A Little Personal

I've not maintained this blog as a personal blog very well. I mean, I let you know about my day to day life... which can actually be quite boring, but it's rare that I go into depth about much.

I was just thinking today about how I don't think I ever announced the fact that my parents are returning to Ecuador in October.

 I haven't talked much about how I need to find a summer job.

I don't think many people know how much I hate spiders.

No one knows what's going on with my major change.

I guess there are lots of things that I don't really take the time to tell. Although I don't see it as that important to actually blog these things, especially because I feel like this is all more for my benefit than anyone else's. Although I do prefer blogging more than journaling, and it's probably because it covers a few things. It lets my friends and family know about things that I don't usually call them for, and I am also able to go back and see how things have changed, or how things used to be. I also am encouraged by many lovely comments that I get from my wonderful readers (AKA my family ;) ) to continue this.

Blogging is a wonderful thing. Especially when you are living very far from your family. I love reading my sister's blogs... especially when they are about thier personal life! Sometimes I feel it is the only way that we communicate. I love seeing pictures of my rapidly growing nephew on my oldest sister's blog, and I love hearing about life in Ecuador on my both of my younger sister's blog.

My Family is Returning to Ecuador
Although my family obviously knows this, I don't know if I have said much to anyone else about it. A few months ago my parents were asked by the head of the mission if they wanted to return to Ecuador. A couple days before that, the people who bought our old house asked my parents if they would want to rent the upstairs of the house. My parents, who were very surprised, told them that they were still planning on returning to Colorado in May. Once they found out that they had a choice to stay in Ecuador or not, they had a big decision to make... or at least they thought they did. Obviously, they have a hard time leaving 3 of thier children, AND thier grandson in the U.S., but as I saw it, they were all doing much better in Ecuador. They were happier. They were healthier. They were having an adventure of a life time. Furthermore, for those of you who might see this all as crazy, we still see Ecuador as home. We are so comfortable there, and although there is not much of a country there (economically and politically), it is so beautiful to us. We love the people. We love the geography, the weather, and the experiences. So, after much conversation, they decided to return to Ecuador. They will still be coming back to Colorado on May 24th, but they will be returning to Ecuador sometime in October for at least three years. The crazy thing is that they will be living in our old house... which is the one that my mom designed and had built during our life there and we ended up living there 10 years (I believe) before we moved to Colorado.

What will I be doing?
You may be wondering what I will do once they leave again, but it's going to be very similar to this year. As of a couple days ago we found out that there is a family who is moving to Colorado to work at HCJB (the same mission where my dad works)(at least I think they are with HCJB)in June. When they arrive in June, they will live in the basement (where I currently live), and my entire family will live upstairs. Around the time that my parents leave, we will do a swap and I will move to the basement, and said family will move upstairs. This family has two little kids, 2 and under. So, it may be a little different having two kids above me, but I'm sure that they are very nice... and maybe they will use me as a babysitter :)

As of right now, I don't really have a roommate. I just haven't felt peace about anyone. I've also not had anyone say that they REALLY want to commit to being my roommate, but I have until October or November to find someone :)

Three years seems almost less overwhelming than nine months did. Although this time I have an advantage: I know what it will be like. I know I will be lonely, and I know that there are days when I will be very sad. I know I will go through hardship. I will have those bad days, but I know I will have wonderful days. I just hope I can keep moving on. I hope I can keep growing closer to God. I hope I can stay busy. I know I will learn a lot about myself and about the world. I will continue to use this time to mature. I will go on many adventures on my own, and I hope I can see it all in that light. I want to be happy about this. I want to be excited. I want to see the upside of all this.

