--Calvin celebrated his birthday at a baseball game, but we provided brownies and drinks afterwards. He got a book from Grandma and Grandpa Lee and I actually caught him reading it! He is a great reader, just doesn't love it. Trying to find books that will hold his interest is a real struggle. He doesn't even know what he likes and even if he did, he'd say he didn't just to be difficult. *sigh*
--A meme in honor of May 4th:
--I subbed again the beginning of May for my friend Dayton (she joined the church in my ward--I even spoke at her baptism in May 2016). She teaches freshman biology. It was just a half day. But I was told I was awesome and cool and could come back. I'm not rude like the other subs. In fact, two boys in 6th period had pre-printed passes to go to the assistant principal's office because they can never behave with subs. But I told them privately that I believed in them and didn't think they needed those passes. And sure enough, they stayed in my class the entire time.
--I registered Karcyn for summer school. The way middle school is configured, she could only take 1 elective--orchestra--all year. If she wanted to also do choir, which she did, she would have to take two half year credits offered over the summer: Health and Keyboarding. They were $110 each course. But we figured she's pretty motivated and driven and if it allowed her to develop her talent of singing, this was what we needed to do.
--I registered Karcyn for summer school. The way middle school is configured, she could only take 1 elective--orchestra--all year. If she wanted to also do choir, which she did, she would have to take two half year credits offered over the summer: Health and Keyboarding. They were $110 each course. But we figured she's pretty motivated and driven and if it allowed her to develop her talent of singing, this was what we needed to do.
This meme cracked me up.
--On the 6th, Jake was ordained an Elder in the priesthood. Along with three other young men from the CS2 ward. Jake was at the very end and JJ was done by that point and we were sitting at one end of the High Council room and Jared and Jake were at the other. So I didn't hear a whole lot. But that's usually how it goes for me at this things.
--I was patting myself on the back for only having 100 pages left in the Book of Mormon with 25 days to go until the end of May (to fulfill the Stake Presidency's challenge to finish the book with the seminary students). Until I realized in horror that I didn't start at the beginning and have to get to 1N19--another 42 pages in!
--Love this beautiful spring picture of our home against the blue sky above and green grass below.
I think I gave us the best gift of all. The middle of April, we received our notice of appraised value to determine the tax assessment of our home. It calculated our home value as $280,000!!!! We bought it for $225,000. I mean, I know the property values are going up in College Station, but that's ridiculous. If for no other reason, we live in a rinky dink starter-home neighborhood. NO ONE would ever pay that much for a house here. Granted our home design/floor plan, does sell for $350-$375K in other neighborhoods. However, the only reason our home was assessed so high is because the home across the street from us (1800 sq. ft) went for $230,000 (all cash) just a few months before. So they applied an increase to our price/sq. ft. on our 2700 sq. ft. home. But there is NO WAY it would sell for that much in this subdivision. And there was NO WAY, I was going to pay the $5,000 of taxes on it!! I needed to fight this. Technically, our assessed home value jumped pretty significantly from 2016 to 2017, but due to ignorance and fear, I did nothing. But enough was enough. Fortunately, there is a sister in our ward who is a real estate agent. I reached out to her for some help. She provided me with some comparables and after doing as much research on the proper terminology and trying to know the correct words to use and what to say to the assessors and with LOTS of prayers, I went to contest the assessment the morning of my wedding anniversary. To my great relief, I got a young, personable lady. She was cool and agreed that the price was a bit of a jump from last year when it was assessed at $260,000. Without any other action, she explained because of our builder and that it was only 4 years old, it kept the assessed price up, but that she could lower it to $260,000 like it had been. I felt that was better than nothing and didn't want to complain. But as she was typing stuff on the computer, I found my mouth opening without even realizing it. I was looking at the comparables and noticed a 5 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath home, 2382 sq. ft built in 2010 priced at $86/sq. ft. that sold for $206,000 within the past month. I spoke up and said, "Is it only because the age of our house that the value is that high? Because this house, which has one more bedroom than we do, is just 4 years older than ours and only 300 sq. ft. smaller and sold for $206,000. I'm pretty sure we couldn't get $260,000 for our house, if we tried." She looked at the data and even looked it up online and noticed it was also a corner lot. She looked at the data again and said, "Hold tight for a second." Well, I sat there for many long seconds. Minutes in fact. Seemed like ten or fifteen. Was probably only five at the most. She came back with a smile on her face and said, "Well, your comparables saved you today!" They dropped the value down another $20K to $240,000, to make the total decrease a whopping forty grand! I was happy with that! Which meant our taxes would be even lower than the year before when it was valued at $260K. I was so proud of myself and grateful to the Lord for prompting me to open my mouth and putting that question there. Like I said, it came out without even thinking or formulating it ahead of time. I took a thank you card and treat over to Myke, who had helped gather the property information for me in the first place.
