Creative Girl

Moving!

2009-10-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

I have decided to move my blog over to Wordpress. I won't be updating here anymore. I hope you will join me...

http://myprettyones.wordpress.com

Progress!

2009-09-22T15:02:00.000-07:00

We had our first home study visit yesterday.

We cleaned and cleaned on Sunday to prepare, knowing that they aren't going to do the white glove test, but I just couldn't relax with the house not in order. So, we did some organizing, dusting and cleaning. It looked great!

The visit went really well. We both liked the adoption social worker, and I felt that she liked us too (yay!). And that is really good, because she is the one that helps match us with a child. We spent about 2 hours with her on this visit. She went over the process from here on out, asked us some very personal questions about past relationships, why we want an infant (instead of an older child) and how we would feel about parenting an adopted child vs. biological child.

There will be 3 more visits in the next 3-4 weeks, and then we'll be licensed! It's looking like we'll be done around the middle to end of October.

Home again, home again...

2009-09-08T16:23:00.000-07:00

Still trying to catch up with everything! It's weird being offline for a week. Our vacation was just what we needed.

We headed up to Victoria the first day. Took the ferry over and got there in time to check in at our hotel and head out for dinner. We ate at the BEST italian restaurant. They had the freshest pasta I've ever had. YUM. The next day we walked all over downtown. Checked out Chinatown and all the shops. They had an open market where we found some cute things and had some organic fudge. YUM again.

Then we drove North to Qualicum Beach. We stayed there for two nights. Looked around town, ate at one of my favorite breakfast places (Lefty's) and rented Kayaks. WE LOVE KAYAKING. It's something we've been meaning to try, but never got around to it. We're hooked now! SO FUN. After a couple days there we took the ferry from Nanaimo to Tsawwassen and drove up to Vancouver.

We had the most fabulous hotel in Vancouver with a kitchen, dining, living room and bedroom. On the 16th floor one street off of Robson (the shopping district). We walked an entire day in Vancouver, all the way from our hotel, over the bridge into Granville Island area. I'm not sure if it's actually an island - I need to look at a map. But they have the COOLEST public market ever. It's a 1000 times better than Pike's Place Market in Seattle. If we had a cooler, I'd have brought back a ton of fresh food. DOUBLE YUM. We also stumbled on a TV show filming on our way to the market. We watched for a little while, but I have to say, TV filming is REALLY BORING. They stand around 99% of the time waiting for everything to be ready.

Then we had 4 days at home and got a ton of little projects done! DH got a couple new light fixtures up, one in the "baby room". And I am almost done painting some trees and owls on the wall in there. It's looking really cute!!! I'll have to get some pictures up on Flickr soon.

Crib is up!

2009-08-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

We went to IKEA on Sunday and purchased our crib. It's our first real baby purchase! It's already set up. I just need to wash the sheets.

I've compiled a list, mostly in my head, of things that we are going to need. I thought I'd share it here. What do you think?

~~Crib & crib sheets~~
Baby blankets
Changing pad (we are putting it on top of a dresser)
Diapers (we are going with cloth)
Wipes (also cloth)
Diaper bin w/liner
Moby wrap
Bottles & formula
Car seat - I can't decide what to get. Still researching.
Baby wash cloths
~~Baby towel~~
Kiddopotamus
Variety of clothes up to 2 years (not sure what ages we will have)
ETA: Swing!

I might have to add to this list, but this is what I could think of right now.

Getting ready

2009-08-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

We turned our paperwork into DSHS a few weeks ago to get our foster parent license. Thanks to the speedy responses from all of our references (THANK YOU!) we are now waiting to get the call from our licensor to begin the homestudy process! Eeek!

Our intent is to foster infants and possibly toddlers that may become available for adoption. We are prepared for a rollercoaster ride as many of the little ones are (rightfully) reunited with their birthparent(s). But until then, we will be caring for the little sweet peas.

So, right now we are frantically trying to get ready for the homestudy, which means get ready to have a baby in the house. Not an easy task when you only have a couple weeks! We'll be doing some garage sales and shopping at 2nd hand stores. But...I'm trying to put together a list of must-have items for children under a year old.

For those of you that have/had little ones, do you have any suggestions, or things you couldn't live without?

It's hot.

2009-07-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

My goodness. Yesterday was 104. I know in some parts of the world, it gets hotter than that, but not here. That's really, really hot. Most people don't have a/c in this area. Mostly because it never. gets. that. hot. here.

We've been trying various ways to stay cool. Cold showers, dips in the kiddie pool, sleeping in the tent, squirt bottles, shade, fans, etc. It's fun I tell ya! Fortuntely both of us have a/c at work, but then we come home and spend the entire evening trying to cool off. And the poor dogs! We toss them in the kiddie pool a couple times a day. They hate it, but it works.

It's supposed to start cooling down over the next week, I guess. I think today should be around 98. Still hot, but better than 104!

Ducky update

2009-07-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

Poor Bebe had a little accident the night before last and scraped off the top layer of her beak on one side! Poor girl. We've been putting her in her "igloo" at night to keep her safe from raccoons and such, but apparently that won't work since she got her beak stuck underneath it! The only other option left is for her to sleep outside exposed.

So, we've decided to find her a better home with other ducks so that she can snuggle up with them to keep warm. Fortunately, a friend of ours knows someone that has a farm and often takes in injured animals and she was more than happy to take our Bebe. We'll be taking her out there on Friday. I'm really sad to see her go and will greatly miss her adorable quacking, but I'll be relieved for her to be in a safe place with other ducks & animals. I think it will be a great place for her.

She's still not walking, but is making slow progess. We're hoping she'll make a full recovery and have a good life in her new home.

Bebe

2009-06-09T14:49:00.001-07:00

Bebe, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

How could you not love this girl? She actually snuggled with me yesterday when I was feeding her. It was the sweetest thing.

Hello again

2009-06-09T10:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I decided to keep this blog up and see how it goes. I probably won't be posting very often - at least not for a while. I've taken down a lot of the more personal posts and won't be blogging about that anymore.

So...Moving on! We've been super busy getting moved into the house, which ended up happening the same weekend I had gallbladder surgery. Yuck! But Dave has been a trooper and did ALL.THE.WORK. while I recovered (thanks, honey!). We are almost settled and looking forward to having a little more free-time.

We got a duck! Her name is Bebe and she was rescued by our friend, Missy. She had been attacked my something and was in shock when Missy found her. The vet thinks she will make a full recovery and we are really hopeful that will be the case. She is getting really strong and could start walking again anytime! She's such a sweetie and the dogs get along with her really well. I posted a couple photos on Flickr if you are interested. :)

We are enjoying some lovely, warm weather and so glad summer is almost here!

Thank you

2009-02-27T09:42:00.001-08:00

I'm doing OK. Getting a grip. Thank you so much for all of your warm comments. You guys made me cry more than once! In a good way. :)

We'll be spending the weekend with family. And celebrating my birthday, which isn't actually until Tuesday. It's been nice to have them around and I'm looking forward to the next couple days.

Love.

Perspective

2009-02-25T09:43:00.000-08:00

There have been a few things lately that I've been really struggling with. Last week an online friend lost her baby at 25 weeks. It's her 3rd loss, but the furthest along. I am so sad for her and for her family. I just can't believe how cruel life can be sometimes. They've been trying for several years and dealing with IF. Then to get so close. It's just not fair.

Yesterday we had some more really bad news. A dear family friend who's been dealing with cancer just found out that the aggressive chemo and radiation, and surgery last week did not eliminate all the cancer from her body. It has spread to her lymph nodes. Apparently, they did the most aggressive treatment and only got 30% of the cancer. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the likelihood of her not being around much longer. She is so young and vital, and she is one of the most beautiful people (inside & out) that I know. It's just unbelievable.

