2009: Our Year in Review

Confession: I've never sent out Christmas Cards except to customers. It's true. I'm a complete failure at that tradition. I'm bad at "Thank You" notes too. Those of you who have given me gifts can attest to that. Every year I think that I'm going to be better and get it done finally, but I just never do. Not enough time. This year is no exception. However, I am taking a giant step forward this year. I'm doing a holiday "Year In Review" here on the blog, which will have to double as my Christmas Card, or rather, my Christmas Season Card. Here goes...

January 2009
We started the year off with Addie's baby blessing and Open House. It was such a great experience and we enjoyed being with so many friends and family members for this event. Addie looked like an angel and was so well behaved all day.

We were so grateful for all our friends and family who joined us in making it such a special day. January also brought lots and lots of cold weather and snow. And John got an iPhone which brought great warmth to him. John and I constantly argue weather my Blackberry or his iPhone is cooler. He generally wins, but I get my emails faster than he does.

February 2009
Our company had a little employee switch. Alicia, who had worked for us for 4 years went on a mission to Oslo, Norway. We hired a dear friend Carrie to take her place and things have been just grand. Alicia is doing extremely well in Norway and Carrie has worked out great, other than the fact that she and I routinely disagree about whether or not the polar bears are really in danger. The really exciting news in February was that my best friend Candice got married! She married an AMAZING guy named Scott and we love him so much. It was so great to be at her wedding and see all the old roommates.

March 2009
John and I celebrated the 9 year anniversary of our first blind date. Every March 31st, I feel so incredibly blessed to have the random series of events take place that allowed me to meet and marry John. March 31st is practically a national holiday in our house. March was the month John bought me my new Canon Rebel camera which I adore. It was responsible for many great photos shot this year. Also in March, Addie started crawling. When she got bored with the crawling attempts, she moved into yoga poses and she did a mean downward dog before she was even mobile.

We used to put up couch cushions so Addie couldn't escape the family room. She's not a fan of barriers, and this picture just captures the annoyance she felt at us for putting them in her path to the kitchen:

April 2009
April brought General Conference, which in turn brought a mini mission reunion. It was so great to get together with two of the best sisters in the mish, along with their families.

I'd like to shoot for a bigger one this year if possible! Also in April, we put our house on the market at the worst possible time. We endured countless (and may I add fruitless) walkthroughs of the house. This continued through September.

May 2009
Spring arrived in full swing. John bought me a new macro lens for my camera which allowed me to shoot very cool closeups.

Spring also meant fun walks with Addie, who loves the great outdoors:

June 2009
This is the month everything changed for us. Addie started walking. I could stop this month's entry right now and it would be enough, but there's more. We also celebrated Addie's first birthday! We had about 70+ people over for a very fun birthday party/barbecue, and had a great time.

In spite of the house being for sale, I put in a garden and thought I may just be planting something for someone else to harvest. As it turned out, the house never sold so the garden served us well. Addie developed a full blown crush on our neighbor and good friend Ty. She's very possessive of him and really enjoys his attention.

July 2009
We celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary in July. Each July, I'm so glad that we got married in 2000 so keeping track of how many years we've been married is a breeze. John and some friends went on an expedition to Topaz Mountain. They didn't find any really valuable gems, but they had a great time.

We also celebrated the 4th of July with the obligatory fireworks and threw in some homemade gnocchi for good measure. All in all, July was a wonderful month filled with hot days, warm nights, barbecues, fresh veggies and good friends.

August 2009
In August we visited Candice and Scott in Seattle. As it turns out, there is a saying in Seattle that nobody has air conditioning because you only need it one week out of the year. We chose that week to visit. It was very hot, but very fun. We got to visit with our old college roommate Mary who we hadn't seen in years.

Also in August, I got to visit with my cousins Karen and Diana and their families, which was a blast.

I also discovered some good new restaurants and embarked on a quest to create the perfect pizza. I'm so close. Addie spent tons of time outside and developed a great love for playing with the garden hose.

