Love that little Tess, and all the rest of them! Thanks for writing Kris! Glad to hear things are going great. Sure love you guys!
On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 4:00 PM, Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com> wrote:
Cannot wait to meet this growing little Tess! So glad you guys took a chance and had her. Wish I could have been there for the ordering of the meals!
On Monday, October 26, 2015, Rosey <roseybassett@gmail.com> wrote:Kris, your letters are just so fun to read! I really do enjoy them. Thanks so much for writing. I sure miss you all so much!
Sent from my iPhoneFall has finally flung in Texas! It was nearly 100 dgs every day until Saturday, it was so hot. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like being cold, but 100 dgs into late October? That was pushing it! On Saturday we had historic rainful of 10+ inches! We didn't have anywhere we had to be (well, we did but everything got cancelled), so we were able to spend the day cozied up inside making muffins, playing games, and, yes, watching movies! It was really nice to have such a slow paced day. Blaine had to do a little work, but that was our own fault since he had basically taken Friday off :)Thursday night at midnight found Blaine and I in our usual "oh shoot, it's our kids birthday tomorrow" scramble! We always like to have a banner and balloons up for the big day, yet we somehow don't ever really think about it until really late at night. I had given it a cursory thought earlier and thought we still had balloons left from Bentley's bday. Midnight came and I learned I was wrong. And I was also SO TIRED! Blaine was the hero of the night as he hung up the banners and wrapped the gifts for me. I knew I was taking an emotional withdrawal as I pathetically listened from the comfort of my bed.I think Gwen had a nice birthday. I made crepes for breakfast, which she loved. Blaine and I met up with her for lunch at school, which she also loved (mostly because Blaine spoiled her rotten by bringing her candy, soda and all manner of deliciousness to add to her lunch), after school she did a service project with some friends (with a group organized by the school), and for dinner we all went out together to Kerbey Lane Cafe, an Austin Classic. It was so cute to watch the kids order their kids meals! The most expensive one was $5 but most were around $3, so in a rare episode of generosity we let them each choose their own kids meal. Kerbey Lane specializes in breakfast but has a lot of other options too. Gwen choose grilled cheese (after making sure it wasn't American cheese, but REAL cheese), Ivy choose a PBJ with strawberries (okay, that was hard for me, who goes to a restaurant and orders a PBJ??? She basically ordered what I make her for lunch every single day), And Ben was the most fun as he ordered a breakfast platter. It was just sweet to see what they each wanted and how they ordered it. Ben's had the most choices to make and he seriously pondered over each one. I loved it. Tess opted for the free banana I had brought in my purse :)At the end of the meal our nice waitress asked if it would be okay to bring cake for Gwen "on the house", I said sure. Turns out she brought us three huge delicious pieces of chocolate cake, we couldn't even finish it all (which is really impressive if you know us at all!).
For her birthday Gwen got a new dress, a dayplanner, a book about lettering, and a little kit for making glitter tattoos (gasp!). Along with money from Mom and Dad! My mom was cute and sent her some money and a recipe to make Glorified Cheez-Its. Glorified Cheez-its, in the manner of all things my mom, takes something really really good, and somehow makes it even better. It's some wild concoction of cheez-its, butter, parmesan cheese, and ranch seasoning. We all love them and she shipped some to Ben for his birthday but that cost quite a lot to ship, so Gwen got the recipe and some cash to buy the ingredients :)Tess is just getting cuter and cuter. We really wish we could freeze her just how she is. She is at SUCH a fun age! I am so glad mom and Jane will get to be around her for a week. She's hilarious! She is now parroting a lot of what we say. This was evidenced today when I was putting ingredients in the crock pot and found I didn't have any black beans "dang it!" I said, and now all day Tess is walking around "dang it dang it dang it!" Gotta start being more careful with what I say!Also, somehow this weekend she has matured from calling me mama, to mom. And not like a cute, happy, "mom!", she sounds like an annoyed and impatient teenager "MOM. MOM! MOOOOOOM! MOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!" All day every day. It's still kind of funny and cute for now, but borderline a little too skunky for comfort.Blaine also says he has heard her say "Mine" quite a few times. Yikes. But intermiexed with all the terrible two stuff blossoming there is sure a lot of sweet. We all just sat in a circle around her the other day as she toddled from person to person, gave each of us a sweet hug while saying our names "Bahhhhn" "I-VY" "Nen" she gives sweet little pats on your back while she hugs you. I could melt from the cutenenss.She also uses "out" and "hot" and "cute" all appropriately. She things every outfit she owns is "CUTE!" so when I put away laundry she will just exclaim "CUTE!" "CUUUUUTE!" ha ha.Gosh, I just love her. More than with any of the other kids I just marvel at how easily she just... could have never happened. I had my fill with three kids. I was done. And then we just said "well...maybe" and that maybe turned in to Tess and I just don't even want to think about my life without her! Of course, this logic could get you in to a lot of trouble, because you could wind up with a thousand kids. We have to acknowledge our limits too. As cute and fun as she is right now, the two years proceeding now were really, really hard, almost threw in the towel a couple times. So we are just trying to enjoy every moment with Tess and we are so grateful that we took a chance, and bit off more than we could chew. Our life may be chaotic and crazy, but she added just the right sweetness to our lives that we needed!Oh, and yesterday marked the end of the $100 challenge for Gwen! You'll all be happy to know that she earned the full $100, we had the most peaceful month of our whole parenting lives. Now I am left trying to figure out what I can do to keep the good vibes going, without breaking the bank!Well, I am off, Jillian Michael's waits for no one!Love,KrisTuesday, October 27, 2015
Re: Love from Mom
When Rosey and I found out where mom had been after we all had left the temple, I felt like Rosey and I were Mary and Joseph looking for Christ and they found him in the temple. Mom could have said to us when we found her,"And she said unto us, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Mother's business?"Love you honey. Thanks for writing...On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 9:35 AM, Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com> wrote:Good sum up to the week mom! I couldn't agree with you more on the wedding. When I was little and would see movies with weddings I thought how beautiful they were and how fun to have all the bridesmaids and groomsmen.....the temple just seemed kind of boring. I'm so grateful to have exactly the opposite feelings now! I love the temple and grateful for eternal marriages. I hope they make it there in a year too!Thanks for sharing.
On Sunday, October 25, 2015, Wendy Bassett <wendy.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Family,
October is passing quickly. It's been a full week with an even fuller weekend! Here are some highlights. Since this will be my journal entry for the week, it may have TMI. Feel free to skim.
Wednesday afternoon I went to Radiant Research for my second visit and shot. I am in a study that investigates the effectiveness of a flu shot and a shingles shot together vs. separately. I earn $100 for each visit - not bad for 30 minutes! I do a total of three visits and I receive the shots for free. I think it's a good study. (Dad's not so sure)
Wednesday evening was our stake conference temple night. Dad went straight from work and we met there and ate dinner in the temple cafeteria before our session. Our chapel meeting was after the session with a nice message from the Temple president. Then, since we were in separate cars, I decided to stop and see grandma on the way home. It was about 9:45 pm but I knew she would still be up. I intended to be quick but we got visiting and I didn't get home until about 10:20, only to find a note that dad and Rosey had gone out looking for me. They were so worried that I had never made it home. They had tried calling but since I had left my phone in the car at grandmas I didn't get the call. I quickly got a hold of them but felt bad I had been inconsiderate. What a nice family to look out for me. Sorry again.
Thursday after work I wanted to attend a back pain seminar from 6-7 that my boss, Wade, was presenting. Funny story. I got home from work around 5:40 and since I was going to turn around and leave again I wanted to make sure dad was okay with that. When I asked him what he had planned for the evening he said it was fine if I left and that he was just going to work on the marriage thing. Suddenly I was wondering if he is referring to "our"marriage and I was thinking I should probably be around if he wanted to work on it. Come to find out, he meant the Tanner and Jackie marriage that he would be officiating on Saturday! We had a good laugh.
It was definitely a wedding weekend. Friday night Ashleigh, Kacey (who drove 20 hours to attend this wedding) and Brittany hosted a wedding dinner/shower for Jackie at Sid and Stephanie's home. Tasty dinner and a couple games. Kacey loves games!
Friday night dad and I face-timed Gwen on her 11th birthday. I still cannot believe she is so old! We loved getting to watch her open her gift and card with $$$.
Saturday morning the Winder aunts and grandma hosted a bridal shower for Alana at Yorgason's home. We had a great turnout and it was fun to see how excited not only Alana is, but also JaNae. No games, lots of food and visiting.
