we might be moving to a yurt.

At least, temporarily.

And after looking on pinterest at yurts (I couldn't quite picture living in one at first)  I am actually kind of excited about it haha.  But I will tell you more when I find out more details.

Also, I keep thinking about that time I went camping with your family in the yurt village, Amber!  And that horrible picture of me in overalls.  What was I thinking?

but really, look how lovely a yurt can be?

Source: design.spotcoolstuff.com viaMegan on Pinterest

Source: Rebecca on Pinterest

in shock...and laughing.

So I've been waiting to post for a while, because I wanted to take pictures of my bedroom/bathroom which Angela came and helped me paint!  Yeah, I still don't have pictures taken, because I have picture frames everywhere which never got hanged.

And never will.

Allow me to explain.

My landlord called me earlier this evening and told me that she sold her house in California and would be moving back at the end of April.

Yes, she would've given us more notice, but her house sold a lot quicker than expected and she is pretty impulsive.  Also, we are not on any lease.

So, I thought we wouldn't be moving.  I painted our bedroom and bathroom.  We finally put our flooring in.  We started working on the yard (by which I mean, we pulled out all the plants and weird landscaping, only now to have to put it back as best we can).  And I have no idea where we are going to live.

In the least, I know we are moving by May 1st, and although I am definitely in shock about it (not really surprised, I guess, but I just can't quite wrap my head around it) I know everything will work out and feel at peace about it all.  There are hopefully some options for places for us to live, and I guess there is always Jeremy's parents again (but I'm hoping that doesn't happen).

I will still take a picture of my bedroom before I start taking it apart though, so you can see it!  I asked Angela to come and we got both rooms painted.  The next day Jeremy and his dad put in the flooring in our bathroom and I started decorating.  I made us a duvet cover from some sheets and also put together some artwork.  SAD. All my work.  Oh well, at least we left the place a little nicer for her.

I keep asking myself "why didn't we get that job?  It would've worked out perfectly with the timing."  But I know God has this all worked out, and I don't really think I wanted that job either.  Even if they called me and offered it to me right now, I'm pretty positive I would say no.

So just wanted to share that breaking news with you!  This is going to be one BUSY month.  I am throwing two showers for my sister, who is going to be getting married right after we move.  I definitely will be taking a break from the preschool for the month as I try to wrap my head around this.  Please pray we figure out where we go soon, because I need to know if I'm packing for storage or not!

Making it work

Hello again!

I am not feeling as energetic as my greeting. I just got home from teaching and I am feeling pooped!  But I have to plan my lesson for the next day, which takes so long to do.

Last week was my first week teaching, and even though it went well I was really stressed and exhausted by the end of it. I found it demanding to tweak materials into a way that makes more sense to me, plus adjust to teaching.  Last week I felt like my mouth was dry all the time because I talk so much when I teach, and because I teach from 9-1 I totally skip lunch and my system was not liking it.

This week is going a lot smoother, although I had a student cry in my class yesterday!  The subject matter was difficult, but she said that she was going through a lot of changes and was having a tough day.  She was smiling by the end though, thank goodness!

I love LOVE my students!  I feel so comfortable around international people.  Part of me feels like I'm back in elementary school and high school because everyone was from all over.  They also make me laugh a lot by saying funny things like a Brazilian student wants to experience earthquakes and the Japanese students are like NO, why would you want that?

Although this week is going smoother, our youth director's husband at church passed away suddenly while he was overseas on Sunday.  Justin and I are both youth leaders so we have been involved in the situation by calling kids and last night we all met at the church to pray for the family.  I am just feeling some heaviness from it this week, last night went really well though with the youth group and I felt some of the burden lifted.

Tomorrow is Spring!  Which makes me so excited, but we still have snow on the ground and some in the forecast for tomorrow.  I am optimistic that it won't last too much longer though, I have spotted a few plants fighting their way up out of the ground.

