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.