Week 3: Challenges and Blessings

I can't believe we are in week 3 already! Here are the challenges and blessings of our adventures in our home away from home this week:

Challenge #1: Routine
As much as I love being here, and love the company, sometimes I feel a little lost without my routine. I miss having a set plan for each day. Luckily we've stayed busy enough most days it's not a problem. But some days feel a little lonely and unproductive. Of course, I think it has been good for me to see how much more I can just sit and watch my kids play, and not always make them run from fun activity to fun activity, but just let them be them, and have fun however they would like to.

Challenge #2: Family Time
When living with others, it's important to make sure you still have plenty of time to focus on your own family, and most importantly, your spouse. Otto and I are both such social people, it is easy for us to spend all of our waking hours interacting with the extended family (and enjoying it) without realizing we still need time to talk and plan and interact, just the two of us.

Challenge #3: Splitting Responsibilities
Sometimes I find myself overworking to make sure we are doing enough to help out, and sometimes I find that I'm relaxing too much and putting too much responsibility on my parents. Learning to ask for help and be of help when needed is tricky, and requires good communication.

Blessing #1: We are not enduring 110-120 degree heat in Phoenix.
Loving the 70s and 80s of Eastern WA in June, and the cool evenings. Enough said!

Blessing #2: The kids are getting to know my parents better than ever, and visa versa.
We have never lived close, so I'm particularly grateful for this.

Blessing #3: Slowing down
Being away from home forces you to slow down and de-stress. It forces you to simplify and use/take only the things you really need. I have loved having less to do, less to manage, and less to worry about. Being in the beautiful country with the fresh air helps quite a bit too. :)

 

Here's to hoping you have a blessed week as well!

Week 3: Logistics; How to stay sane while on the road!

Anyone who knows me, knows I can not stand chaos and love to be organized. Anyone who has ever taken a road trip with kids (or even without) knows how it is close to impossible to be and stay organized on such an adventure! After years of tweaking my system, I'm pretty pleased with it at this point. Here are my three tips for staying organized (even with kids!) on long trips.

Tip #1: Ban food from the car.
I know, I sound crazy on this one, especially with little ones. But I swear, it's been a life saver for us! You sacrifice a few minutes at each gas station to let the kids get out and eat a snack, but that helps them stretch their legs anyway. There were a few days when we were all really hungry by the time we got to our destination, but the kids ate good, healthy, hearty dinners since they hadn't been snacking on junk all day, I felt a million times better than the trips where I snacked the whole way, and our car stayed crumb/candy/goopy piles of who knows what under the car seats... free. We kept the kids busy enough with games and movies, and made sure they got something to eat at stops that they didn't complain. I'd say it was a win all around.

We did allow water in the car. But I'm learning with a potty trained toddler how to effectively limit that as well. ;)

Tip #2: Organize your luggage.

 I always pack according to category, putting all of the suitcases, and anything that doesn't need to be accessed in the back/trunk area, and keeping everything else in small, organized bags up front. Just like at home, I want there to be a place for everything, so we don't end up in a sea of random items all over the car by the end of the trip. In back we have kids bikes/helmets, clothes suitcases, backpacks/briefcases with Otto's school needs, strollers, etc. Up front, each child has his/her own backpack which contains their selected toys, (NOT one with lots of small pieces that can get lost) one stuffed animal and blanket each, and their water bottles. These sit next to them in the car, and I can easily gather up anything that's fallen to the floor and dump them back in the backpacks when we stop. I also had a small basket that had the following cases: A case for our DVDs, a case for our road trip CDs, and a case for all of the gift cards/coupons we thought we might use along the way, that I slid under the front console out of the way.  I also had my purse, that I put Otto's wallet and chapstick in (with extras of course), along with hand sanitizer, Kleenex, wipes, a few extra diapers, my wallet, etc., a bag with all of my paper needs (my notebook with my to do lists etc, the kids quiet books for church, my budget binder (see a future post about how we are managing our money during this trip) etc.) And finally, I had another bag with all of our road trip items for the kids (cookie sheets to drive their cars on, laminated maps to mark off where we had been, a few cheap dollar store toys, flashlights for night time, sticker pages/books, notebooks for the stickers, binoculars with laminated bingo sheets to check off what they could see outside the window, etc.) Those three small bags and a basket could easily fit right by and behind the drivers seat giving me easy access without much clutter.

