Merritt Memories

We have been living with Dustin's parents for three weeks now. I feel bad we have invaded their space, but I know they really don't mind, too much. I am so grateful for their generous hearts. The other day at work a co-worker asked how I was adjusting. I told her we are doing well, it's just hard being homeless.   She looked at me and said, "Girl, you don't know what homeless is!" I was afraid I had offended her. She laughed and explained to me that when she was first separated from her ex-husband she was living in her sisters backyard in her broken down car. I thought how awful!! She also explained to me that if she and her sister were fighting, her sister wouldn't allow her in to bathe. Wow!!   My attitude did a 180! How grateful I am to have two bedrooms, our own bathroom, a camping trailer for the boys to sleep in, and that my in-laws gave us a key! I truly have nothing to complain about!! It could be much worse.   We are excited to see th...

It is 2 in the morning and I am sitting on your floor. You are completely empty, except for the sofa sets your new owners purchased from us. My family is gone. Britten and I are the only ones here. He couldn't sleep, so I had the idea of coming here to let him scream. The funny thing is, I laid him on the floor and he fell right to sleep, on his own. Maybe because he knew I needed to be here one last time. On June 16th it would've been 13 years since I walked through your door as your new owner. The only thing waiting for us was a ward list and map. It was taped to the inside of a cabinet door. I remember how excited Dustin and I were. We were home owners! You were perfect. You looked a lot different than you do now. Blue carpet and white and gray linoleum covered the floors. The main bath had tan carpet though. The walls were eggshell in color. And your basement only had one room done- now that I think of it, the carpet in that room was tan too and the hallway was maroo...

Every Saturday night I find myself at Wal-Mart. Last night was no different. Hang on...yes it was. It was the night before Mother's Day. I don't know if your Wal-Mart stores are like ours, but you never, NEVER got to Wal-Mart the night before a holiday. It is C-R-A-Z-Y. CRAZY.   People were everywhere. Things were everywhere. There were no carts in the stall!! I took that as an omen and decided I would get in and get out as fast as possible. But first, I needed a cart. So did the older woman looking for one. I ventured outside and found two right by each other. I grabbed both of them. One for me, one for the woman. I came back in and asked if she was still in need of a cart. Her son came in after me and had one, so I left it in the empty stall. A man came in and grabbed. I felt good inside. I did my good deed for the day.   I had a short list. I headed to get milk first. As I came down the major isle, I noticed boxes of Suddenly Salad all over the floor. Someone had k...

Kate celebrated her 9th birthday on the 3rd. I can't believe it! My kids still seem little to me, but in reality they aren't. Here's a quick rundown of her day.   She requested donuts for her classroom, so that's what she got. I loaded up 2 and a half dozen donuts and a baby and headed over to her school. She was super excited. She seemed even more excited to have some left over.   She requested to go out for dinner this year. I was the lucky one who accompanied her. She chose Chili's. I love Chili's too! We talked over dinner. After, we went shopping for her gift.   I was surprised at what she chose this year. She spent most of her money on clothes! Grace and Becca, maybe, but not Kate. I let her pick them out. She chose two cute outfits. One even had a skirt! $10 was left and she wanted it in cash (she has since bought a new bike lock). We also picked up her cake and ice cream, chocolate cake and cookies and cream ice cream!   On Saturday, she...

During the day I am in complete "mommy mode." My thoughts center around my children and their needs. I guess while I'm at work they focus on the 32 pre-schoolers I have the pleasure of teaching, but same diff in my mind.   Once everyone is in bed, husband included, I have the luxury of having my mind back. It thinks Larae thoughts and envisions Larae dreams. Oh how I cherish that time (even though it is quite brief because I am soon drifting off to sleep)!   A lot of times those thoughts are about my "brothers and sisters" inside my church who are struggling to find where they belong. I really don't know why. Maybe because of all the blogs that exisit out there and the surge in media stories about it? I don't know. A big part of me really wants to understand where they are coming from. Why we view things so differntly.   Tonight I came across an entry on one of the blogs. It made me sad. It was the wife of an old friend from jr high. He was ...

We have been blessed with so much! Everyday I am grateful!     We are officially under contract on our home. We put it up on Thursday, we got an offer on Friday, and were under contract by Saturday. Come Monday, she backed out. That really upset me. We had a cash offer come in after we signed with her. Our agent called him and he was no longer interested (the market is crazy hot right now). So, we put it up again Monday evening. We had a showing that night and another scheduled for the morning. By noon on Tuesday, both had put offers in! I was happy once again. And we are hoping this couple chooses to be for real! We are supposed to close May 23rd. We are just waiting to hear what the appraiser said and then an inspection! We are keeping our fingers crossed!     Another blessing happened, April 14th!   Britten C Russell Merrit was blessed by his father.           We are so grateful for the family...

I have so much I need to catch up on, but this will be first. We finally bit the bullet and did it! I'm full of crazy mixed emotions, tired, and overwhelmed, but plugging along. I have wanted this for over three years and now that the moment is here, I'm being all crazy! Change has always been exciting to me, but the thought of changing my kids' lives is throwing me for a loop. Ryan was in tears when we told the kids and when we were driving out to see our lot where our new home will be built. I felt like an awful mom that day.  We are planning to move to Stansbury Park. Some people call it farm country. I like to call it the suburbs of the suburbs. I'm excited to be where it's quiet and where the pace of life is a little slower. Not to mention I get to build the house exactly the way I want. It will have an entry, third car garage, fireplace, and a master bath!!! I can't wait!!! Floor plan: We are doing the double sink in the ma...