Meet Layla!!

The first time we met sweet Layla

Her favorite place to sit when I have the windows and doors open. She can see inside the house and out in the backyard where the boys are playing.

I want to take a few moments to introduce the newest member of our family...her name is Layla. We have wanted a dog for quite some time but decided to pray and wait for the right one. Not sure if you saw my post a few weeks back about a missing dog that we found, well it was this girl. We found the owners and took her home. About a week and a half ago she came back to our fence when we were out back playing. We played with her for about an hour and then sadly took her home again. That night the boys asked why we couldn’t keep her. I had to explain how sad we would be if someone kept our dog if it got out. They were as sad as me but understood. That night when we were all laying in the boys beds talking we each took a turn and prayed for the right dog for our family. One of them began to pray for Layla. When we were done I told them if Layla returns again I will ask the owners if we can keep her. 10am that very next morning guess who came right up to our fence again when we went out to our backyard?!? Yes, it was sweet Layla. We played with her for a bit and then this time instead of walking her home (she lives 2 minutes if we walk) I loaded her and the boys up in the car. This was because I wanted her to stay in the car while I talked to the owner and if she said we could keep her we were headed straight to the pet store to get a name tag, food, and all other supplies. I knocked on the door and immediately introduced myself to the mom who answered because I had yet to meet her. I told her that we have been praying for a dog for quite some time and that the night before we specifically prayed for Layla. We fell in love with her from the first moment we met her. I asked this woman if we could keep Layla. I told her we have a wonderful fenced in backyard, that I have 3 energetic boys that she is clearly great around, and we would take great care of her. She looked at me both shocked and heartfelt and said she needed to think about it. Asked me to leave my information and she would call me if she decided to let us have Layla. I will tell you I teared up for sure when I was sharing with her that we prayed for Layla last night, not guilt tears, these were the tears that were happy tears to share how God works in our lives. I walked to my car to get Layla and right down my information. Mateo looked at me and said, “why does it look like you are crying?” I told him because I may have been sad to let Layla go. But it was the right thing to do. I returned to their front door with Layla and my information (ALL OF IT!! NAME, ADDRESS, & PHONE NUMBER). The woman came back out of her house and said (with tears in her eyes), “I think God wants you to have this dog.” She handed me some dog food and her food dishes that she had just cleaned for us. I cried and asked her if I could hug her. And then asked her maybe 5 times if she was sure. She said yes, she was sure. I returned back to the car with Layla and tears down my face this time. Mateo said, “Mom, why are you crying again and why do you still have Layla?” I explained that she felt God wanted us to keep her. To say that the boys and I were over the moon would be an understatement. 

She is a two year old boxer/pit mix. If ever we could find a dog that was the perfect fit for our family, she is it. She is loyal, loving, gentle, protective, and so many other great qualities. I wasn't sure how she would do so that first night I set up a crate in my room just until she was comfortable in our house and so I could make sure she was potty trained and wasn’t going to chew or destroy anything. We never used the crate. She was with me when I tucked the boys in and she made her spot right on the floor next to their beds. I put a blanket and pillow down for her and that has been her bedtime spot since we brought her home. She goes everywhere with us. She did great inside PetSmart. She did great when I took her to a friends backyard to socialize with their dogs. She has walked up to men and women alike and her tail wags the entire time. The boys left the gate open the other day and she could have ran, but she didn’t. I called her back into the yard, she came and we closed the gate. We love her, and I am sure you will too when you meet her. 

She loves to run around in the yard with Mateo.

This is where she sleeps for half the night. Then the rest of the night she is inside the bed near his feet. 

Jacoby put this on her back and said she picked that show. He was hoping to get to pick two shows in a row. LOL

Best friends already!

She was in the center of our family when the tornado came through.

She loves when the boys cover her and lay with her.

Guess what?!?

