Moving Stinks!

Lorraine on Easter

Sitting in HER chair

Reading with Daddy

I hate MOVING. It is such a pain in the neck, literally! We moved on April 15th and we were able to move everything that day, except cleaning the house. We are somewhat enjoying our new place. We actually have bigger bedrooms and closets but we don't have any counter space for food prep or a large enough living room. We are still unpacking stuff but hopefully we will be able to find a place for it all.

I have been crazy busy but thankfully I am done with classes for the semester and all that is left for me is finals. I get a couple days off and then I get to do it all over again! I am taking 19 credits over the course of the summer. It is just getting me closer to graduation. Morgan and I sat down together to figure out how far I was with my graduation requirements, and we found that I wasn't as far as I want or thought that I was. I have three more semesters, but I WILL finish by next Spring. I have to, I really need to get my degree and fast.

Morgan is doing well and we have made the arrangements to go to Vermont in June for graduation. It is so exciting that he will finally have his masters' degree, hopefully someone will recognize his talent and hire him. We haven't heard back from any jobs yet. Oh! I hope we here something soon. Lorraine is doing well too!

Just when I thought I had it all figured out

Another week or so has gone by since my last post and I cannot believe how fast time flies. A lot happened this week. We have had Morgan's Mom in town and she has been a huge help with packing and taking care of Lorraine. We didn't even need to use a babysitter this week. Wahoo! Morgan is working hard at his new job with the census bureau, and finally has all his training done. The training bored him almost to death, and thankfully it is over. Morgan also had a good interview with the Missouri National Guard. I am praying, if it is the Lord's will, that he will get that job. I know it would help him out tremendously in the long run, even if it isn't the perfect job for him.

Lorraine is doing allright this week. Although the last couple of days she seems to be feeling a bit under the weather. I don't know exactly what is bothering her, but she just doesn't seem to be acting her normal self.

As for me, I had an easier week of classes with no huge projects or presentation, just normal everyday stuff. However, I am trying to get off the medication I was put on with the health problems during the fall last year. Knowing what I know now, I never would have gone on these drugs, I would have asked for another, even if it was more expensive. I am also enrolled for summer classes and I will be able to finish almost all of my coursework by December! I would only have two courses left to take after December, and I will probably take those over the internet. I can't wait to see how everything goes well and hopefully life won't take an unexpected turn (which knowing the Lord's sense of timing, or humor, it probably will).

Next week we are moving into a smaller two bedroom apartment from the three bedroom house we currently have been living in. I hope that all goes well with our landlords and that we will get our deposit back but we have been at odds with each other since we moved in. I seriously doubt that we will get our full deposit back. :( Oh well, that's life, and stupid (picky) landlords.

Craziness!

Our lives have been so increadibly busy that I haven't had time for a new post! But as far as everything goes life is good! Morgan has been working hard and has finally found a new (but only temporary :( ) job, working for the census bureau! Thankfully though it is a 40 hour a week job making great money! Finally, we can get ahead! He also has a job interview on April 6th, for the Missiouri National Guard as a historian. I can't wait to see if he ends up getting it because it would triple our current income. It would be amazing if the Lord blesses us so that we can go there but if not He will lead us someplace else.

Lorraine has been a busy little girl too! She is now only napping once a day but thankfully it is a three hour nap. She has also made the transition from formula to milk. She loves most foods but not veggies. She won't even touch potatoes either (I wonder if she is my daughter on that one because I could not live without potatoes). Lorraine has also mastered getting up on the chair in front of my desk to play on my computer(or make it crash). I have learned not to leave my computer on or my screen up after I am done.

As for me, I am getting off the Paxil and I am so glad to be doing so. It just made me too tired to keep up with everything. I am doing well in my classes but I can't wait for them to be over. I've been busy getting presentation together, doing papers, practicing, and all other good things. I am also taking five classes of ballet a week. I may sound like a lot but it really isn't. I take Lorraine with me to the dance studio quite often and she has fun there. I love my ballet teacher and I love the fact that she lets me bring Lorraine to any of the classes that I need to.

I have also had some great success with Mary Kay sales this week. I held two classes and had someone call and need something. It was awesome to have had some success there because I was really feeling down about it, thinking that I have put in a lot of money but I haven't gotten a lot out of it. However, I think that is going to change.

This next week will be crazy because we have to start getting ready to move. Our lease is up in the middle of April and thankfully we have another place already. We just have to pack it up and move. Just a word of advice to any students out there.....DON'T MOVE AT THE END OF THE SEMESTER!!!! I wish the timing of it would have been better but alas our current landlords hate us and won't let us live here a moment beyond our lease. Morgan also has his second to last drill for the National Guard and will be gone all weekend. But on the good side, General Conference is this weekend and we will be uplifted and edified! Hallejuah!