Saturday night was the Tanner/Jackie wedding at Thanksgiving Point. The venue was nice. Brittany had done some beautiful decorations. Dad did a great job officiating. There were probably 80-100 in attendance for the ceremony and about the same people for the reception that was in a room across the hall. Although Jackie's mom and step dad and some sisters were there, I gathered this event was all thrown by Kent and Liz. They served soup (from Harmons) and cheese balls and Janey had made over 400 cookies. And they served the cake and also had a cute table with all manner of Hershey's gold and silver wrapped chocolates. They ended with dancing and a sparkler send off. Nice evening. Oh and Kacey had made the cutest flower girl dressed that her four girls and little Charlotte wore. It was lovely but nothing matches the temple. Hopefully in a year!!
Dad and I came home from that and watched poor University of Utah get trounced in football. Dad had taped it so we could fast forward the game. Sad since the U has been ranked so high!
If you're still with me, one more thing. (Sorry - this is my journal entry for the week). I visit teach Biljana. About a week ago, after hearing there were lots of FBI and police cars at her house early one morning, I took her muffins and asked if she wanted to talk about it. She said she didn't but she was very nice and grateful to me for checking in on her and we visited and it sounded like things were okay. I made an appointment to visit teach her this past Friday. When she answered the door on Friday she was sobbing and couldn't talk for several minutes. My visit turned into several hours as I learned that her son Dejon, who is Max's age, had just been taken to jail that morning, just before I arrived. I'll tell you right now that I still don't know what he did and I really don't think Biljana knows. (And if she does, she is not saying.). As she cried and we sat in silence (except for sobs), I had plenty of time to pray in my mind and wonder what on earth I could say to help calm her down. She was sad, she was angry, she was bitter and she felt very, very hopeless. I shared thoughts on everything from faith, hope and charity to the atonement, to "hanging it on the Lord's hook". After an hour or so she was able to talk more and get feelings out. After two hours I asked if I could close with a thought (see VT message on charity this month) and a prayer. We ended with a beautiful spirit and I felt the Lord blessing me as I was there. I visited her again yesterday and she was doing much better. I'm praying for them.
Today was our YSA stake conference. Rosey sang in the choir that was so beautiful. Our visiting authority was Elder John Pingree Jr. and I loved his remarks.
Today we fasted for Warner who takes his test on Friday. As hard as fasting is, it certainly brings a sweet spirit into the home. Then tonight everyone except B&K came to dinner, even Max from Provo. I cooked a roast ($2.49/lb Kris!) and mashed potatoes and Janey made rolls and tasty pumpkin sugar cookies that we rationed. Yum! Everything tastes better after fasting.
Ponderizing scripture is Alma 7:11. I love the scriptures.
And I love all of you!
Mom
Sent from my iPad
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Bret Bassett - PMP | International Product Manager |
4268 Sherm Circle West Valley City UT. 84120
Home: 801.968-0760 | Cell: 801.815.5860 | bretbassett@gmail.com
Monday, October 26, 2015
Re: Quick Update
Cannot wait to meet this growing little Tess! So glad you guys took a chance and had her. Wish I could have been there for the ordering of the meals!
On Monday, October 26, 2015, Rosey <roseybassett@gmail.com> wrote:Kris, your letters are just so fun to read! I really do enjoy them. Thanks so much for writing. I sure miss you all so much!
Sent from my iPhoneFall has finally flung in Texas! It was nearly 100 dgs every day until Saturday, it was so hot. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like being cold, but 100 dgs into late October? That was pushing it! On Saturday we had historic rainful of 10+ inches! We didn't have anywhere we had to be (well, we did but everything got cancelled), so we were able to spend the day cozied up inside making muffins, playing games, and, yes, watching movies! It was really nice to have such a slow paced day. Blaine had to do a little work, but that was our own fault since he had basically taken Friday off :)Thursday night at midnight found Blaine and I in our usual "oh shoot, it's our kids birthday tomorrow" scramble! We always like to have a banner and balloons up for the big day, yet we somehow don't ever really think about it until really late at night. I had given it a cursory thought earlier and thought we still had balloons left from Bentley's bday. Midnight came and I learned I was wrong. And I was also SO TIRED! Blaine was the hero of the night as he hung up the banners and wrapped the gifts for me. I knew I was taking an emotional withdrawal as I pathetically listened from the comfort of my bed.I think Gwen had a nice birthday. I made crepes for breakfast, which she loved. Blaine and I met up with her for lunch at school, which she also loved (mostly because Blaine spoiled her rotten by bringing her candy, soda and all manner of deliciousness to add to her lunch), after school she did a service project with some friends (with a group organized by the school), and for dinner we all went out together to Kerbey Lane Cafe, an Austin Classic. It was so cute to watch the kids order their kids meals! The most expensive one was $5 but most were around $3, so in a rare episode of generosity we let them each choose their own kids meal. Kerbey Lane specializes in breakfast but has a lot of other options too. Gwen choose grilled cheese (after making sure it wasn't American cheese, but REAL cheese), Ivy choose a PBJ with strawberries (okay, that was hard for me, who goes to a restaurant and orders a PBJ??? She basically ordered what I make her for lunch every single day), And Ben was the most fun as he ordered a breakfast platter. It was just sweet to see what they each wanted and how they ordered it. Ben's had the most choices to make and he seriously pondered over each one. I loved it. Tess opted for the free banana I had brought in my purse :)At the end of the meal our nice waitress asked if it would be okay to bring cake for Gwen "on the house", I said sure. Turns out she brought us three huge delicious pieces of chocolate cake, we couldn't even finish it all (which is really impressive if you know us at all!).
For her birthday Gwen got a new dress, a dayplanner, a book about lettering, and a little kit for making glitter tattoos (gasp!). Along with money from Mom and Dad! My mom was cute and sent her some money and a recipe to make Glorified Cheez-Its. Glorified Cheez-its, in the manner of all things my mom, takes something really really good, and somehow makes it even better. It's some wild concoction of cheez-its, butter, parmesan cheese, and ranch seasoning. We all love them and she shipped some to Ben for his birthday but that cost quite a lot to ship, so Gwen got the recipe and some cash to buy the ingredients :)Tess is just getting cuter and cuter. We really wish we could freeze her just how she is. She is at SUCH a fun age! I am so glad mom and Jane will get to be around her for a week. She's hilarious! She is now parroting a lot of what we say. This was evidenced today when I was putting ingredients in the crock pot and found I didn't have any black beans "dang it!" I said, and now all day Tess is walking around "dang it dang it dang it!" Gotta start being more careful with what I say!Also, somehow this weekend she has matured from calling me mama, to mom. And not like a cute, happy, "mom!", she sounds like an annoyed and impatient teenager "MOM. MOM! MOOOOOOM! MOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!" All day every day. It's still kind of funny and cute for now, but borderline a little too skunky for comfort.Blaine also says he has heard her say "Mine" quite a few times. Yikes. But intermiexed with all the terrible two stuff blossoming there is sure a lot of sweet. We all just sat in a circle around her the other day as she toddled from person to person, gave each of us a sweet hug while saying our names "Bahhhhn" "I-VY" "Nen" she gives sweet little pats on your back while she hugs you. I could melt from the cutenenss.She also uses "out" and "hot" and "cute" all appropriately. She things every outfit she owns is "CUTE!" so when I put away laundry she will just exclaim "CUTE!" "CUUUUUTE!" ha ha.Gosh, I just love her. More than with any of the other kids I just marvel at how easily she just... could have never happened. I had my fill with three kids. I was done. And then we just said "well...maybe" and that maybe turned in to Tess and I just don't even want to think about my life without her! Of course, this logic could get you in to a lot of trouble, because you could wind up with a thousand kids. We have to acknowledge our limits too. As cute and fun as she is right now, the two years proceeding now were really, really hard, almost threw in the towel a couple times. So we are just trying to enjoy every moment with Tess and we are so grateful that we took a chance, and bit off more than we could chew. Our life may be chaotic and crazy, but she added just the right sweetness to our lives that we needed!Oh, and yesterday marked the end of the $100 challenge for Gwen! You'll all be happy to know that she earned the full $100, we had the most peaceful month of our whole parenting lives. Now I am left trying to figure out what I can do to keep the good vibes going, without breaking the bank!Well, I am off, Jillian Michael's waits for no one!Love,KrisRe: Quick Update
Kris, your letters are just so fun to read! I really do enjoy them. Thanks so much for writing. I sure miss you all so much!
