The new job journey

(*Author's Apologetic Note and Warning: Reading this post will be a journey!)

We knew change was coming at Jared's office. We just didn't know what. Or who it would effect. As the staff/office manager, the doctor had shared some vague information with me. He was able to share more with Jared but not enough specifics for us to really know the full scope of the situation.

On Monday, Feb. 24th, Jared came home and his hands were ice cold. He couldn't warm them up. That was a sign. He was worried. He said that we could very well lose our family benefits. Dr. Hicken has paid every last dime for every full-time employee's benefits since he went private in 2006 when Jared joined the practice. I said something like "Posh! You're a provider...a producer. You generate money for the office." Jared wasn't so sure. I nodded my head for a little bit taking in his soberness. I quickly assessed my feelings and was surprised when I felt complete and utter calm. I simply said, "Then we move."

In our home, where money is concerned, Jared's in charge of production (the CEO) and I'm in charge of distribution (the CFO as Jared lovingly calls me :) But we make financial decisions, big and small together. Several years ago, when we had a couple of months where finances were super tight, I had a revelation. The thought came to my mind that if we ever had to pay for benefits (even just a little bit) we wouldn't be able to do it. Perhaps if we had started his job that way, we would have been able to work our budget around it. But having worked for several years without that cost in our budget, it gets really difficult to find an extra $400+ a month that you didn't have to have before. I expressed my financial concern to Jared and he agreed. What further complicates our financial situation is we have over $700 a month that we pay to Jared's student loans (two master's degrees, one in sports medicine and the other to be a physician assistant). So we're already $700 behind where other people would be without having to pay for full benefits.

I'm so grateful for that epiphany a few years ago. I believe that was the Lord preparing my heart...a heart that can get so easily attached to people and places and situations.

So when Jared repeated that he felt losing our health insurance benefits was a very real possibility in February, I did not hesitate to declare that we must move.

Two days later, on Wed. Feb. 26th, Dr. Hicken and his wife, sat down with every employee of the office, individually, to explain the financial and staffing changes taking place. As the senior provider/employee, Jared was first. I was visiting teaching at the time when I got a text from him. It simply said, "We need to go to the temple real soon." (We go to the LDS temple to perform vicarious acts of service for our ancestors, but to also seek answers to our prayers and to feel peace). I knew what that meant. But, amazingly, I was not panicked. My heart did not sink to the floor. I just texted back, "seriously?" And he said, "very seriously."

I needed to swing one of the kids by the office that afternoon, ironically enough, so I had my meeting with the doctor and his wife after that. In addition to learning of the change in benefits through Jared's employment, Dr. Hicken informed me that his wife would be taking over staff manager duties that I had been doing. I wasn't surprised. And truth be told, being replaced by the doctor's wife isn't the worst thing. I think it might have felt like a blow below the belt had I been replaced by someone other than his wife. That change also resulted in a reduction of my hourly salary. But that was okay. Our days were numbered anyway.

As the doctor and his wife explained to me why they were having to make the drastic financial changes with the business, I cried some tears for them. Dr. Hicken has been so very generous to everyone, not the least of which has been our family. We are so grateful for all that he's done for our family as a friend, employer and physician and I tearfully told him so. Jared met me in the break room as I left the meeting. A few other employees saw me cry and were worried about me. They assumed I was upset over not being manager anymore because they had already been told I was no longer in that position. But that wasn't it at all.

When Dr. Hicken was explaining the changes to Jared earlier, he had told Jared he knew that losing family benefits (me and the kids) would be a significant thing for our family and that it might mean Jared would have to find another job. Jared didn't say anything definite but said he'd have to look at the numbers of the new health plans. Dr. Hicken had told me the same thing...that it would be anywhere from $700-900 extra a month for us (he was paying everyone's monthly premium AND yearly deductible for medical, dental and vision). I look at the numbers all the time in our budget and they are simply not there. I don't honestly know anyone who could drum up an extra $700 that they're not using. If we had that kind of money floating around, it would be floating into retirement and other investments and we wouldn't feel right giving those up for benefits. In fact, we calculated that if we canceled our education fund, my Roth IRA, and full family life insurance, we still wouldn't have enough money to pay for benefits and throwing away our future to have that kind of coverage just isn't worth it to us. Jared would have to work a second job and I would too and that's not cool either.

Many people have found it hard to believe that we, as employees of a doctor's office of all places, would lose our family medical benefits. But what they don't understand is that Dr. Hicken is a private practitioner. He works for himself. He doesn't have the advantage of working as a large corporation that can absorb all the extra insurance costs like hospitals can. Just the fact that Dr. Hicken has to pay payroll taxes for every employee is enough to make me, Frugal Franny, want to vomit. Never mind the fact that health insurance costs have been steadily rising 10-20% a year since Jared started working. Even though Dr. Hicken's practice continues to grow and produce, the overhead costs of the business have been rising also. He simply had to tighten the belt to do what was best for his family's future. And because of it, for the exact same reason...to pay off debts, we are doing the same. In fact, we assured other employees at the office of a couple of things. #1) This is the best case scenario for our family. We assumed we would always be in Oregon working for Dr. Hicken--a fantastic gig...especially right out of school--unless a) Dr. Hicken died and we no longer had a supervising physician or b) Jared got fired. And we are leaving for neither! It's amicable between Dr. Hicken and Jared and we're super grateful for that. #2) The way Jared's been feeling about the weight of his student loans recently, we probably would have left Oregon of our own accord in another year or two anyway. This transition just makes it really easy for us and again, we're grateful for the timing because Jake starts high school this fall. It's a good time to go.

If we were going to leave Oregon, we were going to get as much from this change as possible. Our goal: to secure a new job that would offer student loan repayment in exchange for Jared working in a rural or underserved clinic. Interestingly enough, our family home evening theme for February was "financial preparedness." We talked to the kids about stretching their dollar, the importance of tithing and saving and of course, to avoid consumer debt like the plague. At dinner on our Valentine's date, Jared said he had been feeling the impression more and more that he needed to get rid of his student loans as quickly as possible. We have done everything we can to pay that monster down. We have a large federal loan and a smaller private loan at a variable interest rate. When Jared was working extra shifts at the urgent care, we'd make triple payments. We went from $160,000 to $125,000 in those three years that he worked there. The middle of February, Jared confided that he felt he would never be able to pay off his loans if we stayed in Oregon. I believe that was the Lord preparing Jared's heart.

In Jared's field, you can really go wherever you want. There are Physician Assistant jobs ev.er.y.where. Since we were narrowing the search down to loan repayment jobs only, and in the south where our dollar would go further, we only had a few options. In the beginning it was Texas, Oklahoma, or Arkansas. We were open to living in any of the three states, but were partial to Texas because, believe it or not, it's where we were looking to settle down out of school until Dr. Hicken made Jared an offer we couldn't refuse. Jared contacted the recruiter, Kurt, from the main online job site and got his resume off that next day or two. In the meantime, I had Jared tell Dr. Hicken that I was giving my notice. I would work the Fridays through March and then I was done. I had more important things to be doing...like getting my house ready to put on the market.

I immediately started working on the closets and cabinets at home....cleaning things out, donating what we don't use, tossing other things. One of the kids asked what I was doing. I said I was doing our spring break cleaning a little early. We didn't want to say anything to our kids quite yet because once it's out, it's out. But we couldn't keep this from them either. We felt like we were deceiving them by not saying anything.

