little voices

Last week we got to have fun houseguests stay with us for 6 days. My cousins and their sweet girl Amelia came over from Montana to visit. We loved hearing the echo of a little voice all throughout our house. Nathaniel was instantly smitten with her as he tends to be with all little kids so it was pretty fun to see them interact or hear him talk about her. Of course he wanted to do whatever he could to make her smile so between Chad being here and giving her doughnuts and Nathan shining a laser pointer on the wall so Scrappy would jump and make Amelia squeal with laughter...I think it went pretty well. Of course I am extremely smitten with her too:)



I loved having Amelia here, talking with Sara when Sam was gone for work and just being with the fun members of my extended family (we hung out with Logan and Eric, Gabe and Juli came over, Chad was in town...). We really need to get together more often as we all have so much fun when we're together. We are among the few of our friends who live over here but don't have a lot of family here and we definitely miss it.

Speaking of family, tomorrow night we are starting the trek to McCall, Idaho to meet up with Nathan's mom and her fiance and his family for a big morel mushroom picking trip. They do this every year and rent a big house and just hang out so it should be pretty fun. Nathan's mom is also giving us two chairs-and-a-half so we will be coming back with a U-Haul trailer. I am super excited as we now have an empty room so we will be doing some furniture shuffling.

I am nervous about taking a day off work for our trip (I already have Friday and Monday off) as I am crazy busy at work but I think I just have to do it and trust that things will be okay. I have a lot of homeless students right now and lots of kids needing food, prom dresses, clothing, tickets to the senior grad party, etc. etc. It's so good to be busy, I just wish there were more time in the school day! 7:50-1:50 goes by so quickly.
Of course this is not to say I am not SO excited for summer. I don't even know what I'll do with all the free time, probably go a little crazy.
We do have a few trips planned (Idaho, Westport (the ocean), Winthrop (small town where we're already scheduled for 90 minute couples massages thanks a gift certificate we got for our wedding!), Wyoming, Montana, the Gorge) though so it should be fun.
I also need to get to work on our front yard as every time I look across the street at our neighbor's wonderland of flowers I feel slightly inadaquate. I planted a few last week but they pale in comparison to her's. I think she has slightly more time on her hands.

Embarrasingly I looked in the guest bathroom shower today to notice the shower floor was dirty...big apologies to our guests for it not being clean, I must have completely overlooked it! :(

london on my mind

Today I checked the weather report to find that London is expecting 70 degree temperatures all week. I kind of wish we were still there! Although the sun did come out today...and is actually still out tonight, so it's not so bad. I don't miss London just for the weather though, there was so much to see and do there, all over England Scotland...it was so much fun. Nathan has to go back in June and I am going to tentatively plan to go along. I just can't get enough and having the opportunity to jump on board his business trips makes me a lucky girl!



We bought a new (to us) couch this weekend. My brother moved out and took his loveseat with him. It was the only piece of furniture in our formal living room so the emptyness in there just wasn't working for me. I searched Craigslist for a few days and came across a great option. It was a truly successful Craigslist find as the owners were extremely nice and CLEAN so I had no concerns about the quality and condition of the couch. Even better, we were able to fit it into the back of my car and tie the door down to make it home. Double score. I had also just found a crib on Craigslist for one of my pregnant students so now I am completely addicted to Craigslist after having TWO successful purchases in a row. What else can we buy? Leather chairs to sit across from the couch? A comfy chair for the guest room? Bookshelves? A table? Ahhh...it gets addicting.



We are having a dinner party with a group of friends (these were originally Nathan's friends from college) this weekend. We are expecting 14-16 people plus us...and I have realized we do not have enough plates. Since I am resisting using reusable plates for a nice dinner party I needed a plan. Today I looked at Goodwill. I love going to Goodwill for things like picture frames that I can paint and transform to brand new...but I hadn't ever considered it for dishes. I want to buy a really nice new set of dishes or add to the ones we have but I had no idea I registered us for a set that is $13 a plate (we got them all as wedding gifts)...and really I don't even like them that much...so maybe it's not worth the money. While I'm searching for our perfect kitchen upgrade, I figure I should go cheap to add about 5 more plates just to tide us over. So far Goodwill just wasn't doing it for me but I'll check a couple other places before probably caving and buying brand new dishes even though my husband will tell me we have 2 perfectly good sets. Hmph. :) Oh! I just realized I should check Craigslist for dishes too!

