Some comments made during our trip

I have wifi right now!  It's in the conference center where Mark is being trained, and I'm waiting here today while Mark is in class, 'cause we had to check out of our motel room.  It's so fun to travel with Mark and see new things, it makes me feel like a kid.  Most of the 5-hour (that's all!) drive was through dry, yellow territory that was empty and pretty dull, after going through Pendleton.  There were very colorful names the whole way:  Dead Man's Pass, Bridge of the Gods, a town called Echo, the John Day Dam, etc.   Once we reached the Columbia River Gorge, wow!  Pine trees!  They were so thick, you wouldn't believe it.  And huge!  Healthy and so green, it was just as described in The Egg and I.

Also, you could see Washington State, right across the river.  The views were full of misty mountains.  It felt primeval and pristine.  We talked about what Lewis and Clark must have thought as they crossed the country and came upon that.  And what about the Europeans, discovering our continent with all it resources and wildlife. 

We're here in Oregon!

Helloo! 

Long time no computer!  Mark just told me if I type this, he will post it on his office computer, so here goes…
Well, we got here to Oregon with the help of Bro. Shull, Bro. Hart and Bro. Ferrin – plus Dana, my aide and friend.  She stayed after packing and loading on Mon., August 11th  and helped Mark hook up the car to the back of the U-Haul.  That took them an hour, because the chain was too tight to unfasten and use.
Then we went to Melinda and Danny’s to pick something up, and their back door key was gone!  So it took about an hour of trying to locate it before Bishop Wheatley showed up with a key – which was pure luck.
So we got on the road late Monday afternoon.  The trip went smoothly, and Leto spent most of it in the car because he liked that better than the crowded truck cab.  We arrived in La Grande at about 1 a.m.  We didn’t know where motels were here, so we stayed at the first one that had a vacancy, a little old place with the strangest room.  The tv was about 10” square, but that was okay.  Mark collapsed on the bed and I soon followed.  We woke up early the next day (the time change made everything seem early), and found the storage place that Mark had contacted.  They were so nice!
They called the missionaries and four of them came right over and helped Mark unload.  Whew, that was a relief!  After that we drove over to the beautiful building and met Kathy, the Marketing Director.  She was enthusiastic and welcoming as she showed us our cute 1-bedroom temporary apt. 
The apt. is on the 3rd floor, with a view of the mountains.  It’s furnished and comes with beautiful bedding and towel sets, and it smells so fresh and clean.  It’s decorated, and has a set of dishes and a little tv.  Really darling!
The best part is what the staff put together for us: in the refrigerator was a bottle of sparkling cider (with 2 jelly bean-filled  and be-ribboned goblets),  and a gift basket that held Hershey Nuggets, packets of honey-roasted mixed nuts, a wheel of French cream cheeses and baby bell cheeses, fancy crackers, and fruit!  Wasn’t that sweet of them?
Besides those things, there was a 6-pack of ice-cold water in the fridge, and in the bathroom was another basket, filled with Caress body washes, lotions and shampoos!  Can you imagine?  That was so thoughtful of them and made us feel so welcome!
Mark started work the very next day, which he spent with Ron, the Regional Director.  They met the dept. heads and went over things in general.  Mark has training the end of this month and next month, in Portland.  Isn’t that great?  A real company!
Anyway, everyone is sooooo nice here!  We have gotten forms from the DMV (so friendly there, and no wait), a library card, we went to government offices, a restaurant downtown, looked at some apts. (bathroom too small for me) (plus, we don’t know if we’ll need one yet), and taken pictures of the views and the quaint little houses here – like on the numbered sts. In I.F.
And, of course, we’ve been to Wal Mart, lol.
There are all kinds of residences in town, pretty much mixed throughout, and most of them are older, traditional homes.  Lots of little cottages.  Some messy yards, lots of pretty ones.  All emcompassed by forested mountains.  I really love it here so far!
I need to close this for now, so Mark can post it.  We love and miss you all.  Mark even talks about going on campouts with you (!).  Crazy!
So, take care of yourselves.  Can’t wait to be able to read your posts!
xoxoxo
Mommy and Doc (pictures asap!)

Woo Hoo!

Monday I was at the doctor's office with Mark when he got a call; I didn't even notice, since I was actually talking to the doctor at the time.  As we were leaving, I was joking with Mark, saying, "I should have told him that the reason I seemed so serious was because my husband's been out of work for a whole year!"  He laughed!  Then he elbowed me and said, "That call I took was Isaac (the so helpful job recruiter), and he said that the La Grande place will be making me an offer!"

Wow.  That was just in the nick of time!

Remember my post about the tempting idea of saving money, that we resisted because it didn't feel like an honest thing to do?  Well, now I can tell you what it was: we were told that some people, when they were facing tough times, just didn't pay their house payment and the bank didn't actually take possession of their home for a year or so - and since we are renting our home out, we could just continue to rent it and keep the rent money for ourselves, rather than paying the mortgage with it.

That sounded like a great idea that would allow us to survive a little longer without a job, and we'd be losing our house anyway, so what did it matter what we did in the meantime?

We thought about it, and we just knew something about it wasn't right.  If we wanted to keep our home, we should just make the payments as long as we could, and then if we couldn't anymore, we should use the rent money to improve the house enough to help it to sell (it's been casually for sale so far).  Then, if it didn't sell, at least it would be a nicer house for the bank to take.

On the last day before it would be reported to the credit bureau, Mark took ALL the money we had (minus ten dollars in the bank and twenty dollars in rolled coins) and paid our house payment.  It was an act of faith, let me tell you.

