Lesson Learned

With all the changes we went through in 2011, now in 2012 we are starting to see some of the things we did wrong.

#1.  When you move to a new state, you should immediately register your car.  This is something we knew needed to be done, but we did not consider it a priority.  Apparently, you have 90 days to do so, and then you start getting charged a late fee.  No one told us this.  When we tried to explain to the DMV we had no knowledge of the late fee, they simply said that we are now citizens of Colorado and it is our own duty to know of the laws of the state in which we live.  So, now it is costing us about $500 to register both our cars.  And the icing on top of the dumb DMV cake is that it takes a lot of paperwork to register your car.  LOTS.

#2.  When you move, just move to a home and stay there.  Jumping around from apartment to apartment was financially best for us, but sucked big time.  It cause a lot of unforeseen problems, like mistake #3.

#3.  Change your address immediately.  Those 6 weeks in July/August while Chad was training all over the country, I was living in Gunnison with my parents.  With all the moving and new job and new insurance and all that crap we were filling out, we put my parent's address as our home address.  We changed bank accounts and everything to my parent's home.  When we got to Colorado, we got a P.O. Box and set that as our home address for everything.  It was a hassle, but that is not the unforeseen problem.  The problem is that since Chad was technically working for Microsoft in Denver, we were being taxed in Colorado.  But because our address was in Utah, we were also being taxed in Utah.  The result: we are losing about $300 in our tax return.  All because of those stupid 6 weeks in limbo.

#4.  Ward hopping seems ok when you are in limbo.  But it causes unforeseen problems as well.  We were paying tithing to random wards we were living in for about 4 months.  It is now almost impossible (ok, maybe I should use the word annoying instead of impossible) to get the information we need to get the refund on our tax return.  We don't know the bishop's name, the ward name, or anything.  We were just going to church and paying our tithing to the church without a second thought of the consequence.

I cannot believe we have been in Colorado for 6 months.  I feel like we are just finally getting into a routine and things are starting to feel normal.  I like feeling normal.  I think it is safe to say that we are DONE moving for a long while.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have got some pretty amazing people to love this Valentine's Day!

Let it Snow....again, and again, and again.

When we first moved here, we had figured there would not be a whole lot of weather diffference between Utah county and Castle Rock.  We had read all about the average temperatures and snow falls and the two areas seemed very similar.  WRONG!  I swear we have gotten a snow storm every week since the first week of November.  We have had now had 4 storms each leaving over 12 inches dumped.  Other storms have left 4-6 inches.  And call me crazy, but I do not remember ever having that much snow in Utah. (Ok, that one winter in Cedar City was pretty bad.)  The schools here had a snow day yesterday.  In fact, everything around here closed up early.  Most stores and governmnet offices were closed around noon.  It literally snowed all day.  We are going on 36 hours of nothing but snow.  It is finally starting to slow up now. 

We took a break from house arrest to go out and shovel yesterday.  Jordyn LOVED it!  Her fingers and nose were so cold, but I still had to drag her in the house kicking and screaming.

Yes, those are socks on her hands.  I havn't bought her gloves cause I figured she would not keep them on anyway.

Daddy's little helper!

This was about 18 hours into this 36 hour neverending storm.  I am guessing there is another 6-9 inches out there, just waiting to be shoveled again!  I think a snow blower is in our future.  Weather stations say we will just have flurries for the rest of the day today.  Whew!

Its all fun and games til...

Chad and Jordyn have this favorite game they play together.  It is so cute!  I just love watching these two play together.  I am so lucky to have them!  Most of the time she just giggles and giggles, like this: 

But sometimes, there are not so many giggles.  Well, from Jordyn anyway.

Heartbreak

It always gets me up, just to break my heart.  It brings me such joy, then follows with a punch in the face.  You think I would have learned my lesson last summer, when a million other Americans figured it out and quit.  I am just hooked.  Netflix.  Stupid, wonderful, cheating, fantastic Netflix.

Our entire married life we have not had cable or dish, nothing.  We got some hand-me-down bunny ears from my brother, which we eventually turned in for an upgrade antennae that was a little more discreet.    Then, we got Netflix.  It was awesome!  We have not gotten a redbox in like 2 years!  We were so stoked about streaming through the wii.  The documentaries are fantastic!  All the sitcoms.  Not to mention the movies. Then, this summer in the middle of our move, the price DOUBLED! What kind of crap is that!  See, lifts me up with such joy, only to come back and break my heart.  But, we stayed with it, cause it is still cheaper than the alternative for us. 

Then, we moved to Castle Rock and our discreet little antennae only gets 3 channels, so we really rely on Netflix.  We started watching "That 70s Show".  We love it!  All around good comedy!  Then, they tell us it is only available til February 1st.  Again, such a high and then a punch in the face.  Now we are trying to finish the whole series before it is gone.  We still have 3 seasons to go.  Can we do it?  Yes we can!  It may seem like an impossible feat, but we don't really have any friends so we entertain ourself a lot.  So wish us luck, we have got a lot of sitting around to do in the next 9 days.

Sorry this is a lame post.  Things are kind of boring around here this month, and I swear we have been sick for like 3 straight weeks which makes things ultra boring.  My next post will be more exciting.  Hopefully.

Sigh

I woke up this morning.  Went downstairs and did some time on the elliptical while Jordyn watched Tangled (again).  Went upstairs, showered, and got ready for the day.  As I was finishing up, I thought I heard water running, like someone was in the shower or like the washer was going.  I put Jordyn down for her morning nap.  Checked the bathrooms for water.  Checked the washer.  Went back into the basement and saw the wet carpets.  I turned off the water as quick as I could think of how to do it, cause it was gushing! Stupid water heater!

Now, the carpets are up.  No hot water til tomorrow.  The worst part, plumming=$.  Sigh.  Oh the joys of owning a home!  (Still, I am excited and grateful to own this home!)

Summing up Christmas

Miles Traveled: 1700 (Castle Rock to Burley to Gunnison and back)
Hours Driving: 27
Number of times we watched Tangled: Lost track.

Spending the Holidays with family and friends: Priceless.

Barton cousins in Christmas pjs.

Barton cousins with Grandma and Grandpa

Our little family.  Please forgive the bottle in all these.  It was waaayyy past her bedtime!

Pulling stuff out of her stocking was her favorite part!

Jordyn with her loot.  She looks like a drunkard trying to get every ounce out of that bottle!

@ tbe bowling alley in Burley.

Jordyn had so much fun with all her cousins.  She rarely plays with other kids these days and she was in heaven to be with others that spoke her language!

Dyreng cousins

 My parents gave all their grandchildren maching hoodies and my mom wanted a cute picture taken.   You can see just how happy all the kids were about that!  Isn't that just how Christmas goes though?  We were gone for 10 days and by the end of our trip, we were ready to be home, in our own bed/crib, with a regular bedtime, in an environment quiet enough for a nap.  Gotta love the holidays!