Jonas and Janelle

Highlights

2012-01-28T09:14:00.000-08:00

Man, I've done it again. I have been a horrible, horrible blogger lately. To my defense, it is better to be a slacker on blogging than being a mom, wife, teacher, or fill-in-the-blank with several other roles that are higher on the priority list. (That comment is in no way intended to be a shot at you more-on-top-of-things regular bloggers!) However, I woke up starving at 6am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. So, with Joe gone hunting, a baby sleeping, and me having no motivation to work this early on a Saturday morning, I am finally updating the blog :)

Long story short- the last two months have been awesome. The highlights? A trip to Maui, Maddie's first Thanksgiving and Christmas, a couple of trips to Portland, lots of time with family and friends, family outings on the weekends, and spending more time with my sweet little girl now that soccer is over. Life has not slowed down one bit since soccer has ended, but it is nice to be able to work a "shorter" day (10 hours instead of 12), and get to spend more time with Maddie each day after work. She is more fun (and more work!) every day, but I LOVE that little ball of energy and watching her grow and develop into such an awesome little person. She is quite the crawler and super curious about EVERYTHING, which means that there ain't no rest for this weary mama at the end of the day...

Oh well, I really can't complain. Having too much stuff "to do" (working at a full-time job, being a mom/wife, maintaining a house, visiting family/friends, exercising, etc.) just reminds me of how many blessings I have in my life, and to be grateful for them all. After all, I can rest when I'm dead :) Here are some of my favorite pics (warning: there is A LOT) from the last couple of months!

Family Walks

One of my fav pics of all times- my sweet little family!

It has been a beautiful winter for walks in the Burg!

Maui

Don't forget to pack me Mom!

Our hotel overbooked so we got a free upgrade to an ocean-front room.... so awesome!

Loungin'

Hanging with two of our bests, Mo and Blair!

Happy family in the sun

Maddie LOVED the sand

Can you tell?

Having so much fun :)

Love this pic

Daddy and his baby girl

View of Kaanapali Beach and Black Rock

Bikini baby and belly... love it!

Loooove this pic

She hearts her daddy mucho


Last day in paradise, tear :(

Christmas

Babies' first Christmas

All of the mamas with our baby girls

Our first Christmas with Maddie

Sporting the headband from Grandma

Sinah and Aunt Jessie on a family walk

And other random favorites....

Thanksgiving with the Joys

Love

My favorite Chinese girls :)

Zoo time!

Hanging with the Richards at Zoo Lights

Maddie loves rides from Daddy

She has a rough life....

Watching bball

Hunting for our first Christmas tree!

Silly girl

Snuggles

Who is this guy?

She didn't cry though!

At Lone Rock Timber's Christmas party

Loves her bath time

Sinah loves "Baby Maddie"

FINALLY sleeping in her crib

Future BFF Edrie!

My loves at my bday dinner

Some of my best and oldest friends- love you girls!

I LOVE my kiddos!

Finally...

2011-11-20T10:45:00.000-08:00

a chance to breathe. After a few challenging, rewarding, and exhausting months, we finally get a chance to recover a little bit. Joe continued to work long days/weeks, in addition to picking up more "daddy duties" as I returned to work teaching full-time and coaching soccer. In the meantime, my days start at 5am and usually end around midnight. (I quickly learned that 5 hours of sleep or less is possible to function on when combined with large amounts of caffeine consumption.) With two parents working 60+ hour weeks and an infant/dog/household to take care of, we haven't had a whole lot of extra time for "fun" stuff.

However, we realize we have MUCH to grateful- good jobs, our home, great family/friends, each other, and of course- Miss Madeline. Who is changing by the day, developing a personality we absolutely adore, and getting so. flipping. BIG. So, instead of sitting here and telling you how busy/hard the last few months have been, (let's be honest, isn't it that way for all of us "adults" now?), I will highlight some of the "fun stuff" that we did get to enjoy, despite our hectic schedule...

Maddie's development: she now has TWO teeth, is eating solids, crawls, and laughs/"talks" to us all of the time. She is still super long (100+ percentile in length), 65% in weight, and bald as a 90-year old man. That's ok, she's still adorable :)
Meeting Edrie Simmons. This adorable little lady joined the Simmons family in September and she is such a blessing! Can't wait to watch her and Maddie grow and become friends.
Going to OSU football games. Despite the losses, we always enjoy our time in Corvallis, watching some football, and seeing friends. Oh, and brainwashing Maddie to be a Beaver Believer.
My soccer team going 12-2-1 and winning our first league championship in school history. Although it made me sad to miss a lot of "Maddie and Daddy" time, which is my favorite time ever, at least my soccer team did well. I loved the girls I coached and had a lot of fun this season, but I am also looking forward to the break and spending more time with my two favorite humans (and favorite dog) now that it is over.
Spending time with family. Although we don't have many friends in the area, it is nice to be close to family. We have spent a lot of time with Joe's parents, sisters, and their families, visited his grandparents in Philomath, and had my parents down to visit a couple of times. It is funny how as you get older you appreciate and cherish family more and more. It makes me wonder why it takes getting old to realize such a simple but important concept.
Halloween and Joe's birthday. Made for a few fun and eventful nights in October!

Ok, that's enough for now. We all know the pictures are the best part, so I will leave you with probably too many. It's hard to condense 3 months worth of photos into just one post, especially for this photo-happy lady! Hope you enjoy :)

This little girl loves her bath time!

Maddie has become very interested in Jack. It's just too bad the feeling is not yet mutual (you could say he's a little jealous of the attention she gets.)

I love my little beaver baby!

Tuckered out.

My favorite Beaver Believers :)

Such a big girl now... doesn't need her carseat in her stroller anymore.

I try to force Jack to hang out with Maddie and like it. So far, it hasn't worked. Am I crazy for being sad my dog and my baby aren't best buddies???

Taking Jack for a walk, rain or shine.

Getting ready for her first attempt at eating solids.

She used the spoon as a teething tool, not an eating utensil.

First attempt- not very successful.

The second time around I did some research. I nursed her for a bit before attempting solids, so she wasn't so hungry and short-tempered. It went much better.

Mmmm... apparently the high chair tastes good.

MUCH happier this time around.

Eating with grandma, and actually getting better!

Getting good enough that now she looks forward to getting in the high chair.

Feed me mama!

She almost always falls asleep on walks in the ergo, and then stays asleep when I take it off. So cute and funny :)

Enjoying our visit with Edrie and her mama.

This is what most of our Saturday nights look like: hanging out with Maddie on the floor. And I wouldn't trade them for anything in the world :)

She loves to "swim" on the floor.

LOVE that grin so much.

Pumpkin patch!

Haha, love Maddie's expression here.

Love.

My sweet baby girl!

My little kitty kat on Halloween!

Haha, love this kid's many expressions.

Rarr!

Cutest little butt.

Having fun and being crazy, as usual.

Love. Her. SO. Much.

Like a weed.

2011-08-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

Just as everyone has promised us, our little girl is growing up so fast. She is 4.5 months already and becoming more like a "real person" every day. She can roll over, sit up in her Bumbo, play with toys, and even hold her bottle when being fed. She still has very strong legs and loves to stand, walk, jump, etc. (while being supported of course). Her favorite thing in the world is to talk and smile at you while looking you square in the eye. It is one of the highlights of my day, every day, to make this girl smile. When she flashes me that gummy grin, my heart feels like it is going to burst with happiness :)

On the physical side, yes- she is still huge. At her 4 month check-up she was in the 75th% in weight (14 lbs. 9 oz.) and the 100% in length (26.75 inches). She is her daddy's girl for sure! While I could go on and on about this little one, I'll spare us both the time and simply end with some pics of the last month or so.

Daddy using an apple slice as a teether

Sometimes she gets so excited she quivers with joy :)

She likes to stand up in her bouncy chair. Needless to say, this toy has been retired.

Teaching her to chip in around the house.... "This ain't no free ride Maddie!" ;)

Grammy Bev loves to come visit and nap with her favorite little girl.

Maddie hanging with cousin Rowan

Aw... Daddy with his Maddie girl, love this

Trisha and I with our babies

First bonfire on the beach

Sleeping peacefully on her first camping trip. It rained most of the weekend but she still did great!

Daddy sharing some of his blizzard with Maddie

Cousin love!

Kisses from Grammy Kathy

Just reading the Sunday paper :)

My new toy: the jumperoo!

I love to spin all of the different toys

Camping under the stars in eastern Oregon... she loves the outdoors, thank goodness!

Hanging out at Lake Billy Chinook

One of our last summer mornings together... I am REALLY going to miss hanging out with this happy girl all day.

Roll with it...

2011-08-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Our little girl's development is moving right along, quite literally. She has always been a squirmy little thing, but recently started to roll over from her back to her front side. She usually only does this on the bed (I think the mattress giving in a little bit helps), but it is still fun to see her grow and develop. Here are some pics of her attempts!

Hmmm... I think I'll try to roll over this morning.

Man, this is harder than it looks!

But... it's kinda fun trying!

Oh no, I'm stuck!

Grrrr... this is getting frustrating...

Ha! What a face :)

Finally made it!

I'm pooped! Come give me snuggles now mom :)

The Office

2011-07-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you read my last post, then you know that Joe has been working a TON lately. So when he asked if Maddie and I wanted to go to work with him last Monday, I was not exactly ecstatic. However, he quickly reassured me it would be an "easy day" at the coast and we'd have time to do some fun stuff. Well, he is a man of his word and he did not disappoint. Beautiful, secluded timberland. Growing trees. Vibrant flowers. The beach. Jack chasing birds. Fish tacos. Fish and chips. Salted caramels. Sunshine. And best of all, quality time with my favorites. Here are some pics from our surprisingly awesome day at Joe's "office" and Maddie's first time at the beach :)

The hottest forester around!

