A New Year & Retirement

It's hard to believe I haven't written in over a year. 2021 was a year of many miracles and answered prayers, and I also know if I try backtrack and record everything that happened before I start 2022, I will never catch up. That said, I am going to start with where I am, and maybe eventually get back to some highlights from 2021. 

2022 is starting with a bang, and I am loving it! We spent our New Years' celebration in Arizona, and came back at the end of the first week of January. We flew from sunny 60 degrees, to a complete whiteout here in Denver. With prayers, white knuckles, and M's careful driving we made it home safely where Jack and his kids had made us dinner. 

We're beyond excited to have the Bryce's here in Colorado! They kept our house safe and warm for us over the Holiday break and they closed on their new home in Barefoot Lakes at the end of January. I was able to help Lindsay one day with unpacking and cardboard box deconstruction one afternoon, which is one of the awesome benefits of retirement - time to serve and help people in the middle of the week! Miraculously, over Christmas break, Klaire and Curtis were able to take my dresser and nightstands back to the Bryce's house in Buckeye which then got moved by their moving company up here to Colorado. We love having my dresser and nightstands, I honestly thought it might be another decade before it made it up here. It's beautiful and really makes me feel like an official adult with a wooden nightstand instead of a plastic one. 

January I worked three weeks, then retired on January 27, 2022, almost exactly 6.5 years after I started with LM. Over the past year, I haven't loved my job and it's been harder and harder to put time and energy into it. The team dynamics were hard, my part-time schedule wasn't being respected, and I felt like I wasn't adding value. All those aspects together were draining me, and towards the end of 2021, M and I realized we needed to make a change and we needed to do it soon. We were on LM benefits for the year, so as soon as 2022 hit we could transfer to KPMG and it felt like the right thing to do. I loved my time at LM, my work there has been miraculous in many ways and I feel so blessed to have been able to work for them as long as I did. By the time January 27th came, I was very ready to be done. We had some ice storms in January making it unsafe to drive so I had Jay home with me, trying to balance him and the work day was overwhelming and stressful. I didn't quite realize the toll and stress I was carrying by having to take Jay to daycare every day (snow or shine), until I didn't have to take him. We spent our first week of retirement sick, taking extra naps and lying around the house. But, we're now getting into routines and finding so much joy in just being and doing whatever we want. 

2015 v. 2022 - I wore the same shirt and tried to do the same hair, just for fun

M and I made this countdown, every day tearing a chain!

Mostly, I love being able to do things that have been hanging over my head for months: organizing the basement, sorting my clothes so I could put them into my new dresser and nightstand, painting Jay's little dresser, meal planning and grocery shopping in the middle of the week (unheard of!), doing laundry on a non-weekend day, meal prep during a nap, exercise and scripture study every morning without rushing through breakfast to get to work, putting Jay's clothes in boxes, etc. I am amazed with how much Heavenly Father multiplied my time on the weekends to do it all, and I am grateful to not have to do that anymore. I have been choosing projects every week to focus on, and I love it. I have organized the basement and painted a dresser, and a few more tings. I have also had many evenings available as M has started into busy season with work. I have started to play the piano again, practicing each night. I finished all my professional coaching assignments, so now I am ready to take the final exam which is a recording of me coaching someone. And, I have started reading a parenting book, 1-2-3 Magic to help me figure out how to help Jay, M's already read it. It's also been fun to just go hang out with sisters whenever I want and do fun projects!

Basement before & after, shelves make a huge difference! Plus getting rid of stuff.

WIP on the dresser

Enjoying our first snow day when we could just play

Homemade sledding hill!

I got to watch another 2 year old so we played outside and tried to build a snowman.

Little puppets I made at KT's.

Just a fun day at the park.

It has also been such a treat to see how Jay has grown over the past few months. We started Occupational Therapy in January and continue to do Speech therapy each week. Jay's progress has been slow, and it's been hard for all of us. However, just the past few weeks, we've seen big progress. He's starting to make new sounds, he says Mama and Dadda (usually Gaga) when he's talking to me and M. He is building towers with blocks when given the right incentive, and today he actually sat with the OT and her sensory box for 15 minutes! WOW! I couldn't believe my eyes, he was so good. I hope we can start to create more moments of focus for him. He's also happy to go to Nursery now. Jack took him a few times while he was living with us, and since then, Jay's been a Nursery champ. Jay still loves to be outside, and loves all the slides and swings at the parks. I took him to the Rec Center up in Longmont with the Merrill's and Bryce's and he loved the water. He may have my love for the water and waterslides with how much he went up and down the slide that day. He's a bundle of fun, is giving such loving hugs, and loves the Itsie Bitsie Spider song. 