So after months of the house being in disarray the contractors, plumbers, and painters are finished. For those that saw my Facebook post a few weeks ago about needing a new washer, well I was still researching and just couldn’t decide yet. Then, a few days ago, mid cycle the washer starts beeping. It was filled with water and my load of clothes, oh and the door is locked. After many attempts at resetting the washer and trying to repeatedly press the drain/spin cycle I walked away. I ordered a new washer from Lowe’s and had it delivered today. Fun fact: you can pay them $30 to haul away the old washer. Oh, yeah the washer randomly clicked last night, unlocking the door. So, ummmmm I had nothing to put my soaking wet clothes into, except the kitchen trash can. Don’t worry folks, it’s clean. But just for added protection in case there was a hidden crack in it I put a new trash bag inside. I unloaded my sadly soaked clothes into it and placed it near the washer. I announced to the boys that my clothes were in the trash can, and there is a trash bag on the kitchen floor for them to use. Fast forward to this afternoon when the brand new washer was delivered. I bought necessary new hoses and had them on hand for the guys to hook everything up. I apologized to them for the water still inside the washer because I knew it made it that much heavier. Of course they said no worries and moved right along with the installation of the new one. The gentleman started the washer and told me that he was finished and I would be good to use the washer after that short cycle was complete. After the not so short cycle finished I opened the lid excited to rewash my soaking wet clothes that are sitting in my trash can and we’re held hostage by the old washer for more than 24 hours. Inside the new washer I find two bags that weren’t removed before he started the cycle. It was an honest mistake. But it’s my new washer. I am staying calm. The issue is that the bag that contained what looks like it could have been the manual had holes in it. So the shredded soaked papers are all inside the new washer. I have no idea what damage a large amount of paper could do. I honestly don’t want to find out. I have all new pipes. I have new flooring. I just want to wash clothes, not at a laundry mat, but in the comfort of my own home. I proceed with calling Lowe’s customer service. They have a “busier than expected” message that is on repeat. I wait 20 minutes before a person picks up the phone. I try to explain my situation 3 times. I was almost out of ways to explain it. The customer service rep after each explanation asked me, “so what are you missing?” Ahhhhhhhh I don’t know!! I explained it one more time from the beginning, and then she asks me to hold. After 5 minutes of holding I get disconnected and an automated voice asked me to complete a survey for the previous phone call. I always do surveys, but not today. I would hate to give feedback on all of this in the heat of the moment. I call Lowe’s customer service back again. This time it was 30 minutes before I was connected to a customer service rep. I immediately asked for a manager on duty and explained I was a bit frustrated for the previous situation plus and additional 30 minute wait. She was so polite. She said she would love to try and help me before having to get the manager. Well, she did wonderful. She asked all of the right questions and listened to my concerns. She confirmed my phone number just in case we got disconnected so she could call me right back. She called whomever she needed to. Came back on the line to tell me she was still working with her manager to resolve the issue. After the second hold she came back on and said someone will be to my house in the next 24 hours to assess the situation and handle it however I like. Y’all, I just want a brand new washer, that hasn’t washed a cycle of papers.  I know that Lowe’s will do what’s right and fix everything. But as people have been reminding me lately that I haven’t had the best of luck I am reminded that I do have so much more than that. I have my health. I have my boys with me daily (yay) and get the joy of watching them grow academically. We have this house, that is such a blessing even with everything that has happened. We have the best backyard where we spend so much of our time. Our insurance company has been amazing through it all, thank you USAA. Friends, don’t take for granted the small things. It can always be so much worse than what it really is. If you think you have a lot going on, send me a message we can share stories. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for news on my current house project. I am so excited to share! Stay safe. Stay home. Take care of your friends and family that don’t have anyone else. Even if you just check in on them or say hi through the fence, we really appreciate it all. 

Current Situation: Life is messy and this is my life!

I want to do a timeline over the last few months. The dates may not be exact but it will help everyone understand why I currently have so much grey in my hair and why I am exhausted. 

*August 2019 - we returned from Italy after being gone for one day shy of a year. 