Take your daughter, wife and dog to work day :)

Do you think Jack likes going to work with Joe?

Pretty fox gloves

Joe's work truck

Blue skies

That's a lot of trees!

And they're growing nice and big :)

View of Coos Bay from Lone Rock's land

Jack excited for the beach!

Family photo op

LOVE his crimpy ears and blonde eyelashes

My sweet babies

Happy Jack :)

The clouds burned off and it turned into a beautiful day in Coos Bay

Jack hunting for birds...

Found some!

And he's off! A day at the beach is not complete until Jack gets to chase birds :)

4th of July Weekend Recap

2011-07-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Man, life has been busy as usual these last few weeks. Joe has been getting up at 3am for work and working 11-12 hour days. When he's not busy with that, he has been working on a huge DIY yard project that quickly escalated out of control. (Separate post to come on that bad boy.) As you can imagine, between 12 hour work-days and weekends spent working on our yard, that doesn't leave a lot of energy left to do much else.

So, I have been taking care of Maddie and managing the homefront a lot on my own these past few weeks. (A big thanks to my mom who came down to help out for a few days!) In addition, I am in full swing coaching summer soccer practices and camps. Keep in mind that I bring Maddie with me to most of these practices by strapping her into her baby carrier, so the label "working mom" has already wiggled its way into my life despite the fact it is my summer "break".

Needless to say, we welcomed the long 4th of July weekend with open arms. A break from work, house projects, and chores in general, couldn't have come at a better time. To celebrate our nation's Independence Day, we escaped to one of our favorite destinations with some of our favorite people. We had a blast in Sunriver hanging out with Jessie, Matt, Nicole, Grant, Rachael and Adam. We hiked, rode bikes, swam, hot-tubbed, played games, and of course, FEASTED... a lot. Bacon and beer were in the regular rotation and among the favorites on the menu, in addition to burgers and brats. What better way to celebrate our great nation's independence day?

Maddie's future dance teacher, Jessie :)

Cutest little patriot I've ever seen!

Mama-to-be practicing with Madeline

What a natural

Love this kiddo like crazy!

Beautiful Tumalo Falls

Happy hikers

Jessie and Matt

Nicole, Grant, Olive and Baby Simmons in belly!

Our little family :)

Group photo of our hiking bunch!

View of Mt. Bachelor and the 3 Sisters from our hike near Paulina Peak

Saturday Nights

2011-06-28T10:31:00.000-07:00

All of you Portlanders reading this might wonder what we do for fun down here in the 'Burg. Well, to be honest, our options are pretty limited. No Blazers or Timbers games. Very few shows, concerts, or festivals. The restaurant selection is very limited and we never "go out" to bars, as they are quite depressing down here in Douglas County. We try to save movie nights and board games for the 8 months a year when the weather is terrrible, so you might be wondering what we do during summer nights. Well, we hang out outside. A lot. BBQ's and evening walks dominate our agenda, and more recently a fun ATV outing at a family friend's mountain. (Yes, down here people can own mountains.) Here are some pics from our friend's own personal campground, lake and viewpoint at Nickel Mountain, the largest nickel producing mountain in the entire country! (Little fun fact of the day there for ya...)

My little girl and I

Grammy Kathy and Miss Madeline

Jack was in HEAVEN with the lake

Jonas and his daddy

Yes, his shirt says "gangsta" on it and is referring to Roseburg. A college football teammate from inner-city LA made this for him. Awesome, I know.

Time for a sunset ride to the top of Nickel Mountain

My crazy driver!

Windy and cold at the top, but so worth it for the view!

Joe is really good at self-portraits

There... that's better!

So pretty

Love this one :)

Weekend Visits

2011-06-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

In the last month we have had the chance to visit with some of our favorite people, both to the north and to the south. Early in June, I went up to Portland and squeezed in time with all of my favorite ladies. My wonderful hostess and I got to spend the whole weekend together, and we had so much fun just hanging out, walking around Portland, and of course squeezing in a few baby-related activities. (Love those baby legs, thanks Auntie Nicole!) To recap the weekend, on Friday we met Merissa and Mo for lunch and walked around the pearl afterwards. Saturday I helped one of my oldest friends, Jessie, at her studio's annual dance recital. To wrap things up, on Sunday I celebrated the graduation of a fellow teacher and great friend as well. I LOVE my visits to Portland and am always sad to leave, but I was excited to return home to my man who couldn't make the trip up do to work (boo).

Auntie Nicole makes me smile big!

I can blow bubbles now

Baby legs project

Good thing my auntie can sew since my mama can't!

Nicole, Baby Simmons (in belly), Maddie and I :)

The following weekend we went down to Central Point to visit Jessie, Lukie and Wyatt. We were looking forward to one last visit before they became a family of four, but were delighted by the serendipitous timing as Jessie went into labor just as we arrived! The next morning Jessie gave Luke the best father's day gift a guy could ask for- a beautiful baby girl. While Jessie and Luke were at the hospital with Rowan, Joe and I had a practice round as our own little family of four while watching Wyatt. He is so much fun but a HUGE ball of energy! And although we are looking forward to having more kiddos one day, we decided we'll stick with one for at least a little while longer :) Congrats to the Newton-Neal family on the addition of beautiful baby Rowan!

I love Aunt Janelle because she feeds me bacon

Sooo happy :)

Jack made a new best friend

Haha... not quite bacon there buddy

Uncle Joe makes a great jungle gym

Having fun

Ha! Love Joe's expressions in these

Beautiful day for a walk with our "kids"

Proud papa Luke with Rowan

Joe and his little niece

She already has eyelashes and eyebrows, so pretty

Smitten

First family pic

Daddy and his little boy

Mama and her little girl... good work Jessie!

Maddie's 2nd month

2011-06-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, time sure is flying by! Our little girl is already 2 months old and changing so much every day. She now not only smiles, she can hold up her own head, "talks" to us, and is getting HUGE. She weighed in at 12 lbs. 7 oz. (90 percentile) and measured 24 inches in length (95 percentile) at her 2 month appointment. The doc said she is "socially gifted" because she talks so much and she has even rolled over once already! (Although, she hasn't done it since so I think it was kind of a fluke.)

Needless to say, our little girl is growing up quickly and we are enjoying every bit of it. Still not getting a whole lot of sleep, but she is waking up only 2 times per night instead of 3-4, so I am hoping that trend continues. She loves to go on walks in the Baby Bjorn (facing out so she can look at things) and meeting people. It is so fun to introduce her to all of our family and friends, so if you haven't met her yet I hope you get to soon! Here are some of my favorite pics from month 2 with Maddie...

Family cuddle time before bed

Love the hair ;)

She loves to sleep with her arms above her head, so funny!

Bath time


Watch out for those fists, they'll get ya!

Tre holding his little cousin

Sinah LOVES her "Baby Madeline" time, so sweet

Love my baby girl

I sleep with my arm up just like daddy does :)

All smiles

Double chin, ha!

Gnawing on her hand... we might have a thumb sucker soon

So happy :)

Looking mischevious

Love

Flailing around

Fascinated with something... lint, perhaps?

Our chubby-cheeked 2 month old!

Friends

2011-06-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

It's funny how hard it is to make new friends as you get older. When you are a kid, it is easy. Any neighbor, fellow teammate, or classmate that is not a bully can become one of your best buddies. It doesn't really matter what they look like, what they wear, or what their other interests are. If they will "play" with you, they are your friend.

Dogs seem to be no different. Jack is not "breedist", does not care about age, or even if another dog likes him in return. If he meets you, he wants to be your buddy.

But somewhere along the way, making new friends gets significantly more difficult. In middle school and high school, cliques form and we become more judgmental. By the time you are a full-blown adult, you also judge people on their careers and lifestyle choices, in addition to other things. The list of potential friends keeps getting smaller and smaller, until you are left with only a select handful of people. This is probably not a bad thing if you live close to those people and can see them on a regular basis, but for Joe and I it is kind of tough right now. All of our closest friends live 3 hours away or out-of-state. Needless to say, we miss them a lot.

So, I am trying to learn from Jack and other little kiddos with seemingly less intelligence than us educated adults. Although we love our "old" friends dearly, it is time that we try a little harder here in Roseburg. Jack reminded me of this important task last week when we had a visit from one of my besties Nicole and her pup, Olive. Jack and Olive had never met, but it took approximately 10 seconds for them to fall in love with one another and become buds. Here are some pics from their visit, along with some of my oldest and bestest friends. Love you all and hope to see you soon!

Introductions

They look so fierce here, but they are both so sweet :)

About to embark on an adventure with my babies

Nicole with our doggies before our walk

Frolicking with joy

The beautiful North Umqua River

Happy Olive

My crimpy-eared Jack

Sooo happy

Tug-o-War

And the winner is... Olive!

My first and oldest friend, Jimmy Hoover

8th grade softball with Merissa and Michelle

"The best night of my life!" (until my wedding and Maddie), with Nicole :)

My OSU buddies

My bestest girls and bridesmaids


My favorite boys and loves

My little love bug and favorite girl, Maddie

Just hanging out...

2011-05-20T13:18:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting to report this week. Just keeping busy with the usual... work for Joe, and lots of feedings, diapers, laundry, etc. for me. I went out to visit some students and support Sutherlin HS's baseball team in their playoff game yesterday. They lost, but it was still fun to get out and see some really nice kiddos and my co-workers on a sunny day. I am getting out of the house most days for some good runs/exercise too, which has been nice. Went to my 6-week appointment yesterday and I am officially unrestricted in my exercise routine, so I am pumped about that. The nice weather the last couple of days has been very motivating to get out and exercise. In fact, as I type this I am looking out the window thinking it's time for a run and to end this post. So, I will. But not before I post a few of my favorite pics from the last week or so. After all, that's why you're here, isn't it?