I don't know how to reconcile these situations in my heart. They go against every belief that I have about being a good person and finding meaning in life. I don't even know where to begin. And I guess that I've been here for a while with our IF. But this certainly gives me a little perspective on what I am dealing with. I am holding my family a little closer today. And my heart is just broken.

So far...

2009-02-03T11:34:00.000-08:00

When we decided to pursue foster to adopt at the end of November, I called and requested the application packet and we attended an info session to find out more about the process and requirements.

The packet is pretty intense and we are still trying to get organized with that. It’s a bit overwhelming. We have to complete a really long personal history form with lots of questions about how we were raised and our plans on raising children. This is what I am most struggling with. When you give birth to a child you don’t have to articulate all of your rules, how you will discipline, what values you plan to instill in them, etc. And especially not months before they are even born! And since we don’t already have children, it is very challenging to imagine how we will handle some things down the road.

Some other things that are required include a background check with finger printing, a TB test, fire evacuation plan and financial review. We had to take a 30 hour class, called PRIDE Pre-Service training and a CPR/First Aid class. Once all that is complete we can turn in our paperwork, which must be turned in all at once. I think we are still a couple months away from having that ready to go.

After the paperwork is complete they will do a home study where a licensure comes out to make sure we are in compliance with all the minimum requirements. These can vary depending on what age group we wanted to be licensed for. We are interested in infants, but would be willing to take a sibling up to 2 years old as well.

The class we just finished was the Pre-Service training. It is an intense 30 hour class that we took over 2 weekends. Our instructor was fabulous. He was a social worker for DCF prior to becoming a trainer. His knowledge on the system and the psychology of children that have abuse/neglect backgrounds was incredible. I could have listed to him for weeks. I’m hoping to take more classes with him in the future.

They covered a broad range of topics like anger/pain, grief, discipline, attachment, sexual abuse as well as prepared us for visitations and having relationships with birth parents. A lot of what was talked about in relation to behavior was invaluable and I couldn’t help but think that all parents should take a class like this. I could see on the faces of our classmates with children that they wished they had learned some of these things while their kids were young. So, I feel fortunate to have had this experience. I think it will help us if we are able to have bio-children too.

The thing that has most impressed me about this process so far is the amount of support in the foster-parent community. I always expected them to just through us to the wolves and we’d be on our own. But that’s really not the case. They encourage you to make friends with other foster-parents and have support groups that meet on a regular basis. They provide respite care to all foster-parents so they can take time off. And there are organizations that provide support in various forms. A very unique community and we are really looking forward to being a part of it.

2009-01-30T14:41:00.000-08:00

I make things. At least I dream about making things. Usually that's about as far as it goes. But I've been meaning to share a couple mixed media pieces I made for loved ones this Christmas.

This one is for a family friend that is currently going through chemo and radiation treatments and soon, surgery to remove cancer on her lung. It's very serious and I just keep thinking about how scary that would be. How I would feel and what I would need to hear during such a difficult time. I keep coming back to one thing. Something that I struggle with on a daily basis... Hope. So, this was my gift to her. Hoping that it would comfort her just a little.

And this one I made for my Momma just because she's cute. :)

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. We are off to our foster parent class tomorrow. I'll give you a little more details on how all that is going, maybe next week.

Hi

2009-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

How are you? I'm good thanks. :)

I've been busy with all kinds of things lately. Trying to keep my mind off of which cycle day it is (CD 8 if you were curious). We are remodeling a bathroom right now and I'm in the process of picking tile, fixtures, etc. I am terrible at this. There are just too many choices. We spent all day on Saturday looking at tile for the shower and I couldn't make up my mind. We already have the floor tile. We used it in our kitchen previously. The house was built in 1952, and in keeping with the era I was kind of thinking white subway tiles. What do you think? If you have any examples of tile showers that you love, please send them my way!

Then on Sunday morning our car stopped running. Dave had to replace the power steering pump. We ended up not being able to get all the parts we needed in town and had to order one of them. So, we were out of a car until last night. I'm so happy that my husband is uber-capable. It's reassuring to know that he can handle whatever comes our way.

Now we are just waiting for this weekend when we finish up our last two PRIDE Pre-Service classes for foster care. I have yet to really get started on the mountain of paperwork involved. It's pretty daunting. We still have a little time though. There is one more class we have to take for CPR/First-Aid. Then things like TB tests, fingerprinting and that paperwork. One step at a time!

I'm heading into the RE's office on Monday for my follicle check. Hoping for some good news. This cycle is going by pretty fast, for which I am grateful. Probably because we are so busy.

On the Eve

2009-01-19T14:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

How appropriate is it that on the Eve of Barack Obama's inaugaration, we are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day? I love it. I love that today is Bush's last day. I love that tomorrow is a day I've been waiting for. I love that there is hope.

How totally unfair is that on the Eve of such a great day I am waiting on this cycle to come to an end? So unfair. All the hope I feel for my Country is tempered by my total lack of hope in my ability to get pregnant. I was pretty sure that this cycle wouldn't work. Right up until last Friday. Then my body totally started fucking with me and I thought, well..maybe. I waited until Saturday night and finally broke down and tested. BFN. I don't know why I let myself start to believe. It just makes it so much harder.

So, now I'm waiting to start another cycle. It should be any time now. Probably on to IUI #2.

After testing on Saturday night (and Sunday morning) it was really hard to sit through the second day of Pre-Service training (Foster Parent class). The class was really good though. We learned A LOT. Looking forward to finishing it up in another 2 weeks. Time to get to work on that application!

Well, I am off work today. Dave had to go in, so I'm trying to get some things done around the house. We haven't been home much lately and there's a lot to catch up on. Hopefully things are starting to calm down a little. It would be nice to have a less stressful cycle next time.

Not much new...

2009-01-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to say Happy Birthday, Mom!

We're Home + 100th Post

2009-01-10T15:41:00.000-08:00

This marks my 100th post! I've been blogging for almost 2 years, so that isn't much of an accomplishment. But most of it has been in the last 6 months. Well, aside from that I don't know what to say about it, except maybe YAY BLOGGING! :)

We just got back from Arizona yesterday afternoon. After picking up the dogs and getting settled back in we were pretty tired and went to bed. I've been having some pretty bad stomach pain along with heartburn the last four days and it woke me up around 1:30 this morning. I couldn't take it anymore and Dave took me to the ER. We didn't get home until around 7am. It turns out that I have gallstones. I started to feel much better while at the hospital - it seems to come and go. They said they didn't need to operate right now and released me, but I'll be checking back in with my regular doctor next week. Hopefully the pain stays away. I've had a few episodes over the last 8 months or so, but never more than one night. Maybe stress brings it on!

There was a lot of flooding in the Olympia area while we were gone. The freeway was shut down South of here. (Evergreen, how did you guys do?) The roads that lead out to the dog sitter were only opened Friday morning. It was fortunate! I'm not sure we would have been able to get to the boys if they weren't. Everything was fine at our house. We live in such a great spot and never seem to have trouble with those kinds of things.

We're really glad to be home (even with the hospital visit!). Our trip was really good and the service was nice. We spent a lot of time with the family and going through LaNell's (Dave's Mom) leftover things. They needed to be divided up and the rest set aside for donation or sale. I know that was really hard for everyone. I was glad to be able to help in anyway I could. I'm going to miss her and wish that I had more time to get to know her better. I know she felt the same way. We had talked about that when we were down there the week before her passing. Although, I feel like I do after this week. Hearing all the memories shared really seems to have made me feel closer to her.

Crazy life

2009-01-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post for a few days and let you know how things are going, but some things came up. We are flying back to Arizona tomorrow. My Mother-in-Law passed away on Friday morning. It was not totally unexpected because of her health, but happened a lot faster than anyone thought it would. Fortunately we were just there a week ago and were able to spend a good amount of time with her and let her know that we love her and hold good thoughts for her. She will be missed.