Last picture the boys and I took in Italy, getting Gelato

At the airport in Venice, about to return to the USA

on the plane

on the plane

between flights

*September 2019 - Mateo and Jacoby started school. 

*October 2019 - purchased a new to me older house. Worked on house almost daily with my friends help to get it ready for us to move into. 

*November 2019 - moved into house with a ton of stuff to still work on but at least the 15 years of smoke had been erased away. 

*December 2019 - wanted my new bathroom hardware to get installed. Paid a plumber. He found two pin hole leaks and repaired those. This plumber also found mold so with the help of a friend we removed the two walls to treat the mold. Had USAA come assess the situation. Our insurance policy covers mold so they gave money to remedy the whole problem. Mold wasn’t found to be toxic. But maybe this is when my allergies were really affected. I got really sick, lost my voice, was vomiting, got dehydrated and had to go get an IV of fluids. 

*January 2020 - Nico started preschool M-Th from 9am-1pm. I began driving for Uber during this time. 

*February 2020 - Nico ran a fever for about 24 hours. Anyone who knows his story from a year and a half ago about his febrile seizure probably can understand my fears for those 24 hours. I didn’t sleep much. He also vomited for the first time ever. Pretty sure he threw up because he was gagging on the mucus that was draining. My ears had been bothering me but I figured it was just related to my sinuses. Nico and I both went to the doctor. He had a ruptured ear drum and I had a double ear infection. 

Had a slab leak and water went under my brand new floors in my bathroom, laundry room, and dining room. This means that so much of my new flooring that I just laid a few months earlier has to come up and be replaced. If the store has my floor in stock they will just replace the areas that was wet. If they do not carry my style floor anymore then all of the flooring in my house will have to be replaced. Water had to be shut off so that the entire house could be repiped. We spent four days in a hotel. It was by far the best hotel experience we have ever had. Our insurance policy covered this hotel stay as well, they even booked everything for us and just told us where and when to show up. The hardest part was trying to stay on our normal school schedule while living out of a hotel. 

Entire house was repiped, and the amazing plumbers put me a water shut off valve inside the house. If you have ever needed to shut your water off fast you will appreciate this as much as I do. After the floors were pulled up a restoration company came in to dry out all of the wet areas. For a week we had to live with four loud dehumidifiers and eight fans going. 

dining room

livingroom

bathroom

boys room

master bedroom closet

*March 2020 - The walls have been patched up. Now we wait for the floors to be installed. When this happens the water will have to be cut off for two days because the hot water heater has to be moved to redo the floors. This means we will be living out of a hotel again. “Hotels are great” says every kid ever. “I want my own bed” says every mom ever. Did you know that if you need plumbing work done you can get multiple quotes and show them all to the contractor you liked best and they can work out a deal with you? That means that their quote isn’t set in stone!!! Go with the best company, read reviews, and choose wisely. After the floors are installed the drywall guy has to install all of the baseboards and quarter round. Then the team of painters will come. Just a fun fact: the entire house was painted by my dear friends before we moved in. Now, any room where one wall was touched the entire room gets repainted. The floor guys also said they will finish my few closets that I hadn’t gotten around to completing. They said that when they leave my floors will be completely done in the entire house. Can I just say that every contractor that has been involved in my house has gone above and beyond. 

If you can’t see God working in all of this, you have to be blind. Through this entire process there has been a little anxiety but mostly a sense of peace knowing that I am not in control, that He is. How stressful is it just trying to find a hotel big enough for your family and then booking it? I am grateful this was taken off my plate both physically and financially by USAA. 

