Category Archives: Daily

Future Soccer Stars

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With fall comes back to school and with back to school comes the start of fall sports. In our family (Simeon and I, that is) our favorite is soccer. Sim played soccer in high school and college and he now very actively supports and attends all things soccer. I myself attended a “soccer college” where we didn’t even have a football team. The point I am trying to make is that you could say we are fans. And nothing makes us happier than to see future generations embrace these things as well.

My first case in point:


Our niece Emily, who just turned nine, is quite the little soccer star. In fact, at this game we attended she was injured and was still in the starting line-up and did the majority of the ball handling. All her injury did was allow the other team some play time and prevent her from knocking down as many of her opponents.

My second case in point:


Hayden has been waiting all five years of his life to get to play sports. That is what this kid lives for. When he was growing up watching his older siblings it was all we could do to keep him off the fields. Well now we don’t have to keep him on the side-lines and he is loving every second of it. Check out my little rock stars!
Here are all the pictures of
Emily and Hayden.

Cross that off my list

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Speaking of lists, I really wish there was one for pregnancy. When we got married, I used The Knot. It was a fabulous resource; lists of things to do, when I should have them completed, recommended places to shop, and even helpful hints along the way. I have yet to find a resource of this type for pregnancy. (If anyone knows of such a place, let me know. I’m not looking for a forum-I want check lists!) So I have pretty much been left to my own neurosis (and those of people asking me if I have done such-and-such yet, to which I reply, with horror, “Should I have?”).

That said, Simeon and I finally completed the daunting task of creating our registry. Ta-da! We decided to have the bulk of our registry at Babies R Us, but there were a few things they didn’t have so I created one at Target as well. Sure, there are a few things I need to research a little more and will add online (I was not about to make my poor husband stand around while I contemplated breast-pumps. That I can do on my own, thankyouverymuch.) But we got the majority of the if-we-ever-think-we-might-need-it-then-scan-it-with-the-gun shopping done. Now I have to warn you, Simeon got a little excited with the scan gun once we got into the toy department, naturally.

We even tried to be conscientious of those who would be buying these gifts for us, by selecting an array of items in a variety of price ranges. (It always annoyed me when I went to buy something off a registry-wedding, baby, etc.-and there wasn’t a single thing under $75. Way to force me to put a price on our friendship.) Everything from our crib and travel system, all the way down to rattles and Butt Paste. You know, so
Nick would have something to get for us.

27 Week Belly

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I am 27 weeks and one day. That is officially six days away from the third trimester. Can you believe that? Because I sure as hell can’t. Anywho, here are the pics (please note it is officially cool enough today for me to wear 1) a long sleeve t-shirt and 2) jeans. Yippee! Fall is on the way!):


And now for the close-up.

Trying to Stay Above Water

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Whew. Has this week ever been hectic! On Monday I started looking to hire my replacement at work. I have to tell you that is one strange thing to be doing; looking for someone to take over your job. Since I know better than anyone what my job entails, I drafted the ad, submitted it and then waited for the hailstorm of resumes. Reading through one after the other was just about the most mind-numbing thing I have ever done. But I did it. I read each and every single one that came in. Then I had to review them a second time to sort them into “Yes” “Maybe” or “No” piles. After that came the endless number of phone calls conducting the preliminary interview to see if we wanted to meet them in person. Yeah, all this on top of my regular work-load.

By the time I got home every night…No. Wait. Scratch that. By the time I dragged my ass out to the car at the end of the day I was so tired I could barely stay awake on the drive home. Thankfully I carpool with my husband and he likes to take care of me. With Sim’s help, I would just barely make it home, find something to eat, and crawl into bed. Not only has this week been physically exhausting, but emotionally as well. Each phone call I make or person I meet is one step closer to ending my working-career as I know it.

And that is one tough idea to swallow.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am more than ready to leave. I am very excited (and also very aware, thankyouverymuch) of the changes that are coming in my extremely near future. How near, you ask? My boss and I talked it over and decided I would work until the end of November. So I have roughly 11 weeks left of work. ELEVEN. That is practically nothing! And it all just keeps slipping between my fingers.

So, yeah, you could say I have been a little busy lately. And a little stressed. What with all the trying to keep myself afloat over here.

Another one bites the dust

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Simeon and I have finally reached that point in our lives where we have more friends who are married (and now with children!) than single. This weekend we added another couple to our list of married friends: David and Kristen.


The wedding was held at the Abernethy Center in Oregon City. The ceremony was outside in the Veiled Gardens and the reception was in the Ballroom. They could not have asked for a more perfect day, or a more perfect setting.


The reception was wonderful. From the fabulous food, to the adorable slide show, to all the wedding traditions ranging from the money dance, the garter/bouquet toss and ending with them exiting through a veil of bubbles.


We wish them all the best in their lives together. Welcome to the Married Club guys! All of the pictures from the wedding and reception are here. Enjoy!

26 Week Belly

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26 weeks. Wowsa. Hard to believe how quickly time flys. I only have two weeks left of my second trimester, and since it is suppose to be the best stage of pregnancy, and I am trying to make the very most of them. I enjoy each and every kick (even the ones to my bladder, thankyouverymuch, daughter-of-mine) and relish in my ever-expanding belly. And boy is it ever expanding! I have reached that point where people in public are gushing over the bellah and asking, “Ohh! When are you due??” I imagine I will continue to love the attention as long as the comments are along the lines of “You are so cute and pregnant” rather than “Oh my God you are so huge.” But knowing that day will come very soon, I will just enjoy the more flattering comments as long as I can.

