Delayed End of the Month/Year Photo

Tonight Abby said "so is it driving you nuts to not have your end of the month/year photo on your blog?" The answer is YES! My type A personality isn't liking this situation but alas...only a couple more days until I'm "home" and can download all my pics...then I will add my delayed end of the month photo of Brennan. Sorry to disappoint all of you loyal readers who look forward to the end of the month photo...soon, very soon. Happy New Year all!

Yes, We Are Still Alive...

So I've gotten some grief for my lack of posting so here you all go! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, we did! I will post pictures when we get to our new house but don't really want to download, etc on someone else's computer so...stay tuned for all the pics. Brennan is a bit too young to appreciate the gift opening and magic of Christmas but we had a lot of fun visiting with family, tearing into our gifts, and of course, eating like pigs. We drove from Oregon to Washington and are now back in Oregon until we leave next week to drive back to Cali. Can I just say I'm SO over being in the car!!! I think its safe to say Brennan is too. Things are going well, I definitely feel like I'm on vacation and that I will soon be back in my little cottage going about my normal life...don't feel like I've moved and that everything is now different...I know that realization is coming though and am still trying to figure out how I feel about that. Again, stay tuned. Okay, I'm going to bed, much love to you all and more exciting posts to come...promise. :)

We.Have.Arrived.

We made it! We got to Adam's parent's house last night at 7:30pm after a LONG 15 hours in the car. Brennan did pretty well actually...with only minor melt downs here and there. I still can't believe its over, can't believe we're out of our house and that Christmas is in 2 days! I don't think its ever felt less like Christmas time than this year. I'm happy to be here and "escape" it all for a week or so, stay in my denial place. I'm sure its all going to hit me like a ton of bricks when we get to our new home and I settle into my new life but for now I'm in blissful vacation mode. I cried driving out of Pasadena...that felt real and hard but now I'm just enjoying being taken care by Kemi and Doug and tomorrow by mom and dad. :) After 11 years- California is definitely my home but there's something about being in the northwest that will always be home.
I'll save the juicy details for a later post when I can add pictures, etc. but I got to see my new house when we stopped to drop our stuff off on the way up here. I will say that it will be great for the 4 months we will be there, has a lot of "modern amenities" that our cottage didn't that will be greatly appreciated and its spacious and clean so...there's that. Stay tuned....
Okay blog readers, I'm going to go eat something that I didn't have to cook that is fattening and makes me feel like a vacationer. More later....

Okay...

Its official, we're leaving tomorrow. We were thinking of starting out tonight but I just think we have too many loose ends that need to be tied in a pretty bow before we can hit the ol' open road. I feel good about the decision and think tomorrow morning we can take off knowing everything is ready to go. Our house is almost empty, I've got some cleaning to do tonight before bed and then we're all set! Here is a pic of my poor kid who has been passed from friend to friend so we can get the house all ready. She is eating her dinner on the floor, hasn't been out of her pjs all day and she's wearing a hat b/c our door is open (b/c Adam is loading the car) and its cold in here! Ahh...the joys of moving...with a 1 year old to boot!

Sweet Girl

One More Day?

I'm really not trying to sabotage our plans of leaving today by blogging rather than packing but I think I may have convinced Adam that we need 1 more day. :) We will definitely finish packing today but I think with all the calls we need to make to cancel phone, Internet, etc and just last minute details one more day might be in order. Thanks to ALL my elves who came over yesterday to clean and help pack...Josh, Melissa, Rama, Julia and to Sar for helping w/ B. And thanks to the darlings that stopped by to say "see you later"...Ems, Kel, La...love you to bits. So...we are officially Bass Lake bound and will be there either today or tomorrow at the latest (whether Adam and I will still be on speaking terms by then is still up for debate) :) Moving is stressful!! Okay, that's the scoop...more later of course.
OH -PS the phone interview went well and they told Adam they will call him on 1/11/08 for a conference call interview and then after that they will decide who they are flying out for more interviews, stay tuned and keep those prayers a comin'!

BYE BYE Entertainment Center!

Okay, I have NO time to be blogging right now (Adam would wring my neck if he knew!) but I had to do this really fast. This post is for the MANY of you out there who know about my journey with my entertainment center...from looking for years, to designing my own, to not having it be what I wanted, etc. Well, Josh and Katie are the proud new owners and Adam and Josh just about broke their backs trying to move it. I had to commemorate this event (esp for you Abs). :)

(and no, Adam doesn't make a habit of wearing mock turtlenecks but all our clothes are packed away!)

