Restarting our Game

So, it's been a while on here. A lot of changes have happened, as they would over what, 3 years? I am a real serious blogger... well, I wasn't, but I am hoping to get back on here and share some adventures from what is happening in our lives.

In the voice of this blog, it's time to get back in to our enormous RPG. At first, I felt like we had lost a life and couldn't find a 1up to get back in or something. That's not what happened. In the past few years, we have been doing alright, but it started being a lot like Animal Crossing when you don't actually get in there and pull the weeds, talk to the animals, check for the furniture to complete your home. Life starting rushing by us between the boys in school, activities, me working full-time, Dustin working full-time, changing jobs, going back to school, working a second job, moving.... Yeah, I think you get the point. We finally started trying to get back in to our life, we opened the game back up, and we were overloaded with weeds and it felt like there were some animals that had moved from our town. There were some of our favorites. Maybe Julian the Unicorn? Yeah, I loved that guy. So, we came to a point where it was time to restart our game.

We got on the train again and talked to our little cat friend and chose to start completely fresh. Rename our town, make sure the layout was different, so it really felt new. IRL, we moved. We moved to another state. Not super far, but far enough that everything is new and different. Idaho has quickly become our home and we love it! Turns out, and we knew this when we hoped on the train, that some of those animals were already over in this new town. Both my brothers had made the move out here over the last year. We have missed them and their families a lot and it was time for that restart.

So far, we have been out in Meridian for a little over a month. It was quite a bit like Animal Crossing when we got here. We didn't have a place and felt like we were being sent all over the place to meet people and do odd jobs before we would have a place to call our own. For 2 weeks before the little guys and I move out there, Dustin was residing at my little brother's since he started his new job pretty quickly. He was hoping to find a home for us before we moved out here to join, however his job ended up being a bigger endeavor than we had expected. Just a bump in the journey. My brothers are both so gracious. When I moved out here with the kiddos, older brother and family housed the boys and Dustin and I were able to stay with the little brother. It felt like a week long slumber party and I was getting a bit restless. I finally went all in and had applications with about 5 different rentals just waiting to have someone say yes and have it available then. By the end of the week we got our first thumbs up. We took it, then got like 3 more calls... Oh well. We do love our place.

It's a cute townhouse quadplex. Great neighborhood, lots to walk to. When we first were moving out here we thought we had found the dance studio for Toby, and it was down the street. The school close by is rated super high and within walking distance. Things were looking a little too perfect. So, time to shake it up!

Dustin sent me a text about the time we had finally started moving in to our place with a link to an amazing dance studio right by my work (which is about 20 mins away from our home) that I instantly fell in love with. Toby felt the same as we started looking into it. As I was looking over all the different facets of the studio I stumbled upon a job posting. Here's where I shake things up. They were hiring an office manager and I figured that was definitely up my alley. The hours worked great with my schedule at Tmobile and, like I said, it was right by work. Literally across the street. So, I sent an app, interviewed and now will be working over there as well!!! Toby of course will be dancing there as well. This shouldn't seem that crazy, it should be just as perfect. However, I start there at 4, and schools out here do not get out until 3:55. WHAT!?

We have a pretty crazy schedule worked out that will be fine as long as Dustin doesn't have insane traffic from his drive home. We have a 9 month lease where we are at. So, this year, we're gonna make do! However, after this 9 months, we will be choosing a different location. Time to live by the all the things we do instead of down by the ocean (another Animal Crossing reference. It is my theme today). We will be shaking the trees, making crazy trades, and storing up as many bells as possible while we head through the next couple months. We have goals to be buying a house next year out here closer to my works and dance. The parkour gym is pretty close by to that area, as well, so it really should be nice.

Get ready to hear all about the ups and downs we have our work cut out for us on this new journey. My favorite part about tearing down the old town and starting fresh is that there are so many of your old friends that still show up in the new town! Sometimes to stay! Sometimes to just visit! It really makes the new environment really awesome. So, enjoy some fun shots from our adventures this summer and then keep reading for new updates and XP in the life of #teamburks.

Driving in to Idaho: this time not just to visit.

Took the cousins around Downtown Boise to learn all about Pokemon Go. 

Go the Keys to our place! The big white card is for the pool and gym!

The parks out here are AMAZING! and this trip with the cousins included the Walters visiting from Oregon <3 

First day at the new Call Center out here! They welcomed me with a desk fully decorated in Pokemon! and I wore my 503 Shirt... lol

Toby went back to Oregon for a camp, so Odin and I enjoyed a lot of Mom and Son time, so lunch date at Chikfila after some fun park exploring!

Toby was super stoked to get to go to Intensive Dance Camp with his dance friends back in Oregon to say goodbye and dance together, again! Thank you, Aunt Cati for keeping him for the week!