--We also had a HAPPY FAMILY BIRTHDAY. We had an AMAZING FAMILY HISTORY Family Home Evening, learning about the high profile people the Houghs are related to. And we celebrated our family birthday with a bundt cake.
--On the 8th, I took Cooper to seminary in Jared's civic. About 1/4 of a mile from home, there was a dead armadillo in the middle of the road. As I got closer to it, I realized it was bigger than I thought. All at the same time, I was thinking...I need to swerve to go around it, I don't have enough time. Oh well, no worries you're in the burb, you'll go right over it. Except then I heard several horrible loud clanking sounds under the car when it dawned on me "You're in the CIVIC!!! The lowest riding vehicle there is!!!" Then there was a not good sound, sensation...like I was driving with something that was catching the wind. Turns out a plastic panel underneath the car had ripped partially off and was hanging from a lone screw. There was also some more ripped/shredded plastic underneath the civic and what appeared to be leaking fluid. Dang!!! I was SO mad at myself. I saved us money the day before on the house and then I went and blew it! I quickly confessed to Jared. I didn't know what to do. We have a neighbor that works at Car Doc (where we take our vehicles). It looked like he was gone already for the day. But when I got up from looking at the carnage under the car, I saw John open his car door. Jared went to grab him as fast as he could. John came over and tried shimmying under the car. Boy howdy, that man is skinny but it was still hard for him to squeeze himself under as far as he could go. But after a couple of minutes, he was able to get the dangling panel off. Fortunately, it was the A/C cover panel and water and A/C fluid that was leaking. Yay!! At least Jared could drive now without that noise and wind resistance. But he'll be taking it to Car Doc over his lunch break to make sure no further damage has been done. Way to go armadillo.
--I like this reminder about tests that the kids are required to take. I'm not against testing or assessing, but not everyone takes standardized timed tests well.
--This past school year, I have watched the little boy of my friend Jennifer, when she had to teach preschool. Her husband took a job out of state and was commuting back and forth. But sometimes his schedule didn't mesh with hers, so I was the safety net and I was happy to do it. It was only for half a day and only a couple times every other week or so. These were the "babysitter appreciation" flowers Jennifer brought to me on the last day that I watched Cole. So beautiful and unnecessary. I know how it feels to need someone you trust to watch your babies for you. It's a difficult place to be and I was happy I could help her.
Sadly, Calvin was a bit of a snot face during Sharing time in Primary and the music leader expressed her disappointment in him--which she can totally do--especially because he was playing at her house the day before. He wasn't being the example she hoped he would be. *sigh* But then, with his state math and English tests looming in the morning, Calvin asked Jake, a newly ordained Elder, if Jake would give him a blessing of comfort. Calvin pointed out that he was the first person Jake baptized and the 1st person Jake gave a blessing to. :) It was an incredibly powerful blessing, too. The Spirit was SO palpable--best Mother's Day gift. I also got a steak dinner with grilled asparagus, salad, mashed potatoes and angel food cake with fresh berries and whipped cream. Perfect!!
--We got a notice in the mail that Cooper was receiving an honor at the high school awards assembly. We were definitely intrigued. They give awards out for perfect attendance (nope--missed for Grandpa's funeral the first week of school) and straight As (not that either, but he has good grades!). He and I were stumped. While he's a good student, we couldn't think of any particular class where he felt really strong in. Turns out it was chorale! Wow! As a freshman, in a class with incredible singers, he was selected for outstanding performance as a musician--the top student in that course at the high school. We were so surprised. What an honor!
--I got some free beets from a friend and have never made them for my family. Because I don't eat them. They showed up at the dinner table occasionally when I was a child. Didn't like them then. But I decided to try roasting them and serve them that way. Jake saw the tray with the diced veggie, popped one in his mouth and said, "It's an Aggie carrot!!" Haha!!! Maroon is the color of Texas A&M. And if you try a beet raw, they do taste similar to carrots.