He sat through this whole book - amazing!

Learning to take care of things...

He stole his friend's hat and was very happy about it

Scooping and dumping dirt by himself for the first time!

Matchy-matchy

Look at that tower! 

I came down one morning after showering to find my two boys reading <3

Sunday is our fancy day

We got a super cool airplane toy from the Bryc'es

Jay will focus on 1 thing really well - candy!

Jay and Roxy

Allen reading to the boys

This new year has also brought some fun celebrations! First up was Tia's Baptism. She asked me to give the talk on Baptism, which was a very special treat. I have loved watching Tia grow up, I first celebrated her birthday with her when she turned two and she's always been such a sweet and fun girl. Oma and Papa came to visit and they got to stay with us from Friday through Monday, which was a total blast. I love seeing Jay build a relationship with them. Sunday afternoon we had the Bryce's over for dinner and enjoyed playing Guesstures and other games with the kiddos. Continuing on the Merrill line, we also got to celebrate Kylee's 10th birthday with her. We had delicious tacos and went ice skating on Friday. It was especially fun for Jay who went ice skating for the first time and M got off work early to go with us! It was high 60's that day, so we didn't even get that cold at the outdoor rink! 

Oma and Jay playing with cars

Papa, Jay, and Oma

Tickling feet!

Jay enjoying tackling Papa

My retirement party was also awesome! M invited everyone down and we met at a park in Brighton that had a huge field with fresh snow, where we played Fox and Geese. We shot off a stomp rocket M gave me for retirement, and came home to enjoy pizza and games. I put on a movie for the kids and the adults got to hang out (minus M who was working). It's been over a month, and it still feels unreal that I am not working at LM anymore. It feels like maternity leave part 2. 

Jay and Mama with the stomp rocket

Jason and M lifting Tia onto the roof to get the rocket!

Fox and Geese!

The pizza party!

This year I have a goal to go to the temple every month. We now live farther from a temple than we ever have as a married couple, and the farthest I have since high school. It takes about an hour to get to the Denver temple or an hour to get to Fort Collins. I had an appointment scheduled in Denver for the end of February, and I quickly realized there was going to be snow and freezing temperatures the day I had booked. I woke up Saturday morning, a day with beautiful weather, and thought I should look to see when I could reschedule. I saw there was a 10 AM spot available, so I called up Grandma and Grandpa and asked if they had plans. They quickly agreed to drop their plans to watch Jay and then took us to lunch afterwards. I felt so incredibly blessed that day. The Lord was aware of my goal and Grandma and Grandpa were an answer to my prayer, plus they spoiled me with my favorite lunch place with gluten free Asian food. I sure love living close to family! 

I am also working on goals related to being Primary president and a ministering sister. I am trying to be more prepared as a president, planning for meetings and actually making goals for our presidency for the year. I have really enjoyed my presidency and feel so grateful for their service. They helped us pull off the Ward Christmas party, and continue to show up whenever I need them. It's been fun to get to know the Primary children. They are so sweet, and I am grateful for their testimonies. As for ministering, I've struggled with this for a long time and with COVID it's gotten harder. And, I also have many stories I tell myself about why I can't visit, etc. even when I haven't even connected with people. I finally connected with a sister who lives up the street from us, she watches her 18 month old granddaughter a few days a week so we went up and played with her. I enjoyed it, and Jay was so friendly and nice too it made it easy. This wonderful sister doesn't have many connections in the ward and I am hoping I can help be one that she does have. Since moving into the ward there have been a couple new families move into our neighborhood with kiddos close to Jay's age. I've reached out to those mom's and we've gone to the park which has been so nice! I struggled to make time for ministering in the simplest ways while I was working, and I know I still have a long ways to go but I am going to try this year to be better! 

One family adventure we had before busy season began was MLK Day at Barr Lake. Barr Lake is only about 10 minutes from our house, and it's been something I've always wanted to see. We packed our lunches and enjoyed walking around the lake, crossing bridges, picking up rocks, and eating lunch in a teepee. It was getting pretty cold by the end, so we were grateful for the cover of the teepee. 

Jay and Mama, enjoying rocking chairs

Finally, we celebrated Jay's second birthday! I know, a month late, but on his birthday I was sick, working, and had to tell my boss earlier than I planned that I was leaving LM. It was a crazyyyyyy day and week and it just didn't happen. Luckily, Jay's a very forgiving kiddo and let us have a "re-do" on January 14th. We had mac n' cheese for dinner and confetti cupcakes for dessert. Jay got to open some of his presents that he didn't get to open at Christmas time and a few fun ones just for his birthday. We love our little Jay, he's resilient, strong, happy, and brave. 

