First of all I would like to begin where I left off on the blog.
Fall of 2013, hubby got a job offer right as he decided to be a say at home dad for me to be able to finish school.
We prayed about it and accepted the offer, which took us to St. Louis, Missouri after that semester (December 12th 2013)
I didn't get to stay and graduate with my film and television certificate the next semester. I'm sad that I couldn't graduate but I did find a school ten minutes from our new home that offers undergrad and graduate film programs (in the Midwest!?) Even though we can't afford to send me to school now that he makes money (ironic much?) it is still a tender mercy. It means I will eventually be able to finish my degree!
We got off the plane in mid December, went out to eat at Steak n Shake (it's better than mcDs, not as good as in n out) with Shane after not seeing him for a month!
While we were still living in the hotel and waiting for escrow to close on the new house (NEW HOUSE!! Our first home together!) we watched a small snowstorm, went to the movies to see Frozen (Willow couldn't hold in her excitement that there was a blonde big sister and a redheaded little sister! "It looks just like me and EmmaLily!!!!") and caught colds and the flu! Hoorah...
We moved into the new house on December 20th, met some friendly neighbors and dealt with new illnesses and germs. By Christmas night I had to take Willow to our first ER visit, she had a 105 fever measured from under her armpit! (For a couple of hours I couldn't figure out why the hospital was called "St. Peters Barnes Jewish Hospital" and wondered if there was some kind of Catholic-Jewish alliance or something, and I finally realized "St Peters" was the name of the city the hospital was in!!) Soon we all got sick and Shane spent his first Christmas break playing nurse for us.
When the movers moved our stuff, they praised us for being smart and not moving with tons of stuff! Little did they know we had been living in less than 800 sq ft for the last 11 years... We simply did not have much stuff to move 😆.
The new year rolled around and we experienced true American pride with tons of explosions! It was like a war zone! I absolutely loved it and thought it was beautiful, but I couldn't help think there must be veterans living close by that are having a very hard time with it.
2014
We were finally getting over our illnesses and ventured out to the local animal shelter to look for pets. We found the cutest puppy and brought her home on January 3rd. We love her so much and had tons of fun with her, I enjoyed learning about dogs and taking care of her. The kids named her Summer, because she brought sunshine into our home during the cold winter :-)
Then on Sunday January 5th we had a huge, beautiful, peaceful snowstorm. Church was cancelled (how strange not to have church on Sunday?!) Ecstatic for our first ever snowstorm, I hopped out of bed and ran downstairs only to slip down the steps and jam my foot into the banister, breaking my right big toe :-( I thought I just sprained it so went a week or so without getting it checked out. In the mean time I developed bronchitis from my previous flu/cold and had to go to the ER because I was afraid it was pneumonia again. (I had gotten it while pregnant with our oldest) Finally went to a new doctor and got the x-ray, crutches, and a boot. Enrolled the kids in school only to have TEN SNOW DAYS!! Then I found out the toe was definitely broken and had a couple drs tell me I needed surgery to move a piece of the bone back in place 😩. At this point I'm still getting over the bronchitis, planning Elijah's birthday party, and the next day I have the surgery! That following week I develop tonsillitis and got a UTI... It just keeps getting better and better... ;-)
A few tender mercies that God granted me was a sweet visiting teacher who watched my kids, a lovely friend from church come clean my house, and my sister to have three whole weeks available, starting that next weekend, to come out and help me with kids, drs appointments, and household stuff while I was on bed rest and oxycodone for 6 weeks after the surgery. (Such a big fuss over a measly little toe! In hindsight, I should have opted not to have the surgery, but the dr pretty much scared me into it. Boy, do I know better now!!) I am so grateful for my sisters selfless service, more than she will know! We had a ton of fun exploring St. Louis, the arch, the zoo, the city museum, soda shop, restaurants, etc. (the whole adventure is posted in photos on my Facebook)
She left in March, spring sprang beautifully and colorfully, and my parents came out for a couple days when Nephi turned 12 and saw him get ordained with the Holy Priesthood! I also got my very first calling in our new home ward!
Sunday morning before I was called, I was getting ready for church and thought to myself, 'I'd really love a calling in the young women's, like camp director, only maybe the assistant because director would be hard...'
The second counselor in the bishopric stopped me as I hobbled by in my boot and crutches right before second hour began and asked me to talk to him in private, then proceeded to say,
"Sister Ryerson, we would like to extend to you the calling of Relief Society pianist."
"Sister Ryerson, we would like to extend to you the calling of Relief Society pianist."