Coral and Grandma Elaine came to visit and I took them to the state Capital. We found a Representative with our last name! It was hyphenated, so we just used those Ward noggins to cover that right up.

Odin and I took Hannah rock climbing for a fun outing together! Odin is really excited to have his cousin doing Parkour with him this year!

He is such a monkey...

Got to do some fun game times before school started.

We were getting ready to go float the Boise River! Such a fun time! We will definitely be doing that quite a bit next summer.

And school starts out here about 2 weeks before Salem... First day of 3rd grade for this guy!

First day of 4th grade for this one. Where did the time go?

Overwhelmed by Time Management

Epic story adventures, I feel, are a tad notorious to have large moments of time pass in a very short amount of text. This summer I read The Hobbit to my boys and it was hard to believe how much time went by in the "short" story. But, in life it is quite the same. You start moving and living in the fast pace of time and once you sit back and track the time, you can be quite amazed how much has gone by. That is exactly where I have been for the last 10 or so months.

Epic story into real quick version: I found myself a full time job and jumped feet first into a whirlwind of adventure as I tried to become career mom. It has taken me around 9 months to actually settle in to all my roles, but I think I am getting there. So, back to blogging!

What Boss Levels have I been faced with lately in RPG of life? Time Management. Wish I had some really cool tool to link you to that would be the Magic Genie of Time Management and be your 3 click guide to making life super easy! I would love an app for that. Unfortunately, even the coolest of apps that I do use have not been able to do what I need. Turns out, self discipline is something you just have to learn and practice. You cannot just technology it into perfection. What can you do, then?

Well, I have learned that Coffee is pretty much the answer to everything. It has been the magic elixir to my insane life. It gives me an energy boost and restores my overwhelmed being. Whether I hit up the local coffee shop (the Target Starbucks in Keizer Station is the best coffee in the area) or I remember to brew at home, taking those few minutes to relax and remember the simple things in life has been a good refocus moment for me. I cannot balance everything I want or need to do, but I can make sure to keep going and do the things I have to do. I have to go to work, and I have to be there for my family. All those other great adventures, they sometimes just have to wait. But, this Level Up in life is beginning to be a little more clear and is becoming easier and easier. Next time I may have even gained some XP.

Staying in the Game

There have been a lack of Blogs from me for a little too long. Here's the deal: My stats were pathetic...

After starting the game of Middle Class we found ourselves beating every beginning level thrown our way. Like. a. Boss. XP went through the roof! Ever done that? Almost every game I play I find myself leveling up super fast. It's the best. Each level beat, you are refilled on your HP! and SP! (health and stamina) That's exactly how I came at Middle Class.

Boom, kids in Dance Class.

Boom, buy a car.

Boom, buy a house.

Boom, etc, etc.

This family went from level 1 to 10 practically overnight! Through the roof!!

Well, like all awesome games we love, the levels start getting harder. Perseverance is the key, so they say. We continued in our quest. Tobias started kindergarten.

We went the route of Charter School. All of us love it. A wonderful group of students, staff and parents. I joined the PTC and found myself with 100 Parent XP and I am volunteering at least once a week, let's go with another 100 Parent XP. I rock. That attitude that just was shared there definitely seeps through me a little too much and I'm pretty sure I drive his teacher bonkers. She works with my mother at her other school and has made comments about "Tobias" that I am pretty sure are guided straight to me. "I don't want him to think he's smarter than everyone else". Yeah, that's a low blow to me. I'm the one who knows he's smarter than everyone else. It's a pride issue.

I wish that being an awesome, involved mom was all it took to keep me leveling up through the land of Middle Class. Yet, social and economical classes are indeed both social AND economical. That's what has kept me from blogging and what has changed my voice on here, as well. After a pretty packed and fun summer, I came back to work and had our salaries cut just about in half. "Kicked out of the game". I knew that was what just happened. It drained all my energy. My life meter was instantly emptied. The screen went black and the large letters "GAME OVER" haunted my husband and I. Bowser's deep haunting laugh as his reptile skull and cross bones echoed in our mind's eye taunted me. We were beat.

So, the quest to 1UP at just the right time to have the XP we needed to stay in the game has started. I found myself back working at Dairy Queen, which has always been a Godsend to keep my family surviving. The work is not my favorite, the pay doesn't keep us passing levels at extreme rates, but it has definitely been the saving grace to keep us from going completely under. Also, the hours are perfect to allow me to still be in working with those Kinders! I just need to not take every opportunity at work to slip out early that presents itself!

The economical side has presented it's struggles. Nothing we can't overcome, just a huge headache. I mean, we are in a very stagnate level of the game, but I have been out looking for job "raids". I present all that I can carry in my pockets and hope that I have the right combination of supplies to be chosen. That journey will continue...