Sent from my iPhoneFall has finally flung in Texas! It was nearly 100 dgs every day until Saturday, it was so hot. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like being cold, but 100 dgs into late October? That was pushing it! On Saturday we had historic rainful of 10+ inches! We didn't have anywhere we had to be (well, we did but everything got cancelled), so we were able to spend the day cozied up inside making muffins, playing games, and, yes, watching movies! It was really nice to have such a slow paced day. Blaine had to do a little work, but that was our own fault since he had basically taken Friday off :)Thursday night at midnight found Blaine and I in our usual "oh shoot, it's our kids birthday tomorrow" scramble! We always like to have a banner and balloons up for the big day, yet we somehow don't ever really think about it until really late at night. I had given it a cursory thought earlier and thought we still had balloons left from Bentley's bday. Midnight came and I learned I was wrong. And I was also SO TIRED! Blaine was the hero of the night as he hung up the banners and wrapped the gifts for me. I knew I was taking an emotional withdrawal as I pathetically listened from the comfort of my bed.I think Gwen had a nice birthday. I made crepes for breakfast, which she loved. Blaine and I met up with her for lunch at school, which she also loved (mostly because Blaine spoiled her rotten by bringing her candy, soda and all manner of deliciousness to add to her lunch), after school she did a service project with some friends (with a group organized by the school), and for dinner we all went out together to Kerbey Lane Cafe, an Austin Classic. It was so cute to watch the kids order their kids meals! The most expensive one was $5 but most were around $3, so in a rare episode of generosity we let them each choose their own kids meal. Kerbey Lane specializes in breakfast but has a lot of other options too. Gwen choose grilled cheese (after making sure it wasn't American cheese, but REAL cheese), Ivy choose a PBJ with strawberries (okay, that was hard for me, who goes to a restaurant and orders a PBJ??? She basically ordered what I make her for lunch every single day), And Ben was the most fun as he ordered a breakfast platter. It was just sweet to see what they each wanted and how they ordered it. Ben's had the most choices to make and he seriously pondered over each one. I loved it. Tess opted for the free banana I had brought in my purse :)At the end of the meal our nice waitress asked if it would be okay to bring cake for Gwen "on the house", I said sure. Turns out she brought us three huge delicious pieces of chocolate cake, we couldn't even finish it all (which is really impressive if you know us at all!).
For her birthday Gwen got a new dress, a dayplanner, a book about lettering, and a little kit for making glitter tattoos (gasp!). Along with money from Mom and Dad! My mom was cute and sent her some money and a recipe to make Glorified Cheez-Its. Glorified Cheez-its, in the manner of all things my mom, takes something really really good, and somehow makes it even better. It's some wild concoction of cheez-its, butter, parmesan cheese, and ranch seasoning. We all love them and she shipped some to Ben for his birthday but that cost quite a lot to ship, so Gwen got the recipe and some cash to buy the ingredients :)Tess is just getting cuter and cuter. We really wish we could freeze her just how she is. She is at SUCH a fun age! I am so glad mom and Jane will get to be around her for a week. She's hilarious! She is now parroting a lot of what we say. This was evidenced today when I was putting ingredients in the crock pot and found I didn't have any black beans "dang it!" I said, and now all day Tess is walking around "dang it dang it dang it!" Gotta start being more careful with what I say!Also, somehow this weekend she has matured from calling me mama, to mom. And not like a cute, happy, "mom!", she sounds like an annoyed and impatient teenager "MOM. MOM! MOOOOOOM! MOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!" All day every day. It's still kind of funny and cute for now, but borderline a little too skunky for comfort.Blaine also says he has heard her say "Mine" quite a few times. Yikes. But intermiexed with all the terrible two stuff blossoming there is sure a lot of sweet. We all just sat in a circle around her the other day as she toddled from person to person, gave each of us a sweet hug while saying our names "Bahhhhn" "I-VY" "Nen" she gives sweet little pats on your back while she hugs you. I could melt from the cutenenss.She also uses "out" and "hot" and "cute" all appropriately. She things every outfit she owns is "CUTE!" so when I put away laundry she will just exclaim "CUTE!" "CUUUUUTE!" ha ha.Gosh, I just love her. More than with any of the other kids I just marvel at how easily she just... could have never happened. I had my fill with three kids. I was done. And then we just said "well...maybe" and that maybe turned in to Tess and I just don't even want to think about my life without her! Of course, this logic could get you in to a lot of trouble, because you could wind up with a thousand kids. We have to acknowledge our limits too. As cute and fun as she is right now, the two years proceeding now were really, really hard, almost threw in the towel a couple times. So we are just trying to enjoy every moment with Tess and we are so grateful that we took a chance, and bit off more than we could chew. Our life may be chaotic and crazy, but she added just the right sweetness to our lives that we needed!Oh, and yesterday marked the end of the $100 challenge for Gwen! You'll all be happy to know that she earned the full $100, we had the most peaceful month of our whole parenting lives. Now I am left trying to figure out what I can do to keep the good vibes going, without breaking the bank!Well, I am off, Jillian Michael's waits for no one!Love,KrisQuick Update
Fall has finally flung in Texas! It was nearly 100 dgs every day until Saturday, it was so hot. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't like being cold, but 100 dgs into late October? That was pushing it! On Saturday we had historic rainful of 10+ inches! We didn't have anywhere we had to be (well, we did but everything got cancelled), so we were able to spend the day cozied up inside making muffins, playing games, and, yes, watching movies! It was really nice to have such a slow paced day. Blaine had to do a little work, but that was our own fault since he had basically taken Friday off :)Thursday night at midnight found Blaine and I in our usual "oh shoot, it's our kids birthday tomorrow" scramble! We always like to have a banner and balloons up for the big day, yet we somehow don't ever really think about it until really late at night. I had given it a cursory thought earlier and thought we still had balloons left from Bentley's bday. Midnight came and I learned I was wrong. And I was also SO TIRED! Blaine was the hero of the night as he hung up the banners and wrapped the gifts for me. I knew I was taking an emotional withdrawal as I pathetically listened from the comfort of my bed.I think Gwen had a nice birthday. I made crepes for breakfast, which she loved. Blaine and I met up with her for lunch at school, which she also loved (mostly because Blaine spoiled her rotten by bringing her candy, soda and all manner of deliciousness to add to her lunch), after school she did a service project with some friends (with a group organized by the school), and for dinner we all went out together to Kerbey Lane Cafe, an Austin Classic. It was so cute to watch the kids order their kids meals! The most expensive one was $5 but most were around $3, so in a rare episode of generosity we let them each choose their own kids meal. Kerbey Lane specializes in breakfast but has a lot of other options too. Gwen choose grilled cheese (after making sure it wasn't American cheese, but REAL cheese), Ivy choose a PBJ with strawberries (okay, that was hard for me, who goes to a restaurant and orders a PBJ??? She basically ordered what I make her for lunch every single day), And Ben was the most fun as he ordered a breakfast platter. It was just sweet to see what they each wanted and how they ordered it. Ben's had the most choices to make and he seriously pondered over each one. I loved it. Tess opted for the free banana I had brought in my purse :)At the end of the meal our nice waitress asked if it would be okay to bring cake for Gwen "on the house", I said sure. Turns out she brought us three huge delicious pieces of chocolate cake, we couldn't even finish it all (which is really impressive if you know us at all!).
