Farm Fresh!
Amelia and I had a really nice adventure yesterday. We went to visit the farm we have been buying her fresh goats milk from, and to talk to the owner of the farm about joining their stewardship program. The farm is on three acres about an hour's drive from here, and it is beautiful! Amelia is really noticing and enjoying animals right now, and so I am always on the lookout for friendly- looking dogs that we might say hello to when we're out-- Portland is the perfect city for that, by the way! We have a lot of books about animals and go over their names and sounds daily, so it was really great to be able to introduce her to real, live goats, horses, ducks and chickens! She especially hit it off with the goats, who all seem very friendly and docile. It also felt so good to me to be out in the country with all of those wonderful smells (I particularly love the smell of horses!) and to spend some time with some kind, happy and energetic farmers.
We were there for a couple of hours and were able to tour the property, see where the goats get milked and where the chickens lay their eggs, eat some cheese and blueberries from the farm and talk about how we might be able to get involved. Something I really appreciate is how much they value children and want to have kids involved with them. We will be supporting the farm and getting some of our food from them, and in return they welcome us there as extended family-- we can go there whenever we want to, they have some rustic guest quarters where we are encouraged to spend the night, and eat meals with the farming family and get some hands-on experience of farm life. Erika, the owner (whose credentials include being a traditional Swiss homemaker,) said that she hoped Amelia could come every week or two and really feel like this was her backyard-- running around to see what's new and developing relationships with the animals there. Being in that setting was very therapeutic for me-- I didn't realize I'd had a raincloud over my head until it lifted while we were there! I am so thankful to be living in a place where we can do these kinds of things, and I hope to find more opportunities like this.
By the way, I am working on a new blog along this theme, and I'll let you know when I'm ready to have readers...

YAHOOO! Or, for all you Texans, YEEHAW!
Our offer was accepted, and we are soon to be homeowners. We are obviously thrilled, and I probably won't be able to sleep tonight, I'm so excited. These next three weeks will be very busy, but we are glad for the short escrow period, since we are dying to REALLY settle in and unpack most of our boxes, finally. It's funny, I am really relieved to be done looking at homes-- I know a lot of people love that part and keep doing it after they've bought a home, but I'm not much of a dreamer and would rather make concrete plans. So now it's time to take a serious look at all those home magazines and start some serious planning. Hurray!

So we made a move on the house I posted about. We put in an offer that expires tomorrow evening. It was a pretty surreal (but kinda boring) experience, and now we are just waiting to hear back from the seller. Escrow would close at the end of the month! I'll be sure and let you know as soon as we find out.

Can you believe it?

I responded to a Craigslist posting for "Model/Fitness - Wear Test/Focus Group," and ended up going in for a casting call yesterday for it. Basically, there is a company that designs all the new seamless sportswear/ undergarments for all the big companies like Patagonia, VS, Nike, Reebok, Banana Republic, etc. They are working on a project for a couple of clients to introduce a new sportswear line for "larger busted women" and need real women of that sort to test the products. So I went in, talked to them, described my level of physical activity, tried on a couple of their products, and got hired. This has got to be the easiest job ever. They will send me home with some of their garments, get me a 24 Hour Fitness gym membership, have me work out in the clothes and give them my feedback. For $50/hr. PLUS somewhere down the line, some of the women in the focus group will be chosen to fly to NY to meet with the design team for further fittings, etc. This may last anywhere from 3 days-2 weeks; all travel & expenses are fully paid, and participants will be compensated at the $500/day rate. What?! REALLY? Pick me! Pick me! Oh, please please please pick me!
But even if they don't, this is still an incredible "job."
No wonder those clothes are so expensive!!

GREAT NEWS!!!

Nope, we didn't buy a house. But it's almost that good. Amelia slept 10 hours straight last night. Previously, she had slept 7 hours once and 6 hours once, but she's had a rough adjustment this month, generally waking every 2 hours. So we are excited, and although she may not do it again for a while, it's a big step in the right direction!

This photo is of her on a hike with her gramps.

Aww...

Well, no big house news yet. We have been talking to our realtor, mortgage broker, CPA, and payroll people at Jeff's work. Since we just moved here, these are all brand new relationships and this whole process is quite an uneventful adventure. We are still a couple of days away from having a solid monthly income number to work from, and we'll go from there. The one house I posted about is still available and our #1 choice. We spent about four hours with our realtor yesterday looking at some pretty depressing homes, and found one other really nice option at about the same price point as the first. It's a good thing we like our realtor, since we have been spending more time with him than anyone else so far! In fact, he and his wife are having us over for dinner tonight-- we're excited to get to know another couple, especially so soon.