We decided to continue with our IUI since we were so close and then fly down for the memorial service this week. Our 2nd u/s was on Saturday morning. The sonographer told us that we had 1 follicle at 17.5. We're not sure what happened to the 2nd one, but one is better than none! Their typical protocol is to wait until it's at 18-20 and said we should come back on Monday for 3rd u/s and probably IUI on Tuesday. We told her about our situation and that we needed to fly down to Arizona on Monday or Tuesday and she told us to wait in the waiting room and she would talk to the doctor to see if there was anything they could do. The doctor said that we should go ahead and trigger. I was concerned about the egg being immature, but the sonographer said that they actually consider them mature at 15, but use 20 as a conservative guideline. I'm hoping that was the right call. They gave me a trigger shot and scheduled an appointment for the next morning (this morning).

The IUI went really well. DH's count was well above the minimum (yay!) and I had good CM. We are hopeful that it will have a good outcome despite the stress and schedule we are under.

Now, I need to go pack so we can get on a plane tomorrow morning!

Goodbye and Hello

2008-12-31T21:00:00.000-08:00

I can't say that I'm sad to say goodbye to 2008. It's been a hell of a year. After many months of thinking I would end the year the same way it began - in limbo, I am so relieved to be moving forward. Many disappointments this year, mostly relating to infertility. But there have been many good things too. I am married to the most wonderful person I have ever known. In November our country made a choice to believe in hope and change and in itself. I am comforted by the many connections I've made in blogland.

I have hope. And that is the best gift I can think of. Bring it on 2009. We are so ready.

Happy New Year! Thank goodness for new days, new years, and new chances.

There and back

2008-12-30T13:31:00.001-08:00

We had a lovely Christmas Day at home this year. I made cookies and toffee the day before. My Dad came over in the afternoon and I made dinner - walnut crusted pork chops with roasted veggies. Yum.

We had not planned on leaving town, but had a semi-family emergency and flew down to Arizona on Friday. Just returned last night. Phew.

The cycle day 12 ultrasound is tomorrow. It will actually be CD11, but close enough. I am getting nervous that the Letrozole/Femara didn't have any effect. Please let there be some follicles growing! I finished the pills on Saturday with (fortunately) very little side effects. I had a killer headache the first day, and felt a little jittery the first two days. After that...nothing. I feel pretty fortunate, especially since we had to travel.

Hopefully I'll have some good news tomorrow.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-24T10:56:00.000-08:00

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas or Happy (belated) Hanukkah. For all the girls that are TTC, I am hopeful that we will all find our babies this year. I'll be toasting to that tomorrow.

Peace and Love.

Random things

2008-12-23T15:36:00.000-08:00

Evergreen tagged me on her blog this week to post 7 random facts about myself. I'm terrible at these, but here goes...

Rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Share 7 random and/or weird facts about you.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end, and include links to their blogs.

Randomness:
1. I lived in 22 places before I was in 2nd grade.

2. When I was almost 5 I fell off a slide head first onto gravel. I had to have stitches and it took the doctor, 2 nurses & my mom to hold me down to give me a shot. I hate needles.

3. I used to play "mother nature" with my best friend in elementary school and we would rescue wild animals and "sweep" the forest floor with branches.

4. I didn't ride on a plane until I was 18. And now I've lost count.

5. I'm allergic to strawberries.

6. We don't watch TV/have cable.

7. I've had dogs, cats, rabbits, pigeons, parakeets, ferrets, a guinea pig, a turtle and fish. Not all at once. :)

OK, sorry if you've done this already! I'm tagging:
PJ, Shelly, Sarah, Missy, Leslie, G, and Shinejil

The after photos

2008-12-18T16:16:00.001-08:00

After playing in the snow for about 15 minutes:

His entire underbelly and legs begin to look like the abominable snowman. We actually have to rinse him off in warm water or he gets water all over the house as they melt.

Snow day

2008-12-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

It's been snowing for a couple days now and I stayed home today. Yesterday was a bit of a fiasco. Dave and I took transit to work, which requires walking a mile to the bus stop. It was fine in the morning when the snow was only a couple inches. By the time I headed home (early) around noon it was about 5 or 6 inches. A lot to trudge through with my arms full and snow pelting me (yes, pelting) straight at my face. And wouldn't you know it, I left my brand new umbrella on the darn bus in the morning! Grrr.

Other that that, I love the snow. It is so beautiful and the dogs love to play in it. It's quite an adventure taking them out to do their business. We spend about twenty minutes hopping around in it (them) and throwing snowballs (me). Bubba, the schnauzer, likes to eat snow. Especially snowballs. Good times.

Speaking of doggie outtings, they are calling me now. :) Hope you are enjoying your day wherever you are.
Love.

Day 6

2008-12-15T10:13:00.000-08:00

Today is the sixth day of our diet. So far so good! The first two days were pure torture! I thought I might beat someone up for a good piece of bread or a potato. :) After the second day it was pretty easy. I do miss things. Especially the beer. I really appreciate all the feedback from everyone. I'm not sure if this will be the right diet for me, but it's worth a shot. I really need to get the cookbook though. I'm getting a little bored with the meals. Although, after the 2 week mark we move into phase two and get to add some foods back in. That makes me happy!

The only problem is that I don't think I've lost any weight. My husband says he can tell, but I just think he's being nice. The scale actually went up a pound. We aren't totally sure that our scale works properly, and that could be the issue. If I haven't lost anything by two weeks, I'm throwing in the towel. They say you should lose 8-13 pounds by then. Humpf.

It's been 10 days since the surgery and I feel pretty good. Mostly back to normal. We go back to the RE today to find out the next step. Keep your fingers crossed that we get to cycle again!

I asked for it...

2008-12-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm back at work today. So far so good. I'm pretty tired though and will probably only make it until lunch. Still a little sore and definitely moving slow!

In addition to the post-surgery recovery, I've decided to add a diet to the mix. Crazy a little? Yep. I think it will be OK though. Dave and I are both doing it, and that always makes it easier. Since I can't exercise for a few weeks, I need to do something.

We decided on the South Beach diet. Anyone had any luck with that one? It's supposed to be good for people with PCOS because it's low carb. I wrote our meal plan on a dry erase board near the kitchen and we stocked up on meat and veggies. I purged the fridge of all the no-nos like sweets and bread. I am not usually a big meat eater, and I pretty much live on carbs. This will be a big change. I think the hardest thing to give up will be beer. :( Apparently, it's worse than straight sugar. Bummer.

Recovering

2008-12-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much for all the sweet comments and emails. It is so nice to have such a supportive community. You guys are the best!

I am doing really well. Surprisingly very little pain. I did start to notice the shoulder pain from the trapped gas they use in surgery, but I've been keeping my feet up since we got home last night and that seems to help a lot. I have my trusty pain killers too and that doesn't hurt! :) Also, Dave has been amazing and pretty much won't let me lift a finger. I could get used to this! ;)

The surgery went better than I had even hoped. The doctor said, "best possible outcome." As it turned out, the fibroid was a polyp. I'm not totally clear on the difference yet, but I guess that's good. I need to read up on that a bit. And he didn't have to take either of my tubes!!! What we thought was a diseased tube was actually endometriosis (I need to research this some too), and it had attached to the end of my right tube and caused a blockage. The doctor was able to remove all the adhesions and scar tissue and says that both of my tubes are open and ready for business! I was in the recovery room when he told me, so I don't remember all the details, and all I could do was smile. He was so excited to tell me, I don't think he could wait until I was more awake. It was pretty cute.

So, I go back the week after next and I think I'll get to stop the BCP then. So, our next cycle may be much closer than I thought. We'll see how that goes. For now, I'm going to bask in the joy of keeping all my body parts and being (hopefully) fully functional after my recovery.

Big day

2008-12-04T15:23:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the big day. Surgery is in the afternoon and I can't eat anything after midnight tonight. I can't even have water! It's going to be a long morning. I'm looking forward to getting it over with. I've been running through the possible outcomes and most of them aren't too bad, but you never know what they are going to find in there. Definately nervous about the unknown.