This week I woke up early one morning, around 12am. Had the worst upset stomach (diarrhea) of my life. Maybe TMI but if you have lived then you have experienced this at least once in your life. It continued through the next morning, and nothing was getting it to even slow down. I was drinking tons of water but still got concerned about dehydration. I reached out to a friend that is younger than me, has no kids, and self employed in hopes he could watch my kids long enough for me to go to urgent care. Last thing I wanted was to take 3 healthy kids in that place. They had fun together watching movies on a projector in his living room. I listed all of my symptoms, was swabbed for flu and strep. Those tests were negative and I was then diagnosed with a viral bacterial infection. I was given medicine to stop the issue mentioned above, on top of get rid of the horrible virus in my body. During this time Nico started to cough. It seemed like allergies and nothing was working. I have been trying Benadryl, Claritin, and many other things but nothing had dried him up. By the 3rd night of me getting little to no sleep because of his cough I took him to the doctor just to make sure it wasn’t in his lungs. His oxygen levels were great, lungs are clear, and all other vitals were perfect. His energy level and consumption of food hasn’t changed. He has had zero fever or upset stomach. Doctor was happy to confirm that it is allergies. 

Being quarantined, attempting to homeschool 3 boys, being sick and having the endless list of plumbing issues has taught me so much. It’s okay if we don’t complete all of the assignments given. It’s okay for the boys to play in the mud and need more than one shower a day. It’s okay to eat a honeybun for lunch. It’s okay to not keep our normal schedule and sleep in for once in our lives. All of you non church goers because you want to sleep in on a Sunday, you can legit use this excuse now because all of the churches are closed. Once we get through this, consider finding a church home, this will change your life forever. It’s okay if the house isn’t clean because no one should be coming by to see it. It’s okay to go on walks outside, just stay away from others. It’s okay to play a ton of video games. Video chat with friends and family, we are all in this together, this will help you stay sane, I promise. 

Last but not least….the greatest news of all. Through all of these trials and over the many years of people telling me I should sell my baked goods I am happy to announce that I am starting my own business. Fun fact: town of Summerville doesn’t issue business licenses the same day like everyone else in the world. I will start small, by selling to friends, family, and possibly at the farmers markets. I applied for two business licenses and have received one as of now. The other is being worked on for zoning. I will sell my dairy free baked goods and my pallet projects. The website, facebook page, and anything related to this business startup has not been completed. But soon enough, in Gods timing. I prayed about this for years but just never felt God leading me, until this time. One after another of my friends encouraging me and telling me the same thing, “you really should sell these” I finally decided to listen to their advise and follow my heart. The name of my business is Unique Measures. This covers both the baking and the woodworking. Stay tuned for more about this venture. 

Stay healthy. Stay sane. Give a ton of virtual hugs. Listen to church online. Support local businesses. Don’t take your whole clan shopping when you need groceries. Stop socializing so this can all pass sooner than later. Pray for our country. Pray for the lives lost. Pray for the anxious. Pray for those risking their health and their lives to save others. This is when we should see our community pull together more than ever. I love you all who continue to support me and help me any way that you can. I would not be where I am today without you. 

It's A New Year

With a new year comes many new changes for the Hardy family. One of the changes was that my sweet Nico started a M-Th 9am-1pm preschool at Summerbrook Church last week. He is doing amazing, and I couldn't be more proud of this transition. The second big change is my 7 year stretch as a Stay at Home Wife and Mother has been altered. Since the boys and I returned back to SC from Italy we have been praying about what kind of work I would like to do, what God wants me to do, and how I could keep our lifestyle as close to what it has been for the last 7 years. Meaning, being there for the boys before and after school, and still being able to take care of the home front. I purchased books on how to start up my own business. I immediately began praying about what kind of opportunities God could use me in the most. Anyone that knows me knows that I have many passions. I am a huge DIY person. If I can do something by teaching myself from watching youtube videos or reading books, then I will attempt it before calling in reinforcements. My dairy free baking brings me such joy. Taking any recipe that I can find and converting it to be dairy free and delicious has been challenging and rewarding in so many ways. Watching family and friends enjoy my baked goods as much as the boys and I do, makes my heart so happy. (Please enjoy the few dessert pictures that I have posted to make your mouth water).

Brown Butter Salted Caramel Snickerdoodle

Brownies from scratch

Bourbon Pecan pie

Then there are my wood working projects. A few years ago I began watching videos on how to efficiently take apart pallets, use power tools, and build things for people upon request. I am super creative and God has definitely blessed me with the ability to do so many things. Here are a few pictures of my favorite pieces.

