I've wanted to write in my journal for a long time, but have felt like I needed to catch up before I could just start writing- always my downfall with journal writing.
But I'm going to do my best to just start writing little bits here and there, and especially my thoughts and feelings about what's been going on of late.
We have been doing a LOT of travel with Plexus in the last year or so. There was Plexus convention in Las Vegas, the Bear Lake Gold Retreat that I trained at and was with Trina and Amy, the October Leader's Retreat in San Diego with the Bloomingdale's shopping spree, the Align Palm Springs Retreat in January and the Kona All-In Retreat in February.
In addition, we've done a lot of personal travel too. In September our whole family flew to Oregon to see Grandma Schoening and Dave and Jenny as well. And in November we went to Houston to see my Dad and Jen and Jonathan and Mitch for Thanksgiving. That's basically a major trip every month for the last 7 months. Or if we weren't traveling, we were having some sort of surgery- oral or otherwise.
We also had the rest of Levi's front teeth crowned in November, and Alida's back one's put in and then finished hers in January. There was also my birthday and Alida's birthday we celebrated, AND my double jaw surgery a week before Christmas in December, along with my back lipoma removal. We figured since we had met our out of pocket max we should go for it on the surgeries.
So there's been a LOT going on. I have been working HARD in my Plexus business with the hopes of getting to profit sharing soon. I am a Senior Ruby right now, which means I have over 150 people ordering in my organization. I'm hoping to be Emerald by April, which is 300 people ordering. Emerald means profit sharing, and profit sharing means about $7000/month.
We've been doing pretty well staying afloat with my income, but it's come with some opportunity costs. I've had to be much better at using my time well- I work about 30 hours a week now, and I don't like to be on my phone all day with my kids. So I have to try to get up early and stay up late to work so I don't neglect them all day. I also usually have Emily Gordon or Camrie Snow come over a few times each week and help me with the kids from 5-8pm so they can do bedtime and I can work. So we're figuring out a way, but it's definitely a sacrifice.
I make between $3000 and $4000/month right now and that's been a huge blessing. But it's mostly gone to paying for Levi and Alida's crowns (about $5k each), the travel we've been doing (about $2500 per trip) and then there's a lot of money that is re-invested in Plexus travel and conferences as well. Like our Hawaii trip- Brooke paid for our tickets since I won the trip a year ago for being the top enroller for her organization in 2018. So we had free plane tickets and a free place to stay. But I was gone for 10 days, and the food alone probably cost about $500-$750. Then we did a couple of excursions (whale watching and tubing) that was about $600 for Michael and I. So all said and done it still probably cost about $1500- and then Michael also had to take of a significant amount of time, which basically cut his paycheck in half. Same with Align- only $200 for the ticket instead of $800, and a free hotel. But food and transportation and everything else, I ended up paying about $700. So all this "free travel" still comes at a cost! I'm grateful for it, but it's definitely costly.
Just a business expense I have to make right now. And I'm so glad we've had the funds to pay for the trips to our family and for the kids' teeth. But I'm sure glad to be home with my babies for a bit. And to not have any more big expenses for a bit and not have any more dental bills coming up!!
Although, after my jaw surgery, my dentist wants to do a full mouth restoration, and quoted me about $55k. So there's that. Michael's would cost about $40k- he also needs a lot of work done. But we're going to try to start saving for everything beforehand instead of trying to pay things off. It's exhausting to have to use every paycheck to just pay for debt.
I've been trying to lose weight since my jaw surgery. I lost about 15 lbs right out the door after not being able to eat anything for about a week, and then only liquid after that- so that helped. But then I'm also hosting a weight loss challenge group along with the Plexus weight loss challenge, with about 40 people in it in teams of 4. We were doing really well all through January- Michael even lost about 10 lbs and we have been drinking more water, working out, and eating 5 fruits and vegetables/day. It's been so good for us- and for me to finally not be pregnant or nursing. It feels good to finally lose some weight and focus on my health.
I weened Caleb before Align in January because I just knew I wouldn't be able to pump every 3 hours there, and I certainly didn't want to do it in HI either. So I just decided it was time- and to be honest I thought I'd lose my supply with my jaw surgery- I was surprised when I didn't! So that's definitely a Plexus win. But ween we did- and he was 10 months old, and I feel good about that. He LOVES food anyway, so he's definitely getting plenty, although we were both sad for a few days. I could tell he LOVES breast milk and would wait for his bottle of it every morning. But we're getting along.
Anyway, the point is, 2 weeks after weening I had my first period and then we were in Hawaii together during my ovulation period so I very well could be pregnant again. We've talked about wanting another, but I really wanted to wait until April at least to get some weight off and finish my push to Emerald. But if I am pregnant, with only a 5% chance of that happening each month because I'm 39!! then that means the Lord was involved for sure, so we'll figure it out.
The next 4 months I'm hoping will be very boring for us. Well, they'll have to be since Michael's paycheck will barely cover the mortgage from all the time he's taken off, and that means we don't have any extra after paying for Alida's teeth. Time to tighten the belt once again. But we're good at that. And it will be nice to be home and focus on the kids. In the last month my angel Mother in law Pam has had my kids for about 15 days- more than I have. She took them to her house for about a week after I had jaw surgery so I could recover, and then when we went to Hawaii she had them for about a week at our house too. She's a saint to do it, but she should be able to be just grandma and not mom to my kids. So I don't want to have to ask her again. I hope and pray that we can find some overnight help if we need to do more trips.
Ironically, Michael won his company's grand prize for Christmas- 2 round trip tickets for 2 anywhere in the US. Have to be used by October! He's already used up more PTO than he should and can't really take off until June. So we're just gonna buckle down and get into our routine here with pre school and work and getting to Emerald!
I'm also really enjoying my calling as a gospel doctrine teacher. I only get to teach once every 6 weeks, but the experience is such a blessing. Today I taught on 2 Nephi 6-10 and it was ok. Isaiah and the Atonement are both hard topics, but I got a lot out of my study. I don't think I thought enough about questions to ask or how to lead the discussion though. I'm really looking forward to April 2020 General conference and learning more about President Nelson's vision for the Gather of Isreal- that will no doubt involve us sharing the message of the Restoration with those around us. It's been fun teaching our kids about the Atonement and the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. It's fun to have Levi start understanding and asking good questions. He's a smart boy. Can't believe he'll be in kindergarten in 6 months!
Alida just turned 3 and is just a little doll. She's a people pleaser and so polite- she's always saying please and thank you and I love you so much and kissing us. She's a sweet little girl. She can't sit in her chair to eat her food to save her life, but she's a joy to have around. Daddy bought her some roses and a balloon for Valentine's day and she loved it.
Coming up is Michael's 40th birthday next month, and Caleb's 1 year birthday. Then there's Easter and Spring and then SUMMER! I'm hoping we can enjoy this summer a little more and spend more time outside since Caleb will likely be crawling or walking.
He's about 11 months old right now, and SO CLOSE to crawling. Just barely learned how to use his knees and now he does the stink bug and scooches forward to get around. That's new as of just today- being able to move himself around. He's been our slowest so far for crawling and walking, but I'm not sad about that- once they're mobile they cause a lot more trouble! But he's a cute stinker- and LOUD too if he doesn't get what he wants.
Anyway, I NEED to go to bed! I try so hard to get up an hour before the kids for my scriptures and prayer and planning. Back into the routine. The jet lag from Hawaii has been HARD to get over!
Good night!
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