April Showers

Oh my.  It's been awhile.  If I'm not mistaken, today is the last day of April - how time flies.  I've noticed that the older I get, the quicker time goes.  That seems unfair.  Maybe if I had a shorter commute or got up earlier in the morning, it wouldn't feel that way.  Maybe if I organized my time and used something like a planner, it wouldn't feel that way.  But I'd have to find the time to either make or buy a planner and if I don't already have one, how will I set aside the time to do that?  Also, I'm telling you right now that the getting up earlier in the morning will only happen sporadically.  I don't have kids to wake me in the morning and I'm going to make the most of that.  So....what have Jen and Adam been doing?  This will not be in order of importance:  

 - Killing weeds in our yard with copious amounts of weed-killing lawn fertilizer

 - Driving to our places of employment

 - Working at our places of employment

 - Doing stuff for our church callings

 - Doing laundry

 - Reading: Adam - Huck Finn, programming books, Uncertainty 

    Jen - The White Tiger, Harry Potter (again - I know it's nerdy), The Road

 - Replacing the alternator in Adam's car - that was an awesome little surprise

 - Mentally spending our kick-a&% tax return

 - Planning a trip to Italy (we're really going to do it this time)

 - Watching Lost every Wednesday and bemoaning the fact that we got sucked into it

 - Watching the Office and 30 Rock on Thursday

 - Eating Adam's mom's delicious Easter dinner

 - Wishing my mom and dad a happy anniversary (thanks for getting married!)

 - Trying to stick to some sort of exercise plan (tonight it was a power walk)

 - Making fools of ourselves over Liam

 - Waiting to see where Collin goes to law school

 - Spending five wonderful days with Adam's family in Portland & Cannon Beach!

So, yeah, that's what we've been up to!  I'm going to conclude with my pics from day one of the Oregon trip.  Adam and I flew in on Thursday night and spent the night at his sister Jenny's apartment.  On Friday, we went and hiked Multnomah Falls.  Then we had lunch, drove by the house where he spent his adolescence, and met up with the rest of his family to go to the Tulip Fest and then shopping at the outlets.  The hike almost killed me, but it was so worth it!  Dad - enjoy!

             

I'm trying to be better about updating my blog so as to be the favorite daughter.  Here's an update about the last two weeks in Jen and Adam's world:

Major Event #1:  Adam's Birthday

What a beautiful day!  Saturday the 14th was warm and sunny.  We hosted a little birthday lunch in Adam's honor with his immediate family and Collin (who was going solo while Tianna visited family in AZ).  It was my first hosting event in the new house and since it consisted of pizza and Marie Callender's pie, I'd say it was a success.  I think this may have been Adam's favorite present:

No - that's not an announcement.  I just realized that might be misleading.  We got his brother Ben a Disney Princess Diary for Christmas this year and he decided to exact his revenge.  Sigh.

Another year older.  I really can't believe that Adam used to look like this:

What a handsome sandwich! 

Major Event #2: Wende's Birthday/St Patrick's Day

I couldn't be with her on her birthday of course, but it sounded like a great day.  I really can't express how much I love and admire my big sister.  I think that about 60% of who I am comes from growing up with her playing "Carol and Diana" and "What's for Lunch," making up and acting out plays such as "The Death of the Mailman in the Kitchen," begging her to tear herself away from her book and play Barbies with me.  That's just the tip of the iceberg.  I love our relationship now and how we can talk about anything and everything and frequently do!  Happy Birthday, Kitten!  

I tried to take part in some sort of celebration for Wende and St Pat and and so we went to my friend Nicole's annual Leprechaun Frolic.  Nicole needs to do event planning.  Her parties are amazing and she doesn't lack in enthusiasm:

That about does it for major events.  The rest of the time has been spent working, doing our taxes, house cleaning inside and out, etc, etc, etc.  We just found out this morning that Adam gets to teach Gospel Doctrine and I am the new RS secretary.  Yeah, third time's a charm - I apparently didn't get it right the first two times and still need to grow in this calling.  We'll see how that goes.  I'm reading Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier again.  I love that book.  I've read it like a dozen times and it never gets old to me.  Mrs Danvers is the creepiest of housekeepers and I can relate so much to the awkward, gauche heroine without a name.  If you've never read it, do.  If you don't read, the movie isn't bad either.  I'd like to conclude this with the latest Liam pics.  He has definitely perfected his stare.  Until the next time I post - let's hope it's before April.  

