My New Nephew...

Jonathan, Kimberly and baby Liam (16 days old).

The whole family (Jonathan, Kimberly, Audrey and Liam).

My little brother now has two children! I still can hardly believe it. Although seeing the new baby really has me wishing I had one of my own I'm perfectly happy waiting until Mitch has a little more of law school under his belt before we go down that road. In the meantime I'll just have fun holding my nieces and nephews and pretending their mine. When we're out in public and people ask me if their mine I've begun saying yes, I mean why not?

I wish...

We Made It! (back in August)

The drive went like this...

The short story: Left WA around 3am. Car broke down in UT. Rented trailer to pull car behind truck. My dad drove us the rest of the way to KS in the truck with Mitch and I trading off sitting on the ground in the middle (we didn't realize the truck only had bucket seats until after the contract had been signed...we assumed it would be a bench seat to accommodate the three of us. The bucket seats were a fun surprise). It was an adventure!

Book List

A while back I asked for your favorite reads and got a lot of great recommendations. This past year as a nanny I was able to do a lot of reading and am still trying to keep it up even if it's only a page or two a day. Here's a list of some of the books I've read this year in no particular order. I didn't finish one or two of them (either due to boredom or getting sucked into another novel first and never being motivated enough to remember where I left off) but they were all worthwhile.

A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith
Cold Sassy Tree Olive Ann Burns
Killing Pablo Mark Bowden
Under Gemini Rosamunde Pilcher
The Chosen Chaim Potok
Elantris Brandon Sanderson
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Jonathan Safran Foer
Man's Search for Meaning Viktor Frankl
Ubik Phillip K. Dick
My Name is Asher Lev Chaim Potok
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to become the Smartest Person in the World A.J. JacobsClear and Convincing Proof Kate Wilhelm
Night Elie Wiesel
Rebecca Daphne Du Murier
Persian Pickle Club Sandra Dallas
Angels and Demons Dan Brown
Inspector Morse Colin Dexter

The Storm Testament Lee Nelson
Harry Potter 1,3,4 & 5 J.K. Rowling

Still on my list of books to read before the years up:

The Moonstone Wilkie Collins
Zorba the Greek Nikos Kazantzakis
Kristin Lavransdatter (The Wreath, Wife, the Cross) Sigrid Undset

If you have any other recommendations I'd love to hear them!

The Plan...

We move in just a few weeks. Lawrence is 30 minutes from where I grew up and I can't wait to see my family for more then 4 days at a time. We're definitely going to miss Everett, especially the Peterson's. I know a lot of people thought we were nuts to live at home for so long but I have to admit I have loved every minute of it.

It seems crazy (and quite comforting) to finally know where we'll be for the next three years. Now if I can just find a decent paying job once we get there we'll be set. I'm so proud of Mitch and how hard he's worked up to this point. Not only did he get into a great law school but he managed to get a scholarship for half the tuition. He's amazing.

So now you all have a place to stay if you ever find yourself out in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest!

Catching Up...

I won't try to fill you in on all the details of the last couple months but I've posted a few highlights below.

Sandpoint...

Last weekend we went with Mitch's family up to their cabin in Sandpoint, Idaho. Mitch's grandfather designed the cabin and with the help of family they built the whole thing. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of the place but the scenery was breathtaking. With great weather and great company it was the perfect little getaway. Alex provided some hilarious entertainment around the fire too.

P.S. This is where they filmed Dante's Peak.

Friend in town...

In April one of my favorite people in the whole world came up to Seattle for a visit.
In the few days she was here we saw and did just about everything there is.
I loved seeing all the sights, getting to visit the Tacoma museums, and riding the ferry, etc. but for me the best part of having her here was just getting to laugh and talk with her. It made me realize how much I miss getting to see her regularly. Hopefully someday we can live near each other again but until then blogs and emails will have to do.

Visiting Kansas...

In March we went to Kansas to see my family. I loved every minute of it. As always, the best part of all was getting to see my two little neices. It amazes me how different their personalities are but how they each are the most adorable little girls I've ever seen. I wouldn't change a thing about them (except that they're growing up too fast with me far away).

Walking around Everett...

Another thing I love about my job is that I get to take Colin on walks around North Everett. Sometimes we go once a day, sometimes twice if the weather permits. It's wonderful. Not only is the neighborhood absolutely adorable but we're just two streets away from a fantastic view of the Puget Sound. I don't know if it's because I grew up in Kansas and far away from the coast but every time I see the water I feel like I'm on vacation.

Here are a few shots of the view and Colin looking snuggly in his stroller.
If you look closely above the lighthouse you can see the Olympic mountains peaking through the clouds on the other side of the sound. The island in the background of the harbor is Whidbey.