Daddy/Maddie nap-time, LOVE

Haha! Cross-eyed Maddie ;)

Being a little goofball already

I LOVE it when babies half-smile, especially mine

Almost a full smile

6-weeks old and filling out her 3-month clothes already... yup, she's a Newton :)

Hello beautiful

Having fun with mama!

She still doesn't know what to think about tummy time...

Little Miss Serious

Maddie's Newborn Photos

2011-05-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, I am slightly obsessed with pictures. I like to take them and I like to look at them. A lot. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that I wanted to take professional pictures of Madeline in her newborn stage. However, such photo shoots often come with a hefty price tag. After looking into the two best photographers in Roseburg, I learned the $500-$1,000 cost was not really an option for our family. So, I looked around and indulged in one of my favorite online shopping sites: a living social deal.

If you don't subscribe yet to livingsocial.com you MUST start. I repeat, it's a must. Even more than cheap eats and spa packages at 50% off, it keeps marriages happy. I get to indulge in my online shopping needs and my husband is happy with the amazing deals I get. (Actually, even Joe is addicted to the site. Especially the "getaways" section for vacation deals.) Anyway, side note. Back to the shoot.

So, through living social I scored a great deal on photography. For $40, I received a 1-hour photo session with Emilie Schreiber and three 5"x7" prints of my choice. In addition, I purchased the rights to all of the photos on a CD for only $100 extra. I know what all of you men are thinking, $140 is a good deal?! For professional photos, yes it is. Especially when I have the rights to print them whenever and wherever I want. Or upload them online, such as below... check 'em out!

Thoughts on your favorites? I am still trying to decide which ones to frame...

1 month!

2011-05-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Madeline's first month of life came and went in a flash! Now we are already into month two and I am still amazed by how quickly she changes and grows every day. (As Joe recently said, "She looks more like a real human now!") Her sleeping patterns are still inconsistent and downright miserable at times, but she is also much more alert and more fun to interact with when she is awake. She makes a LOT of funny expressions and is "talking" to us more (grunting, cooing, shrieking, etc.). I've noticed some moms get sad as their babies get older ("She is growing up too fast!"), but I am enjoying each new development and growth along the way. After all, she is still tiny and cute, she's just getting more and more personality... what is sad about that?! Maybe one day I will lament the growth of my children (probably about the time she hits the teen years), but until she can hold up her own head, sleep for more than 3 hours at a time, and relieve herself without my having to clean up her mess, I think it's safe to say "developments" are a good thing :) Anyway, here are a slew of pictures to commemorate our first month together as a family. Some of the highlights are a visit from her friend Brynn, Easter weekend, and our first family hike.

Meeting her buddy, Brynn Richards

Brynn is 6 months older than Maddie. It looks like such a difference now, but it probably won't be long before she is just as big as this sweet little girl!

She is really good at sleeping. During the day.

Love this

Cracking a smile :)

Awake and alert

Love her gaze

Being silly

Beaver Nation just got bigger

4 generations of "Huie" women

Hi Uncle Brian!

3 Beaver Believers!

Maddie with the Joy family

First family picture!

Our first hike at North Bank park near Glide


My boys

My little girl :)

Madeline's 1st week at home

2011-04-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

After two days in the hospital, we brought Madeline home on Friday, April 8th. Her first week at home went just about as well as any new mom could ask for. Although she woke up a lot at night to eat, she also slept a LOT during the days and allowed me to get stuff done around the house. We also had a helpful visitor who kept me company while Joe was at work and lent an extra hand with Maddie. Here are a few pics of our first week at home!

My little family :)

Milk coma

My favorite place to sleep

Cracking a smile

Nap time with daddy after work

Walking with my two babies (Maddie is hiding in the Moby wrap)

Maddie and I with mama-to-be and Baby Simmons

Nicole in her happy place: knitting and surrounded by babies!


Me with my little girl!

Madeline's Arrival

2011-04-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, April 6, we welcomed our first little child into this world. Madeline Faye Newton was born at 12:08pm at Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, OR. She weighed in at 7 lbs 7 oz, and measured 20.5 inches in length. She was 8 days early, which came as a surprise, but I guess she is impatient like her daddy :)

Overall, the delivery went pretty well. (Not that I have any reference point or anything to compare it to.) After having irregular contractions all day Tuesday, we headed to the hospital around 2:30am Wednesday morning when they became more consistent, frequent and intense. I labored for a couple of hours before requesting an epidural around 4:30am. At this point I was 6cm dilated and the contractions were getting very intense and painful. However, the nurse informed me that the anesthesiologists don't arrive at the hospital until 7am, so I had a bit of a wait. Let's just say that was not the response I was hoping for.

So, I labored. It was hard. Joe was very supportive and encouraging, but nothing could distract me from the increasingly intense pain. By the time I finally received the epidural at 8am, my body was shaking, I was in more pain than anything I've ever experienced, and my contractions were (literally) peaking off of the charts. I was 8cm dilated at this point and all I can say is I do not even want to imagine how it feels to complete the birthing process without any pain meds.

Once I received the epidural the whole process was tremendously better. The shaking subsided, the pain eased, and I actually got a short nap in and regained some energy for the most important part: the delivery. I started pushing around 11:30am and in less than an hour our beautiful, healthy baby girl was born. As any parent knows, there are simply no words to describe the emotions we felt when the doctor handed her to us and said "Say hello to your beautiful daughter". Let's just say we feel incredibly blessed and are very happy with the addition of Madeline to our little family.

3:30am- After laboring for one hour, there was still a long ways to go...

Joe attempting to get some sleep

Hello baby girl :)

She did NOT like getting weighed

...or measured

Daddy comforting his little girl

A natural :)

Our little girl

In love

Daddy and Maddie

Grandma Kathy

Her first bath

All clean!

The first of many diaper changes...

Auntie Nicole

Grandma Bev

Sleeping in Grandma's arms

Nap time with daddy :)

All cozy in her swaddle

Love this little face!

Beach day

2011-04-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy busy as usual lately. At one point in March, Joe literally worked 17 days in a row without one day off. I have also been working a lot, and driving back and forth to Portland for fun events like baby shower's and the welcoming of one of my bestest friends back to Oregon. So when Joe finally took a day off, we were determined to do something fun together. I am huge and can't do anything too crazy like go skiing, so we decided to head to the beach. The weather was less than desirable and we got stuck in traffic due to a mudslide, but the company was wonderful and it was still great to spend quality time with my boys :)

Filled with anticipation!

Not a great day at the beach.... We practically had the whole thing to ourselves, true Oregonians don't get scared away by a little rain!

Jack didn't seem to be disturbed by the weather one bit :)

Me and my little buddy :)

Sheer joy.

Love these two

Trying to get a Jonas and Jack pic... Jack was a little excited and it was kind of hard to get him to stay in one place! (See below)

Ha... love this

Crazy Jack attacking foam... clearly a dangerous foe

More chasing...

And now pouncing :)

What would we do without this crazy dog?!

Jonas found a toy and thought he'd act like his hero- Indiana Jones

Jack liked the toy as well...

Before deciding to attack it.

Maybe our last day at the beach as a family of 3,

Love the Newtons :)

Progress...

2011-03-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

While there are SO many things I want to blog about in the last couple of months (the holidays, our trip to Maui, baby showers, our weekend trip to So Cal, etc.), the biggest news is quite literally, well, BIG. As in my belly. Our baby is 34 weeks old and should be making his/her debut into the world sometime next month. I am feeling very pregnant these days, and as one of my students so eloquently said, I look as if I "swallowed a basketball". Oh the joy of working with 14-16 year olds every day, you know you are jealous ;)

On the medical side, so far everything seems to be going well. I feel our little baby squirming around every day and all check-ups have gone smoothly thus far. (Please keep your fingers crossed this continues!) I am getting a little anxious now that we are getting closer, but super excited as well. We still have A LOT to do before the baby gets here, but two recent baby showers (which I hope to blog about soon) have helped a ton, and we still have one more. The baby room is pretty much non-existent, but that is going to be my spring break project. Currently our weekends are simply too busy to spend much time to prepare the "nest", so that is something I look forward to doing over break since Joe will be stuck working. Then it's back to work for 2 weeks after break and then it will be showtime! I can't believe we will have a son or daughter next month, but ready or not here it comes :)

30 weeks

32 weeks

(I know I look bigger in the other pic, but I think the black slims the baby down :)

34 weeks

And how could I forget the sweetest daddy and big brother to be! They are also getting very excited for the arrival of our newest little buddy :)

Our lil' kicker

2010-12-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

It is crazy how quickly things have progressed in this pregnancy. Tomorrow, I will be 25 weeks pregnant and our baby is due in 3.5 months. My belly is getting significantly larger, and I feel him/her move every day now. In fact, our baby moves so much that Joe gets to feel it daily too. One thing is for sure, he/she is a mover and a shaker, and judging from all of the kicks I get we have a little soccer player on our hands :) (Well, if it is a girl. Joe says if it's a boy he'll be a football player because "there's no such thing as 6'7" soccer players.")

Anyway, a few weeks ago we had our 22 week ultrasound. Although we are waiting to find out the gender, it was still so much fun to get a sneak peek at our little baby. The doctor says that he or she is doing well and growing nice and big :) Here are some pregnancy pics below- click on the video to see our baby's heartbeat, so cool!

Me at 21 weeks (I am much bigger now, btw!)