                                             

 

Beware the Ides of March

That title has nothing to do with this post. My sister and I were discussing that phrase and neither on of us knew what it meant. If anyone can tell me, I'll send them a candy bar...or something like that. If anyone actually reads this blog post it will be miraculous since my dad informed me that if I wait this long between posts, no one will check my blog and I won't have any more friends and I'll be alone at 80 years old. I always thought I go my dramatic streak from my mom...hmmm. So, okay, life has changed a little bit since January. For starters, my brother and sister moved into our house with us in February. They're between gigs right now since Collin is waiting to hear from law schools. It's been great to have them. I was a little nervous, but it's so fun to see them when we come home from work, etc. Since they will most likely not be staying here for law school, it's also great that we get to spend the last few months they're around seeing them every day. Liam is another bonus - so cute. And so entertaining in church!

What else? There were some lay-offs in Adam's office to remind us that no one is invulnerable to a really bad economy. Luckily, he made it through and it doesn't look as though there will be any more in the near future. Whew!

I am excited for spring and, this is for you, Wende, am excited to celebrate Adam's AND my sister's birthdays this month. Hooray for birthdays! If anyone has any suggestions for good things to plant in your yard for a dry climate, let me know. My mother will stare at this sentence in disbelief, but I'm so excited to work in my yard! Last but not least, after a long delay....here are some pics of the new house - we still love it!


So this is what our house looks like from the back yard (I should have stood a little further back).
Note the extremely random little look out balcony from the main floor. Adam and I have decided that this will be where our kids will go for "time-out." We may also use it to host neighborhood theatricals...I'm thinking Romeo and Juliet balcony scene - sans cleavage.


And a few shots of our cute back yard. I just realized I really don't have any of the interior from after we moved in. I'll work on that...


Adam's birthday is this Saturday! It's cool that I'm younger than him...

First Things First....

You know those movies where they try to do too much and everything seems really chaotic and disjointed? This is one of those posts. We've got a lot of ground to cover, people!

Item One - Cindy's Wedding

My dear friend Cindy got married in December. Our other dear friend Jess couldn't be there, but I promised Jess I would post some pics so that she could see what a gorgeous bride Cindy was. Here we go:


The pictures don't do her justice (mainly because they're so dark). She was a beautiful bride!

Item Two - We are all moved into our house and unpacked! I'd show you pics, but I still need to take some and we've been far too busy shoveling snow this past week for me to feel like it. I will soon. We're loving the house and all the space. I'm cleaner when it's my own house - go figure.

Item Three - Christmas in Ro-cha-cha with my family! Everybody made it out there this year and it was so wonderful to be able to spend so much time with everyone. Now I get to play the proud auntie once again:

I hope my dad's not mad that I included him too, but it's a cute one of Connor and I felt particularly satisfied with the set of John Wayne movies I gave my dad this year for Christmas (which he is holding in the picture). Many moons ago, my family and I were getting ready to go somewhere, and I was told to go downstairs and let dad know we were ready to go. He was watching a John Wayne movie downstairs and I just went over and turned the TV off without a thought. He was extremely indignant and said, "What did you do that for? I wanted to hear what that old Indian had to say!" He can now hear all the wise words from that old Indian and can even rewind them.

The last one isn't the cutest one that I have of Aiden, but he was such a fun playmate while we were back there, and everytime I look at this picture, I just miss him! Anyway, it was a grand old time. We enjoyed every minute of pizza and wings, garbage plates, keeping the boys entertained, Christmas, etc.

Item Four - New Year's! We had a great time with Adam's family once we got back into town. His sister Jenny was able to stay a few days longer so we were able to see her too! We had the best chicken cordon bleu I've ever had and some nice tennis and boxing sessions on the Wii. I won at Scattegories. It's no big deal.

