Seattle Gardening

This is what Im going to plant in Seattle. They have a bunch of different plants up there. Basically everything that we CANT grow here. Rhodies, Azaleas, Fuchsias, Impatients. I want to find a little house where i can experiment on some of these fun plants. We sold some of these at the plant sale when I was in high school but I remember them not doing very well cause it was too windy then always got too hot!

Sweet Briar



Fuchsia (Mrs. Popple)

Favorite Trees

I love spring! I love it when I see brand new tulips poking their way through the ground. I love it when the bare naked trees get their blossoms. Winter is so blah, and ugly and its such a blessing to have spring, new life and beauty! I have a few favorite trees that I watch on my way home every time I go out. I notice these beautiful trees and always swear Im going to figure out what kind they are so I can someday grow my own.

I have this dream of someday having a huge yard with trees and shrubs everywhere. A pool with flowers and lush green grass. A huge swing set for the kiddos and my garden by the fence. The house I kind of imagine was the home where we took our first swimming lessons. The yard was gorgeous! I can see this home in my head and someday I hope that maybe I will be in one home long enough to work toward something like that but maybe on a smaller scale. to make it come true. But until then I like to collect my favorite trees and shrubs so I know what I like.

Here are just a few of my favorites:


Sensation Maple (this tree has amazing fall color, a mixture of yellow, reds and orange) It get really big too!


Spring Snow Crabapple (these trees are in front of the Meridian Winco and are a globe shape.


Canadian Red Chokecherry (these have white,fragrent, conie blossoms and the leaves turn a red color in the summer


Plum (there are lots of varieties but have pretty pink blossoms in the spring

Babies Galore!

All of my friends are expecting this spring. My sister in law started the prego craze with her baby boy, which was born on April 15th.

Next is Melanie, Im guessing his birthday will be May 1st (cause babies are meant to be born in May, right Mel!)

Then, its Marne's surprise baby in the middle of May...will it be a boy or girl??

Okay, then I believe we have a little break until Maren is due July 3rd.

Holy Cow, fun for me to be surrounded by all these sweet lil babies.


Can't wait to fill in for my mom and be there with Melanie for her first. What a beautiful thing it is to have your first. Its forever etched in your brain and a day and experience that you will never forget.

Beautiful Home for Sale

My life right now is trying to keep my house clean and picked up. I have dejunked and brought a TON of stuff out to the garage for our soon to be garage sale. What a aha moment that is....the less junk you have to manage in your home the easier it is to keep clean. It really hasn't been too bad. We have had 2-3 showings a week so when you have a showing every other day the house doesn't have time to get really messy. C'mon isn't this house cute!! It will sell, right?

Jumping UP and Down!!

Hi Sherri,

I know you mentioned earlier that you would like Nicole’s dresses that she outgrew. Well, I went through all her clothes and I have two garbage bags full of girl clothes. Would you like them for Chelsea? I am just going to donate them so they are yours if you want them!

Beckie

This is the email that I recieved from a friend in my ward. Now, wouldn't you be jumping up and down too! We couldn't wait to get home to sneak a look into the bags. In fact, I couldn't figure out why chelsea was hiding behind the seat but asked "honey, what are you doing?" She revealed her naked legs and with a smirk she sheepishly said "I want to wear this!" She picked out a really cute, teal polka dot skirt which she is still in love with.

After we got home and started really looking through stuff I about passed out from my adrenaline rush. I was literally screaming!! My kids thought I was wierd.
Talk about prayers being answered. We are losing TONS of money on our house but now I don't have to buy ANY clothes for Chels and we are set for Seattle. Oh, I will probably just have to buy one thing...a umbrella and some galoshes :)

Going Short

Wanted to show my sister my new hair cut! Pictures don't do it justice but you get the picture.

Also, I am planning on going to help Melanie with her new baby next week. She is 37 weeks and more than ready to have baby Keldon. She is so cute and pregnant. I wish my mom could see her. She would've been so proud of her. I am also trying to plan meals for my family while Im gone so they can have some comfort food while their mommy is away. Darin has been asking for some cinnamon rolls lately. That is really funny because when we were first married and a little later I would make yummy stuff and he would eat it because it was there but now he is to the point where he is asking. I knew that I could show him what was good!! I always pull a line from my mom and say "They're not very good! You wouldn't like'em. They are pretty nasty, you better just go have a cookie instead." I remember the first few times I heard those phrases. I believed her and then realized that she was pullin' my leg so that her and my dad could have more of the good stuff.
I do the same thing now to my kids but they don't fall for it anymore either. They know whats good!

Off To Seattle!

Sherri suggested I post to her blog. She hasn't touched it for some time now, and rightfully so, as both of us have been through a whirlwind the past 2-3 months.

Yes, it is true. We are officially victims of the recession. Of course, you never think it will happen to you, until it does. Many of us feel we are immune to the economic woes of today. However, it seems that the economic problems are affecting everyone in some way or another. For some, it is small things. For others, much larger things. For us, it means a change of place we call home (or at least for the time being).



As many may know already, the company I work for has decided to close our Boise facility in an effort to trim budget costs. However, we are fortunate to have been offered an opportunity to transfer to the Seattle, WA area. Thankfully not right in the heart of Seattle (not that there is anything wrong with Seattle), but rather 40 miles north of Seattle, close to Everett. I consider myself somewhat of a city person now, but just not Seattle city! It's a bit too big for me.

My company has an office in Lynnwood, WA, and they felt it made sense to consolidate our division to a single location. Therefore, we will be making the journey to Seattle before the summer is through.

Yes, we definitely don't want to go, and we definitely will miss our family and friends here in Boise, but that doesn't mean we have to stay up there. We told ourselves we will try it out for a couple of years and see how we like it. Then if things don't work out, we will look at making our way back here to the place we love.

Now the hard part. We are trying to sell our house. And anyone who knows anything about the housing market right now knows that not only is it difficult to sell a house right now, but you can't make nearly what you could have made on it had you sold it 2 or 3 years ago. So that will be a hard pill for us to swallow. Knowing how much we will lose on our house makes us queezy to say the least.

Anyway, we are looking forward to a new adventure. One that will hopefully bring us some new friends and relationships we will have for a lifetime.

Pray for us! We will need all the help we can get!