a new time zone, again

I barely barely made my flight from SLC. (and many apologies to sienna and tony and austin for making them get up at the (butt) crack of dawn to take me to the airport.) I finally got checked in about a half hour before the flight was to leave and the security line stretched across the entire terminal...so I said a quick prayer that I would make it through the security line in less than 20 minutes, and it miraculously happened. I tried to run dramatically to my gate, but I was wearing my flats that are stretched out at the back so they come off when I run, so instead I tried to speed walk (olympic style) and got to the gate right as they were closing the doors. Phew. And then I got stuck in an intense blizzard in my layover in Denver for 6 hours. On the plane, steering frozen, mechanical check, thorough de-icing, free tv, the only thing on = trashy Vh1 show called "Tough Love" (you probably haven't seen it), back to the gate, waiting, off the plane, back on the plane, etc. It was a good time. 

So now I'm in DC. I've wandered around, prete

nding to be professional in my suit. Sienna helped me shop for hours on end to find appropriate attire. We were about ready to die after shopping one day. We decided that we hated shopping, but recognized that we liked getting (and sometimes need) new things, so we continued. 

Nothing much has happened yet. I started work yesterday. It's fun. The city's nice, as usual. The only city I've lived in is Madrid, where you can do anything if you're over 18...so I was good to go. But here -- well, the kids in the program wanted to go dancing, so we went out and it was good except they put ugly big X's in permanent ink on my hands for being under 21. I had to scrub for days for it to come off.  It's nice to be back in the US.  

We went to Gettysburg on Friday, and I was going to put some pics up, but they were all ugly. I still put up one, just for proof. So here's a photo of my friends and I before I left Stanford, dressed up like old ladies for this themed dinner we had at my apartment complex, and then this tree that was outside my window. It pretty much kept me going throughout the winter cause it was the only thing that didn't die. 

Family Student Housing update

Yesterday we had our second meeting with the administration. This time the press was there. You can read a short article about it here. Next week we're doing a kiddie picket line and if that doesn't work we're going to do our annual Family Student Housing camp out at the chancellor's front yard, wanna come?

Birthday Party

Enzo's birthday party was a total success, thanks to our Spring Break we had plenty of time to plan and get things ready. Plus the weather was beautiful and really warm.We did a carnival theme and had some easy games for the kids to play with if they wanted to.

Mostly they just played in the huge park right here at Family Student Housing. The highlight was the choo-choo cake that Chris made for him.

Our friends, Ben and Victoria came to visit us this weekend. It's fun having Avi and Via around. We miss them so much.

Wish you could of been here. Tomorrow I'll post some more pictures of the cake and the other food we made for the party on my food blog.

Today we're taking naps, recovering from our saturday, and getting ready for the quarter to begin tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Ada!

So this is one day late, but I had to post to say Happy Birthday to this special girl. I absolutely L.O.V.E. A.D.A. I love her smile and her laugh. She has an infectious excitement that always makes me happy. She is always happy to see me and sad when I have to leave. She is also not afraid to stand up for herself and speak her mind if need be. I always look forward to playing with her and talking to her about the new things that she is doing and learning. I wish her all the best in this next year. I am so glad that she is a part of our family and of my life.

I've got a...

I made this t-shirt for Enzo a couple days ago with freezer paper stencil. The idea came from a pic that Sienna took on Thanksgiving. I used the pic to design this

and then I made a stencil. I am excited about him wearing his cool t-shirt tomorrow for his party.

We've been having fun this week celebrating Enzo. It's our spring break. Perfect.

Celebrating Enzo is easy for me since I think he's totally rad.

Feeding the Ducks

 

Zeke trying to get the turtle to eat out of his hand.

 

Gio "One for me and one for you." Both boys were eating the bread.

 

Our little twins

 

Chase "Palm" Park

About a month ago we went to feed the ducks one Sunday morning. It was really fun. The ducks, turtles, and fishes were coming right up to us to eat. Only after we left did we see the sign, "Please do not feed the ducks."

chuga chuga choo chooooo

Yesterday Enzo and I went on a steam engine train ride through the redwood forest of Santa Cruz mountains. It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time because I knew that he would love it considering his obsession with trains.

The whole ride took 2 hours. It was absolutely amazing going through the forest. I'm in love with redwoods and not because they are red but because they are so tall and majestic.
This picture is kind of funny looking because he was so excited he wouldn't stop jumping up and down.

We're excited to have spring break this week. We're looking forward to some more mini adventures.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

It was opening day for our little league today.  Olivia and Carson are both playing this year.  David is managing Carson's team.  Spring is in the air...