Summer could not have been any better.

September 2009
We celebrated John's birthday in September which was so much fun. We also went back to Seattle to visit Scott and Candice again, and this time we enjoyed better weather. Scott was a gem and took us all to see Wicked. Thank you Scott!

We also went to the best Farmers Market I have ever been to in Woodinville.

In September, we also made a huge decision regarding our house. We took it off the market and started working with a designer, architect and structural engineer to do an extensive add-on/remodel of our existing home. Of course, the minute we did that, people started coming out of the woodwork, distraught that we took it off the market because they really liked it. Oh well. We're in the final stages of the plans right now and are going to start working with a few contractors over the next couple of weeks. Our fingers are crossed that everything works out!

October 2009
October brought both good times and bad. Our very dear friend Kyle returned from his mission and it has been great to have him home. It was fun to have him meet Addie.

In October, our family suffered a huge loss when my Uncle John died very unexpectedly due to a massive stroke. Our family is very close and have a regularly scheduled family dinner each month with all the extended aunts, uncles and cousins in town. Uncle John was an amazing man gave us laughter, adventure, wisdom and goodness. We miss him. It's sad that the only times everyone in the family gets together is for weddings and funerals, but that seems to be the case. In spite of the sadness of the occasion, it was wonderful seeing all the family.

Addie really loved being with all the cousins who were in town for the funeral:

October also brought Halloween which is always fun. Addie was a cheerleader and John was Moss from the IT Crowd. After much deliberation and agonizing over what I should be, I was...nothing. But I had fun going out to dinner with Moss and Addie.

Addie has taken a liking to John's Halloween costume wig and insists on wearing it around the house now.

November 2009
November passed in a blur. Between work, Christmas shopping, Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping, we were running non-stop. After Thanksgiving, we took a much needed vacation in Maui, complete with sunsets, walks on the beach and golf.



December 2009
December brought the usual festivities. We enjoyed work Christmas parties and family Christmas parties. We loved being with friends and family at this joyous time of year. My whole family came out for Christmas this year and it was just great to be with all of them, playing games and catching up. We loved, loved, loved seeing Addie's face on Christmas as she opened her gifts. We loved our time off over the break and have treasured every second that we've been able to spend together. We've loved 2009 and we're looking forward to 2010 and all it will bring. And we're busy writing resolutions.

We hope all of you enjoyed a peaceful and happy Christmas season and that you have a prosperous and rewarding 2010.

Silent Night

The other day I was caught up in the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping. We'd been to several stores and we ended up in a crowded grocery store, buying food for dinner. I was running around the store so focused on avoiding crowds, hurrying through the deli line, and checking off everything on my lengthy shopping list. Frosty the Snowman was playing loudly over the store's speaker system and I was examining cheeses for the best expiration date. Then it happened. Softly at first, mostly because of all the competing noise and Frosty music, but there is was. A small choir by the front door of the store singing in beautiful four part harmony "Silent Night". As I focused on that song to hear it more clearly, the people, the noise, the rush and Frosty all faded away. Without warning, I felt tears well up in my eyes. I felt Christmas. I remembered what the season is for. I remembered the Savior. I remembered that Christmas is about the joy that comes from knowing Him and celebrating His birth, His life and His resurrection.

Merry Christmas.

Just Another Day in Paradise

We woke up Monday morning to a beautiful blue sky, and decided to take a walk on the beach first thing. The beach is just about a 30 second walk from our condo, so we got all over that pretty quickly. After being out there a few minutes, we saw a beautiful rainbow and knew it was going to be a fantastic day. (We had some other clues in addition to the rainbow.)

Right before you get to the beach, there is a huge, huge lawn with chairs on it where you can relax and watch the ocean. Addie uses it for exploration and running. She loves this place SO much, it just makes us laugh. She can't wait to get out and explore every minute of the day. Here are a few shots of her on the big lawn:





After a good amount of time running on the lawn, we got suited up and hit the pools. Addie had her first swimming experience there and positively freaked out. These are some great shots from her first day in the pool:

Splashing Daddy...