a mish-mash of sorts

It's raining like crazy and has been for days and days...Makes me miss this Mexican sunset we saw just a few weeks ago. :) We had so much fun on our relaxing honeymoon and are going on vacation AGAIN in 2 weeks! This time it's London and will probably be the opposite of our Mexico trip (little to no sunshine, lots and lots to do, not nearly as good food, no swimming pool) but still very fun. I am going crazy trying to figure out what to do and where it all is. There are so many cities with stupid long names and so many things to see! It's going to be awesome though.

Nathan has to work in London for the first week but my parents are flying in the same day as us so I will hang out with them while Nathan works. Then we head over to Glasgow where we meet Nathan's mom and sister (his sister goes to grad school in Scotland) to see that area. Nathan meets up with us in Edinburgh after his week of work and we keep traveling from there to Cotswolds and back to London and possibly Bath (and all kinds of little places in between- this is the very shortened version). Can't wait!

Nathan is in Australia right now. I didn't end up getting to go with because the trip was cancelled, rescheduled, cancelled and then rescheduled again and by then it was too late for me to jump on, not to mention he is only there for about 5 days and I would not see him at ALL. Not exactly how I wanted to see Australia so I will wait until next time (which there will most likely be every year). While he's gone I have a list of things I want to do around the house, one may involve painting - without him. Eeek. I need to do a second coat in the office/guest room and have been putting it off for too long. Chad is also going to be here for his spring break next week and I think he is at our house Tuesday and Wednesday. He wants a pedicure and I am happy to join! I might take a day off while he's here. I was supposed to have last Monday off (I am only paid for something like 172 days a year, 12 being in the summer so I have to take days off during the school year to make sure I don't work extra...which of course never seems to work that way and I end up working and not getting paid...but such is the nature of my career) but it was too busy for me to be gone. So maybe I'll take it this week.

I signed up to take an 8 week workshop to become a doula! I am super excited about it. I need to shake things up a little job-wise so this is definitely an exciting way to do it. Eventually I will probably just be a independent doula for hire so I can work as much or as little as I choose. Even doing a couple births a year would be awesome...My dream would be to be a doula for low income women. It's not ususally something they can have since not a lot of insurances cover doulas so people pay out of pocket. The fee can be expensive so I would offer a sliding fee or a much lower one that allows all women to have someone there to support them through their pregnancy, labor and after baby's born. Classes start March 22 and it's a small group of 10 or less women led by a really cool lady. I cannot wait!

I should probably write in here a little more so every entry doesn't become such a mish-mash like this one. I really want to get our website up and running so we have a much more fun and exciting blog. I'll have to talk about my computer geek.

trimmed

Our trim is being painted right now! When we bought our house we (I) had big DIY dreams of turning it into our special place. Painting, sanding, remodeling, decorating and making it our own were always on the docket.
Recently we tried to tackle one of those dreams and were quickly reminded that perhaps we aren't the greatest do-it-yourselfers after all, at least when it comes to painting trim. You see, I don't really have what they call a steady hand. I unfortunately did not inherit the left-handed artist gene that seems to have stopped with my dad...and therefore most things that involve straight lines (cutting, driving, painting, etc.) do not exactly come naturally to me. I have no problem accepting them as they are but when it comes to hundreds of feet of trim in a house that we will someday have to actually make presentable enough to sell to the next guy...well...then it matters.

And since the white trim my mostly only my dream...my hubby (with a somewhat steady hand but more importantly a resume that boasts a stint in the paint section at Home Depot) was none to thrilled to do it all himself. And do we blame him? No, not really. But, ever the sweetheart (or just lacking the guts to tell me no), he pushed our cart through Lowe's as I loaded it with primer, paint, rollers, sawhorses and crowbars (the reason for these will soon become apparent). $101.65 later we were on our way to live out his personal definition of hell on earth. Oh, did I forget to tell you he hates painting? Because he does. And did I forget to tell you we had just been at Lowe's the day before to purchase the third gallon of paint for the guest room because I still can't decide what color I like? Because yeah, we did that.