For her birthday Gwen got a new dress, a dayplanner, a book about lettering, and a little kit for making glitter tattoos (gasp!). Along with money from Mom and Dad! My mom was cute and sent her some money and a recipe to make Glorified Cheez-Its. Glorified Cheez-its, in the manner of all things my mom, takes something really really good, and somehow makes it even better. It's some wild concoction of cheez-its, butter, parmesan cheese, and ranch seasoning. We all love them and she shipped some to Ben for his birthday but that cost quite a lot to ship, so Gwen got the recipe and some cash to buy the ingredients :)Tess is just getting cuter and cuter. We really wish we could freeze her just how she is. She is at SUCH a fun age! I am so glad mom and Jane will get to be around her for a week. She's hilarious! She is now parroting a lot of what we say. This was evidenced today when I was putting ingredients in the crock pot and found I didn't have any black beans "dang it!" I said, and now all day Tess is walking around "dang it dang it dang it!" Gotta start being more careful with what I say!Also, somehow this weekend she has matured from calling me mama, to mom. And not like a cute, happy, "mom!", she sounds like an annoyed and impatient teenager "MOM. MOM! MOOOOOOM! MOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!" All day every day. It's still kind of funny and cute for now, but borderline a little too skunky for comfort.Blaine also says he has heard her say "Mine" quite a few times. Yikes. But intermiexed with all the terrible two stuff blossoming there is sure a lot of sweet. We all just sat in a circle around her the other day as she toddled from person to person, gave each of us a sweet hug while saying our names "Bahhhhn" "I-VY" "Nen" she gives sweet little pats on your back while she hugs you. I could melt from the cutenenss.She also uses "out" and "hot" and "cute" all appropriately. She things every outfit she owns is "CUTE!" so when I put away laundry she will just exclaim "CUTE!" "CUUUUUTE!" ha ha.Gosh, I just love her. More than with any of the other kids I just marvel at how easily she just... could have never happened. I had my fill with three kids. I was done. And then we just said "well...maybe" and that maybe turned in to Tess and I just don't even want to think about my life without her! Of course, this logic could get you in to a lot of trouble, because you could wind up with a thousand kids. We have to acknowledge our limits too. As cute and fun as she is right now, the two years proceeding now were really, really hard, almost threw in the towel a couple times. So we are just trying to enjoy every moment with Tess and we are so grateful that we took a chance, and bit off more than we could chew. Our life may be chaotic and crazy, but she added just the right sweetness to our lives that we needed!Oh, and yesterday marked the end of the $100 challenge for Gwen! You'll all be happy to know that she earned the full $100, we had the most peaceful month of our whole parenting lives. Now I am left trying to figure out what I can do to keep the good vibes going, without breaking the bank!Well, I am off, Jillian Michael's waits for no one!Love,KrisRe: Love from Mom
Good sum up to the week mom! I couldn't agree with you more on the wedding. When I was little and would see movies with weddings I thought how beautiful they were and how fun to have all the bridesmaids and groomsmen.....the temple just seemed kind of boring. I'm so grateful to have exactly the opposite feelings now! I love the temple and grateful for eternal marriages. I hope they make it there in a year too!Thanks for sharing.
On Sunday, October 25, 2015, Wendy Bassett <wendy.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Family,
October is passing quickly. It's been a full week with an even fuller weekend! Here are some highlights. Since this will be my journal entry for the week, it may have TMI. Feel free to skim.
Wednesday afternoon I went to Radiant Research for my second visit and shot. I am in a study that investigates the effectiveness of a flu shot and a shingles shot together vs. separately. I earn $100 for each visit - not bad for 30 minutes! I do a total of three visits and I receive the shots for free. I think it's a good study. (Dad's not so sure)
Wednesday evening was our stake conference temple night. Dad went straight from work and we met there and ate dinner in the temple cafeteria before our session. Our chapel meeting was after the session with a nice message from the Temple president. Then, since we were in separate cars, I decided to stop and see grandma on the way home. It was about 9:45 pm but I knew she would still be up. I intended to be quick but we got visiting and I didn't get home until about 10:20, only to find a note that dad and Rosey had gone out looking for me. They were so worried that I had never made it home. They had tried calling but since I had left my phone in the car at grandmas I didn't get the call. I quickly got a hold of them but felt bad I had been inconsiderate. What a nice family to look out for me. Sorry again.
Thursday after work I wanted to attend a back pain seminar from 6-7 that my boss, Wade, was presenting. Funny story. I got home from work around 5:40 and since I was going to turn around and leave again I wanted to make sure dad was okay with that. When I asked him what he had planned for the evening he said it was fine if I left and that he was just going to work on the marriage thing. Suddenly I was wondering if he is referring to "our"marriage and I was thinking I should probably be around if he wanted to work on it. Come to find out, he meant the Tanner and Jackie marriage that he would be officiating on Saturday! We had a good laugh.
It was definitely a wedding weekend. Friday night Ashleigh, Kacey (who drove 20 hours to attend this wedding) and Brittany hosted a wedding dinner/shower for Jackie at Sid and Stephanie's home. Tasty dinner and a couple games. Kacey loves games!
Friday night dad and I face-timed Gwen on her 11th birthday. I still cannot believe she is so old! We loved getting to watch her open her gift and card with $$$.
Saturday morning the Winder aunts and grandma hosted a bridal shower for Alana at Yorgason's home. We had a great turnout and it was fun to see how excited not only Alana is, but also JaNae. No games, lots of food and visiting.
Saturday night was the Tanner/Jackie wedding at Thanksgiving Point. The venue was nice. Brittany had done some beautiful decorations. Dad did a great job officiating. There were probably 80-100 in attendance for the ceremony and about the same people for the reception that was in a room across the hall. Although Jackie's mom and step dad and some sisters were there, I gathered this event was all thrown by Kent and Liz. They served soup (from Harmons) and cheese balls and Janey had made over 400 cookies. And they served the cake and also had a cute table with all manner of Hershey's gold and silver wrapped chocolates. They ended with dancing and a sparkler send off. Nice evening. Oh and Kacey had made the cutest flower girl dressed that her four girls and little Charlotte wore. It was lovely but nothing matches the temple. Hopefully in a year!!
Dad and I came home from that and watched poor University of Utah get trounced in football. Dad had taped it so we could fast forward the game. Sad since the U has been ranked so high!
If you're still with me, one more thing. (Sorry - this is my journal entry for the week). I visit teach Biljana. About a week ago, after hearing there were lots of FBI and police cars at her house early one morning, I took her muffins and asked if she wanted to talk about it. She said she didn't but she was very nice and grateful to me for checking in on her and we visited and it sounded like things were okay. I made an appointment to visit teach her this past Friday. When she answered the door on Friday she was sobbing and couldn't talk for several minutes. My visit turned into several hours as I learned that her son Dejon, who is Max's age, had just been taken to jail that morning, just before I arrived. I'll tell you right now that I still don't know what he did and I really don't think Biljana knows. (And if she does, she is not saying.). As she cried and we sat in silence (except for sobs), I had plenty of time to pray in my mind and wonder what on earth I could say to help calm her down. She was sad, she was angry, she was bitter and she felt very, very hopeless. I shared thoughts on everything from faith, hope and charity to the atonement, to "hanging it on the Lord's hook". After an hour or so she was able to talk more and get feelings out. After two hours I asked if I could close with a thought (see VT message on charity this month) and a prayer. We ended with a beautiful spirit and I felt the Lord blessing me as I was there. I visited her again yesterday and she was doing much better. I'm praying for them.
Today was our YSA stake conference. Rosey sang in the choir that was so beautiful. Our visiting authority was Elder John Pingree Jr. and I loved his remarks.
Today we fasted for Warner who takes his test on Friday. As hard as fasting is, it certainly brings a sweet spirit into the home. Then tonight everyone except B&K came to dinner, even Max from Provo. I cooked a roast ($2.49/lb Kris!) and mashed potatoes and Janey made rolls and tasty pumpkin sugar cookies that we rationed. Yum! Everything tastes better after fasting.
Ponderizing scripture is Alma 7:11. I love the scriptures.
And I love all of you!
Mom
Sent from my iPad
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Re: Love from Mom
Thanks for the update Mom! It's amazing how much a nice letter can make us feel so much more connected to you guys. Sounds like your days are busy and full of variety! You'll have to let me know how your study pans out! I get stressed out about flu shots each year, though I have to admit $300 for a collective hour and a half doesn't sound too shabby! How do you find out about these things?We had fun face timing you and Gwen is thrilled about the prospect of getting to spend her birthday money with you!Thanks for writing!On Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 12:37 AM, Wendy Bassett <wendy.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Dear Family,
October is passing quickly. It's been a full week with an even fuller weekend! Here are some highlights. Since this will be my journal entry for the week, it may have TMI. Feel free to skim.
Wednesday afternoon I went to Radiant Research for my second visit and shot. I am in a study that investigates the effectiveness of a flu shot and a shingles shot together vs. separately. I earn $100 for each visit - not bad for 30 minutes! I do a total of three visits and I receive the shots for free. I think it's a good study. (Dad's not so sure)
Wednesday evening was our stake conference temple night. Dad went straight from work and we met there and ate dinner in the temple cafeteria before our session. Our chapel meeting was after the session with a nice message from the Temple president. Then, since we were in separate cars, I decided to stop and see grandma on the way home. It was about 9:45 pm but I knew she would still be up. I intended to be quick but we got visiting and I didn't get home until about 10:20, only to find a note that dad and Rosey had gone out looking for me. They were so worried that I had never made it home. They had tried calling but since I had left my phone in the car at grandmas I didn't get the call. I quickly got a hold of them but felt bad I had been inconsiderate. What a nice family to look out for me. Sorry again.
Thursday after work I wanted to attend a back pain seminar from 6-7 that my boss, Wade, was presenting. Funny story. I got home from work around 5:40 and since I was going to turn around and leave again I wanted to make sure dad was okay with that. When I asked him what he had planned for the evening he said it was fine if I left and that he was just going to work on the marriage thing. Suddenly I was wondering if he is referring to "our"marriage and I was thinking I should probably be around if he wanted to work on it. Come to find out, he meant the Tanner and Jackie marriage that he would be officiating on Saturday! We had a good laugh.