He's actually bigger than Griffy (elephant) now.

Jay hasn't quite figured out blowing out candles, but he sure thought they were cool! 

He really loved opening his presents!

Jay got his new bike actually on his birthday in December!

Maybe a future pianist?

On his birthday, Jay was loving goggles and wore them everywhere. 

March 2-3-4

In March, we're really into busy season madness. If M works over 10 hours in a day, he'll sometimes bring home dinner provided by KPMG. It's been nice to not have to cook some evenings, and it's really helped our food budget! Dinner often lasts from about 5:30 to 7, with starting to feed Jay through M and I finishing after he gets home. Jay is growing and eating so much, I don't even know what to feed him sometimes. When he doesn't like the food option, we often go through three or four different things before he decides which one he wants. Hence, why dinner is a 90 minute adventure most evenings. 

We kicked off the month with Kylee's birthday weekend trip. She called and asked if me, Uncle M, and Jay could come. She was really insistent that Uncle M came along. She knew he would have to work, but I don't know if she realized just how much. Jason set M up with a work station, including two monitors and all the cords and charging capabilities M needed to work from there effectively. We went up Thursday evening because it was threatening snow Thursday late evening through Friday morning and we didn't want to get stuck. It was lightly pouring rain as I picked M up from his parents house. We were about 30 minutes into the drive and almost decided to turn around and come home, or pull off the road because the water was starting to pile on the road and our anxieties were rising. About that time, the traffic slowed to stop and slow-go, so we could see and all was good. Never have I been so grateful for traffic, and when we got through the stop and go, the rain had stopped and the roads were totally dry. We were blessed, and the Lord really heard our prayers. Friday was a fun day! Kylee opened her presents in the morning which brought the excitement into full swing. She got a rocket that shoots off with vinegar and baking soda, and we had a great time launching it. In the afternoon, after the kiddos woke up from naps, we went to the Rec Center to swim. Jay did great in the water, and enjoyed splashing, going down little slides, and walking around in the water. He even let Katey watch him so I could go down the big slides with the girls several times. I love water and waterslides! It makes me so excited for summer! In the evening after M finished work, we had a delicious taco dinner with chocolate crockpot cake for dessert. Yum! We finished the evening watching Descendants, a new Disney Channel movie that was really good! 

Kylee, Tia, Jay, Kade, Abby

Ready to launch the rocket!

Putting in the feul.

The boys loading up their truck with rocks. 

Dinner! 

Saturday was another day of partying. We went to the park and walked all around. Jay loves the swings and could have stayed swinging the whole time. We ventured around walking, following cousins, and enjoying the beautiful sunshine. We shot off the rocket multiple times after M finished work, and got it stuck in the tree a few times too. My day got exponentially better once M joined the fun, and we were so grateful he came on the trip with us. In the evening, we played an expansion to Castle Panic with Katey and Jason. It was a close call, but we pulled it out! We had a great time playing! 

Everyone wanted to help Jay walk back to the car <3

Happy Jay on the swings

Firefighter!

Fun on the metal tractor

We've had a few events church wise of note this month. First, we've been starting to meet with the sister missionaries every other week to participate in our Stake's Revelation Initiative. The sisters share a short spiritual thought, ask us how we want to reach out to those around us and pay attention to how God wants us to reach out and then the follow up with us on our commitments. Our meetings are short, and via zoom, and I am grateful we have the opportunity to have the missionaries "in" our home. Second, I am the counselor in the YW in charge of camp this year. We do have a camp director, phew! And, I still go to the meetings and relay information to the presidency. It will look different due to Covid, and I am excited to be able to support the planning and process to hopefully create some better experiences for camp than what I had as a youth. I think the last thing of mention is that I made an Easter wreath with the Relief Society. It was with fresh greens and so fun! My ministering sister taught the activity, and I loved my wreath. I was so sad when it froze and partially died, but we're still enjoying it on the door for as long as it hangs in there.

We also tried a few new things in March. First, I gave Jay his first haircut. He seemed a bit nervous, moved a ton, and we ended up with a pretty cute looking hair cut and no physical cuts, so it was a win!

The before pic, you can see his little hairs hanging over his ears.

During...

After

And, running around in Daddy's shirt to try to distract him while Daddy was getting a haircut.

