Montana

 After dropping Delanie off at the airport we headed straight to Montana to see Katie, Jeremy and of course Persy. A couple of days before leaving I was at McKenzie's house and I was talking about the trip and Molly said she wanted to go, In fact she went to her room and got her suitcase and insisted that she go. We explained that I had to go home and pack and that if she really wanted to go she had to pack and I would pick her up on my way. She woke up the next day asking her mom over and over if it was time to go, the next morning she woke up an hour early to make sure she didn't miss going. She was so good in the car on the way there, we stopped at rest stops along the way, and she was really good. When we got to Montana it was so sweet watching Molly and Persy meet each other they were excited but shy, it took a few minutes for them to hug and then they were instant friends. 

We spent time at Katie's house letting the kids play with the chickens and in the little kiddie pool and the girls riding the horses. We walked to the nearby park and went on a few hikes. It was on one of those hikes that I dropped my phone in the river, and lost all my pictures from last November to that day. 

Persy is getting so big and she is so sweet. One night while giving both the girls a bath I had a flashback to when McKenzie and Katie were the exact same ages and both Molly and Persy are just like their mom's it was so weird. Molly was in the tub bossing Persy and Persy was trying to play and offering her tub toys to Molly. I loved spending the week with both girls and then Kelsie drove up from Utah for a couple of days so that made it that much better. Katie sent me some of her pictures from the trip so I am glad I have a few.

Cousin Time

 

This past summer we were lucky enough to have two cousins come and visit. BreeAnn came for 10 days at the end of July. It was great to have them and Tia was so excited to have a friend here over the summer. We went hiking at Mt. Baker, picked blueberries and raspberries, they went to the bay, miniature golfing and babysat Molly and Mason. 

 

We dropped BreeAnn off at the airport and picked up Delanie on the same day. Delanie spent a week with us and we had fun with her as well. We went to the sunflower festival and took some fun pictures. The girls spent a lot of time hanging out, and Delanie thought it would be fun to see Canada but since the border is closed we drive to the Peace Arch Park and she walked across the lawn and took a picture of herself in Canada. Delanie kept us laughing most of the time and we were happy to have her come for a visit it has been a long time.

Road Trip

 With my new car I was ready to test it out. My friend and I took a long weekend at the end of June to drive to one of my favorite places, Monterey California. We took the scenic route down the coast, we talked non-stop the whole way, we usually would chat each day in the office and we were missing out on our daily chats for three months.  

We stayed at the cutest motel in Pacific Grove, I was able to drive past the building that I used to work in, 29 years ago, and drive past our apartment in Monterey. We loved walking the shops on Cannery Row and in Carmel, spending time on the beach in Monterey. Driving down the coast to Big Sir and walking around Big Sir National Park.  

 

 

Playing Catch Up

 It has been a busy summer and also a very different summer with Covid impacting all of us I feel really lucky to be able to work from home. I have been able to take a few short trips and be home for the girls. Towards the end of June I bought a car, this was huge for me. I came out of my marriage with absolutely no credit. The house we lost was in my name and I didn't have any other credit in my name so I started out with a very low credit score. One of the first thigs I did, after filing for divorce, was to start building my credit. I had to get a secured Visa, that means I gave my bank $500.00 and they held it in an account and then gave me a Visa with a $500.00 limit, and charged interest, on my money. I  used it every month and paid it off every month. The next year I applied for another Visa and got approved for $500.00. Again, I used each card every month and paid it off every month, after another year I asked for a increase on my credit line, not because I wanted to charge more but because I wanted to have more credit available that I was not using to increase my score. I checked my credit score regularly and was so excited each time I saw the number go up. It took almost three years to build my credit high enough to get a good interest rate on a car loan. I bought my very first car all by myself. It is little things like this that have given me the confidence to move forward and take action each and everyday, to live my life to the fullest. I felt I conquered a major demon that has been haunting me for years.