Simple truth

I am not a popular person. I know this. Probably more than I should. But I felt this fact blaring me straight in the face recently while perusing Facebook. A woman I idolize made a random/unplanned comment about how mundane she feels her life is and receives 100+ likes alone, coupled with several comments. I post a major life changing event happening in a few short weeks; an announcement I've been stewing over for days and I get 4 acknowledgements. FOUR total. The truth sometimes hurts.

Thank you four friends. Really.

(Eight-Oh-What) !!??

You might want to sit down for this.

Because it is kind of a shock.

It was shocking for us; that is for sure.

We're moving.

To Utah.

In 4 weeks.

Our house is on the market starting today. Our boxes are being packed. We're training the new pool guy. It's pretty much a done deal. Crazy right? It's kind of a long and complicated story, but for journaling's sake, here is the jist of it. Mark has had his real estate license for some time now. We've also been looking into moving to another neighborhood somewhere in the Bay Area that would put us in a more desirable location and yet wasn't toally out of our price range. So, we've had an open eye for over a year now.

Fast forward to December. With all the thoughts in the air, we decided to look into Utah, being that Mark grew up there and knows so many people who could use him as an agent. A few miraculous phone calls and one spontaneous trip for an interview later, and we were offered a job with Equity Real Estate that we just couldn't refuse. Talk about a quick change of events!

Overall, we are beyond thrilled. I am a little nervous about moving to a totally new area. But the opportunities there for our family are so much more than what we could build for ourselves here in California. And so - we're off. Projected move date - the end of February.

 Making our Home into a House again

And as a side note: I wish I lived this clean more often. Seriously, these past 24 hours that we've been prepping the house for showing has made for a pretty beautiful and remarkably clean home. Which is super nice. With the exception of worrying about every little dust particle that lands on my freshly cleaned hardwood floors, its been nice.

(Shameless plug - now that it's all official, if you're looking for an agent and you live anywhere in the Salt Lake/Utah County areas, contact us!)

Photo Dump

Have I mentioned that I am loving the smartness of my phone. It's amazing, for many reasons. But one reason in particular is the photo power that I hold constantly. I just love that I can capture a little moment without having to hunt down the camera. So here is one of I am sure will be many, many future photo dumps.

And I would take pictures of something other than my son but, he's all I hang out with these days. So - when my life gets more interesting and involved, then the photos will too. :)

I'll Pin That.

By popular request, I bring you these delicious spinach mushroom cups that were just delightful for my family. I was surprised how well they turned out actually.  So three cheers to wherever I got this

recipe.

  

Spinach Mushroom Cups

 1 TBS olive Oil

1/2 onion

1 lb mushrooms

5 oz spinach

1 1/2 cups Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded

salt & pepper to taste

6 flour tortillas

1 avocado

Preheat oven to 450. Heat oil in skillet, add onion and cook 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until golden, 5-8 minutes. Transfer to bowl and toss with spanich and 1 cup jack. Season with salt and pepper. Coat 6 jumbo muffin cups with cooking spray and press tortillas into cups.  Divide vegetable mixture among cups and top with remaining cheese. Bake until cheese is melted and tortillas are light golden and crisp, about 7 minutes. Serve topped with avocado.

Half way to One

Weight: 25.3 lbs

Height: 28.5 inches

** Just the most darling boy. Seriously. I'm not sure if all my kids are going to be able to meet the cuteness level of their older brother. He is DARLING.

** Teething. Nightmare. Always grumpy. Always slobbery. Always sad. Upside: always cuddly.

** Stationary. Will roll in one direction only. Does not like his tummy at all. We're beginning to force a little more tummy time to encourage muscle development and crawling. No progress yet. Sits on his own like a champ. Stands in his saucer thing and loves it. Amazed at his own reflection.

** Taking "big boy" baths. No more little baby tub. Although, he doesn't fully understand the joy of water yet. Instead of splashing around and playing with toys, he'll sit there still as a statue until the experience is over.

** Growing out of his car seat. Gosh I wish I purchased that 3 in 1 deal when it was at Costco.

** Eats Gerber Puffs. Yup - he chews. Although he doesn't get the hand to mouth coordination just yet, we're working on it. Other foods are too long to list, but I just purchased a food grinder to begin grinding what's on the table for dinner. No more special meals at dinner time. For that I am excited.

** Starting to teach him to hold his own bottle. And I think he's starting to get it. Sort of.

Facts and Thoughts

FACT: I don't do gyms. I pretend that I like to go, and I try to fool myself into thinking that "if I'm paying for it, then I'll go." But the terrible problem is that I end up paying a monthly fee for a one time visit. I so much prefer the great outdoors for a run, or a Pinterest workout over sitting on the treadmill. Dear Self: do not sign up for gym memberships. You will waste your money.

FACT: I am a half morning person. Not a real morning person. I like the idea of getting out of bed at 6 am and getting a bunch of stuff going for my day. But the truth is that I much prefer sleeping in until 7:30. To some that is still really morning, but I think that i've "slept in and wasted 2 hours of my day" if I get up at 8. Dear Self: settle on 7. It's a happy medium.

FACT: iPin. A lot. A ton actually. Some boards are Overly pinned. But I love it. Pinterest is the greatest thing since sliced bread. So great. Dear Self: Create a {Did It} board where you can move the pins you did and comment on what you thought of them. (no photos necessary.)