While I wait in the Marketplace, once again, I decided to focus on some of the "social" XP needed in Middle Class. Boom, read a book. This Christmas I asked for a grownup book. (I am limited, in my mind, to Young Adult Fiction when exploring the library.) I have not read a lot of adult literature, other than a few Biographies here and there. But, when it comes to reading, my favorite books are the Harry Potter series, so I stick to those and others in that genre, meaning Children's Fantasies. Love them. But, J.K.Rowling did branch out to write for an older audience, so I took the dare and asked for her new book The Casual Vacancy.

It took me a couple weeks to read it. Long book+no time=2 weeks of reading. Monday night I finished the last pages and... sigh. So. Depressing. Here's a quick review from a Level 1 Grownup Reading Reviewer: The Casual Vacancy is a very British book. If you have not grown up on BritComs, I feel the book would come across very dull and disconnected at times. Yet, each page I read, I was taken to many of BBC shows and movies I have watched since a young age. There was a strange sense of comfort in the familiarity that it brought to me. But, then Rowling would use word choices that also made me go "Hmm, this is very British". I'm sure it was "necessary" to the story line, but the foul language was a bit much, and the detailed encounters made me uneasy and embarrassed. I tended to skip a few pages to fast forward to the parts that were not so crude. Beyond the crudeness, there was a story that broke my heart and made me want to read on to find the justice that must be lurking at the end. Unfortunately, no said justice waited for me, and I came away saddened and fearing the lack of humanity being shown through the pages. 

When it all comes down it, I think there are parts of Middle Class that I won't try to emulate in my own life. I am going to stick with Young Adult Fiction, specifically fantasy or happy endings. I got the XP to maybe boost my stats a little in the book club circles, but that's not the skills I will be sharpening up. Right now our journey is going to be focused on the Economical Skills we need to help us get back in the game. I just hope we have enough Extra Lives to keep us afloat until we have the strength to push on. 

Level Up

Up until now, my quests in Middle Class have been so minor. Mainly, just diving into the social networking lands and making my tiny mark in Blogger Land. I have learned that DIY projects are hip, and if you can come up with the coolest, most unique, awesome thing out there, you can land yourself title of Master of Blogging. I am not there, yet. That status symbol is way beyond my capabilities and XP. But, as a part of Middle Class, I have found myself leveling up to a whole new level, which does open some awesome new worlds that I cannot wait to master! What world have I opened up?...


Home Owner!

New Home Sweet Home! Blessing XP: more than imaginable.

We didn't get here all on our own, and we Praise God and thank everyone who helped us get here! Talk about a guild full of skilled and experienced people on our side. and We won't be jumping into this level on our own, either. Mom and Dad will be joining us hopefully next weekend and Dustin and I will get to do our best to bless them as they adjust to all the new things life will be bringing them. 


It feels huge to level up right now! But we are excited! and this means that my blog will get to start looking into our remodeling and decorating and maybe I'll even learn to cook. What a world of adventures this already has been!

Lower Middle Class Family Level 2

The Marketplace

In any good RPG, there is an amazing place called the "Marketplace". 


(let's be honest here, I don't actually know that for sure, but with playing Lego Harry Potter and watching others play Zelda and such, I assume I am making a correct statement. And, for the sake of my blog post, we're going to own that.)


As a blogger, the best Marketplace right now is Pinterest and I cannot get enough of it. This is the part of the game that may not really gain me any experience, but it gives me "coins" of ideas that seem to break free from each "box"! Every picture that I see seems to be the door to the next adventure! The quest that I am made for! But, unfortunately, many times I find what I want and realize that I do not have enough experience to journey further. Or, I find that I do not possess the right skills to unlock the door and raid on! That is why it is VITAL to get yourself in with a guild and make sure those players are more advance than you, and are willing to go quest and bring you back the goods.


My guild leader? Big Sister (don't know what she wants to go by...) We were fully engaged in the marketplace together and ran across the most adorable thing ever!

The artist did the entire alphabet! I fell in love! I wanted to embark on this journey to take these wonderful images and turn them into a piece of art for my kiddos' bedroom. This is where I find that I am absolutely unequipped to take this mission on. The door is locked, my creativity meter does not hold enough skills for me to take this on. Fearless guild leader? HELP! 


She was up for the challenge!

This banner is beyond my skill level! But she had everything she needed! Both my boys LOVE it!! And honestly, I was able to glean so much knowledge and confidence that you should be seeing many more blogs brought to you by the Marketplace/Pinterest. So much fun to be unlocked! and more skills to be leveled up!


