Amalyn and Aislynn
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Dreaming
we were sitting down to breakfast this morning when Kalia suddenly climbs down and runs to the bathroom. The surprising part is she turned right around when she got there and ran back. "We have to go to the bathroom to remember our dreams. It's true." She climbs back in her chair and says "We must think of our dreams when we eat." I couldn't help but giggle.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Saga: The continuing story
The ward (who was notified of our move in March, I was excited!) helped us get everything out of the truck and into our third floor apartment. We vow to sell everything before our next move. We get things organized and unpack over the next few days. Brendon had caravanned down with us in his truck but Danelle would be following down later. Our goal is to be unpacked by Sunday. We finish on Saturday. Saturday afternoon we visit the Library to get new cards and lots of books about the ocean for the girls. Danelle and kids arrive on Sunday. We share an awesome beef stew with the Prestwiches and Danelle's parents and three siblings.
We wait for Tristan's diploma and the day it arrives is unremarkable. I feel bad for not having a big celebration in mind for the monumental day.
The days pass, his South Carolina license is approved a few weeks early. Hopes of starting work early dissipate quickly. The start day of July 1st comes and goes. We think the 15th is the day, but no. I am scheduled to fly to Utah for a family reunion and Grandpa's 80th birthday the 16th. We've know about the party for four years. With the job starting we didn't expect for Tristan to attend. As his start day is delayed again to the 23rd we take the plunge and buy tickets for Tristan to fly to Utah with us a mere four days before the trip.
We love visiting family in Utah and begin to question whether we made the right choice to come to South Carolina. Especially when we visit Cache Valley. Logan has such a special place in my heart. The trip is wonderful and Tristan starts work the following Monday. July 30th is his first day, a full month later than he could have been working and two weeks behind schedule. We loved having our family time from May 18th to July 30th but Tristan was anxious to start work. We did lots of exploring and just felt like vacation for the two months.
Coming home from Utah was strange. We discussed our feelings and decided they stemmed from our newness in SC. We hadn't been in Mt Pleasant long enough to root down. I sign Kalia up for a Mom's morning out program and dance class. We chang our licenses and our car registration (nightmare!). Though we weren't rooted we were working towards it. We accept the call to serve in the nursery class at church. Things slowly get into a rhythm through August as Tristan works regularly. Things become even more stable when Kalia starts preschool.
Despite the stress of scheduling (We often don't know Tristan's hours or where he would be working from day to day) we settle into our groove. The days of a dentist are hard and had challenges but Tristan enjoys the work. August passes and September arrives. Then come the layoffs.
At first it was hygienists, assistants and staff members. About every two weeks ten to twelve people are looking for new jobs. These are always the people that know what they were doing. The assistants that don't know anything, have no experience or training are being retained. This is the beginning of a lot of confusing decisions made by the company owner. Frustrations continue to escalate as the company continues to violate the contract. Tristan comes home tired after his 30-60 minute commute. Not all news is bad. He tells me good things too. He's getting all kind of compliments that are boosting his confidence to set out on his own. He's also increasing his speed and production to a point that he's making the company way more money than they're paying him. But I get ahead of myself.
Tristan's been working about 8 weeks, Brendon 10, when the ax hits. Brendon is fired. We're all in shock. We're all in a panic. What do we do now? The news comes at the end of a horrible day for Tristan. He's seen 28 patients, with complex cases (three simaltainously) , stayed 90 minutes late, and just exhausted. Normally he sees about 15 patients and that's about what he likes. He's able to spend the quality time with each patient and not feel too rushed. Black Friday. It was the Worst. Day. Ever.
Saturday: we have a job, but for how long? It's Tristan's day off and we're preoccupied trying to sort things out. It's a stressful weekend and I imagine up all kinds of imagery to illuminate the emotions and feelings that are going on. I thought of a few good ones. We're climbing a staircase and now we've reached a landing. The steps we thought were going to be there are rickety and unstable. We hear a crack (Utah visit) and the staircase shutters (Brendon fired) but doesn't fall. We're waiting for the fall. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Grasping for something, anything to hold on to should the platform collapse. A few strained minutes pass and ropes appear, some seeming more solid than others. We're second guessing ourselves now. Tugging on the ropes to see if they'll hold. Can we make the right choice? We followed the leads to this point. We climbed the stairs and thought we were moving in the right direction but it's all falling apart. Was it the right choice or just what we wanted? Can we make a solid choice now? We're still on the landing (we still have a job), but the clock is ticking. Only time will reveal our path. We hope.
