Guess Who's Back, Back Again? Part One

It has been a long time since I've posted here. There has been an incredible whirlwind rush of crazy going on in our lives since I last posted. I think it started out with a definite feeling of being overwhelmed from taking on too much too soon with this blog and the accompanying Facebook page. Then my son began teething at about four months old and continued with horribly fussy teething until about eight months old (he is now 11 months old). Then I started my own photography company. Shortly after that, Nate's parents informed us that they would be buying us a house. Much celebration commenced as, at the time, we were living in a 546 square foot, one bedroom, rental house- two kids, two adults, five cats, and a dog squeezed into such a tiny space. And since the bedroom was filled with the clothing of four people, we couldn't spend much time in there, other than to sleep, and even that was cramped. My daughter slept on a pullout couch in the living room and all of the kids "stuff" (swing, bouncer, jumperoo, toys, toys, more toys, etc...) was located in the living room too. The kitchen was just big enough to barely cook in. So we spent all of our time in one miniscule corner of the living room, falling over each other. So we started looking for houses in good neighborhoods (the in-laws aren't a fan of Saint Paul proper apparently), with good schools nearby (almost impossible in this metro), and within the financial limits set for us. Nate's parents found an amazing three plus bedroom, three bathroom, 2000 square foot home in the quiet, yet conveniently located suburb of North Saint Paul. And then we had to wait for the closing. And then we had to wait for all the necessary work to be done on the house. And then we had to wait for the rooms to be painted and small cosmetic issues to be fixed. And then one day it got really, REALLY hot inside our tiny rental house and I demanded that we move in to the new house immediately or I was going to suffer some sort of nervous breakdown. Then we had to physically move all of our stuff into the new house and organize our most needed possessions. Anyone who has ever moved a multi-person household knows how much of a pain this can be. Also, about a month before we moved, someone poisoned our dog. Twice. The first time we caught it and got him treated. The second time, he died a horrible death. Whoever did this threw bakers chocolate laced with rat poison into our backyard. The police didn't seem too concerned, which was strange to me as any child in our neighborhood could have wandered into our backyard and consumed the chocolate. There are so many children on that block and there have been quite a few times where I had gone into the backyard to find one or more of the neighborhood children digging in the dirt alone and unsupervised. I don't have a problem with that, but when there is poisoned candy being thrown into said backyard I do have a problem. Shortly after we moved in to our new home, my friend Mary came to stay with us for a week, went home for a week and a half and then came back for another week and a half. Add in family get-togethers (the Fourth of July and the annual All Girl Pool Party), my own long stint with bronchitis (I am finally starting to feel better after two weeks of being violently ill and having asthma attacks, which I hadn't had since I was nine years old), and now Parker's ear infection, double eye infection, dog bite, and vaccine reaction. I've been crazy busy. I've been yearning to get back to blogging, even going so far as to consider creating an online journal and going back to my high school era diary style writing. So here I am. I promise, I'll try not to go away for this long again.

The Drive-thru Difference. (how my family was blessed in a time of need by a couple that didn't know us at all)

KTIS FM (98.5) is radio station here in the Twin Cities that is doing a program called The Drive-thru Difference.  Basically, people can print cards off their website, and when they go through a drive-through, they pay for the meal of the person behind them and tell the cashier to give the person one of the cards.  The card talks about the radio station and the drive-thru difference, asking the recipient to pay it forward if they are able.  I was recently the recipient of one of these cards (and a free meal) and it came at a very trying time for our family.  They ask you, on the card, to call in or go to their website and share your story.  I'm a horrible procrastinator, but it was important to me to share my story, so today I went to their website and sent them the story below.

On November 18th, 2011, my family and I were going through the McDonalds drive through on Suburban Avenue on the east side of St Paul.  We were very worried about how much money we were spending on the food, when a lovely couple in a teal/blue colored vehicle in front of us paid for our meal.  The cashier handed us the Drive-thru Difference card and I almost started crying. 

You see, my family has been going through some hard times lately.  In December of last year, I became pregnant with my second child.  In February, my fiance lost his job.  In August, I lost mine.  My child was born with some health problems that left him in the Special Care Nursery after I was sent home.  He's doing well now, but, even with a new job for my fiance, we aren't doing the best financially.  Our daughter has started preschool this year, which costs money, and I'm sure everyone knows how much money a new baby can take up.

The day that these wonderful people paid for our meal, we were super stressed out about money, hadn't received our food stamps for the month yet, and were worried about where our next meal was coming from.  The drive through lunch was a big deal for us as we were only spending the money because it was my birthday.   I wanted to enjoy the day with my daughter, son, fiance, and best friend.  The amazing people who paid for our meal REALLY did make a difference in our lives.  It probably was a small sacrifice for them, but it was a huge blessing for us!

PS:  For those of you wondering, McDonalds is an occasional treat for us.  If you're wondering what a vegetarian gets at McDonalds...  ranch snack wraps with no meat add diced onions, a Reese's McFlurry, and a small fry.