It was definitely a wedding weekend. Friday night Ashleigh, Kacey (who drove 20 hours to attend this wedding) and Brittany hosted a wedding dinner/shower for Jackie at Sid and Stephanie's home. Tasty dinner and a couple games. Kacey loves games!
Friday night dad and I face-timed Gwen on her 11th birthday. I still cannot believe she is so old! We loved getting to watch her open her gift and card with $$$.
Saturday morning the Winder aunts and grandma hosted a bridal shower for Alana at Yorgason's home. We had a great turnout and it was fun to see how excited not only Alana is, but also JaNae. No games, lots of food and visiting.
Saturday night was the Tanner/Jackie wedding at Thanksgiving Point. The venue was nice. Brittany had done some beautiful decorations. Dad did a great job officiating. There were probably 80-100 in attendance for the ceremony and about the same people for the reception that was in a room across the hall. Although Jackie's mom and step dad and some sisters were there, I gathered this event was all thrown by Kent and Liz. They served soup (from Harmons) and cheese balls and Janey had made over 400 cookies. And they served the cake and also had a cute table with all manner of Hershey's gold and silver wrapped chocolates. They ended with dancing and a sparkler send off. Nice evening. Oh and Kacey had made the cutest flower girl dressed that her four girls and little Charlotte wore. It was lovely but nothing matches the temple. Hopefully in a year!!
Dad and I came home from that and watched poor University of Utah get trounced in football. Dad had taped it so we could fast forward the game. Sad since the U has been ranked so high!
If you're still with me, one more thing. (Sorry - this is my journal entry for the week). I visit teach Biljana. About a week ago, after hearing there were lots of FBI and police cars at her house early one morning, I took her muffins and asked if she wanted to talk about it. She said she didn't but she was very nice and grateful to me for checking in on her and we visited and it sounded like things were okay. I made an appointment to visit teach her this past Friday. When she answered the door on Friday she was sobbing and couldn't talk for several minutes. My visit turned into several hours as I learned that her son Dejon, who is Max's age, had just been taken to jail that morning, just before I arrived. I'll tell you right now that I still don't know what he did and I really don't think Biljana knows. (And if she does, she is not saying.). As she cried and we sat in silence (except for sobs), I had plenty of time to pray in my mind and wonder what on earth I could say to help calm her down. She was sad, she was angry, she was bitter and she felt very, very hopeless. I shared thoughts on everything from faith, hope and charity to the atonement, to "hanging it on the Lord's hook". After an hour or so she was able to talk more and get feelings out. After two hours I asked if I could close with a thought (see VT message on charity this month) and a prayer. We ended with a beautiful spirit and I felt the Lord blessing me as I was there. I visited her again yesterday and she was doing much better. I'm praying for them.
Today was our YSA stake conference. Rosey sang in the choir that was so beautiful. Our visiting authority was Elder John Pingree Jr. and I loved his remarks.
Today we fasted for Warner who takes his test on Friday. As hard as fasting is, it certainly brings a sweet spirit into the home. Then tonight everyone except B&K came to dinner, even Max from Provo. I cooked a roast ($2.49/lb Kris!) and mashed potatoes and Janey made rolls and tasty pumpkin sugar cookies that we rationed. Yum! Everything tastes better after fasting.
Ponderizing scripture is Alma 7:11. I love the scriptures.
And I love all of you!
Mom
Sent from my iPad
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Sunday, October 25, 2015
Love from Mom
Dear Family,
October is passing quickly. It's been a full week with an even fuller weekend! Here are some highlights. Since this will be my journal entry for the week, it may have TMI. Feel free to skim.
Wednesday afternoon I went to Radiant Research for my second visit and shot. I am in a study that investigates the effectiveness of a flu shot and a shingles shot together vs. separately. I earn $100 for each visit - not bad for 30 minutes! I do a total of three visits and I receive the shots for free. I think it's a good study. (Dad's not so sure)
Wednesday evening was our stake conference temple night. Dad went straight from work and we met there and ate dinner in the temple cafeteria before our session. Our chapel meeting was after the session with a nice message from the Temple president. Then, since we were in separate cars, I decided to stop and see grandma on the way home. It was about 9:45 pm but I knew she would still be up. I intended to be quick but we got visiting and I didn't get home until about 10:20, only to find a note that dad and Rosey had gone out looking for me. They were so worried that I had never made it home. They had tried calling but since I had left my phone in the car at grandmas I didn't get the call. I quickly got a hold of them but felt bad I had been inconsiderate. What a nice family to look out for me. Sorry again.
Thursday after work I wanted to attend a back pain seminar from 6-7 that my boss, Wade, was presenting. Funny story. I got home from work around 5:40 and since I was going to turn around and leave again I wanted to make sure dad was okay with that. When I asked him what he had planned for the evening he said it was fine if I left and that he was just going to work on the marriage thing. Suddenly I was wondering if he is referring to "our"marriage and I was thinking I should probably be around if he wanted to work on it. Come to find out, he meant the Tanner and Jackie marriage that he would be officiating on Saturday! We had a good laugh.
It was definitely a wedding weekend. Friday night Ashleigh, Kacey (who drove 20 hours to attend this wedding) and Brittany hosted a wedding dinner/shower for Jackie at Sid and Stephanie's home. Tasty dinner and a couple games. Kacey loves games!
Friday night dad and I face-timed Gwen on her 11th birthday. I still cannot believe she is so old! We loved getting to watch her open her gift and card with $$$.
Saturday morning the Winder aunts and grandma hosted a bridal shower for Alana at Yorgason's home. We had a great turnout and it was fun to see how excited not only Alana is, but also JaNae. No games, lots of food and visiting.
Saturday night was the Tanner/Jackie wedding at Thanksgiving Point. The venue was nice. Brittany had done some beautiful decorations. Dad did a great job officiating. There were probably 80-100 in attendance for the ceremony and about the same people for the reception that was in a room across the hall. Although Jackie's mom and step dad and some sisters were there, I gathered this event was all thrown by Kent and Liz. They served soup (from Harmons) and cheese balls and Janey had made over 400 cookies. And they served the cake and also had a cute table with all manner of Hershey's gold and silver wrapped chocolates. They ended with dancing and a sparkler send off. Nice evening. Oh and Kacey had made the cutest flower girl dressed that her four girls and little Charlotte wore. It was lovely but nothing matches the temple. Hopefully in a year!!
Dad and I came home from that and watched poor University of Utah get trounced in football. Dad had taped it so we could fast forward the game. Sad since the U has been ranked so high!
If you're still with me, one more thing. (Sorry - this is my journal entry for the week). I visit teach Biljana. About a week ago, after hearing there were lots of FBI and police cars at her house early one morning, I took her muffins and asked if she wanted to talk about it. She said she didn't but she was very nice and grateful to me for checking in on her and we visited and it sounded like things were okay. I made an appointment to visit teach her this past Friday. When she answered the door on Friday she was sobbing and couldn't talk for several minutes. My visit turned into several hours as I learned that her son Dejon, who is Max's age, had just been taken to jail that morning, just before I arrived. I'll tell you right now that I still don't know what he did and I really don't think Biljana knows. (And if she does, she is not saying.). As she cried and we sat in silence (except for sobs), I had plenty of time to pray in my mind and wonder what on earth I could say to help calm her down. She was sad, she was angry, she was bitter and she felt very, very hopeless. I shared thoughts on everything from faith, hope and charity to the atonement, to "hanging it on the Lord's hook". After an hour or so she was able to talk more and get feelings out. After two hours I asked if I could close with a thought (see VT message on charity this month) and a prayer. We ended with a beautiful spirit and I felt the Lord blessing me as I was there. I visited her again yesterday and she was doing much better. I'm praying for them.
Today was our YSA stake conference. Rosey sang in the choir that was so beautiful. Our visiting authority was Elder John Pingree Jr. and I loved his remarks.
Today we fasted for Warner who takes his test on Friday. As hard as fasting is, it certainly brings a sweet spirit into the home. Then tonight everyone except B&K came to dinner, even Max from Provo. I cooked a roast ($2.49/lb Kris!) and mashed potatoes and Janey made rolls and tasty pumpkin sugar cookies that we rationed. Yum! Everything tastes better after fasting.
Ponderizing scripture is Alma 7:11. I love the scriptures.
And I love all of you!
