A beautiful day in the neighborhood

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

The day started out with a plan, and it was all Gem’s idea. We were going to go on a walking tour of all the beautiful flowers in our new neighborhood. And, I would bring my camera, so we could take pictures and use them for a blog post.

My little unpaid intern is really starting to pay off.

We got off to a good start.

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But, after a while we came across this:

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And inside, they had this:

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They also had books.

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The walls were lined with old classics

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and my little girl was entranced

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We spent hours in the doughnut shop, and I got to share with her some of my childhood favorites.

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The garden tour / photo walk can wait for another day.

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what captured your attention this week?

Packing up

Packing up

We are moving. We found a place we love in a neighborhood we love and two blocks from a school that seems like it will be perfect for Gem. We signed the lease a few days ago, and we move in a few weeks.

Now comes the hard part.

The new home we have chosen is small. Tiny. Less than 3/4 the size of our already small apartment. That means that rather than just packing up, every single item we own will have to be considered, judged, and a large portion of them will not be accompanying us in this move. Will the Christmas tree travel with us to our new home? If so, where will it live the other 11 months of the year? We have a total of 2.5 small closets with which to work.

This will be a learning curve.

I’ve been enjoying a number of posts on the tiny house movement; perhaps we could talk the landlord into allowing us to make some modifications to make better use of the space.

In the meantime, Gem is getting excited about the move.

Her jaguar is all packed up and ready to go.

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She’s been helping with our packing, as well. If something is missing, there’s a good chance she already packed it for us.

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we can see here where her priorities are.

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WW Linky is on page 2

Finding Home

Finding Home

We were weary as we pulled into the parking lot of our building after a long day of apartment hunting. It’s tiring work, and a bit nerve-wracking, looking for a new place to call home, one that meets our needs, is close to a good school, and most importantly, one that we can afford. We sat there in the car, waiting for this song to finish, and we knew…  We knew that wherever we end up, we’ll be okay as long as we’re together.

We didn’t realize it till later, but that night was the 10th anniversary of the day Aaron proposed. He proposed on Alki Beach on a very chilly night, and later we had to hunt down a pay phone (remember those?) so I could call my parents.

It’s a decade later, and some major twists and turns along the way, but we’re happier than ever. So much love.

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The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

One of the most precious and valuable benefits of travel is that it takes you out of your comfort zone, and if you’re open to the experience, it provides perspective. Travel teaches us about other cultures, but it also gives us the opportunity to learn about ourselves.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

It is hard to forget the devastation of Hurricane Katrina when thinking of New Orleans. The city and the people are still recovering from that natural and man-made disaster. But they are recovering, and New Orleans showed my friends and me a grand time while we were there last month.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

But as we strolled outside the welcoming, touristy areas of the French Quarter, I was reminded that there is a hard-earned need to be a bit self-protective here.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

It also made me think about how guarded I can be in my own life, sometimes sharing information in one area to draw attention away from another.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

 

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

The streets were lonely, but for my friend and I. No signs of life. No movement aside from the occasional breeze. The picture below was different just because there was another person on the street. The quiet was eerie. There was no question we had wandered outside of the tourist area.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

This sidewalk seating area looked like a page from a catalog to me. Different in that there were signs of life with the chairs and tree, and yet, I wonder how often anyone actually sits there.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

The shutters faced outward, to the world, to the environment, but we learned that most of these homes surrounded courtyards that were the gathering places of friends and family.

The Guarded Beauty of New Orleans

Just a glimpse here and there, and we could see that once past that tough shell, the interior was a friendly and welcoming place to those invited.

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ww linkup is on page 2

Bloggers at Work

Bloggers at Work

Step into my office.

my office

This is where I do the very important work of blogging about being a mom. I know. You want to be like me when you grow up, don’t you?

I even have an intern.

intern

Let me tell you, for an unpaid intern she’s quite expensive and high maintenance. She expects a meal, several meals, every day. I’d say something about her expecting me to wipe her butt, but that would be crude.

This is the kind of meal I prepare for my crew every day.

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Ok, that’s not true. That’s the kind of food I intend to cook every day.

This is more like the kind of food I prepare for our meals.

unhealthy cookbooks

Well, no, that’s not true either. That is the kind of food I would like to eat, and it implies I actually cook. In reality, I serve freezer lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and anything else that requires less than 5 minutes of time and effort on my part.

So much for being a food blogger.

These are my blogging pants.

froggy pants

What? You don’t match your intern to your pants?

napping baby and mom with froggy pants

Yes, she was taking yet another break. But she does contribute a lot to our team.

Here she is storyboarding my next blog post.

baby coloring

How do you work?