Spring is in the Air!

Life is good here in Virginia, we have had some unseasonably warm weather but hey we aren't complaining! It has been absolutely beautiful here with the temperatures being around 70 during the day and 50 at night! It was great to have some nice weather, so we took Lorraine out to the park. Unfortunately I forgot the camera so no cute pictures.

Spring Break is here, and I am so glad to have a week off school to recuperate. I have been enjoying the time I have off but I know I will need to get a little work done before long.

Morgan is working hard and helping out around the house. Lorraine has a bit of a cold with a runny nose and cough, but she doesn't even act like she is sick, other than sleeping a bit more.

Not much else is going on!

Fun Times in the Deane Household

Well this last week has been a lot of fun, even if it has been quite busy! I've been busy getting schoolwork done and Morgan has been busy getting applications in. I found a bunch of time to practice my viola which is always a plus. Lorraine has been happy and healthy this week too.

Wednesday was the Blue and Gold Celebration for Cub Scouts. Our scouts had lots of fun and decorated some of the greatest cakes! There were quite a few people there and I kept losing Lorraine just because she is so small and mobile that I couldn't keep track of her. Thankfully we were in the church and there was only a couple of places that she could go.

On Friday, I started my extra class of ballet. It was a lot of fun and was really inspiring to see all the other girls on pointe shoes and it just encouraged me to do all that I can to get there. Lorraine also went with me to class because Morgan had to work. Unfortunately an hour before we left she crushed her toe and was still quite grumpy because of it. She was less than happy until about the last 15 minutes. Hopefully next week if she needs to come with me she will be better off.

Saturday, I decided that it was about time that Morgan and I go out on a date. We hadn't had the time or money to go out since our anniversary in August. We got our neighbors to babysit and went out to Outback Steakhouse for dinner and then went to a family fun center. They had bumper cars, old arcade games, and lots of other great things to do. It was a lot of fun to just let the kid out of ourselves! We were in line for laser tag and the guy that was running it thought we were just there waiting for our kids to get out. We had to correct him and let him know that we did want to play. Morgan got first out of four, and I got third. It took me awhile to catch on to what to do. It was so much fun for us to just get out and be a couple again. I forgot what it was like to go to a restaurant without Lorraine, and it was so weird not to have her there. On the drive home we ran into snow. Thankfully it wasn't sticking to the asphalt yet. It snowed all night Saturday and all night Sunday!

So, this morning classes were canceled until 10am. I was so excited, that meant I was able to sleep in! I was about to get up at about 9 when my teacher for my 10am class called and said that she didn't need me to come in for the test because she was going to use my grade from last semester when I took the class but ended up withdrawing right after the midterm. It was awesome, because the night before I didn't fall asleep until 4am. Unfortunately, it threw off Lorraine's sleeping schedule and she wasn't asleep for her naps at the usual times, which meant that I had to stay with her through my classes because Morgan wasn't up yet.

Well! We had quite a week. I hope next week is just as fun!

Well, another week has gone by and I've only got two more weeks until Spring Break. I am very excited to have a week off for sure! This last weekend I played in concerts. These concerts ended up being amazing which at the beginning of the week I didn't think would happen. We had a very intense rehearsal Monday and it just didn't seem like we were together or that we would play very well. Thankfully, we got it together and played beautifully. The concerts was a memorial concert for our music head's husband, who passed away in November. The pieces we played were combined choir and orchestra, and they were so very well arranged. I was so proud to be a part of that concert.

Last week, I started going to the intermediate ballet class, and boy it did kick my butt. It still was a lot of fun but I realized how much I've got left to learn. I can't wait for tomorrow's classes.

I've also had a lesson last week that was just terrible. I hadn't had a lesson in three weeks because one week I was sick, and the next the teacher was sick, and the third I don't remember why I didn't go. I hadn't had the motivation to practice and it showed in my lesson. My teacher was very frustrated with me and I can definitely understand why. Thankfully, this week I've made the time to practice and feel like I will have a better lesson this week than last.

Lorraine has been so happy this last week and I don't really know why. She has also been sleeping a bit less than normal, I guess that just comes with growing up. Tonight for example, I put her down at her usual bedtime and she stayed awake for a couple more hours just sitting in her bed playing with her stuffed animals. She did that last night too. I don't know why she is doing that but hey as long as she isn't screaming or hurting herself, why not let her stay awake?!