So, back home, hubby is convinced we can't paint the trim without removing it (the whole steady hand thing). We set up the sawhorses in the garage and after watching You-Tube videos about how to safely remove trim without breaking it, he got to work while I stood by (of course this is not the best arrangement but there wasn't a whole lot I could do at this point). 4 pieces in (which took foreverrrr, involved lots of grunting and frustration and seemed to make happy hubby into grumpy Gus), one large piece began to crack and wouldn't come off. At all. We began to realize that there was no way we could get a whole house-full of trim off without ruining both it and our marriage.

We sat on the floor and he admitted that he really doesn't want to paint all the trim nor does he know how and would be so much happier hiring someone else to do it. Not one to argue with the truth, I agreed. Luckily Nathan has a friend who owns a paint company so one quick call to him and Phinney Ridge Painters were scheduled to come out with an estimate in the coming weeks.

Until then, the guest room remained untouched, 4 pieces of trim laying on the floor, the bed and desk in disarray after being moved in order to fit into the small corners of the room and the walls empty of any hangings due to our paint the night before. We shut the door and without saying it, seemed to agree that it would be best we not revisit that near-disaster for a couple days.

Fast forward to Monday, we were given the estimate at a deep [friend] discount and it was decided that we would begin with the bottom floor of the house and see how far the painters could get in two days. We set a limit for ourselves and agreed that this would be phase one (the living area), phase two (the bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs) could come later after we've traveled a few of the trips set to happen this spring.

The exciting thing is it's HAPPENING! Our house, built only a few years ago, has been looked sadly dated due to its drab wooden trim. This little update is sure to bring much needed cheer to our happy home.

Not to mention we have to buckle down and start project #2: painting the kitchen cabinets white! Maybe we should go in for a few sessions of marital counseling before tackling that one though? Just brush up on loving one another through our least favorite projects maybe...I think I need to pack my vocabulary with the most encouraging of phrases so my sweet hubby will only be a little angry when I ask him to paint a few more straight lines for me:)

happy new year!

2011 has begun! Above is a picture of us with friends on New Year's Eve in Vegas. We spent four days there and had a great time.

It is no question that 2010 has been an amazing whirlwind of a year. I have been looking forward to its re-cap for months as it was a year marked by three major events:

At the start of the year, we decided we were ready to become homeowners. For five months we made lists of our wants and needs, visited potential homes on the weekends, dreamed of the perfect location for our Christmas tree, furniture and dog door in every house we saw while riding the homebuying roller coaster. We made numerous offers, waited with bated breath for answers and heard more bad news than we thought we could handle. Finally on May 24, 2010, we closed on a home, our home.

2010 also was a hard year at work. As the stress and unhappiness boiled into my relationship and home life, my search for a new job became a more serious one. In April I was contacted by a school district for an intensive round of 3 different interviews for a position as a social worker. I was excited about the possibility for something new but even more I felt like I was finally being recognized by a staff who would value me. I was offered a position and began in May. While the job has been a challenge, it is a good one and I do sincerely enjoy the change of pace (and the amazing schedule).

Most importantly, 2010 was marked by love, joy and excitement. We began the year in full-on wedding planning mode - both Nathan and me and our entire families. For 8 months we all rallied around the details of caterers, DJs, flowers, invitations, chairs, tables, decorations and preparing my parent's lake house for blue and yellow love.
On August 7, 2010, we threw the biggest and best party of our lives. I truly married my best friend. Surrounded by 200 of our closest friends and the family with the sun beating down and the lake sparkling in the background, we made promises that now hang on the wall in our bedroom, reminding us daily of the commitment we made to take care of one another, forever. The day was perfect and our joy was punctuated by fireworks, dancing, laughing and so much love. We spend two wonderful weeks in Montana reliving the moments and enjoying the calm after the storm.