Hey, maybe I will actually become capable of fixing things.... but I doubt it ;)

Over this year I have learned that I do best when I am busy. I do best when I don't actually have the time to think about my family being gone. The first semester that they were gone was a hard one in so many different ways. A big part of it was that my best friend and I were growing apart. Something that I have found out that I need is having someone I KNOW I can confide in. I need someone that is always there. I didn't have that my first semester, and that was hard. I was also learning how to adjust to life without my family around.
I'm a people person, so I do BEST when I am surrounded by people. Even if that just means sitting down and doing homework in silence together. So, here's to hoping that the next few years are better, or as good as this past semester has been :)

My Summer Job
I don't know how much I have said about this, so I'm sorry if I repeat myself. The lady I nanny for doesn't need me more than a couple hours a week over the summer, so I'm repeating last year and looking for a job (although, this time it's just for the summer:)). I've posted several ads on Craigslist, and I've gotten a few responses, but not really any with potential. I also have a director of a Montessori Preschool who may need me, but she needs to find out how many children are going to be attending over the summer. So once again I am doing a lot of waiting. It's okay though, because God has a plan. We'll just see what happens :)

Spiders
Spiders make me cringe. I just don't like them. I'm not really afraid of them, I just think they're gross... especially when they are crawling around my house.

My Major Change
I still have yet to decide. Nutrition seems interesting, but do I really want to take all of those Science classes? The nice thing about it is that when I went and talked to an advisor about it, I found out that almost all of my credits would transfer to help out somewhere in that degree. That's about the furthest I have gotten. aha.

I believe that is all that I really have to say, but if you have questions, just let me know :)

I hope you enjoyed this little update... one without a picture. Gasp! ;)

Day 120

I didn't have any plans for today, and it's turning into a wonderful day. I've been so busy these past few weeks. Non stop busy. I worked 35 hours this past week along with attending all of my classes. It's nice to have a day off every once in awhile.

Today I hung out with my neighbor... and that is always wonderful. We went out to lunch, and as we normally do we got home and decided to make something. Today it was strawberry limeade. And it was delicious!

My neighbor's little sister also came over so that she could skype with my sister! So, my sister actually made it into this post :)

(f: 5.0; 1/25s; ISO 800)

(f:4.0; 1/25s; ISO 800)

(f:3.5; 1/15s; ISO 800)

For any of you who want to try this delicious, yet simple drink, here's the recipe. Fresh Strawberry Limeade :). Yes, I'm obsessed with strawberries! But you can do so much with them! And when those strawberries are cooking for the sauce, they smell SO good.

Day 119

 I worked a lovely nine hours today. The boys definitely kept me busy. I'm ready to sleep :)

(f:7.1; 1/320; ISO 800)

I thought I would take a picture of the three of them crammed in my car. Caden was mad because we were leaving the park, so he wouldn't look. ha ha. 

Day 118

 Today was busy. It consisted of kids doing silly things like licking the floor because there were bits of ice on it, trying on sunglasses, cleaning, and hiding in cozy corners.

Grady really likes ice... ahaha

I know it's really blurry, but it makes me laugh. 

(f: 4.5; ISO 1/20s; ISO 800)

Caiden and Grady were awesome. I went over to help Deb with the boys and help clean some, and she was able to go shopping. I got a lot more cleaning done than I thought! The boys wanted to help with everything! So, it kept them entertained and we got some cleanin' done :) In the last picture they are helping me clean the bathroom.

As you can see, I am still having a lot of trouble with lighting and/or blurryness. a lot. Because I am normally dealing with kids, I should be keeping my shutter speed up higher so that it's not as blurry, but then the pictures turn out really dark. sigh.

Day 117

I really have no excuse, but I didn't get any pictures today.

Actually, I was gone all day and I forgot my camera! Gasp! I felt so naked without it.

I figure that there is always tomorrow. A new day. A new time to capture more memories.

As for tonight, I am tired, and instead of trying to think of something to take a picture of, I believe I will just head to bed :)

Happy Midweek!

P.S. Poncho peed in his kennel again. It makes me so incredible thankful for washers and dryers... and hopefully I can get to one soon ;) It also makes me even more excited that my family is coming back... then I will no longer have that responsibility! ha.

Day 116

(f:3.5; 1/40s; ISO 800)

(f: 4.0; 1/40s; ISO 800)

(f: 5.0; 1/40s; ISO 800)

I can't decide which one I like best! He's just so cute!