Four days later was Fast Sunday, and the day when Jared does his PPIs (Personal Priesthood Interviews) with the kids. I sat in on the interviews this time. We spoke to Jake first. He rarely cries. I expected this to move him to tears. This kid...is an amazing young man. Seriously, we can't take any credit for him. He is who he is. He knows what's right and he sticks with it. He's got soooo many great things going for him too. He was excited to start his second year of marching band this summer, go on his first High Adventure with his young men group and was recently invited to be in an elite group of young pianists--sharing their love of music together in an incredible way. He's made a wonderful reputation for himself with adults, teachers and young people alike. And now, he has to start all over. But...because he's so great, I believe Jake will handle this change with greatness too. Would he believe that though?

It took about half a minute or so for the news to register with Jake when Jared told him. But, I smiled in response to his question about where we'd be going and said "how 'bout tornado alley?" He all but propelled himself off the bed he was so excited! Jake shares my love of storms and has repeatedly expressed his desire to go on a storm chasing expedition for his senior trip. We started telling him about all the advantages and fun things that would come from this move. Later that night, when I asked him if he was really feeling okay about the change, Jake commented, "You know, Mom, life is 10% what you're handed and 90% attitude." (I agree completely...now who are you and what have you done with my teenager?? ;)

Cooper was a little more solemn but I wouldn't expect any less from our little actor. He will miss his friends and the teachers/church leaders he'll never have. He was 18 months old when we moved to Oregon so this is the only place he's ever really known. The only school he's ever gone to. The only ward he really remembers. But when he found out where we might be moving to...he was just as excited as Jake. What a blessing.

We met with Karcyn and Calvin together. They were all excitement. Especially Calvin, who only a month before had asked when we were getting a new house. I laughed cynically and told him never...he needed to learn to love the house we're in. He said he didn't like it anymore and was ready for a new place. Well, Calvin, you got your wish. And...we assured Karcyn, who is currently sleeping in the living room on the hide-a-bed after Calvin rammed her little chin into the chair rail in the dining room causing her to get her first stitches, that she will have her own room in our new house.

The kids LOVED looking at the homes for sale on realtor.com. So did Jared and I!

Phew...that was just the first five days!

The beginning of that next week, Jared spoke with Kurt again. The Arkansas job was ruled out because they were only offering $10,000 a year to your loans, which is better than nothing, but they tend to hire only AR residents because they don't want to pay to relocate someone...and we would definitely be needing that. Kurt also swayed Jared away from the OK job. He said that the area is more isolated and he was concerned with how it might affect me and the kids. So we were back in Texas. Jared had continued to look online at job postings after sending his resume in and let Kurt know about the jobs he was interested in.

There was a family practice/urgent care job in Navasota (near College Station, TX) and one similar to that in Huntsville, TX (north of Houston). There was a loan repayment job in Madisonville, TX--about 40 miles north of College Station. It had FULL loan repayment. The loan repayment job in the other two locations were PARTIAL loan repayment. We asked what that meant. With full loan repayment you get $30,000 a year to your debt. Partial is $20,000. Nice. I was thinking full was $20,000 and partial was $10,000. While the job in Madisonville did have full loan repayment, it was all occupational medicine (workman's comp, DOT physicals, etc.) In Oregon, PA's aren't even allowed to do workman's comp, so he has no experience with it and that is definitely not the kind of medicine Jared's interested in, so we said, "no thanks" to pursuing that option. Jared ideally would love to work in an urgent care setting, but he'd do family practice also or a little of both. Kurt took note and said he'd be in touch. Of course every day that goes by when you don't hear from your link to future employment is like an eternity! A couple days later, Kurt said that the clinic in Huntsville is on hold because they already have 6 PAs (whoa! six? really?) and need another supervising physician before they can hire more. So there went that possibility. But he was able to get something arranged with the St. Joseph health system in Bryan/College Station (south central) Texas for the Navasota position. They reviewed Jared's resume and found him to be a very strong candidate.

The next day, Jared spoke with Lauren, the recruiter for advanced practitioners with St. Joseph. She gave Jared some information about the hospital and the growth that's happening in that area (they're building a new trauma center and a couple of urgent care facilities...and hiring 31 new PAs and 31 new docs). She let him know of the two positions (Navasota and Madisonville) that were open in their system with loan repayment. Jared explained that he was interested only in the Navasota position. After their conversation, she immediately sent an email that outlined their benefits package in addition to an extensive skills questionnaire that Jared had to fill out. I found it interesting that he hadn't even interviewed with a provider yet and they were already showing us their benefits package, but we looked it over and amazingly, it was very easy to understand. We were happy to discover that full benefits for our entire family wouldn't be much more than $220 per paycheck...which is already a wash for our budget because that's about how much Oregon State Tax was taken out of each paycheck and...Texas doesn't have state income tax. We also sent our financial advisor a copy of the benefits to review. He said it was one of the best he's seen and he's seen a lot as he works with medical providers only. He liked how it was very user friendly and that they will contribute 1% of his income to retirement whether we do anything or not and will still make a match beyond the 1% if we also contribute.

After receiving Jared's skills questionnaire, Lauren let Jared know he would have a phone interview on Wed. March 12th with Kim who is the representative over advanced practitioners at St. Joes. It was scheduled for 7am our time. 7am came and went. As did 7:15am. And 7:30am. And 7:45am. Finally at 8am, Jared contacted Kurt to let him know that no one called him. Such a bummer. You can't help but wonder...is this a system you want to work for? But I told Jared to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. You just never know what might have happened.

Later that afternoon, Kurt called Jared to tell him that it was Kim's first week of work in this position and her assignment to have a skills interview with Jared somehow slipped through the cracks. Kurt apologized profusely and, as if reading Jared's mind, assured Jared this was a good, solid health system to work for and that as soon as he had this interview they'd fly him down for a site visit in short order. Kurt seemed pretty confident about the site interview. I guess these phone interviews were more formality than anything.

Kim called Jared on Friday, March 14th, while he was having a lunch meeting with some other people from the health community. He felt bad having to excuse himself, but wasn't going to miss this call. They talked for a good 30-45 minutes. She asked him what he did, his skills, how a typical week is with hours and the scope of medical needs he sees. Kim also explained that Texas had opted out of taking federal money to do certain things with it and almost sounded slightly apologetic but Jared said that didn't bother him one bit. She asked him about our family and why we were looking at Texas. He explained that the loan repayment was a big draw, but that we're wanting stability and with five kids ages 14-2, we are not looking to uproot our family again any time soon. He also shared where he hoped to live as we'd already been researching the schools and area. This impressed Kim because it told her that he was serious about this. Kim, who is a neurology nurse practitioner, was really excited about Jared's athletic training background which would be a good fit in Texas where football is big and concussions are prevalent. Kim noticed Jared got his masters degree in sports medicine in Kalamazoo, MI and asked him if he was familiar with Paw Paw, MI where she had lived for a short time. Jared replied, "you mean the place so nice, they named it twice?" :) That's the Paw Paw motto. She got a good laugh over the fact that he remembered that. Jared has a way with people. He said he felt the conversation went really well and I continued to be at peace.