Not sure how coherent I will be, but I will try to post something on Saturday with (some of) the details.

Tonight we are off to our adoption info session! We got our home study packet in the mail yesterday and I've already read through the whole thing. We'll start filling it out this weekend. :) We've had really positive feedback from all the family and friends we've shared this with so far. I appreciate everyone's support and good thoughts.

Well, see you in a few days less one tube and a fibroid!

New plan

2008-12-03T15:02:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how fast things change. On our way home from my Mom’s house after Thanksgiving, (we had a good 5 hours in the car) Dave and I had a long talk about this whole infertility experience and whether or not we want to continue with ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) after my surgery. It’s pretty daunting to think about spending thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to get pregnant and then have the possibility of failure. This led us to the next step… adoption.

I’ve long thought about adopting. Even if we were able to have biological children (which we still hope to), I believe adoption would be a wonderful thing to do. So, we’ve decided to foster-adopt! I’m so excited about it, and for the first time in quite a while, I have hope.

There is a lot to do before we get qualified, but the process is started. I made the call on Monday to our local DSHS. I was pretty nervous – my hands were shaking. I talked to a social worker and found out about an info class this week! We are going to that tomorrow night, we are already signed up for the required 30 hour class, and our home study paperwork should be in the mail today! After having been in the eternal wait of TTC (trying to conceive), this feels like progress.

I am still having surgery on Friday. After the recovery time, we will continue TTC. I can’t give up on the idea of being pregnant. It’s something I’ve always wanted to experience. I hope that we will be able to experience both.

Hope!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm out of my funk. :) I just wanted to wish everyone (in the US) a very Happy Thanksgiving. I have many things to be thankful for this year. My fabulous husband, my family and friends, we have a place to live that is warm and we have food to eat,and I have found a wonderful, supportive community that gets bigger all the time.

Thanks for stopping by today. I am thankful for you.

Love.

I'm grumpy

2008-11-25T13:24:00.001-08:00

I know...it's two days before Thanksgiving and I'm supposed to be feeling all thankful and cheery. I've been sick since last Thursday and I think my body is falling apart. I'm too young for that, right?

I'll be back tomorrow or Thursday with a little more gratefulness to show. :)

Happy anniversay

2008-11-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

My sweet husband,

This past year has taught me so much about who you are, and who we are together. In many, many ways it has been the best year of my life. Of course, we have had our struggles, but I am confident that we will get through them all and we will do it together. I am comforted by your strength, your care and your enduring support.

On this day, our first anniversary, I would like to tell you just a few of the ways you make me feel special.

You value my opinions and ideas.
You share your thoughts with me.
You care what the house looks like.
You like to have a beer and a burger with me.
You are always willing to help.
You rub my shoulders when they hurt.
You take on (more than) your share of the chores.
You want what I want.
You smile when you see me.
You really, truly see me.
You like my cooking.
Even when you don’t agree with me, you try to understand what I feel.
You are willing to go through all of this crap so that we can have a family.
You are strong and calm when I am not.
You listen when I just need to get it out.
You love the dogs.
You fix things.
You support my effort to live a more creative life.
You are always there when I need you. Always.
You get mad at yourself when you leave your wedding ring at home.
You put up with my indecisiveness about where to eat.
You spend time with me.

Yeah, you are pretty much the best husband in the world. I am such a lucky girl.

I love you so, so, so much. Forever and ever.

birthday girl

2008-11-12T11:09:00.000-08:00

This is my Gaga. My great grandmother. She turned 106 last Friday. Isn't she beautiful?

Dave and I visited on Saturday. She doesn't remember too much these days, but when I call her Gog or Gaga (our family name for her) she knows that we are somehow related. She likes to kiss my hand and tell me that she will always remember our visit. I'm amazed by her vitality. Aside from her loss of sight and most of her hearing, she has remained in good health all this time. Might have something to do with her German blood.

When I was younger, I always thought how great it would be when I had children and we could gather 5 generations together. After my grandma passed away a few years ago, that dream vanished. But I still have held out hope that we will have a baby before Gaga goes. At 106, I'm not sure that will happen. Somehow, I am able to tie everything back to infertility.

Someone loves me!

2008-11-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

I was awarded by the lovely Evergreen Baby (thank you!)

I answer the following questions with single word responses, and pass the award on to 7 other bloggers:

1. Where is your cell phone? purse
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? strong
5. Your father? capable
6. Your favorite thing? dogs
7. Your dream last night? strange
8. Your dream/goal? to paint
9. The room you're in? office (at work)
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? infertility
12. Where do you want to be in six years? at home with my children
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? fearless
15. One of your wish list items? new vacuum
16. Where you grew up? Olympia, WA
17. The last thing you did? read blogs :)
18. What are you wearing? work clothes
19. Your T.V.? unplugged
20. Your pets? snuggly
21. Your computer? well used
22. Your mood? hopeful
23. Missing someone? my momma
24. Your car? does the job
25. Something you're not wearing? sombraro
26. Favorite store? Etsy (online)
27. Your Summer? fast
28. Love someone? David
29. Your favorite color? cerulean blue
30. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday afternoon
31. Last time you cried? Thursday (see last post!)

I'm not sure how you get one word on some of those, but I tried! I'd like to pass on the love to:

http://infertilityonthebrain.blogspot.com/
http://missywatts.typepad.com/good_life/
http://pessimisticbitch-mamahansen.blogspot.com/
http://infertilityexperience.blogspot.com/
http://shellypaints.blogspot.com/
http://womb4improvement.blogspot.com/

What's next?

2008-11-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

That's what I'm wondering today. Yesterday turned out to be a strange day indeed. On the high of the election I thought I would have a great day, but life has a way of balancing out the good with the bad I guess. Here's the list, so far (please let this be it!):

* A dear friend of the family was told she has cancer and is to start Chemo immediately. My thoughts are with you L.

* Dave's neice was layed off. What a time to be looking for a job! I have my finger's crossed for her.

* And just before bed, a call from the same neice that her mom, my SIL, is in the emergency room and has to have surgery today on her finger. Apparently, her dog bit it while playing. Not sure of all the details yet.

For the love of &*%@!. Can't I just have ONE GOOD DAY?

It's a good day

2008-11-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

We spent the evening at The Brotherhood in downtown Oly surrounded by very, very happy people:

(I wouldn't recommend listing to the sound. Not sure what happened to it.)

Hope is a beautiful thing.

Vote

2008-11-03T09:38:00.000-08:00

Please. And thank you.

hello Denver

2008-10-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

We're in Denver today. Flew in yesterday evening and will be here until Wednesday evening. Dave has a training conference here at the hotel. Me? Right now I'm laying in the most comfortable bed ever. I decided not to be too ambitious on this trip. I brought a bunch of art supplies should the mood strike. I also brought the computer, iPod, books, and my nail polish. Mmmmm. I could get used to this!

I didn't get much more information from the RE on Friday. He confirmed that they will be removing my right tube. It will mean a 4-5 day recovery vs. 2 days. And it will have to be done at the hospital instead of the clinic. We have a follow up appointment next Friday where I'm sure we will schedule the surgery. I'm pushing for sooner rather than later. I'm ready to get this done and move on.

Well, I'm off to take a nap. :) We'll be heading into downtown Denver for dinner and check out the area a little after Dave finishes for the day. Love.

artfest update

2008-10-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple people ask which classes I'll be taking at Artfest next year, so I thought I'd just post them here. I was able to get my first choice on all but one class, but I am super excited about all of them. C'mon April! :)

Day 1 - The Transparent Book
Day 2 - Junk Mail Artists Book
Day 3 - Abstract Theory

Yummy

2008-10-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Well, nothing productive happened this weekend, but we did make some yummy food! Dave decided to make a quiche for dinner on Sunday, so I made the pie crust. We had a bunch left over that I turned into some raspberry tarts and a little crust with cinnamon and sugar (just like my mom used to make!). Heaven.