--At the beginning of May, our friends have Romanian friends, who, when they heard about Jake going to the Hungary/Romania mission, wanted to make him a Romanian dinner. It was such an incredible gesture. Jared and I were going to accompany him, but the original date got rescheduled and the new date conflicted with a baseball game. So Jake went alone. But he had a wonderful evening and our friends, Mark and Marylee Gally, said Jake was such a joy for their friends to be around. There was a couple from Spain who also attended. Marylee wanted to give each couple a Book of Mormon with Jake's testimony in it. Here is the Romanian Book of Mormon.
--Jared and I had a date at the temple Friday night, 5/25. But first, Jake and Cooper and I were going to drive up to Jared's clinic so Cooper could get a CT scan done at 4pm. Based on some things Jared has seen at the office, he wondered if there wasn't more to Cooper's allergies and frequent sinus infections. Dr. Salzer (one of Jared's new bosses) came in and read the scan with us. He said that Cooper's anatomy in his nose/sinuses is definitely giving him trouble. There was a bone fused together, that should actually be unattached and open to allow air/drainage to flow through. So he recommended surgery. Fingers crossed this will help Cooper feel better. He's hard to wake up in the morning and his behavior is more often mopey and negative. Yes, he is a teenager, but how much of that, I wonder, is because he can't breath and isn't sleeping well or is feeling sick all the time. I read somewhere that people with allergies often have more emotional issues because they feel like garbage constantly. Makes sense.
--As Jared and I were headed out of the temple, I smiled at this woman below and only glanced at her as I went to greet Jared. She came up to me and said, "Don't I know you?" Then realization struck! These fine people, Monica and Dan Brewster were in my home ward in Alaska!!! Holy crazy! They live in Houston, not far from Sugar Land. Their home, miraculously was not flooded by Hurricane Harvey. What a joy to run into friends from literally another land, whom I haven't seen in 20 years.
--I had been asked to give a talk on marriage in the Hearne Branch on August 27, 2017. But Saturday night, I got a call that church was cancelled they were taking on water. It was the weekend of Hurricane Harvey. Sunday morning, church was cancelled for the entire stake. I sing in stake choir with Debbie, the wife of the Hearne Branch President, and that following April, I told her I had a talk all ready and prepared to give if they ever need me to come back. She said she'd tell her husband and before long, we had decided on Sunday, May 27th. And they wondered if we could make it a family affair. So everyone prepared to take part in the program that day. Cooper would bear his testimony on Peace in Christ, I would speak on Marriage, Karcyn, Calvin and JJ would sing "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" for the special musical number with Jake accompanying them and then Jared would speak. When we walked in that morning, we were blasted with warm air. President Edmondson found us and quickly apologized that the A/C was out. It had to be at least 85 degrees in that small room for the chapel. This was also the day that I would be sustained as the new Stake YW President. It took almost two weeks. But I was finally official and could move forward with my presidency. We were SO HOT in Sacrament meeting. JJ actually fell asleep so he didn't actually sing. When Sacrament Meeting was over, they cancelled the rest of church. My kids were actually disappointed. They were looking forward to going to Primary and YM in the branch. So we headed home and took a picture of our Hough Day in the Hearne Branch. :)
--On Tuesday night, I had a Sister Leaders Council meeting, then my presidency was set apart. President Sharp knew of my concerns and insecurities and I'm grateful he knows me as a person. Serving with him for a year when I was RS President was a gift and he knows me well. He gave me one of the most beautiful blessings during a setting apart that I've ever heard. I wish I had thought to record it. It was a good 5-7 minutes if not longer. He called me by name, he blessed me to go serve the way I feel inspired to and show others what a stake auxiliary presidency can do when those ideas may be foreign to them. He blessed me with all the rights, privileges and powers connected with this calling. It was so powerful, spiritually and physically, that Mindy came up to me right after and said, "Okay, can I just hug you now?" and I felt President Sharp's hands on my head loooonnng after my setting apart was over--until we got up to leave. It was a remarkable experience. Again, I just wish I remembered more of what he said.
This is my presidency: Mindy Peterman (1st counselor), Jenn Hough (president) and Allison Dunn (2nd Counselor), Chanelle Sorensen--not pictured (secretary). I love these women already!
--Later that evening, we went to the pool to go swimming with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a gorgeous day. We had a blast! I just wish these kids didn't love chicken fighting so much. Calvin and JJ talked these two teenage boys into playing with them. Good grief.
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