Hi baby

His/her arms and legs were all over the place!

Foot :)

Profile shot, my favorite

Press play on the video to see our baby's heartbeat. Coolest thing in the world.

2 month recap

2010-12-29T10:13:00.000-08:00

Soooo, I thought once soccer ended life would be much easier and I would have much more free time to do things such as blog. Turns out I was wrong. Instead, I have spent more time focusing on teaching and keeping our house and sleeping just a tad bit more (which was VERY necessary). But to look on the bright side, even though I still work late most weeknights I have been able to dedicate ONE entire day off per week: Saturday. Sunday is still my planning day and consumed with reading textbooks, working on powerpoints, creating assignments, etc. But Saturday has become my day of freedom- my day of creating a better work-life balance.

So, the past two months I have spent my Saturdays/weekends doing things that I neglected for the previous 3 months: like spending time with family/friends and taking time to be sane. I have been up to Portland several times, been to Corvallis for some Beaver games, and even spent a couple of Saturdays just relaxing (gasp!) with my amazing husband and dog. I must say, it has been nice and I have loved every minute of it.

Because there is really too much to write about in detail in one post, I will briefly highlight some of the fun things we've done the past couple of months. And of course, the pictures to illustrate...

1. Rachael's Bday Pub Crawl

The birthday girl!

The theme was mustaches and wigs:

Ironically, most of the girls wore mustaches and the guys wore wigs :)

Some abnormally large men in attendance

Our mustaches itched like crazy, so they came off pretty early :)

2. Meeting little Brynn Richards

Mama Merissa with her sweet baby girl

She loves her so much!

Auntie Mo soothing Brynn

Swaddled and sleeping :)

Two tired goldens... the sweetest ever!

3. Hanging out/eating with friends and family

Dessert at Papa Haydn's with two of our favs... just wish we lived closer!

My happy place: Portland, friends, dessert, and my man :)

The Newton clan on a family walk through the woods

Sinah looking cute as always

Wyatt: future baller

Tre climbing up the bball hoop

4. Civil War- While we all know it wasn't pretty in the end for the Beavers, it was still fun to cheer on our team with my man in our favorite little town :)

Starting the day off right with a cinnamon roll from New Morning Bakery

A beautiful December day and our seats weren't too bad either

Best uniforms ever.

Handing off to Quiz AKA the man.

Touchdown and PAT Beavers!

Had to get a picture of the scoreboard when we were winning :)

Look at the disgruntled Duck fan in the background, haha

There were lots of other fun things that we did in these two months, but shockingly I don't have pics of them all. (Gucci's bday party, skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows, more trips up to Portland, etc.) I will be back shortly with posts on: baby, Maui, and Christmas. But for now, it is snack time and then snuggle Jack time... priorities people!

Just in case...

2010-10-30T10:49:00.000-07:00

you were starting to worry, yes, we are still alive. Just busy. Very, very busy. Here is what's been going on in our lives in the past two months.

Joe: working crazy hours, including most weekends in September. (I'm talking 60-70 hrs. per week here.) When he hasn't been working, he has been helping coach a 5th grade football team, taking a woodworking class, supporting my team at our soccer games, cooking me dinner, and traveling to Beaver football games, both near and far.

Me: Also working crazy hours- just as much (if not more) than Joe. Apparently being a 1st year full-time teacher and 1st year head soccer coach doesn't leave a lot of free time. With the exception of a weekend filled with food-poisoning and all of the fun that brings, I literally haven't taken 1 full day off since Labor Day weekend. Mon-Fri is teaching/coaching, Saturday is grading day, and Sunday is lesson planning for the upcoming week. However, the end (of soccer season at least) is almost in sight. We finished our last league game on Thursday (we are 7-5-2) and ended up 3rd place in our league. We have a play-in game next Thursday, and if we win we are in the state tournament. It has been a blast coaching and I love my girls, but I'd be lying if I said I am not going to enjoy having more free time whenever soccer season ends. Then I can go back to working just 50 hours a week, instead of 60-70 :)

Other news:

Joe turned 27 a couple of weeks ago. I wish I had fun pics to post or a fun night to blog about, but in all honesty this was the evening I got food poisoning and it was miserable. We had a reservation for the one good restaurant in Roseburg, and then had to cancel when I starting puking 15 minutes before we should've left the house. I continued vomitting all through the night, and had to go to the hospital the next day to receive IV fluids because I was so weak and dehydrated. At least I got to make him a nice breakfast before the sickness set in (see pics below).
Apparently October is a busy month for preggos! One of my bestest friends in the whole world welcomed her first baby into the world on Oct. 7th. Brynn Lorene Richards is doing great and I can't WAIT to get up to Portland and meet her soon. Aside from Merissa, some of our friends from the Seahawks also welcomed a son recently. Congrats to both the Richards and the Carlsons :)
While I'm on the subject of babies, I should probably include that Joe and I are expecting our first baby as well :) As some of you already know, we are 16 weeks along and our little baby is due on April 14th. While it has thrown a lot of challenges our way in this already chaotic time for us, we are VERY excited. I can't say it's made teaching/coaching any easier, as I have been very tired and experienced a consistent dose of nausea so far, but it is worth it to know I have our little baby growing inside of me. Can I just be honest for a minute though? Those women who claim they just "loved" being pregnant and would do it their whole lives... what are they smoking? I am exhausted, nauseous, can't eat half of my favorite foods/beverages, and feel the most unathletic I have EVER felt in my life. (I am serious- I am pretty sure my 7 year old self would kick my ass in a race right now.) Don't get me wrong, I am more than willing to make sacrifices to know I have a happy and healthy baby. But let me just say I am glad this state of being is temporary, and I can't wait to eat sushi, drink coffee, run at a pace that isn't pathetic, and not feel sick on a daily basis come next spring/summer.

Ok. That's all I have for now. It is time to get started on my grading, so I should go. I will leave you with the few pictures I have taken this fall...

Preggo wife, making pancakes at 5am for her man on his birthday... I must really love this guy!


Finished product... so delicious!

First pic of our baby, 8 weeks old

It has little nubs for legs :)

Seeing its heartbeat for the first time was the most amazing feeling ever


There he or she is... all 15mm :)

11 weeks

Starting to look like an actual human :)

Looks like it's sucking on its thumb here

View from the top

43 mm long. The doctor said it was a little long for this stage, which made Joe really happy and me a little nervous :)

Celebrations

2010-08-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it- I have been an awful blogger lately. The sad thing is, with soccer and school already underway I am probably going to continue being awful for the next couple of months. (Perhaps with some encouragement I can muster up the energy to blog more often...) Anyway, since school begins Monday, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share some of the fun celebrations August has had to offer: Wyatt's 1st birthday and Merissa's baby shower.

Wyatt and his proud parents

The ice-cream cake madness begins

Learning that direct mouth to cake contact is the quickest way to consumption...

Brrr! A little too much ice-cream cake = brain freeze for Wyatt

Proud Mama Jessie

Our niece Sinah decided Wyatt shouldn't be the only one having fun with the sweets...

(Notice how she is using a dolphin as a spoon? Love it!)

Because ice-cream cake just wasn't enough...

Handmade quilt for Wyatt by Grammy Kathy

Cousin fun!

And now moving onto Merissa's baby shower.....

The hostesses :)

The mama-to-be

The ribbon game

Merissa's mom really knows how to boost her daughter's confidence :)

This is going to be one spoiled baby!

Glowing :)

Love her and my little niece mucho.

Merissa with the hostesses

Fact:

2010-07-19T09:33:00.000-07:00

Oregon summers are simply the best. Or more accurately I should say, summers in the NW are the best. (It's all pretty much the same, really.) For 8-9 months out of the year, people all over Oregon and Washington complain about the rain, fog, cold weather, etc. And I must admit, when it is still cold and rainy in May, I sometimes succumb to such dirty thoughts as well. But we have to remember, it's all for a grander cause... like living in one of the most beautiful places in the entire country during the best time of the year. It's green, it's lush, and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. (Right, Nicole? One day you will be back!) Throw in some great family and friends, and I'd say we're all pretty damn lucky.

This past weekend, Joe, Jack, and I had the privilege of spending time with the Newton family in one of our favorite places in the world: Corvallis, Oregon. Food. Sunshine. A baby. Dogs. Volleyball. Hiking. Pizza. Beer. Good conversation and laughs. The Beanery. Family. I mean, what's not to love? Maybe one day, we can settle down there and raise a little family in our favorite little Oregon town. Until then, our summertime visits to G'pa and G'ma Newton's house will suffice quite nicely :)

Happy Great Grandpa Mike w/ (not-so-teensy) little Wyatt

LOVE those big, blue eyes

Grammy Kathy loves her some Wyatt time :)

Jack bounding as he chases a bird (or more accurately, its shadow). Heart.

All of our dogs are very well behaved ;)

A little family volleyball action

Dan talking trash to Joe, pretty standard really...

Beginning of our (impromptu) 13-mile hike up Mary's Peak

This little one's going to dominate mountains one day...

Love my Oregon forests!

So many butterflies

Pretty wildflowers

Almost to the top...

Made it.

My (2nd) best hiking buddy :)

Sun coming through the trees on the way down

Pizza and beer at American Dream... perfect end to our weekend in Corvallis.

Thank you, sunshine...