Mom
Sent from my iPadWednesday, October 21, 2015
Re: Letter from Blaine, October 18, 2015
What a journey you've been on the last 6+ months Blaine. I am sure glad you are finally feeling some relief. I loved what Stef said about you being able to experience some feelings that some people struggle with on the daily (perhaps just for different reasons). I am sure proud of you making the tough decision. Love you guys!On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 4:01 PM, bret bassett <bretbassett@gmail.com> wrote:Loved your letter. When you talked about how much nicer it would have been for someone else to send you out the door than for you to walk on your own, I could relate. There is something about loyalty and endurance that we really value. So good on you. And then when you talked about getting in an accident, and how being in a hospital would have been better, I couldn't help but think of when Jerry Seinfeld talks about when people go to the pharmacy looking for a good strong medicine. He said..."Then they tell you about the pain relieving ingredient.
There's always gotta be a lotta that.
Nobody wants anything less than 'extra-strength'.
'Extra-strength' is the absolute minimum.
You can't even get 'strength'. 'Strength' is out now.
It's all 'extra-strength'.
Some people are not satisfied with 'extra', they want 'maximum'.
"Give me the 'maximum-strength'."
"Give me the maximum allowable human dosage."
"Figure out what will kill me and then back it off a little bit."Glad it didn't come down to that.Love you.Dad--On Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 12:27 PM Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com> wrote:Awesome letter. Very interesting to hear some of you deep down thoughts.....definitely doesn't sound like a good place to be!We love you and are grateful for your great example.Love, Janey--
On Monday, October 19, 2015, Stefanie Bassett <stef.m.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Blaine,Well put, all of it. I think that you have given words to the some of the faces of depression. Many people struggle like that every single day of their lives. For others, its just a phase, but it is hard-mentally and physically. I am glad that you have shown the example of something not being right and you doing something about it. We never know why the Lord needs us to do something, or to not do something, but responding to His call to action allows Him to trust us that much more. I am happy for you finding relief. I can't wait for you guys to experience Kauai! I especially can't wait for this surprise that you didn't want to spoil!!!! :)Love you guys!-Stef---StefOn Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Thanks sweetie, I know you have been wanting to write down your thoughts and feelings for a long time and I am glad you are finally getting the chance! I'm glad you feel at ease and comfortable sharing it like it really felt, without fear of judgment. We all know you, and know what a hard worker you are, and I don't think anyone doubts that this was just TOO MUCH!Looking forward to next weeks installment!--On Sun, Oct 18, 2015 at 10:27 PM, Blaine Bassett <blainebbassett@gmail.com> wrote:Hello family,--I have been meaning to write for so long and it has been so hard to find the time. The longer I go, the more I feel like I will want to catch up on, which means that I think it will take even more time to write and the prospect of writing becomes more overwhelming. So I put it off, justifying that I need my Sunday evening sleep for the big week ahead. I am very grateful to Kristi for all the great letters she has written in the last few weeks and months on our family's behalf while I have kind of been out of commission. I'm also so grateful for the letters that y'all have written (yes, I live in Texas now so I can and do use that word--it's very convenient once you get used to it!). I read every letter and it is so fun to hear your thoughts and testimonies and the events in your life. I need to do better at replying but that too can be overwhelming since I often feel like the choice is between writing a novel in response to all the interesting and great things you said (which would take time I don't have) and not responding at all. I know, I know, it is a false dilemma--I should just respond quick with the time I have--but anyway, even though I don't, I do read and enjoy the letters and feel closer to you when you write, so thanks for doing so!Well, all that said, a lot has happened to us since I last wrote. Many of the family things Kristi has written about, so I'll take some time to write about my job, the decision to leave it, the process building up to the last day, and then, of course, how life has been at the first week of my new job.The decision to leave:I wrote about this some in a letter a few weeks ago that I also sent to the Bark but I didn't feel comfortable or have the time to fully explain all my thoughts. There are things that are a little too personal for me to be comfortable sending to the Bark--what with its cadre of ambitious and accomplished lawyers and professionals who all have said or implied that in their opinion I should stick it out at Baker Botts for awhile--that I feel more comfortable sharing with you.I guess the most interesting part of the decision to me is how easy it was to make when it came right down to it. As with all of you, Kristi and I have had to make many big life-changing decisions during our marriage. This looked to rank among the bigger ones. I mean, by the wisdom of the world, it should have been a no-brainer to decide to work for Baker Botts initially (it was not at all--it was a super hard decision), and deciding to go after only one year should have set off all kinds of alarms and whistles: DON'T DO IT! IT'S A MISTAKE! YOU'LL SET YOUR CAREER BACK PERMANENTLY AND NEVER BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK ON TRACK!! Most people who know the industry would say that I very naively and prematurely threw away a very promising career and traded it for a very pedestrian one, and that I should feel reserved and cautious and, well, wrong for doing so. Ironically, I don't feel any of those things, at least not for my career. BY FAR the hardest part of it all was the nervousness of letting people down (mostly people who I work with but also other people I know including, for example, people like the well-wishers mentioned above who would have advised me against this rash decision. That part never got easier, as I will describe, but the worry about messing up my career did not phase me at all, which is saying something.I can't express how much I HATED this job on its bad days. I can't believe I made it through them. I just can't put in words in a letter like this how hard it could be for me some days and how bad I wanted to quit. There were a lot of bad days since the beginning, but in the last six months it became just completely unbearable. There was no day I didn't fantasize about working just about anywhere else, no matter how little I made or how undignified the work would seem. I would look at the waiters serving me food or the janitors taking out my trash and just envy the simplicity of their lives: I bet they can go home and leave work at work and enjoy their lives for a few hours each night, I thought. But on worse days I started envying even the homeless people I saw. I thought, even if I don't have another job lined up, I have a long way to fall before I would literally be relying on a soup kitchen to feed my family. Unemployed doesn't seem so bad. I could take unemployed. The thought of getting laid off (unemployed + a severance package) would have been a dream come true. It wouldn't disappoint anybody and I would even get some money to go along with it while I searched for another job. I don't mean to make light of this horrible situation because I have never been through it and I know for Dad and for so many others how scary and hard it is. But, to be completely honest with you, I can't tell you how much I would have loved to have been laid off--it would have been like winning the lottery.Then somehow, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they would. And they would get a lot worse. Suddenly, just getting laid off wasn't all that sounded good. I thought how nice it might be to get in a horrible accident that would put me in the hospital and out of commission. Something that maybe wouldn't kill me but that would make it so I couldn't work and no one could be mad that I let them down. Now I know that I am really offending some people (which is why I am only sharing these very personal feelings with my closest family members), but, anyway, you get the point. This job sucked all my will to live and all my joy from my life. There may be an amount of money that would make me stick with this job for another year or maybe another few years at the rate I was working. It would be a VERY high one (like, the kind of millions where I would never have to work again), but the amount probably exists. But I promise you, there is NO amount of money however high that would make it worth it to me to keep going in and feeling the way I was feeling day after day for the rest of my life. Which was kind of a surprise to me, and a very important lesson that I learned from all this. I found the limits of my ability at this job and I found the very real limits of what I am willing to put myself through for money. You all know me--I am very motivated by money and I'm an ambitious, hard working guy, but it was humbling and interesting to learn about myself that my ambition only extends to a finite extent. Even where the ambition of some of my close friends continues stretching on, mine runs dry. And trying to work beyond that point, it was very painful for a very long time.For the record, the long hours were exhausting and soul-sapping and inhumane and just the worst. But the long hours were not even the main thing I felt the need to get away from. The job permeated every thought, every ounce of my strength, ever fiber of who I am and demanded all that and more in return for a pretty decent paycheck. At least that's what it felt like. I felt like a slave (here I go again, offending anyone who has any experience with real slavery...). I felt owned and obligated to give all and everything I had and, like I mentioned, the pay, while good, was not sufficient--could not have been sufficient--to compensate me for that.So in the end, the decision to leave was not that hard. It was hard to know how and when. It was hard to give up a promise of a long vacation after the case was over and a big bonus when I turned in my hours at the end of the year. It was really really hard to actually pull the trigger and to endure the last month after announcing that I was deserting. But it really wasn't that hard at all to know if. The "if" was just a formality. Even for Kristi, who, sorry, tends to be even more indecisive than me and was incredibly nervous about the prospect of not having a steady income any more, it was clear that the job wasn't right and the question was not if but when.The last month:Well, lucky for any of you who have read up to this point, I'm letting you off early today. I have to get to bed so I'll have to continue this later. At the risk of spoiling the surprise, I will tell you the very abbreviated version of the rest of the story here: I did eventually quit, the last month was really hard, I started the new job last week, I loved my first week and it seems like this new job is going to be awesome as long as I can get paid, I haven't finished any projects yet so technically I haven't earned a dime yet, which is more than a little nerve-racking since even the best of jobs is not complete without a paycheck, but this is a new week and I am hopeful to turn that situation around. So, with that, I'll leave this To Be Continued, and I'll promise to write again soon.