Fall!

2008-10-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

I am so happy it's fall. I LOVE this time of year! The leaves are starting to change, it's raining today, and I just feel like being all snuggled and cozy at home. Unfortunately, I have to be at work instead (not so cozy). But in a few hours...well, after work and the gym, I will be at home in my slippers. I guarantee it! :)

Life has been flying by as usual. Last weekend we enjoyed the company of about 7 of Dave's childhood friends. Maybe a little too much fun. All the guys went golfing on Saturday and I slept, and slept and slept. Nice. On Sunday, Dave fixed the brakes on the car (I love my handy man) and I worked on some freelance projects.

We are back to working on the house this weekend. More painting and bathroom remodeling. Fun, fun. I'm sure we will mix in a few relaxing things to balance it out.

Hope you are enjoying the start of fall as much as I am. Love.

artfest + congratulations

2008-09-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to my momma on getting a promotion! Way to go, mom. Or should I call you Miss Director of Nursing? :) So proud of you!

And...

I'm going to Artfest 2009! So, so, SO excited about this. Now I just have to wait until April, but it will be so worth the wait. I got into my first choice of classes for all but one day. And my second choice is awesome too. Definately not disappointed! I've heard so many good things about Artfest and have been wanting to go for a couple years. Yay! (can you tell I'm excited?) :)

Have a great weekend. Love.

what not to do

2008-09-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Looks like our work frenzy on Sunday took it's toll! Yesterday Dave and I were both not feeling well and stayed home from work. We slept almost all day and it's a good thing...

I made one of our favorite Thai dinners last night (Rama Showers - tofu, spinach and peanut sauce with jasmine rice). While I was cutting up the tofu to cook up, one of the pieces fell on the floor and Bubba (our mini-schnauzer) got it. We didn't really think anything of it at the time. However, an hour later our poor little guy had hives all over his body! Apparently, he's allergic to soy. We rushed him to the doggie emergency room and they fixed him up with some anti-histamines and cortizone. After we got home, he seemed to be much calmer and slept for a little while. Then about 3 in morning, the benedryl must have worn off, because he was totally restless and itchy. We gave him some more benedryl, but he never really settled back in.

Lessons learned: don't work too hard and don't feed your dog tofu. Who knew?

high five

2008-09-15T10:27:00.000-07:00

Phew. This weekend was super productive! We got so much more done than I thought we would. And we didn't even really kick it into gear until Sunday!

Saturday we called our "planning" stage. Which mostly meant that we slept in, cleaned the house, drank decaf coffees outside in the sun, picked up supplies for our projects, and took the doggies for a nice long walk around the lake. Yum. It was such a great day.

With all that rest and hangin' out time, we were ready to go on Sunday! We started two major projects: 1. unclog drains with industrial sized snake. 2. put sealant on all the brick. And we finished both of them and even trimmed a bunch of shrubs around the house! What a day. We were exhausted by the end of it, but it was so worth it.

We've also embarked on a new life project starting today. It includes exercise and eating less. Doesn't sound like much fun, I know. But we are dedicated (so far) and have even decided to stop eating meat. So, we are looking for new recipes, counting calories and going to the gym 5 days a week (gasp!). We'll see how long this motivation lasts. We are going to squeeze every last drop of it for at least the next month. Our goal: lose 10 pounds. Wish us luck!

Anyone know any good Tofu recipes?

2008-09-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

Shelly tagged me! So I guess I am coming out retirement for this :) but it's about time!

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking to them. (if you can)
5. Leave a comment for each tagged blogger that they've been tagged.

My list of Quirks:
1. I involuntarily say "hmmm" when I disagree with something my husband says.
2. I don't like my food to touch. STAY ON YOUR OWN SIDE!
3. I just can't bring myself to use all the acronyms floating around on the internet. I don't mind if other people do, but I feel like a copy-cat when I try to use them.
4. I snuggle with my doggies under the covers. They sleep like people.
5. I put my hand on my husband tummy in almost every photo of us together. I can't help it, he's got a cute tummy.
6. I spend WAY too much time reading blogs on a daily basis. Being able to look into other peoples lives is kind of voyeuristic. Much more interesting than working, that's for sure!

I can't think of anyone to tag who hasn't been already. So, I'll just make this rule: if you are reading this and haven't been tagged, you can leave your 6 quirks in the comments section or a link to your blog with them on there. Now YOU are tagged! :)

I'm sure you've already noticed

2008-08-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

I've decided to take a little blog break. I just don't have anything I feel like talking about right now. We have been visiting with family both in and out of town, working on the houses and gearing up for fall (yay!). So, things are good. I just am not feeling the blog thing lately. I'll be back soon though!

Going to go enjoy the last few days of summer. See you soon!
Love.

It's all eights

2008-08-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Annie! I know I say it every year, but I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW OLD WE ARE GETTING. I hope it's a good one.

Take me out to the ballgame...

2008-07-25T16:23:00.001-07:00

go Mariners!, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

We spent Wednesday afternoon at a Mariner's game. It was a nice break from work in the middle of the week! We had a good time and went out to dinner after. It was a great game too. It was tied until the 12th inning when Boston scored 3 runs for the win. But it was close!

We are off and running this weekend - lots to do. We are starting on the clean-up and gathering of items for our garage sale. It will be so great to unload a ton of stuff that's just been sitting. Combining two households into a thousand square foot house has proved to be a little complicated. But I'll tell you what, it makes you take a hard look at a lot of the crap you hang on to. And for what reason! I mean, really, DO WE NEED 3 COFFEE POTS? I don't think so.

new curtains + a gift

2008-07-17T15:21:00.001-07:00

I wanted to have some pretty curtains for our new workroom since we'll be spending a lot of time in there. Once I saw this Amy Butler fabric, I knew it was the one! The blue almost matches our walls, and this is my current color combination obsession. Here's the first set - I still have one window to go.

______________________________________________________

My father-in-law sent me the sweetest gift this week (along with the sweetest note). It's a child's place setting! I think it must have been David's or one of his siblings. He sent it for our future (hopefully not too distant) children. He has been so kind to me, I am blessed to have in-laws that I truly adore. Lucky girl.

color

2008-07-17T15:19:00.001-07:00

look at that color!, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

Look what my sweet husband sent me for our 8 month anniversary. He's a keeper! :)

Can you believe that orange? They are beautiful and they smell so lovely. Thanks, honey!

Our weekend...

2008-07-10T11:28:00.001-07:00

was filled with family time, friends, relaxing, fireworks and good weather. We had a visitor (my father-in-law). It was really nice to get to hang out for a few days. We fell right into a morning routine of showers, chatting over coffee at Starbucks (decaf for us, of course), and running errands. It was lovely.

We spent the 4th with the Watts at their house for dinner. The boys played with fireworks (which turns my husband into a 12 year old - so cute) and the drum set. Then we came back to our house for cupcakes and the local fireworks display. It was a good time.

Sara (Dave's neice) joined us on Sunday, which we spent at the Farmer's Market, taking walks and enjoying a nice lunch.

I could really get used to that kind of schedule! Love long weekends and family visitors. :)

travel journal

2008-07-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

When we went to New York, I wanted to have something to document our trip and a place to store photos and goodies after we got back. But I didn't want to take a bunch of supplies to make it on the spot - who has time for that? So, I made this little book ahead of time and only took a few things: pen, date stamp/ink pad, hole punch and adhesive. It worked really well for us.

The cover (above) was made with a cut-up transparency, chipboard cover, pencil crayons and a few stickers. Then I took a bunch of paper scraps I had laying around and cut them to the same height - I didn't mind if they were different sizes, or if they stuck out the side.

I created a photo collage in Photoshop and printed it on photo paper before adhering to the journal pages.

My husband documented most of the trip in writing and I took photos that were added later.