Today's News

This just in @ www.kcra.com/money/18980243/detail.html

If you watch the video very carefully, you may see the pianist :)

Plan B

In the last couple of months Christian and Enzo have been busy. When they are not out and about looking at potential houses we can buy they are here at Family Student Housing helping organize a tenants' union

I am totally proud of my boys. They have been going door to door getting people to sign petitions and reminding people about our town hall meeting that happened today. Our rent has increased 55% since 2000 which now puts us at $1300 a month starting in June and as TAs we make $1700 a month. ANYWAY...you don't need to know all the details but you do need to know that i am putting my iron-on addiction to good use and spent the morning with Enzo making t-shirts (the one he's wearing above) for him and other little people that live in this place. And you should also know that the town hall meeting with the administration was a HUGE success. The turnout of residents was incredible. Who knows maybe if we don't buy a house we'll be able to continue living here after all.

happy birthday m-cat

Mariah has been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. I have a photo of us when we were about 4, playing together in the pink room at Grandma and Grandpa's house, looking like rag a muffins, with eyelash curlers and messy ponytails. Not much has changed, although I think we've mastered the ponytail since then. Most of my memories of Mariah are of us laughing together. Mariah is so witty and hilarious. I like who I am when I am around Mariah, and and I like that we appreciate the same types of things, and can talk freely about what is important and meaningful to us. I admire her sense of style. I love when she plays the piano. I love looking at her art. I love talking to Mariah because she totally gets me. I love that we've been able to stay close even though we only see each other a few times a year. We just pick up right where we've left off. Happy birthday to my wonderful cousin. (P.S. technically her birthday is tomorrow, but I just couldn't wait.)

new blog

you should all check out the newest, coolest blog in town.

it's for all of us who wish we could hang out with austin and daniel more often.

Happy Birthday Mr. Grint

Adam took this fabulous pic of Scott and Scott happens to be one of the most fabulous human being alive, so it's very fitting.

Happy Birthday Scott.

new look for spring

those of you in perma-warm climates might not get the renewing aspects of spring. but it makes me want to remake everything in to something lively. here's a new header for now. i might change if i can think of something better.

hmm

I'm curious what our kid is going to look like. I guess something half way between these two kids. Hmm. Still can't really imagine it. I don't have any infant pictures of Tony, I'll have to get some next time I go to Oklahoma.

TRIBUTE TO TIGGER.......

Our handsome cat TIGGER died March 7! He will be missed!

He loved and was loved by all who knew him!

Tigger was always right there where the party was!

As you can see he had an amazing spirit about him!

We know where Tigger is right now...he was a praying cat! May the Lord keep and pet Tigger in his tender care until we see him again someday. Tigger helped get Tricia through grad school, three moves and four babies, he was the best!

He was 17 years old

Family Scrabble

Last Sunday, we had our first Scrabble game. G lasted one round. Mim went for almost 2 and then I quit after 10 or so. I couldn't put my bingo anywhere for the second time in a row and lost patience. J was a bit disappointed in his girls, but he got over it.

Scrabble Cake!

Here is the cake that Mighty made and I helped decorate!
It was super moist and delicious!
Photos courtesy of Lauren Woodbury :)

Buying a House

Chris and I are very seriously thinking about buying a house. The foreclosures and stimulus and the current economy are all good things (if you can say it like that) for first time home buyers such as ourselves. Every time we leave the house Enzo asks if we're going to go out and look are MORE houses. It's starting to get a tiny bit exhausting looking at so many different places and thinking about all the possibilities.

For those of you who own a home can you give us some advice on things we should think about before we make a commitment on something so huge?

The picture above is the house we ( me mostly) are currently most interested in. Yesterday I fell in love with this tiny red house we saw in the middle of the woods. All redwood with a beautiful deck but so totally out of the way and so hard to find that we ruled it out. Whatever home we buy we just might have to paint it red.

PETE!!!

Whenever I say Pete's name, it must be in all caps, and it must be followed by exclamation points. And I don't use exclamation points lightly.

It was Pete's birthday yesterday, but if anyone knows me, they know I do everything LATE. Which is exactly why I am such a hypocrite.

But anyway.

If you don't know Pete (you should) he's Bekah's brother and was our roomate at the old Adam compound.

I stole these pictures from Pete's facebook profile, and hopefully he won't mind.

This is Pete's old driver's license picture. As you can see from the picture, Pete is awesome.

This is a picture Pete found when he googled himself. He says that it's a logo for a Japanese store or something. He said it's exactly like how Homer found out that he was a Japanese caricature for a product label.

And this is Pete more recently. I'm kind of bummed that Amaya hasn't experienced Pete the Uncle. He definitely needs to get his butt to Hawaii soon.

Happy Birthday (yesterday) PETE!!! Pete and I are so in tune in our tastes, so it is really fun to hang out with him and he is super easy to get along with. I'm having Pete withdrawal. I know he'd be loving the bananagrams marathons we've been having over here lately. Hopefully this librarian thing will take him somewhere a little more accessible than Southern Oregon.