Love you all!BlaineP.S. Can't wait for May!!! Thanks again, Mom and Dad!
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Monday, October 19, 2015
Re: Letter from Blaine, October 18, 2015
Loved your letter. When you talked about how much nicer it would have been for someone else to send you out the door than for you to walk on your own, I could relate. There is something about loyalty and endurance that we really value. So good on you. And then when you talked about getting in an accident, and how being in a hospital would have been better, I couldn't help but think of when Jerry Seinfeld talks about when people go to the pharmacy looking for a good strong medicine. He said..."Then they tell you about the pain relieving ingredient.
There's always gotta be a lotta that.
Nobody wants anything less than 'extra-strength'.
'Extra-strength' is the absolute minimum.
You can't even get 'strength'. 'Strength' is out now.
It's all 'extra-strength'.
Some people are not satisfied with 'extra', they want 'maximum'.
"Give me the 'maximum-strength'."
"Give me the maximum allowable human dosage."
"Figure out what will kill me and then back it off a little bit."Glad it didn't come down to that.Love you.DadOn Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 12:27 PM Janey Nielsen <janeybassett@gmail.com> wrote:Awesome letter. Very interesting to hear some of you deep down thoughts.....definitely doesn't sound like a good place to be!We love you and are grateful for your great example.Love, Janey--
On Monday, October 19, 2015, Stefanie Bassett <stef.m.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Blaine,Well put, all of it. I think that you have given words to the some of the faces of depression. Many people struggle like that every single day of their lives. For others, its just a phase, but it is hard-mentally and physically. I am glad that you have shown the example of something not being right and you doing something about it. We never know why the Lord needs us to do something, or to not do something, but responding to His call to action allows Him to trust us that much more. I am happy for you finding relief. I can't wait for you guys to experience Kauai! I especially can't wait for this surprise that you didn't want to spoil!!!! :)Love you guys!-Stef---StefOn Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Thanks sweetie, I know you have been wanting to write down your thoughts and feelings for a long time and I am glad you are finally getting the chance! I'm glad you feel at ease and comfortable sharing it like it really felt, without fear of judgment. We all know you, and know what a hard worker you are, and I don't think anyone doubts that this was just TOO MUCH!Looking forward to next weeks installment!--On Sun, Oct 18, 2015 at 10:27 PM, Blaine Bassett <blainebbassett@gmail.com> wrote:Hello family,--I have been meaning to write for so long and it has been so hard to find the time. The longer I go, the more I feel like I will want to catch up on, which means that I think it will take even more time to write and the prospect of writing becomes more overwhelming. So I put it off, justifying that I need my Sunday evening sleep for the big week ahead. I am very grateful to Kristi for all the great letters she has written in the last few weeks and months on our family's behalf while I have kind of been out of commission. I'm also so grateful for the letters that y'all have written (yes, I live in Texas now so I can and do use that word--it's very convenient once you get used to it!). I read every letter and it is so fun to hear your thoughts and testimonies and the events in your life. I need to do better at replying but that too can be overwhelming since I often feel like the choice is between writing a novel in response to all the interesting and great things you said (which would take time I don't have) and not responding at all. I know, I know, it is a false dilemma--I should just respond quick with the time I have--but anyway, even though I don't, I do read and enjoy the letters and feel closer to you when you write, so thanks for doing so!Well, all that said, a lot has happened to us since I last wrote. Many of the family things Kristi has written about, so I'll take some time to write about my job, the decision to leave it, the process building up to the last day, and then, of course, how life has been at the first week of my new job.The decision to leave:I wrote about this some in a letter a few weeks ago that I also sent to the Bark but I didn't feel comfortable or have the time to fully explain all my thoughts. There are things that are a little too personal for me to be comfortable sending to the Bark--what with its cadre of ambitious and accomplished lawyers and professionals who all have said or implied that in their opinion I should stick it out at Baker Botts for awhile--that I feel more comfortable sharing with you.I guess the most interesting part of the decision to me is how easy it was to make when it came right down to it. As with all of you, Kristi and I have had to make many big life-changing decisions during our marriage. This looked to rank among the bigger ones. I mean, by the wisdom of the world, it should have been a no-brainer to decide to work for Baker Botts initially (it was not at all--it was a super hard decision), and deciding to go after only one year should have set off all kinds of alarms and whistles: DON'T DO IT! IT'S A MISTAKE! YOU'LL SET YOUR CAREER BACK PERMANENTLY AND NEVER BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK ON TRACK!! Most people who know the industry would say that I very naively and prematurely threw away a very promising career and traded it for a very pedestrian one, and that I should feel reserved and cautious and, well, wrong for doing so. Ironically, I don't feel any of those things, at least not for my career. BY FAR the hardest part of it all was the nervousness of letting people down (mostly people who I work with but also other people I know including, for example, people like the well-wishers mentioned above who would have advised me against this rash decision. That part never got easier, as I will describe, but the worry about messing up my career did not phase me at all, which is saying something.I can't express how much I HATED this job on its bad days. I can't believe I made it through them. I just can't put in words in a letter like this how hard it could be for me some days and how bad I wanted to quit. There were a lot of bad days since the beginning, but in the last six months it became just completely unbearable. There was no day I didn't fantasize about working just about anywhere else, no matter how little I made or how undignified the work would seem. I would look at the waiters serving me food or the janitors taking out my trash and just envy the simplicity of their lives: I bet they can go home and leave work at work and enjoy their lives for a few hours each night, I thought. But on worse days I started envying even the homeless people I saw. I thought, even if I don't have another job lined up, I have a long way to fall before I would literally be relying on a soup kitchen to feed my family. Unemployed doesn't seem so bad. I could take unemployed. The thought of getting laid off (unemployed + a severance package) would have been a dream come true. It wouldn't disappoint anybody and I would even get some money to go along with it while I searched for another job. I don't mean to make light of this horrible situation because I have never been through it and I know for Dad and for so many others how scary and hard it is. But, to be completely honest with you, I can't tell you how much I would have loved to have been laid off--it would have been like winning the lottery.Then somehow, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they would. And they would get a lot worse. Suddenly, just getting laid off wasn't all that sounded good. I thought how nice it might be to get in a horrible accident that would put me in the hospital and out of commission. Something that maybe wouldn't kill me but that would make it so I couldn't work and no one could be mad that I let them down. Now I know that I am really offending some people (which is why I am only sharing these very personal feelings with my closest family members), but, anyway, you get the point. This job sucked all my will to live and all my joy from my life. There may be an amount of money that would make me stick with this job for another year or maybe another few years at the rate I was working. It would be a VERY high one (like, the kind of millions where I would never have to work again), but the amount probably exists. But I promise you, there is NO amount of money however high that would make it worth it to me to keep going in and feeling the way I was feeling day after day for the rest of my life. Which was kind of a surprise to me, and a very important lesson that I learned from all this. I found the limits of my ability at this job and I found the very real limits of what I am willing to put myself through for money. You all know me--I am very motivated by money and I'm an ambitious, hard working guy, but it was humbling and interesting to learn about myself that my ambition only extends to a finite extent. Even where the ambition of some of my close friends continues stretching on, mine runs dry. And trying to work beyond that point, it was very painful for a very long time.For the record, the long hours were exhausting and soul-sapping and inhumane and just the worst. But the long hours were not even the main thing I felt the need to get away from. The job permeated every thought, every ounce of my strength, ever fiber of who I am and demanded all that and more in return for a pretty decent paycheck. At least that's what it felt like. I felt like a slave (here I go again, offending anyone who has any experience with real slavery...). I felt owned and obligated to give all and everything I had and, like I mentioned, the pay, while good, was not sufficient--could not have been sufficient--to compensate me for that.So in the end, the decision to leave was not that hard. It was hard to know how and when. It was hard to give up a promise of a long vacation after the case was over and a big bonus when I turned in my hours at the end of the year. It was really really hard to actually pull the trigger and to endure the last month after announcing that I was deserting. But it really wasn't that hard at all to know if. The "if" was just a formality. Even for Kristi, who, sorry, tends to be even more indecisive than me and was incredibly nervous about the prospect of not having a steady income any more, it was clear that the job wasn't right and the question was not if but when.The last month:Well, lucky for any of you who have read up to this point, I'm letting you off early today. I have to get to bed so I'll have to continue this later. At the risk of spoiling the surprise, I will tell you the very abbreviated version of the rest of the story here: I did eventually quit, the last month was really hard, I started the new job last week, I loved my first week and it seems like this new job is going to be awesome as long as I can get paid, I haven't finished any projects yet so technically I haven't earned a dime yet, which is more than a little nerve-racking since even the best of jobs is not complete without a paycheck, but this is a new week and I am hopeful to turn that situation around. So, with that, I'll leave this To Be Continued, and I'll promise to write again soon.