And my favorite part: Get a very small wastebasket that can sit right between your front seats or right behind them. I grabbed a few plastic grocery bags and stuffed them in the bottom, then used one as a liner. At the end of each day I would grab the bag and toss it, getting out a fresh liner to start over with. Our car never collected trash and it was a beautiful thing!

Tip #3: Separate short term luggage from long term luggage.

I have done this a few different ways over the years, and both have been SO effective and helpful.

If you are traveling with a family, especially with small children, and it takes several days of travel to arrive at your destination, this is a lifesaver. Instead of packing one suitcase for adult clothes, and one for kids clothes, and one for cosmetics, etc., consider dedicating one suitcase entirely for short term travel. This way, you have all of your "long term" baggage that you can leave in the car overnight, and avoid making ten trips in an out of the hotel/place you are staying each time.

Method #1: If you are going to be on the road for 4 days or less, pack one suitcase as though you were only going to be gone for those three days. (This is the method we used on this trip.) I packed the four outfits we would need, with one extra for each person (you never know when you are going to need a fresh set of clothes) including all shoes, cosmetics, pajamas, etc that we would need for those four days. (Basically, this became my cosmetic suitcase with four sets of clothes for each person, since let's be honest, you need all of your cosmetics most days. ;)) Make sure you account for any dress up clothing or other occasion clothing you'll need along the way. (Otto and I were attending a wedding, and we were planning on attending church on Sunday, which means I had to also pack Sunday dress and shoes for each person.) You also have to include enough diapers/wipes if you have small children and aren't carrying a diaper bag like me, because I hate having one more thing to carry everywhere.

When we unloaded each night, we only had to take one suitcase in, and any other valuables we didn't want left in the car. It was beautiful.

We also took a plastic garbage sack with us to put all dirty laundry in each day. You can easily tie it up so it doesn't make your car smell like dirty laundry, but you keep it nicely separated from your clean clothes, and don't have to haul the dirty laundry in with you each night as well. It also makes it super easy to do your laundry once you reach your destination, because it's all in one place.

Make sure when packing the car, you put this suitcase on the very top/front so that it is easy to pull in and out at each stop!

Method #2: If you are going to be on the road for more that 4 days before reaching your destination, this method (while taking a lot of pre-planning to pull off) works beautifully. I used this method when we took a week to travel from AZ to WA (where we would stay for several weeks) two summers ago, and I loved it.

You'll need a large suitcase for this. (And possibly some mad suitcase stomping skills- yes, I have been known to jump on my suitcases to get them to close- Organization is more important than taking care of my things, obviously.) We were going to be on the road for seven nights, which meant we would need seven days worth of new clothes. I took 7 plastic bags, and selected everything we would need for each person for each day. This included: one change of clothes (including underwear and pajamas) for each member of the family. Any hair accessories (Alayna wore bows at the time because she was bald) to match outfits, the shoes we would need with that outfit (I organized the outfits so that we could wear one pair of shoes with the first several outfits, then switch to a new pair of shoes for the next several, so we wouldn't have to worry about swapping shoes back and forth), socks if needed, diapers, etc. I did NOT include cosmetics- in this case, we had a smaller suitcase with all cosmetics in it.

Each night, we would open the trunk, where this suitcase and our cosmetic suitcase were at the front. The cosmetic suitcase went with us, and the other suitcase was opened, and the correct plastic bag was taken out. (I had them labeled according to day, since I had also planned each day's outfits according to predicted weather (shorts and flip flops in LA, sweatshirts and jeans and tennis shoes on the Oregon coast.) We took the plastic bags with our change of clothes and pajamas in with us for the night, and then in the morning, all of the dirty laundry went back into that plastic bag, and it was tied up and put back into the large suitcase. (Again, it kept us from mixing dirty laundry with clean, and made doing laundry once we reached our destination very easy!)