But this was a Friday and we had to wait through the weekend again before hearing back from St. Joes. Spring Break was a week away and Dr. Hicken had plans to be gone. Jared worried that they'd fly him down that week which would not be good for his current employment situation. Jared and Dr. Hicken avoid being out of the office at the same time because they can see the same volume of patients in a day. In addition, Jared needed to be here to baptize Karcyn on the 29th. So he contacted Kurt and explained his schedule dilemma. If they could get him there before our spring break started, that would be ideal. But of course, this was on St. Joe's dime, or so they said (we've been burned by a doctor before who said the same thing) so we didn't feel like we could be super picky.

As it turns out, Lauren sent him an itinerary on Monday, March 17th. He'd leave two days later, Wednesday, March 19th early in the morning and fly into Houston. They arranged for a rental car so he could drive up to College Station (home of Texas A & M University). He'd interview all day Thursday with a variety of staff and big wigs from St. Joseph, spend Friday with a realtor that they've provided and Saturday morning he would head back to Houston to fly home. We were so grateful at how quickly they responded to his scheduling requests.

Everything went smoothly as he arrived in College Station Wednesday evening. They even had a gift basket in the hotel room waiting for him.

Interview day began bright and early with a breakfast interview at Chick-fil-A with the medical director. After about 30 minutes, Lauren picked Jared up and they toured a couple of medical facilities in College Station. They had a little time before the next meeting so Lauren drove Jared around some of the neighborhoods (which, of course, were out of our price range!).

Next, Jared interviewed with Sister Penny, one of the head nuns that works for St. Joseph. She wanted to know who Jared was, things he's done, etc. He was almost waiting for her to rap his knuckles with a ruler :) But she was very nice.

Then it was lunch time. Jared met with Lauren, Kim and an administrator who is over all the rural health care clinics at a local sandwich shop.

Afterwards, Lauren drove Jared to the clinic in Navasota, about 20 miles south of College Station. Jared LOVED it. He felt he'd fit right in with staff and met with the Nurse Practitioner and the doctor who would be Jared's supervising physician. We later found out that the doctor was very impressed with Jared which was great news! Jared told me that night after the interviews that he felt he could work at the Navasota clinic forever. Not just for the loan repayment contract. And he about fell over backwards when he learned that St. Joseph uses the exact same electronic medical records system that Dr. Hicken's office does. And Dr. Hicken is only one of two doctors in this whole region who uses that system. The odds of that were insanely slim. Talk about incredible. Jared would be able to hit the ground running and not have to be slowed down by having to learn a new system. In fact, while he was at the clinic, he answered some questions they had about the EMR and gave the staff some tips and shortcuts. They haven't had the EMR that long, whereas Jared's been using it for 7 years!

While he was at the clinic talking with the group, he learned that they were still trying to build the clinic's numbers. That was the only drawback Jared could see...that Navasota might not be ready for another provider quite yet. He explained to the staff and even the administrator over the rural clinics that he has just spent the last 7 years building a practice by word of mouth advertising only and felt he could do that at the Navasota clinic, as well. I have no doubt he could too.

After Navasota, Jared was done with his interview day and found himself some Texas BBQ for dinner. :)

Friday, Jared spent the morning with the local realtor, Saundra, and they looked at several homes. Most of them he wasn't super impressed with. I had been looking at homes online the day before and then sent him links of the ones I was interested in. It's nice he could walk through them and find out first hand if we'd like them or not--almost in real time. One we were really interested in ended up being a total frat house. Nasty & gross, with college students still in bed when they were walking through around 11am. Good to know! He came away from that experience saying that if we lived in College Station, he felt the best place for us would be a neighborhood south of the city limits where they're building the last phase of homes in the subdivision. We wouldn't have any yard or property. But the house would be new and it would be the best value. I was a little bummed to hear that, but totally appreciated what Jared had to say. After all, we're going to Texas to get out of debt, not go into more with a house we can't afford.

When they finished looking at all the properties, Jared went to the local store, bought a box of Thank You cards and wrote one for every person he interviewed with and delivered them before leaving the next day. I was so impressed!

On Saturday, he had a meeting with another realtor in Montgomery, about 45 miles east of College Station, on his way back to Houston to look at homes there. Montgomery would be about 30 miles from Navasota (College Station is about 20 miles) so comparable in distance and both cities have excellent rated schools. We could have chosen to live closer to Houston where the housing is actually a better value. But I didn't want Jared's commute to be any more than 20 miles. 30 was already pushing it.

Even as a school teacher, I have never had "good schools" be a determining factor in where we live. I guess I just want to give all schools/teachers the benefit of the doubt. Even if a school has "low" ratings, due to state/standard test scores most likely, doesn't mean our children won't succeed. Usually it's a flag about the demographics that feed into that school. We have loved all our schools and all our teachers. I find that volunteering regularly in the classrooms only strengthens this love and appreciation. Those teachers have a LOT on their plate and get very little in return. It was tough when I was teaching and that was over 12 years ago. I think the schools are what we as individuals and families choose to make of them.

However, we MUST have good schools now. JJ will be needing special services for his significant speech delay or, most likely, speech disorder. We've learned that, while speech services here in Oregon are managed by the counties, they are managed by the actual school districts in Texas. We already decided we would be living in either Montgomery or College Station where, on a scale of 1-10, all the schools from top to bottom (elementary, intermediate, middle and high) are all 8, 9, or 10.

And despite the distance, Jared LOVED Montgomery and said that's where we would live. Montgomery is on the edge of the forest trail region and has lots of trees and more property in between homes. He was looking at new builds there as well. They were a bit pricier though in Montgomery.

Jared made it home and got his feedback two days later on Monday. Everyone Jared interviewed with was super impressed with him and they all felt he'd be a great fit in the St. Joseph health system. However, there was one problem. Like Jared had figured, the Navasota clinic was not ready. They could not offer him a job there.

What?? Why would they drop $1500 to bring him out and have him interview there if the site wasn't ready yet?

The decision came from the bean counters up top. Welcome to the world of corporate. Lauren, Kim and Kurt all felt really badly. They didn't think there'd be a problem, obviously. BUT...because they really liked Jared, and knew how important loan repayment was to him/us, they just wanted to bring him down and "get him in the system" so they presented the Madisonville clinic as an option. The occupational medicine clinic. The one that was 40 miles from College Station. Everything we didn't want. Wrong medicine, bad commute. Except that they were offering $30,000 (tax-free) to our student loans, instead of $20,000. *sigh*

This new job journey took an unexpected turn. It was almost as if Heavenly Father was asking us "So how badly do you want to get out of debt?" We'd be getting 3 years of loan repayment money for the price of 2. And it would definitely require sacrifices.

To add further complication, St. Joes couldn't offer Jared this position because it's not a St. Joe's facility, it's a community health clinic supported by St. Joes. Jared would be employed by St. Joes but before Jared could be offered the job, he would need to have the blessings of the providers and administrators in Madisonville in the form of three more separate phone/Skype interviews. Ugh....poor Jared. And of course, this was only after St. Joes made sure Jared would accept the salary they were offering. It was even lower than the lowest that we were expecting. Talk about discouraging. But...we had to remember to include the $30,000 as part of the total "package." Ironically enough, we are taking a $30,000 annual salary pay cut to get $30,000 in loan repayment.

Madisonville...that's north of College Station...with not much in between. That ruled out living in Montgomery. We'd have to live in College Station, especially since he doesn't expect to work in Madisonville much past 2 1/2 years.

