This pic is totally unrelated, but I think it’s cute! Laura and I got matching sweaters and tops for Christmas and posed for a photo. Thanks, Rosie! Cute sweater, love it. (Laura, I will think of you every time I wear it!)

Anyway, I’m trying to get stuff done this week. It was supposed to be a work week, but it turned out that Becker & Mayer ended up closing a lot for the snow, got backed up, and was not ready for me this week as planned. So, with this bonus time, I’m trying to take advantage of it.

I have a long list of projects. It’s been a year in the house now, and I’m feeling bogged down. There are just those nooks and crannies that are messy and filled with random stuff that have just been stuck here and there. I’m good at emptying. I’ll just take a box and empty everything out. But then I have all these boxes filled up with stuff, and I kind of suck at putting stuff away.

We are hoping to get some new living room furniture that is less Ohio sized, and more Seattle sized. But I wanted to purge a little before we do that. (For instance, our large coffee table, which is really a big chest, was PACKED with stuff.) Now, it’s 90% empty! Yea, me!

Anyone wanna come over and find places for this stuff? Or better yet, you wanna come over and take some of it?? Really, you can have some of my stuff. Just take it. We’ve been keeping goodwill in business.

The biggest obstacle right now is the large sectional couch and coffee table. Most donation spots will not (a) pick up items and (b) take larger furniture. (If it doesn’t fit in my house, it’s not likely to fit other places either!) But I found one place that might, and I think Salvation Army might as well. We can’t really sell it ourselves or consign it because we can’t get it anywhere!

Anybody want a couch? It’s cute! Just a little big, and a little dirty.

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Another Christmas, New Years and wedding anniversary have passed, so it’s the time we see all the family and people count how many years we’ve been married. And the answer to the question everyone has either asked or wanted to ask: no, we’re not having kids yet!

Yes, I know it’s been seven years. Yes, I know I’m almost thirty. Yes, I know [most] of my friends and family already started. Yes, I know I shouldn’t wait forever. Yes, I know you just never know.

But everyone, including me, is just going to have to wait! If we had stayed in the Midwest with Mike working in some tenure-track job, I would probably already be going down that road. It’s a lot different when you have all your friends and family around to help out and when you know where you’re going to live for the next 10 years. (And where the cost of living is nearly halved…)

Normally I make decisions emotionally, but I figure my future children deserve that we make the most responsible choice about their existence. You know, when the husband was not in school or between jobs or when I was working all the time, or when we are 2000 miles away from grandparents and cousins… I don’t know, it just seems a little selfish!

It doesn’t help that Mike is “ready whenever,” and at the same time is afraid of babies! (Which he will deny.) He would rather them emerge from the womb able to carry on a conversation. So, something tells me he’s not that prepared for it ;) But I love you sweetie, and you’ll be a great dad, you know, “whenever”.

When our beautiful niece was born, our relatives decided that I would want one, too. And of course I love babies. I’m just not the type of person who spends a day with a baby and wants one. Despite being an impulse shopper, it’s not like seeing a cute outfit;). I mean, those little things are a huge responsibility and require a lot of planning! I don’t know, I just think the timing could be a lot better. We waited this long… And I’d rather just make the absolute most of the pre-kid era. (So we’re already discussing that next trip to Europe. Or maybe Hawaii or New Zealand!)

When we got married (and I was 22) I said “five to seven years.” So, I was a couple years off. I’m not worried. I know we’ll be better parents if we wait a little longer.

So you can ask me all you want. And I can then provide you about a zillion reasons why I’m just not there yet. Besides, we already have a few babies. One is named Ruby, one Matilda, and the third one is called Seattle. (As far as I’m concerned, the Universe was sending us a message with this little adventure. And I always listen to the Universe.)

(I found several dozen pics of me with babies — Anna, Jaden, Cole, Emily, William, Jevan, …. All the ones with baby Tessa I am very sleep-deprived looking, so here’s an old one of me meeting Jocelyn, who is now one of my favorite three-year-olds. Mike likes three year olds. They walk and talk and do funny stuff.)

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Two things you’ve gotta see!

First of all, the Soda Club. We totally want to get this. We’re both addicted to fizzy drinks while simultaneously trying to give them up. This thing is so awesome! You can make your own soda at home. I originally saw it when I watched a clip of Ideal Bite on Good Morning America, but the eco-reasons are not even the main reason why I love this thing! You can make sparkling water, which I love (and is so expensive and always goes flat on me in the big bottle) and soda (which also often goes flat on me if I buy a two-liter, but I never finish a can in one sitting and THEN it goes flat.) I don’t like dumping money down the drain. Plus, it comes in soo many flavors! Amazing! The flavorings also don’t have all the high-fructose stuff, so they are a little healthier which my hubby really likes.

I only wish there was some way to try it to see how it tastes. We are seriously considering this little gadget. Mike loves gadgets, and I love soda. (Or “pop” incase you don’t know what I’m talking about ;))

This is the other thing you have to see. Because it’s sooo amazing. An Elephant and a dog.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/02/assignment_america/main4696340.shtml

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Happy New Year, everyone! With this New Year, we have passed our one-year anniversary of living in Seattle. (We moved here on the 28th last year.) So we’ve now had two wedding anniversaries here and two New Year’s Days. I cannot believe how fast it’s gone. Amazing. This pic is from a beautiful early January day last year when we were living in the apartment. The apartment feels like a long time ago, but I don’t feel like I’ve been in the house a year…

Lots of exciting things are coming up… Mike is about to have his 30th birthday, and my niece is about to have her FIRST birthday.

We did not have an exciting holiday, but it was relaxing. Mike has still been catching up on sleep from our Christmas visit, we both have a tiny bit of a cold, and Ruby picked up a bug at the Dog Lounge last week. She is much better today. But when Ruby doesn’t want to eat (e.g. two days ago) you know something’s wrong!! But we have nursed her back to health thanks to some rice, chicken, a little bit of baby food and some flavorless Pedialyte. The DDL said just to keep her hydrated, so I thought it couldn’t hurt.

She must be better because she barked half the day and begged me for dinner… awww.

I don’t really have any New Year’s Resolutions… be a little more productive, eat a little healthier — the usual. I’d like to keep going to yoga twice a week on average.

Here’s to a great 2009!

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