Around Here

This week has been a crazy one. I think my "favorite" moment this week was coming home to discover the freezer door had been left wide open all day (we don't have AC and it was 100 degrees that day). I had a pretty big mess to clean up.

In the midst of all the random craziness, I am always ever so grateful for my telecommuting days. It is a welcome sigh of relief to have a day where I can schedule work hours around my family. Between this week's telecommuting work projects, I was able to snap a few photos with my new camera!

As much as I hated spending so much on an object that is not important in the grand scheme of life, sometimes we just need to embrace our #firstworld problems and fork out hundreds of dollars on the things we love. The new camera is a million times better than my old one, and it has been quite the adjustment. I have always preferred shooting in manual mode, and this camera does much of the work that made my old camera difficult while taking manual shots. I still have a lot to learn, but I hope to get there soon. I think I finally have all the settings where I want them to be.

These were all shot with the 50mm lens Jeff bought me for Christmas a couple years ago. I love this lens! And it works far better on this camera than my old one.

I also wanted to capture a few indoor shots at a higher ISO. I think it still works great, even with a wiggling subject. 

Yesterday morning Everett broke out of the house, turned on the sprinkler, and started running through the water. I told him he needed shoes on if he was going to play outside, so he ran inside and attempted to put on a pair of shoes. He is such a funny little kid.

I am pretty darned proud of myself. I made my first ever batch of non-freezer jam (even though we now have plenty of room in our freezer). I had nightmares that all the lids popped up overnight, but when I woke up in the morning, not one had popped. This is probably because I had Jeff use his man hands to tighten them. Hopefully we will be able to get them open when it comes time to consume the deliciousness. 

Peaches for days!

We finally got some calls from daycares this week. We have been on waitlists for months! My little baby will be starting "preschool" soon!

New Etsy Listings!

If you have not been over to my Etsy Shop in a while, I have posted a few new listings. One of my favorite parts about traveling is getting to share images and memories from places I have visited around the world. That said, I recently added 2 photographs from our trip to Yellowstone. I hope you enjoy them!

Feel free to check out some of my other listings as well. I am always happy to take custom orders if there is something that tickles your fancy. Sometime soon I plan on sharing how I use these images around my house for decorating - that is, if life will allow me a few spare moments of time to take pictures, edit them, post them, etc.

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

Yellowstone National Park

Checking in after a little vacation from blogging! Sorry to all my social network friends who I have been ignoring. This summer has been crazeballz, and it was good to turn off the devices for a few days. We recently took a trip to Montana for a dear friend's wedding, and decided to throw in a trip to Yellowstone at the tail end of wedding season (I still have one more this weekend, then I am officially done). I am happy to report we are still on a high from our time away from it all. Despite the ridiculously cold nighttime temperatures, I am pretty sure this was one of our best vacations yet.

Since we tent camped and made most of our food on camping stoves, we really did not end up spending too much money on our adventure. I bought us a new tent and a few camping supplies for the trip, but I consider these as lifetime investments, and not trip-specific expenses. We also borrowed a lot of supplies from my dad, who is an REI hoarder.

Unfortunately, sometime between our attendance at the wedding and our arrival in Yellowstone, my camera finally decided to crap out. For this reason, I did not get many great photos of our adventures, not for lack of trying.

Shortly after I snapped this shot, a grizzly bear stood up and started walking toward us. I visited Yellowstone at least once a year as a child, and the one thing I learned was that if you stare long enough at any one spot in the park, eventually something magical will happen. Of course, I am a nerd and think seeing animals in their natural habitat is magical, so maybe the average human doesn't care.

Our friends H&E joined us for the first few nights of our stay. It was good to have moral support from others enduring the below freezing nighttime temperatures, and their presence was oh-so fun around a campfire. And Everett loved having extra people around who were willing to throw rocks in the water with him.

I'll pay anyone money to find me a replica of this stuffed sheep.

I mean, this was the view from our campsite. Who cares about the cold when you have this view?

We were all laughing because this deer clearly regretted her decision to walk across the hot terrain. She was literally tiptoeing.

Jeff, Everett, and I hiked up the hillside to watch Old Faithful go off from a different perspective. It was nice to be away from the crowds, but a little rough going up the mountain with a giant toddler on our backs.

This little guy was Everett's favorite part of the hike. Ev could not stop laughing at him (her?).

We also caught a few other geysers going off, and took many normal-for-us pictures.

My favorite geothermal site in the park would have to be the Grand Prismatic. It. Is. Gorgeous.

Someone lost their umbrella...

I love science.

After H&E left, we had some other special visitors arrive in Yellowston. My dad and step-mom came to help us adventure a little more.

We booked a private boat tour and went fishing on the lake for a couple hours. The experience was worth every penny. "Everett" caught 2 fish, but we had to throw them back to keep the native fish population safe. The fishing restrictions in the park are very green. You even have to use special hooks so as not to harm the fish in case you catch one that needs to be thrown back.