And to all my friends reading this...if you have some spare time this afternoon FEEL FREE to head on over. :)

Um...STILL moving...

Adam and I are exhausted, mentally, physically, emotionally, and any other way that one can experience. Our house doesn't look like we're realistically moving out in 1 day...we'll see how it all works out. I escaped for a bit last night and went to a Laurie Hutton jewelry party...needed a breather from this chaos and it was a good opportunity to say "see you later" to some dolls before leaving. I have strangers from craigslist coming over today to pick up our stove, fridge, and dryer b/c Sona said she doesn't want those things left here...um, okay, typically future tenants appreciate those things but WHATEVER. Sigh...okay, I just put B down for a nap so I better use my time wisely...no rest for the weary! (sidebar...as I type Adam is having a phone interview w/ a dude from the Indiana school he wants to work at so...pray hard and I'll keep everyone posted!).

Still Moving...

So today is more of the same, packing and purging. SIGH. I look around my house and am thinking "is this seriously going to be done by the 20th?!" Kelly came by tonight to help and that she did! I won't say drill sergeant but um...needless to say she kept me in line and focused. :) I must say I've never seen 1 suitcase able to house so many items! She is a master packer and was good (for lack of a better word) at not letting me take too many of the same thing (specifically sweaters). :) Seriously Kel, thank you for ALL your help...I can't imagine what the place would look like if you hadn't come by. So that's me today.
In my efforts to not say goodbye to anyone I've started to fail, I was somewhat forced to have to say goodbye to Rama today after my last WHS moms (missed you Sar) -needless to say I cried all the way home. Have I mentioned I hate moving?

Moving Day

So today was our big moving day...and its official, I hate moving. However, I must give some serious love to our AMAZING friends who came to help, here they are in no particular order~Brian, Dave, Brandon, Rob, Jon, Chris, Jonathan, Josh, Aaron, Margaret, Kelly, Katie H., Lauren, Wendy, Katie M., and Erin -YOU GUYS ROCK! Thank you to everyone for working so hard and helping move our stuff, literally and figuratively -we couldn't have done it without you. Now I'm sitting here with the keyboard on my lap in an almost empty house, very sad and depressing. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm in some denial about this whole thing but as I sit here and type with a card board box holding my monitor it is starting to sink in and its very sad and real. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends who have made these past 6+ years so great, you will all be missed beyond words (and no, this isn't a goodbye).

Here is Brennan checking herself out -the mirror is much more accessible on the floor than the wall. :)


Margaret showing off her packing skills...or wrapping skills?

WAY TO GO KEL!!!

Kelly graduated from Azusa Pacific University today! I am SO proud of my dear friend and (although still sick) was thrilled to be there to share in her big day. Congratulations Kel! You did it!!!!! Glad to have you as a fellow cougar. :)

The Graduate

WHO HOO!

The Girls

My WHS Moms "See you Later" Dinner

It is a tradition in my mom's group to throw a dinner party for a mom who is moving away. Sadly we have had too many of these lately and I'm sad to be among them. My sweet friends made me a yummy dinner and fabulous dessert. Words cannot express how much I will miss our Monday mornings and each one of these amazing women. As mentioned below I'm not saying goodbye so it was my "see you later" dinner and it was FAB-U-LOUS. LOVE YOU GIRLS!!

My Girls

Pretty table Rama!

Melissa made the yummiest wedge salad and Sarah made amazing mini cheesecakes! (I didn't get pics of the shrimp, chicken, etc but it was a-maz-ing!)

Sarah gave us each a box of Christmas cookies and the ladies bought me these FAB pjs! They are so me!! I'm a spoiled girl that's for sure!

Tea for Three

Yesterday I had a lovely afternoon of tea with 2 of the coolest cats ever. I'm refusing to say goodbye to my friends so this wasn't a goodbye tea or anything, just a few good friends getting together to have a sweet afternoon of chatting and sipping. I will however miss the two of you terribly. Okay, I'm not saying any more!