After the pool we went and walked along the beach. The beach quickly replaced the pool as Addie's favorite thing in the world. She was enthralled by the waves and the tide washing over her feet.

These next couple of photos illustrate how hard it is to get a perfectly posed photo of one of us with Addie, due to her unpredictable moves. The first one is the good one (after the bottom half of the photo was cropped out, due to Addie pulling her shirt up last minute), but the second one is classic Addie.


We went shopping after dinner, and my sister took this shot of us coming down the stairs. It's one of my favorite shots ever:


This morning we started the day off with another trip to the pool, armed with a newly purchased Speedo float suit for Addie. She looked like a little muscleman running around in it.

Off to the pool! Addie is really getting the hang of swimming. She's starting to kick and she especially loves to splash people. In fact, when she sees the pool and wants to go swimming, she starts yelling "Splash! Splash!"


A nice time share salesman, in an attempt to strike up a conversation, offered to take some pictures of all of us together. No sale for him, but fun photos for us!


Off to comb the beaches. John was determined to catch one of those super fast beach crabs and was actually successful! Go John :)

Fun shot of John and Addie on the beach.

Found this spelled out in the sand during our beach walk. I'm pretty sure it will end up being my screen saver come February or March.

The end of another beautiful day. We wanted to get photos of all of us with the sunset, but had to settle for individual shots. Where are all the time share salesmen when you need them?

Cupboards

So we got to the hotel last night, and Addie started exploring. She quickly discovered that none of the cupboards in the kitchen here have the childproof latches on them. The latches at home are her nemesis so she felt extremely triumphant to open and close cupboards and drawers with impunity. Hair disclaimer: Addie had her hair in a pony tail all day, and when said pony tail was removed, her hair went nutso. Add humidity for the perfect storm of crazy hair.

Could she...

Could she be any cuter? Could those eyes be any bigger or bluer? Could she have more kissable cheeks or a sweeter smile? I don't think so.

Cleaning off the Cell Phone Camera

Found a few treasures on the cell phone camera this morning.

This is from a few months back but we had a busy day out shopping and Addie finally gave in to sleep even while we walked around the store:

All smiles in the grocery store:

Almost out...

Pure mischief in church:

Carseat fun:

Out to eat:

Waking up from a nap:

Our little smiler:

Such a precious little girl! We love her so much.

I want

Pumpkins: MIA

So the big news yesterday was this: We could be facing a potentially Thanksgiving-table-crippling canned pumpkin shortage. My mom called to tell me about it, ironically after I gave her one of my cans of pumpkin on Wednesday night because "I had an extra can". If I had only known.

I started to calculate in my head if I have enough canned pumpkin to last me until the shortage is over. (FYI, I've found I'm very easily swayed by the threat of scarcity, especially when it comes to food.) I checked my garage and counted 4 cans. 1 can will be used for this year's pies, and I'll probably need at least one can for the Christmas pies as well. Then there's the fact that my homemade pumpkin tarts are an easy and crowd pleasing dessert that I love to whip together at a moment's notice. Then there's the fact that I've been craving Bobby Flay's southwestern spicy pumpkin soup. It's just not enough.

The cynical side of me thinks that maybe it's all hype. Maybe they just want us to rush out and buy their pumpkin. Could they be that devious? It could be part of a winter squash conspiracy. Am I willing to gamble on that? Not a chance. I'm heading to Sam's Club this morning (open early for business members) to stock up on 2 three packs of pumpkin. And some Hazelnut Piroulines while I'm at it, because what if they run out of those as well? You just can't be too safe.

Still here....