Here we are with our awesome captain, an accountant-turned-mountainman.

For anyone tent camping in the park and looking for a break from camp food, the Old West Dinner Cookout in Tower-Roosevelt is an excellent splurge. We opted to take the wagon ride, rather than horses for three reasons: 1) we had a 2-year-old; 2) riding in those horse lines is boring (I always prefer private trail rides); 3) it is significantly cheaper.

The meal is an all you can eat steak dinner with incredible vegetarian-friendly sides. The cornbread muffins with butter and honey were my personal favorite. Yummmm. There is a little stream running through the area, and Everett had a jolly time splashing around before and after dinner. I didn't take too many pictures of him doing this activity, as I was lamenting my crappy camera performance at that particular moment. Despite my personal strife, it was another experience worth every penny.

I believe the main reason our trip was such a success was due to the fact that I invested a lot of time making packing and to-do lists. I even took 2 days off work specifically to make last minute purchases and get things at home in order. I think we only forgot one thing: a tablecloth for the campsite - but I'm also not 100% sure I actually bought one...I just remember seeing it on the shelf at the General Store...and it wasn't even necessary. Too bad I can't find the receipt.

That is all for now. Hopefully you will be hearing from me about a new camera soon! And thank goodness for the weekend! Phew, what a week.

Aslan's Country

I read The Chronicles of Narnia my freshman year of college. Since I lived off campus, I camped out in the school library and read books between classes. I had my own special chair, and rarely saw anyone else in my secluded area. I promise, I made friends a few weeks into school. But before I did, I finished all seven novels.

My first trip to the Oregon Coast happened a short while after finishing these books. Jeff brought me there after we had been dating for a few months, and my breath was instantly taken away. "This is the gateway to Aslan's Country!" Jeff had no idea what I was talking about...

In the final pages of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Reepicheep crossed the waves into Aslan's Country, which is a metaphor for heaven. It might sound crazy and suicidal, but sometimes I feel it is possible to walk straight into the ocean and land in paradise.

Except one time I wandered too far into the water, was immediately consumed by terror (and the knowledge that I was going to die), so started screaming and swam back to shore. Yeah, it turns out the ocean is terrifying - not to mention frigid.

Despite the fact that it almost killed me that one time, I still LOVE the Oregon Coast.

Mr. Sandman

This summer has started out great. We just finished our first week of tadpole swim lessons, my veggie garden is doing better than I expected, gay marriage was legalized, and we even squeezed in a trip to the Oregon Coast.

Everett does not care much for politics at this juncture in life, but I can tell you he is a huge fan of water activities. Therefore, it was no surprise to me that he loved visiting the beach as much as he did. The weekend we were in Cannon Beach was the same weekend as the annual sandcastle contest. This event, combined with perfect weather, meant the town was the busiest I have ever seen. There were more people on the sidewalks than there were at last year's Forth of July parade. However, we stay at a house pretty far out of town, which means the beaches are always more secluded, and my crowd anxiety was not triggered by the masses.

At one point we attempted to visit some shops downtown. We looked for parking for 40 minutes before giving up and returning to the house. But not before I made Jeff park illegally so I could grab us all ice cream.

For the most part, we simply savored our time away from everything. I took a 4 hour Benadryl-induced nap, absorbed some vitamin D, Everett learned how to climb out of the pack n play, Jeff got a new kite (someone took our old one from the beach house a few years ago), and we just had an all around glorious time. We did not want to leave!

I love how Willow is always following him around to make sure he is safe.

She really is super  protective of him. One time she started barking like crazy when I kid got rambunctious near him at a splash pad. I've never heard such a vicious sound come out of her. I am glad we had her on a leash.

Low tide at Haystack Rock!

He pointed out the starfish to everyone he saw.

Beach fires are one of my favorite things.

This is me trying to explain: Why we can't put a metal object in the fire, then wave it around in the air. Hooray for life lessons!

Feeling a little better about it, but still tired from a long day of playing/splashing/running around. He did get to try his first s'more though, which he LOVED.

Summer Solstice Sunset.

2 1/2 Years

Hello, Tuesday. This past week has been crazy, and is sort of flying by when I consider all the things that need to be done.

We finally had our garage sale this weekend, and I am so relieved it is over. This has been months in the making, as the people we hired to help finish the basement were not true to their quoted schedule...by 2+ months, and at that point it was too cold for a sale. Now that all our stuff is gone...

...we finally have room to breathe - and walk. And making money off things we no longer want is not the worst option. At the end of the day, I finally feel like we can get our lives put together and organized to my standards.

I spent Sunday afternoon pulling out all Everett's baby clothes and arranging them for storage. It is surreal seeing all these tiny things again. We have so many wonderful memories from when he was a baby, and it makes me sad those days are now over.

