Thankful Thursday- love. notes.

Thankful for thoughtful notes, lifted spirits, and a loving father. 

Inspiration...

This past weekend we were given the opportunity to make some career decisions and the process of finding the answer was not an easy one. We have collaborated, deliberated, and discussed. We have made list after list- weighing the good and the bad.  (We even busted out my giant dry erase board and pack of colored markers.)  I think it is safe to say, that through some intense team effort, we have come up with a plan that we feel confident about.


So... We are not going to be moving soon (with in the next 6 months). We will be staying in WA and Chris will focus on both personal and project success.  This won't be easy, as this project has many challenges, but I know he is destined to do great things...  I believe it. He will come out stronger because of the opportunities he is experiencing. We just have to remind ourselves that each day is an opportunity. 


These quotes are going in Chris' lunch tomorrow...

"We taste and feel and see the truth. We do not reason ourselves into it.”  William Butler Yeats

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

“There are no failures - just experiences and your reactions to them.”  Tom Krause

“Courage is not limited to the battlefield or the Indianapolis 500 or bravely catching a thief in your house. The real tests of courage are much quieter. They are the inner tests, like remaining faithful when nobody's looking, like enduring pain when the room is empty, like standing alone when you're misunderstood.” Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles Swindoll

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” Charles Swindoll

“There is nothing more valuable than your time.” Jeff Putnam


 Stay focused on your goals, hun.  

I love this man! 

Aloha

My husband is pretty wonderful... Yesterday he told me what he got me for Christmas. A trip to Hawaii!! We (yes, WE. The. Whole. Family. Chris. Me. Wilson. Nora) will be in sunny Hawaii from Dec 11-21!


Talk about a GREAT Christmas present (and a pretty wonderful way to celebrate Nora's first birthday). I have been wanting to go to HI for years. YEARS!


With our upcoming move (which is now "most likely" instead of "could be") we know that we need to take advantage of where we ARE living. Because where we WILL most likely be living after the first of the year (still waiting on the contract to be signed and the paperwork to hit our mailbox) is NOT a direct flight away from Hawaii.


I am SO excited! Chris just out did himself. Who needs diamonds when you can vay-kay in Hawaii? Not me. I will take a site seeing, beach lounging, adventure over jewelry (or knives, if we are talking about my gift from last Christmas) any day!! Any. Day.

Recharged

We stayed at The Del Coronado. It is a really neat hotel/resort that was built in the late 1800's and is full of character. Our room was perfect. The hotel is right on the beach and we could see porpoise playing right off the shore. The resort also has a world famous spa, two pools, shops, and a salon. (Where I got my hair cut for the first time in almost 9 months--the below picture is pre-cut. I am much shorter now.)

 

San Diego is a REALLY nice city. It is beautiful! The temperatures there are perfect and the water is breath taking.

Our first evening, Friday, we had a dinner cruise on a beautiful yacht. We enjoyed amazing views, delicious food, and fruity cocktails. 

On Saturday we spent most of the day by the pool and in the ocean. We rented surf and boogie boards (and wet suits) and let the Pacific have its way with us. It was fantastic! 

Later that evening, we enjoyed getting to know some other couples over dinner and drinks. We had a great time.

I saw this smile more this weekend than I have in months...

 

We were definately due a little time away and both feel recharged... Mentally.

We arrived home last night. Thankfully the kids did great when we were gone, but now baby Nora has a little fever. Poor girl, she is sleeping in the Ergo as I type this. (I do NOT know what I would do without the Ergo. If you don't have one consider this a recommendation!)

construction of the heart

We all have days that we feel especially grateful. Days when something, or someone seems to help put things into life's perspective. Today, has been one of those days for me. I am healthy. My baby girl is healthy. I am loved. I have these two wonderful people in my life. They can fix anything... With hard hats, or without them.

1st Day of Practicum

My practicum went well. I am at an elementary school. I really like my supervisor and think that I will definitely enjoy this assignment. I love speech-language pathology! (What a nerd.)

I am so glad that Chris and I are doing everything we are to make our dreams a reality. It is days like this that make me so thankful. I am so proud of all Chris' accomplishments and I am proud of myself (I'm allowed that right?).

Today, I was the person I want to be. I was patient, kind, relaxed, and optimistic. I enjoyed every second of "work", came home to an amazing son, ate a good dinner, walked the dogs (on beautiful sun filled day), played in the back yard, read stories, laughed, played some more in the tub, put the little man to bed, and I am now giving you all an update. The only thing that would make this day better is if my wonderful husband was here to share it. HE, would be the icing on the cake!

