snow

 At the end of the night it started snowing, pretty good!  The funny thing is that we were 10 mins north of our apartment.  When we got home, it was barely raining.  Its crazy how elevation really makes a difference.  I think we need to live 10 mins away so we can have snow more often.  I love snow!

Odin was so happy, he just kept smiling and trying to eat the snow.  

That was the cutest part of the whole thing for sure!

twenty two

We are both at 22!  O boy is 22 months old and I am 22 weeks pregnant. 

I'm so sad that we didn't get more belly shots before this one.  Its been a crazy last few months and I just haven't felt as excited about having pictures taken of me this time around.  But, I am making a point of taking more belly shots from now on.  We'll do it for this baby coming in July.

GOOGLE VOICEMAIL

The following is an other voice message I left for Zack on his Google Voice account.  When he gets a voice message it emails him the text and its always wrong, very wrong.  Here is one of the voice messages I left for him recently.  Its so incorrect, its humorous.

Call me any. The password for the interested. Sorry Sergeant. I love you bye. 

waiting, waiting

 Lately I'm feeling like my life is one big hunt.  Patiently waiting as ready as can be for that prey or house and car to walk my way.   It shouldn't be hard but it is!
As nice as it is to have a lot of time in my days whilst house and car hunting (did I mention we're also looking for cars?) its sort of easy to get lost and distracted, too.  I'll admit, I'm not easily motivated and I'm certain that I was supposed to be born in the more rebellious and fun eras rather than this technology driven and fast paced one.  But, alas, I am here and honestly I am trying to make the best of it.

When we moved we knew that we had a specific time frame to find a house and car.  So far we've done our very best at both.  If you know my husband at all you know that he does not rest until his desired purchase is found and obtained at the absolute best price out there.  But, we can only do so much looking, researching, comparing, emailing, etc.  The real game of "hunting" is the waiting.

Everyday we check the listings, email our contacts and pray that a new listing will mean the end of our hunt.  But, so far after several cars missed, trips to dealerships, hours online, and 34+ houses viewed, we have come up with nothing.  That isn't bad news by any means it just means that this waiting will just continue until the time runs up.

So now, the reason I began this post in the first place, how am I spending my "waiting" time?  Well, between the rainy days, a toddler who needs his naps, a household with a limited wardrobe that produces much laundry, figuring out how to grocery shop with a car + toddler + pregnant tired self you'd think there was not much time left in a day.  Well there is, and plenty of it.  AND STILL I seem to waste a lot of it and get bored and anxious and impatient and feel fat and slow and tired.  Life is not so productive over here.  I'm getting pretty sick of it! 

There have been many times in my life when I've just had too much free time on my hands and I enjoy it but it isn't ever as productive as it should be.  Now is a time though, that I am dying to be productive (probably the nesting bug going on).  This is the part of me that wishes I was more Type A.   Now is a great time, the best time, to practice the lifestyle I want when we finally "start" our new life here.  That feels good to think about and I'm sure it will only be better when I'm doing/living it!

* images - from our latest lunch date with Zack.  This playground is 5 minutes away and right next to his work. They are of our little tree hugger, exploring the big train, loving swinging with dad, he climbed on to the teetery toy thing himself, my boys climbing through the sign, O baby waving.

updates

I'm excited for this week!

...  There's no progress on the house hunting front but after many long discussions about it, we finally have agreed on what we want.  Now, I am really calm about the whole thing. 

...  I decided that this week is going to be a good week.  And so it will be.  I have the whole week planned out but not with things that will crush me if I fail.  Its just that I'm finding that in this Seattle rain I must have things planned.  I'm getting used to this new lifestyle (and new its SO is for me).  In NYC if it was raining, I'd swiftly cancel or postpone my plans.  The world is just gross out there in the NYC rain.  But here, I have a car, and the world is much cleaner so I actually feel like a kid again and can't wait to rush out into the rain!  So, if you thought the rainy gloominess of this coastal area might get to us well, its not.  So, as I said above, this week is going to be a good week.  I look forward to sharing all about it.

...  Finally, about the picture above - I bet you can imagine why my boy has such a satisfied and mischievous grin on his face.  Well, if you must know, check the Baby's Blog for the gross story and other updates/photos.

Happy Week to you!

ps.  Thank you for all of your nice comments and happy wishes as I've made an appearance back in this space.  I appreciate the warm welcome back!

GOOGLE VOICEMAIL

Zack has a google voice account that he uses regularly.  When he gets a message it emails him the text.  It isn't always very accurate - at all.  Here is one of the voice messages I left for him.  They crack me up.  This one made me cry.  I was laughing so hard trying to read it out loud.  Enjoy!