It definitely took some planning in advance, but it was so easy once we were on the road and it kept me sane after a week of traveling! I don't remember if I did this or not, but it would also be helpful to have a separate bag (if there was room) with extra clothes/underwear/socks/sweatshirts just in case you needed extras. (Because I was planning one outfit for each day, I didn't do the extras with this one.)

So there it is- my top tips for staying sane while living out of your car. ;) Happy traveling!

Week 2: Where we are, and what we're doing this week!

We've had a great week up here in the Northwest middle of nowhere. My parents keep asking if I'm getting "rested up" and I tell them that I'm more tired here than I was at home- if that's possible! But life is finally starting to calm a bit after the many big events of last week; here's some of what we've been up to!

Last Thursday, we spent the day in Farmington with Grandpa John and Grandma Celesta. Farmington continues to be as peaceful, relaxed, and fun, as I remember it from my childhood, and my kids seemed to agree. We had a great time playing with second cousins Viv and Porter too.

 

 

 Grandma Celesta made us sandwiches and milk and ice cream cones for us to enjoy a picnic outside!

 

It was a great day. :)

 

FRIDAY was Sam's graduation party. My baby brother, (who was 4 when I graduated!!!), graduated from high school this week. I was so busy helping get ready, I didn't take many pictures. Except I did remember to take a picture of our food table. :) Grandma Celesta made the beautiful fruit and veggie trays that I want to duplicate for a party sometime! She also helped Mom and I do the rest.

 

All in all, it was a great party with a huge turnout. This house is the perfect size for hosting such a large number of people! As it got later, everyone sat out on the new deck and enjoyed the summer evening. Beautiful! Happy Graduation Sammy!

 

 

 Saturday was the big graduation day!

 

 

He looks thrilled that I jumped in front of him to take this picture. :)

We had fun with a lot of family around to celebrate with!

 

The rest of the weekend was filled with fun family time, including this sweet moment with Eli enjoying older cousins around to read to him:


 

Other events to note this week:

Eli decided he likes roller skating

 

 Alayna decided to try climbing out of the crib (no big shocker there)

 

Eli continues to enjoy his cozy little corner :)



We read stories with Great Grandma Celesta and cousins:

 

And we watched Sam and Mom earn their Eagle Scout award. :)



 

 

In other news, I've been working hard all week on Eli's birthday party (he's turning FOUR on Monday!) but more on that next week. :)





 

 

 

 

 

Week 2: Challenges and Blessings

We are now into our second week of traveling, but this is my first installment of my "Challenges and Blessings" series that I'll be doing throughout all of our crazy travels this year! What can I say- it's been a busy week!

Here is what I've discovered this week about our greatest challenges and blessings; of course these will generally be different than the rest of our travels, since the challenges and blessings this month relate to living with family. But here you go.

Greatest challenges:
1. Challenge: Sleep deprivation from the kids.
This of course was mostly a challenge when we were in a different place each night, and the kids were too tired/excited from all of the traveling to sleep much. Of course sleep deprivation adds to their already fragile emotions as there is a lot that is changing.
Solution: Staying consistent, and being emotionally steady so they feel safe. Keeping our routines as much as possible. For several months before we started traveling, I tried to keep our bedtime routine very regular (even more so than normal.) I feel like it's really helped them settle down to do the same things here that they are used to doing at home: Baths, teeth brushing, story time, scriptures and prayers, then bed.

2. Challenge: Consistent Timing
Our routine may be regular, but the timing has been really off! I'm learning that one of the challenges to moving in with family is trying to balance everyone else's schedules/needs with our family's. Plus, there's always a party going on, and it's hard to go to bed! :)
Solution: I am learning that just like at home, I have to plan ahead. I have to pick and choose which extended family activities to bow out of so the kids get in bed before 10 pm. :) Of course, some flexibility for some fun times is important too. It's just finding the balance, when you know this stay will last longer than just a week!