This vellum envelope fit perfectly with the journal size (recycled from a card a friend gave us). We used it to hold tickets, business cards for stores we liked, the place holder from my brother's wedding, etc.

An easy project that made it our most well documented trip yet!

Yeah, the Fratellis

2008-06-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

They pretty much rocked our socks. We are paying the price today, but it was SO MUCH FUN.

It's nice here today - supposed to be almost 80 or something. Hope you are having a good day wherever you are.

Love.

Date night, farewell and other random stuff

2008-06-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are heading up to Seattle to see the Fratellis. This is a long overdue date…We had tickets to see them over a year ago and they cancelled at the last minute. At the time, they weren’t the headliners, so we couldn’t get a refund on our ticket. It turned out that we really enjoyed the two other bands that we saw that night – BRMC & the Black Angels. But the Fratellis are the first band that Dave and I found together. We are lucky to have similar music taste! So, this is kind of a special concert for us. It will be a long night as the concert doesn’t start until 9pm (and we have to work tomorrow), but we are really looking forward to it!

Our good friends, Doug & Shelly (and baby Harper) have moved out of town. I drove the girls to the airport on Tuesday morning – Doug had left a few weeks earlier to start work. We miss you already! Things just won’t be the same around here without them. But we wish lots of luck and happiness in their new home. We have been very fortunate to get to know them and be part of the journey to and the birth of their sweet girl. Thank you, Shelly, for sharing so much of yourself. Love you!

Anyway…trying not to be too sappy. :)

In other news, I may have located a place in Olympia that does letterpress workshops and you can rent time on their machines. I just sent off an email to see if they are still doing that and find out how I can participate. That would be SO AWESOME. I’ll keep you posted.

We’ll be spending most of the weekend finishing up the LAST ROOM IN THE REMODEL. Yes, you heard me. I can hardly contain my excitement! We’re trying to wrap it up before Dave’s Dad comes to visit in a couple weeks. Really looking forward to seeing him (I adore him!) and showing him all the work we’ve done since he was up last. Plus when we get that room done, we can set the office up, which includes all my craft stuff. Very cool. Maybe I’ll actually get to make stuff pretty soon!

So thankful that scooter weather is finally upon us. Yay summer!
Love.

New York photos

2008-06-16T09:21:00.001-07:00

are uploaded and can be viewed here.

we're back...

2008-06-13T15:34:00.000-07:00

Returned home from New York a few days ago. SO GLAD to be in cooler weather! It was really hot while we were there. We really had a great time though. My brother got married, so we were there for the wedding. But we spent most of the trip exploring the city. Neither of us had been there before.

My Momma was there too! You should have seen my brother's apartment (we all stayed with him). The three of us took over his living room with air mattresses and our luggage. It was pretty cozy! (Thanks for putting us up, guys! or should I say, putting up with us?)

I have a ton of pictures to upload from the trip - hopefully will have time to do that this weekend. There was a lot to see!

My SIGG

2008-05-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

After hearing a lot about the potential dangers of drinking out of plastic containers, (you can read about it here or here) we decided that we would rather not take the chance and purchased some non-plastic bottles. I'd read about the SIGG in one of my design magazines and did some research on them before purchasing.

We are totally in love with our SIGG bottles! The first thing we noticed was how comfortable they are to drink from. It seems a little strange to say that about a bottle, but it is! They are lightweight, but durable - and they don't release anything into the water, gotta love that! I would recommend them to anyone looking for a reusable bottle.

today's emoticons

2008-05-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

on my scooter:

at work:

6 months

2008-05-19T16:19:00.001-07:00

hike, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

We celebrated our 6 month anniversary on Friday by going for our first hike. Armed with new hiking boots, lots of water and a picnic lunch, we headed up to Lower Lena Lake in the Olympic National Forest. It was a gorgeous day. We hiked in about 3.5 miles or so, spread out on top of a rock overlooking the ravine and the mountain beyond. There were only a few other people out that day, so we ate our lunch surround by so much beauty and the sounds of nature. It was a much needed escape.

We spent the rest of the weekend working on the house, sprinkled with a little play, a barbecue, and some movie watching. The weather could not have been any better. Sunshine, we are SO happy to see you!

Welcome.

2008-05-06T10:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome, Harper. I am so happy to know you.

Momma and baby are doing great. She was born 5/6/08 at 1:16am. 8lbs, 6oz. 22 inches.

Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-05T08:23:00.000-07:00

Not only is it the 5th of May, but it is also the day baby Massey is scheduled to arrive. I am getting ready to head over to the hospital right now! I'm so excited, I could hardly sleep last night. I'm sure it will be a long day (especially for Shelly!). But oh my gosh. I can't wait to meet that new little person. I am so grateful that they have allowed me to be part of this process with them. It is truly a gift.

I'll post a photo of the baby as soon as I get one - as long as they don't mind.

Love.

absent minded

2008-04-29T11:15:00.000-07:00

Whoa. I think I forgot about this blog. I forgot about my photo-a-day project too! Things have been nuts. If I had time to day dream, I would dream of a time where I had less things on my to do list.

Work has been crazy. Our office moved about two weeks ago and I hardly remember anything since then!

We are making slow progress on the last two rooms of our remodel. Dave has been such a trooper. He took a couple days off a few weeks ago and got started on the painting and knocked out an old brick shower in the laundry room. It's amazing how much that opened the room up! We are going to put in a stackable washer and dryer to save even more space. We are so close to finishing, I can taste it! Whoo hoo!

I am giving up my photo-a-day project for now. I made it 100 days, and that seems pretty good to me considering my schedule. I'm looking forward to getting this remodel done in many ways, but the biggest one on my mind lately is to have space (and time) to scrapbook again. Or do anything creative that doesn't involve plumbing, ladders or power tools. That would be sweet.

Other things we've been up to:
Last Sunday was our Dragon Boat race. I'll post a couple photos when I get a chance. Dave put together a team through his work, and we had a great time. We came in fourth in our division. Which is awesome for only have 2 practices!

We are also on a new exercise kick at our house. (Like we didn't have enough to do already.) Running a couple miles every other day, and we started yoga yesterday morning. Believe it or not, I actually got up at 5am for that.

The big (for me) news is that we have successfully given up coffee. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Of course, we are still slipping in a few decaf espressos once in a while. But that doesn't really count, right? :)

And how could I leave out...waiting for someone to have that darn baby already!

Love.

This post is called "no coffee"

2008-04-07T15:29:00.000-07:00

What was I thinking?

Well, we've made it over 3 days without caffeine. I could tell you how many hours it's been, but that's just crazy.

This weekend was tough. I didn't feel like doing anything. It pretty much felt like I just woke up, except it was ALL DAY. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot done. But the weather has been crappy, so it was a good time to curl up with a movie...or two.

I think it will be good for us, and we'll probably feel better. But I sure miss that little escape now and then. I guess I'll have to find some other guilty pleasure to take its place. Hmmmm.

things to try once

2008-03-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

1. Ride scooter when snowing...check. (don't recommend this one)

2. Eat breakfast in the kitchen of the house you live in...check. Hopefully this will be a "more than once" occasion.

That's right, folks. It snowed yesterday (and today). And unfortunately for me, I had decided to ride my scooter to work. It was snowing like crazy on the way home. I made it OK. But my fingers were FROZEN. It took me 5 minutes to warm them up enough to find my keys in my purse. I stood outside the front door blowing on them while the dogs were going crazy. Pretty funny...now that I'm warm.

But the BIG news is: we finished the sink, faucet & dishwasher last night. And we officially have a working kitchen. We broke it in this morning over coffee and cereal. I actually WASHED DISHES. It was fabulous. No, really, it was.

So, go Team Finnell. We are almost there, baby.

365/81

2008-03-26T10:23:00.001-07:00

365/81, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

This was from Saturday night. We went to a wedding on Saturday for one of Dave's childhood friends. I got to meet almost everyone from his group of friends, and he reconnected with people he hasn't seen in 20 years. We all went out after the reception for drinks. They were all really neat people & we had the best time!