I near about had a heart attack. I do NOT play the piano, at all! Maybe this was Heavenly Fathers way of telling me I need to start? Instant panic set in as I replied;
"What?! Pianist?! Are you sure? I can't play the piano! But I can learn how to?? Do you guys need me to learn to play the piano?"
"Wait a second... I think I switched it with someone else's..."
Checks phone...
"Oh right, that's not it at all!! Let me start over... Sister Ryerson, we would like to extend to you the calling of Young Womens Assistant Camp Director."
No. Freakin.Way.
I laughed in relief and amazement and immediately exclaimed;
"YES!! I can definitely do THAT!"
Score!
That week I set out to find out who the camp director was, I found out she was the wife of the brother who called me and she had also broken her toe recently! We were both in boots hahaha.
She ended up becoming one of my dearest friends here in St Charles. We had a blast at girls camp together, and I met many beautiful women leaders and girls and felt the spirit of sisterhood so strongly here in our new stake! Maybe the Stake made a difference, or maybe I was different, but I always had a difficult time making strong emotional bonds with other women in the church before. I was always able to count on my Relief Society sisters no matter what, but there's something different when you can count on her for emotional support (relief) as well.
Summer-time was a whirlwind. in the Spring we found out that Shane dad had brain cancer. He made it out here to visit us in the Summer while I was away at camp and stayed for a little while after I came back. It was so fun to have Grandpa come visit. But it was also hard seeing him worn out from the medications he was on. Shane was able to take vacation time to be with the kids and hang out with his dad while I was at camp this year (because we couldn't afford a real vacation due to just buying a house and everything) But we were lucky to have people come visit and explore Saint Louis, so it felt like a vacation for the kids anyway! My friend Deanna came to visit with her new baby, too! Some good friends from Irvine student housing moved to St Louis too and we got to see them! The kids started swim team, our first time having them in a sport so that was a new experience. I would like to have them all in a sport during the rest of the year as well.
Before we knew it, it was August and school was starting up again. This time all four of my kids would be off on the bus and I would be a semi-empty nester! 8:30am - 4:30pm every single day I would be alone at home! At first I was very excited, but very very soon I became bored. This was the first time I did not have school, work, or kids to deal with in my entire life. So naturally I caught up on all my favorite shows, wrote a little story here and there, planned some short films, gave up on that due to lack of crew (I could have done a self made documentary on the life of a stay at home mom, but had little ambition for that kind of project) I attempted to open an Etsy shop (Etsy is haaaaarrrd) found all my craft supplies either being eaten by the dog or malfunctioning and eventually ended up in a rut of watching Netflix and doing chores all day. I started going to playgroup, even though I had no kids with me, just to hang out with other moms!
The holidays were super fun! Halloween was a blast, trick or treating in our neighborhood, there weren't too many kids but the candy load was more than sufficient! Thanksgiving, my good friend from my home ward (where I grew up) moved to the St Louis area so we had them over for dinner! Some wonderful friends from Irvine were in town as well and we had everyone over for dessert. It was so amazing have old and new friends together in our new home. It made me miss everyone in our old student housing!
Christmas and New Years were a thousand times better than last year! I was able to get cards sent out (if you didnt get one it means you didnt give your address, or I had the wrong address for you so email me your address and Ill get you one!) My parents and three of my siblings came out and spent a couple of weeks with us, over the holidays. It didn't snow :-( and all my plans either fell through or went poorly, but we still had a ton of fun! I loved visiting Nauvoo and touring the temple with my parents, and going to the City Museum with my siblings and not having a broken toe! (Check my Facebook for photos!)
Something I didn't mention earlier, after my surgery while I was still coming down from the anesthesia, I remember vividly a strong impression I felt so I got my husbands attention and told him, "Shane, we need to have another baby." He thought that was hilarious, especially because he knows I didn't want to be pregnant ever again! So of course he did not let me live that one down at all. I knew what I was saying when I said it but I had nothing stopping me, it was like all my filters were completely gone and I would have said ANYTHING lol. Even though I knew in my heart it was true, I was still trying to figure out a way around it. I wanted to finish school first, I wanted to lose weight first, I wanted to be settled in a job first, so I could make money to afford a baby, we just bought a house we cant afford a baby! etc... This went on in my mind all through the spring, summer and fall.
