The Ticker? This is For Posterity

I know no one reads the big long entries without photos...so this one is for posterity!

Why the ticker, tracking the days until Victor's graduation? Well it represents a LOT of things.
It represents the end of the "starving student" days and the move to a new phase of life where we can focus on new goals!

When Victor and I first got married he couldn't work until I fixed his immigration papers, I was going to school full-time and we were living on the salary I earned working at the MTC, 20 hours a week. We lived in a small basement apartment ($300.00/month) that was cold in the winter and the upstairs, cheap neighbors, controlled the heat! I remember going to Reams and counting the money we had to buy groceries to pick up eggs, bread and Kool-aide!

Victor had a lot of jobs he didn't like. I think his favorite was cleaning at Wal-mart on the graveyard shift in Park City! We also managed a hotel (one you don't stay in unless you're desperate) so I could stay home with the our first baby (Naomi).

We moved to Michigan on almost nothing with a 2 year old and a 2 month baby. Victor and I slept on the floor in the living room for three months, Naomi slept in the crib and Hannah slept in her car seat until we got our taxes back in February--then we upgraded to a sofa couch! I remember thinking life was so good when we ate cut up bananas & apples with yogurt. We upgraded again to a blow-up mattress when we got his student loans.

We've eaten a lot of hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and top o Ramon soup. It's interesting though our girls have never thought of themselves lacking (except in the "I need more toys" sort of way) We get movies--at the library or at the $1.00 rental. They/we get excited for new clothes--purchased at a second hand shop, which is basically new clothes just washed a few times.

Since we've been married I've cried more than once when we didn't have anything to give our kids for Christmas or birthdays--but it was just me. They loved our dollar store gifts and the gifts sent by aunts and grandparents. One year we had a secret Santa that gave us the most memorable Christmas ever--how I cried tears of joy. We have been blessed in so many other ways. We have always had money for gas, rent and food. The kids have always been able to go to the doctor when they needed to.

I've cried at not being able to pay bills, and I cried again when Heavenly Father would bless us just in time. There was more than once that my mom or sister would send us some money in the mail the same day that we needed it.

How do I count all the miracles? Victor and I would see a situation and think "impossible" and we would hear the soft spirit say, "Stand still and see the salvation of your God" and the impossible would dissolve into a beautiful possibility.

Having all these small trials has made me put a lot of things into perspective and to see clearly that there is ALWAYS a solution. At first I would cry and get anxious but after 7 years none of those things seem to get to me anymore. I've matured a lot, I've come to trust my Heavenly Father more and I've come to see how many blessings I receive everyday.

I can look back on the 8 years of marriage (almost), 3 babies, living in 3 different states, and going to school with a greater understanding. Heavenly Father knows me personally and has a plan for me. He loves me more than I love my husband and children (hard to fathom).

The Ticker also represents being in a position financially that our family can be a blessing to others in the same way that others have blessed us. What a gift it is to bless the lives of those around you.

I love the gospel and I know it has been our testimony that has held our faith firm in the midst of uncertainty and doubt. He lives!