We've been having some trouble with our neighbors this last week. We live in a very old house with thin walls, and while we've gotten along happily with all of our previous downstairs neighbors, it seems the tables have turned. Okay, it's not that dramatic, but I will say it was so nice when we didn't have neighbors who sucked up all the wifi downloading movies and threw loud parties until 230am every single weekend.
I've decided to chill in bed, headphones in listening to "Bad Blood" by T.S. and write a blog post to try and ignore the pounding of a hammer into the concrete wall downstairs. Apparently 11pm is the perfect time to hang up some living room décor, and they have yet to realize they won't be pounding through that cement any time soon. We've been down to tell them to lower the volume several times this week but nothing has changed. The minute I hear Violet wake up because of the noise it will be a different story though. Mama bear will make her presence known.
Let's all pray it doesn't come to that.
Anyways.
Hi! I haven't posted in a while. I don't know if we've been really busy, or I've just been really lazy about updating this thing, but I'm here, and if you care please read on to find out what we've been up to.
First off, Halloweening with Violet! I had many plans to make her into a sushi, a robber, but her costume from last year ended up fitting her so we went with a magical unicorn again this year. My parents ward had a carnival with games and food a little earlier on in the week and I think she had a good time putting goodies into her bag, munching on treats, and playing the games. The day of Halloween she ended up being Princess Ana from Frozen in a purple dress gifted from a family friend and her Aunt Tori made her a gold crown using wrapping paper and nail polish. Still not sure how she pulled that off but it turned out wonderfully. Cristian came out after work and we wandered around trick or treating with Violet, my dad, and my little brother. By the time we were done we had a pro trick or treater on our hands, which was fun to watch.
Once back at the house Cristian told her she could have one more piece of candy. Violet said "Two?!", he said "No Violet, one more piece". A few minutes later we see her munching on some purple tootsie candy. The little twerp had gone out into the mudroom where there was a bucket of Halloween candy for incoming trick or treaters. The way she understood it she just couldn't have any more treats from out of HER bag, but anywhere else was fair game.
We had a good laugh over that one.
On Halloween Eve Cristian, myself, and my niece Steph went up to Stokes Nature Center for their ghost story telling. It was fun hearing about stories surrounding the Witch of the Wind Caves, St. Anne's Retreat, and other things. A really fun night all gathered around a fire pit with hot chocolate and a really fun experience. We will probably go again next year, and afterwards while walking back down to the car, in the dark, Cristian told us a story that happened to him while up at the nunnery. Won't post it here, but spooooooky!
We changed wards! We were going to a married student ward but neither Cristian or I are students and I was feeling as though it was time to move on. I finally followed that feeling and last Sunday confirmed that the Lord understands where I'm at in life, and where I need to be. This is THE PERFECT WARD for my family to be in. It's a combination of 3 wards. My ward, a Chinese ward, and a Hispanic ward where all the kids get together for junior and senior nursery, and junior and senior primary. 4 times as many children as in our last ward which I think is just wonderful for Violet, and a good mix of people who are my age and older, something I feel I need in my life right now. I was welcomed in with open arms and was able to meet a couple who had just moved to Cache Valley the DAY before who were from around Compton LA, which is where Cristian grew up. It's nice to find little connections which help in the process of meeting a whole bunch of new people at once, and the Relief Society are having a girls night this Saturday-another great opportunity for me to meet a few of the ladies in a smaller group.
Violet REALLY enjoyed her time in primary. The program they have in this ward is light years beyond what was happening in the student ward. It makes sense, most of those in the student ward don't have children yet, there is LOTS of moving in and out with the semesters ending and starting, I get it-this other ward is what we need though. Mainly because there are more children, a much broader span of diversity as far as race and language, and because it's such an old ward the program is really established with tried and true methods. Violet literally cried when the block was over and it was time to head home for some lunch. We are exactly where we need to be and I couldn't be more thankful for a Heavenly Father who really does understand what we all need, and when we need it.
We have started the Fed Up Challenge. If you haven't watched Fed Up, I totally recommend it. It's a documentary about processed sugar. That may sound boring, but I was thoroughly engrossed (and grossed out) in the film ( as was Cristian) and we both learned so much. At the end there is a challenge to eliminate processed and added sugar from your diet for 10 days. Along with this challenge I've been increasing my running mileage at the gym, and Cristian has been looking ito KUBEX.
Cristian is super supportive and on board for some big changes which will make this manageable.
One victory I had at the gym last week was reuniting with the leg press machine. I haven't leg pressed since before I was pregnant with Violet so I was a little anxious about how well I would do. I maxed out the machine at 700lbs. 5 cycles, 25 reps each cycle. I had been feeling a little down about my overall progress so this was a huge confidence boost. I still have my strength, and I just need to keep focusing on the positives and keep working toward a healthier body and healthier mind.
Violet's language has REALLY picked up. She speaks in full sentences almost all of the time. The other day Cristian was talking to her on the couch and asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She said "Daddy, I want a bike birthday cake". Okay then, we can probably arrange that haha! She really likes being given choices and it's fun to watch her make decisions. I'll pick out 2-3 outfits for her to wear and she really likes being able to be the one to decide which one she gets to wear. I do this with books, snacks in between meal times, music while we are driving around in the car running errands, etc. She's growing up :/ She's also really starting to push the boundaries we've set up, so time out will be a thing I'll need to implement around here shortly :)
With the end of October and the beginning of November we've also been doing a Give Thanks Challenge. Head HERE to check it out if that's something you are interested in. The kit comes with 4 different lessons about kindness and giving thanks for the 4 weeks of November. Each week they give you ideas about small things you can do to serve strangers, your close ones, and others, and a tree print with leaves to cut out and place on the tree each time you serve throughout the month of November. It's almost the end of week 1 so Violet and I need to get our booties going so we can add some leaves to our tree!
That's about it for what has been going on lately in and around the Navas household. The only other thing is we may be going on a trip to China next year in May or June-more on that later as the details come in :)
A photo update up next!
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