We wait for Tristan's diploma and the day it arrives is unremarkable. I feel bad for not having a big celebration in mind for the monumental day.
The days pass, his South Carolina license is approved a few weeks early. Hopes of starting work early dissipate quickly. The start day of July 1st comes and goes. We think the 15th is the day, but no. I am scheduled to fly to Utah for a family reunion and Grandpa's 80th birthday the 16th. We've know about the party for four years. With the job starting we didn't expect for Tristan to attend. As his start day is delayed again to the 23rd we take the plunge and buy tickets for Tristan to fly to Utah with us a mere four days before the trip.
We love visiting family in Utah and begin to question whether we made the right choice to come to South Carolina. Especially when we visit Cache Valley. Logan has such a special place in my heart. The trip is wonderful and Tristan starts work the following Monday. July 30th is his first day, a full month later than he could have been working and two weeks behind schedule. We loved having our family time from May 18th to July 30th but Tristan was anxious to start work. We did lots of exploring and just felt like vacation for the two months.
Coming home from Utah was strange. We discussed our feelings and decided they stemmed from our newness in SC. We hadn't been in Mt Pleasant long enough to root down. I sign Kalia up for a Mom's morning out program and dance class. We chang our licenses and our car registration (nightmare!). Though we weren't rooted we were working towards it. We accept the call to serve in the nursery class at church. Things slowly get into a rhythm through August as Tristan works regularly. Things become even more stable when Kalia starts preschool.
Despite the stress of scheduling (We often don't know Tristan's hours or where he would be working from day to day) we settle into our groove. The days of a dentist are hard and had challenges but Tristan enjoys the work. August passes and September arrives. Then come the layoffs.
At first it was hygienists, assistants and staff members. About every two weeks ten to twelve people are looking for new jobs. These are always the people that know what they were doing. The assistants that don't know anything, have no experience or training are being retained. This is the beginning of a lot of confusing decisions made by the company owner. Frustrations continue to escalate as the company continues to violate the contract. Tristan comes home tired after his 30-60 minute commute. Not all news is bad. He tells me good things too. He's getting all kind of compliments that are boosting his confidence to set out on his own. He's also increasing his speed and production to a point that he's making the company way more money than they're paying him. But I get ahead of myself.
Tristan's been working about 8 weeks, Brendon 10, when the ax hits. Brendon is fired. We're all in shock. We're all in a panic. What do we do now? The news comes at the end of a horrible day for Tristan. He's seen 28 patients, with complex cases (three simaltainously) , stayed 90 minutes late, and just exhausted. Normally he sees about 15 patients and that's about what he likes. He's able to spend the quality time with each patient and not feel too rushed. Black Friday. It was the Worst. Day. Ever.
Saturday: we have a job, but for how long? It's Tristan's day off and we're preoccupied trying to sort things out. It's a stressful weekend and I imagine up all kinds of imagery to illuminate the emotions and feelings that are going on. I thought of a few good ones. We're climbing a staircase and now we've reached a landing. The steps we thought were going to be there are rickety and unstable. We hear a crack (Utah visit) and the staircase shutters (Brendon fired) but doesn't fall. We're waiting for the fall. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Grasping for something, anything to hold on to should the platform collapse. A few strained minutes pass and ropes appear, some seeming more solid than others. We're second guessing ourselves now. Tugging on the ropes to see if they'll hold. Can we make the right choice? We followed the leads to this point. We climbed the stairs and thought we were moving in the right direction but it's all falling apart. Was it the right choice or just what we wanted? Can we make a solid choice now? We're still on the landing (we still have a job), but the clock is ticking. Only time will reveal our path. We hope.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The Saga: the begining
There are somethings that I have not really included in the blog. Most of what is on here is focused on our girls and things we do as a family. Rarely is there much about Tristan or myself directly, since I'm not sure I want to share our issues with the whole world. We've left most of the stressful things in life off. I also have neglected some of our triumphs.