Humility XP 100
Creativity, by assistance XP 100
Happy Kids XP Unmeasurable

Crafting and Savings XP

During our ventures in "Low Income" we found our favorite level to play was "Bargain Shopping". We found ourselves getting so good that we just replayed the level over and over trying to top out our last High Score. Any one who has ever been to my house knows that we have become pros (especially around Target...). Find anything you like and chances are 75% off at Target! And, we don't just buy nonsense, we pick things out that we love/need and watch them like a hawk to go down on price. If it doesn't make it, we don't get it. As we advanced to the New World (Lower Middle Class) we also opened up new Levels to start "Bargain Shopping" through. Fred Myers has made it on our list today (hahaha).

Here's the thing with this level, the bad guys trying to bring you down are all those cool things that are new and full price and awesome and you can't live without them for even a moment longer. When you master the Level, such as we have at Target, you know their system. You can say no to the higher price tag and convince yourself that it will go down. But, a new Level, such as Freddy's for us, you don't know for sure it's going down. AND, there are a bunch of new things you have never seen before and they bombard you like those stinkin' Orcs in the Mines of Moria. Too many to handle!!! The Orc that I cannot defeat is called a Smash Book Video Clip of my Orc There are days I begged Dustin to take us to Fred Myers just so I can look at the display and spend way too much time trying to come up with as many excuses as possible as to why I HAVE to get one. My energy gets drained and Dustin eventually has to just KO one of his own in order to at least tap out of the level before it takes me completely.

So, I went home and thought to myself, what is it about this thing that I just have to have? What I found is that I love the different papers!! and the concept behind the relaxed scrapbook that goes with you everywhere. That's when it hit me, I can just make that on my own! I have tons of scrapbook papers! How hard could it be?

Recycled old Text Book Turned into my Very Own "Smash Book"

Answer is? Not hard at all. Time Consuming? Yes? Hard? No. And the cost involved? Not a penny out of my pocket (well, some of the stuff I bought before, but it's just around the house).

Step 1: Find a book. I had an old text book I had taken from work off the free bin.
Step 2: Rip out pages periodically throughout the book to give it room to add more pages in along with everything I want to scrap! Next, staple a few pages together (I choose 3 pages) to make the pages a little thicker.
Step 3: Cover book. I used a grocery bag to give me the brown paper look and used clear duct tape to make sure it would stay covered.
Step 4: Cut scrapbook papers to the size of pages from the book (measuring the cut out pages was the best way to find out how big I should cut down my paper) and glue onto stapled pages in book! You can add stickers and embellishments as desired!
Step 5: Enjoy your homemade and unique scrapbook that you can take everywhere and be hip and trendy.

Crafting XP: 50
Savings XP: 150

What my book has done for me: Given me something to do while my Packers were losing the game yesterday so I would stop yelling at the tv, help me use up a bunch of scrapbooking stuff that has just been sitting in my cupboard, and given me the Savings XP that I needed to boost me up to the next level at Freddy's and provide me with the skills I needed to say no to buying something at full price. Will I still want to buy some of the cool extras that are also on display with the Smash Books? Heck yes, I will! But, they are only a few dollars, verses the $15 I just said no to! This Boss has been defeated! and I can journey through Moria at ease knowing exactly how to fight off those awful Orcs.

How Our Journey Begins

A little over 6 years ago (6 years, 1 month, and 4 days) our family began. Marriage was a Quest Dustin and I were more than happy to spend as long as we could Leveling Up and Collecting as many Experience Points as we possibly could before we added to the family.

Love: 143 XP

Parenting: 100 XP LEVEL Up

Within 2 1/2 years, our family had doubled in size. Although Marriage is a constant adventure, brand new Quests were "born" and our focus went from XP with each other to XP with the kiddos.

Parenting: 200 XP LEVEL Up

We decided that I would start these little guys off with me staying home and getting by as a single income family. It was at this time that we began to realize that "Middle Class" was a mythical land that was miles and miles away from our reality. We embraced what we had and worked towards getting all the XP we could.






Eventually, our pushing-on paid off and we found ourselves getting to the Boss Level in our World of "Lower Class". The fight was hard, and it felt like we may have lost a few too many of our Extra Lifes. Our Happy meter was hit pretty hard, but once that Boss was dead and we found ourselves unlocking this new world, BAM! we were ready.


2012 is our year to finally really start this trek. As we start at "Lower Middle Class" and work on Leveling up all areas we can in order to get to "Upper Middle Class" we really do find ourselves in a mythical world that we only dreamed about. Bills are still hard to pay, work is still demanding, kids are still little punks. But, we are able to breathe a little more and find the fun in cutting corners with our budget, make all those cool things we love out there but can't afford, try new recipes that call for ingredients that we don't already have in the house, etc. First thing for me to do, though? Start a blog. All Middle Class Moms have a blog. It's a staple. So, get ready for all our adventures as we gain XP, go on Quests, and Nerd it up on the interweb.


                 This is:

Our Journey Thru Middle Class

Lower Middle Class Level 1 Family