So, I know it's been a while since I wrote last, but as I'm getting ready to dive into what will most likely be a very busy Sunday afternoon, I wanted to get some thoughts out. As many of you know a year ago at this time I was bedridden waiting for surgery on October 7th. I did, however, get some amazing news on this day a year ago and that news was that my sister and her husband were bringing home Evalina today. At first I was confused, but then I thought about it and I realized what exactly my sister was saying, she was telling me that her and her husband and been chosen to adopt a beautiful little girl. Something that they had wanted and hoped for, for many, many years.
That was amazing news, however, it was probably the only bit of amazing news that I was going to get for quite some time. As many of you know, on Friday night of 2013 Salt Lake Comic Con, I received a call saying that our home had flooded. I still powered through and finished the event, although it was hard, there were many fans, that would come up and ask me questions and as much as I tried to keep my composure I would just start crying, they would get concerned and proceed to tell me that I was being so helpful. I would tell them, that that's not why I was crying, I was crying because I found out my home had flooded and I didn't know where my daughters and I were going to go or what we were going to do. It was rough, luckily, for us, we had many friends that were willing to help us, but, we still didn't have a permanent place to go. I got home on that Sunday morning and saw just how completely demolished my home was...
A couple weeks later, our (my daughters and my) whole lives were packed away in an 8x12 trailer. We were homeless...as if this wasn't bad enough, a few days after having packed our lives away, and we were couch hopping (pretty much) I found myself in the Emergency Room undergoing test, after test, after test...15 hours of tests to be exact, only to find out that my gall-bladder wasn't working the way it should (yeah the gall-bladder test was the last one they did, I felt like I was an episode of HOUSE M.D.). After they scheduled my surgery I was put on bed rest, I couldn't do much but lie around, it was the worst feeling in the world, I felt like I should be doing so much more, looking for work (at the time I didn't know if I was going to continue working with Salt Lake Comic Con), looking for a place to live, being a Mommy, but I couldn't do any of those things, it was the worst feeling in the world. I had my surgery on October 7, 2013. All seemed to go well, until a couple days later (I got a job and didn't want to wait too long to start, so I had my surgery on Monday and tried to go to work on Thursday, not the best idea on the planet). That Friday, I woke up, in incredible pain, it was a mess, I won't go into details, but it was really, really bad, I couldn't even walk...I was rushed to the emergency room and immediately sent in for another 12 hours of testing, this time, they found a hematoma on my liver, from the surgery. I ended up having to stay in the hospital for another 3 days.
Fast forward to after the 3 days, and I'm kinda, sorta starting to feel better, when all of the sudden I find out that the friends that my daughters and I were staying with, are only supposed to have people staying with them for 2 weeks at a time, we were forced to move out again, still homeless...
We ended up being homeless for about 3 months. I got a call from my amazing Aunt and Uncle saying that they had an apartment ready for us, and I had since started a new job. Things were finally starting to look up, but not quite, we moved into our new apartment but, not being supported in anyway (child support wasn't being and still hasn't been received) I found myself having to work two jobs, I started working at an elementary school which was amazing but due to Obama care I was only allowed to work 19 hours a week, I got a second job as a chef at Red Lobster (it was fun but it was all the way down in Orem and it was a miserable drive, especially with the late hours and the snow that falls here in Winter), I couldn't stay there for long, but I still couldn't afford to provide for my daughters on 19 hours a week, so I got a job as a waitress at Wingers up here. It was helpful but still hard, Christmas at our house was very, very small. Life continued like this until March of 2014 when I got the best news I had received in many, many months, I got a call from a good friend of mine that I had met while working for 2013 Salt Lake Comic Con, asking me if I could come into the office on St. Patricks day, they may have a job for me...
Fast forward to now, it's been over a year since that fateful day when I got a call saying my home had flooded, yet, here we are...It's amazing to see where Faith and Positive Thinking have gotten us. Yes, I admit, things are still hard, but still, not nearly as hard as they were. We overcame being homeless, we overcame Mommy (Me) being sick, we have persevered and pushed through, not to say there weren't lots of tears shed along the way, and I probably went through about 4 jobs from the time 2013 Salt Lake Comic Con ended and now, but what can you do, when you're homeless and you have no idea where you might end up in a couple of weeks.
I am so grateful, though, to say now that things have definitely started turning around for my daughters and I. I am working full time for Salt Lake Comic Con as the Customer Experience Facilitator, I have an amazing fiance who loves my girls as much as he loves me, he really is a daddy to them and it truly is wonderful. We are looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of our lives (being homeless, being sick, going from job to job) and moving forward. It's time to start the rest of our lives, and that's what we're going to do. Things are wonderful, we have my fiance that we're getting ready to move in with and truly begin this new life, I have my career, I have my schooling, I have two beautiful little girls, my oldest started Kindergarten this year, my not quite two year old is starting to potty train. They are both so beautiful, so smart, so full of life and love. I am so grateful to have so many amazing blessings in my life.
I guess with that said, I'll close now, as I have much to do to move forward and start this amazing new life. So, once more, I will just say, that Faith, Optimism and Gratitude are truly key things in this life, you MUST have FAITH, you MUST dare to DREAM, you MUST be OPTIMISTIC, you MUST BELIEVE, and to tie everything together you MUST be GRATEFUL for all the blessings that you do have. XOXO
