One massive update

Wow, wow, wow! I am even more of a slacker than I ever thought! Although, I prefer to use the term "busy". Either way, you all must be tired of looking at our blog and finding the same old thing.....old posts, and old pictures. Sorry for the let downs but this time will be different! I could promise that every time from here on out will be different as well but if there is one thing I've learned about myself in the past 25 years it is that I am great at thinking about posting pictures and updating friends and family on our status but really terrible at actually doing either of those things. I, therefore, send out a huge and everlasting apology for my "busyness". I will, though, promise a new blog and pictures every now and then with an accompanying new apology each time. I'm great at apologies. =) Hopefully you all love us enough to forgive my shortcomings over and over again. Now, onto the long overdue post:

As Ben stated back in July we have made it to Hyde Park! The trip was long and full of surprises! Luckily we are both big fans of road trips. =) We will drive anywhere! If it were possible we would drive across the oceans to travel the world. Every time we fly somewhere we vow to never do it again. The effort is never worth the benefits.....to us anyway. We love to see the sights and scenery while listening to our favorite songs and eating our favorite junk food snacks. =) Also, lucky for us, Maddie is proving to be part of the gene pool as she does amazingly well on our treks. She has thoroughly enjoyed a few 20 hour drives in her 4 years. We started out from Springfield in the early afternoon. Ben was driving our 12 foot moving truck while Maddie and I were in the car. I learned within about 15 minutes that I am a much better passenger than driver. I'm used to leaning back with a pillow and a blanket, snuggling up with a good book, or taking a little nap, or getting on the internet on my phone to check my myspace or play a game. Previous to our departure I hadn't thought of the fact that all of these things would be impossible while driving. Consequently I called Ben before we even got out of town and was complaining that I was done driving. Too bad I had no choice. =/ After about 10 hours of driving we found ourselves in the middle of the night, in the middle of a horrible rain storm, in the middle of Nebraska, still a couple hours from the motel room we had booked for the night. Ben was leading the way and from the car behind him I could see that he was having a hard time staying awake. I prayed and prayed and prayed that the melatonin would stop flooding his brain and he would stay on the road. The battery in my phone had died shortly before that so I couldn't call and talk him through it. I was so scared!!!! Thankfully we made it to the motel and drug our massive bags up to the top floor and into our stinky, carpet stained, but much appreciated room. Right away we let Lily, our dog, out of her cage to eat and she promptly jumped up onto one of the beds and peed. After a bit of clean up we sank into our beds and slept soundly through the rest of the night. We left the middle of Nebraska around 9 the next morning and made it through to a city on the western side of Wyoming. We had nearly made it! We decided to stop one last time for gas and food but as I was sitting with Maddie eating chicken nuggets Ben came in and informed me that he had locked the keys int the moving truck. We were stuck. Luckily, we pay for a service with our cell phone plan that allows us to call and be "rescued" when we have car trouble. We called and within 30 minutes a local locksmith was there to open the door for us. Yay! We only spent an hour or so off the road which was actually a very nice break. Not long after that we made it to Hyde Park and, as we were very excited to finally be here, after such a long trip the arrival seemed quiet anti-climatic. It took a few days to get our things into place but we were soon feeling right at home (especially me since we are living with my family). We arrived in town on a Wednesday and by Friday I was working at Bear River Mental Health. As Ben stated it is a non-profit organization that provides out patient therapy and medical support for low income people that are severely and persistently mentally ill, people that are needing extra emotional and mental support, and children who are struggling behaviorally. I am a receptionist there and work about 9 hours a week. I really enjoy working there and love the ladies that I work with! Coincidentally, Ben also got a job working there! It's just like old times (we met working together at a facility for adults with mental disabilities).....sort of. Except that when we are there together (which is hardly) we never actually see each other unless he makes it a point to come downstairs and talk to me. He is working as a skills development specialist. He works mostly with kids but has a few adult clients as well. He works fairly closely with the therapists to learn the client's goals and then works mostly with the client to implement and practice those goals. So far he has taken kids fishing, played with them and his frisbee, taken them to the video game store at the mall, gone grocery shopping with clients a couple times, and attended a hunter's safety class with one of the kids. Mostly he gets to play/work with the kids. He really seems to enjoy it and I'm sure the kids are having fun with him as well. He's always been great with kids. =)
As Ben mentioned we had a flood soon after we got here and the room that flooded happened to be the room where all of our stuff was stored. It rained on our things for who knows how long and we were so blessed! Absolutely nothing was ruined. All of our pictures from our 5 1/2 years of marriage, including our wedding pictures, were soaked. I quickly peeled them all apart from each other and nervously laid them out all over the basement. Within a day they were all dry and good as new! Ben's mission box was sitting in about an inch of water but when he emptied the contents he found that nothing had gotten wet. What a miracle!!!! After the flood we were living in disarray. The carpet had to be pulled up and all of our things that had so perfectly been placed were now in various places all over the basement. It was very hot, and extremely humid for about a week which was pretty miserable since it was the middle of summer and we were sleeping in these conditions. There were huge commercial size fans set up all over the place which was the most annoying thing because we had to yell over them to speak to each other. They hurt my ears! A few weeks of living in chaos and we finally got new, plush carpet downstairs. Hooray! We set everything back up and have been living in comfort since then. What a hectic, and stressful time that was!
Since August things have been pretty quiet. Ben has started the civil engineering program here at Utah State University and is enjoying his classes. He has made a few friends already and is doing well in his classes. I am also attending school although I'm continuing my classes online through Ozarks Technical College (the school I was at in Missouri). Once I am eligible for in state tuition next fall I'll transfer to Utah State University and pursue my degree in creative writing. I'm SO lucky that they have a writing program just 5 miles down the road! =) We celebrated Maddie's 4th birthday on the 19th of August. =( My baby is growing up WAY too fast!!!! Then after 1 horrible bought of tonsillitis and 2 months of disturbed sleep from 2 very enlarged tonsils Maddie had her tonsils and adenoids removed two weeks ago. She did amazing!!!! For the week leading up to the surgery I told her a bedtime story every night about a little girl who went to the hospital to get her tonsils out. In the story she woke up in the morning but didn't eat any breakfast or drink any water. Then she went with her mommy and daddy to the hospital where she put on a hospital gown and some fuzzy socks. She then had to say goodbye to her mommy and daddy and go with the nice nurse who would put a little mask over her mouth and nose while she breathed. Then she would go to sleep so fast that she would say "I'm so slee......(insert snoring sounds here)." Finally she would wake up back with her parents. As we drove to the hospital the morning of the tonsillectomy she sat in her car seat and said "I woke up and didn't eat breakfast or drink any water.....check! I'm going to the hospital.....check!" She gave us big hugs and kisses and went with the nurse and anesthesiologist without incident, much to the amazement of her doctor. The actual surgery took about 15 minutes and within an hour she was walking around and playing with her dolls. The doctor warned us over and over again that the recovery process would be horrible, worse than we could think of but it was about the same as her having a cold. She drank a lot of apple juice and watched a lot of barbie movies. Now, two weeks later, she's as good as new. =) Luckily she was well enough to go trick or treating for Halloween. This was her first real Halloween and she was so excited! She was a fairy, a very, very cute fairy and got just enough candy to last her 1 day of gluttony. I have pictures of all of the above so enjoy! =)
We love and miss all of you! Hopefully everyone is healthy and happy. The best part of the year is right around the corner! Hooray!!!!! XOXO