I worried about Jared for a couple of reasons. I didn't want him to have to commute 80 (eighty!!) miles a day just to work. (Ironically, a week after the bombshell at Jared's office, Jared knew he would need a better commuter vehicle. He's only had his Honda Pilot for a year and we were about a year from paying it off. But we needed to start saving money on gas and car payment as soon as we could. I just want the record to show that Jared was the one who suggested getting rid of the Pilot and I was like, "wait a sec, let's not get hasty." Completely opposite responses to our normal states as CEO and CFO. It was a proud wifey moment for me when, Jared, of his own accord, manned up and traded his Pilot in for a Honda Civic. He just wanted a smaller car payment and something with good gas mileage. He was surprised when the dealer could put him in a brand new 2013 Civic with 60 miles on it. Later, we chuckled at the prospect of Madisonville. We were thinking it was neat to get a new car with no miles on it while all along Heavenly Father was thinking "You're gonna need this." 80 miles a day, 5 days a week=400 miles a week. 1600 miles a month. 19,200 a year...just driving to work....).

And I didn't want Jared to not only dread his drive to work but also the prospect of going to work. As we talked it over that night, we came to this conclusion. Bottom line...there are no other loan repayment jobs out there at this time. And we can't afford to stay in Oregon. Furthermore, it is really hard to say no to an infusion of 30,000 tax-free dollars to our student loans each year. Jared said that he's never done occupational medicine so it might actually be something he likes. His brother who is a cardiology PA says it's a super cushy job :) We'll see.

We decided to move forward with the Madisonville job. Hopefully they would like Jared just as much as the other team did. And as I took another self-assessment, I realized I still felt an undercurrent of peace. Somehow this would all work out.

Jared had an interview on Tuesday, March 25th, with the sports medicine team. Apparently there is a bit of sports med that comes through that clinic. They of course loved that Jared has a background in this area. Maybe a little too much. They were talking about Jared going to local sporting events and having him be "visible and accessible". Well, Jared grew up in a small town in central IL and knows exactly what being visible and accessible means. In Jared's mind, that meant being at every Friday night football game and all the tournaments and one thing after another. I was getting a little worried. There's a reason why Jared didn't go into athletic training---the crazy time commitment with the teams away from family and church was why. I told him that's what the trainers were for and he agreed. But didn't know how to delicately tell them that he's interested in the job but not at the expense of his family.

Wednesday he had another interview while he was on break at work. Their connection in Texas wasn't very good. They kept cutting out so they ditched Skype and just did the phone thing. This time it was the occupational administrators. They explained it was a newer program and they wanted him to go out and schmooze the oil companies and advertise to the community about their services and that he would do more occupational med than sports med. He caught the "visible and accessible" vibe again and asked as diplomatically as possible how much of a time commitment they were expecting him to give to these extra things because he has a wife and five children who also need him. The female administrator was really impressed with his priorities. Lauren, who had been at all these interviews, totally discerned Jared's concern about giving even more time, considering his commute just doubled each day, etc. She assured Jared that everything they were talking about him doing would be encompassed within his normal daily work hours. If anything they would ask if he could go to a football game every few months and maybe the Relay For Life event once a year, things like that. Phew. Okay...we can handle that. Jared was SUPER grateful that Lauren picked up on his tentativeness. He even called her later that day to thank her. She told him that after the interview with the sports med guys the day before, she went back to her office to talk with her colleague and said that they needed to make it very clear what Jared's expected duties were so that Madisonville didn't burn him out. Thank you...Lauren! She also said that if, after the two year loan repayment commitment is up, Jared could certainly get a job closer to home. That's the beauty of being "in the system". Additionally, Kurt had told Jared that if Navasota came available, Jared could transfer from Madisonville to Navasota, it would just be a $10,000 decrease in loan repayment. So...you never know. But...we're expecting and planning on 2+ years in Madisonville. But we can do anything for 2 years. :)

And finally on Thursday, March 27th, Jared interviewed with the hospital administrator in Madisonville. On Friday Jared heard from Lauren that everyone loved him and felt he'd be just what they need to build the Madisonville occ/sports med clinic. Of course they couldn't offer him an official job because the vice president who does that was out of town. Naturally. So we waited a little more. And Jared baptized Karcyn that weekend.

The official job offer came on Monday, March 31st--a month after we found out we'd have to leave. He certainly would have had a job offer sooner if it weren't for the clinic glitch. But even still...that's pretty darn fast. We were very blessed through this job search process (and most grateful to Kurt and Lauren) and are excited to be a part of the St. Joseph Health System. Jared's official start date is JJ's 3rd birthday....August 11, 2014.

http://www.st-joseph.org/

We are all SO excited to move to Texas. We will certainly miss our friends and activities and associations from these past 10 years. But we just can't stop smiling and talking about all the fun, new things we'll get to do and see and experience. There is a little trepidation of course with the unknown, but Jared and I believe in our social, adaptable kids. And we know that it won't be all cupcakes and rainbows. There will be sacrifices. There are trials even with or especially with making and following the right choices. But that's okay. Because we feel like we're being called to Texas.

February snippets

Here's a little bit of this 'n that from the family in February.

*I texted Jared after being at the office all day on a Friday before getting in the car to go home: "On my way"
Jared texted me back: "That is always my favorite message"
I texted Jared: "amen" (I love it when Jared is on his way home from work...I love it more when he's actually in the house :)

*Karcyn reported one morning that she had a dream that she was eaten by our cat Madi when Karcyn and Madi were the same sizes they are now. Karcyn said she went down Madi's esophagus and through her stomach and traveled through the small intestine and then into the large intestine. (Maybe Karycn's seen one too many espisodes of the Magic School Bus :)

*On the 4th of February, Calvin went out to wait for the bus...with no coat. Of all things, it was snowing flurries that morning! The next day, 2/5, "No Coat Calvin" went out to wait for the bus. It was 26 degrees, but felt like 22. I shivered and shook in my boots and watching him seemingly not bothered one bit by the freezing air was seriously painful to watch. I'm just waiting for the Department of Human Services to come and take him away from me for child neglect. I can only IMAGINE what Calvin's bus driver must think of me. It took me weeks to convince Calvin to let me put his sweater (not even a coat, mind you) in his back pack, just in case, he needed it at school.

*Having a book for free reading is a requirement and part of a daily grade in Jake's language arts class. When Jake isn't reading a book from the library or one that he's borrowed, he takes his Book of Mormon to school to read. He said, "Now I can actually EAT in class" because, as he explained, he is "feasting on the words of Christ."

*Pointing to me at dinner one night, Calvin said, "So your FIRST name is Mom, your middle name is Jenn and your last name is Hough. Right?" Sure feels like it!

*Calvin is a great reader, but he refuses constantly to read at home on his own. Talk about super underachiever. I've tried several ways to persuade him to read out loud. One way that worked was if we read in his bed and we take turns. He reads a page, I read a page, etc. Usually the page he starts with has the least amount of text compared to the other page but it doesn't always work out that neatly, so it's not always a true every-other-page deal and I often end up reading more. But I go with it if it'll get him to read. We started his library book one night. The first page of text started on the right. It had two sentences--a perfect place for him to begin. I pointed to it and encouraging him to start said, "Okay, go ahead." He corrected me and said, "No--you read this page. And I read this page," moving his hand over the blank white page on the left.