And that was the morning of my doctor's appt., just a few hours later.

Isn't that incredible?  What a blessing, and what a miracle in its timing!!

That was last Monday.  This Monday we are loading up a U-Haul and moving to La Grande, in Northeastern Oregon, where he'll be Executive Director of a retirement community and assisted living facility.  They even have formal training, and benefits!  It's great that he'll be working for a large company, instead of an individual.  He'll have room to progress in his career, in ways he couldn't before.  I hope they can really appreciate what Mark has to offer.

Mark has been so busy packing!  I can help even less than usual -  at my appt. that day, for other medical issues,  I showed the dr. my mysteriously swollen ring finger - it had been that way for a couple of weeks.  He sent us to the hospital to get it x-rayed, but we almost didn't go, it seemed so unimportant.  Well, the dr. called the next day and said it was fractured, badly enough that we needed to have it seen as soon as possible.
To make a long story short, I finally got in somewhere and had it splinted.  It's a bad fracture, but it has already started healing, so it's okay for now.  It's just such a mystery how it happened!  What's really crazy is that, right before my finger started swelling, Mark had a finger swell in just the same way, on the same hand, for no discernible reason (now he thinks it was gout).  It's been gradually getting better, at about the same rate as my finger.  How wacky is that?

Anyway, the company are reimbursing us for the rental of the truck and trailer and the gasoline (Haley and Dallin graciously loaned us the money for that and other moving expenses), and they have a guest apt. we can stay in till we can rent an apt. or house; we will be renting storage up there instead of here, until we get something.  So that means we are seriously cutting down, to empty the storage unit here.

There are so many little things for us to take care of!  You know how it is when you're moving.  You have to shut off the utilities and pack and clean and let people know, and let your drs. know, and arrange for prescriptions, and see to the pets and make sure you are looking your best (I trimmed my bangs - is that good enough?)

We feel sad about leaving Idaho and missing everybody.  But, as I told Haley, it's better to miss your grandkids than have to live with them!  (jk, but only kind of ;)  Also, Tut went to stay with Phillip, which we appreciate so much.  Tut has always enjoyed Phillip, so we are hoping that he'll be loving it in the house they rented.  It has a little patio where he can lay in the sun, once he gets used to the place.  We sent his blanket with him, and his litter box and a new bag of food.  They will get him some toys and things, probably, and spoil him in general.  Tut won't care, as long as one of his personal admirers/petters/scratchers is around.
We'll miss him, too.  You can have a cat or a dog up there, and we think just Leto will be pushing it, he's such a presence.  We had him bathed and brushed and had his toenails trimmed, etc.  That always cuts down the shedding tremendously, and he looks so good.  We'll continue that up there so that he doesn't shed all over the car and apt.
We figure that Tut would have way less of an adjustment than Leto would in a new home.  And no one Leto likes can keep him for us right now, anyway.  And Seth can't keep him now. But I'm kind of glad, because having just Leto to take care of helps us concentrate on him and enjoy taking care of him.  I know we'll take him around other people more.

So, even though we will miss everyone, we will visit you, and we think we can make it for the 3-day weekend of the Fourth next year, and should be able to come after that, because his vacation time will kick in.  He's never had vacation time, since we've been married.  That sounds so normal.  Also, the idea of having health benefits for Mark, so he can take care of himself, and getting paid enough to buy things he needs, like shoes!  That will be a miracle!

We will also be able to pay for car and home repairs, if they come up.  And we want to be able to go ahead with the home improvement and sale of our home in Chubbuck, as we can manage it.   Either that, or raise the rent.

If we sold our home in Chubbuck, with it's pasture and huge windows and fireplaces and hardwood floors and French doors and granite counter tops and high ceilings and wide hallways and wrap-around porch and huge bathtub and so on...sigh!...we could actually buy another house if we wanted to (if we're going to stay in La Grande). Or not.  We might not want a home, just depending.

Okay, further details:  The place is a 3-story, nice place, and the previous administrator left because she wanted more time with her kids, and she had it running well, so not a disaster needing to be saved.  Whew!
La Grande is a quiet community, not near any big cities.  Eastern Oregon is mostly rural and conservative, btw.  It is situated in the Grande Ronde valley, the largest enclosed valley in the country, and the second largest in the world.  It is surrounded by Mt. Emily and Mt. Harris, most prominently, and used to be the mtg. place of many Indian nations for their summer get-togethers/ pow wows.  That's so sad, in a way.
The people there are friendly, many of them are Mormon, and the population is a little over 13,000.  They have a Wal Mart and a Safeway grocery store (like there was in NE Texas!), and a Rite Aid and a hospital and four LDS regular wards, plus a student ward.  
It's very pretty grassland and farms, with lots of horses, surrounded by dense national forests.   The climate is dry, but gets more rain than here (the overcast days produce more rain there), and La Grande has about twelve fewer sunny days than I.F., yet the winters are warmer. .
The cost of living is pretty low there, and it's not a rich community.  A great thing is that Eastern Oregon University is there.  That always adds so much to a place!
Their local government online sites are so nice, too - really readable and very human.


Well, I need to close this, but I'll keep you posted on all the news.
We love you!
xoxoxo 

PS  We applied for a ground floor apt. right across the street from the facility!  Plus, it's right next to the Stake Center!  It's a two-bedroom, one bath apt. with 850 sq. feet, and the lease is month-to-month.  And they'll let us have Leto, as an exception to their no-pets policy.  Phillip says Tut is loving all the people there to pet him, so Tut's being a big attention hog, lol.

  Apts across the street