away. I've got a lot time to play with Lorraine and to spend time with Morgan. During the Maymester, I just was so busy and I never got to see either of them. I am glad to be less busy for sure.

Lorraine has gotten her first haircut this week. Morgan went in to get his haircut and I decided that it was time for Lorraine to get her hair cut. It is much cuter! It curls naturally so much better now. Pictures are to come soon.

Morgan is still out of a job and it is rather disappointing. He has applied at some job everyday for the last couple of weeks, and yet he hasn't gotten any job interviews. I don't know what else he can do. Though he is in good spirits and hopes that the Lord will bless us soon.

All in all life is pretty good.