Piano Lessons

I started advertising in June that I teach piano. NOTHING HAPPENED. Well, let me take that back. After talking to several people in the area about piano teachers, they agreed that we need more piano teachers in the area, so I felt confident I would accrue some students. NOPE. Suddenly I heard about several teachers that live very close to me. I also discovered that people don't want to pay a lot of money for a piano teacher in UT county. ($10 a lesson or about $40 a month seem typical around here. Stingy) I was discouraged and nearly gave up after not having much luck.

I'm so glad I stuck it out. The wait was worth it. I started teaching piano at the beginning of this month and am enjoying every second of it. I love feeling like I do something and having something to put my mind on. I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I have a total of 7 students. Back in June, I thought it would be easy to teach while James was napping. He is much more mobile now and having him sleep or lay in the same place on the floor isn't really an option.

Luckily, I have family nearby and they have been so helpful. On Tuesdays, I actually drive to my parent's house in South Jordan and teach 4 students there. (All from my parent's ward.) It works out well because my Mom watches James while I teach. On Thursdays, Jessica has offered to help a couple of times a month and the other weeks I pay a babysitter. I teach 2 students who found me on Craigslist and my next door neighbor, Drake. Having a break (even if it's just for a little) from motherhood is so good for me. I also have been going to the gym more and James goes to the daycare while I workout which helps keep me sane.

It has been difficult to work with students who came from other teachers. I feel like with time things will get easier though. Not every teacher teaches the same way and I'm slowly learning what my students actually know. It has been fun for me to prepare games and type up piano policies and payment reminders. I also love bringing in a little income. Now I don't feel as bad when I spend money on "wants."

I'm adjusting to this whole staying at home thing and can even say I'm learning to love it. I think I owe a lot of this love (of staying at home) to teaching piano again. (And of course, adorable James.)

So Long Lake Cavanaugh

Originally we weren't planning on going to Lake Cavanaugh this year. Through a turn of events we decided to go. I'm so glad that we made the trip. This was the last year that Andrew's family will go there because the lake cabin is being sold in the Spring.

This year we were treated like royalty because we have the youngest baby. We actually got a bedroom in the cabin. Not just any bedroom either, but the master bedroom with an attached bathroom. We definitely didn't miss sleeping in the loft on 2 separate twin-sized beds scrunched together. 

Lots of James' cousins had never met him before and he sure got plenty of attention. Anytime I walked outside with him, James was greeted by like 10 cousins. It was adorable. At times I think James was a little overwhelmed by how loud it was and everything that was going on.

I promise we were happy and having fun

Andrew was in heaven and got to water-ski lots.

When we arrived it was chilly! In fact I was worried because I didn't really pack us ANY warm clothes because I was anticipating sunbathing by the lake. Luckily only the first day was cold and it continued to warm up over the course of our stay. I didn't end up taking James in the lake though mostly due to the temperature. James did enjoy his boat ride watching Daddy water-ski. It put him right to sleep.

There was lots of time to relax.

A highlight of the trip for Andrew was getting to jet board. (I think that is what it's called?) This usually is pricey and Andrew has never done it. A neighbor to the lakehouse (Mike) has a jet board and offered to let Andrew give it a try. Andrew got at least 20 feet above the water. It is hard to tell in the pictures.

I'm always amazed at how delicious the food is when the crowd to feed is over 35 people. I think I gained weight that weekend and I definitely will be gathering some recipes. We ended up flying and I'm so glad we did because it would have been about a 14 hour drive for us (I believe). After flying to Massachusetts, flying to Seattle was a breeze. We then rented a car and drove the hour and a half to the lake. Unfortunately, on our way back to Utah, we missed our flight. We thought our flight was at a different time, but it was earlier. We didn't have wifi or service at the lake and didn't even think about double-checking our reservation. Luckily Alaska Airlines worked with us, and we were able to get on the next flight for a grand total of $50. (Could have been much worse.) We did have to kill about 5 hours of airport time on a Sunday which was not ideal. I was happy our gate was by a nursing trailer/booth (is that what you call them?) in the airport though because it made feeding James so convenient. 

Enjoying his own seat (This was his backup outfit. When I got him out of his carseat to check-in at the airport there was poop everywhere.)

All tuckered out

As usual, after a vacation it was good to be home. We did lots of traveling right in a row and when we were finally back home, I just wanted to stay and not go anywhere for a while. This is what the month of August looked like for our family:

August 12-19: Cape Cod, Massachusetts for Jill's Wedding

August 24-27: Mt. Vernon, WA with Andrew's family for some boat time

August 30-September 3: All Brothers Hike in UT (the brothers stayed with us for 2 nights)

We even missed the Ditto reunion which was happening in this month of craziness (from August 10-13). I was bummed that all of our summer fun fell in the same month. We did have a blast though and James was a trooper. We don't really have any travel plans until December when we will head to Spokane, and I am okay with that. Oh, well except for the fact that Andrew is leaving for the Philippines next week and will be gone for 8 days! I'm trying not to think about that though.

I will miss going to beautiful Lake Cavanaugh and am glad for the happy memories I have there. (Thanks to Birch and Sara for taking most of these awesome pictures of our time there.)