Cabinet for essential oils

Doorway Entry Console  

growth charts

As I have prayed and will continue praying about what kind of work God can best shine my light through, an opportunity arose. Anyone that prays about these kinds of big decisions knows what it feels like when God lays something on your heart and opens up all of the doors for you to jump right in to the opportunity. He will place people in your path that can encourage, pray, share personal experiences, and get you to where He wants you to be. You will have such a joy and passion that those closest to you will be so happy and feel your joy and want to share in every experience with you. After countless hours of research, watching you tube videos, and thousand of questions to those already self employed the doors have opened for me to drive for Uber.

My official Uber Photo

To answer your first question, which is most likely the same question those closest to me have all asked, "aren't you scared to drive for Uber?" No, I am not. There is peace that came over me with all of this and its because I didn't make the decision without praying first. Are you scared to go to church every Sunday? Are you scared to allow your kids to go to public school? Are you afraid to go shopping at the local mall? Are you too scared to fly? Some people may think I am taking a huge chance every time I allow an Uber rider to get into my car. But you have to be crazy to think that I am not worried about unattended backpacks at local parks where my children play. Or that I am not watching every white van that creeps by wondering if people are being human trafficked inside. I know that I may have just taken it to the extreme, but my point is that if I am at peace about the decision and if bad things can and do happen all around us, we can not stop living our lives out of fear. Will I still avoid certain situations that others see no problems with? Of course! Everyone has their own fears and its hard to not push those off on those we love the most. I just ask that you please respect this decision that I have made, jump in and share my joy, and follow all of my blogs to read about all of the crazy experiences that I am sure to have.