2010-07-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

Summer has finally bestowed itself upon us here in the Burg, and we are loving every minute of it. You have made Joe's work days infinitely better, our weekends more enjoyable, and our garden bountiful. You have even given us several visitors, which is always a treat for this Milwaukie born-and-raised transplant. And while I must admit that Jack is not a fan of the heat, he is a fan of his kiddie pool. (Actually, "pools" would be a more accurate description...see pics/captions below.) I have finally been getting my hiking fix and Roseburg is SO much better when the sun is shining. In fact, if this 90*+ weather keeps up much longer, the illustrious North Umqua River will be ready to float very soon. Our grill is back in full rotation, along with some of our other favorites: fresh sweet corn, local strawberries, and cold hefeweizen. Cheers to summer and all of its delights... I hope you are enjoying them as much as we are!

It's healthy... it has strawberries in it :)

Jack making himself at home with Auntie Jess

A beautiful day at Crater Lake

Typical Jonas move here.

The Nelsons: our 4th of July partners-in-crime

Again, typical...

Happy 4th of July everyone!

View of Mt. Thielsen while hiking around

Our garden is growing to be big and strong :)

My little bell peppers!

Mmmm, corn

Our strawberries are starting to ripen

Jack helped himself to a little treat one day and then decided it wasn't ripe enough I guess...

Already getting some tomatoes

My little asparagus stalks are finally growing in too

Jack playing in his (first) kiddie pool.

(Notice the deflated ring around the edge? Jack got a little crazy and started attacking his inflatable pool. Needless to say this one didn't last too long, so we had to go with the plastic kind- see below.)

Jack checking out his new pool.

It didn't take him long to jump in and start batting his ball around.

If only we were all that easily entertained...

Love, love, LOVE his blonde eyelashes and crimpy ears:)

***Sorry for the Jack pic overload at the end, sometimes I just can't help myself :)

Words to live by.

2010-06-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

As most of you probably know, I am currently on "summer break". While I have several jobs and projects keeping me busy this summer, I am fortunate enough to choose to do them when I want to. That means if the weather is nice and I feel like going hiking for the afternoon, I do. Or if I get a spontaneous urge to go somewhere or visit someone, I can. I know what most of you non-teachers out there are thinking ("you suck"), but the grass is not always greener on the other side. Because even though I am on summer break, my bestest friend in the whole world is not. And as the proverb goes, Without other people's companionship, even paradise would be an unlikable place.

In fact, not only has Jonas been working 50+ hours every week, he was also recently informed that he only gets 5 days of vacation this year. He has already taken 2 (thinking that he would get the standard 10 in a year), so that leaves a meager 3 days of vacation for the rest of the year. Considering we've already planned a hiking road trip in July, he now has to work 2 Saturdays next month just to get 5 days off in a row for our trip.

Ok. So I promise I am not writing this post just to complain. I am writing this post because I have been doing a lot of thinking about work-life balance lately, and I feel like our society really struggles with this one. Why is it that to have a "successful" career in our society, people have to sacrifice the majority of their free time and enjoyment? Maybe if we had a better balance we wouldn't spend our week wishing time would pass faster. (I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend my life wishing my days away.) Time with family and friends; exercise, nutrition, and sleep; house and yard maintenance; and hobbies of all sorts take a back seat to our jobs. And all for what... money?

Yes, I realize money is important to survive and also to pay for the things that we enjoy. I think it is important to work hard and earn everything we get. But I also think if we all spent a little more time enjoying life and being with our loved ones, maybe we wouldn't dread our jobs so much. Maybe we would even enjoy them a little, or at least appreciate them for the purpose they have in our lives. Maybe people would even be inspired to work harder and put in the effort they should... wouldn't that be a trip?

I am currently reading a book titled Boys Adrift (which I highly recommend for anyone who is the parent of a boy or works with boys- especially all of you teachers out there). In it, I read a quote that sums up my thoughts on this whole work-life balance thing quite nicely. It was taken from the famous book All I Really Need to Know in Life I Learned in Kindergarten, by Robert Fulghum. In it he says we should, "Learn some and think some and draw some and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some." I love this. I feel like every day would be a good day if we had this kind of balance in our lives.

So, this is something that I am making a goal in my life. Especially with a crazy fall around the corner, I am going to try really hard to keep a good work-life balance. (In addition to my first full-time teaching job, I am also the new head soccer coach at SHS.) Given I will be working 70+ hours a week during soccer season, it's going to be tough. But until then, I guess I'll have to stock up on the "life" part of my work-life balance goal this summer. I only wish my bestie could be there to enjoy it with me, but Jack and good friends make great hiking buddies too...

Hanging out in central Oregon

Hiking Smith Rock with Lisa, Abby, and (of course) Jack

Me and my little buddy

I heart the Cascades

Beautiful lakes, mountains on the horizon, and mutli-million dollar estates... some people have it rough.

Abs and Lisa taking in the view at the top of Smith Rock

Profile pic of Monkey Face

Someone wore himself out hiking

Jack made a new friend :)

View while hiking Twin Lakes

At the big lake. So beautiful.

Rachael playing fetch with Jack in the water.

I know he's thinking, "Hurry up guys!"

Me and Rach- love this girl!

Introducing Rachael to mine and Joe's favorite Douglas County tradition- go hiking east of Roseburg, stop at the Illahee Restaurant/Bakery on the way home and eat HUGE pieces of delicious homemade pie!

My 2nd favorite choice: Marionberry Pie a la mode. Dutch Apple is THE best, but they were out of it, wah wah

When will it end?!

2010-06-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

As you know, we started ripping out/laying our hardwood floor a few weeks ago. I already posted the "before" and destruction pics, but I was waiting to post the "after" pics until we were completely finished...

Well, it's been almost a month, and we still have to paint, put up the trim and finish our entry way (which I think we are going to tile now- interesting, considering we don't know how to tile). So, at the request of some dear friends of mine, here are some pics of the (almost) finished floor. You get the idea, and when it gets completely finished I promise I'll put up a few more "after" photos.

The archaic hammer gun.

I kid you not, this is what we used to lay our floor. (The closest automatic nail gun to rent was 100 miles away.) Just how does this antique work? Well, you simply place the nails in the shaft, use the hammer/mallot contraption you see pictured here, slam it as hard as you can onto the black knob on the gun, and the momentum from your swing drives the nail into the ground. All of that effort= 1 nail into your board. FYI- We used over 2,000 nails. And when I say we, I mean Joe.

Getting started with the hard stuff... damn our half-octagon shaped nook!

Our brother-in-law Lukie "ripping" the boards to make the transition from our dining room to the living room nice and smooth :)

It was a total family effort... even our nephew Wyatt helped :)

End of Day #1: it doesn't seem like this would take very long, but don't be fooled...

Progress: More floor done and we have our kitchen island back

A close up of Wyatt (and the wood)

Joe working on his carpentry skills- look at that focus!

Infamous words... "Measure twice, cut once." Oops.

Jonas, so proud of his work!

Like a glove.

(See that ugly linoleum in the bathroom? Hopefully that's gone soon too.)

Trying to finish up the hall, but these angles did NOT making it easy.

(Guest bedroom is on the left, office on the right.)

But we persevered... and got it done.

The view from our bedroom door.

Now down the hallway and into the great room...

I see wood. A lot of it.

Here's a shot with some furniture back in. (And a cute, spoiled doggie too!)

Looking into the kitchen.
(Don't mind the rainbow of paint samples on the wall...
we are being a little indecisive right now.)

Looking into our unfinished entry way.
(Maybe you can help, wood or tile? We need input people!)

Now you can see why I wanted to wait to post pics...

Looking into the kitchen and nook.

Looking back into the kitchen from the nook.
(Door on the left is for the pantry, door on the right is the laundry room.)

One last shot of the great room with (some) of our furniture moved back in.

D-Day

2010-05-26T10:29:00.000-07:00

Recently, Joe and I mustered up the courage, energy, and funds to declare war on our hideous floors. The cheap, ugly linoleum in our kitchen had been on my bad side from Day 1, and our carpet proved to be inferior after a winter of Jack tracking in minimal dirt yet still staining with ease. If any of you know Joe, then you know laminate flooring was NOT an option for us. We considered tile in the kitchen, but then decided against it due to the grout issue. Inevitably there was only one option left for us to choose... hardwoods.

After purchasing the actual boards a few weeks ago, we chose May 15-16 as our installation date. We were determined to do it ourselves and recruited a couple of family members to help. But before we put in the pretty new floor, the old one had to go. With a plethora of tools to choose from, we found the hazel hoe to be the most useful in ripping up the linoleum. Joe had this laborious duty as I followed behind with pliers, ripping out countless staples. (FYI- this was the biggest pain in the ass ever.) If you ever plan to do something like this yourself, plan a few extra hours minimum. Even with Joe's uncanny ability to destroy things, this took WAY longer than we thought. In addition, we discovered that we had to move our kitchen island, stove, dishwasher, and fridge in order to rip out all of the linoleum. This was not in our original plan, and needless to say only added to the process.

Although it was a huge pain and took way longer than we thought, once the floors were ripped out the actual laying of the hardwoods went pretty quick and was a lot of fun. We still have the entryway and pantry to finish, so the finished product pics will have to wait. But here are quite a few of us tearing our house to pieces...

The before: our living room from the entryway.

Looking into our kitchen/dining room from the living room.

The furniture all moved out and the floors ready to be demolished.

It began so simply...

and escalated quickly.

Dominating the linoleum.

Making progress.

Two 12-hour days working on the weekend= lots of caffeine necessary.

Damn you staples...

No more kitchen island.

Yes, that is our island countertop and stove on our deck.

Casualties.

Taking out the trash, and ready for the fun part...

What an exhausting process... even Jack was tired.