Things are coming along on the kitchen. We had a few issues with plumbing, but it's all coming together. I believe this weekend will be the magic kitchen move weekend. It's like a dream. :)

Things are good. I hope the same for you.
Love.

I think you can tell

2008-03-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

What we've been up to:

Sorry for the long delay. Makes for a boring blog! We've just been so busy lately getting this darn remodel closer to done. We are VERY excited to be at the grouting countertop stage, which we should have done tonight. Yay! I'll post some photos of the finished project as soon as I can.

My dear friend, Shelly is at 34 [edit: 35!] weeks today (holy cow) and we celebrated with a baby shower last weekend. She is the cutest pregnant girl ever. I can't believe how fast it's gone. Seems like just a month or two ago when they first told us the news! Well, I am very excited to meet the new little member of the Massey family. But no hurry! ;)

This weekend we are heading North to a wedding for one of Dave's childhood friends. That should be fun. Then we are back to work on the remodel. No rest for the weary.

trash to treasure

2008-03-11T15:53:00.001-07:00

365/70, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

Well, not trash really. I found this Easter egg holder at the grocery store for $4. I've been searching for something interesting to hold my necklaces, and this worked perfect! Plus it has a little tray at the bottom that I can put rings in. :)

How's life treating you these days? I've been feeling a little out of it. Not sure if it's the time change or what! I was going through some books to bring over to the "new" house and ran across one called Zen Keys. I've had this book for at least 10 years, maybe more and I've never read it. It happens to be written by Thich Nhat Hanh (notice the quote in the upper right corner of this page), and I've been interested in learning more about him. I didn't even know I already owned one of his books. Funny how that happens. Anyway, this book is about Zen Buddhism, which talks a lot about mindfulness... being present in everything that you do. I think it found me at a good time. As I get a little further into it, I'll try to share some of what I learn.

We are kind of in a process of cleansing, purging and regaining health in mind and body. We started back to the gym, are trying to eat healthier, and get enough rest. I've been doing a lot of thinking about caffeine, coffee to be specific, and working up to reducing or possibly eliminating it all together. That will be a tough one. I so enjoy our trips to Starbucks. Well, we'll see. I might have to think about that one a little longer.

surprise guests + birthday

2008-03-05T10:39:00.001-08:00

justin + anna, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

My 31st year was ushered in by good times, family and friends. These two little sweeties showed up in the middle of the night all the way from NYC. We had a party on Sunday in our halfway remodeled house (no countertops!). What a great way to break it in though.

I am totally in love with my new camera lens (a gift from my adorable guy). And we spent Monday (my actual birthday) just hanging out at home in our jammies most of the day. I'd have to say that it was the best birthday yet. Thanks to all. Love you guys.

6 days until 31 and

2008-02-26T14:23:00.000-08:00

Enough said. :)

365/53

2008-02-25T15:27:00.001-08:00

365/53, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

This was from Saturday morning. We had the most lovely weekend. So happy that Spring is peeking out. Looking forward to more days like that!

embrace

2008-02-21T13:13:00.001-08:00

embrace, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

Holy cow. I *finally* posted some of my projects on Flickr. They date all the way back to June, I think. I still have the scrapbook pages to get on there, but I need to scan them, and didn't feel like it last night. This one I did on "art day" with Shelly a few weeks ago. It's hanging on the wall near my side of the bed, so I see every morning. A good reminder of my word this year, and of the way I want to approach life.

Tonight my friend Missy and I are heading downtown to Scarlet Empress - an adorable little scrapbook store. Missy got us signed up for a travel journal class that should be pretty great. Looking forward to that.

Other than that, we are making progress on our kitchen remodel. And looking forward to Mom visiting in another week (yay!).

For David

2008-02-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

I love you, honey. Thanks for the Valentine's gift and the French toast breakfast. You are the best. Ever.

Happy Birthday

2008-02-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

to my brother. Can't believe you are 26. Hope it's a good year! I love you.

These girls

2008-02-13T17:06:00.001-08:00

the*girls, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

are the greatest! Happy Valentine's Day you two. So glad we get to share life stuff. I {heart} you.

Morning ritual

2008-02-04T16:26:00.001-08:00

365/33, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

I don't usually like to brag, but I have the best husband in the world. Seriously.

One of the things we have been doing on the weekends is having coffee in bed before we get up and get going (usually on house remodel projects). This may not sound like much, but it involves one of us (Dave) getting up, taking the dogs over to the other house (where the kitchen currently lives), letting the dogs out, feeding them, making coffee and then carrying the cups back to me (waiting in bed).

I'm the luckiest girl in the world. (Love you, honey. You are the best.)(And thank you, Shelly for the coffee mugs!)

365/32

2008-02-01T11:02:00.001-08:00

365/32, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

I {heart} February. And Fridays. It's a good day.

365/30

2008-01-30T10:27:00.001-08:00

365/30, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

He really wanted me to stay home today. (So did I).

Happiness & Success

2008-01-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

As found on MSN today:
A study suggests extreme happiness may be bad for you. Findings: 1) "The highest levels of income, education and political participation were reported not by the most satisfied individuals, but by moderately satisfied individuals." 2) Extremely happy people "earned significantly less money" and earned lower school grades than moderately happy people. 3) They "may not live as long," either. Theories: 1) Happiness makes you complacent and kills your drive. 2) It makes you slow to adapt. 3) It makes you too optimistic and insufficiently vigilant about your health. 4) It may overstimulate your cardiovascular system. Researchers' conclusions: 1) "Happiness may need to be moderated for success." 2) "Extremely high levels of happiness might not be a desirable goal." Human Nature's conclusions: 1) Success may need to be moderated for happiness. 2) Extremely high levels of success might not be a desirable goal.

I've been thinking about his a lot lately. Part of evaluating my life and what I put value in, what's really important.

I'd love to hear some of your thoughts on this. Do you think it's true that you can't have success and happiness? Maybe it comes down to how you define success. And where is the balance?

365/28

2008-01-28T10:27:00.001-08:00

365/28, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

It snowed!

We woke up to it this morning. I little disappointed that we couldn't stay home and enjoy it, but it was still beautiful.

We had a pretty good/busy weekend. This remodel is kicking my butt. Trying to keep a positive attitude about it, but sometimes it feels like the neverending project. I have to keep reminding myself to EMBRACE the unsettled feelings. I'm not very good at that! We regrouped this weekend a bit and set a new goal for finishing the kitchen. Here's to progress...

365/16

2008-01-16T15:46:00.001-08:00

365/16, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

On day 16 of my photo-a-day project. Some days have been a little hurried, but I'm trying to slow down a bit and learn something about my camera during this process. It should be fun. I like the idea of seeing the seasons change throughout the year.

I'm trying to slow down in other ways too. Life just moves too darn quick! A couple sites I've found interesting while researching this idea of slowing down, are Zen Habits and slowdownnow.org. I especially like their motto - multi-tasking is a moral weakness. Some great concepts on both of those sites.

So, I'm trying to EMBRACE the speed of life by taking the time to enjoy it. I think this photo-a-day thing may help me a little too. Allowing me to focus on the beauty of everyday moments. What a gift.

Embrace

2008-01-04T15:04:00.000-08:00

1. to take or clasp in the arms; press to the bosom; hug.
2. to take or receive gladly or eagerly; accept willingly: to embrace an idea.
3. to avail oneself of: to embrace an opportunity.
4. to adopt (a profession, a religion, etc.).
5. to take in with the eye or the mind.
6. to encircle; surround; enclose.
7. to include or contain.
8. to join in an embrace.
9. an act or instance of embracing.

This is my word for 2008. I had a bit of a hard time coming up with one this year (last year's was JOY), but it just kind of came to me this morning. I am feeling the need to embrace life, to embrace those close to me, to embrace change, to embrace everyday moments. This word has so many meanings that resonate with me. Some synonyms include: hold, comprehend, embody, take in, accept, welcome, snuggle, involve, maintain, seize, recognize, embark upon, cherish, adore, appreciate, cultivate, sustain, and love.