Whew! That was a lot. For those of you who were able to make it through this post, I thank you for your time. After the holiday rush, it's nice to get back to a routine and make some empowering resolutions for the new year. I recently rediscovered Dolly Parton's "Light of the Clear Blue Morning" song. Years ago, I used to listen to it when I needed a pick me up. It's maybe a little cheesy, and something I shouldn't admit to liking but I feel like I could hike Mt Everest whenever I listen to it. It was a good way to start the new year and you should listen to it on youtube or something for a quick fix. I feel no shame. I also like Timbaland's "The Way I Are." It's called being well-rounded - sheesh.

I'm Pregnant!

Just kidding. I'm NOT pregnant. I'm also not quite as skinny as I used to be, but just to set the record straight - no pending babies here, although I do plan regularly to kidnap my brother's baby once he's no longer nursing. You would too if you saw this kid smile. I digress. The real news is.....drumroll.......we bought a house! We're moving in this week! It's so exciting! I can't use enough exclamation points!!!! !!!! !!!! See what I mean!?! Needless to say, we're very happy although now completely debt-ridden. This was us last night after the necessity of buying a fridge and a washer and dryer:



And yes, I do get that dressed up while appliance shopping. You dress for success, you know? On a side note, washing machines are looking more and more like those escape pods on Star Wars. Is there a reason for that? Should I be afraid? I'll post some pictures soon before my sister kills me. I'll also have some other updates. Spoiler alert - on Sunday, Adam and I saw Santa Clause's real mode of transportation. Love to you all!

12-hour work day

Ah, November. I have so many mixed feelings about you. Election day - I felt proud to be able to exercise my right to vote. Veterans Day - another patriotic holiday. Thanksgiving - LOVE it! Spending time with family, having a delicious meal, and did I mention two whole days off of work? I can't wait! On the flip side, this is my busiest month of the year as far as work goes. I've been doing web training sessions with international areas and today, Adam and I left the house at 5 AM so I could be to work by 5:30. I made it on time (no small miracle) and then worked till 5 PM. So, I'm tired and loopy and blaming November as if it's the cause of all my problems. It's not, but have you ever noticed how as soon as November 1st comes around, the number of cloudy days increases exponentially? I have. It's just weird. On top of that, there's the whole you-can-never-count-the-weather thing and the landscape begins to look really dead. I thought of another plus though: Adam and I busted out the hot chocolate on Sunday and have enjoyed a nice comforting late night snack every night since. This was done in spite of the fact that one night, I turned the AC on because it was too hot in our apartment. Like I said, mixed feelings. Maybe it's the lack of sleep.

A year and one day......

So, Yesterday was my one-year wedding anniversary! I really cannot believe how quickly this year has flown by. What did we do to celebrate our anniversary? We had all sorts of grand plans leading up to it, but since we're looking to buy a house and wanting to save our time-off for a trip to see my family at Christmas, we settled for spending Thursday and Friday at a hotel downtown, dinner at the Melting Pot and lots of sentimental speeches interspersed through out the weekend. ("You're pretty. No, you're pretty! And the like...) Can't you just picture us?

In all seriousness, this past year has been so great and so eye-opening, and I mean that in the best sense! I've learned so much about myself, how I communicate, and what it's like to not always do things my way. It hasn't always been easy, especially since both of us were single adults for more than a decade. There were some things that I thought would be difficult to adjust to (sharing a bathroom with a man, etc) that were surprisingly easy. Who knew that the real challenge would be realizing that the fact that we both speak English doesn't mean that we interpret things exactly the same way? ("So when you say that you're upset, that's like my version of slightly annoyed. It doesn't mean that you want to throw your hairbrush?") Some of you don't know Adam very well. Let me tell you what kind of guy he is:

1) The kind who listens, really listens to everything a person says
2) The kind who thinks before he speaks (I don't always do that well)
3) The kind who would buy a book on Mathematics and another about Gandhi in the same trip
4) The kind who loves to cook with me even when it takes until 9:00 to eat because we can't understand the recipe
5) The kind who doesn't realize he has the nose of a Greek god (that's how I describe it anyway) and isn't vain about his glossy brown curls

Hopefully nobody who reads this is dry-heaving. I'm really more of a private a person when it comes to things I feel deeply, but I wanted to at least say this much. He's great and we've been happy and grateful for the miraculous circumstances that led to one year ago (it might be thanks to my grandma Kate - you just never know). For any of you who may want to relive the joyous day:

http://picasaweb.google.com/zundelje