Is there an award for the Worst Blogger Ever? Because I think I might qualify. Last time I posted, we just found out we got the Maui timeshare. Now, we're actually getting ready to go! I'm busy printing out my notebook with important things like directions from the airport to the resort, and from the resort to important stops like Costco and Round Table Pizza. Most importantly, I bought a new swimsuit for the first time in years. Which is hard to do in November. But I found a great store online called Sahalie and they had some good swimsuits still in stock. This is the first time I've branched out and got a swimsuit that is not black, navy blue or brown. Yay me. Here it is:

I also got the little skirt that goes with it, which I thought was way cute. Hopefully everything fits!

Other items of note:

• I'm loving Glee! If you, like me, love Glee, go to Pandora and create a station based on the Glee cast.
  
• John bought us the Wii Active and we've been doing their 30 day challenge. I'm down about 8 lbs in three weeks and am feeling a little better about being in a swim suit. Now if I just had a tan.
  
• I am officially a reformed night owl, and am now in bed by 10:30 (except for very unusual circumstances) and up by 6:00. This morning I was up by 5:00, just because I couldn't sleep and my body wanted to get going. I really think it's because I actually get a 4-5 hour block before Addie wakes up and I've found that I really need to take advantage of that time.
• I'm overwhelmed by the idea of Christmas shopping. Amazon, with Amazon Prime Free Two Day Shipping will be my best friend this year, I think.
• I taught a class last week on holiday hors d'oeuvres and it really got me in a holiday baking mood. Good thing Thanksgiving is around the corner and I will have lots of excuses to bake!

Feels good to blog. I'll try and be better.

Maui!

See this post, number 17. We got it!! I'm much too excited to type now. More later...

Addie and the Unfortunate Doll

John's parents gave Addie a cute little doll for Christmas and Addie has developed sort of a love/hate relationship with it. She sometimes loves to be really gentle with the doll and treats it like it's just precious. Other times, she loves to just poke it in the eye, bite its head and generally torment it. Last week, Addie didn't know anyone was watching her and she started playing with the doll. At first she was so sweet with it, and she kind of petted it and was very gentle. Then she picked the doll up under its arms, looked at it right in the eyes for about 10 seconds, then she threw her head back and headbutted it as hard as she could. This unfortunate doll does not stand a chance against Addie, who is the queen of headbutting. Stay tuned for more Addie vs the Unfortunate Doll adventures.

Can't Help Myself

I couldn't help it. I know I said I wasn't planting a garden this year, since the house is for sale, but I started to think to myself "what if the house doesn't sell for 5-6 months?" It's possible, in this market, right? Plus, our neighbor a few house down has the most amazing garden ever, which has affected me in two ways: 1) I'm completely jealous and have severe garden envy every time I walk past his yard and 2) this neighbor has decided to start a Saturday morning neighborhood "Farmer's Market" of sorts, where all the neighbors can bring their extra produce and trade for something they may not have grown this year. If I don't have a garden this year, what can I trade with? See my point? Plus, the thought of not having garden fresh vegetables this year makes me feel empty. So I put in a simple garden: tomatoes, tomatillos, crookneck squash, zucchini, cucumbers, jalapenos, anaheims and the usual herbs (basil and parsley are new this year, and there are old perennials like rosemary, sage, thyme, chives, oregano and mint that are back). All in all, I feel good for having a garden in my yard, even if the house does sell quickly and I find out that I just spent two days planting someone else's garden.

Pick Me Up

If you haven't seen the latest Pixar offering "UP", do yourself a favor, drop what you're doing now and rush to the closest theater. We saw this movie last night and loved, loved, loved it. Someone told me that the first 20 minutes would make me cry, and they were right. Well done, Ed Catmull, well done. The short was fantastic too, by the way. I give "UP" 2 thumbs up, 5 stars, fresh tomatoes, whatever. It's just good.

Boring

I received the ultimate insult last night. I was at my friend Lisa's house and she told me "Your blog is boring. You never post anything." Painful, but true. So Lisa, this post is dedicated to you.

