Good news

Charlie's dad was offered a job today in Cadillac. Yes it's kind of far, but he's just happy to have a job. I think they are going to see if they can find a cheap place for him to rent during the week and then he'll come home on the weekends. Sounds familiar doesn't it. I'm just glad I don't have to do that anymore. We are excited and happy for them.

We won!

We got Kurt and Heather's package today in the mail. Our kids were so excited about the stuff they got. Kurt and Heather you really are sweet to my kids. Thanks so much! We're going to call tonight so the kids can tell you thanks themselves. But I wanted to claim the title of winning the great mail race on the blog first.

Thanks again Kurt and Heater. You are awesome!

NEW PHONE!

Finally after years of trial-well, really just 2 years and 2 months-I have finally got a new phone. And with it a new phone number. I've lived in Utah for about 2 years and now I have a Utah number to match.
Here it is:
801.833.7902

Please change my number in your phones and on your contact sheets. Thanks!

random

Doesn't Addie look like her daddy?

(It's awesome that I rhymed.)

The house report

We got into the house today to check the plumbing. The main guy from the water department came and hooked up a new water meter and turned the water on for us. Right away there was a leak in one of the pipes in the basement. It started to squirt everywhere so we were unable to even pressurize the whole system. So we were unable to check the rest of the plumbing. The inspector looked at the pipes that he could see in the basement and there was a good amount of corrosion on many of the shut-off valves and connector pieces. He guessed that the whole house needed to be re-plumbed. With that news Charlie and I decided to back out of the deal and withdraw our offer. We go sign the withdrawl papers tomorrow to get our earnest money back. Our realtor is going to try to get the money back that we paid to have the plumber de-winterize the house. He didn't actually do the job, as the water department guy informed me, so we should get that money back. So now we are just going to keep looking and see if we can find anything else we like and that will work for our family. The kids are pretty upset about not buying that house. They really liked it, especially Merrit, since one of his classmates lives next door. But we asked Heavenly Father to let us know, without a doubt, if it was right for us and we felt like the shower in the basement was pretty loud and clear.

Our Turn

I guess we haven't given an update for awhile...but there really isn't much to tell. The only big deal is that Eric and I have decided to move into his parents house right before the baby is born. All considered, we can't afford our own apartment after I stop working. So we are going to live in their basement until we move out this summer. We are fully expecting to have somewhere to go-so cross your fingers-we hope that it really turns out that way. Eric is pressing forward with his secondary applications and working his fingers to the bone. I have a pretty awesome head cold and am finding it hard to sleep (being pregnant and sick aren't really a great match up). Nothing really new besides that. Noah kicks and pushes more everyday- and as much as it irritates me, it lets me know that he's still alive. We're not going anywhere for any of the major holidays. This mini vacation we're taking next week is as close as we'll get for awhile. But, I'm not complaining. We are both healthy and happy and excited to meet Harv and have everyone else meet Noah...hopefully next summer. And Heather, I'm excited to receive your package because one piece of mail that isn't a bill will be MOST appreciated.

Harvenshtein Productions Update

Jana requested that I put up a post about how Harv and I are doing. Things are going well here. I've really had an easy, enjoyable pregnancy. I'm starting to get huge which is kind of freaking Kurt out, I think. Harvey still hasn't committed to the head-down ready-to-go position so there are lots of belly gymnastics going on. He kicked my desk at work so hard the other day I thought I would get a bruise. I'm working through the 12th which gives me a little over 2 weeks off before my due date. I've started writing an article for publication that includes a section of my thesis findings. It's hard to find the motivation to do it at night so I'm mostly puttering on it during down times at work. Hopefully I'll have time to get it mostly wrapped up in my time off before Harvey. My adviser will finish up whatever I don't get done. Mostly I'm grateful for how pleasant the pregnancy has been so far. My blood pressure has been great and my cardiologist says there is a very good chance that I'll never be sick again after the pregnancy. It would be a huge blessing. So we're just counting down the days now, hanging out on the couch and eating copious amounts of ice cream.

This world is scary sometimes

I just read a story on Yahoo about a brain-eating ameoba that enters a person's body through their nose and eats their brain. It's called Naegleria fowleri. Obviously, since it eats the brain, it is deadly. It's extremely rare, but 6 people have died from it this year. The report said that that number is a spike from other years. They warn that it's more common in warm, southern states. The cases of deaths were in Florida, Texas, and Arizona. Sometimes I think it's really scary that there are so many kinds of things are out there that can affect you or someone you love without you being able to do anything about it.

On a lighter note, Jana, what is the picture index you were talking about that you keep getting family pictures from? I'd like to check it out.

the holidays

Happy October!

Jason and I bought airplane tickets yesterday for our Idaho Christmas. I'm flying into Salt Lake City on December 17th and will spend a few days in Utah with Addie. I'm excited because I'll get to see Kari and Grandma and Grandpa, as well as a couple of my friends, and the ligths on Temple Square. We'll ride up to Idaho with Will and Caitlyn, my brother and sister-in-law, and will join the rest of the Hair family there. Jason will fly directly into Boise on December 21st (after his exams are over) and we'll return here on December 29th. If everything works out, I'll even get to attend Kari's baby shower on Dec. 20th. I love the holidays, and am starting to look forward to them already! Yay! Before you know it, it will be Thanksgiving, and we'll all be enjoying turkey together!

