"Who's" Ready for Halloween?

We are!!  So many more pictures to come.  Happy Halloween!

Embassy Row

Back when I lived in the DC area for the first time, before Heb and I were married, I lived in a very urban area of Crystal City.  From the building that I lived in, you didn't even have to go outside to get to the metro stop, which was a couple of blocks away.  That's right, there were tunnels of creepy barber shops, dry cleaners and other underground stores.  There was even a McDonalds under that building.  The metro was less then a block from my work so I could realistically only be outside for about 2 minutes every day. 

Honestly, being in a tunnel all the time was kind of depressing.   I missed nature and trees and yards.  I never thought I'd feel that way but I did. 

I started taking the metro up to Dupont Circle.  The area is different from the grand touristy areas of DC.  The streets are lined with beautiful historic homes and my favorite part, lots of trees.  On those streets are many of the Embassy's in DC.  It's an area called "Embassy Row."  I loved it. 

The weather has been so beautiful (warm) lately so Heb and I thought we'd go out to see a place that we could walk.  We went into the city and enjoyed the fall colors.   We walked around the embassy's and pointed out the different countries.  It's neat that we live in a place with so many countries represented. 

Our Saturdays have been busy lately so we haven't had much time to spend together out and about.  We have to take advantage of the chances we have.

Do you see that little boy we have with us?   That Leo is growing like crazy and looks more like a little boy, especially when he stands up.  He's reaching and exploring all sorts of things now.  Keeps us on our toes.  It's nice to strap him to our back sometimes so we don't have to worry what shenanigans he's gotten himself into.   :)

One of those...

We had one of those nights. 

Leo was up several times crying.  Was it teething?  Digestion?  Who knows?

The radio downstairs mysteriously came on in the middle of the night.  I woke up confused by who was talking in the house.  It took me a minute to realize what it was and go all the way downstairs to turn in off. 

Leo finally woke up for good at 6 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep. 

And to top it off, I woke up with three pimples.  Awesome. 

Let's hope it's better tomorrow.

Photos

I love pictures.  I do.  I want them hanging all over our home.  In them are memories and people we love.  I feel much more urgency to take pictures since having Leo.  If we don't take one today, he will be a different baby tomorrow.  We are always changing. 

Now, I don't want you to get the idea that I am a crazy picture taking mama.  I heard an story once about a woman who had scrapbooked every single day of each of her children's lives.  It took hours to create pages but she felt compelled to have one for every day.  Her home was taken over in scrapbook supplies (poor husband in that situation) and there were books upon books.   See, I'm not like that at all.  I don't have even one scrapbook.  

But I do like to remember the things that make me happy, to record them and to see them. We are made up of our experiences.  Who we are is what we have done, to some extent. 

So why this tangent?  Well, we just had our pictures taken by our friend Jenny Lewis.  We are so happy with them.  I stole a few from her blog to share here.  I can't wait to get some printed up and to design our Christmas card.   Go visit her site for more pictures.   http://jenniferjlewis.blogspot.com

Pumpkins

Pumpkins one of few Halloween decorations that I actually like.  I just don't really get into skeletons and tombstones and such.   I don't know that you can classify pumpkins as halloween decor, I would group with fall...but I digress.  Who doesn't love a bright orange pumpkin?  And roasted pumpkin seeds aren't too bad either.

 We went out to a pumpkin patch with our friends, the Blake's (who so often show up here on the blog).  
 Leo watched their pup, Boolean, while we picked out pumpkins.

Leo liked the pumpkin.  Can you tell?

We purchased three large pumpkins mostly because we did not purchase any last year (I blame that on being incredibly uncomfortably pregnant).  I am so looking forward to the baked seeds...oh, did I mention that already? 

Reminisce

I went to institute today.  There was a class for moms and their kids.  There wasn't a teacher, which was slightly disappointing (I'm a student who likes structure.  Constructivism never really was for me), but we did discuss a talk.  Most of the girls had husbands in medical school or law school.  It got me thinking about grad school.  

They all talked about how hard it is to have your husband in school all the time.  What a difficult time it is for them.  When I think back on our grad school years, I feel so happy.  It was a time of real growth and learning.  Granted, Heb and I were both in school together, we didn't have any children and we'd lived in the same place for some time so we had formed some roots.  

For me, grad school was one of the best times of my life.  You probably wonder how I can say that, with all the stress and homework but I loved it.  It was one of those times when I knew that I was in the right place at the right time.

After graduating with my undergrad, I had a rough couple of years.  I worked at several places and tried to find a job or a place that really fit me.  I didn't have such good luck.  After being laid off, I took some time to think about who I wanted to be.  It was then that I realized that I wanted to go back to school and that I wanted to study Instructional Technology and Design.  When I made that choice and applied for the program, it's like everything fell easily into place in a way that it hadn't before.  Within a couple of weeks, I had two part time jobs that I liked and I was ready for school. 

The years that followed were filled with learning theory, learning flash and web design.  Reading books like Human Performance Systems and the Systematic Design of Instruction.  I created things that I never had the capacity to do before. 

My culminating project was for the Utah State Library.  I surveyed librarians across the state and analyzed the data to present to their board.  In grad school, I watched myself grow.

On my first day of grad school. 

Presenting my project at the State Library.

Now that I am a mother, I don't have as many opportunities to use the skills that I developed but I am so happy that I had that opportunity to pursue my degree.  I always carry the things that I learned, not just about the subjects but about myself. 