Dental school was challenging. Very challenging. Somedays Tristan would say that after knowing what he was going to go through, he's not sure he would have done it again. Now that we have cleared that obstacle, it's easier to say you'd do it again when you look at the potential you have as dentist verses just a biology grad.
The second year of dental school Tristan buddied up with his now closest friends for study groups. This started us on our current path. Through school and clinic Tristan teamed up with his friend Brendon and began cooking up some big dreams. The two of them are so similar in nature and habit. They understand one another in ways that no one else can. They've had similar experiences and childhoods. They enjoy so many of the same things. I believe it was during third year that they began talking about partnering up for business after graduation. We started narrowing down locations to try and ease the planning. It takes a long time to get things set, so we started pretty early. In May of 2011 we took a tour of the Carolinas together and discovered the gem that is Charleston. It was by far the highlight of the trip. We loved it and felt fantastic about pursuing careers there. Summer ended and the boys entered into a contest to create a business plan. They visited the area to get connections in the dental world. They talked to contractors, bankers, brokers, real estate agents, the works to make their plan. They paid for demographics to find the perfect spot since they needed specific numbers to create the plan. The contest ended and the were awarded 3rd place. This seemed to be a very real possibility.
Fourth year dental students are assigned different locations around the state to provide care to those in need to gain more real- life clinical experience beyond just the dental school's clinics where they would only be allowed to see two patients a day. Ohio project would give them the opportunity to increase their exposer and get a taste of what life would be like after graduation. Brendon and Tristan saw it as an opportunity to test run their compatibility working together. They requested to be in the same locations and were able to see. All was well.
December comes around and financially it looks like the loans to start up won't be available right out of school. After working for a few years, they might get the financing but the Plan would have to be put on hold. Tristan maintains his contacts in Charleston but tells them to switch the focus to find him an associateship somewhere near West Ashley where we'd determined the best area for opening a new practice. We hear things now and then but nothing concrete.
Suddenly its February and Spring Break is around the corner and we start panicking that nothing has turned up. Tristan scrounges around for interview during the break and we plan a family trip with both families sharing a beach house on Isle of Palms. It's a busy week with lots of interviews. Most aren't very productive but they do contact and meet with a man starting up new practices in the area we're interested in. Since it's a new chain (corporate) the CEO is hiring lots of dentist and promises both Tristan and Brendon jobs. The offer is good, everything we were looking for. They are even going to be in the same practice! We start making firm plans. I find an apartment. It's all going according to plan. They work out the kinks in the contract and sign them. We have a three bedroom apartment in a brand new complex that is smoke free and within our budget (barely). We figure that an upgrade in living should come in the form of a new apartment since we are no longer students. We plan to continue living like students since our loans will be coming due, but allow ourselves the luxury of an upgrade in living quarters. The apartment is nearly 1500 square feet with an enormous kitchen. I am so excited!
Tristan has completed all of his requirements (as of the end of February) and is anxious to finish his time. He takes as many opportunities out of the school's clinic as he can. He does an externship with the perio department. Just biding his time until clinic's over. He schedules a hernia surgery the Monday following the first day of checkout. Checkout is delayed and he has to return to the school for checkout but that is the only hiccup in the smooth plan. He's essentially out of school starting the 18th of May. Graduation is June 4th. Tristan's parents come to town May 31st and stay until the 6th. We enjoy time as a family preparing for the move (Tristan's on a weight restriction and cannot life more than 25 pounds). Things are stressful but exciting. We worry about the Prestwich's selling there house and graduation. We stress about fitting in the truck and in a panic reserve the largest truck. Move day arrives and we end up splitting the truck, due to unforeseen circumstances. I'm grateful to that panic as it gives us an opportunity to help out our friends and cut some of the travel costs including towing a car.
Dental school was challenging. Very challenging. Somedays Tristan would say that after knowing what he was going to go through, he's not sure he would have done it again. Now that we have cleared that obstacle, it's easier to say you'd do it again when you look at the potential you have as dentist verses just a biology grad.
