Taking It Day By Day

My relationship with Mahal has been long distance from the get go. We're both originally from the Chicagoland area. Mahal grew up in Southside Chicago while I basically grew up in Darien, IL. Both of us have moved around town a lot growing up, so being on the go wasn't out of the ordinary for the both of us. A week after making our relationship official he was already off to Wisconsin to start his first construction job. However, we couldn't stay apart for long since he came back after a couple months and tried to find a job more local. A few more months went by and then I found out I was pregnant. Mahal went off to Temecula, CA to start another construction job so we could save up for the baby. It was a short-term job so he was back to Chicago before we knew it. He got another local job, but minimum wage just wasn't cutting it. Once JAM was born in August of 2006 we agreed that construction was best for our financial needs so off to Colorado we went!

Mahal went first to find a place for us to stay while I went to Vegas so my dad could spend some quality time with his new grandson. Once Mahal's job got started we stayed at a hotel (typical for construction workers) in Kimball, NE. It was fun living in a hotel for a little bit until the thought of having to cook somehow in this little hotel room and JAM's baby stuff started to take over our room. So, we found a cute one bedroom apartment in Pinebluff, WY. Mahal's job site was in the tri-state area of Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska so it wasn't uncommon for people to commute between the 3 states on a daily basis. Pinebluff, WY was definitely a big change from Chicago. The population was a little over 300 people, and everything was walking distance unless you wanted to go to common stores like Walmart, then you had to drive an hour to the closest major city of Cheyenne, WY. It was a nice change of pace I had to say. I walked with JAM to the library every day and stopped at the park whenever I wanted to. I could walk to do groceries or go to the post office. The bowling alley was a whole 6 lanes with amazing tasting food. Everybody knew everybody and people were so friendly. After Mahal's construction project was completed after 8 months, I was kind of sad to leave. I still think about Pinebluff from time to time and all the people I met there.

After Wyoming, we moved back to Chicago just in time to celebrate JAM's 1st birthday with our closest friends and family. Just as we were about to get comfy in Chicago, Mahal was off to Salina, KS for his next job. JAM and I took the  12 hour roadtrip to surprise Mahal from time to time so we wouldn't be apart for too long. With all this traveling and JAM just turning one, Mahal and I agreed that once JAM turned 5 and started Kindergarten, we would settle down somewhere so JAM wouldn't be hopping from school to school, and Mahal being away for 8 months at a time wasn't an option either. Until then, Mahal worked hard in Kansas while we stayed behind in Chicago to get help from my family with Jordan. The job ended in Kansas and Mahal was back in Chicago with us just in time for Jordan's 2nd birthday. Living in Chicago was getting kind of expensive, and things in general were just plateauing for us. We definitely needed a change, but didn't know what to do. The day before Jordan's 2nd bday party we did all this shopping to prepare for his party. We bought presents, decorations, outfits, EVERYTHING! We ran inside a nearby shopping center to grab something to eat, and we were in an out in about 5 minutes. When we got to our car we realized that someone broke into our car and stole everything we just bought! That was our breaking point.

So, we had Jordan's party as planned, sold our car for an SUV, and packed up everything we could fit in the SUV and headed for Las Vegas to move with my dad. Mahal picked up another construction job in Kentucky a little after moving to Vegas, but JAM quickly approached 5 years of age so Mahal found a job locally just like we agreed. Phew! Man that was a lot of places! We've been living in Las Vegas coming on 4 years this August! We've settled down in a cute 2 bedroom apartment, I'm about to apply for the nursing program this fall, and JAM's wrapping up his Kindergarten year this Thursday! Crazy how time flies. Now you know why I always say Chitown and All Around! All this craziness going on, all you can do is take it day by day. Whatever you're going through today, just know everything will always be ok. If you can get through today you can get through anything. Trust me, I'm living proof!