Uber Day 1- This past Monday I thought I was prepared to start picking up Uber riders. I dropped off the last child at school and turned on the app. I quickly got an alert for a pick up and so I headed to the destination. I arrived to where my rider was, we confirmed each others identity and then she proceeded to get into my van.  "Please continue to your destination to pick up X." Ummm I have her already, why is my app still telling me to go to my destination and pick her up? I asked the rider if she made the request from the back of the building, and of course she did. So I attempted to drive as far to the back of the building as I could to get the app to register that I had picked her up. Yea this didn't happen. The app began to charge X for making me , the driver wait. Even though she wasn't making me wait, she was in my car. AHHHHHHH this is how I felt, but I stayed calm. I attempted within the app to manually select something, anything to say that I have picked up the rider. But I couldn't. Next I searched for a cancel trip option but at this point I think I got so frazzled I wasn't really reading the options I just wanted the noise to stop telling me to go pick up X at her destination. I asked X if she could cancel the ride from her app and she did. Now, she has been charged the $ for supposedly making me wait on her, and then she got charged a cancellation fee because I really had no idea what I was doing. Even with all the "preparation of tutorials, conversations with other Uber drivers, and playing with the app in offline mode" nothing could have prepared this new employee (ME) for this situation. I have no trainer/boss/friend sitting in my front seat to help me. So I apologized to X and she politely said, "It's okay, I am in no rush. Can you call Uber while I wait here and get my fees reimbursed?" Of course I did. After I call the Uber help I apologize again and explain it will take up to 48 hours but you will be reimbursed. She thanked me and asked if I could still take her to where she needed to go. Unfortunately Uber doesn't work that way where you can select your driver. Also, because she cancelled her trip with me I am pretty sure from all of my research we will NEVER be paired up again as driver and rider. X looked at her account as she was about to request a new more seasoned (I am hoping for her sake) driver and said she didn't have enough on her account to get home. As a Mom, my heart dropped. She was probably 18 years old, and you could see the look of panic in her eyes. I quickly did what I would hope someone would do for any of my boys if they were taking an Uber somewhere and in this same situation happened. I gifted her an electronic Uber gift card so it was immediately available for her to put in her account. Everyone can tell me what they would have done in this situation and it may have looked so different, but I know this young lady extended such grace to me at that moment I knew I was doing what was right in my heart. She requested a new Uber. I turned off my app and had enough for one day. Yes, you read that right, I quit (for the day). I went home (mind you this is the first weekday in 7 years that there wasn't a child to go home with me). I laid on the couch feeling so happy that all of my kids are doing so great in such a hard time in all of our lives. I feel so blessed that I have found a job that I can work at when I am available. I felt such sadness knowing that my life as I knew it as a Homemaker has shifted in a sense, not ended. I will always be a homemaker, it is in my heart and it is what has come the most natural to me in all of my life. I began to pray. Thanking God for putting X in my path and not having anywhere that she immediately had to go. I prayed when to start trying again. Then I prayed about wether I should do Uber Eats for a while first to better acquaint myself with the app before picking up anymore humans. I talked to a few more Uber driving friends that night so I could better prepare myself if that ever happened again. I asked them how they would have handled it, and knew I felt a bit more confident. When I woke up the next day, I knew His answer. I would do Uber Eats. So for the next 3 days I spent a few hours each day on different sides of town, making food deliveries and getting more comfortable navigating the app. I will say this, it isn't exactly the same features when driving for Uber Eats and just Uber. But at least everything kind of looked a little more familiar and I wasn't scared to make selections. I had a great few days. Last night (Friday) I decided since I had a sitter I would turn on the app and make deliveries or pick up my "first" rider. A ping came through on the app for me to pick up my first rider. I was really excited and surprisingly calm, and not anxious one bit. Turns out my first rider was from Jacksonville Florida where I moved to SC from. So we had a lot to chat about until we reached his destination. I dropped him off and immediately got a ping for a new rider. I proceeded to pick him up. You should know that when you accept a rider you have no idea where you are taking them until you have hit the accept button. You have 15 seconds to accept it or it goes against your declined trip percentage. You can select the trip and then if you see where their destination is you can cancel the trip and it will send them a new driver. But then this goes against your cancellation percentage. So I accepted it and drove to pick him up from Moncks Corner and then see the destination is all the way down town. Fun, I am game. It is my first night and I have no where I had to be. This second rider is completely different from the first. The first rider talked the entire ride. The second rider wanted complete silence, which I can respect. After a few minutes of the silence I hear crickets chirping. Didn't think much of it, but i can hear them. After the 30 plus minute drive to downtown I drop off the second rider. I pull over to turn off the app for a brief moment because I have consumed 3 waters and need a restroom. I also briefly checked my voicemail since I missed a call from an unknown number. Turns out the first rider left a container of crickets in a bag on my back seat. He needed these to feed his pet dinner that night. He didn't have a car so meeting me half way was out of the picture. I told him I would make my way back to Moncks Corner to deliver the crickets. But not before I stop at the first gas station I can find to use their restroom. I run inside and ask where the restroom is, and she said its closed because she is cleaning it. I must have given her a look that she recognized because she quickly said, " I just cleaned the mens bathroom, you can go use that." I couldn't have walk/ran any faster.

Biggest lesson I learned this week. When driving for Uber Eats the food is almost always not ready when you show up to pick it up so you have a quick minute to pee. When you drive for Uber picking up riders you get no break in between pick ups. So do not be like me and consumer 3 bottles of water and have no plans to stop somewhere in the night. If you are like me and want to meet people, need extra income, or would rather make money on a Friday night instead of spending money. Call me!!! Or you can click the link below or use my sign up code ALLISONH8696UI to sign up. We both get something out of it when you sign up on a referral.

https://www.uber.com/a/join-new?exp=&exp_hvp=0&invite_code=9ckjqkqan

Oh one more thing, there is are a few safety features on the Uber app. My favorite is the "follow my ride" option. You can choose up to 5 people to follow your rides while you are driving. They can see your real time location. They get alerted when you begin driving and when you sign off for the day. I know this will give some of you the peace of mind that it gave me. Thank you for reading my blog and stay tuned for more interesting stories that I am sure will come!