Hello Josiah!

Uncle Luke...

a new tradition...

Last night the philosopher and I got back from a quick little trip to Vancouver with L's mom, Christy. It was a lot of fun. We picnicked by a rose garden, ate interesting food and spent hours walking through Stanley Park admiring the gardens, interacting with the raccoons, looking at the trees, and talking.

The raccoons were very, very unnaturally social and absolutely adorable. They were so used to people feeding them peanuts and such that they would walk right up to you with their big eyes asking for food.

We also spent over four hours at the Vancouver aquarium looking at fish and watching the dolphins play. Oh, how I love dolphins! It was the first time, that any of us could think of, that we've been to an aquarium that wasn't solely focused on entertainment. There was a big social push for sustainability and alternatives with our fishing practices. It used to be that the aquariums went and caught their whales, dolphins, otters, sea lions, etc... But surprisingly, and sadly, most of their whales, dolphins, and sea lions were rescued.

...And then we walked and talked a little more.


{all photos by my philosopher or myself}

moving up

My brother Corbin and his girlfriend Julie have spent the last couple of days driving from the heart of Texas to their new home in Colorado. Isn't their new house cute?! Now comes the fun part: unpacking loads of boxes and stocking an empty fridge! Too bad they'll have to deal with things like letters of congratulations and birthday presents in the mail as well... hint, hint! Have fun y'all.

today

the philosopher and I joined 13 other people at the lake for a birthday in honor of L's grandmother and myself. Sylvia turned 83 on the sixth and I turned 22. We got off to a late start on a rather cool and cloudy day but had a good time all in all. The philosopher and I got schooled at pickleball, hung out the the grandparents, chatted with aunts and uncles and cousins and friends, sat out on the dock, and feasted on (garden)burgers. I also received a pretty awesome cadeau! I'll admit it looks a little bit like a fisher price toy in person but I can't wait to start taking it out to play!

happy birthday to me!

Today I turned 22.
Yikes!
I can remember being in 5th grade
absolutely unable to imagine the year 2005 - -
when I would be graduating from high school.
Whoa. Time flies.

Even though I had a test yesterday
and I'm prepping for another tomorrow,
today has been a very nice day!

I woke up to a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs,
cooked with love by my philosopher,
followed shortly by a phone call from my mom
singing happy birthday.

I received a phone call from someone special
that I haven't heard from in ages,
got one of the most special letters of my life
{from my philosopher, bien sûr}
AND I got a surprise present in the mail!

Remember my recent wish
for a cute little red sewing machine?
Well, I just got one!
{I love Amazon but I love Kay more!}

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”

-George Burns

{sometimes I think this might be true...}

oh my! hello again!

{image found here}

Eeek! Where has the time flown?
In the last week I have:
taken two quizzes and a final for french 101
witnessed pirates landing on Alki Beach with a very tired little boy
eaten popcorn...dreamed of cupcakes
worked on wedding invitations
visited the ferry four times
gone for a few long walks, cramming vocab along the way
gone to Lake Goodwin on a rainy day
watched Ice Age 3 in 3D
eaten fries at Red Robin
gone on a few emotional roller coasters
watched Good Will Hunting, cuddling with my philosopher
my tumblarity has gone from 98 to 2
and... well... I have learned that
I NEED TO TAKE MORE PICTURES.

Special Company

The last time I got to spend time with Kay and Kaleb here in the beautiful pacific northwest we took a road trip up to Canada. Kaleb still needed a car seat and we were busy prodding his words. In a few minutes I'm headed to the airport to pick them up again. I have a feeling things will be a little bit different this time around.

island time

{photo of Bainbridge found here}

The philosopher and I have been visiting my mom on Bainbridge.
Besides spending time laughing and talking with my mom
we've been busy buying a suit for Luke, eating Mexican food,
reading, eating junk food, watching movies,
cleaning, weeding, and, again, eating Mexican food.
Tonight we plan on playing with our kitties, eating Big Salads,
and finishing our favorite trilogy.
Happy Thursday!

home grown goodness

This morning Luke and I picked fresh lettuce from our own little garden.
I love it. As I think about having a larger garden of our own at some point
I must remind myself that I've gotten a very special, low maintenance
introduction to gardening. Do you remember the end of Wall-E when the
ship captain is showing the kids how to garden? He is so enthusiastic
as he talks about the things they'll be able to produce
- pizza plants being one of them! That is about how I feel.
Anything is possible. Plant the seeds and they grow!
The philosopher and I tried to start slowly, only planting things
that are difficult to mess up or ruin.
Meanwhile, my will-be mother-in-law has perfected everything else.
All together the garden has: snap peas, lettuce, spinach, carrots, tomatoes,
bell peppers, watermelons, cucumbers, squash, rhubarb, green onions,
cauliflower... and probably some more things I'm not aware of.