The second year of dental school Tristan buddied up with his now closest friends for study groups. This started us on our current path. Through school and clinic Tristan teamed up with his friend Brendon and began cooking up some big dreams. The two of them are so similar in nature and habit. They understand one another in ways that no one else can. They've had similar experiences and childhoods. They enjoy so many of the same things. I believe it was during third year that they began talking about partnering up for business after graduation. We started narrowing down locations to try and ease the planning. It takes a long time to get things set, so we started pretty early. In May of 2011 we took a tour of the Carolinas together and discovered the gem that is Charleston. It was by far the highlight of the trip. We loved it and felt fantastic about pursuing careers there. Summer ended and the boys entered into a contest to create a business plan. They visited the area to get connections in the dental world. They talked to contractors, bankers, brokers, real estate agents, the works to make their plan. They paid for demographics to find the perfect spot since they needed specific numbers to create the plan. The contest ended and the were awarded 3rd place. This seemed to be a very real possibility.
Fourth year dental students are assigned different locations around the state to provide care to those in need to gain more real- life clinical experience beyond just the dental school's clinics where they would only be allowed to see two patients a day. Ohio project would give them the opportunity to increase their exposer and get a taste of what life would be like after graduation. Brendon and Tristan saw it as an opportunity to test run their compatibility working together. They requested to be in the same locations and were able to see. All was well.
December comes around and financially it looks like the loans to start up won't be available right out of school. After working for a few years, they might get the financing but the Plan would have to be put on hold. Tristan maintains his contacts in Charleston but tells them to switch the focus to find him an associateship somewhere near West Ashley where we'd determined the best area for opening a new practice. We hear things now and then but nothing concrete.
Suddenly its February and Spring Break is around the corner and we start panicking that nothing has turned up. Tristan scrounges around for interview during the break and we plan a family trip with both families sharing a beach house on Isle of Palms. It's a busy week with lots of interviews. Most aren't very productive but they do contact and meet with a man starting up new practices in the area we're interested in. Since it's a new chain (corporate) the CEO is hiring lots of dentist and promises both Tristan and Brendon jobs. The offer is good, everything we were looking for. They are even going to be in the same practice! We start making firm plans. I find an apartment. It's all going according to plan. They work out the kinks in the contract and sign them. We have a three bedroom apartment in a brand new complex that is smoke free and within our budget (barely). We figure that an upgrade in living should come in the form of a new apartment since we are no longer students. We plan to continue living like students since our loans will be coming due, but allow ourselves the luxury of an upgrade in living quarters. The apartment is nearly 1500 square feet with an enormous kitchen. I am so excited!
Tristan has completed all of his requirements (as of the end of February) and is anxious to finish his time. He takes as many opportunities out of the school's clinic as he can. He does an externship with the perio department. Just biding his time until clinic's over. He schedules a hernia surgery the Monday following the first day of checkout. Checkout is delayed and he has to return to the school for checkout but that is the only hiccup in the smooth plan. He's essentially out of school starting the 18th of May. Graduation is June 4th. Tristan's parents come to town May 31st and stay until the 6th. We enjoy time as a family preparing for the move (Tristan's on a weight restriction and cannot life more than 25 pounds). Things are stressful but exciting. We worry about the Prestwich's selling there house and graduation. We stress about fitting in the truck and in a panic reserve the largest truck. Move day arrives and we end up splitting the truck, due to unforeseen circumstances. I'm grateful to that panic as it gives us an opportunity to help out our friends and cut some of the travel costs including towing a car.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Story time
Today as I was taking Kalia and Kent to their preschool class they were telling stories in the van.
Kalia: Once upon a time, a long long time ago there was an old woman. The old woman was very old. She liked to eat rabbits. She would put them on a plate, cut them up and eat it!
They continued telling the story, giggling about the different things the old woman ate. I didn't hear exactly what funny things but they were having a good time.
Kalia: Once upon a time there was a cat. the cat was very sad.
I guess Tristan's coaching on how to tell stories is working. he tells here these fantastic stories he makes up. She's always requesting a story.
Kalia: Once upon a time, a long long time ago there was an old woman. The old woman was very old. She liked to eat rabbits. She would put them on a plate, cut them up and eat it!
They continued telling the story, giggling about the different things the old woman ate. I didn't hear exactly what funny things but they were having a good time.
Kalia: Once upon a time there was a cat. the cat was very sad.
