Eighty-six

I feel pretty good about the fact that for most things I don't just follow the crowd. Yay for me! But one day I decided to do what everyone else is doing and get on Facebook. Lame, I know. It was right around the time I had Squirt. It was a very overwhelming time. I uploaded maybe three photos and that was it. Friend requests trickled in, but I didn't have time to message anyone or even view many profiles because my life was so complicated. But I would still log on every few weeks. Until THE MOTHER OF ALL MOVES (which, by the way, is still in process). I got on Facebook the other day for the first time in months. Eighty-six friend requests (yay for me!). I didn't have a chance to respond to more than a few because everything is so crazy. I just can't get into Facebook. How do people get on Facebook multiple times a day?

We are still SQUATTERS!! This is month number two of not paying rent. What an awesome blessing!! (We did make an offer on the house though.) We still haven't unpacked much, except that it has started getting colder so I pulled out some warm clothes. I would estimate that 75% of our stuff is still in boxes. Good thing, because we just got a court summons for an eviction hearing. Come on, people, how could anyone throw this nice little family out on the street??

D got us a treadmill--now I have a way to run during the winter. Sweet! Even sweeter is that the treadmill was free. Go, D! I also got D the lovely (expensive!) suit in this photo for free. Go, T!

The fall colors are gorgeous. Every time I go outside, I'm in awe. We love going for runs and watching the squirrels busily hoarding their winter stash. We're taking advantage of our time outside while it's still easy to go outside. Halloween is coming up, yippee!

Phoenix Fun!

 These are old photos from our trip to Phoenix for D's graduation in June. Better late than never!

 

 We are all thrilled about D's accomplishment. And I have this to say--he was the hardest-working student in his whole school. I know because I saw it all. Way to go, babe!!

 My brother Bry drove up from Tucson. He and his family were so helpful and supportive during our time in AZ. I love the cut-off heads and my kids' expressions in this photo.

 D's parents also came (also a great support to us during med school) and D was hooded by his dad. So fun!

 D with his study buddies Martin and Dustin. They were a lifesaver--thanks, dudes!

 Reenacting a study session??

Can't quite come up with a caption for this photo...

Me pretending like I earned a little bit of the glory

 I love Pip's little ruddy cheeks. It was so hot!

 We went to a fancy dinner. We got to take our cute little baby because she does not like to be separated from her mami. It made me feel extra fancy to leave during dinner to breastfeed.

 Study buddies and wives Celeste and Melinda. What great gals! Thanks for the fun times, friends!

 We visited our wonderful neighbors Kris, Sahana, and Samik. We miss them so much!

 

 We stayed with our favorite Lora who we also miss dearly. We loved being together and catching up. The kids got to see their lovely Siri again, and we hope to see the rest of the clan next time we're in town.

 Pip slept in Kaj's room and emptied his drawers into the pack n play. Thanks for sharing, Lora and fam!

 We also got to visit Sid and Bobbi, our Phoenix family. Bobbi taught me how to make yogurt, Lebanese-style.

Quote of the year

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication"

Leonardo da Vinci

quoted by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf in this talk--words that were truly meant for me at this time in my life! What a wonderful, inspired man!

Migration and Reproduction

I have so many blog posts swimming around in my head that I would someday like to share. I'd like to blame my circumstances for my inability to be organized, but when I think about it, it's probably just a personal problem.

But anyway, here's something I've been thinking about--migration and reproduction. That pretty much sums up what I've done for the past five years. Maybe add in a little bit of competition and education and vacation, but mostly I've been in what we like to call "survival mode" for what feels like a really long time. Moving, moving, moving, new baby, moving, moving, new baby, moving, new baby, moving... So I thought about other migratory animals--whales, geese, salmon, etc. And I settled on the monarch butterfly for my personal analogy. Monarch butterflies spend their entire existence in migration and reproduction, yet they are beautiful and amazing creatures.

They don't care that they weren't able to plant a garden last year (or this year!) or start cloth diapering again since the move (since it still feels like we're moving) or complete a runner's quilt made of race t-shirts or train for and compete in a Half-Ironman or write a book they've been dying to write or even finish that mission scrapbook (truly the eternal project!!)... I have all these IDEAS!! I'm working on being a finisher. Those monarchs, though--they are content in their existence of migration and reproduction and we admire them anyway!

Aren't they amazing?? They travel over 2,000 miles...