Processing.....

Life is quite a journey, especially these days. Moving back to Chico has been truly amazing. It's so fun to be back, loving my job, loving working at Enloe, walking through the park, walking around downtown, walking down to Buddy and Gail's when ever we feel like it, all the pretty Chico trees.....I feel like there are just so many things to process with being back, and feeling a little overwhelmed through it all. It's been a journey that is for sure. Figuring out what relationships look like, how they've changed over a year and a half, what church body we want to be a part of, how I truly feel about being our family's "provider" financially. Still just taking a deep breath and trying to take it all in. Praying through what the Lord wants for our family now that we are back in Chico and what it's all supposed to look like.......in relationships, a house, a job for Peter, and raising a precious gift of a baby in the midst of it all.

Chico is my Hometown....

Today I soaked in the goodness of being back in Chico. Anna and I took a trip to Safeway to buy some yummy organic produce and enjoy their amazing customer service, we took a walk in the park with Megan and Andrew, took naps, made some soup, and made some yummy homemade whole wheat bread. I decided that from now on, I'm going to make all our bread. It's so easy! And, then I know exactly what is going in it. It turned out amazing. The best recipe I've found so far! I'll post it at the end of this post.

In news of the LeDuc's. I haven't posted in a while so there is a lot to catch up on......we are officially moved to Truckee. I am completely done working in Reno and my last day in Truckee at the hospital was Nov 1st. I will terribly miss that hospital. Talk about a cush job! They bring the nurses dinner at night, let us take naps, and not to mention the pay was out of this world! The patients were so nice, and really, not even remotely close to how sick of patient's I'm used to taking care of in Reno. So, my job was cush, plush, easy and just simply amazing. And, the staff was so nice to work with! Enough said, I will miss it!

In other news, I am back full time in the ER at Enloe as a RN. I'm super excited to get back into the ER. I'm used to working in an ER three times Enloe's size so I'm sure it'll be busy but not as crazy as I am used to. I love the variety of it, all age ranges. I love working closely with the Dr.'s and let's just be honest, the ER could always use a nurse that actually cares to work in it. So, I am the one for the job. I was nervous about getting my job at first because the nurse manager said she was overwhelmed with the number of applicants for the position. So, I wasn't banking on getting the job. Mid interview, she hired me on the spot after hearing I worked in the ER in Reno and have my trauma certification. I was elated! I'm nervous about going back to full time since I haven't worked full time since Anna came around but it'll be good for the time being. It is only 3 days a week after all.

Peter is still on the hunt for a job. He's applied to Aero Union and some farming company that manufactures farm equipment. The job market is beyond crappy, especially in Chico so we'll see what doors the Lord opens in that area. At least for now, he'll have some quality bonding time with Anna. Over our move, I had a birthday which was just simply amazing. We walked around downtown, got smoothies, did some birthday shopping, and had family dinner. We also attempted a trip to the pumpkin patch but they were closed. We did get some good pictures though, Anna was sooooo happy all day! A true birthday blessing.

Anna is such a happy baby! She loves to feed herself Cheerios, army crawl, take baths, follow the kitty around the house and so much more! We are offically out of the baby food stage which is so nice! She loves feeding herself anything she can eat. She's eating yogurt, chicken, all veggies, most fruits, cheerios, cheese, beans, and pasta.....Blueberries are currently a favorite along with peas and cheerios. She's getting really good at sitting up but would still prefer to crawl everywhere. She's also starting to pull up on things. It makes me nervous! It's definately baby proofing season and just when you do, it seems they find something that you forgot to baby proof. Amazing little things babies are! Oh yeah, she was a lamb for halloween and hated the hat. She kept pulling on the ears!

We are currently settled at Peter's parents house for now. Yes, how cool are we, living with parents again. It's a temporary thing to save some major money in the next couple months to use as a down on another house. At least that is the goal. Now is the time to buy. We already own one home and have rentors in it for the time being through July. So, come summer we have the option of moving back into our house. Right now we're thinking of fixing up a total dump and making it super cute or buying a foreclosure and moving into our next home and keeping our current house as a rental. So many options it's a little overwhelming. If we can't figure it out by Jan 1st. We'll go rent an apartment somewhere until we figure it all out. The beauty of it is that we have the time and so many options! We're just in the midst of praying for some clarity in which direction to go.

So, that is the update for now! I'll keep you all posted on what unfolds. Through it all, we are so blessed to be back with family and friends who love us. We are thankful we escaped the Truckee snow, and I know I am so thankful to have an amazing job, family, and in-laws that love us enough to let us live with them for the time being! So much to be thankful for! Yay Chico, it truly is my hometown!

Oh, I'll post some pictures later and....Here's the bread recipe!

Whole Wheat Bread

3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
4 T. vital wheat gluten
1/8 cup flax meal
1/2 cup applesauce
1 T. oil
2 T. honey
2 T. molasses
1 cup water plus 7/8 of a cup (3/4+1/8)
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp instant yeast

Select the 2 lb. setting on the breadmaker and the whole wheat setting. I chose a medium crust but next time I will chose a light crust. Because my loaf rose so much, it was a little doughy after baking in the machine so I just pulled it out of the bread maker pan and put it in the oven at 350 for 10 mintues and it came out perfect!