On a totally random side note I think I'm officially converted to seafood. I don't know if it has something to do with my proximity to the ocean or what but I've found myself craving it lately. I've always been pretty terrified of seafood, it's just always been too squishy and smelly for me but all of the sudden I'm loving it. I've eaten cod, salmon, and crab in the last four days alone.

Any of you seafood lovers or haters?

In one month...

This girl:
Will be here:
I'm SO excited!

Would I be a total dork if I made one of these?:

No Internet...

The Peterson home is currently without internet until Mar. 10th. Bummer.

When it's back up I'll post some lovely pictures of the area that I've taken while out on walks with Colin. It's amazing how green it is here. Flowers are starting to bud and it's almost like winter was never here at all. That's definitely a major bonus about the Pacific Northwest, it's green and flowery most of the year. 

Can you eyeball it?

I just found this visual online quiz and thought it was worth sharing. 

Click here to try it out. 

I often find myself trying to cut perfect squares or rectangles without measuring when I'm making cards. I think I must be overconfident it my eyeballing skills because they never come out right. 

The lower your score the better. I took it twice and got a 4.52. Maybe I need to invest in a ruler. 

Eye Appointment...

I have an appointment with an opthamologist this afternoon. I'm hoping they'll finally be able to tell me what I can do to stop my eyelashes from falling out. For the past few months I've been trying not to worry about it but I'm pretty sure my current medicine isn't doing anything at all. I use it every night and all it seems to do is sting my eyes and make them turn red. Then I start to tear up and all the medicine comes off anyway. I am constantly self-conscious about them and I know Mitch is sick of hearing about it. 

I came across this quote the other day that made me re-think my current mindset about all this:

 

"Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend...when we choose not to focus on what is missing from our lives but our grateful for the abundance that's present--love, health, family, friends, work, the joys of nature, and personal pursuits that bring us[happiness]-the wasteland of illusion falls away and we experience heaven on earth." 

-Sarah Ban Breathnach, quoted by Pres. Thomas S. Monson 

(Ensign, Nov. 2008)

I think I need to start focusing more on the great abundance I have been blessed with in my life then my lack of a few (more like a lot, but no difference) eyelashes. I think this will be my new resolution for the year. 

Reading Time...

One of the perks of my current nannying job (besides the fact that I get to spend all day with the most adorable little guy) is that I get free time while he sleeps. Colin usually naps between 1 & 2 1/2 hours each day giving me lots of time to do whatever I wish. Usually I read. 

For the past several years I've maintained a list of all the books I want to eventually read. With life's busy schedule and limited leisure time (I'm sure you can all relate) I find myself adding more and more books before I can cross any off.  

Now that I have some extra time I plan to seize the opportunity and read every book I can. In the month or so that I've been here I've already read 3 and am well into my fourth. It's heavenly. 

If you could read or re-read one book right now what would it be? Do you have a favorite book of all time? Please share. I'm hoping to add more to my list now that I can finally cross some off!

I can't help but post a picture, isn't he the cutest? 

Today's the day...

We should finally have all our law school applications submitted before the end of the day! It's been a long process trying to figure out which schools we want to apply to but by tomorrow that will all be over and we'll just have to wait and see where he gets in. 

Is it bad that I kinda hope he only gets into one of them so that we don't have to choose? I'm no good at making big decisions. Thankfully Mitch is calm and relaxed as usual. I think he figures that I worry enough for the both of us. He's right.

Job Hunting...

When Mitch and I moved up here last November we both expected to have jobs by the end of the month. When that didn't work out we decided to just enjoy Thanksgiving with the family and that we'd for sure be hired somewhere before Christmas. We were wrong. That's when I started to panic a little (or maybe a lot depending on who you ask). It wasn't until last week that we both found full time work. And let me tell you, it was worth the wait!

I now have the most spetacular job in the world. I nanny for a little boy named Colin who has the sweetest, calmest personality of any 6 month old I've ever met. Not to mention the fact that he's absolutely adorable. Getting to watch him everyday is a dream come true. Mitch's job's not as cute as mine but it's still pretty great. He's working at his Uncle's law firm which is perfect considering he's off to law school this fall. We don't know where yet but we're hoping to have all our applications in by the end of the month. Wish us luck!

In Case Your Wondering...

I'm still alive. 

I doubt people even bother checking my blog anymore since my two month long hiatus. Nonetheless for the two or so of you who might still have hope for me and this blog: I'm back.
The last couple of months have been filled with so much and so little at the same time (if that makes any sense at all). We didn't find jobs right away like we had planned but it was great to have the holiday's free to spend time with family.

There's lots of news to tell but I'll save that for another post. For now just know that this blog is finally coming back to life.