I guess Tristan's coaching on how to tell stories is working. he tells here these fantastic stories he makes up. She's always requesting a story.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Night-time woes
We have been struggling lately with Kalia staying in her bed at night. She'll come out one or two times at bed time, then two or three times in the middle of the night. She wanders into our room and wants to sleep on the floor (after waking us up, of course). If we don't let her then sometimes she'll end up on the couch or just on the floor in front of her bed. For whatever reason, she will not stay in bed. This has been causing too many problems so we tried a chart. She would get a sticker if she stayed in bed. The first reward (ice-cream cone from McDonald's) was after five nights of not coming out. It took her two weeks to reach it. Sigh* Then Tristan had a brilliant idea and created a 'tent' for her. We told her she could only have it as long as she stayed in her bed at night. Worked!
*side note* Notice the oven door on the kitchen is open? Kalia likes to use them as 'kitty doors' or gates. Kitty is her current favorite game.
Play Days
We haven't been pulling out the camera much these days. But here are a few pictures I found from August.
Kalia is on her houseboat-raft and fishing for turtles. Tristan was having random sea life come visit her raft.
Amalyn's beautiful purses. We were playing dress up. I love when they play nicely!
I think Amalyn is saying something like, "Sisters hug!"
I just missed the moment. Amalyn was holding the other end of Kalia's "leash" and taking the kitty for a walk. They love to pretend they are kitties.
Yes, that is a baby doll under her shirt. It's a kid size table hiding spot. A spot for me and a spot for you. Perfect.
A Rewrite
Kalia and I were reading books today. We read the book Forever Friends by Carin Berger. It's a cute book about two friends and the seasons. At the last page I read "They were forever friends" she corrects me with
"they're two-ever friends!"
"they're two-ever friends!"
Sunday, September 2, 2012
She's not 2 yet!
Amalyn is trying to grow up too fast. She's taking on some of her older sister's behaviors such as holding up two fingers and yelling "two" at anyone who will talk to her. She points to her self and will tell you her name "Am- A- Yin." These are absolutely adorable traits. She will also say "I wanna go potty" and run to the bathroom trying to pull her pants down. She's picked up the "Don't want to!" and whining as well. But the funniest thing is, My not yet two year old will walk to the cabinet with the movies and yell "rella! rella!" She asked me for the first time last night to watch a movie. Cinderella. Of course it might be she wants to watch Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin. Currently all princesses are "rella!" She really is something.
She's very clear about her answers and will say "Yesh" in the cutest way! I love my Ama-girl!
She's very clear about her answers and will say "Yesh" in the cutest way! I love my Ama-girl!
A little too much fairytale?
Last night was our date swap. We watched, but due to abnormal scheduling it was just me and the kids until Tristan got home. I was trying to placate the downstairs neighbors and the children by reading some books. One of the books we've checked out from the library is called The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen. It's a cute little book about a grumpy fish. It's really well written and very fun to read with the flow of the language. All of the Pout-Pout Fish's friends try to get him to cheer up, but he claims it's just the way he is. At the end of the book a sleek silver fish swims up and gives him a kiss. He decides he's a Kiss-Kiss Fish now and gives all those friends that had tried to help kisses. I turn to my right and give Amalyn a kiss on the cheek. Kalia, sitting next to Amalyn, jumps up to give Kent a smootch and promptly follows it with "Mama! We got married! We went to the temple and got married!" They commence to go play "getting married at the temple." I start getting kids put down for bed and I come back into the room to find Kalia with a blanket on her head as her veil.
This morning she continued "Kent was the husband and I was the wife and we got married in the temple last night. He's the king and I'm the queen now." She also gives these huge grins when she hears me retelling the story to other people. I love my Kalia-girl!
This morning she continued "Kent was the husband and I was the wife and we got married in the temple last night. He's the king and I'm the queen now." She also gives these huge grins when she hears me retelling the story to other people. I love my Kalia-girl!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Date Night
I didn't take this photo but it's a pretty close depiction of the view we saw on our date last night. We walked and talked down at the beach. I love how calming it is to listen to the waves. I still feel a little nervous in the water at the power of the waves every time I go to the beach. I love the calm feeling of just being there, not doing much. Just sitting in the sand watching the waves, or walking up and down the shore as the waves lap at your toes.
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