Jod, Shannon and me

Address Labels and Sickness

Hello dear blog readers (all 2 of you). Wanted to let you all know that Kelly came to the rescue and made me new address labels! So...Christmas cards are officially out and I couldn't be happier. THANK YOU KELLY!
Sorry for my lack of posting...I actually do have some things to post from my great day yesterday but alas...today was the opposite of great. Adam has been really sick the past couple of days and he passed it on to me and B. Sigh....I woke up w/ B and she proceeded to puke all over me, I then woke up Adam and said "I'm not feeling so well" and I have been in bed ALL day...just now surfacing. I hate being sick and especially NOW! I have a million things to do in the next 5 days and laying in bed is not one of them.
So...stay tuned for my posting of yesterday.

OH.MY.GOSH.

Okay, as I type this I am trying to take DEEP BREATHS. I have been asked on more than one occasion "wheres my Christmas card?" to which I reply "they are ready, stamped, addressed, etc just waiting for my return address labels that I ordered weeks ago!" So, today I go to my mailbox, and there they are! Who Hoo right?! WRONG! I open them up and this is what they say "The Winn's Have Moved! PO BOX 890" Um...WHAT?!! No city, no zip code, and there shouldn't be an apostrophe on "Winns!" Seriously?!!! So....there's that. I'm still debating about how I'm going to go about remedying this situation...I just needed to vent. I realize in the grand scheme of things this is nothing....I get it, however...I am beyond irritated in this moment. Breathe....

HB Christmas Party

Our Sunday school class had their Christmas party the other night, it was a lot of fun and I had a great time snapping some pics of a handful of the kiddos. I will miss our class and all the wonderful people we've come to know and love thru it. I'm refusing to say goodbye at this point so...there!

Sarah, me and Hailey

George and Rebekah

Trevor and Ivan

Jaki and Seth and Hailey

Sore Bips, Part 2

Back from the dr and Brennan does indeed have a diaper rash! The dr said she also has a yeast infection. :( Poor baby! So, $35 later for the co-pay, $1.60 for parking, and $85 for the cream we should be on the mend.

Sore Bips

So poor little Brennan has had horrible diaper rash the past several days...I've tried a million different fancy shmancy creams and nothing is helping. Sar recommended I call and get a prescription cream from the dr so I did and they told me she has to be seen. Sigh...so I have to pay my $35 co-pay for a 30 second appointment in which the dr will confirm she has diaper rash and give me some cream. I'm going today at 11:20 in hopes that my poor sweet pea can get some relief. So...all you moms out there (or any one who has a vast knowledge of all things baby)- know of any wonder cream/remedy for such a situation?

PS this leads me to another "will miss" -having her dr SO close and being able to get in right away.

Our house is chaos and this is in the living room rather than the kitchen right now and here is how we're using it these days...

Last Sunday Morning at Lake...

Yesterday was our last Sunday morning at Lake Ave Church...well, for now anyway. Brennan looked pretty darn cute so I had to snap some pics of my sweet pea. Brennan has been a "dove" this whole time and when I picked her up from the nursery they told me it was time for her to become a "lamb" and move up to the next class. Sad that B won't get to graduate and become a lamb but...maybe later I guess.

Claudia's Red/Black Ladies Only Christmas Party

Claudia had a fun, ladies-only, come dressed in red or black little party this weekend! The ladies had a great time chatting and nibbling. I am definitely going to miss Claudia, one of the best parts about working in the insurance industry was meeting my dear friend. (I didn't take many pics this evening...didn't know several of the ladies there and didn't want them to wonder why I needed their pic. :))

Early Christmas Present

For Christmas this year Kelly surprised me and Lauren with a dessert cooking class! We had so much fun and ate way too much sugar. We made chocolate molten cake, apple tare titan, something I can't pronounce (but it was essentially a tower of cream puffs), and mini lemon tarts. It was a really fun afternoon with my dear friends and a fabulous Christmas present~thanks Kel!



The Chefs

Will DEFINITELY Miss...

Brennan's nursery. It really makes me sad to think of her not having a nursery for the next 4 months...sigh. I hope to be able to re-create it and make it even better (ie painting the walls...and this brings me to a "won't miss" -Sona would never let me paint which I never understood since by law she has to have the house re-painted when we move out! And has already told me the painter will be coming January 3rd!) GRRR...anyway, I digress...so, I will really miss Brennan's pretty nursery that I spent so much time on and really love. Yep, this is a BIG miss.