Wanted to let you know that our stuff did indeed arrive on Wednesday morning. The bulk of it is sitting unpacked in the garage waiting for a final resting place in another home. We are still trying to get the things we are going to unpack put away. Jeff is at his official first day of work right now, which he has been pretty excited about. We went house hunting Wednesday afternoon and looked at about ten properties. One far outshined the rest, and we are doing some number crunching and calculating to see if we can make the next move. As always, I'll keep you posted! I'll attach a picture of the house and part of the yard. Some specs: built in 1906, 2 bed + bonus room, super high ceilings, and yard on all sides of the house. It is pretty much move- in ready.

We're here.... almost!
An update is definitely in order, now that I've been in Portland for over a week. Jeff made it up safely on Wed. night, and on Saturday we moved into the duplex we're renting. However, we are STILL waiting for the big truck with our stuff to get here. They said that average travel time was two days, which would have meant a Thursday arrival. We have been on the phone a lot, and it finally looks like they'll bring our belongings on Wednesday morning. Finally! We've basically been camping out here, and never expected to have to go without our stuff for so long.
The highlight of our time here so far was having another birthday party for Amelia with NW family members, especially her cousins! We are really thankful to be close to family on both sides.
We have just now caught our breaths enough to start settling into our city. Yesterday, we drove around a bit, visited the local food co-op and joined. I'm excited about this, because they offer a lot of free community activities to the members-- yoga classes three days a week, square dancing on Wednesdays, a weekly farmers' market, etc. This seems like the perfect way for me to meet people and get involved. We have also found a couple of sources for fresh goat milk for Amelia, and are learning about local resources for buying food straight from local farms-- there is so much more access to local organic food up here, it's a dream come true!
The big, exciting event today was meeting with our realtor for the first time. We are so excited about buying a house, and can hardly believe it's really going to happen. We just submitted a long list of properties we'd like to see, and I'll keep you posted.

We have some photos to share, but I can't find the cable I need to get them onto the computer. It will probably show up on Wednesday as we try to sort throught those last boxes labeled "random!"

The Anatomy of an Amazing Birthday

1. Waking up to balloons, flowers and a husband-made birthday banner.
2. Going to a favorite restaurant in San Marino for a breakfast of (get ready) sourdough toast, candied bacon, fresh berries and a good latte.
3. Shopping at a favorite boutique in South Pasadena for a birthday present. The people there know us, so this time we were able to just walk in and hand Amelia to a lady that works there while we browsed. Jeff bought me a beautiful leather bag-- I have been desperately needing a new purse, but couldn't find the right one until now-- hurray!
4. Birthday wishes all day by phone, e-mail or in-person visits.
5. Having some dear friends over for dinner, eating fancy (but pre-made!) food, drinking wine, talking and laying on the grass looking up at the sky until it actually got too cold to stay outside.

What a wonderful day! Thank you to everyone who contributed!

Here's a picture of my happy self with my #1 birthday present.

It's really happening.
We are moving. Soon. Most of the home has been packed up, and we are pretty much on target for being able to get out of here. Amelia and I fly to Portland on Sunday, Jeff packs the U-Pak on Tuesday night and leaves on Wed. We were thankful and relieved to find out that he doesn't have to start until the 13th (previous start date was the 9th.) We're taking the day off tomorrow to have a good time as a family and see some friends in the evening (in honor of me not being 30 yet.) Then on Saturday we are having a yard sale-- one last attempt at getting people to actually pay us to get rid of the stuff we shouldn't take anyway. This week has been quite a whirlwind, and we are amost through the worst! Whew!

ONE!
Happy Birthday Amelia! What a sweet little girl. It has been amazing to watch her go from newborn to one year old. We are so thankful for this dynamic little life we get to share.



So far, she seems to be having a great day, and likes being sung "Happy Birthday" to, even more each time (I think it's been about 15 times at this point.)

Time to Celebrate!
Jeff had his last day of work yesterday (he checks out today,) and also his last day as a teacher. He is so excited to move on from classroom management to working individually with children and teachers. Hurray! He said he tried to be sentimental, since he's had this job for four years, and it was his first big long-term job-- but he just didn't feel anything but relief and excitement to be moving on!

We had a mini party outside in his honor: grilled chicken, chocolate cinnamon black beans, grilled veggies and sangria. Amelia joined us as diner and entertainer.

So what do YOU do under pressure?
I'm not sure how I would have answered the above question before now, but I have had a funny revelation about myself this week. Tensions are very high. I wish I could push the fast forward button on the next few weeks (or maybe months, while I'm dreaming about it...) I'm not allowed to cope by staying in bed and refusing to participate in the whirlwind of my present life, so I am acting out in other ways. I can't think of a better way to describe it than to say that I am rebelling against my own personal principles. Keep in mind, these are my own personal quirky convictions, nothing serious. Since Sunday, here is a list of totally out of character behavior:
1. I went and bought Amelia a new carseat, FULL PRICE, without even really trying to find it cheaper or used. This is definitely the largest sum of money we have spent on her behalf so far.
2. I put bleach in my load of white laundry. I have never used bleach in my laundry before. I don't even know who this bottle belonged to-- I just had the compulsion to dump it in there, and the really annoying thing is that all of Amelia's stained clothes DIDN'T come out looking any better!
3. I baked a pan of brownies. I don't even like brownies.
4. This is the most embarassing one. I went to the drugstore and bought a lotion that "builds a healthy glow within 5 days and improves skin firmness." I don't use drugstore lotion! I don't put chemicals on my skin! I don't really believe in skin firming lotions! Also, I believe in REAL tans. And I bought some nail polish for the first time in five years, while I was at it.
Jeff is completely bewildered, and I am definitely feeling reckless. He is trying to think of some way to take advantage. Maybe we'll go to McDonalds, grab some donuts for dessert, buy a television, and dump our recycling into the regular trash bins... Yahoooo!