*Karcyn came home from the school's Daddy-Daughter dance and was so proud to announce that SHE had won the 1st/2nd grade dance contest. Jared said there were about seven other kids dancing. He's convinced that her run-and-slide-on-her-knees-while-in-her-long-dress helped her clinch the title. It's nice to know her dance lessons are paying off :)

*On February 23rd, JJ showed up in the kitchen when I know I put him in his crib myself and no other sibling was around to get him out. He had attempted AND succeeded in climbing out of his crib. With all the things he's scaled and climbed (counters and tables without the the assistance of chairs, dressers, etc) I'm actually surprised it took him 2 1/2 years to finally escape. We put him back in so we could witness this for ourselves and see how he pulled it off. It was actually a highly technical process. The edge of the crib on one of the short ends is about chest high on him. He would pull himself up and lean his stomach on that edge, his body teetering like a balanced see-saw. He'd reach out and put both hands on top of the dresser which was the same height as the crib edge and about 1 foot away from the crib. He pulled himself farther out of the crib, balanced one foot on the crib edge and stretched his other foot onto the dresser. Then he pushed off the crib with the foot that was resting there and knelt on top of the dresser. Then he turned, so he was facing the wall, and scaled down the dresser and voila! He was free and very proud of himself. And we took the crib apart a few days later. And put a door knob cover on the inside of the bedroom door :)

Texas!

The first day the kids went back to school in September, I got a text from Jared. He said, "Doc wants to know if you want to go to TX for the eClinical Works users conference." Say wha?? I sent him a text back that asked what the doc was smoking.

Apparently the doctor was very lucid. He wanted to know if I would like to go to San Antonio, TX for a national conference to find out more about the medical EMR that we use, especially as it relates to the upcoming ICD-10 change scheduled for October 2014 and for the next system upgrade we'd soon be receiving. One thing was for sure. I wasn't going alone. Fortunately, our office IT expert would also be coming. I think she felt the same...she'd go too, but not alone. Jared was all for it, but even with a companion, I reluctantly agreed. I was worried about the prospect of spending 4 days on the doctor's dime. I work part-part-part time and I wasn't convinced my going would be a good return on his investment. He said I was not obligated to go in any way and that he wasn't worried about his money. He even graciously suggested this trip could be a nice little getaway for me. What could I say except, "Alrighty then."

We started planning. I would have to fly out early Thursday morning to be ready for the first day early Friday morning. Jared took Thursday and Friday off from work. Not what we were hoping for, but Jake had band obligations that kept him from babysitting. I was gone Thursday, Oct. 10th through Sunday, Oct. 13th.

Jody and I were up mega early to catch a 6am flight to Denver. It happened to be our friend Kim's birthday. She's a medical assistant at the office. We sent her this picture...

and said, "Happy Birthday, Kim! From Sleepless in Denver"

We arrived in Texas around 1:30 in the afternoon. It was perfect. The weather was soooo warm and the sun was energizing! We found a cab and got to our hotel without any trouble. It was on the farther outskirts of downtown, but it was really nice.

We unpacked and stretched out a bit. I changed out of my jeans into capris and ditched my jacket. We decided if we were going to see the sights, this was the time to do it. We also needed lunch! As Jody got ready to go, she realized in dismay that she forgot to pack pants! So we added that to our agenda as well.

We got our map from the hotel front desk and started to walk back toward downtown. We found a shopping plaza and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I had some cheese and chicken enchiladas that were swimming in brown gravy. I wasn't so sure about them, but they were actually tasty. And we left just in time before we were serenaded by these gentleman :)

Five minutes later, we all but ran into a Goodwill store. Bingo!! It couldn't have been planned any better than that. Jody looked for her much needed bottoms and I took advantage of not having kids in tow and spent time looking for some jeans too. We both scored.

Okay, confession time. Maybe it's just me, but when I think of the Alamo, I think barren wasteland. A wide, open, dusty area with nothing around except the remnants of worn and broken fortresses.

Not this.

Hellooooo??? The Alamo is right smack-dab downtown! Surrounded by other buildings and shops and restaurants. It took me a few minutes to wrap my brain around that one.

 

 

By the time we found the Alamo, there were 10 minutes until it closed. Figures. But we dashed inside the gates and took some pictures so we could say that we were actually there. We also got to go into the building itself and skim past some very old artifacts, but photography was not allowed.

This was the building next to the Alamo. I don't know what it is, but I like it.

We headed toward the historic San Antonio River Walk. Before we left for Texas, Jared and some others were asking me if I'd planned to do the River Walk. I was surprised that so many people knew what the River Walk was because I'd never even heard of it. Jared said he remembers it being advertised for a past Physician's Assistant conference that was held in San Antonio.

The River Walk was sooo lovely. We didn't have time to get on a gondola tour, but it was certainly fun to watch others float by and to experience another little "city" and perspective below the street.

 

 

 

(The rest of the pictures, especially the nice, crisp, bright ones were taken by Jody on her phone camera. I couldn't believe the quality of pictures she was getting out of a light-weight and what looked like a rinky-dink Samsung phone--no offense, Jody--so I nominated her to be the trip historian :). I love this picture of the River Walk with all the vibrant colors.

 

 

We actually got a little turned around down there by the river. Thank goodness for the map, but our sight seeing took a little longer than we had planned to get back to the hotel. We estimated we walked a good 5 miles or more when it was all said and done.

Considering the early start we had and all our traveling that day, it wasn't surprising that Jody crashed upon our return to the hotel. I soaked in the hot tub and then grabbed a snack out in the lobby and texted my sister Kelly in Georgia who was only one time zone ahead of me instead of three, before turning in myself around 9pm. We had a big first day ahead of us and the conference shuttle would be picking us up around 7am.

There was actually a decent group of us at the hotel who were attending the conference, which was a nice surprise since we secured accommodations later than most. Friday morning, we grabbed a small nibble of food before going outside to catch the shuttle. At 6:50am we wandered outside the front lobby and congregated with the others. We waited for quite some time. Finally, around 7:15, someone went back inside to talk to the front desk attendant, inquiring about the shuttle. The hotel was tucked back quite a bit from the main road. We had been told the shuttle would be right out front, so we all planned for it to come up to the hotel lobby door. Apparently, the shuttle would be waiting on the street yonder. So we all hoofed it over in that direction, hoping to catch the last shuttle. As we headed toward the street, we did see a chartered bus. It was sitting between our hotel and the one next door, but we couldn't see it until we started walking closer to it. Argh!! We had missed the first bus and while we were grateful we caught the second one, we did make them aware that they were not visible from our hotel nor were the pick up instructions clear.

I thought the big charter bus was slightly overkill to drive us a mile or so up the road to the Convention Center, but hey, the seats were super cushy and there was a foot rest in front of me to take some pressure off my back.

Jody and I talked with the two gals behind us...asking where they were from and what they did. One of them was named Kathy. She's an office manager like me from Louisiana. LOVED her accent. Could have listened to her talk allllll daaaaay long.

I looked out the window and noticed we passed the Convention Center. I figured we were going around the block or something. There was a little bit of construction going on. Nope. We were getting onto the freeway. I was a little confused. Maybe you had to get on the freeway and had to access the Convention Center from a different way. But no. We just kept going. And going. We were clearly far from downtown San Antonio.

I am not ashamed to admit that I was a little concerned. And yes, the thought did cross my mind "Has this driver lost his marbles? Are we being taken somewhere against our will?" I wasn't panicking but was very aware that we were far away from where we started, especially when we passed the airport and kept going. I even texted Jared to tell him we were being driven away from San Antonio, including the airport...you know...just to let him know where I was and...just in case he needed to...I don't know, contact the authorities for us...or something...