Love you all!BlaineP.S. Can't wait for May!!! Thanks again, Mom and Dad!
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Re: Letter from Blaine, October 18, 2015
Awesome letter. Very interesting to hear some of you deep down thoughts.....definitely doesn't sound like a good place to be!We love you and are grateful for your great example.Love, Janey
On Monday, October 19, 2015, Stefanie Bassett <stef.m.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Blaine,Well put, all of it. I think that you have given words to the some of the faces of depression. Many people struggle like that every single day of their lives. For others, its just a phase, but it is hard-mentally and physically. I am glad that you have shown the example of something not being right and you doing something about it. We never know why the Lord needs us to do something, or to not do something, but responding to His call to action allows Him to trust us that much more. I am happy for you finding relief. I can't wait for you guys to experience Kauai! I especially can't wait for this surprise that you didn't want to spoil!!!! :)Love you guys!-Stef---StefOn Mon, Oct 19, 2015 at 10:18 AM, Kristi Bassett <kristi.bassett@gmail.com> wrote:Thanks sweetie, I know you have been wanting to write down your thoughts and feelings for a long time and I am glad you are finally getting the chance! I'm glad you feel at ease and comfortable sharing it like it really felt, without fear of judgment. We all know you, and know what a hard worker you are, and I don't think anyone doubts that this was just TOO MUCH!Looking forward to next weeks installment!--On Sun, Oct 18, 2015 at 10:27 PM, Blaine Bassett <blainebbassett@gmail.com> wrote:Hello family,--I have been meaning to write for so long and it has been so hard to find the time. The longer I go, the more I feel like I will want to catch up on, which means that I think it will take even more time to write and the prospect of writing becomes more overwhelming. So I put it off, justifying that I need my Sunday evening sleep for the big week ahead. I am very grateful to Kristi for all the great letters she has written in the last few weeks and months on our family's behalf while I have kind of been out of commission. I'm also so grateful for the letters that y'all have written (yes, I live in Texas now so I can and do use that word--it's very convenient once you get used to it!). I read every letter and it is so fun to hear your thoughts and testimonies and the events in your life. I need to do better at replying but that too can be overwhelming since I often feel like the choice is between writing a novel in response to all the interesting and great things you said (which would take time I don't have) and not responding at all. I know, I know, it is a false dilemma--I should just respond quick with the time I have--but anyway, even though I don't, I do read and enjoy the letters and feel closer to you when you write, so thanks for doing so!Well, all that said, a lot has happened to us since I last wrote. Many of the family things Kristi has written about, so I'll take some time to write about my job, the decision to leave it, the process building up to the last day, and then, of course, how life has been at the first week of my new job.The decision to leave:I wrote about this some in a letter a few weeks ago that I also sent to the Bark but I didn't feel comfortable or have the time to fully explain all my thoughts. There are things that are a little too personal for me to be comfortable sending to the Bark--what with its cadre of ambitious and accomplished lawyers and professionals who all have said or implied that in their opinion I should stick it out at Baker Botts for awhile--that I feel more comfortable sharing with you.I guess the most interesting part of the decision to me is how easy it was to make when it came right down to it. As with all of you, Kristi and I have had to make many big life-changing decisions during our marriage. This looked to rank among the bigger ones. I mean, by the wisdom of the world, it should have been a no-brainer to decide to work for Baker Botts initially (it was not at all--it was a super hard decision), and deciding to go after only one year should have set off all kinds of alarms and whistles: DON'T DO IT! IT'S A MISTAKE! YOU'LL SET YOUR CAREER BACK PERMANENTLY AND NEVER BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK ON TRACK!! Most people who know the industry would say that I very naively and prematurely threw away a very promising career and traded it for a very pedestrian one, and that I should feel reserved and cautious and, well, wrong for doing so. Ironically, I don't feel any of those things, at least not for my career. BY FAR the hardest part of it all was the nervousness of letting people down (mostly people who I work with but also other people I know including, for example, people like the well-wishers mentioned above who would have advised me against this rash decision. That part never got easier, as I will describe, but the worry about messing up my career did not phase me at all, which is saying something.I can't express how much I HATED this job on its bad days. I can't believe I made it through them. I just can't put in words in a letter like this how hard it could be for me some days and how bad I wanted to quit. There were a lot of bad days since the beginning, but in the last six months it became just completely unbearable. There was no day I didn't fantasize about working just about anywhere else, no matter how little I made or how undignified the work would seem. I would look at the waiters serving me food or the janitors taking out my trash and just envy the simplicity of their lives: I bet they can go home and leave work at work and enjoy their lives for a few hours each night, I thought. But on worse days I started envying even the homeless people I saw. I thought, even if I don't have another job lined up, I have a long way to fall before I would literally be relying on a soup kitchen to feed my family. Unemployed doesn't seem so bad. I could take unemployed. The thought of getting laid off (unemployed + a severance package) would have been a dream come true. It wouldn't disappoint anybody and I would even get some money to go along with it while I searched for another job. I don't mean to make light of this horrible situation because I have never been through it and I know for Dad and for so many others how scary and hard it is. But, to be completely honest with you, I can't tell you how much I would have loved to have been laid off--it would have been like winning the lottery.Then somehow, just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, they would. And they would get a lot worse. Suddenly, just getting laid off wasn't all that sounded good. I thought how nice it might be to get in a horrible accident that would put me in the hospital and out of commission. Something that maybe wouldn't kill me but that would make it so I couldn't work and no one could be mad that I let them down. Now I know that I am really offending some people (which is why I am only sharing these very personal feelings with my closest family members), but, anyway, you get the point. This job sucked all my will to live and all my joy from my life. There may be an amount of money that would make me stick with this job for another year or maybe another few years at the rate I was working. It would be a VERY high one (like, the kind of millions where I would never have to work again), but the amount probably exists. But I promise you, there is NO amount of money however high that would make it worth it to me to keep going in and feeling the way I was feeling day after day for the rest of my life. Which was kind of a surprise to me, and a very important lesson that I learned from all this. I found the limits of my ability at this job and I found the very real limits of what I am willing to put myself through for money. You all know me--I am very motivated by money and I'm an ambitious, hard working guy, but it was humbling and interesting to learn about myself that my ambition only extends to a finite extent. Even where the ambition of some of my close friends continues stretching on, mine runs dry. And trying to work beyond that point, it was very painful for a very long time.For the record, the long hours were exhausting and soul-sapping and inhumane and just the worst. But the long hours were not even the main thing I felt the need to get away from. The job permeated every thought, every ounce of my strength, ever fiber of who I am and demanded all that and more in return for a pretty decent paycheck. At least that's what it felt like. I felt like a slave (here I go again, offending anyone who has any experience with real slavery...). I felt owned and obligated to give all and everything I had and, like I mentioned, the pay, while good, was not sufficient--could not have been sufficient--to compensate me for that.So in the end, the decision to leave was not that hard. It was hard to know how and when. It was hard to give up a promise of a long vacation after the case was over and a big bonus when I turned in my hours at the end of the year. It was really really hard to actually pull the trigger and to endure the last month after announcing that I was deserting. But it really wasn't that hard at all to know if. The "if" was just a formality. Even for Kristi, who, sorry, tends to be even more indecisive than me and was incredibly nervous about the prospect of not having a steady income any more, it was clear that the job wasn't right and the question was not if but when.The last month:Well, lucky for any of you who have read up to this point, I'm letting you off early today. I have to get to bed so I'll have to continue this later. At the risk of spoiling the surprise, I will tell you the very abbreviated version of the rest of the story here: I did eventually quit, the last month was really hard, I started the new job last week, I loved my first week and it seems like this new job is going to be awesome as long as I can get paid, I haven't finished any projects yet so technically I haven't earned a dime yet, which is more than a little nerve-racking since even the best of jobs is not complete without a paycheck, but this is a new week and I am hopeful to turn that situation around. So, with that, I'll leave this To Be Continued, and I'll promise to write again soon.
Love you all!BlaineP.S. Can't wait for May!!! Thanks again, Mom and Dad!
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