Hope you ladies get a lovely Spring day tomorrow!

Today was wonderful

Paul and I had today off together and it was exactly what we needed.  We woke up around 6:30 (he loves that I work day shift now and my sleep schedule isn't all messed up).  We got out of bed by 7am and headed to our favorite coffee shop as a fun treat.  My mom had given us some coffee money as a valentines gift and it was so fun to have a day off together to be able to enjoy a quick date!

I have still been watercoloring and trying out my hand at animals.  I have a few fun books all written by the same lady that teaches you how to draw simple things to watercolor.

Kittens got out into the garage one night and left paw prints all over the car...

I was sitting reading a photography book on Sunday (before taking my dear friends engagement pictures) and realized that everything was a gift from Gabe. The cardigan, the dress, the blanket, and the book.  All separate presents all things I love. She knows me so well. 

The crazy butter filled frosting!  Amber did an awesome job on the cake (though she was way to critical on herself about the frosting and everything), it was yummy.

So we all know my kitties are super naughty.  Well a while ago Eric peed on the couch while I had the cushions off to vacuum. I cleaned it and we seemed to have no more issues.  The other night I smelled cat pee again and I think Eric got underneath the cushions and peed again. And then I think he peed on the cushions before I had a chance to clean up the other mess (they like to pee where they can smell their pee).  Sooooo I looked up a recipe to clean pee up on the internet and it seems to have worked a miracle.  I have sat on the one good cushion of the couch a ton today to make sure Eric stayed away.  He seems to know he did something wrong and has been staying away from the couch.  I have to wait a little while longer for the cushions to dry but I pray this took the smell enough away (I can't smell it at all anymore but cats smell so much better) that Eric doesn't pee on it again. 

I made another banner with my silhouette.  I absoutley love making seasonal banners that I would have never spent the money on before when my only options were buying them on etsy or the store.

My mom is going through all my grandparents photo albums and oh my goodness are there some unattractive pictures of me!  I laugh as I see them though. I was one chubby baby!  And my mom can't believe she let me chew on a desitin tube. Haha, I am sure my kids will do the same. 

And that is all my dears.  I am off tomorrow as well and am cherishing these few days off before I have to work my four day stretch again.  I have been sooooooo tired lately but am unable to sleep in because of my internal alarm clock.  My tiredness is nothing compared to Becca's I am sure but oh my I hope I get some sleep tonight! 

change is good

I feel like I have a lot to share.

I have my book club starting in about 30 minutes.  The kids are both finally in bed.  Jeremy is working in the other room on the computer.  I am sitting down to catch my breath after a day that has felt very long!  The weekend was very tiring.  Going to Lifepoint again was a good experience.  I enjoyed playing with the team, Shea had fun, all the people were very nice again, and most seemed pretty positive about us coming to the church.  I was talking with one lady who had been a long-time attender, and she said, "I hope you come back - the music sounded so good and it was so nice to sing songs we know!".  So, we left feeling pretty happy about the whole thing.  We visited with my sister for lunch, and then went up to my brother's house in Kirkland after that.  We drove around on the way home and after leaving at 6:40 that morning didn't get home until after 8PM.  I was beat!  I didn't get much sleep that night either.  Hailey has been teething and she was getting over being sick, and it seems like there is always some problem that keeps her up at night, so I have been at a loss of how to get sleep.  Until two nights ago.  I was so exhausted, I went to bed at 8:30, and I did it again last night.

Of course, Shea has been getting up at 6 for some weird reason lately, so my days have been starting early, too!  He goes back to bed, but then he wakes up Hailey, so there's really not much use in trying to stay in bed for too long after that.