Finally, after 30-40 minutes of driving, we arrived, out in almost the middle of nowhere, at a resort called the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Club Resort and Spa. Ohhhhh.

Yeah, I never did google the location of the conference. That's what happens when you make assumptions.






So I had it all backwards. Instead of the conference being downtown at the Convention Center (which might have been too small a venue...as we were sprawled out EV.ER.Y.WHERE at this resort) it was out in the middle of nowhere. And the Alamo, which I just figured had to be located in some wide open space, was, in fact, downtown. Who knew?

As we exited the bus we were greeted with 20+ eClinicalWorks staff smiling and cheering and clapping, saying how excited they were that we were there and welcome! It was only slightly awkward. When we arrived inside the doors, we were met with another 15+ eCW staff, smiling and welcoming us and directing us to the, I kid you not... quarter of a mile long hallway that was filled with banquet upon banquet upon banquet of breakfast foods. Wow. It was impressive to say the least and it was delicious. Pancakes, waffles, eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, oatmeal with every topping you could imagine, cereal, juices, milk, coffee, tea, breads for toast, butters, sweet breads, fruits. More food than you could eat. And soooo yummy. I was actually surprised that we were provided with breakfast and lunch each day. At Jared's conferences all of his meals are what our family fondly calls YOYO: You're On Your Own.

As we ate in another hall with approximately 45 round tables that seated 10 people with just as many tables outside under tents, we made sure we had our schedules planned out and checked for any last minute changes. Our mission: to divide and conquer. Jody and I already selected our classes before coming and I'm glad we did. There were others sitting around us who were still figuring those things out. I was there to learn about things as they applied to billing and the front desk/check-in process and Jody was learning about the future tech opportunities and how to integrate more devices in order to automate more as it relates to communicating with patients. After feeding our faces, we went up a massive 3 flights of stairs...straight up. With all that food we were getting, I took my "cruise approach". I would need to take the stairs exclusively. This was just the first set. There were a few of these.

We stood in our respective "first letter of your last name" lines to check in. We got some handy dandy notebooks and a conference bag. Then it was off to the grand ballroom for our orientation and words from the sponsors and big wigs. We sat right up on the front row.

We learned there are 500 new features to the new system upgrade that's coming. They spent an hour and a half and showed us 15. Crazy! But really cool.

And then we were off! Jody went one way, I went another. I filled a notebook up taking all sorts of notes. The second class I was in seriously sounded like they were speaking another language, so I slipped out and went upstairs to take advantage of their one-on-one time with billing experts. That was the hands-down best part of the whole conference, really. I would learn something in a class, and then go up and get in line for my "tutoring" and so they could show me specifics of how to implement things and what they would look like on the system. I am also not ashamed to say that they knew me on a first-name basis up there! My two go-to gals were Sharon and Cindy. I was fortunate enough to find this incredible resource early in the first day of the conference because as the hours went on, the word got out and I had to wait in line a couple of times to get into a session. They really became my besties when they found out I had 5 kids. The naughty Jenn actually loves the shock effect on people when they make this discovery. I was surprised and loved them even more when they insisted I couldn't be older than 25. I'll take it!

Funny how the food really left an impression on me :) It didn't take long to catch on to the pattern. In between breakfast and lunch and between lunch and dinner (while you were still ridiculously full), the staff would bring out tables in the large hallways off the grand rooms where the classes were held. There were rows and rows of tables and banquets filled with nuts and fruits, drinks, candies, granola bars, smoothies and sweet breads (and of course all the Starbucks coffee and tea one could ever want). One afternoon there were candied apples with all sorts of different candy or nut toppings or you could have sliced apples and dip them in caramel. They brought out warm apple fritters and tarts. Another afternoon was a huge display of different flavored popcorn...cheese, spicy, caramel, chocolate all wrapped in cute, little bags. I told Jody and Kathy, "You can't look at these mid-morning snacks and afternoon treats and not know that it was a woman who organized all of this." Seriously, impressive. On Friday we were wowed with lunch...grilled salmon, chicken, Italian pasta dishes, a variety of salads, breads, beef medallions and desserts--it made me feel like royalty. I couldn't imagine the planning that went on to host an event this size. Makes my head spin. I'm still figuring out how to make enough food for my family of 7. They really outdid themselves. Breakfast on Saturday and Sunday was deliciously more or less the same with a little bit of variation. It was actually cooler and raining on Sunday. Storms had moved in (I even got a big rumble of thunder!) I was hoping for some oatmeal to warm me up, but all they had were grits. Bummer. But then I thought about it for 2.2 seconds and said to myself, "When in Rome!" and got me a bowl of grits. I put a tiny bit of butter on them and some brown sugar and I swear, I died and went to heaven. I could not believe how much I loved those grits. I ate two big bowls and they were at the top of my shopping list when I got home. Admittedly, I can't make them taste as great as they were at the resort, but I still eat them here in the northwest. I was actually a little relieved when our lunches on Saturday and Sunday were boxed (in a carrying case for us to keep) with sandwiches, chips, fruit, pasta salad and huge cookies or brownies. Even the food planners think it's okay to take meals down a notch or two due to budget and/or time constraints.

Something else I appreciated....nice, fancy and clean bathrooms :)

Friday night was the big, conference gathering at the River Walk. Since we already did that, we bowed out and went to have some more Mexican food near the hotel. During one of my many sessions with Sharon and Cindy, Cindy highly recommended eating at Mi Tierra Café and Bakery. Said they had amazing candy too.

We walked to dinner and were pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't too far, which was nice after a long day of filling your brain to the point of overload. Mi Tierra was a fun place to be. It was like Rainbow Brite exploded all over the place! I guess we kind of stuck out because we had lots of people ask us where we were from. I suppose taking pictures of the inside of the restaurant probably gave us away too.

This dinner was seriously, the epitome of Mexican food in my book. Check out my super colorful meal. I cleaned my plate--all but licked it, in fact. Didn't want to shame my family. The tortillas were incredible.

And this was our waiter. Alejandro. He was such a doll--doted on us and was very attentive. I could have just squeezed those cheeks. Jody took a picture to make Jared jealous. Whatever. I was just playing tourist!

 

Saturday was more of the same conference-wise. Great food & brain overload. We got a lot of good information and we enjoyed being with Kathy. We commiserated with her in between classes about what we were learning and she and I even took some classes together. We loved her so much we wished we could pack her up and take her back home with us.

At the end of the last session on Saturday, we were met by the eCW staff handing out cowboy hats to all the attendees. There was a big dinner and shin-dig of sorts happening that evening at the resort. Even though they would provide a shuttle back to our hotel that night, we had no interest in staying, especially with as far as it was to get back to the hotel. Kathy had plans with her sisters who traveled with her and Jody and I were going to do some souvenir shopping and get us some serious beef at a steakhouse we had seen on our own little river walk on Thursday. But we made sure we got this picture first. Yee-haw!

Hating all things cowboy or country, I was really surprised how much I enjoyed it all when I was in San Antonio! Jody ditched hers, but I kept my cowgirl hat and proudly wore it all the way home...on the taxi ride, through airport security and on two flights :)

Some cool pictures of buildings Jody took on our way home from our steak dinner Saturday night.