Here comes the cliche statement every parent makes...I am absolutely baffled by the fact that Everett is 2 - 1/2 years old. I watch him run around the house, clumsily put on his shoes, creatively play with his toys, flip the vinyl records and turn on the turntable, and cue up Thomas all by himself, then I wonder where the time has gone. My baby is getting HUGE!

This phase of life is in many ways more stable than babyhood. He can somewhat communicate his needs, we have a solid routine, and it seems his stint of toddler anorexia has passed (we discovered the nanny was giving him way too much milk during the day). I have reasonable expectations for how my day will look, and I know my limits as a mother. For example, I still cannot talk on the phone in front of him. He whines until I let him talk, rips the phone out of my hands, hangs up on whoever I am talking to after staring at the phone in silence for 10+ seconds, then opens the Game Center App to send out friend requests to strangers.

Because of his independent nature and growing physical skills, he also knows how to push the limits, to the point that my head starts spinning. Sometimes I am terrified to pick him up from the sitter's house. I drive like a mom and take my time getting there, anxiously wondering what the ride home will look like. This is because I know that 25% of the time there will be a battle to get him in the car. Oftentimes, I am at the sitter's house for an hour trying to get him to the car, or I am only able to get him in the car if the sitter herself straps him in. This is because kids (...and adults when you think about it...) will be perfect angels to anyone but their parents, and this is a maddening fact of life. And when toddlers are sick, they are 10x more challenging than normal, and unfortunately they are sick frequently.

Despite all this, I find that taking time out of my day to channel patience has helped immensely. It also helps for me to remember what it was like being a kid. I have to calmly give him options when he is testing his limits, then let him decide which option he would rather choose, "Everett, we will either read this book in your bed, or we will have to go to bed without a book. You have 3 seconds to decide what you want to do..." (He likes reading books, prefers this activity on the couch, and especially loves putting off bedtime.)

We are also getting to the point where it is no longer appropriate for him to be in a crib. However, the kid is so active that it is nice to have a place where he can be contained. I am not looking forward to the transition, but I know it must be done soon. My baby is growing up too quick!

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However, we are continuing to make memories, and we are currently getting ready for a much-needed family getaway. In addition, we have an exciting new piece of furniture in our house, which I stayed up late last night preparing us for today's delivery. I literally have no Before photos of what this space used to look like, but here it is: ready for our new prized possession (Honest Floor Cleaner and all)...

Here are a few more pictures from our coloring photo shoot. He makes this face when he is concentrating, and it makes me smile.

And one in color, so you can see that his colors of choice are Seahawks themed. :)

Weekenders {Farm Chicks}

This weekend I got to do one of my favorite activities: Farm Chicks! This event only happens once a year and is a pretty big deal in Spokane. It is a weekend where makers and collectors get together in bizarre-like fashion to sell their wares to the masses.

The event starts Saturday morning at 9am, and we were there to bang down the doors. It was stressful. There were people everywhere, and I had to skip over most of the booths simply because it was not physically possible to get into them. However, I still managed to score some hella cute yard art from BU2ful Farmhouse Charm. My mom also found a vintage bee smoker, and she has already upcycled it, turning it into a flower pot. So cute!

We had Everett with us in an umbrella stroller, so that went as well as you can expect, considering the crowds. I actually do not know if he was complaining or crying, because I likely would not have been able to hear him over the noise. We took off after a couple hours and rewarded his extremely good, patient behavior with some Starbucks hot chocolate.

It was a good thing I had him with me because it kept me from buying too much. However, after church the next day, my mom and I decided to go back. The crowds were thinner and we did not have a child with us, so I ended up spending way more money than I had the previous day. Although the crowds were much less anxiety-producing on Sunday, some of the booths were pretty picked over by then. For example, I was going to get more yard art from BU2ful, but she was sold out of what I was eying the previous day. Despite this, I still managed to score 2 vintage Disney records for Everett, a headband from Sweet Ties Hair Ties, an awesome night light I cannot even begin to describe (it would take a whole blog post) from JunkGirls, and a poster print from Wood and Wool Home Goods (my favorite shop!).

My favorite part was getting to talk to the makers directly. They were all so cool, and so excited to talk about their goods. On Saturday they were all a little overwhelmed, but on Sunday I had really great conversations with people. Next year when I ask Everett if he wants to go to Farm Chicks, I am pretty sure he will say NO. However, I cannot wait to visit again, as each year is completely different from the year before.

The most unique thing I saw? An old nuclear test missile had been "upcycled" and made into a light fixture. What would the world do without creative people?

In the end, this weekend was insanely epic. I saw Neutral Milk Hotel live on Friday night, visited Farm Chicks twice, did some large-scale family shopping at Old Navy, the weather was sizzling hot, and Jeff got chased by an angry, half naked man in an empty parking garage. It doesn't get much better than that.