How are you pushing your boundaries?  Do you have an experience that really impacted the way you look at the world?

Hello World

The highlight of my day yesterday...Leo waving at a video of himself waving.  

So darling.  Just the past couple of days he's started to say hi and wave whenever we see him.  He would wave before but now he knows what it means.  I love it.

If You're Heading to OBX

One of the big things I've learned since moving to a brand new place is how important recommendations are.  Do you realize how difficult it is to find a new mechanic, dentist or even hair salon when you're new?  You look it up on the internet, examine the huge list of possibilities and try to make the best decision with pretty limited information.  Which is why getting a recommendation from someone is so important, that person has been there and can tell you their experience.

So, I wanted to write some of the things and places that we enjoyed in the Outer Banks.  More for future reference for ourselves but if you ever find yourself out that way (which you should because it's awesome) here you go.

We planned our vacation for the perfect time.  It was at the end of the season during the last week of September which meant that lodging rates were low, all of the souvenier shops were 60% off and the place was empty but the weather was still 75 or 80 degrees (perfection).  

We stayed in Kill Devil Hills in a beach house.  It's best to get a house that is closer to the ocean side and doesn't require you crossing the highway 158.  You want to be close enough to the beach that you can walk.  Driving to the beach is no good because you have to drive back all sandy.  Our house included an outdoor shower which was very convenient. 

We drove a lot of the Outer Banks and I was happy with where we stayed.  I would also consider up by Corolla or Kitty Hawk.

 We went to visit two lighthouses: Hateras and Currituck Beach.  Both were really neat.  You could walk to the top of both. 

Places to Eat:
Duck Donuts: Oh my deliciousness.  Fresh donuts with any topping you could desire.  Chocolate was the best, by far.  We will definitely visit again but check any thoughts of diet at the door.

Spankys: Reasonably priced but very good food.  Service was friendly.

Kill Devil Grill: Lively atmosphere and good home food.

So there's my recommendations.  

The Beach

When you become a parent, there are these moments that surprise you.  Moments where you feel like you are going to burst with joy.  (Ok, so there are the not so awesome moments too like cleaning up barf and wrestling a little guy who has escaped his diaper change.)

When those moments come, I want to record them, to remember them.  When we were at the beach, I had one of those moments.  As you know, Leo has mastered crawling.  He crawls everywhere and pretty much over any obstacle (even opening our back screen door last night, the stinker).

Kira and her girls (the friends we went with) and I were at the beach.  I must admit that I've never been much of a sand person.  I wasn't one of those warm beach people that lounge in the sand.  My loyalties always lied with the "cool, walk on the beach" kind of beaches.  I half expected Leo to be the same.

Oh boy.  He practically dived into the sand.  He would crawl, stop and examine something, crawl more, let sand drizzle from his hand and then wave his arms in a "this is the coolest thing ever" kind of way.  He didn't even eat that much.

Watching him so happy was the highlight for me.  He was just so curious and thoughtful.  Makes me think that's how I need to live.  Stop and see the seashell, celebrate new discoveries (who knew sand could be so much fun!).  Sit and bask in your surroundings.  And, of course, take a few moments to wave my arms and think "this is so awesome".

I may have crawled in the sand with him, which is saying something for this sand averse mama.  

Outer Banks

When I was a young women, I went to girls camp every year.  My favorite was the year that I was a stake leader.  It was the best.  When we're together, ask me about dressing up as a dummy or the chipmunk on my pillow.  It was one of those experiences that changed the way that I looked at the world.  I distinctly remember walking into my Grantsville home and looking at it with new eyes, almost like I didn't remember what it looked like.   

This is how I felt this past week.   Heb, Leo and I were on vacation in the Outer Banks in North Carolina.  We had the best time.  We rented a beach house with some friends and were literally 5 minutes from the beach.  We didn't worry about anything.  Heb didn't think about work (which is pretty significant) and we just enjoyed ourselves. I almost forgot about our house, about anything not at the beach.

We loaded our car right up.  Man there's a lot of things to pack with a kiddo.

 We sat on the beach. We played in the water.

We laughed at Leo joyously exploring the beach.  I think we have a real beach bum on our hands.

We visited lighthouses.

 

We saw the place where the Wright Brother's took their first flight.  A true Air and Space moment (you know that Heber loves air and space stuff.  The first time he came out to visit me in DC when we were dating, he spent three full days at the Air and Space Museum.  That's love.)

We were just together...even while trying to keep our little guy happy during the long drive.

We would wake up in the morning and walk along the beach in the waves. There are few things I love more than walking along the water (I really do like long walks on the beach).

One of the highlights of the trip was hanging out with the Barker's.  When traveling with friends, you either really like them afterward or never want to see them again.  Luckily, we had a great time.  The kids all played together and we had so much fun playing games and taking it all in.  We even want to do it again.

The other highlight was seeing my old friend Janette and her husband Sasha. They recently moved to North Carolina.  It felt so good to talk to an old friend. 

So now, it's over and we are getting back to our life.  Hopefully we'll visit Outer Banks again.

The Delay

It's been almost two weeks since I've written.  Have I been too busy to write? No.  Have things happened that I want to remember and write about?  Yes.  Do I want to write about our trip to Outer Banks?  Yeah.  So, why the delay?

I think I'm bummed to be home.  Bummed that the vacation is over.  I'm not unhappy with my life, we just really enjoyed our time away.  But how could we not?

Is it too soon to start planning our trip for next year?