Nutritious AND Delicious :)

2010-05-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

Our first garden has officially been planted. A few trips to the woods to dig up some soil, Joe making his debut performance as a carpenter (a skill I am hoping he will master one day), some digging by yours truly (with some help from Jack), and of course- buying our beloved plants- SHOULD equal some delicious meals for us this summer. What's on the menu? Tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, strawberries, asparagus, corn, and cucumbers. After a slight mishap (Jack thought it looked like a glorious place to dig one day when we were at work), our garden is slowly but surely growing big and strong. Now if we could just get some consistent sunny weather, we might actually be able to harvest something soon! And the pics...

The spot.

The saw.

Jonas making the raised bed box.

Finished product! (And Jack helping us dig)

Truck load #1of dirt

Getting closer...

Our babies.

All ready to grow!

I also decided to plant an herb garden...

Here's to delicious, yummy meals this summer!

Um.... oops???

2010-04-24T09:27:00.000-07:00

Apparently, it has been about two months since my last post... yikes. (Thanks to the Wilsons for calling me out on my blogging neglect, good friends tell you like it is.) I am not really a fan of excuses, so let's just chalk it up to my bad and I won't let it happen again. Now, for what has been keeping me from my beloved blog...

(The Short List)
I could probably list about 100 things that have been taking up our time. But when it comes down to it, anything worth mentioning falls into one of the following categories. So here is the rundown...

3. The house
We moved into our house in November, officially closed in January, and are just now getting around to "The List" of projects we want to do. At the top of the list: planting a garden and installing hardwood floors. We started Operation Deliciousness last weekend and still have work to do. Yesterday, we drove up to Eugene for a huge sale and got a great deal 709 sq. ft. of hardwood floors. We are super pumped to make our "canned" house a little more "us", and what better way to start with than yummy food and wood floors? More on these projects (with pics of course) to follow as they progress.

2. Work, work, work, all day long...
If I were prioritizing this list by time spent, this category would hands down be #1. While we are grateful to have good jobs, we also wish we had a little more balance. However, you won't find too many complaints here, because Joe is loving his new job and I am happy to have enough work to help us make ends meet.

When I say Joe loves his "new job" I am referring to his promotion. Joe was finally promoted to his forester position after 5 months of working on the crew. In short, he is now using his brain and his degree, instead of just using his body for physical labor. He is the Reforestation Forester at Lone Rock Timber Co. and enjoying every day. His days are long, usually 7am-5am and sometimes longer, but he is learning a lot, gets to be outside every day, and sometimes even gets to take little Jackie Poo with him. He is helping trees grow big and strong :)

As for me, I have a random mix of work taking up most of my time. Subbing has picked up A TON. I typically sub 4-5 days a week, and honestly get more calls than I really want. In addition, the PE Curriculum I am creating is in full-swing and starting to become a little overwhelming. Any day that I don't sub (and a lot of my weekends) are dedicated to this project. Lastly, I am also coaching track at Roseburg High School. Yes, I am making my return to the track after a 9 year hiatus. While I am enjoying my time as a coach, I forgot how time consuming track can be. We have practice every day from 3-5pm, one dual meet per week that usually goes until 8pm, and the killer- invitationals EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND in April/May. I really enjoy the athletes and other coaches I work with, but it definitely consumes a little more of my time than I had originally anticipated.

1. Family and friends
Ok, now for the good stuff. The last couple of months have been JAM PACKED with family and friend time, and it has been awesome. One of my bestests from Missouri came home to her beloved Oregon over Spring Break. It was SO good to hang out with her in Portland and actually give her a hug in person. Some of our other best friends, Blair, Mo, Caleb, Jessie, and Colton have all been down to visit/hang out with us in the Burg. (Makes me feel like we almost have friends here... almost.) We have been to Portland several times to see my family and various friends, including Brandon and Merissa who are expecting! I should also mention our first return trip to Newcastle since we moved back to Oregon. The main reason we went up was to attend a friend's wedding, but we squeezed in as many visits as we could! We stayed with the Wilson's on Friday and had ton of fun with their fam, before seeing all of our old Seahawk friends at the wedding on Saturday. The wedding was beautiful and A TON of fun. It was so great to see all of our friends up there, especially John and Dani Carlson, who we stayed with on Saturday and are also expecting! (Noticing a pattern here?) Click here for more pics of our return to Newcastle.

Ok. That was a lot of info. Hopefully I will stay more on top of things so I don't need to try and squeeze 2 months of our lives into one measly post. Below is a random smattering of pics to document the aforementioned events. In a valiant effort to limit the # of pics posted here, (which is REALLY difficult for me to do), check my facebook albums if you care to see the rest....

Subbing isn't always so bad... here are some cards a 3rd grade class made me. In our short time together, they learned that I love dogs, pie, sports, and OSU. See how they incorporate them all? So freaking cute and thoughtful, it made my day :)

Hiking with Jessie and Jack near Roseburg

Running with Jack on the North Umqua Trail

Beautiful day on the North Umqua River

All of the doggies, ready to go

Love this lady!

Doggies aren't the only ones who get to play in water...

Hiking with some of my favorites :)

Loving the view at the Newcastle Golf Club

So good to see all of these girls!

Joe with some of his buddies

I heart Seattle skylines

Mustache mayhem, so awesome

Joe has made me more conservative. I have made him a dancer :)

Joe and some of his old teammates

Sneak peak at the garden... separate post and pics to come!

Rule #32...

2010-02-24T11:25:00.000-08:00

I love it when my low expectations for something are unexpectedly exceeded. It could be anything... a day of work, a new recipe, the weather, etc. Most recently, I was pleasantly surprised by a movie that Jonas had been bugging me to watch for awhile now: Zombieland. I mean, let's think about it. I hate scary movies, and apparently this one was about zombies. It could be scary, it could be stupid, or even worse, it could be both. In addition, I am not a huge fan of spoofs, and I vaguely remembered hearing that this was a satirical spin on zombie movies. In short, horror spoofs are probably at the top of my list for movie genres I aspire to avoid.

That being said, I really liked Zombieland. Aside from the first 10 minutes, which was ridiculous and gory, I found there was a lot to appreciate in this movie. Yes, it is about zombies. And yes, it is ludicrous 99% of the time. But it was also surprisingly funny, and it even made me think a little bit. Aside from all sorts of symbolism and parallels that one could dwell on, the main character has a list of "rules" in order to survive. Some are funny, such as Rule #3: Beware of Bathrooms, while others are quite insightful. My favorite of them all though, is Rule #32: Enjoy the little things.

How unexpectedly awesome that a movie such as Zombieland can remind us to appreciate the little things in life. It is such a simple idea, yet so hard for many of us to apply in our lives. Since watching this movie a couple of weeks ago, I've made a conscious effort to notice and revel in the little pleasures life brings us. Here are some of the things at the top of my list...

1. Being silly. It's funny... we adults think we have it all figured out. But there are few things more fun than throwing all of our inhibitions aside and acting like a crazy kid again.

2. A child’s laughter. Lately, I have gotten the privilege to spend a lot of time with my nephew Wyatt. When he laughs, it is simply contagious. There is something about a baby/child laughing that makes you smile along with them, even if you have no idea what they are laughing at.

3. Sibling love. While many of us grow up thinking we just despise our brothers/sisters, deep down we really love 'em. Besides, who else would you have gnawed on without your siblings around?

4. Motherly love. Simply put, there is no love sweeter or more true than that between a mother and her child(ren).

5. Someone (good) to love. It is so simple in theory, but hard to actually find. I am lucky that I have found mine :)

6. A (nice) day at the beach. On the surface, last year's Valentines Day, which we spent in Kauai, seems hard to beat. But in all honesty, this year was just as great as last year. A nice day at the Oregon Coast spent with my two loves was I needed to have a happy heart :)

7. Living in Oregon. For the last couple of weeks, the weather around here has been AWESOME. Last weekend, we even got to go hiking on the Rogue River with Jessie and Luke.

8. A beautiful sunrise/sunset. There is no better way to start your day or end your night with sights like these...

Ok. That is my list for now... Don't forget to make yours!

Good times in the Burg

2010-02-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

I've come to the conclusion that as long as the weather is nice, I have no qualms with spending our weekends in the Burg. Despite the fact that it is (or more accurately, was) January, we've spent our last 2 weekends exploring nearby forests, hiking on the North Umqua Trail, playing tennis, playing board/card games, and feasting. In fact, the weather was so nice on Sunday we even ate lunch outside. It definitely helped that some family and friends were in town (my parents, Jessie/Luke/Wyatt, and Caleb), but the last 2 weeks have been fun and affordable by staying in the Burg. Apparently, all I need to be happy down here is sunshine, hiking or other exercise, good food, family/friends who visit us, and of course, QT with Jonas/Jack. That's not asking too much, is it? I don't think so either :) So the only question now is, when are you coming to visit us?

***Warning: Picture overload... sorry, sometimes I just can't help myself!

Walking with the parents and Jack on a nature trail by our house

I don't know why, but I love this little bridge near our house

Jack + my Dad = Buddies

Joe showing my parents and I his "office"...sure beats a cubical

(FYI, Roseburg is under the clouds in the background)

The circle of life: clear cut, replant, grow big trees, harvest :)

Jack will love going to work with Jonas soon

FYI- when timber companies clearcut, they not only replant, but they replant more trees than they harvest. Here is the evidence: some of Joe's babies :)

Some of Joe's favorite things: trees, Jack, and mountains

Hike to Susan Creek Falls

Jack, Me, Mom, Jonas :)

My favorite shot of the falls

So Oregon

Love them

Texture.

(Anyone know what kind of tree this is?)

Go ahead and judge us: the other night we ate KFC and let our dog lick the bucket... he was sooo grateful. (Hey, at least we got the grilled chicken. Seriously, so good you don't even know)

Jonas sharing the goodies with Jack... awww, love :)

The view while walking at Dan and Kathy's ranch

So peaceful and pretty

My two favorites :)

BDE: Best Dog Ever :)

It's official.