Finally Shane and I decided to bring it to Heavenly Father, something I was dreading a little bit. So the morning of my appointment to get a new IUD put in we knelt down together and I began to pray out loud. I couldn't even finish my first question when the spirit hit me like a TON of bricks and I cried for about five minutes while Shane sat in awkward silence. I quickly finished my prayer and asked him if he felt that. Umm... not really. Well, the answer was yes, we need to have another child and no I should not get another IUD just yet, because it needs to happen soon.
And into the new year we go...
Score!
That week I set out to find out who the camp director was, I found out she was the wife of the brother who called me and she had also broken her toe recently! We were both in boots hahaha.
She ended up becoming one of my dearest friends here in St Charles. We had a blast at girls camp together, and I met many beautiful women leaders and girls and felt the spirit of sisterhood so strongly here in our new stake! Maybe the Stake made a difference, or maybe I was different, but I always had a difficult time making strong emotional bonds with other women in the church before. I was always able to count on my Relief Society sisters no matter what, but there's something different when you can count on her for emotional support (relief) as well.
Summer-time was a whirlwind. in the Spring we found out that Shane dad had brain cancer. He made it out here to visit us in the Summer while I was away at camp and stayed for a little while after I came back. It was so fun to have Grandpa come visit. But it was also hard seeing him worn out from the medications he was on. Shane was able to take vacation time to be with the kids and hang out with his dad while I was at camp this year (because we couldn't afford a real vacation due to just buying a house and everything) But we were lucky to have people come visit and explore Saint Louis, so it felt like a vacation for the kids anyway! My friend Deanna came to visit with her new baby, too! Some good friends from Irvine student housing moved to St Louis too and we got to see them! The kids started swim team, our first time having them in a sport so that was a new experience. I would like to have them all in a sport during the rest of the year as well.
Before we knew it, it was August and school was starting up again. This time all four of my kids would be off on the bus and I would be a semi-empty nester! 8:30am - 4:30pm every single day I would be alone at home! At first I was very excited, but very very soon I became bored. This was the first time I did not have school, work, or kids to deal with in my entire life. So naturally I caught up on all my favorite shows, wrote a little story here and there, planned some short films, gave up on that due to lack of crew (I could have done a self made documentary on the life of a stay at home mom, but had little ambition for that kind of project) I attempted to open an Etsy shop (Etsy is haaaaarrrd) found all my craft supplies either being eaten by the dog or malfunctioning and eventually ended up in a rut of watching Netflix and doing chores all day. I started going to playgroup, even though I had no kids with me, just to hang out with other moms!
The holidays were super fun! Halloween was a blast, trick or treating in our neighborhood, there weren't too many kids but the candy load was more than sufficient! Thanksgiving, my good friend from my home ward (where I grew up) moved to the St Louis area so we had them over for dinner! Some wonderful friends from Irvine were in town as well and we had everyone over for dessert. It was so amazing have old and new friends together in our new home. It made me miss everyone in our old student housing!
Christmas and New Years were a thousand times better than last year! I was able to get cards sent out (if you didnt get one it means you didnt give your address, or I had the wrong address for you so email me your address and Ill get you one!) My parents and three of my siblings came out and spent a couple of weeks with us, over the holidays. It didn't snow :-( and all my plans either fell through or went poorly, but we still had a ton of fun! I loved visiting Nauvoo and touring the temple with my parents, and going to the City Museum with my siblings and not having a broken toe! (Check my Facebook for photos!)
Something I didn't mention earlier, after my surgery while I was still coming down from the anesthesia, I remember vividly a strong impression I felt so I got my husbands attention and told him, "Shane, we need to have another baby." He thought that was hilarious, especially because he knows I didn't want to be pregnant ever again! So of course he did not let me live that one down at all. I knew what I was saying when I said it but I had nothing stopping me, it was like all my filters were completely gone and I would have said ANYTHING lol. Even though I knew in my heart it was true, I was still trying to figure out a way around it. I wanted to finish school first, I wanted to lose weight first, I wanted to be settled in a job first, so I could make money to afford a baby, we just bought a house we cant afford a baby! etc... This went on in my mind all through the spring, summer and fall.
Finally Shane and I decided to bring it to Heavenly Father, something I was dreading a little bit. So the morning of my appointment to get a new IUD put in we knelt down together and I began to pray out loud. I couldn't even finish my first question when the spirit hit me like a TON of bricks and I cried for about five minutes while Shane sat in awkward silence. I quickly finished my prayer and asked him if he felt that. Umm... not really. Well, the answer was yes, we need to have another child and no I should not get another IUD just yet, because it needs to happen soon.
And into the new year we go...
