About nine months ago a dear friend of mine commented that I hadn’t posted our traditional, year-end family-life review. Until she mentioned it I hadn’t even thought of posting anything. That would be because 2017 hit us like a truck. :]
It started off good enough. I jumped into my yearly health goal with gusto, lost 10 pounds, and radically improved my diet and exercise habits. Kyle decided to run for Logan city mayor, on top of pushing his business forward (where he managed to attract a couple of clients.) I decided to quit my job. And then things got a little rocky.
First, around the end of July, we got a match for our adoption. We were thrilled! But after reviewing the medical records, we didn’t feel equipped to cope with all the life-long medical concerns of the individual involved. Making that decision was really tough for us. Then Kyle’s biggest client left him, and we decided it was time for him to work for somebody else for a while, maybe building up the business on the side until it was more stable. So we started that lovely process of applying. And applying… and applying some more.
In the meantime, Kyle campaigned. And guys, I was super proud of how well he did. There is no doubt about it, he rocked every debate. (If you’d like to see the debate or read some of the comments about it, check it out here. The mayoral candidates are introduced about 55 minutes in.) Unfortunately, in the end he didn’t make it past the primaries. I think a part of him was relieved that it was over. A big part of the reason he ran was to make the powers-that-be address the issues we care most about (mostly traffic and city planning issues.) He was widely successful there. If he hadn’t been in those debates the problems on our main street would not have even come up. By the end, the mayoral candidates had debated constantly on the topic, and even some of the the city council candidates had taken up the issue with determination. But it is always uncomfortable to try something (especially something so public) and fail.
On top of that experience, about a week before Halloween, I “sprained” my ankle. At least, I thought it was a sprain. I knew it wasn’t broken. But I couldn’t walk. At first I was literally crawling around the house. It seemed to improve, and I was hopeful, but I also started having odd episodes that unnerved me. I later discovered that I hadn’t just sprained my ankle. I had torn straight through two of my ligaments and a little bit of my peroneal tendon. My ankle joint was so unstable that my tendon would not stay in place. It dislocated everyday, multiple times (those were the episodes I mentioned.) So, I couldn’t walk or stand for more than an hour a day. I could walk on uneven ground. I couldn’t go down stairs. I couldn’t drive. I couldn’t sleep on my left side. I couldn’t put on my shoes… I could go on, but I think you got the point.
By the end of 2017 I had finally found a doctor that knew what to do for me (I went through 3 before that.) I had an MRI scheduled and faced a surgery to repair my tendon and ligaments, and to dig a trench in the bone behind my ankle to keep my tendon in place in the future. (Most people are born with that dip in their bone, but, lucky me, I wasn’t.) Kyle had sent out more than 50 applications. He had interviewed at least 3 time with 6 different employers, but he still hadn’t received any offers.
SOOOO now you know why I hadn’t even thought about posting a review of our year. I couldn’t bare to sit at my computer, let alone stand up and walk to it. Plus, I knew anything I wrote would end on a pretty dark note. So, now, a year later, I can tell you the rest of the story!
The year started off really great when Kyle got a job. This was a big relief. He has a bachelors and masters, but his experience working in that field was negative. He didn’t want to go back there, and he could hardly find a job that paid enough to make it feasible for our family anyway. So he wanted to change career paths and go into software development, but he had no formal education in that arena, and most of his portfolio was built while he worked for himself. In this sense, any job offer in software development would have been a huge blessing. But the blessings didn’t stop there. The job was in Providence, Utah (about 10 minutes from our apartment) and thus would not require us to move. This was a big deal because, as I mentioned before, I couldn’t walk. Of the many jobs he’d applied for, less than 10 were even in Utah. The new job also started about a week before my surgery, which meant that Kyle was able to be home all the time for 3 of the 4 months that I was incapacitated. So I suppose that even the 6 month delay before Kyle’s offer came through ended up being a blessing for us.
And while I’m in the midst of counting blessings, I better list a few more. What a miracle modern medicine is. If I had suffered the same injury at any other point in the history of the Earth I would have been crippled for the rest of my life. And how glad I am that both of my kids are old enough to get around without being carried. In fact, William learned to make lunch for himself and his sister, and do several other jobs for me while I was trapped on the couch. One morning I woke up to find him switching out my ice pack for a fresh one, and bringing me the bottle of Ibuprofen. Pretty remarkable for a little 4-year-old boy.
Anyway, after Kyle’s job offer came through lots of things began falling into place. Kyle and I had both submitted designs to different computer program design competitions and both of us won first place (Kyle’s and Ashley’s). I was notified that I won first place on the day of my surgery, which must have been a pretty lucky day, because my surgery went well too. We decided that we wanted to build a house, and in the weeks right before Kyle’s new job began we were able to find a builder and get all of our selections completed.
Within 6 months of beginning his new job, Kyle was promoted to be his development team’s lead developer. The company had been acquired, and things seemed to be going south, but thanks to the promotion, he was able to land a new job as a senior developer at Malouf. He just started this new position at the beginning of November. And that my friends, is how my husband jumped from a self-taught developer to a senior developer in 10 months.
As I said before, my surgery went well. I was in a non-weight-baring cast for 3 weeks and a boot for three weeks after that, and then I started physical therapy. Turns out when you don’t walk for 5 months you need a LOT of therapy. It has all gone smoothly, however, and I’m happy to report that my ankles are now the same size and the same color. The doctor said not to worry too much about weakness or pain until after the 1-year anniversary of my surgery. I still have a little recovery left, but I’m very much on track.
We moved into our new house at the end of October and we are so excited to be here. We ended up around the corner from my parent’s house, and everybody is really happy about that.
William started kindergarten at the same charter school that his uncle attends. He loves school (mostly recess) and excels in his quarterly dramatic poem recitations. (Humpty Dumpty was a huge hit.) Genna is 3, but she doesn’t let that stop her. She loves to play with her brother and her uncle, and has developed a very warrior-princess personality. She does her best to do everything her brother does, including poem recitation. The two of them are on a solemn quest to destroy our new house as fast as their destructive imaginations can carry them.
I haven’t done much work on gospelprompt.com since my ankle was injured. I’ve written a couple blogs and organized a few new courses, but none of it has been posted. I
hope to recommence
my work there soon. My sister-in-law and I
have started a new blog together called
Domestic Velocity, geared towards making home-life more adventurous. We have only been working on it for a month or so. Check it out if you have a moment.
Kyle and I are so glad to be ending this year on a happier, and less stressful note. We are so glad for all the friends and family that cheered us on and helped us out last year. We hope you all have a marvelous Christmas season.
Love,
Ashley, Kyle, Will, and Genna