Its better if you read it out loud.

Hi there, My name is, it's. I for regular cheaper domain whatever you want. 

I need it.Ohh, Hi Big Guy,Hello, hey hey, from. You see. Hello. Hello. 

 Hello. Hello, hey but.Hey, before HI HI Hey please. Lou,Paul hey. Well, hi.  

So, the just square. Bye Bye. Hey, work Yeah, Hello. I don't know, alright, finish your faster almost so.

//  Don't worry there is more where that came from!

Happy Birthdate!

 

O, my boy.  He's almost 2!
This boy is seriously a sweet soul.  There is just something about him.
He is just so good.  Really.  I just hope we can help him stay this way.

//  Check out the Baby's Blog for more recent updates of our boy.

house hunting

 

It is not fun, looking for a house to spend loads of money you don't have and not to mention, when you are under a time constraint.  But that is our current situation.  Through this whole process, I am just so grateful that I am so happy.  I have so much including the perfect (for me) little family and we are all healthy and here.  Isn't it true that its not the house that makes the home but the people in it?  I do think so, especially now.  

//  Here's to some luck finding a house with a yard and if there were some fruit trees on it I wouldn't complain.

* image: Its of a huge townhouse we almost bought but decided against.  The house and yard idea or the more-for-our-money scenario, in other words, is a much better idea.

words to read

Hello friends!  It has been a while since I did a real, full post.  Life has been crazy and busy and frankly sort of hard on me and yet very exciting at the same time.  I'll just get right to it and spill the beans.  Ready?  

FIRST: When I announced my decision to blog less there was a good reason for it.  I was sick and tired.  We're expecting our second child(!) and the first trimester was somewhat brutal this time around.  I knew when it began that I wanted to and would need to use the seldom spurts of energy on my son, my home and my husband.  So, I decided to take a break.  It was good but I have missed this space, too.

SECOND: During all of that we received a job offer.  Once he interviewed it was then just a period of waiting.  Between not knowing how quickly the move would happen (interviewing in Dec. and being told they wanted him to start Jan 2), parenting alone while Zack was away on interviews or business trips or during those last months of late nights finishing up the last of his projects, I knew I needed to focus on home and nothing else.  For the record, I am not very patient when I am eager to move but I have to wait until someone tells me I can.  This was the case for past several months.  NOW, here we are.  We moved to Seattle, WA!  This is an outrageous change for us.  We spent the better part of the last 5 years together in NYC, not to mention the other 3 I was there before Zack.  It was time to move and we had to wait a long time for this ticket out.  And now that it is here, its hard to believe.  We are happy for the change but will always miss living in one of the greatest cities in the world (certainly the greatest in the USA).  

We spent our last night in NYC at none other than Time Square.  It was a perfect way to end our time there.  Then it was off to the 5.5 hour flight coast to coast with our little rambunctious toddler in tow.  I was really nervous about the flight but it was not bad, considering.  Our boy slept for most of the time.  How that happened, I know not.  I'm just glad we don't have to do it again.  Our first night in Seattle we stayed at Inn at the Market (Zack somehow got us upgraded to a suite with balcony and full view of the bay, gorgeous!) right across from Pike's Place Market.  That also was the perfect way to begin our time in this new place.  The next day we were running errands and getting settled in to our temporary housing.  We've slowed the constant going of those first few days but we are still busy house and car hunting.  I've included some photos of our last days in NYC and the beginning of our adventure here.  I think our families will appreciate this most.  

It is wonderful seeing our family change and grow and to have a new city to do it in is extra nice.  I look forward to posting some pictures of the winding up events of our big move.  If you're lucky I might even post a picture of my pregnant self.  But, I want all of our friends to know in NYC that we miss you already and we hope to see you again soon!  Come visit...  when we get a house, of course.  More on that later.  That is a whole other story.  Its where we are now and rather than deal with that, I'll just happily reminisce about the past.  (Big smile!)

//  We have still been updating our Baby's Blog and if you haven't been invited but want to be, let me know and I'll send you the link. 

* images: lovely last day in NYC, Zack and O in our empty kitchen, O looking down on Time Square, a not-so-painful-as-I-had-anticipated plane ride - for the record, I hate spongebob (and most cartoons for that matter) but it was the only thing for Odin to watch, ugh!, Mt. Rainier from above the clouds, all of our valuables and clothes for our 2 month temp. housing stay - I'm so glad Zack decided to get the smart cart, it was a long week and day at that point!, Pike's Market - we loved it there and the donuts!  Stacey, you weren't kidding.

busy lately

Hi all,

A lot has been going on around here.  I look forward to sharing all about it in the coming weeks. 

-Linda

Happy Valentine's week!