Along with the growing bellah, comes the excited talk of all things baby. Now that it’s very obvious I am actually growing a human being, talk has drifted from whether I am feeling ok to when I am going to have my baby shower. Since this is all new to me, I just smile and say, “Well I am not really the one in charge of that, now am I?” So my boss, with the help of several ladies in my office, has started planning an office shower. It is very sweet, but just reminds me that I really need to get my butt in gear and finish up my registry! Eeee!

Alrighty. Here is what you have all been waiting for, the photographic evidence of the belly. So what do you think; is there a baby in there or what?


Try not to be dazed by the ribbing in my sweater. It adds a slightly hallucinogenic effect, don’t you think? And now for the close-up.

Picture Overload

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Apparently not having a working camera for months at a time makes for bad picture taking habits. When I actually brought my camera with me, I was afraid to use it, for fear of it breaking again (not that I caused the break last time, there was actually a recall). But I have taken some pictures! Then I just forgot to actually remove them from my memory card and upload them to share with all of you. After my sister hounding me, I finally got around to it. So here you are:


We have pictures ranging from our camping trip to Cove Palisades (outside of Madras, Oregon).


Teaching our dogs to dock dive…well, in Ellie’s case anyway. For Molly it was more like how to fall off the dock with the least amount of grace possible.


Having our friends Jared and Jenna come visit good ol’ Portland, Oregon.


And finally, having all our friends, both near and far, come over for our last Wednesday Night dinner. (AKA the Last Supper)

Pictures for camping are here, Jared and Jenna’s visit are here and the Last Supper are here. Sorry it took me so long!

Advice: Actually Asking For It

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Yep, I am actually going to go so far as to ask for your advice and opinions. Normally, I don’t go asking for such things, people just tend to offer them so willingly, why would you need to ask? But I want all of your opinions. God knows you have ’em!

Here is the deal: Simeon and I need to actually start doing some things to prepare for our daughter. On our list of things is to create our registry. Simple enough, right? Well, that is where you would be wrong. Have you been into Babies R Us lately? Totally and completely overwhelming. Not only are there a million and one things in there they claim you “need” to have, but there are also five or so kinds/types of each thing. So what I want to know is 1) the most valuable thing(s) you have for taking care of your baby (what made things so much easier for you?) and 2) the thing that was completely useless (Now if you simply never used it, it doesn’t mean it wasn’t good. I want actual experience. Like you tried it but it just made things worse.) Any help you provide will be greatly appreciated….that is unless you all contradict each other. Then I will really be screwed!

Bored, yet productive

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Turns out being bored at work can have its advantages! I finally found a site I have been trying to find for ages. I read about it awhile back and for the life of me could not remember where or what it was called. Then today I found it! Babes in Blogland is a site listing bloggers (and their respective sites) by their due dates (or child’s age, if the case may be). Their tagline is, “Bringing together bloggers who are making or raising babies.” Very cool, right? I think it will be a great resource. For me, it is comforting to know that others are going through the same things as I am. Plus you can see how different people deal with the many facets of pre-parenthood.

I have many friends and family members who have had children or who are expecting, but few who really get into the details of things they are experiencing, let alone blog about it! I think it is great that there are women out there (and quite a few, based on the December 2006 due dates alone) so willing to share/document their pregnancy. Plus, it couldn’t hurt to have more Internet friends, right?

Already I have found one blogger, Bringing Home Baby, who is not only expecting a daughter on the same day as me but who is also my age (ok ok, I am actually 22 days older, but who is counting). How cool is that? I am looking forward to reading through the other December 2006 due dates to find others I can relate to and maybe even correspond with. I am always looking for partners in pregnancy!

Alone. Again.

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It is sad, and a little pathetic, I know. But I really miss my husband when he is gone. He is training out in New York City this week and I am stuck here in Oregon. Things could be worse. He could be gone for more than just a week. Or he could be clear around the other side of the world where our scheduled would be so outta whack we couldn’t sit on our computers at night and IM back and forth. Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I still miss him.

Truth be told, for an “old married couple” we really do spend a lot of time together. We carpool to work, we usually go out to lunch together, and then we spend the evening hanging out. We also IM or text back and forth through out the day. And I like it that way. Some people have said (I know who you are, and I know you are reading this) we spend too much time together. But I disagree. It really just works for us. He is my best friend and truly the one person who I never get sick of being around. Isn’t that exactly what a spouse is supposed to be anyway? The one person you picked to travel through life with? I like to bounce things off of him. (He has saved my butt on more than one occasion by making me think before I act.) I like his opinion on things. And more than anything, I like to share all the little things with him. Things that wouldn’t matter to anyone but us. But when he is gone, I don’t have any of that.

Sure, I have lots of great friends and co-workers who try to pick up the slack when he is gone. Apparently I am not allowed to spend an evening alone when Sim is out of town because I have plans just about every night this week and co-workers taking me out to lunch each afternoon. I do really appreciate that and it does help the time pass faster.

Sadly, the only thing that really does make me feel a little better is knowing he is going through the same thing. When he goes to conferences, he has way too much fun. He is surrounded by friends; they party and do crazy things all night and then geeky things all day. But when he is off training, once 5 o’clock hits, he just goes back to his hotel and hangs out in his room. I try to get him to go out and explore the city he is in (if it is worth exploring) and try to make the most of his traveling. But he won’t. He says he would never do those things without me. And I am kinda glad. Because knowing he misses me just as much as I miss him means he really is the perfect man for me.