Sometimes, Life can Seem Hard

And, ironically, it's when it technically, should be easiest.

Schedule-wise right now, my life is easy. I wake up in the morning, whenever the dog does, which is usually before 5:00 am, although lately, he's been doing a lot better. Then, after taking him to the bathroom and playing with him for a little while, he goes back to sleep and so do I. This is usually around 6:00 ish. Nate gets up then, and gets ready to go to work. He heads out by 6:30 am, and that's usually when I go back to sleep. I wake up around 8:00...8:30, and do a little exercising, showering, etc.

The rest of the day is open. I clean up the apartment some, I run a few errands, I play with the dog some more...

Nate comes home around 4:15 or so, and then we play with the dog some more, have dinner, hang out, etc.

This should be the life. During my public school days, I eagerly awaited summer vacation. Once I was old enough to work, I looked forward to getting off of work so I could go home and relax. Right now though, I don't feel relaxed...I feel kind of useless. I've tried to get a job out here, but there aren't any jobs to be found. I had a couple of interviews, but all of them came down to the same thing: "We're sorry, we need someone who can be here for more time." It definitely doesn't help that a local factory just shut down, and so a bunch of people in the town are looking for jobs. I don't even think it would be that bad at all...it's just a little lonely. I'm sure that many of you moms out there have had very similar days, but I like to believe that being a stay-at-home mom is just a little more rewarding than being a stay-at-home puppy caregiver. :)

So today I'm making a list of things I can do this summer before I start working in the Fall. I've been in a bit of a funk for too long, and it's time to start doing things to make myself feel productive and worthwhile. Please feel free to add to my list. I would love any and all suggestions.


1. Start and Finish the Book of Mormon. Seriously, why not? If time is usually my excuse, I definitely don't have that right now.

2. Organize all the memorabilia stuff that Nate and I have from our correspondence during his mission. Honestly, this project sounds like a lot of fun to me. I get to travel down memory lane, and I'm sure that there are some teenage girls somewhere down the line who would love to revel in the sap.

3. Read a book a week. Right now, I'm starting on Twilight, finally. My student teaching partner got it for me back in like, February, and I still haven't read it. I've heard tons of different reviews about it, both good and bad, and I'm definitely interested in getting into it.

4. Come up with a money-making scheme. I'm trying to figure out if I have any talents that could turn into money somehow. No word on this yet...but we'll see.

5. I don't really know how to get this started, but I would love to have a group of moms and their children come over once a week for an easy, cheap craft group. I've got a whole lot of experience in making cheap, easy crafts out of home materials, and just about as much in teaching children how to do them. Our summers were full of a lot of that. It would be nice to maybe help some moms out there learn to do the same thing, and to help them learn some new ways to entertain their children during the summer. Maybe through the ward?

Well, that's about where I'm at right now. Any other ideas would be really great. I'm already feeling a bit better about everything, there are all kinds of good things I can do!