I also made jam with Grandpa's frozen raspberries, so yummy! We were out of the jam Grandpa had made us, and it was such a blessing to have some raspberries to make more. And, I attempted to make crepes for the first time, from scratch, gluten free. I was surprised they turned out so yummy! And, they were especially good with the fresh jam, berries, etc.

Crepes in the making...

SO good! Even M liked them! 

Yummy, jam!

We got a big snow storm in March, a snow storm that cleared out the grocery stores and caused panic. Potatoes and onions are normally here, all gone...all the salad, gone. Basically everything produce was gone and many other items, but luckily I was able to get most of what was on the list. Church was cancelled as the storm picked up Sunday morning. We did get a lot of snow, probably close to two feet by Monday when it stopped. Our nanny couldn't get out of her neighborhood, so we had to pass Jay between us for the day, which made things a little crazy. Of course, we also had to take advantage of the snow and the time off work and built a snowman on our porch. 

Very fun, snowball snow.

Snowman!

Feeling the snow, being buried in it.

I just stuck him straight into the untouched snow on our porch, and he couldn't move.

Me and Jay

Enjoying his wet gloves and his new hat - end of season wins at Walmart!

My co-worker from a past team decided she was going to leave LM and move her family to Texas. They sold their home in this extremely hot market, got almost 100k over ask, and left town. We had a little going away party at our house one Friday afternoon. It was so fun to see the old Leadership Development team. We had a great time catching up, and the team brought their little kiddos. Jay was all over the place, and loved hanging with the adults. He got his hand in my old boss's water, stole treats from the little girl, and emptied purses or anything else he could get his hands on. Such a funny kid!  

We've had our share of fun as a family this month too. In addition to the snow, we had some great weather days! One of those Saturdays, we convinced M to take a lunch break from work, and headed to the park. The sun was shining and it was so nice to be outside together! I also made a cute Easter garland with fabric from Grandma Blaylock. She is so kind to let me use some of her fabric, it's been a blast! We also celebrated Easter a little early with the last Sunday before Conference, and got in our matching outfits and took pics. Jay and M mimicked a picture they took 1 year ago on Easter, so cool to see how much Jay has grown in a year! 

Soaring Jay!

Sunny family photos! 

This is about the best photo we got. 

Jay loved the stroller and things inside the basket.

The garland

I need to get this photo next to the photo from last year!

The fam-bam.

Jay in his new digs.

To wrap up the month, we got to spend an evening celebrating Grandpa Blaylock's birthday at Mike and Jenna's! It was the first time we'd seen there house, and it is beautiful. We had a great time visiting, and Jay got more and more comfortable with his cousins. I am unsure how comfortable they felt with him, but they were good sports. 

Watching basketball and chatting.

Cambrie was so sweet with Jay! He loved it.

Jay wanted Tanner to put his blocks together over and over.

Cowboy Jay's first ride on a horse!

Jay had his 15 month appointment as well. He still only has his 4 teeth, two top and two bottom. He's jabbering a lot, but no real words other than Dadda. He discovered his personal love for looking at books, which sometimes leads to book destruction. And, he loves sour cream, almost as much as Papa...or maybe more, because he just can't get enough! 

The wild man woke up and pulled his arm out of his shirt.

He picked me some flowers, so cute :) 

Jay's been loving on this new teddy that my friend Rachel gave him.

Books!

Daddy fun

Static-hair was my life as a kid, and it will be Jay's too.

Just need some more sour cream here, please!

15 month appointment cuddles, so nice, and so sad. 

Don't you just love sleeping babies. He is cuddling his teddy, Beary. 

Busy season is mostly over and we have been so blessed! It's been a great month, with lots of fun. The last thing I'll mention is I started my coaching certification this month. It was three 10-hour days, fully interactive, and intense training. The self-reflection that happened during that module, was incredible. I learned of some "rules" in my life that I'd been carrying for a long time. The one I'll mention here is the rule that I believed if I succeeded it meant someone else failed. That belief stemmed from moving to a small town and literally taking the top seat in the class from someone, taking a friend from someone, taking a trophy from someone, taking a state title from someone, etc. It was a thread that was very real in my life, a thread that caused me to often not share my successes with people due to the belief that it meant someone else was failing. This realization has brought so much light into my life, as I have worked to start sharing more of my successes and happy times with people without feeling guilty. I want to celebrate the wins of those I love, and in turn I am sure they want to celebrate my wins and they can't do that if I don't share. We should all support each other more, because we all win! We win at different things every single day, and those wins deserve celebration. They are only big or small if we define them that way.