In other words it rained/hailed/snowed today... with lightning and thunder. Fun stuff.

Day 115

I didn't actually take this one today (I took it Saturday night), but today was one of those days where everything was just off. I was forgetful, I was tired, I was very spacey... it was just REALLY weird. 

It snowed Saturday night... and quite a bit! I had 1-2 inches of snow in my backyard! Crazy. 

(f:3.5; 1/15s; ISO 1600)

Look, you can see the green leaves sticking out under the snow.

Day 114

Happy Easter, ya'll.

I definitely had a full day.

• Church
• Showing the basement to a possible renter
• Easter dinner 

So far, any holiday that my family is not around for can be kind of tough. I always miss them just a little bit more. 

Easter is slowly becoming one of my favorite holidays, for sure! The older I get, the more I realize how wonderful it is that Jesus died for me. I also realize how much I don't deserve it! Thank you, Jesus. 

Here is sweet Madilyn Kate :)

(f:7.1; 1/40s; ISO 800)

And here are more pictures from Easters: 

Lydia is such a good cousin :) 

Caiden asked to hold Madilyn 

They're both so cute :) 

I love how natural this is! ha. ha. 

They started hunting for the easter eggs. 

Don't ya just love thier matching outfits?

Grady found one! 

Bubble blowing contest

Mama and baby

Isn't she just teeny tiny?

I love how Dave has a knife out.... aha. 

Day 113

Do you want to see the most delicious looking pie ever?

Well, here it is:

(f:4.5; 1/40s; ISO 800)

This is chocolate-drizzled strawberries and cream pie, and it is SOOOOO easy to make. Here's the recipe, and you use strawberries with it! That made me so excited because I absolutely love strawberries!

I have yet to taste it... but it looks good. And everything that is in there tastes good separately so it probably tastes marvelous together! :)

Furthermore, because I wanted to make this it finally made me go shopping for the first time in 3-4 weeks. It's nice to have food in the house again.

Happy Saturday, ya'll!

P.S. it snowed today. On April 23. Lame.

Day 112

I worked for 10 hours today. It was long, and I came home tired, but I love those boys so much. They make my heart melt :)

(f:5.0; 1/125; ISO 1600)

(f:5.6; 1/30s; ISO 1600)

(f: 5.0; 1/30s; ISO 1600)

I feel like the first one has a lot of noise in it, but I probably should have lowered the ISO on all of them.

Day 111

And again... here's for yesterday :)

(f: 22; 1/100s; ISO 1600)

So, I finally used my telephoto lens! It definitely takes some getting used to, but I can see how it can be very helpful in certain situations.

These next few pictures make me laugh so hard. I hung out with my friend Emily (for the first time in a long time!), and we had lots of fun together. for sure.

We bought chocolate bunnies from walmart. 

Life is good. Bahaha

Classic

She couldn't choose between P and the bunny. 

I think she was leaning towards P. She named her bunny Dexter. (fyi) 

Don't you just love P's hair? It's everywhere. I felt so bad that he couldn't see well, so last night I decided to give him a hair cut (just the hair that was covering his eyes). Now P has a bald spot. My bad.

My family is gonna love me ;)

Day 110

Here's for yesterday.

I had a busy day yesterday.

(f:5.6; 1/10s; ISO 1600) 

Sorry about my hair, I was doing crazy things to keep them entertained.

I know there have been several of you who have asked for pictures of little Maddie. I'll get to it, I promise. But while I was taking pictures, she was upstairs napping with her momma.

Oh, and David really was asleep. Crazy, huh? Way to hog the couch, Dave.

