Last day of the year post

I wanted to get some thoughts down on this last day of the year of 2015. What a year of changes it has been for our family. We started out in January with a simple audition with Seattle Talent at the Hilton in Anchorage on a very, very cold winter day and today we are living in Los Angeles and it is warm and sunny outside. What a year we have had- so much travel- Tom and I both made 75K on Alaska this year and Rainey made her Gold again but that only takes 40,000 and by the end of the year she was at 56,000 which does not include our travel on mileage tickets only on paid tickets. We went to Hawaii in January - just a few days after the first Seattle Talent meeting- Phoenix and Seattle in Feb- lots of Seattle in March and April for Seattle Talent classes - down to Phoenix for 3 different weeks in the summer for camps for Rainey- week long camp in LA in June- week in April in LA and Phoenix-New York in July and then the move down here on August 3rd and then a lot of back and forth to Anchorage with a trip to Tennessee for me in September and a family trip to Houston in October for Tom's high school reunion and I forgot about the trip from Anchorage to Houston in April for Mother Ruth's funeral... all in all.. lots and lots of flying...

What a year we have had - so many changes- We came into this year  with no idea of how many changes we would make - the biggest being the move to Los Angeles- not that we have "moved" but that we live here now with what seems like small pit stops to the house in Alaska.  Renae is up there organizing and packing up non essentials so that the house is less cluttered for when we arrive each time. I am just amazed each time I am up there how much stuff we have and how much stuff we really do not need. We went down 4 times in size in a house not counting the 1500 sq foot shop that is FULL of storage or the 500 sq foot cabin that was FULL of storage until Renae helped with that situation back in August. So you can see that in itself was a huge change for us. I mentioned to Tom this morning that we should get a scale for down here and he replied "Where would we put it" and I said " that was what I was thinking" we really have to think about what we buy just because space is at such a premium. Now in Anchorage we have two scales in our bathroom and there is plenty of room for them- I guess we can just continue to weigh ourselves when we go to Anchorage.

So many changes - eating out- wow we hardly EVER eat out down here. When in Anchorage it was common for us to eat out at  least 3 or more times a week and to get fast food to supplement the eating out with a few occasional meals at the house. It is rare that we buy fast food or eat out down here. It is just to complicated. I mean by the time you get done with what you are doing and are in stop and go traffic who wants to find a restaurant? If you are already in for the evening who wants to get ready, walk down the long hallway, out the door , down another hallway to the elevator-down to the ground level, walking out to your car , down though the gate into traffic - to take at least 30 minutes to go 3-4 miles and then back again through that process. Not us for sure. Also, there is the little store on the property and so if I need something for making dinner Tom will "walk" down and get it and we have dinner. Also, grocery delivery here is 10.00 dollars or 6.00 if I give them a two hour window so there is really no need to not have food or ingredients on hand to make meals.

So many changes-homeschooling Rainey- huge change from taking her to school, being a part of the school, on the PTA board, my Girl Scout troop, Rainey's friends, parties, helping at the school.... big changes for Rainey and for myself. I am not sure I could go back to having her at the school - I know she needs the social aspect but I can now see how one on one at home really skyrockets a child to a higher academic level - she also has lots of social down here with all the different group classes and activities she is involved in right now. We are adding dance and gymnastics in January - which is tomorrow :) her confidence level is amazing - I mean she has always been confident but now she is just so outgoing and comfortable with herself and those around her. I also feel like she has access to so much educational experiences down here that she would not get sitting in a 2nd grade classroom in Alaska.

So many changes- Hollywood- wow, we were such newbies 5 months ago. It is funny to think about how little we knew and just how brave we were to show up down here at the beginning of August with no plan or idea of what to do and now here we are 5 months later full of knowledge, ideas, plans and we are so excited to see what this next year brings to our family. We continue to learn new things all the time -

Some things have not changed - I still get to Anchorage for book club- I love book club and seeing the family and just staying a part of something so stable and comforting that I have been a part of for - 10 years in May of this year. Yes., that will not change :)

We are staying home this weekend. After getting back from Alaska Tom and I were under the weather and today (the last day of filming at Rainey's camp) she is not feeling good so the Spurlocks are staying put this weekend. They do have some sort of an activity tomorrow at the clubhouse - a potluck get together with games, dancing ect so we will probably walk over and check that out. Otherwise we are open until Monday when Rainey has an audition for a Barbie commercial - we were just at one last night down in Santa Monica for lawn care products - I found a way to get out of Santa Monica home during rush hour traffic which only takes 45 minutes ( I was seriously proud of myself)...... last time on the freeway it took an hour and 45 minutes so I cut off an hour !!!

At any rate this is my last post of the year - see you on the flipside - Brenda