2010-01-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

Did you ever read Highlights magazine when you were little? If not, that's a bummer cause you really missed out. But if you did, you know they had all kinds of cool activities and picture puzzles for kids. So, in honor of Highlights (and a very momentous occasion), I have prepared a little picture puzzle for you my friends...

Here is Photo #1. Observe, take it all in, memorize it. Now, scroll down to the second photo.

Keep Scrolling.

A little more.

Not quite there yet.

Ok, stop. You've scrolled far enough. Now, without looking at the first photo again (no cheating!), what is missing from Photo #1 in Photo #2?

Think you know the answer? Since I can't type upside down, scroll down to see if you are correct.

Answer: Blue Sky, For Sale/Sold Sign

Finally!!! After a long, arduous closing process that took over 2 months, this bad boy is officially ours :) Stay tuned for some interior pics and a long list of "To Do" projects we hope to accomplish in the next year or so. Now the real fun can begin...

Celebrations

2010-01-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

It's been a long time since my last post... oops. In my defense, the last month or so has been super busy (wasn't it for all of us?), and the highlights were definitely all of the fun celebrations. During an otherwise depressing time of year (the notorious NW grey and rain...) Christmas, New Years, and my birthday always provide something for me to look forward to. Time off from work/school, delicious feasting, and lots of QT w/ family and friends is more than enough to get me through the winter. This year, we spent Christmas skiing in Sunriver with Joe's family, then celebrated New Year's and my bday in Portland with friends and my side of the family. Although this last month was super fun, I am looking forward to staying in Roseburg a little more (yes, you heard me right), working on our house (we are supposed to close on Monday!), and maybe make some friends around here so we don't have to drive 3+ hours to be social. Stay tuned to see how THAT effort goes...

Jonas, all ready to open his presents!

Jack making me laugh, weird he never makes me smile :)

Wyatt eyeing his present from Auntie Janelle and Uncle Joe

His onesie says "Ready to get wrecked by a rookie?" So awesome.

Proud Mama with Wyatt in his sweet bomber hat

Grandpy Dan and Uncle Joe trying to get Wyatt to stop crying by showing him the fire (FYI- it didn't work)

Auntie Janelle trying to get Wyatt to stop crying with her charm

(FYI- that also didn't work. Apparently, I am not very charming.)

Beautiful day at Mt. Bachelor

View of the Sisters Mtns from Bachelor (the South Sister is the huge beast in the foreground, click here for pics of us dominating it last summer.)

Wyatt trying to turn over

Just being so stinkin' cute

Jack letting Wyatt tug on his ears (I don't blame Wyatt at all, they are so soft!)

Looks like I'm not the only one enamored with Jack :)

And now for some pics from my 27th bday weekend in Portland...

Our double queen suite at Hotel Monaco, nbd. This is seriously the best hotel in PDX: unique decor, dog-friendly and free wine/beer reception... all for only $80!! (Thank you Priceline)

Oh how I heart this girl

I kinda heart him too

My OSU peeps... (Why is my husband such a creeper?!?)

And now, a "nice" pic

Two of my favorite people: The Richardsons!

Two of my fellow MHS Asians: Jo and Jake

We go wayyyyy back... to Jr. High (w/ Rachael) and birth (w/ my bro)

Thanks to everyone who texted, called, or came out with me for my bday! Feeling loved is the best bday gift ever :)

Photo Shoot.

2010-01-08T08:52:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we were in Bend for Christmas. It was a great time and deserves a post of its own, but that will have to wait until next week (after I finish my 3,000+ word essay and take-home final for my online class). Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right? They're due Sunday and I haven't started either of them yet. Oops.

Anyway, everyone else I know has been updating their blogs with fun holiday posts and I want to too. However, I don't really have enough time to write thoughtful comments (it can take me awhile to come up with those sometimes), so for now I'll just post some pics from my impromptu photo shoot with Jack. There was lots of snow, he was frolicky and happy and glorious as usual, and I just happened to have my camera on me. (Weird, that never happens). Anyhoo, enjoy some fun pics and I promise to return next week with pictures of humans...

I heart this tree with all of the snow/ice on its branches.

Love him.

I realize I am biased, but that is one good-looking dog if I do say so myself :)

Just being awesome.

He loves to just sit (or roll, or dig, or frolick, etc.) in the snow all day long.

In psycho-happy mode with a stick, pretty standard really.

Old Mill District looking very winter wonderlandy

Lately.

2009-12-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

Life has been a little hectic lately, but mostly in a good way. While there have been a couple of not-so-fun things consuming my time (work and a stupid online class to renew my teaching license), most of it has been fun. Here is my "Top 5" list of good things that have been keeping me busy lately:

5. Lil' Miss Housewife- now I know this doesn't sound fun, but after living without a washer and dryer for 3+ weeks (keep in mind Joe works in the woods and gets filthy every day) I was SO relieved to get these. You know you are officially an "adult" when you are excited by such purchases.

4. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year- Just in case you are unaware, let me clarify one thing- I HEART Christmas-time. It makes me so happy- all of it. Decorating, shopping for/making/wrapping presents, the music, the food, spending time with family and friends, etc. It really is one of the best times of the year, and a bright spot in an otherwise dreary season.

(Aside from Christmas decor, our house is still pretty bare. Hopefully that will change when we officially close in January!)

3. Friendly Visits- A couple of weeks ago, some of our bestests came to visit and check out our new place: Mo, Blair, and Caleb. They brought beer, house-warming gifts, and best of all- good company. From Caleb: 2 over-sized wooden swords for dueling (I kid you not), and from Mo and Blair: champagne, party poppers, and this hilarious card (enlarge the photos below to read, it's pretty darn funny and if you know Mo at all this will not surprise you)

2. Family Time- We might not have a lot of friends down here, but we certainly have a lot of family around. The last few weeks has been a lot of time with Joe's parents, his sisters and their hubbies, and our little nephews and niece. Uncle Joe and Aunt Janelle have been earning their titles!

We hosted a birthday party for our niece Sinah's 2nd bday

Sinah loving the "baby" we gave her (I swear, her motherly instincts at the age of 2 are better than mine at the age of 26. She started feeding the baby like this all on her own as soon as she got it out of the box, crazy).

Watching our niece and nephews is not all fun and games... here Sinah and Tre are fighting over a box to play in. Ah, brother and sister love.

Just hanging out with Wyatt, pretty much one of the cutest babies ever.

1. My two boys- The two great loves of my life: Jonas and Jack. I spend my days walking/playing with Jack, and at night I get to snuggle up with Jonas on the couch. Joe is so tired every day when he gets home from work he often falls asleep for a nap on the couch. Jack, being the super-sweet dog he is, cuddles up next to Jonas on the floor and naps with him. Makes my heart melt everytime.

A pretty good list, huh? I think so :) Can't wait to see what keeps me busy once 2010 rolls around...

Quite baffled, really...

2009-12-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

How is it that breaks/vacations always end up being just as busy, if not more so, than regular work weeks?! Such has been the situation recently for yours truly... I thought once Christmas Break rolled around life would slow down, I'd have all of the time in the world to work on Christmas presents, sip hot cocoa, watch tons of movies, snuggle up with Jack, read, blog, etc. Well, that isn't happening so far. What has been keeping me so busy lately is a whole separate post on its own, so for now I just have time to say Merry Christmas and I hope everyone has a great holiday. As for me, I'm off to Sunriver with the Newton family for lots of skiing, food and fun. Lots of love to everyone, and I'll leave you with a few oober-cute Jack photos and words of wisdom for the holiday:

1. Relish your time off

2. Go outside and play

3. Don't stress about anything- just have fun!

Oh, the irony...

2009-12-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

Since the day Joe and I met at OSU (almost 7 years ago, wow) he has constantly teased me about being a "city girl". I guess compared to him, I was. After all, I am from the greater-Portland metro area and he is from Roseburg, AKA the Dirty South. Joe introduced me to fishing (which I am awful at), I have still never been hunting, and big-ass pick-up trucks do nothing for me. Even more, I really miss the yummy restaurants, various entertainment options, and general civilization that a "big" city like Portland has to offer. Despite my love for natural beauty and the great outdoors, I guess I really am part city-girl at heart, which is why Sunday's debate over where to get a Christmas tree is so ironic to me...

Joe: What do you want to do today?
Me: Go get a Christmas tree and decorate our house.
Joe: Ok, where do you want to go?
Me: Let's go to a U-Cut farm, drink hot cocoa and walk around with Jack. It's a beautiful day and it'd be fun.
Joe: Really? Can't we just go to a lot somewhere?
Me: No, I want to go to a U-cut farm.
Joe: Why? It is really not that fun.
Me: Joe, I've gotten my Christmas tree from a parking lot the last 25 years of my life. If I am going to live in the "country", I want to experience the natural beauty of it.
Joe: Seriously though, can't we just go to a lot?
Me: No, it'll be fun. Stop being a Scrooge!
Joe: I spent my entire childhood growing Christmas trees. Every Thanksgiving growing up I worked all day on our Christmas tree farm. And now my current job is to maintain and grow trees. Seriously, can't we just go to a lot?

***See pics below to see who won this discussion ;)***

So much better than a parking lot!

Jack thinks so too :)

Cruising the property before we narow it down

Jack picking a fight with a plant... that's my dog!

"The one"

What a natural...

Joe: (in his best Janelle-mocking voice) "I want to go to a U-cut farm" :)

Hahaha... look at that face

Seriously, who's with me on the U-Cut vs. the parking lot? I mean really, what else were we going to do all day anyway?

Revelations at Autzen...