The saga continues....

We had the inspection on the house on Friday. The inspector didn't really tell us much that we didn't already know. The house does need lots of work, but most of it is stuff we can do ourselves. The thing that makes me mad is that we couldn't test the plumbing because it wasn't hooked up. The house is winterized. I paid the listing agency to get a plumber in to de-winterize it. But it wasn't done. I am so mad. I called my realtor yesterday and told him to tell the lising agency that the water needs to be on by Tuesday. Lucky for us, the inspector said he would come back and test the plumbing without charging us more. Our realtor is not happy about this and I'm sure he won't be very nice when he calls tomorrow. I hope he isn't. I'm so frustrated with this listing agency. They are not very professional. If the water isn't tested by Wednesday, we will back out of the offer and look elsewhere. I have mixed emotions about it. I can see the potential this house has and see how fun it would be to remodel, but I'm so frustrated and tired of the headaches we keep running into to try to get this deal to go through. AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! I'll keep you posted on how this saga plays out. I did take pictures of the inside and as soon as I buy another memory disc adapter I'll post them so you all can see just how ugly this house is. It's actually funny just how ugly it is. To think someone thought that they were decorating nicely is so funny!

Random Stuff

I just got back from the women's broadcast at the stake center. I'm curious as to how each of you Relief Society members watched it, at home or did you go to a church, or did you opt out? Dad and I chaperoned the choir while they practiced with 5 schools and the Ann Arbor Symphony this week. It sounded really good. I guess you would expect all of those classical people in Ann Arbor to have a good symphony orchestra. I hope you're enjoying Fall wherever you are. In 2 weeks Dad and I are going to use our yearly October trip to hit as many cider mills as we can in 2 days. I think it will be fun, I'll let you know.

Amazing Race

We put packages in the mail to all of the non-Michigander members of our family this afternoon. We'll see how fast the postal service gets them to you guys. The obvious guess would be Wisconsin but I've heard that eating that much cheese makes you lazy so maybe the postal workers down south or out west will be quicker. The race is on!

new contact info

We've lived here for over a month and we finally have a Tennessee number! Woohoo! We've been going WAY over on cell phone minutes, so we thought it would be wise to give this number out.

Home phone: (901)383-4534

Oh, and our address is 2165 Meadow Glade Ln #4 Memphis, TN 38134

We will be home owners again!

The bank finally accepted our offer on the house! We signed the paperwork yesterday to set things in motion towards a closing date. We are suppose to close on or before Oct. 12th. Hopefully we'll be able to pull it off. I just set up the inspection this morning for Thursday afternoon. If that goes well, there shouldn't be any other snags (at least on our end). If you want to check out our house just follow this link: http://public.mlswis.com/cgi-bin/view.cgi?20070912174159300919000000&id=1

We are pretty excited, except this means that I have to re-pack this rental and then we have to get the rest of our stuff out of storage in Michigan and get it here. It's kind of daunting, but once it's all finished I'll be so much happier. I'm so ready to settled down again. It's been almost a year since we've been in a home we owned. It will be nice for everyone have their own spaces again.

I'm sorry I haven't been writing, especiallly after my big plea for everyone else to do so. Jason and I have been battling a cold for the last week, so we've been a bit lax with many things. But yes, I got a calling yesterday! I am a Primary teacher. I teach the CTRs. Our ward has a very small primary, there are only 25 kids total and my class has 4 kdis-- a 4, 5, 6, and 7 year old. It's a large range of ages, and I'm sure that will make it particularly challenging, but the kids seem cute and I'm excited about it. I am a bit sad to be leaving Relief Society as I'm finally starting to make some friends, but hey, I always love being in with the Primary!

As a side note, Adelyn is 12 weeks tomorrow...I can't believe how quickly the time has gone! Before we know it, we'll have a Harvey and Noah as well! Hutchinson parties will be so much fun. I'm sure Hillary's kids are excited to finally have cousins to play with as well!

So, Jana, what happened with the Bishop?

I just remembered you were suppose to meet with the bishop yesterday. How did that go? Were you able to get there so early? Fill us in.

Last One

So, this morning Eric got an email from the last school he applied to-the one in Missouri. Now that it's all complete, he is focusing more on finishing the secondaries. Cross your fingers and saw your prayers (please) that one will bite this time. Thought you would like the update. Thanks you guys!

Fun to think about

I just looked at the months of messages we have on our blog and noticed that there are two September months. Does that mean our blog has had a birthday?!?!?! Kind of cool.

One more in

Today Eric got an email from MSU's DO school. YAY!!!! He has been waiting for that one for some weeks and we are very excited that it did come. There is only one other school he applied for-the one in Missouri-and we haven't heard from them, but we aren't too concerned about that. And, Dad, if you could put in a good word with the guy that you know that works at MSU, we would be okay with that. Or if there is a way to have one of your friends that's a DO write his letter, we would be okay with that too. He does know some doctors from his home ward that could write his recommendation-he hasn't asked them yet-but, the schools would really like it to be from a DO and there just aren't that many out here, and we don't know any. So, please continue praying that everything will go smoothly and that he'll get into at least one of the three-that would be awesome! Thanks guys!

Survey

I'm sorry the pictures are so big. I can't figure out how to get them smaller. Oh well, it's fun anyhow!