in the bleak midwinter

This is what I like to call our backyard.  We live on the bottom floor of a three story apartment complex, so we don't technically have a yard of our own.  But our apartment is backed right up against the green belt, so at least we don't have the concrete jungle to stare at out our windows.  It is frequently overcast here, which isn't too horrible in and of itself...  The rain isn't half bad either; it's more misty than pouring.  As long as the sun makes an appearance every few days, or if I can catch a quick glimpse of the blue sky every now and then, I'm good.  Not so good: our apartment is dark, even with all the lights turned on and all the shades drawn.  It gets a little suffocating at times, and so I tend to daydream about being surrounded by acres and acres of open land.  The sky is oppressive enough, but being surrounded by trees and then living in what's essentially a basement...  It gets a little depressing at times.  And now that Fall has come and gone, all the pretty trees are naked and all that's left is gray and green.  Gray sky and gray bark coupled with green grass, green pines, and green moss.  It's all foreign to me.

Autumn was beautiful, with all the different colored leaves.  But I hear Spring is even better.  I can't wait!  *B

taking care of business

I'm not sure if anyone/everyone knew this, but Brad worked the night shift at Costco for two out of the three years we were in AZ.  Besides Burger King, Costco was the only place to even consider a law-school grad for hire.  Eventually, Brad was able to transfer from part-time in the produce department at the business center warehouse to full-time in the IS contracts and vendor management department at corporate.  It really has turned out to be quite the dream job, and a major answer to our prayers.  Maybe one day I'll get around to telling the entire story, because it really is a good one...  But for now, here's a quick pic of (half) the fam meeting dad for lunch at work.  And truth be told, we'll probably stay with Costco for forever.  It's a good company who rewards loyalty with loyalty.  And seriously, who doesn't love Costco?!  *B

still alive, and kicking

It's bullet time:

• Brad got a job!!!  And so we moved.
• WA is very different from AZ (obviously).  For the most part, I'm loving the changing seasons.  But sometimes, I hate it...
• Three kids is hard.  Two wasn't too bad, and at the time I wondered what everyone else was complaining about.  But three?  Three is rough.
• Currently planning on homeschooling.  I might be crazy.
• My milk is gone.  It always starts disappearing around six months and it's a struggle to maintain.  We were down to one nursing session a night, and then I got sick.  So my milk left me, which means I have my body back to myself.  I have mixed feelings.
• I am so tired of condo/apartment living.  Steadily dreaming of having a home/farm of my own.
• Got a minivan right before we moved.  The husband got into a car accident shortly after we moved.  He's fine, the car was not.  So...  We got a "new" car!  Not a minivan.
• All this cold weather has me on house arrest.  Good thing I'm such a homebody!
• All this cold weather makes me want to craft.  So I've been crocheting up a storm.  We actually get to use hats, scarves, and blankets here.  Huzzah!  So lots of warm and yummy yarn-work   And then my wrists started bothering me, so I've switched to cross-stitching until further notice.
• I am officially hooked on Doctor Who and have embraced my inner nerd with open arms.  Allons-y!
• Am I the ONLY person who finds chevron prints and the color gray totally overrated???  I prefer Cath Kidston, and color.  Neutral is for the birds!
• I would really like to get back to blogging.  I really wish I had a better camera, because posting without pictures is super lame.
• Currently growing my hair out.  I might be crazy.

Cheers!  *B