It really has been much too long since I posted. What's new, you ask? Here are 20 random things that will catch you up with my life:

1. Addie just got over the worst illness! She had a fever of 103 for about 4 days straight. Then she developed cold sores all over her lips and got them in her mouth, on her tongue and gums. She didn't eat hardly anything for about 3 days, and when she did eat, she would scream because food hurt her mouth. SO sad. However, she's much better now and is back to wreaking havoc and destroying things around the house. Yesterday John caught her eating the carpet in our living room, just tearing up peices and trying to unravel it with her teeth. Oh, and she has also figured out a way to open flip top water bottles, using her bottom teeth as a bottle opener.
   
2. We just put our house up for sale. It made my heart hurt to see the sign out front because I love our house, but it's just a little too small.
   
3. Because the house is up for sale, I have not planted a garden for the first time in 9 years. I'm having some major gardening withdrawal pains and also suffer from garden envy. If our house doesn't sell until fall, I'm going to be ticked about this.
   
4. Had a great time this weekend. Went to the Farmer's Market downtown, bought goat cheese, goat cheese yogurt, farm fresh eggs, fresh beet greens and grass feed beef (lunch today). Also got some great street food and tried Maestro's gelato for an after market treat. Had a good friend over for dinner that night and grilled plank salmon, corn on the cob and new potatoes, and served them with fresh caprese salad. Almost a perfect Saturday. Incidentally, Maestro's is AWESOME! Try it if you haven't been there. They have tons of gelato flavors and both sweet and savory crepes.
   
5. Addie has developed an evil laugh. It's almost like a villain in a movie. She did it for about 20 minutes straight in Maestro's on Saturday, due to their amazing echo in their restaurant. I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out, but the owners were actually very cool and did evil laughs back at her. We'll be going back there for sure.
6. I love "Bobby Flay's Grill It". I'm kind of obsessed with grilling these days and have gotten some great ideas from that show. Several of the dishes featured on last week's marathon have made it to the menu this week.
7. I'm so excited about the new bike trailer we bought from Lisa! She and her hubby sold us their baby bike trailer and I'm excited beyond words to start riding with Addie in tow. She's going to love the canyon rides!
8. John and some friends are planning a treasure hunting trip in a couple of weeks. Should be so much fun! His dad is going with them and it will be a fun boy's day out.
   
9. I'm loving golf this year. I've been about 3 times so far and I'm getting a few kinks worked out of my game.
   
10. FYI, I am absolutely crazy about my husband and little girl. They are so stinking amazing. I'm very lucky.
11. I'm excited for Charlotte to come out and visit this summer. I want to meet Bri!
12. I was so overwhelming happy at the American Idol results!!!!!!
    
13. I've replaced American Idol with "So You Think You Can Dance". Mary is no Paula, but she'll do for now.
14. Addie's 1 year birthday is in less than three weeks! I need to get her party planned.
15. My new weakness: Ghiradelli's dark chocolate bar with caramel filling.
    
16. We're going to a "Save Rock Canyon" rally on Saturday morning. For those who don't know, Rock Canyon is being threatened by a loser who wants to turn it into a mining operation. This would be a huge tragedy. To learn more, click here.
17. We put in a request to trade our timeshare week for a week in Maui in the fall. Fingers crossed!
18. I hate my allergies this year.
    
19. I'm glad to know where I came from, why I'm here and where I'm going. It's good news indeed.
20. I'm considering adding an "overheard" feature to my blog. I hear the most random snippets of conversations. Watch for that!

Ah, it feels good to blog. I think I'm back on the wagon. Happy Lisa? :)

Overheard

Today while walking Addie through the halls in church, I overheard the following conversation between about five 18 year old boys in hallway (one was talking, the others were listening very intently):

"So he talked back to his dad, nothing really bad, but he talked back to him and then he turned to leave and his dad was like 'Don't turn your back on me!', and he kept walking, so his dad took a knife and threw it at his back, so he had to listen to his dad yell at him for 10 minutes with a knife in his back, before he could take it out. But him and all the kids in his family totally respect authority."

Hmmmmm.