Recent Projects

Well for starters, I started work today!!! It feels ridiculous, but I have never been more happy to start a minimum wage paying job. I think it will be really fun though. It will feel good to have a paycheck again and a consistant schedule. Today was just two hours of training and paperwork, but I got paid for it. :)

Other news is all of the projects I have been working on around the house in all my spare time. I have found I really enjoy interior decorating and especially being creative on a tiny budget. Below is the painting I did above our sink in the kitchen. It matches the tablecloth and runner I bought.
For Valentine's Day one of the things I got Soren was new sheets for our bed. He LOVES high thread count sheets and I really wanted white sheets. Unfortunately those are the sheets that never go on sale so when I found some 1000 thread counts on sale, I was really excited. I bought them and hid them for a few weeks until Valentine's Day. On Thursday I bought paint for our room and surprised Soren by painting the whole room and putting on new sheets in one day. It was a LOT of work, especially on my prego back. But I am super happy with how it turned out. Soren helped me put up curtains on Saturday.

Don't mind the exercise machine. Its basically a bike for your arms that we got for free. Its like the perfect machine for Soren's damaged shoulders. It's an eyesore, but we have no where else to put it. :)

Below are the flowers I recently put up in our living room. They are fake, but actually look pretty real.

Those are all my projects. The baby's room is next so I'll keep you posted.

Speaking of baby, I started my third trimester yesterday and what is insane is that I definitely feel like it. My back has started to bug me a lot in just the last few days. Its bearable, but a far cry from feeling totally normal. 12 weeks to go. :)

I Got a JOB!!!

As the regular subscribers to my blog know, I have been on the job hunt since October. It has been a long, tedious, and incredibly frustrating experience. But it has finally ended today. I got a call from GAP Kids and was offered a position! I start next Tuesday and it will be a great job. The hours, discount, and location all just couldn't be better.

I should note though that there are currently thousands of people on the job market and I feel incredibly blessed to find a job. I have also been super grateful that Soren has a great job and we can still make ends meet with just his salary. I feel a little selfish seeing as I just wanted the job so I can stay busy. I know there are lots of people out there who need jobs just to feed themselves. So.....I am super grateful and excited about this offer. Thanks to all those who have listened to my complaints over the last few months. :) I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Sundays

So Sundays are definitely the new favorite day at our house. Now that Soren works Monday-Saturday, Sundays are our only real time to be together, unless he has meetings at church all day. (There have been a lot of meetings lately.) This week was like the first day we could spend the whole day together in weeks. It was a lot of fun to go to stake conference and sit next to eachother. We got to go home and eat french toast together.

Here are some pics of us in our Sunday best. (Soren always complains about the pictures I post of him, but he took this one, so hopefully he'll approve. Note the new work/Sunday attire I recently outfitted him in. )

Me at 26 weeks.

We then drove out to Mt. Pilchuck to explore nature on a mini-hike. It was really beautiful and we got a lot of talking time in. Soren brought his stove and we made hot chocolate next to this really cool waterfall. The weather was really clear and cool and we had a great time. Washington is definitely really pretty out in the wild.

None of my play clothes fit me so Soren put me in his. Yes I know they are slimming and attractive. :)

And So It Begins

Today is officially the first Saturday Soren has had to work. It looks like busy season is upon us and the leisure of a five day work week gone. We knew this was coming and have heard all the horror stories of 60-80 work weeks, but so far we have been somewhat shielded. But the poor guy has 4 clients to get work done on today and its looking like it will take all day. It doesn't help that he has to wear business/sunday attire permenantly now. Monday through Saturday and then church meetings all day Sunday. At least that is what he thought this morning until he got to work and found everyone else in jeans. What a bummer. We ironed a shirt and everything.

I don't mind too much except that I no longer feel like I have Saturdays either. The only thing that distinguishes my days is that Monday through Friday I entertain myself and then I can a least count on someone else being home on Saturdays, even if he is studying. I think I will go eat lunch with him today which will be nice, but otherwise my activities today are pretty up in the air.