{the garden}

{our little plot with lettuce, spinach, carrots, green onions, and bell peppers}

{the view from the street}

And Katie makes three

{photo by Anne Geddes, of course!}

My sister had her third baby on Saturday.
Little Katie has been much anticipated.
We're so happy she's here!

Coming into the light with over 9 pounds of health
and a head full of black hair
I've got a feeling this one is trouble.

a surprising visit

My brother Corbin and his girlfriend Julie recently came to visit from Texas. It was nice to see him, although we only were able to have dinner once. With a table full of people it hardly felt like a visit! I did get to spend some extra time with Julie. As a treat for the visit my mom made appointments at the Angeline Spa for us three ladies: massages, facials, some quite reading time, and a lovely view. It was great. The most surprising part was the facial. I'd never had a facial before. To be honest, I worried it would be a bit painful. Oh was I wrong! Forget massages! If I never have a professional massage again it'll be fine by me - just give me a facial! I was trying to describe the experience to L afterward and I realized it just can not be done. There is no way to explain why it feels so amazing. But it does.

Happy Birthday, Christy!

{photo by me}

Yesterday we celebrated my will-be-mother-in-law's birthday!
It was fun. An evening full of kabobs and games, laughter and conversation.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTY!

Happy Birthday, Kaleb!

The last week or so has been kind of hectic
trying to get scholarship applications completed, articles ready for publication,
yada, yada, yada...
In all the hullapalooza I forgot to make a very important post - -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KALEB!!

Kaleb is my go-to pirate-cowboy-smartass-superstar!

I can't believe he's FIVE years old!!

P.S. Kids are so funny! I can't figure out if its jealousy I see in their faces or pure rapture at the birthday-wish-making magic.

so...

...my will-be mother-in-law had a dream the other night that I was pregnant. At first I just thought it was funny but, I'll admit, it started to freak me out. Joe, her boyfriend, heard that I'd been a little freaked out by the dream-premonition and decided to help out by leaving a couple of 'baby maps' in my apartment.


umm... isn't it an unspoken rule that pregnancy jokes are not funny?

Happy Mother's Day

I suppose it is ironic that in the photo series L & I made for our mothers I am blatantly ignoring some of my mother's advice: don't slouch. Note to self: Mom was right on this one. Although, given the fact that the wind was blowing my hair across my face in pretty much every photo, the slouching isn't the only issue. Oh well. What the picture lacks in grace we'll make up for later tonight with chocolate cake!

I'm going to be an aunt, again!

{a photo of my niece, Emily}

M

y sister Jodi is pregnant with her third child expected sometime late this month. They finally decided on a name and had a funny story to tell about it. As they sat their children down to tell them their soon-to-be little sister's name, my nephew Ben decided it was only fair that he play a part in the naming process. Jodi & John were planning on a "Kate" but by the end of the conversation it was an official "Katie". Way to go Ben.

Ben's enthusiasm with the name is actually a big step too. When he first found out the boy-girl balance in the house would soon be against him he started crying unconsolably. In fact, my sister wasn't able to get him to stop until she'd promised him a hamster.

Of course, as soon as I found out they'll be having another {little girl} I started collecting a few presents to send along as Katie's birth neared. In a lot of ways my gift-gathering was an accidental trial run for etsy - an experiment to see just how talented these crafters really are. There are four especially brilliant artists who I've had the pleasure of supporting:

1. Mama Robot, an artist who silkscreens her images on American Apparel onsies along with a variety of shirts for adults. She also offers the cutest little gift tags featuring reproductions of her art.

2. The PataCakeBaby, a company based in Idaho that sells handmade blankets, wet bags, diaper diddies, onsies, etc...My favorite thing about this shop? They've got a whole line of items in Alexander Henry's "Juicy Jungle" fabric! {I came accross "Juicy Jungle" in my local JoAnne and pretty much wiped them clean. But, my eyes are bigger than my ability in terms of sewing right now...} I went for a diddie and I plan to make a blanket myself in a few weeks... I might make a tee pee or a sleeping bag too for the big sister!

3. Sugar Plumb Tree, based out of California Jenny Plumb creates all sorts of accessories for toddlers and kids. I purchase the cutest pair of leg warmers with felt flower appliques. Even though my sister lives in Texas and the baby will only get to wear them a few times, they were absolutely worth it!

4. Finally, Aurelia & Annalise (now ivory&moss), is a wonderful shop that carries the most amazing handmade shoes for babies. Every order is made custom and styles can be modified to your liking. I really had to control myself in this shop - particularly after I recieved these. Maybe as summer rolls around I'll break down and order a pair of these and these and * maybe even * a pair of these (even though they're meant for boys) for my new niece.