Anyway, I have a lot more to share, but the Pastor called me today, and looks like we will not be moving!  I'm so happy to finally have this whole process be over though, and I'm really fine with it.  I could tell he did not want to tell me the news.  Apparently he had a board meeting on Monday night, and it was not a unanimous vote to hire me.  Although he could still hire me (he said, "they were being nice and said I could still hire you"), he didn't want to do that when everyone wasn't agreed (smart man).  He said it had nothing to do with my talent/worship leading gifts...actually, he said "I'm not totally sure what the reason is that they were against", and he was very encouraging in affirming what he believed was a calling on my life.  Honestly, when I think about it, if I was on that board, I don't know if I would hire me!  I mean, they HAVE this guy who is volunteering and possibly lacking in a few areas, but I don't know that I bring that much more to the table, or that what I do bring is worth paying me for.  Either way, I am excited and happy.

Jeremy and I have really been seeing a lot of change in ourselves since we started this process.  We finally feel in a lot of ways like we are finding WHO we are and making choices based off of that (as opposed to who our families are, other people expect us to be, etc.) and it is exciting!  Now that I know we are supposed to be in Indianola for a while, I finally feel like I can start focusing in on the things that will make life work here and embrace it as our home for a while yet.  Some day, I believe we are called to something else, but in the meantime God will get us by.  I have some plans on bringing in some more income for us, and Jeremy's work has been picking up little by little lately, so I know we will be fine.  I've been able to find a lot of ways to save money and we can still enjoy our summers by the beach.  God is good.  Life is good. And although we were excited about moving back over there, I know there is a reason we are here.

I better go get the tea water on!  Goodnight, wonderful friends!

Did stuff today

First, work update:  Had a big conversation with them yesterday.  It turns out they weren't letting me go (big miscommunication).  I was willing to stay until they told me that my performance thus far has been "adequate."  I've sought critical feedback and received none.  To their credit, they acknowledged their mistake.  But they seem to think I have a lot of room for improvement, and it sounds like they think one person is more than capable of handling this position.  I believe they don't realize how much the responsibilities of the position have grown.

So, I talked to Joe last night.  And I'm going to...quit.  Not because of my migraines.  I'm quitting because I honestly believe no one should have all those responsibilities, as evidenced by the turnover in this position.  I'm surprised I lasted six months.

I haven't actually put in my notice yet because I want to figure out what happens next.  So many ideas.  So many things I could do.  Just thinking on it right now.  Took a floating holiday today.

So today I woke up super early (Joe came to bed at 3 am, and I dozed till 5) and cleaned for three hours straight.  We have company tonight.  But I set a timer and cleaned - wow.  I'm amazed at how much time it actually takes to clean.  I spent three hours and didn't even vacuum, and only did two of the three bathrooms!

I'm very proud of running around the house for three hours.  And that's all I have to say for now.  Thanks for reading!

A wonderful Saturday

So first the "bad news" out of the way (just so you can view my wonderful Saturday in context) - my work is letting me go because my migraines are keeping me from being available during the hours they need me.  I'll keep working there till they find a replacement.  I learned this on Friday morning, took it remarkably well (haven't cried once), though Friday night I slept about 4 hours and the rest was laying awake in bed because I couldn't stop thinking about it.

So yesterday morning I got up at 7:30, did laundry and dishes, ate breakfast, did some chores.  Around 9 I tried to watch some stuff Joe was watching but I just wanted to get stuff done!  He was like "just sit down!" and I was like "not yet!!!!"

So I was busy doing house stuff till 11 or so, then Angela and I went to Safeway so I could grab some ingredients for Joe's birthday cake.  Then she came over, we had lunch, and we worked on the cake together!  There's a lot of ingredient prepping to do, and four separate things that make up the cake (four layers of cake, buttercream frosting, orange curd made as an ingredient for the frosting, and ganache).  It's messy and time consuming and uses up a lot of dishes.

Angela followed behind me with a dishcloth for when I spilled chocolate batter on the floor; she waited patiently for every mixing bowl and then handwashed it so I could use it again.  Probably the silliest thing was, I read the directions wrong and thought one particular mixture had to be in the electric mixing bowl, but it turned out it was a different bowl...and then I was wrong about that one too...we had to transfer it twice and Angela did all the transferring and re-washing!