For this one reason, I will never forget 2010 and still often finding myself thinking upon the moments of our rehearsal dinner, our wedding and our morning-after brunch and crying with happiness. Every second of each of those days makes my heart tingle. I never want to forget the way I felt, the way it looked, seeing my husband for the first time as he pulled up in the boat, standing up with 12 of our friends circled around us, looking out upon 200 smiling faces, dancing until the music died, laughing, hugging, holding...
After nearly everyone had left for the night, Nathan and I found our parents huddled in a circle, smiling and already talking about the details we had accomplished. We all hugged and high-fived. "We did a good job," someone said. And we knew we did. we threw a good party, we wrote good vows, we picked our best match and even more, 20+ years ago, our parents met one another and raised us to eventually fall in love. It was good.

The forecast for 2011 is travel, and lots of it. We will go on a ski mountain getaway at White Pass, travel to Mexico for our honeymoon, visit Montana and Wyoming, use a wedding gift certicate we got to cozy little Winthrop, WA and go on 3 seperate trips to Australia, London and then Toronto, Canada. It's going to be good!

Happy New Year to you!

merry & bright

Christmas always goes by waay too quickly. Usually a few days before the actual day I start to realize it's almost over and wish I would have done more: decorated more cookies, given more presents, stayed home longer, put up more decorations, made homemade eggnog, listened to more Christmas carols, hung more garland...All the things I did but not enough. I always find myself thinking, "Next year, I want to..." There's just so much that comes with the holiday, with this time of year. I love every part of it and the warm cozy carefree feelings that tend to follow.

We had a really really great Christmas. Wintery white Christmas in Montana is way too good and I'm thinking it's going to be a very long time before we end the tradition of traveling over to celebrate. We both sat at the table eating dinner tonight and agreed we wished we were still there. We couldn't have stayed longer than the 8 days because Nathan needed to get back to work and really I think it was the perfect amount of time where we didn't wear out our welcome (I think) or get tired of being there.

Now we are preparing for our New Year's trip to Vegas. We are going with 3 other couples on Thursday night. I haven't been to Vegas since I was 16 so I'm thinking this trip will be a bit different than a visit to the M&M factory. It should be a good time I'm sure. I have the week off since I work at a school so I am cleaning up the aftermath of our overly stuffed car, doing laundry and reading for pleasure.

flossing

Tonight I am going to try my hand at homemade caramels-Apple Cider ones to be exact. I am slowly but surely working on becoming a good (key word here...I can cook and bake but I want to be GOOD) cook and baker. Every so often I try a recipe that doesn't turn out so great and I am thankful for my good-natured taste-testing hubby who never complains. Unfortunately I ruined the pecan pie at Thanksgiving and that was a big letdown...I know, that's one that is very basic and shouldn't be so hard, especially since I topped that with an amazing white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake with gingerbread crust...But something went wrong. My goal is a redeeming Christmas pecan pie.

Speaking of all this baking and sweet eating, we had dentist appointments today. The running joke is always that Nathan, when we started dating, had not been to the dentist in like 3 years. I encouraged him to go, both of us expecting many many cavities after years of poor dental health. Surprisingly, he left with NO cavities and the dentist even said his teeth looked great. I left with THREE cavities (my first ever) and got a serious lecture about taking better care of my teeth - even though I had been practicing regular check-ups, brushing regularly and even flossing. Ugh. Nathan has some amazingly perfect spaces between his teeth that make flossing nearly unncessary. I hate it. So today we went to the dentist - he still doesn't floss and still often forgets to brush his teeth - and the dental hygienist not only told him his teeth looked great but that she could tell he had been flossing...and he lied and said he does! What a turd. Luckily the dentist finally (after two years of us going there) also told me that my teeth look good. Sheesh. I have been flossing like crazy.

Tomorrow we are going to get massages! So excited. We are also getting our Christmas tree and making a final decision about whether or not we'll put lights on our house. We only have a couple weeks to enjoy them before we leave for Montana so we need to decide if it's worth it. The neighbors have some simple icicle lights that look adorable with the high peaks of our roofs so we might be easily sold on them. It'd be a loss to not decorate our first home!