3. Challenge: Relaxing, without relaxing too much.
One of the tricks to being a mom is knowing how to let down and actually LET people help you. I've been surprised at how hard that is for me, even with my own parents. The other trick is not letting down too much, and remembering that all of the kids needs still exist, and all of the laundry still has to be done, etc etc.
Solution: Still learning how to balance all of this!

Greatest Blessings:
1. I love getting to come home, and I love seeing my children learn to love the places and experiences that I grew up loving. The fact that we get to spend some real time here, so they can have a long term experience both with this beautiful place, and with my family, is priceless to me!

2. I kept my Monday routine the same so that life wouldn't get too out of control. With only our bedrooms and bathrooms to clean, cleaning day seemed much easier and faster!!

3. Something about the farm brings so much peace and calm into my heart. Besides my parents gorgeous new home that is both comfortably spacious and so comfortable and cozy at the same time, it's such a blessing to be away from so many distractions and just soak in the simple life of the country. It's been very therapeutic after so many busy months leading up to this trip!

And of course, family time is the most valuable. Moments like this with great grandma and the cousins make my heart (and hers) happy. :)

Happy Monday everyone!!!

Week 1: Logistics/Plans

 

We are finally settling in and I have a few minutes to update the blog on our first week on the road. Many people have asked the specifics of what this year is going to look like for us, so for my first logistics post, I'm just going to give a brief overview of our plans. Look for a post coming about how we've planned for our road trips with the kids, how we are planning out our budget, and other details of how we are making this work!

For those who are not familiar with medical school, the fourth year is the year you prepare for residency. The students have the opportunity to apply for what is called "audition rotations" which means that they rotate at hospitals or programs where they might be interested in doing a residency. The process of deciding which field to pursue, and then narrowing down residency options itself was a long, labor intensive process that took us months of making and remaking spreadsheets. I'll go over that in a future post for anyone behind us in school that it might be helpful for, but for now, suffice it to say that we narrowed our top choice down to programs in Largo, FL, Fort Worth TX, Corpus Christi, TX and Farmington Hills, MI. Otto will apply to interview at 10-15 places beyond that, but these are currently our top four choices, and the places we have decided to "audition."

Auditioning generally happens during the summer/fall of the fourth year of medical school. Our timing was not genius when we decided to have our third baby however. We decided that we would just make the timing work, however August might just be the hardest month to "make work," but we are going to figure it out nonetheless!

Of course, with a small family, and Otto destined to travel the country for four months this year, we really had three choices. Choice #1: Otto would leave, and we (myself, my newborn and two small children) would stay behind in Phoenix, not seeing him for four months. Choice #2: I could go live with my parents while Otto traveled, leaving me with help, but still not together. Choice #3: We figure out how to travel together with our small family.

Logistically, one and two make a lot more sense. I actually don't know anyone that is attempting #3. However, we decided we would rather stay together, even if it was a logistical nightmare. The way I look at it, all three options are difficult, it's just a matter of which difficult you'd rather deal with, so here we are off on an adventure as a family. In future posts, I'll discuss in detail how we are going to manage housing, travel, etc, but the truth is, we are still working out these details, so I'll update you as we go.

Auditions will begin for us in September, just three weeks after our third baby is born. We are currently waiting to hear back from FL, so we don't know for sure if we will be traveling to FL that month, or another program of our choice, or staying put. After that, we travel to MI in October, then Corpus Christi TX in November, and finally to Ft Worth TX in December.

Currently, we are in WA with my family for 7 weeks, while Otto completes his last rotation of his 3rd year- his rural rotation. Normally this is required that we do in AZ and Otto would have to leave for a month to a small town in AZ, but he did extensive work with the dean of the med school, his clinical coordinator, and other faculty to allow us to complete this requirement in rural WA, my home town. We are thrilled to get to stay together, and spend some time with family (and out of the heat!)

2015 will be a wild ride for us, but we are excited for the adventure. And as we set out last Thursday, I just kept thinking how grateful I was that I get to do it with my favorite three!

Stay tuned for a LOT more...

Week 1: Where we are and what we're doing this week!