Good news to report though. I got a call from Baby Gap yesterday for an interview next week. Out of the 300,000+ jobs I have applied for that might be like the fourth call back. I take that as a good sign. This past week I have been fortunate to have a temporary job working on apartment turnovers at another complex. My neighbor and I have been making $15/hour to put contact paper in cupboards, paint rooms, and clean. It has been a lot more physically demanding than I would have expected, but the paycheck will be nice. It will help cover the cost of nursery decorations and birthing classes.

Speaking of birthing, the baby is still alive and well. He kicks A LOT and definitely doesn't let us forget he is around. We are still on schedule for a May 11 arrival and doing well. I can tell he is starting to slow me down a little more though. I'm sure that will only worsen. No names yet.

Pregnancy Photo

So I haven't really taken any photos since I got pregnant to show the baby. Here is a fuzzy idea of how pregnant I look at 23 weeks.

Our Christmas Break Was Amazing

For Christmas this year we got to go to Missouri to visit my family. It was so wonderful. I LOVE going home and this Christmas was great. I got to go for almost 2 weeks....it was so hard to come back to Seattle.

The weekend we left was the most insane weather that Seattle has seen in a long time. It snowed like 20 inches that weekend and made flying very difficult. I was lucky to get out only 3 hours late, but upon arriving in Kansas City there was an ice storm and I was almost sent to St. Louis instead. Soren flew out a few days later and almost didn't make it out. The airport ran out of de-icer so his flight was cancelled. Luckily he talked to the right attendant who got him on a different flight which happened to be the only one leaving that day because it had already been deiced. He even got to Missouri sooner than he would have on his other flight. I was so grateful we still got to come.

Unfortunately I got the flu the day after I got there so the first few days I was pretty lazy. Just your typical stomach ache and some heartburn. I would rather be sick at home with family though instead of in Seattle by myself. I felt better pretty soon, although TUMS are my new friend. The heartburn didn't leave....looks like its here to stay. :)


It snowed while we were there so my brothers were really happy to sled with Soren.

The day before Christmas Eve we went to a family friend's house to make Gingerbread cookies and play games. It was really, really fun.

This is Thompson's creation.

This is Logan's (10). Yes, he ate it.

Soren made a crazy buck tooth man and a James bond in a tuxedo. :)

I am kinda biased towards my little girl and man. They were way more fun to make than eat.

CHRISTMAS EVE...

We always have an amazing meal on Christmas Eve. Mom made an awesome ham with rolls and potatoes, ect.... Unfortunately I had my first pregnancy smell issue. The baked ham was the most nauseating smell I have ever had. I thought I would lose it. Luckily it took about a day, but I got used to it.

Mom and Dad's beautiful tree.

We opened the ultrasound Christmas morning. It was so nerve wracking.... :)


Cody, 15 got me new markers for my calendar.
Isn't my Mom cute? While I was there 3 different people asked if we were sisters while we were out shopping.My parents and I got Soren new tools for Christmas. He was pretty happy.
Dad and me with his new scarf.

Thompson ,5, was pretty happy about his new Legos.
Broch, 20, wasn't around too much during the trip, but he did show up for Christmas day.


We then had a yummy family breakfast.
During the break Soren helped my Dad put up sheetrock in the basement. He's a pretty handy guy to have around.
Mom and Dad got me a new watercolor set for Christmas so Dad and I spent an evening painting away. Soren posed for this headshot. Another benefit to going home is getting together with all my friends. We had about 15 people over for a treat and game night. It was so fun to get together with everyone. There were lots of laugh and giggles. This is one of my best friends Kayleigh, in flight school for the NAVY at the moment. Adam and Ashley are with me below. What a great trip! We had a blast. Thanks for everything family!

Its A......

BOY!

Yes its true, we are having a baby boy come May. We had the ultrasound last week and but I didn't look. The technician put all the pictures in a sealed envelope and sent it home with me. I saved it until Christmas morning and today we opened it. I sure had a hard time sleeping this Christmas eve.

My brothers and Soren were thrilled! My Mom and I were still holding out hopes for a girl, but maybe next time. It is nice to finally know. Now onto the names.....