 

 

And some she took the day before.

 

 

I had noticed this sign on the freeway on our way back to the hotel on Friday. I watched for it again on Saturday and Jody was kind enough to take a picture of it for me so I could send it to our McCullough friends.



Because our flight was leaving late afternoon on Sunday, we had to check-out of the hotel that morning before getting on the bus to the resort, lugging our bags with us. The conference officially ended on Monday afternoon, but I wanted to be home Sunday night (which ended up being 1am Monday morning with delays!) Fortunately, we were not the only ones leaving on Sunday and there was a system in place for us to leave our luggage in a secure spot while we went to as many classes as we could before having to call a taxi. Jody even admitted that we could have left earlier on Sunday than we did. Our brains hurt.

Jody, Kathy and I were in the last class together before we had to leave. We said good-bye and got one last picture. Funny how we only talked with Kathy for a little bit over the course of 3 days but we parted ways having made a new friend. We wish Kathy the best of luck in all that her future holds, especially as she navigates through the new software upgrade and ICD-10 changes coming soon to the medical world.

 

Thank you, Dr. Hicken, for allowing this mom of five a very unique opportunity of visiting a new (warm!) city and attending this conference. It was reassuring to know that my brain still works after being out of college for so many years. However, as for getting a return on your investment, I'm glad you didn't care, because I'm still not sure about that :)

Though it was dark, when I arrived home, these five little "kiddos" were lit up and waiting for me in front of the house when I got back. Super cute!! I missed my munchkins!

A behind-the-scenes look at Family Home Evening "Hough-style"

So we gathered our kids for family home evening tonight like we always do on Mondays. I think it took about fifteen minutes just to get everyone in the same room. Another five minutes for everyone to be quiet enough for Jared to welcome us. And yet another five minutes for everyone to stop talking or fighting over who is going to pray and finally another three minutes for everyone to get ready for the prayer.

In the Hough household, the family home evening treat is not tied to cleaning your plate at dinner time. It is tied to one's behavior during our family night. If a family member is respectful and sits quietly in their seat during the course of family home evening (bonus for us if they actually participate appropriately), they will earn a treat. We also count to three to give warnings. Once you're at "three" you've lost your treat and have to start earning it back. And for good measure, Calvin's assigned seat is the rocking chair. He has to be in it at all times. Every time he gets down, we count.

Since we are trying to make our home a missionary training center, we have selected monthly themes for the nine months of the school year to help focus our time together in preparing our children to be missionaries. January was "work." February is "financial preparedness."
We had a really great forty minute discussion with the kids about the importance of managing your money and distinguishing between a NEED vs. a WANT. Even Karcyn and Calvin were offering great insights.

However, JJ was pretty ornery tonight. In fact, he was in time out twice. Near the end of the lesson, he climbed up on the curved arm of the chaise couch and was balancing on it...then jumping onto the couch just barely missing Karcyn who was sitting there.

I kept an eye on JJ as he balanced. I wasn't too worried about him. He was doing pretty good, not that I could do anything if he fell from where I was sitting. (At least the floor is carpeted). He got up on the arm a third or fourth time and I saw him start to lean backwards ever so slightly. Jake and Cooper were laughing about something then Jake darted to the couch at lightning speed and planted himself behind JJ. He was still laughing and being goofy. I knew exactly what he was doing. He was spotting JJ in case he fell because it looked like he was going to, but JJ corrected it on his own. Jared didn't get that impression. He stopped the discussion and said for the first time during this family night, pointing at his oldest, with half-joking exasperation, "Jake! You're on 1!"

Jake's jaw dropped with a "what did I do?" look and Jared gave him the "Yeah, I'm the parent" look. I leaned over and said, "He was running to spot JJ. It looked like he was going to fall." Jared peered at me and then Jake. "Really, he wasn't playing around," I added.

Jared weighed my words carefully. "Hmmm, it looked like he was trying to knock him over." (Jake had thrown a pillow at the couch by Karcyn the very first time JJ balanced on the arm with the intent to just put the pillow back, but his aim was a smidge off and the pillow almost knocked JJ over. Jared and I both shot our heads at Jake simultaneously and said he was really lucky he "missed" his brother.)

Jared conceded and said Jake was no longer on "one." I smiled and assured Jared of Jake's intentions--who wasn't really concerned about it. Then Jake said, "Yeah, Dad, sheesh" and pointing his finger accusingly, he declared, "You're on one!" We all busted up at the timing of his comment--even Jared laughed and he took it in stride while we all continued to laugh some more. Then Jared put the palm of his hands together, tucking them between his shoulder and tilted head indicating the sign for "sleep." Once Jake was paying attention Jared quietly told his oldest to "sleep well tonight, Son" as they continued the banter.

Jake and Cooper laughed more at the ominous fatherly threat. Cooper told Jake, "Dude, you can sleep on the top bunk tonight."

Jake wisely responded with, "Thanks, but that won't save me." Jared smiled and raised his eyebrows in agreement.

When I gave the closing prayer, I may or may not have prayed that we all have a safe night....
especially Jake...

Before our treat, Jake did offer Jared a hug for a truce. Jared smiled a big, impish grin and held out his arms wide and said, "Ohh-kaaay, Son. Come hither." When Jake got the courage to finally do it, trying not to laugh his silly head off, Jared squeezed him super tight and picked Jake up off the floor a few times telling him how great a son Jake is and how much Jared loves him. Jake said, "That's nice, Dad. I just wanted to sleep undisturbed tonight."

Tebowing

We teach our children that you can pray to Heavenly Father anytime and anywhere. Calvin and Karcyn did exactly that on Sunday.

Calvin had a talk to give in Primary and in the 60 second ride to church, he flat out refused to give his talk that day. I told him that was his choice and he would need to inform Sister Nielsen, the primary president, about his decision so she could make another plan. I didn't mention anything more about his talk to Calvin after that. He did say he wanted me to help him. I teach my youth Sunday school class right when he would be giving the talk and with Wes now in nursery (Calvin's usual talk helper) and Jared in the Bishopric with important Bishopric things to do second hour we usually just have someone from Primary help the kids with their talks. I was afraid if I didn't at least plan on helping Calvin, things might go south pretty quickly. So before church started, I wrote a note to my class on the chalkboard giving them a task to do while I was helping Calvin and that I would be back shortly.

At the end of Sacrament meeting, Calvin went to Primary without me. I hung around to say hi and get quick hugs from our friends, Kevin and Kelly Jones, who were visiting from out of town and came to surprise the ward.

I hustled to the Primary room and saw Calvin sitting in his "talk" chair up front. His teacher was bent over, quietly talking to him while the other kids continued to enter the room. They didn't see me as I approached with Calvin's talk. I took a chance and said, "Here you go, Calvin. Can Brother Ryles help you with your talk today?" "Sure!" was his reply.

The rest of our Sunday meetings went without a hitch. After our last class, I had recognized the name of a visitor and was needing to talk to her in the near future so I took the opportunity right then to do it. I caught her as she was heading out one of the back doors. I introduced myself and we chit chatted briefly, exchanging information.

I walked the path I normally take to pick up my kids after church. I got JJ, who was in a new classroom and then headed to the main foyer where we enter when we come in to the chapel. Jared was out of town, so he wasn't there to make eye contact with me or to herd the cats or let me know where the kiddos were because he often sees them before I do with the Bishopric offices located right there.