I am so lucky to have such a loving and supportive husband! Chris, you are amazing.You are my rock and I am your lady, forever.

Happy Mother's Day to me!

Tomorrow, I am spending 5 hours at the spa getting pampered: facial, wrap, massage and pedicure. I can thank my wonderful husband for the treat. I definitely need it. I think you could say I've earned it. It is for giving birth to Wilson (15 months ago), and trying to be the best mom, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and student I can be.

Wilson and I had a ball today. I tried to document the day via photos but I am too tired to post much more. I 'm sure tomorrow will revive me. So be on the look out...

Happy as ever

Chris made it home last night. Yay! That was 3 long weeks apart. This morning we went for a walk in the park and came back to the house for a little b-b-q (aka grill time). We enjoyed some juicy burgers and sweet sun tea.

Wilson is very happy to have his Daddy home! He is napping now, dad and Chris are taking some yard trimming to the dump, while I am studying (well, I am supposed to be). I better get on that; I have midterms next week. Just thought you'd want to know we are all well and enjoying the sunshine... together.

I'll post pictures later. We took some good ones at the park.

More SNOW!

School was canceled again today. Of course, not until the middle of our exam though. The good news is: I don't have to go back to campus now that I am home and... I AM HALF WAY THROUGH ANOTHER SCHOOL TERM! That feels good to say. I love school but am ready to get it over. You know what I mean?

I will try to take some pictures today of the neighborhood. People are on their rooves shoveling off snow. I am worried. Is our roof going to collaspe? Tell me it won't, and that we don't have to hike up there and shovel. This snow is very wet (and heavy) and I am not "grace". No good can come from me going up there.

On to other news, I am going to Portland tomorrow. Did you catch that? I (hmm) am going to Portland. That means, no Wilson. Wilson and Papaw are going to hang out together while Chris and I have a night together. Chris has district meetings this week and on Friday there is a dinner/dance. So I am heading down to partake in the fun. We are both looking forward to it. We haven't had a night alone since... well... before Wilson was born. We are coming back to Spokane on Saturday so it is really just the one night. This way Chris can still enjoy some Wilson time.

Missing Daddy Already...

What can I say. These are two fine looking guys... We enjoyed our time together and can not wait until Thanksgiving. Gobble, gobble. Have a great week!

2 hours and 30 minutes...

until Chris gets home and I cannot wait to see him. I feel like it has been an eternity since we have seen each other. Granted, this month has FLOWN by but these past 24 hours have ticked by at a snails pace. I should be working on school work or cleaning the house but I can't get my mind to focus on anything. Partly because I am excited and partly because I am exhausted. (the time changed has screwed up our sleeping habits- which were just starting to get under control.)

Have a great weekend all...

Last week I headed down to Vancouver to help Chris move into his new apartment and get out of the renovation zone. I left the house in a bit of a hurry and forgot my camera. So no pictures of the beautiful drive along the Columbia River or of Chris' new pad. Next time, I promise.


Besides moving and unpacking Chris, I was able to go to his office and meet his boss and coworkers. Everyone was really nice and every office was set up just how Chris likes; construction pictures, dry erase boards, and miniature Cat equipment on every desk.

It was like they got into his head or something- scary. It was so nice to see the office and meet everyone. I am SO happy that Chris LOVES his job. We are so lucky it is unbelievable.

On Friday we went out to lunch with some of the work crew at this great restaurant on the river called Beaches.

On Saturday we all headed back to Spokane and, as you read from my earlier post, bought a new laptop.

Sunday we really enjoyed our day together. We decided to stay in the area we live, which is Spokane's South Hill. We got up and went to one my favorite places for breakfast, Huckleberrys- a Natural Market, then picked up the dogs and headed to Manito Park , a 90 acre park just a mile from our house. We checked out the flower gardens;

Duncan Garden in Spokane's Manito Park
© Angela M. Brown,

The Duck pond;

and Japanese Garden.

After the park we picked up my Toshiba and drove Chris to the airport. He is Canada this week with work and will fly back home on Friday. Dad had to go back to Florida to move out of his condo so Wilson and I are busy supervising the contruction team here at the homestead. I can say with great relief that the HVac is being installed as I type and the drywall is also getting taped. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Superman

Just look at all Chris has done this weekend, and the weekend isn't even over yet. He should get a lot more done today because our friend Jason just called and he is coming over to help. Thank you, Jace!



