Of another era

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live before your generation? I do. Sometimes I daydream of escaping to another era. Especially now that I live in my grandparents old house. Kinda weird to think that my grandma moved into this house from Burbank, California when she was 37 yrs old and here I am moving in at 36 (pretty dang close to 37). She and grandpa moved up in their prime years, set up their future, my mom grew up here, and now my kids will grow up here. Surreal for sure!

There are still many remnants of the past in this home, an old car, trunks, tools, fur coats, old dresses, and vintage hats. I'm still trying to go through all that is left behind to decode and figure out where it needs to go. Much of which I simply can't keep for lack of space. At this point in my life it's not about keeping, it's about simplifying.

Today I focus on the 1950's pink refrigerator, it's taking up too much space in the garage. Crazy that after 54 years this fridge still works and works well!! I love the lazy susan idea, and the refer over freezer, I can't believe that was cira 1956! Pink inside, well it's better than pink on the outside as well.

I listed it on Craigslist. Lets hope it goes over the long weekend!

Another practice session

I'm not in business, but when the opportunity came about for a lil practice session on a newborn, I was all over it. And let me tell you, I knew it was going to be hard, but it's REALLY challenging photographing a newborn. Thankfully this little baby was absolutely delightful.

The lessons I took away from this practice session were priceless. Now I need to step it up and do more shoots so I can really apply those lessons to improve.

Broken birdie

The kids found this little bird in the backyard this afternoon. I'm not sure what type of bird it is, but I'm suspecting it's a young robin. I couldn't tell what was wrong with little birdie. I was within a foot and usually I can't get that close to any birds. Emma was determined to make this her new pet....I'm hoping by morning the little birdie will have moved on. Photo taken with my 70-200mm f4. Love the bokeh on this, I need to dig this lens out more often.

Lil Guitar

Two months ago on a normal shopping trip to the grocery store I stumbled accross this guy selling little guitars in the parking lot of QFC. It's so out of character for me to buy something this random, let alone in a parking lot. Plus I'm on the hook for a birthday present. He tells me this cute lil thing is $25 (which I'm sure is completely overpriced). This little voice is telling me "I have to have it"!!!

I glance over to a pile of wadded up cash on the front seat of the van and offer him what I have, and he says yes. Score for me!

Lil Tyler has loved music since he was un utero and I coudln't resist. I wrapped this up and gave it to him for his 6th birthday, He was so flippin excited. He plays all the time, thinks he's a little rock star.

Few of me and the kids

I'm going back on my word on exercise this week. I haven't been feeling very well. It's almost just too much to be obsessing about my first week back on Weight Watchers and trying to add exercise. I have to remind myself we've just been through some pretty heavy stuff and I need to cut myself a little more slack. Plus I seem to be more sucessful when I focus on one goal at a time. So next week will be exercise, this week journal, journal, journal. I know you're not supposed to peak mid week, but I'm already down 2 lbs....if only I could make all 20 melt off as easy!

The kids took these photos and I've taught them to not take MY photos dead on (isn't that terrible?). I will try to take a more unflattering "real fat" photo when I work up the nerve.

Finding a new normal

We moved several times when the kids were babies, so it wasn't as big of a deal. This time around it's a little more complicated. More specifically our 9 and 11 year old are taking this move pretty hard.

I wish I had some magic wand that could make it all better. I had a conversation with my 11 yr old tonight that was pretty heart wrenching. It seems as if everynight he's been crying himself to sleep. While I try to comfort him I'm at a loss for what to say. If anyone knows of any good books or references on moving and dealing with family hardships, I'd love some recommendations.

With all this craziness we are still trying to unpack and settle into a new normal. Friday the neighborhood pool opened, and I hope that by being actively involved we'll meet other families.

Starting monday, and I'm sharing this here...back to the gym, no more excuses! I've started back on Weight Watchers online and my goal this week is to show up to the gym 4 days. No expectations on weight lifting, just get my chunky butt to the gym!

As one door closes another door opens

I can't believe we are done at the "b" house. This process of letting go of the other home has been a long time in the making. The last 3 months of downsizing and moving out have been extremely hard emotionally.

I can remember 3 years ago my husband bringing up the conversation ( little bit before he'd lost income) that he brought up the topic of "is this house worth it" and the whole foreclosure crisis that was starting. I can remember an entire year going by with so many heated discussions of how much I loved the home, morally how anyone could walk away, and no way it could happen to us (after all life was good). Of course I had no idea what changes were on the horizon and that the "Perfect Storm" hadn't yet hit, and neither one of us it really saw it coming, all though looking back it's clear as day something had to break!

So here we are post hap, the house now belongs to the bank. Yes, that's what I said. After more than 14 months of a constant circle jerk with the banks, calling constantly, faxing documents, only to be outdated every 30 days, hiring a mediation company, and finally a lawyer. We walked away. Some may call it a "strategic default", but reality was we could no longer afford the home as incomes have dropped significantly in my husbands line of work since the time we purchased our home.

This evening we packed of the remains of our personal property and took to our new home. While there was a twinge of sadness, that my kids would lose constant access to all their friends, the wonderful neighbors, my awesome mommy friends, and my beautiful home. The memories are always for us to keep, regardless of where we live. It occurred to me that it was the friendships that I will miss the most, not the home. We can make a home where ever we go. This day marks the end of some very hard times our family and our marriage have endured and we're all ready for a new chapter.

Mother's Day

This years Mother's Day was fabulous and refreshing! We are still living in chaos, and getting away from the house with the family was just what we all needed. First I was showered with gifts (which considering my husband did a huge NO,NO a few days earlier for my birthday, he wasn't going to strike out on Mothers Day). After cards and gifts, we then went to breakfast, then to Ballard Locks in Seattle for a picnic.

So now we are back to reality, and this week was pretty rough. In a nutshell we hadn't moved all our things out of the old home yet, and basically we had to get things out in a mad rush this week. The 3 car garage is packed from floor to ceiling. My grandma's things have not been fully removed from our new home, and it's become a real challenge working around everything. I spent today unloading the kitchen, and of course because many of these things are family heirlooms, it's a bit of a challenge just throwing things away. I hate to say, 5 months ago when we started this process I had hopes to keep many of the family heirlooms, I just can't hang on to the things for lack of space. This downsizing has proved to be more challenging than we originally expected, but good things are just around the corner! I look forward to simplifying our lives, living within our means during this difficult economic season, and focusing on family.