Morgan is working hard and helping with Lorraine like always. There is no news on the jobs yet, hopefully some word will come soon.

Can't wait to see what this next week holds!

Toy Box fun

My daughter did something tonight that I did as a little girl, she crawled into her toy box and started throwing everything out.Looking up at Mom

Daddy and his Little Girl

Looking all sorts of cute

"YES!" I got Mommy's phone

A new Passion

This semester, I am taking a beginning ballet class. I never thought that I would enjoy it as much as I do. It really is becoming a new passion in my life. I have been a "dancer" before, in that I was on my middle school dance team, and took dance instead of P.E. in high school. I really enjoyed it then but definitely not as much as I appreciate it now. Ballet is such a beautiful form of movement that allows you to as cliche is this is going to sound, but be "in touch with your body." I love the flexibility and grace that I am gaining because of this class. Who wouldn't want to look so poised as the women in the picture?


Yesterday, after my ballet class, I approached my teacher about taking more classes. She invited me to take the intermediate class that the school offers, and I also taking her adult class at her studio on Friday evenings. I am super excited about taking more classes and learn more! I hope that I will be able to keep in everything that they are doing.

As far as everything is going, life is good. I've got a concerts this weekend and I am really excited about the music that we are playing. It is going to be a concert that is combined choir and orchestra and I pray that it will be beautiful. We are playing about half of the Mozart Requiem. This piece was Mozart's last piece that he wrote before he died. He was literally writing it on his death bed. We are also playing some Patriotic pieces, The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and some pieces from The Prelude to Glory oratorio. We are also playing a piece that the text was written by President James E. Faust. We are playing this concert in memory of one of the beloved professors that passed away in October. He was an amazing man and these pieces exemplify the life that he lived and the things that he loved. He wrote the series of books called, The Prelude to Glory, that tells about the lives of those who lived during the Revolutionary War. Someone read this series and felt inspired to write an oratorio for choir and orchestra based upon the books. It is a really amazing piece and I wished that it was more well known.

Morgan has been applying to jobs. The latest jobs have been at colleges in both Tampa Bay and Orlando, Florida. He also has been fine tuning his thesis paper and will be turning it in Sunday! I can't wait until he has his degree in hand and can finally get a real job. The poor kid is working at crappy jobs and he has a BACHELOR'S degree. It is amazing to me that he can't get a better job, but with the field that he wants to be in, he needed to have a Master's degree. He has also been amazing with Lorraine. Since I am in class most of the day on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, he has been at home taking care of Lorraine. He is becoming the regular Mr. Mom! He takes such good care of her and loves playing with her.

Lorraine has had a tough time this week. She has been cutting teeth this week and has had a small cold. She is congested and has a bit of a cough. She also was running a super high fever on Saturday night that I could not get down. I finally just decided to take her to the ER because I felt it was better to be safe then sorry. They thought that she might have a urinary tract infection so they had to take a urine sample by a catheter. It was not fun seeing my daughter scream in pain. The also took some blood samples to make sure nothing was wrong there. It took them two sticks to get a good blood sample, the first sample immediately clotted and was unusable so they had to stick her again. It was terrible! Thankfully, it turned out that she was ok. They gave her a Tylenol suppository that took her fever down all the way to a regular temperature and since then she has been fine. She is just the happiest little girl. She is walking without any trouble now and I'm sure it is not long before she is running.

I hope this week finds you well!

My Baby and Her Blankie

Lorraine has a blankie that she just cannot live without. Lately she will go in her room and grab it out of her crib. It is really funny to watch her with it.

This last week

Well this week was not as productive as I would like it to be. I woke up Monday morning with gunk sealing my eye shut. I had pink eye! I had an exam that morning that I couldn't get out of so I went to that class only, knowing that I might get someone else sick. Tuesday I woke up with the worst sore throat and congestion that I have ever had. I went to the campus nurse because I knew that I could free sudafed there. I stayed on the couch with this sickness for the entire week. I had chills and sweats depended upon whether I had a fever or not. I had a migraine. My muscles felt like they wouldn't work. Oh and by the end of the week I had nasty diarrhea too. It was rather miserable. I went to the doctor Friday afternoon, was diagnosed with a sinus infection and sent home with a prescription for some antibiotics. I am finally better today, Monday.

I couldn't have done it without Morgan. Morgan took care of me, Lorraine, and himself. He would go to the store to get anything that we needed. He took Lorraine to her doctor's appointment. He would cook me anything that I would ask for.