2009-12-04T12:31:00.000-08:00

(Let me preface this post by saying there are four Duck fans that I know and love, and they break the stereotypes of typical U of O fans, who have been voted the most "unsportsmenlike fans in the Pac-10" in Sports Illustrated.)

First and foremost, I must admit- the Ducks just flat out beat us last night. It was an intense, exciting and amazing football game, but when it came down to it, the Beavers just didn't get the job done. I could sit here and make excuses for why we lost, but that is not really my style, or our style, to do so. We give credit where credit is due, and the fact is our offense didn't convert on enough crucial plays and our defense struggled to stop their running game.

That being said, the Civil War last night reaffirmed my pride in Beaver Nation. Yes, you heard me right. I am PROUD to be part of the school that lost, the school that is NOT going to the Rose Bowl. Now before you click to another website because you think you are reading the words of a crazy woman, hear me out on this...

Let's be honest. Football is just a game. In fact, all sports are just a game. (I know- shocker, right?) They are fun, they are intense and they are competitive, but sports are really not THAT important in the grand scheme of life. (Keep in mind, I say this as a woman who dedicated 18 years of her life to athletics and as the wife of a former Seahawk.) Yet for some reason, some people get so caught up in athletics that they often compromise their character and values. Or maybe in some cases, athletics simply expose a character that isn't so great to begin with. If you don't understand what I'm talking about, here is a glimpse into my experience last night at Autzen Stadium.

Example #1: I am walking to the game, by myself, looking to meet up with some friends at a tailgate. Completely sober, walking silently, and causing no sort of scene whatsoever, I navigate my way through a crowd of Duck fans . I walk past a group of male Duck fans who yell "F*** off, and F*** the Beavers!" as I pass by. Really guys? Congratulations for being grown-ass men, drunk in public, yelling at a female by herself who was walking peacefully to an athletic event. Real classy. I wish I could say these were the only males who talked to me in an offensive manner, but then I would be lying.

Example #2: In the third quarter, one of our best defensive players, Tim Clark, got hurt. He was down for awhile before the golf cart came out to take him off the field. It is a well-known common courtesy for a team to take a knee out of respect to an injured player, which is what our team did the whole time he was down. But Oregon, losing at this point, decides to use this injury as a time out and huddles near the sideline, scheming and planning the whole time Tim was down. In addition, their cheerleaders were shooting t-shirts into a screaming student section, again, as if this was a timeout. It is unbelievable to me the lack of respect that was shown as one of our players fractured his leg. Again, no class.

Example #3: Apparently for some people, values do have a price. And for Oregon's football program, it is the Rose Bowl. The Ducks were heavily favored to win the Civil War, so I think it sent them into a bit of a panic when we went into halftime with the lead. Their answer in the second half? Let's play LeGarrette Blount, the idiot who punched out a Boise State player and was suspended "for the season", before being reinstated after Oregon lost to Stanford. Unbelievable. And did he play prior to the Civil War? No. They didn't need him to. They only played him when a trip to Pasadena was on the line, and sure enough, the guy scores the go-ahead TD and they continue to use him the rest of the game to ensure they hang on for the win. This is wrong on so many levels. Watch this video to listen to Chip Kelly talk about what the University of Oregon "isn't", and then he has the nerve to not only reinstate him, but play him for the first time in the third quarter when they are losing?! Nothing that program does should surprise me at this point, but I guess I had faith they would draw the line somewhere. Silly me.

Sidenote: First of all, Coach Riley would not have "suspended" a player for this stunt, he would've kicked him off of the team. Second, even if he did suspend a player, he would NOT go back on his word and reinstate him, because sometimes there are things in life more important than winning a football game. Like honor, for example. Third, Riley doesn't recruit idiots who would do this in the first place, so it's not really an issue...

Example #4: After the game, I was running back to my car (it was really freaking cold!) and as I am running I see two guys with t-shirts that read "My Dickson, your Beaver". Again, real classy but nothing surprises me at this point of the evening. These guys actually paid someone to make these shirts. What the hell does this have to do with school spirit? Or supporting Duck football? Nothing! And you didn't even spell his last name right! Either you spelled it wrong on purpose, in order to be more vulgar, or you really are that dumb. Either way, it shows you have no class, and the fact that you talked sh*t to me after I ran by proved my early judgements to be true. After he yelled some obscenities at my back, I turned around and yelled "Good job for yelling at a girl who is by herself, real classy guy". He kinda just went "uhhh" and stood there speechless. I mean seriously, are there no boundaries anymore? What kind of grown-ass man talks trash to a girl who is alone? I do not know ANY Beaver men who would do such a thing unprovoked, yet I encountered many UO fans who did just that.

OK. I feel better now to have gotten these things off of my chest. All things considered, it was still a great football game last night. It's been a long time (if ever?) that the Civil War has been played for the Rose Bowl. We might not have won the game, but how far we've come in the last decade is pretty amazing and I am super proud to be a part of Beaver Nation. Being a "blue-collar" school to me is not an insult, but a compliment. We may not be fancy, or have multi-million dollar locker-rooms, or 2,347 different uniform combinations, but we do have this special little thing called class. And to me, that is something Phil Knight's money can't buy.

**********************************************************************************

Beautiful night for a showdown

Highway to Hell

I know you can't read it, but this guy's sign said "Oregon is the Paris Hilton of college football". Couldn't have said it better myself.

Marching downfield after recovering a fumble

Red-zone offense going to work

The Beaver's final TD

Beaver Believers for life!

Up by 9, time for Blount to make an appearance...

Battling it out for Roses

A beautiful, but chilly Oregon night for a football game

A smorgasbord of fun.

2009-12-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was a busy, crazy, wonderful weekend. First of all, we hosted Thanksgiving (less than a week) after moving into our new home. Luckily, our families are super awesome and aren't people we have to "impress". While I have several friends that would give Martha a run for her money, our Thanksgiving was pretty basic- good food and good company, without any time for cute decor. However, it was a great time for everyone and fun for us to host so soon in our new home. Joe is quite the sous chef as well, and I am lucky to have a hubby who helps his wife with the cooking on Thanksgiving :)

Friday it was off to Portland for lots of catch up time with friends. Friday night Joe had a man-date with Blair (Lexus club-level tickets to the Blazer game, nbd) while Mo and I met up for dinner and drinks. Top it off with some bowling at Hollywood Bowl -a very classy venue- and a new bowling PR/victory for me (I bowled a 158, what the crap?!) and I'd say it was a great night.

Saturday we spent a lot of time with my brother Brian, my cousin Cathy, and her hubby Aaron. They are pretty much the coolest people ever. We tried an awesome restaurant in SW Portland before making a stop at the "beer shop", where we purchased some special items for some of our besties. Can't wait to have them all over soon so we can bust out the goods! (Stay tuned for that post, it is probably going to be awesome). For dinner we went to Portland City Grill to celebrate the marriage of one of my old friends from high school, Alex Schaeffer. He got married in Bolivia but had a reception here, and it was so nice to meet his lovely wife and see so many old friends from high school!

Sunday included a huge breakfast prepared by our wonderful hosts, Cathy and Aaron. Lots of bacon and hashbrowns, so yummy. Then we watched the Seahawks beat the Rams on tv, which was awesome. It was a beautiful, relaxing Sunday and it is always nice to see our friends on the Seahawks get a victory.

After the game we had a long drive back to Roseburg, which gave us lots of time to just talk and reflect. And I realized, instead of complaining about living in Roseburg and missing my friends in Portland and Seattle, I should just be grateful to have such awesome people in my life and be happy I live within driving distance. Some people I know do not have that privilege. And even though Roseburg is not perfect, it really is a decent place to call home. Plus, I have an amazing husband, awesome dog, and a cute little house, all happy to have me there. And for those things, I am very, very thankful :)

Avoiding Thanksgiving Day Disaster #1... a frozen turkey

Ahhh... much better

Carving it up

Kathy and her yummy homemade rolls

With our creations- turkey for me, mashed potatoes for Joe

(who looks like he just wants to eat at this point...)

With two of our favorite people at Alex's reception

Love her! (Classy bunny ears Matt)

Wow, Jessie and I are two lucky ladies... look at how classy our hubbies are ;)

Finally...

2009-11-27T12:27:00.000-08:00

we have a home. I have been craving a house for a long, long time. I've been longing for a house like most girls my age long for babies. Maybe it's because in the last 4 years of my life, I've moved 9 times. (That is NOT an exaggeration.) In fact, after living in the same house for the first 18 years of my life, I've moved 13 times since leaving for college. Joe and I have moved between Oregon and Washington more times than I care to recall, and it seems like every time we start to get settled somewhere and really begin to like it, it is time to pick up and leave again for one reason or another. I have been subbing for the last THREE years because of this instability, and all I want is a place to call home and know that it's worth investing in a community because we'll be around for awhile.

Well, I finally got what I've been wishing for. Joe and I recently put an offer on a house in Roseburg and it was accepted. We moved in and are "renting" it until we close. We are so close to owning our first home and it is SUCH a great feeling and relief. A lot of people have been asking for pictures, so I decided to post one here. I haven't taken very many yet since much of it is filled with boxes and very unorganized right now. However, here is a little preview of our new home. Man, it feels so nice to finally be able to say that :)

Super Proud...

2009-11-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

of my Beavers. My former team is making OSU history by playing in the NCAA Sweet 16 tomorrow night versus Notre Dame. I couldn't be happier for Linus, Morgan, the girls and OSU. Hopefully, our girls can take care of business against the Fighting Irish the way our football program has in recent years! (Sorry Danielle, if you are reading this ;) Speaking of, it is also a great time to be a Beaver for football fans... Can't wait for that Civil War, GO BEAVS!