Day 109

• I have absolutely no food in the house. 
• I was *supposed* to go shopping about a week ago. 
• I had plans to actually take some time and take a picture today.... but plans don't always work out the way that you want, eh?
• And I did take pictures... but I had another idea in mind. Oh well, another time?
• I loved the lighting today. 
• I love it when Asher holds out his arms to me wanting to be picked up. 
• I'm supposed to be leaving for class in 6 minutes. 
• I've lost all motivation. 
• I'm doing homework last minute (which is not like me at all)
• My room is nice and clean though :) 
• I'm really, really enjoying learning all about my camera
• My family comes back in 35 days
• There's a possibility that I may be going to Alabama in a few weeks
• Asher is a scooter. One second he is there... and the next he is not. He's surprised me so many times
• Life is beautiful. Breathe it in! :) 

(f:4.5; 1/250s; ISO 1600)

And now I am running late for class, but it was worth it ;)

Day 108

Something that my grandparents got me started on a few years ago was a quarter collection. Today was the first time that I had thought about it in ages. So, I sifted through my quarters and found 6 of the 7 quarters that I needed. So, my collection is now complete... other than Utah. Once I find Utah it will be done. :) 

So if anyone wants to donate Utah to me... that would be grand. Actually, I could pay you back if you really want me to. 

(f: 5.0; 1/40s; ISO 800)

Day 107

As most of you know (especially my family :)) I am a baby fanatic. Seriously. I absolutely love them. That's probably one reason why I LOVE my job so much (although I would still love it if I didn't have a baby to care for :)) I love everything about pregnancy, labor, delivery, newborns, and development. Everything. I could pick up a book about those things and be very intrigued for quite some time.

I love it. I really can not wait to have my own kiddos, and experience all that myself (yes, I'm strange). 

Okay, I can wait. I am actually really enjoying having this time as my time. I am very content not having a child to care for constantly. But I will be very excited the day that I have my own child :) 

So, when a baby comes around (that is, not my baby), I get very excited. 

This morning, my friend just had her third child; a little girl. So waking up to a text saying that she had arrived made my day :) Hopefully I will be around a lot to help out, and so that I can fill up on my baby loving and my toddler loving :) 

So, welcome to the world, precious darling. :) 

In other words, Easter is about here! This time of year always makes me so incredibly thankful. And it makes me so amazed, that Jesus would choose to die for me. (and you :)) He wasn't forced, he chose. He did this because he loves us so. He chose to go through these horrible trials so that I could live forever. 

Another good thing about Easter (not nearly as good though) is that it means delicious candy! :) 

I am not a huge fan of peeps, but they make a worthy photograph.

(f: 5.0; 1/8s; ISO 100)

I totally spaced on changing my ISO... that's why it was so dark at first! ha! 

Day 106

Today, I went and did a project for Geology and I thought I could capture a cool picture of a building (since I had to take pictures of them anyway) but I couldn't. So I got these here trees. MLIA

(f: 20; 1/40s; ISO 800)

Day 105

I saw these flowers blooming on a tree (yay for spring! :)) and I thought, "that would make a nice and easy picture." boy was I wrong. Very wrong. If you were around Colorado Springs today, then you know that it was VERY windy. And it was COLD. It was COLD wind. It was bad. And uncomfortable. Well, the branches would not stay still. So I was trying to hold a branch still all the while trying to manually focus on the flowers, change my settings and take a picture that didn't blur. It was hard. 

(f:5.6; 1/1250s; ISO 200)

This morning I decided to play around with it and edit it some more... This is how it turned out.

Day 104

Today I did laundry in my bathtub. Actually, I just tried to get rid of the pee smell from all the dog stuff before I took it to the laundromat.

I did not like doing this. Gross.

(f: 3.5; 1/8; ISO 800)

On a happier note, today is April 14th. There is one day a year that all 8 of us Shedd kids are either odd or even ages. Yesterday was my brother's 12th birthday, and tomorrow is my sisters 17th birthday. In the past, we used to use this day as an excuse to take a picture. (I'm not sure if my family took it in Ecuador or not)

The pictures would turn out something like this:

(Rachel: 16, Steven:14, Christina: 12, Julianna: 10, Katelyn: 8, Jonathan: 6, Andrew: 4, and Micah: 0)

Today our ages are: 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, and 6.