If this doesn't make you smile, then we have a big problem.

Starting a Tradition...

I've been thinking hard about Amelia's first birthday. It's such a big event, celebrating the year she's been with us, but it seems kind of sad to me that she won't remember it at all. Gifts are one of my biggest "love languages" so I've been trying to decide what to give her, wanting it to be special and something she will be able to remember. I finally came up with the idea of getting her something valuable (but not necessarily too expensive) that she can keep and have for years and years-- some original artwork! It was actually pretty hard to choose one, since there are so many great, affordable prints out there. This year, Jeff and I ordered a print of the above painting by Cathy Nichols, printed on wood with some hand embellishment and signed on the back. It arrived today, and I am so excited! We can't wait to give it to her and hang it up in her future bedroom.

It's been a while since I've given Amelia the spotlight, so I will give you a picture and some stats.
We are planning her first birthday party, and although it's been a long year, I still can't believe we're there already! She seems a lot smaller and more "babyish" than most one year olds I've known, but this is a really nice stage we don't mind enjoying a little longer.
She still isn't crawling, although she's looked like she was about to for a couple of months now. I hope she can just hold off until we've moved-- our home is not too baby- friendly right now.
She talks a lot, but it's still all in Vietnamese. I think she might have "all done" down, though I'm waiting for more confirmation.
She had a beef tamale for dinner tonight. I continue to be delighted by all of the things she'll try, only now she wants to fully experience her food: chew, then take some out, see what it looks like, feel it in her hair, watch how it coats nearby surfaces, put some more in her mouth, then atomize onto the person feeding her. So mealtimes take quite a while, and our carpet and floors are hard to keep clean, but it's a lot of fun to watch her discover different tastes and textures, plus she has a blast the whole time!
Amelia is generally very happy, and has such a charismatic personality. She likes to show us a good time and keep us entertained and engaged. She recently mastered a fake laugh that is really really funny. Sometimes it's the first noise I hear from her from her bed in the morning!
Sleep (or lack of it) is still a big thorn in my side, though we are partly to blame for putting her through three different trips last month. Plus, I think she is starting to get her molars and is really feeling it.
On a side note, we had been planning to start trying for a sibling for her when she turned one, but the last couple of years have held so much change and stress for us that we have decided to wait on that for at least another six months. I'm pretty relieved to be let off the hook-- even if I was the one making the timeline to begin with!

No, thanks!
We are not pursuing that house anymore. We found out that there are lots RIGHT in front and back that will be developed into 2-story rental properties this summer. That house is so adorable and has so many great features and I think it's a cryin' shame that it is being boxed in and basically ruined that way. Oh, well. Things got a little hysterical around here trying to figure all of that out and deciding whether or not to try to buy it before someone else. Now that we know its future, I don't think there's going to be anyone rushing in. So we will keep looking. The good news is that we took care of all the financial stuff and are prequalified and ready to go, once we find the right one. There are a lot of cute little places out there!

Portland, Ho!
So Jeff was offered the Clackamas position, and we will be moving in one month so he can begin work July 9th. Now all the wheels are turning and we begin the mental and physical move into the next chapter. We are so thankful for some friends who have offered half of their duplex for us to live in until we are able to buy a house. This makes everything so much easier and less stressful! Speaking of houses, there is one I have had my eye on for the past month, if you want to check it out, go to RMLS.com, then select the number search, then enter 7032867 to have a look. Pretty fun to start dreaming a little. Anyway, our internet has been down at home for the past couple of days, but I am at the library today to give the update. Thank you for your prayers for these decisions. The whole job search process has been an extremely positive experience for Jeff. He was actually offered three of the four positions he interviewed for, and even the one that turned him down really wants to keep contact with him as a networking resource-- what a confidence booster! We could definitely use your continued prayers as we pack up, bid our goodbyes and try to resettle, all in such a short amount of time!

Some News....
So Jeff was finally able to talk to the Lacey people (Olympia area) about that secret position today. And they offered him the job. Today. That was a pleasant shocker, and it's great to know that there is a job secured, no matter what happens with the other three he is waiting on. I'll keep you posted-- we should hear from the others within the next week and a half.