Here's to a new year with all kinds of opportunities to embrace.

365/1

2008-01-03T16:36:00.001-08:00

365/1, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

I've decided to participate in a 365 this year. The challenge is to take a photo a day, something to capture your day, and then at the end of the year there will be a log of your everyday existance. Sounds good to me. It will be difficult for me to stay on top of this, but I think the pay will be great!

So, here is day one. New Year's day we went to the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge for a hike. It was so beautiful.

I'm going to put a link over on the sidebar (as soon as I figure out how). So, then you can view all my 365 photos as I post them on Flickr.

Oh, Eight.

2008-01-02T09:35:00.000-08:00

Welcome to a new year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Ours was eventful, to say the least. After our trip to Arizona, horrible colds, and moving - we need another vacation! But I am excited about this new year, and new opportunities that come with it.

I plan to do more blogging this year. I don't really do resolutions, but if I were to do one, that's what it would be. More blogging. So, wish me luck. :)

We celebrated New Year's in Tacoma with some friends at First Night, eating yummy Thai food and listening to music in the streets. And we started the year off right by not working on house projects yesterday! We had a great day just hanging out. We went for a hike, took a nap and went out for pizza and a movie. It was a nice change.

And, now it's back to life in full swing.

I just realized

2007-12-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

So, I had a few really crappy days this week. Actually, pretty much from Friday until Wednesday. Not sure why, just one of those things. Anyway, on Tuesday at the very end of the work day, my computer stopped working. Died. Completely. I spent the entire next day getting it reloaded with all of my programs, etc. That was after spending 3 hours on the phone with Dell.

I have a back up drive that saves all of my files at the end of every day. Well, Friday I had turned off my computer for the weekend, so it never updated. Monday I was off work. Tuesday the computer died before it updated. I lost (almost) everything from Friday until Tuesday. It's like my computer just erased those days completely. Which is cool, because they sucked. Totally. But how strange is that? Bad days = erased.

The best part of all this, is *somehow* the work that I had done on Tuesday - which took me all day - was saved on the back up drive. I'm not sure how that happened, but thank you.

The other best part, since Wednesday = all good days. Awesome. :)

For this, I am thankful...

2007-11-21T13:19:00.001-08:00

Kiss, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

Happy Thanksgiving :)

totally random...

2007-10-26T10:55:00.000-07:00

We've enjoyed some really beautiful days here lately. Fall is in full swing and we've had a few very sunny, very crisp days. It's lovely. My favorite time of year, really.

All this has been put me in the mood to cook. Not a mood I'm in often, so I'm trying to enjoy it. A few good recipes I've tried recently from Everyday Food are here and here. Both yummy. And easy to boot. It's so hard to find time to cook with all the busy-ness I find myself in on a regular basis. I really want to make a pie. Maybe this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend, tomorrow David and I are heading up to Seattle for a anti-war rally/march. It's part school project, part curiousity, part disgust with the way things are going in the world. It should be really interesting. It will be my first political rally - so I am really looking forward to it. We're going to catch the bus up in the morning. I think the weather is supposed to be nice. :)

Well, happy Friday! Enjoy.

:)

2007-10-08T14:46:00.001-07:00

:), originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

Oh, Frankie. You make me smile.

Fall has arrived...

2007-09-27T10:47:00.000-07:00

And we are busy as little bees lately. All kinds of things going on.

My house is up for sale. It's time. We are busily getting Dave's house ready for us to move into. It's looking SO good. I can't wait to move. We are tiling the floors in the kitchen right now and then putting in new cabinets. Not to mention the paint and the carpet and, and, and. It's pretty fun though. I just wish I had more energy! I'll post some pics soon so you can see the progress.

Once we move in there, we'll do some touch up work on my house, but I've already put the sign up. It'll be nice to just have one house to deal with.

I also started class last night. It will take me a while to get back in the swing of things. But this class should be interesting. It's called Politics, Performance and the Public. We'll be watching films, reading plays, and following the political scene for a while. I think it will be fun.

I thought I'd leave you with a photo of me and my brother from his visit last month. Miss you already, babe.

Love.

happy birthday to you.

2007-09-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday, baby. You are the greatest.

a peak...

2007-08-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

A few things I've been up to:

Just a sneak peak. More to come soon. The Magpies logo is for a pie company that makes the best homemade pies - OMG. I tried one of their raspberry pies and an apple-peach pie. To. Die. For.

I'm also working on a new side project for me and D. There will be some new things coming... Love fresh starts. Love them.

Hope your day is full of good things. Love.

Could not complete the requested operation.

2007-08-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

This totally sums up my day.

I keep getting this message on one of the programs I use, and it just struck me as funny today. I guess that's what lack of sleep will get you!

My family is in town for a few days, trickling in since Wednesday night. So good to have them, but man, I need some sleep.

Tonight will be all about a house full of dogs (and people), good food, good weather, and then falling into bed.

while surfing

2007-08-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

I found this.

It's ridiculously funny.

a little change

2007-08-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've moved my Flickr account(where all my photos will be posted)to a new account. So, some of the links from the photos in the posts won't work. From this post forward they should be correct. You can view the photos here.

Love.

Belly, belly, bo belly.

2007-08-10T10:48:00.001-07:00

happy*dog, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

Mom's newest housemate. This dog is HUGE. You have no idea. She is so sweet though, look at that FACE!

Welcome to the family, Bell. Love. Love. Love.

What to do when the boss is away...

2007-08-10T10:45:00.001-07:00

how happy am i?

2007-07-26T10:06:00.001-07:00

Well...
* I rode my scooter to work everyday this week.
* My boyfriend is on a softball team called "Tammy and Tina do America" and they wear pink hats.
* He also loves to mow the lawn, and he loves dogs - I'm starting to think he's an alien!
* It's supposed to be 80 degrees today.
* We're going to visit my momma next week.
* My brother comes for a visit in a few weeks.
* Someone at work got a puppy! Awwww.
* Did I mention that he likes to mow the lawn?!

Anyway, as you can see, I have a lot to be happy about. Life is good. So good.

livinthedream

2007-07-18T11:01:00.001-07:00

livin*the*dream, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

A page for my brother. This is the first time I've scrapbooked in months. I think I need to get a grip on life a little. But I've been inspired lately and felt the need to get something down on paper. Hope to keep that flow going.

Justin's coming to visit next month - so looking forward to that! Haven't seen him in a while. I can't believe he'll be in New York two years by then. Time just goes so fast these days.

Well, lots of love little brother. Hope you don't mind me plastering your silly tongued photo all over the internet ;)

Love.

Meet*Stella

2007-07-10T11:16:00.001-07:00

Meet*Stella, originally uploaded by creative*girl.

I've been wanting this baby for a LONG time. What a great time of year to get her too. I've been having the greatest time scootin' around town, the wind in my hair (well, sort of).
Love.

this week

2007-06-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

Good things this week:
- last week of the quarter and I am taking the summer off
- mom is coming to visit
- I have been painting and playing in my creative space, and I LOVE IT

I am finishing up my projects for the end of the quarter and one of them is for my two dimensional art class. I've been greatly inspired by two artists, one is Claudine Hellmuth, a mixed media artist. She has a wonderful style that I am attempting to use for my final project. The other is Kat Barteski, a designer and artist. I get such joy from their work.

I am in a mood to create lately. So, I'm going to enjoy it! I'll post some of my projects when I have a chance.

Love.

new creative space

2007-05-21T15:04:00.001-07:00

art_space, originally uploaded by creative*girl.

Finally! I have my space set up (well, mostly). I have a little more to put away, but all my paper, embellishments, art supplies, tools, etc. are out in the open where I can access them. It's a very exciting day!

Anyway, just wanted to share...