DAY 1: Departure Date! May 28th, 2015


Sparing the details of the very long, laborious, and lonely month of preparations while Otto was studying for boards, buying us a new minivan, and working 10 hour days (we'll save that for a future post) the morning of May 28th, 2015 finally came, and I raced to wash the sheets, clean up the house, and load the minivan, while Otto took his pre-board exam at the school. While I prepared, Eli found the cell phone and took several selfies:










Otto came home having scored very well on the pre-board exam; a huge relief after some of the challenges we faced last year. We quickly loaded the rest of the car and were on our way!

Our first leg was a six hour drive from Glendale to St. George UT:

The kids were wonderful. I came prepared with several fun activities to keep them happy in the car. Here are a few of my ideas:

#1: Cookie sheets/metal pans. They worked great for playing with airplanes and cars, and the mini ones fit right on their laps! I also bought some magnetic letters which we never got to- they will be a fun new toy for the trip back.

 

#2: Cheap dollar store toys go a long way. I purchased a bag of these for a dollar: little plastic paddles with balls attached. It kept the kids entertained for a bit.

#3: Cheap Dollar Store Binoculars. They loved using these to look out the window, and I also printed and laminated several "bingo" cards that they could mark off items as they saw them. (More for Eli). They weren't as excited about this piece, but they loved playing with (and breaking) the binoculars.


#4: Maps
Eli has been fascinated with where different places are in relation to other places lately. I printed off a world map, and a map of the United States. The world map was more for him to look at and talk about, and the US map was for us to track where we had been. We had a lot of fun crossing off places as we went. Alayna used hers as a sticker page, which also worked. :)



#5: I also brought along some sticker pages and notebooks, some sticker books with removable stickers to make funny faces with, some flashlights that kept them entertained for a few hours in the dark one night, and some pipe cleaners just for fun. We didn't use them all in one day, but spaced them out over the four days on the road.

#6: Of course with our new van, we wanted to use the DVD player! My goal was just one movie per day, and that worked great. Since my kids don't watch hardly any TV at home, it was memorizing for them. :)

 

 

 

Day 1 ended in St. George UT after 6 hours of driving.

 

 

 

 

 

 We drove past the temple where Grandma and Grandpa were married to show the kids. It is so beautiful!

 

We are trying to save money AND not eat in our new car, so we were all pretty hungry by the time we got there. Luckily our St. George relatives had some great food waiting for us, and the kids gobbled it all up.

 

Alayna and Eli had a great time getting re-acquainted with their Great Grandpa Grimm (Otto's Grandpa.) I think he enjoyed it quite a bit too. :) They were best buddies in no time, with Alayna following him all over the house asking what he was doing and where he was going.

Everyone was so exhausted and hyped up from the day, that no one went to sleep. Alayna bounced around our room laughing and/or screaming for at least three hours after bed. Needless to say, by 12:30 am, we were all pretty worn out.

DAY 2- May 29thAlayna was so tired from being up all night, she slept as if in a coma until 10 am. She is so cute. :)

 

Eli was up and ready to go early. He had a blast playing with all of his second cousins out in the yard. He kept talking about how there were "a lot of cousins!" and how he wanted to stay just one more night!

After a few last goodbyes:

 

We hit the road around noon and traveled to Salt Lake City.

 

 

 

Along the way, we had to stop at Otto's favorite place, "The Red Barn" in Santaquin, UT for ice cream. Even after building it up in our head for the last several years, we agreed it was STILL the best ice cream we've ever had. :)

Next, we drove around Provo, showing the kids where dad used to go to school:

Showing Eli the hospital he was born at:

 

Driving past the two Provo temples:

 

 

And finally, driving by our old exit in Midvale:

 

 

We arrived at Grannie and Grandad Gates's that night (my grandparents) and the kids had a great time outside riding their bikes and enjoying the UT cool evening air. Later, Alayna enjoyed a luxurious bubble bath...

 

 

Once again, the kids stayed up half the night with all of the excitement of a new place. Otto and I were getting tired...