I found Jake and Cooper but skimming the crowd, I couldn't see Karcyn or Calvin. I handed JJ to Jake with the keys and told them to get in the car while I looked for the "non twins." I saw one of the gals in the Primary presidency and asked her if she had seen them. She told me Calvin's classroom was right behind us (we switch classrooms and teachers for the children and youth at the beginning of the year, so families are still figuring out where everyone is). I popped my head in there, but it was filled with 12 year old boys from another ward. Whoops. Wow, I didn't think it was that much past the noon hour, but it was enough that there were no remnants of Calvin or his teachers in there. As I turned around and headed back down the hall toward the Primary room and where the other classrooms were located, Karcyn and Calvin were right there and yelled, "Mom! We found you!"

Yes, you found me. I explained that we always meet in the large foyer after church because the car is parked right outside and for them to come and sit quietly while they wait for me.

As I was opening the door to the suburban, Calvin started to climb in and he very casually said, "My prayer worked."

Thinking about his talk that he didn't want to give, I asked, "Oh? What prayer?"

"The prayer I said when you were lost. It worked."

My heart melted. "Really?? I can't wait to hear all about it."

We all piled in and got ready for me to leave the parking lot. I was in reverse when I realized Calvin was standing up in the back, leaning on the seat in front of him. "I'm not going to buckle."

"Oh yes you are. I'm not leaving this spot until you get buckled up. It's not safe."

"Nope."

I put the car in park and sat there, waiting. "Calvin, it's lunch time, we're all hungry. I know you are too. But I can't go anywhere until you get your seat belt on."

I looked in the rear view mirror to make parental eye contact and he was grinning.

That made me softly beat my head up against the steering column in mock exasperation. When I looked up, our friend Brad McNeil caught my eye. He and his wife were parked next to us and had just finished loading up their kiddos. He mouthed through the front windshield, "You okay?"

I smiled and nodded, then he walked around to the driver's side window, which I rolled down.

He said, "Hey, I saw two of your kids praying in the hallway after church."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah." He mimicked them by clasping his hands together and bringing his arms to a 90 degree angle in front of him. "They had it going on....total Tim Tebow-style." Brad is a huge jokester and can make anything funny. He teaches seminary so it's a well-used and much needed gift.

Jake and I busted up. Just the way he says things is hysterical. Brad said, "Seriously, I don't mean to make fun but they were down on one knee, praying like no one else was there just like Tim Tebow." And then he kissed two fingers and pointed them to heaven.






We had a good chuckle at Brad's description and then miraculously Calvin decided to buckle his seat belt and we drove home.

Once we were settled and getting ready for lunch, I had Karcyn and Calvin explain to me what happened after church and why they chose to pray.

In their words:
Karcyn found Calvin in class and they started looking for me.
They walked half-way around the church to the Relief Society room trying to find me, but I wasn't there.
Then they backtracked and walked outside thinking I might be at the suburban. They were only there for a few seconds though because it was so cold.
They couldn't understand why they couldn't find me, so it was Calvin who suggested to Karcyn that they should pray. (They were obviously in the hall, thanks to Brad's observation).
They knelt down on one knee, closed their eyes and prayed silently to themselves. Calvin said he prayed to know which way to go. Karcyn said she prayed to know how to find me.
Calvin explained, "I opened my eyes and told Karcyn we should start walking and look for mom. We went walked straight to look for you and then we saw you!"
Calvin wrapped it up by saying, "My prayer was very good."

I LOVED and am so grateful for this whole experience, even the fact that Calvin refused to buckle up because had we not sat there a little bit longer in the parking lot, I might not have ever found out from Brad what he witnessed the kids doing. Additionally, we had just had a lesson in Relief Society about recognizing the influence of the Holy Ghost. The timing was so perfect.

I told Karcyn and Calvin that it made Heavenly Father so happy (and Mommy, too) that they would pray to Him about anything and anywhere. Their decision pray, showed they had faith and they were exercising that faith by praying for help. When they do those things, their faith will grow and grow.

They were surely surrounded by friends, parents of friends, neighbors and good people of our ward who love them in the hall and foyer area--we all look out for each other. But it wasn't any of them they turned to for help. It was Heavenly Father.

The best part was talking to Calvin about what he thought after he prayed. I explained to him that the idea to start walking was from the Spirit to help them.

In Relief Society we learned that in order to receive the spirit, you need to do three things (from a talk given by Elder Merrill in October 2006). First, you need to seek the Spirit. You have to desire to have it. You can't just say, "Okay, I'm here. Enlighten me." It takes action and work. Second, you need to learn to feel the Spirit. Sometimes we get thoughts in our minds, but most times, the Spirit directs us by our feelings. And third, you need to intend to act. We're not going to be able to receive the influence of the Spirit if we don't intend to do something about the revelation we receive.

My kids weren't in any danger. This wasn't a life and death situation for them physically. They didn't say they were scared, but their mom was lost. It was important to them (which made it important to Heavenly Father because we are His children and He is interested in the big and little things of our lives) and they recognized, after doing everything they could first, that they needed help. They sought the Spirit through their prayer and after praying, Calvin took the thought or feeling he had and did something about it. He felt he should keep walking and that's what they did. What a sweet and powerful witness of God's love for His little children and helping them (and their mom) strengthen their testimonies of true gospel principles.

Savers!

Today was dance day for Karcyn--held at her teacher's house.

The drop off routine for us parents is to follow the curve of the cul-de-sac and when we pull up in front of the house, wait until another teacher can personally unload each dancer.

We arrived a couple minutes early this afternoon so we were the second car sitting in front of Ms. Heidi's house. It has been cold and windy with icky misty rain whipping all around. As we sat there talking, I happened to look over and saw Heidi's little dog on the front porch. The dog, raring to go, was on a leash that was stretched taut, and the person holding the leash was still inside the house, with the front door slightly cracked.

I looked away for a second and some movement out of the corner of my eye made me look back again. There was Heidi's cute little blonde-haired boy standing on the wet front step, in his socks, holding the end of the dog leash in his hand--with no leash or dog attached to the other end and a very distraught look on his face. He looked close to tears. I could tell he was torn, too, like he didn't know what to do or where to go first as if he were thinking: Get the dog or get my shoes? My heart went out to him and I jumped out of the burb. By the time I got around to the sidewalk, the little boy was gone. But it was okay, I didn't need him for what I was doing. I spotted the little terrier in the neighbor's yard and took slow, calculated steps as I approached the canine with a smile and tried to entice her to come to me without a game of chase first.

She fell for it.

I scooped her up and met the little boy back on the porch, this time with his shoes on. :)

Once he had her, I jogged back to the warmth and dryness of the car.

Before I had even shut the door behind me, Karcyn, who had been watching the quick exchange from her car seat in the back, gushed, "Mom!! You're a dog saver!"

I laughed at her description. "I am?"

"Yes! You saved that little boy's dog."

"I just wanted to help him get her back quickly. That's what we call service."

"Mom--you're JUST like Thomas S. Monson. When he was a teenager, he saved a young girl from drowning in the Provo River."

She is apparently listening to her teachers and leaders in church, which is good to know. I was both touched and amused at her comparison between me and the prophet of God.

"It's so sweet of you to think I'm anything close to the prophet, Karcyn. Thank you."

"That's because you're BOTH savers!"

Just further proof of Karcyn's thoughtful and altruistic nature.