He has the large room's ceiling just about finished:

As you come down the stairs.

Above the bar

Buck with a drywall nose.

10 wonderful years.

10 years ago Chris and I began our story together. Throughout these years, we have met our challenges but we have always been lead back to one another. It is like we have this magnetic force that keeps us connected… WOW- I really said 10 years. I can’t believe it!! It seems like yesterday that I was staring at that rotten grin of his. What a minute- I was. He may have gained a few pounds and grown a few inches but that grin of his still shines.

We have been very blessed. We have traveled the world and had more adventures than I can count. We have wonderful friends and family that support and love us and very soon our family will grow when I deliver our son.

With every passing day I love him more. I never thought I would understand that saying but I do now. He is my rock. He is the one person that knows every button to push. (This has its good and bad points.) He is the man of my past, present and future. I love him for more reasons than I can write. I look forward to the father he will be and all that the next 10 years have to offer.

Busy weekend

Wow did we have a busy weekend. It all started last Thursday when Home Depot dropped off basement materials. The delivery truck arrived at our house around three with an entire trailer full of supplies. We had 3 pallets of insulation, 1 pallet of bathroom materials (shower rods, sinks, faucets, etc.), 1 pallet of drywall mud, bi-fold doors, molding, and 155 4x8 sheets of drywall.Everything went smoothly until it came to the drywall. The night before it snowed and our driveway was covered. Naturally, the contraption the man was driving could not get the drywall inside. He kept spinning on the snow and said that the weight of the drywall was just too heavy. I asked him if he would take the drywall back to HD because it was snowing and deliver the material another day. After all, I can’t help that it snowed the night before and that his contraption cannot do its job. Well, that was not an option. He would not and could not take the drywall back!! He had “other deliveries” and was going to leave $1,500 worth of materials outside in the snow. Needless to say, I was not too happy but there was nothing I could do about it. So he left the drywall IN THE SNOW and went on his Mary way. That night Chris and I covered the drywall up with a tarp and crossed our fingers for cold weather. Thankfully, the weather held up and Chris had some guys from work come over and help him move all the drywall inside on Saturday. (We were super lucky too because Sunday it warmed back up to 45 degrees and all the snow melted.) Saturday, not only did Chris get the drywall inside he put in the fireplace, rearranged the spare bedroom, and put the crib up!!!

Have I mentioned lately that my husband is amazing!? Everyone always worries about the pregnant one (how I am feeling, coping and adjusting to the idea of delivering and having a baby) but the men have a lot going on too. Chris is so strong and doing so much for me. I am sure (he hasn’t told me this) that he is dealing with similar anxieties and emotions but he just keeps it all together. He balances work, home construction, me, the dogs and the idea of becoming a father like a star- never complaining and faithfully dependable. I am so lucky!!

Sunday Chris worked on the basement (fixing the final things the inspector suggested) and I had my baby shower. The shower was wonderful. We shared stories, laughed and ate some yummy chocolate cake!! I can’t believe how many people sent things for us from out of town!! Seriously, it was great!! We really miss you guys!!! Thanks so much!! It was like I had you all there.

Taking it easy and loving my man.

Okay, so there have been some changes over the weekend. I will spare everyone the details but let's just say that we think Junior will not wait until his due date to arrive. I have put myself on bed rest for the next week- in hopes that he stays put a little longer. While I have been taking it easy Chris has been running around like a mad man.

Saturday he made a baby supply run. We now have diapers, wipes, some onsies, diaper cream, a mattress, sheets and pacifiers. There are a few other things we need but I am not worried about getting them. After all, when I do deliver I will be in the hospital for 2 days- so we will manage. Our car seat is in the car, not hooked up but in the car, and our bags are packed.

Yesterday, Chris spent most of the day at Home Depot. He has ordered most of the supplies we need to finish the basement (everything from the toilet to nails) and I think that they are delivering the sheet rock and insulation one day this week. It is a sigh of relief to both of us that we have everything ordered or under control. The basement won't be done by the time we meet our son but will we get it done soon after. Along with shopping, yesterday my engineer put all of our expenses in a spread sheet and we know exactly how much we need to sell the house for when we leave. That is another weight off our chest. We have dropped a lot of money into this house but think it will all be worth it in the end.

Okay, I need to get back to propping my feet up.