DAY 3: May 30thThe next day was busy. We started out at a wedding of one of our friends on temple square after dropping the kids off with my cousin Erika for the morning. Then we went down to City Creek and had lunch with some of our best friends from way back in our single years before hitting the road again. It's been so fun to see how our families have grown!

 

We wish we would have had time to see all of our friends in UT- there are so many people we miss there! Hopefully we'll have more time on our next trip through!

We started off around 3 pm on our longest day yet- Salt Lake City to Starkey OR. (By La Grande).

 

 

We didn't get in until 11 pm, and we were all exhausted!

 

DAY 4: May 31stWe stayed in the most beautiful little cabin owned by my Great Aunt Jeanne and Uncle John's Bed and Breakfast in rural Oregon. It was just the good night's sleep and breath of fresh air (literally!) that I needed.

 

 

The kids had a wonderful time running around and looking at the animals:

 

After a wonderful homemade breakfast and a lot of visiting, we hit the road again for our final stretch. Luckily this was the shortest one yet (only 3 1/2 hours) because we were all ready to be done!

 

We arrived around 4:30 pm and I just kept thinking, "I can't believe we actually drove all the way here."

 

My parents just built this home themselves. It's still a work in progress on the outside, but you should see the inside. Wow!

We went for an evening walk so the kids could move around. It's so nice to have so much open space here!

 

 

 

We got to see the neighbors chickens, horses, and lambs. Eli wasn't sure what he thought of the horses, but Alayna wasn't shy:

 

 

Alayna loved playing with Sadie dog, and Eli loved bonding with Uncle Sam:

 

 

It's a good end of the day when you have a Meme to read stories with:

 

 

DAY 5: June 1stOtto left around noon to head to PA for his board exam, and promptly had car trouble in my grandparents car. Luckily, before I could get to him, my dad found him on the side of the road and switched him cars. He made it to his flight on time, and all the way to PA, where he flew in at 11:45 at night, right after his rental car company had closed (despite having a reservation.) He tried everything he could think of, calling the company, calling other companies, looking up bus routes, etc etc, but nothing was open or affordable. Meanwhile, we lost internet and phone connection on the farm so I was trying not to panic not being able to know he had arrived safely. After the kids were down I drove into town with my dad's cell phone to call him, finding him in a panic at 1 am PA time, sure he was going to fail his boards the next day and get no sleep. Thankfully, a blessing from heaven came driving down the road (that he was walking down at 1 am trying to figure out what to do next) in the form of a fellow med student, who picked him up and let him share a rental car and hotel room with him.

DAY 6: June 2ndOtto made it to his board exam after 3 1/2 hours of sleep, and somehow survived acting as a doctor in front of a board of judges for 7 hours. When it was all over, they referred to it as "The Nightmare on Elm's Street." We were ALL glad to have that successfully behind us, and I was especially relieved to hear he was sitting on the plane and on his way home after such a small window of time to catch his flight after the test.

 

Meanwhile, we all got hair cuts and went to the park, and stayed very busy digging up dirt in the front yard. Of course I don't have any pictures, because Otto had the iphone and the ipad with him. :)

DAY 7: June 3rdSomeone was extremely glad to wake up and find that Daddy had made it home (at 1:30 am the night before)

Otto slept until 2 that day. He was just a little worn out.

 

We spent the day running errands with my mom getting ready for Sam's graduation this weekend! Alayna is having a good time:

She also REALLY loves Sadie dog. :)

 

Eli spent over an hour riding the "tractor" with papa.

 

 

That night while my parents took Sam to his baccalaureate program, the four of us went on another walk. The kids loved climbing in the grain bins (as I call them) or "silos" as they learned from their favorite library book:

 

It's hard to believe we've been gone a week. It's so fun to see my kids enjoying all of the places and things I did as a child. In some ways, this doesn't feel like home in the same ways that it used to, but it will always hold such a special place in my heart. I love that Otto loves to come here as much as he does, and the way he talks about how beautiful and peaceful it is. It makes me feel grateful and amazed that I had the opportunity to spend my childhood here, thinking it was the privilege of any child to grow up in such an amazing place.