FACT: I don't drink enough water. Remembering to drink all that I'm suppose to is like a full time job. And I stink at it. I make goals, I make boxes for checking off glasses, I make charts, and sheets, and motivational speeches. I still can't get the liquid down. Dear Self: Drink 1 glass before you eat.

FACT: I have sugar teeth. Not one tooth, but many teeth. I think I may have one "healthy tooth" among the lot of them. And it is my demise. I go 3 days eating well, and I think I deserve a small reward. And what kind of reward would you be gifting yourself if it wasn't a sweet treat? Seriously. I can't reward myself in clothes becaue I'm in my "I won't be this size forever" phase so I can't buy new clothes that will be too big for me in a few months. Please don't pay attention to how long this phase has been lasting-this is why we call it a phase; no time frame specified. Anyway-I digress. Dear self: moderation. Have only 1 or 2. ONE klondike bar. or TWO cookies. not 2 Klondike bars and 12 cookies.

FACT: I need to get out more. Out for fun more, not out to grocery shop or Visit teach more. I need to stroll the shops for fun, or take a bike ride with my family, or get my nails done while reading US weekly. I need to enjoy this phase of life that I'm in and not waste it sitting at home because its comfortable here. Dear self: have a family "outing" once a month and a personal "outing" once a month.

FACT: I love my "housewife" job. My "clean the house, cook the meals, bathe the kids" job. I seriously LOVE it. But I am aweful at it. I blog instead of clean. We restaurant-ize instead of cook. And Mark bathes more than I do. {the kids mind you. That isn't to say that my personal hygine couldn't use a step up}. I don't know where I go wrong. I have the calendars, the lists, the menus, the frozen meals, the crockpot, and the gumption all up and running sunday night. Somehow the week hits me in the gut and I loose all my wind. Dear Self: schedule one "open kitchen" night a week. This will give you a break to look forward to.

Christmas Morning

 Christmas was great to us this year. We were more than blessed with such wonderful gifts. Although Cameron is still a little too young to be any real part of the Christmas festivities, it was delightful to have him around.

It was just our little family who celebrated together this year. No other family or people to visit that day. Which to some is a weird thing, but its pretty common place for us. We've shared Christmas alone almost every year since we've met. So its right up our ally. Funny thing, Cameron has been quite the early riser in our household, often ready for the day before the clock strikes 6am. However, on Christmas morning, he decided to sleep in! What? He has not done this before nor since, but on Christmas morning we had to tiptoe into his room and wake him up. It was so funny as Mark and I lay in bed waiting to hear the lad call out to us. Finally, we got tired of waiting and at 7:30 we crept out to see our lovely Christmas display.

I was overly excited to give Mark our camera remote. So awesome to document the entire Christmas day almost each minute. The mess growing, our faces smiling, and our whole family of 3. So fun. I especially like our new tradition I got from some blog somewhere - Santa brings sugar cereal. We are NOT a sugar cereal household so to have the option of lucky charms or Trix is a treat. (I still won't eat it for breakfast. But nothing beats a 10pm snack like sugary cereal goodness).

Mark and I love gifting each other. And unlike some couples who discuss their gifts with each other., we are very secretive in our planning and purchasing. So the entire day is a delightful Christmas surprise. Mark spoiled me rotten, as usual; with the grand finale being my coveted Silhouette machine. And I went against my natural self and purchased all available seasons of Psych to feed his psych passion. I'm a rock star.

It was a perfect Christmas morning. After all the gift opening, we enjoyed some Nutella French Toast, compliments to Pinterest. And ate chocolate and junk food all day long. It was lovely and merry and bright. Just as we had asked for.

Typical

I am super motivated in the morning. This morning especially, I was going to get some stuff done! As soon as I put the baby down for his morning nap - I had an agenda.

Agenda for my morning:
Wash dishes, clean kitchen from fiasco last night
Fold Laundry
Start another load
Jillian for 20 minutes
Shower
Work until nap is done

How it really went:
Skip dishes - to daunting
Move to bedroom to fold laundry.
Pick up jeans first.
Remember the hole in the crotch. Replacement Overdue
Move to computer to order new jeans online
Fill online cart with shirts and pants. Can't find the right jeans. Close window without an order.
Check emails. See all the facebook action.
Open Facebook. Waste time.
Open Pinterest. Waste more time.
Remember an email you were needing to send.
Send email.
Pinterest again.
  (keep in mind the jeans that started this whole mess are still sitting on my lap)
Facebook again.
Realize that the laundry still is on the bed.
Close windows and return to fold laundry.
Think. "this is so typical. I've wasted my whole morning. I do this every day! Now the baby is going to wake up. I should blog this."
Leave laundry again. 2 pairs of jeans folded. Blog.
Post blog.
Read my blog.
Read other people's blogs.
Baby is awake.
Sit a while longer while baby cries.

Morning is over.
So much for Jillian. and laundry. and dishes.

Love Him

I have the best love. The kind that books talk about. The kind that they sing songs about; and poets write about, and people dream about. I have that. He supports me in all my hobbies. He listens to my wants and needs and then provides them all. He goes out of his way to buy the XXL Nachos from the Bell. He knows what kind of soda I'm into; which is a big deal considering it changes randomly. He watches Pitch Perfect too many times, and laughs with me. He praises me when I quote a movie line at the perfect moment. I inherited some awesome friends through him. I am perfectly content spending all my free time with just him. Love that man of mine.