She also did the ingredient prep so I could do laundry and stuff.  And it was just such a nice experience to get that much of the cake out of the way!



Baking question: Bekka, ugh, there are four layers to this cake, and the first two layers I baked probably 1 minute too long and they are a little dryer than I want them to be.  The next two layers I baked exactly the same way except maybe one minute less, and one came out PERFECT and one came out uncooked in the middle.  They were in the same oven.  They were cooked the same manner as the first two.  What the heck happened?  Is it my oven?  Is it the cake?  Is it me?  Is it chance?

The rest of the day

Angela left around 3.  I finished the curd and the cake layers, then Joe and I went on a walk.  But it started to rain right when we went out, so we just went around the block.

I was sleepy from not sleeping last night so I took a half hour nap on the couch, till my dad called because he'd heard about my work letting me go.  Chatted with my dad for a bit.  Then I took Joe to Ishtar, greek restaurant in Kent a block from our old train house, because there was a Groupon.  It was surprisingly good!  That corner spot has always been the joke of the neighborhood because no one has been able to keep a restaurant going there (which is why we never dared try it when it opened as a Greek place).  But the food was good, the service was great, and we had a Groupon!

Then we went to the $3.5 dollar theater in Renton and watched Skyfall.  Kind of a different Bond movie than I've ever seen before.  I liked it.  Not enough to watch it again, but enough to watch it because it's $3.50 and I get to snuggle with my hubby with chips/candy/water that we snuck into the theater.

Came home and goofed around on the computer for a couple hours, then bed!

And now it's Sunday morning, we left the blinds open last night so I'm just sitting here in the sun and the cats are loving the light!  My MIL picks me up in an hour for Sunday school (and then Joe and his dad will come later for the service).  I am going to do my Sunday School homework now!

Happiness.

My new goal for the year is trying to see happiness in the mundane.  A normal morning can be made special if I cook up some eggs and toast along with a via coffee and lay in bed with my kitties for a few hours.  Forced relaxation and everyone is happy.  

This was Thursday evening.  I was soooo tired, looked at the clock and it was only 7:30pm.  I hoped Paul didn't notice (as my face turned away from him) that I closed my eyes for just a minute (he usually tries to prevent me from napping on the couch). Well the next time I opened my eyes it was 8:15... but somehow I managed to fall asleep by 10 or something.  Napping on my hubbys leg after not having a day off together for over 2 weeks felt oh so wonderful. 

I am LOVING water coloring!  My mom had a few books that gave you pointers on how to draw, and I have requested them from the library, but for now I am going off memory from what I learned from her books.  Ladies, water coloring is simple and fun and you look like an artist with the simplest of projects! 

I am loving my hair cut more and more the longer I have it.  I spend 4 minutes blow drying it and about 2 minutes straightening it and it instantly has shape and body.  I think I am going to take advantage of the free bang trim (if I can get to Puyallup) so it looks good for longer. :)

I was getting so tired of this change sitting around, because we NEVER use change.  Heck, I never use cash, but sometimes Paul does.  I remembered that Joe and one of Paul's friends had mentioned using coinstar and getting gift cards so they don't take a percentage of your money.  It worked perfectly and our useless change turned into very useful amazon money. 

Sometimes at work I park in this spot (I am the black car) and I always get scared I am too close to the fire hydrant (it looks farther away in the picture than in real life) and I will get towed, though I have never been towed, never gotten a warning, and never gotten a ticket.  I was shocked when I came out of work one day to find a car had parked in front of me, was touching the crosswalk and completely in front of the hydrant.  Some people are crazy. 

This is the hill I park on at work.  I had just worked 8.5 hours in an area of the hospital that has no windows and walked outside to this beautiful sunshine.  I about died I was so happy!  First sunshine in weeks! 

That's all girls!  Hope you have awesome weekends planned. :)