8 years ago...

Jeremy,
Please refer to the previous post about our son but swap out the words 'buddy' & 'mom' for lover.
Love,
Christine


Listen, after swimming all day and having not washed my hair for days before I was pretty impressed with my somewhat french twist-like hair do.




That's Tan-tastic. Had to put this picture in for myself, last year I was 16 pounds heavier! Lookin' good little mama.

5 years

Dear Espen,
You just turned 5 years old and I cannot believe what a fantastic, friendly, whip smart, funny, good mannered, cheerful and good-looking boy you are. I have nothing but love for you, the kind of love that you can't describe, the kind that makes your body ache because a million hugs or kisses can't show it. You are my one and only buddy and I am lucky to have you in my life and be your mom.
Love,
Mommy

1 year

I'm going to take a minute and pat myself on the back. I just pulled up my name on the MLS as Listing and Selling member and I was ecstatic to see the results. I quit working my office job on May 12th of last year to pursue a career in real estate. In one year I have 8 (10 if you count a closing on Friday and one next month) closings under my belt and almost $1.2 Million in sales, which for a rookie in this market is pretty good, don't you think. I'm having more fun than I ever thought I could have and I really am proud of myself.

There is also no way in hell I would be able to get to this point if it weren't for some people who I need to mention.

My parents. You both have had my back through good times and bad and to support me through this past year has been incredible. Thank you for all of the help you have given to me and the opportunity that you gave me and my family. I love you.

The Twins. Jenny & Christie, for real, if it weren't for these two ladies I would be sitting here typing, 'holy shit, a year has gone by and I have nothing to show for it.' The support you have given me, gave me every bit of confidence that I needed to make it. I am beyond grateful for everything you have done for me and the confidence you have in me. :-)

Jeremy & Espen. I feel like I have all the time in the world and not nearly enough time for you guys. Thank you for believing in me and giving me hugs when I'd cry about a stressful closing or cheering me along at a successful one. Obviously I love you both to pieces.

So that's it, my back hurts from all of this self-patting. Yeah me!!

February is the shortest month of the year and it certainly felt that way this year, for sure. The holidays are over, my birthday came and went and now February, poof, gone. Luckily, aside from being sick for the umpteenth time this year, February was a really good month.

Espen's school had a mailbox set up in the office the week before Valentine's day where parents could drop off cards or notes to their kids that would hand delivered to the students in their classroom. Here's what I made for Espen. He didn't think it was as cool as I did. Oh well...





I got a wacko idea that I would hand make all 9 of the girls in Espen's class Valentine's and little barrettes. It took me forever, but it was totally worth it, they turned out so cute. The boys in the class just got Bakugan cards and chocolates, sorry boys.







Mom!! Come look at me....Fancy hat, dude.



On a Friday we decided to let Espen take the day off of school so he could join us on a motor home adventure to Quartzsite. I forgot how much fun motor homes are! And the best part (or maybe the worst part) was that I got to bring my laptop/phone and was able to work comfortably at the 'dinette' while flying down the highway. So cool.



After a few hours of driving we finally arrived and my sister and I were unleashed in a giant warehouse filled with all of the stones, gems and jewelry findings you could ever imaging. I found a lovely 'diamond', wouldn't it make such a lovely ring?

While Seester and I scoured the warehouse the kids with Grandma & Grandpa's help stayed busy digging for dinosaurs.



Oh my gosh, such pretty little things are going to be made by Block & Battaglia with all of this loot. Can't wait. I've already made a couple of beautiful drop earrings.



I spent a lot of time in bed with these two guys, not feeling well=naps, naps, naps.



Sunday at the park, probably not the best thing for me...being outside and riding a bike depleted my energy but the boys had fun.





It was SO nice to be able to go for a bike ride, come on Spring, we're waiting!



Man, I snapped this at THE perfect time...love it.



Jeremy & his fake smile, at least he tried and his tongue isn't sticking out.


Au revoir February...it's been fun.

happy new year

Last year we had without a doubt the craziest new years ever. I'm sure you've heard me tell the story and/or seen the videos. All I wanted to do was stay home last year but instead we went out and it was terrible.

This year was going to be our year to stay at home, cuddle with Espen (who we've only spent one new years eve with) and lay low. My parents had Espen at their house for one last visit before his winter break was over and the plan was to pick him up from there house and head up north to play in the snow. Now, my parents house got hit pretty hard with snow this year and we could have easily stayed around their house in Yarnell but we thought we'd try Prescott for a change of scenery. After about an hour of driving up crazy switch backs with snow everywhere we finally made it to Prescott around 3:30. How cute is Prescott, by the way? The center of town and the county court house building looked amazingly quaint and the snow and people all bundled up made me want to immediately plan a weekend trip up there. I'm not sure how it happened but Jeremy said we were going to head to Flagstaff without even looking for a place in Prescott to play in the snow. So, I plugged in the info on the navigation and off we went. I was desperately watching the clock because our navigation told us we'd be in Flagg in over an hour and a half and I wasn't sure we'd make it there in time to a) play in the snow and b) make it home in time for a relaxing night at home...well, it turns out I was right. We didn't reach Flagstaff till 5pm. We passed the main part of town and headed towards Wing Mountain, to try to find a snowy spot that we pulled off and played in last year. We couldn't find the old spot so we pulled off in another just long enough for me to use the most disgusting/frozen/stinky public/park restroom. At this point I was getting anxious. I'm normally the kind of girl to just roll with things and make the best of a situation but this time was different. All year I was looking forward to being home on new years, my monthly bitch from hell decided to visit that day (and if you know me then you know that I become completely useless), I was cold and starving. Jeremy talked me down from my mild freak out and the next thing you know we were checking in to a crappy Super 8, ordering pizza & wings and settling into our new digs. We thought at some point we were going to be able to stop by Jeremy's parents on the way home from playing in the snow so we brought a bottle of Glogg to give them and thank god we did, we immediately opened the bottle and started to drink! Espen was asleep by 10:30 and while Jeremy & I waited till midnight to arrive we watched bad Mexican new years countdowns, flipped between Harry Potter and Road Trip and a couple of times, fought the cold long enough for me to grab a quick smoke. By 8pm it was 0 degrees out and by midnight it 10 below. At midnight we watched the ball drop on TV, snuck out for one last smoke and an impromptu photo shoot with my camera (who's battery was about to die since I didn't think we'd be gone all day, I had only charged it half way, ugh).

In the end, after all of my complaining and freaking out about not having a relaxing new years at home we ended up having one of the best new years ever and from now on, we're thinking about heading out of town every year, next year...El Tovar at the Grand Canyon! And, it turned out that staying the night totally worked in our favor. The next morning after weathering the -17 degree temperature, we ate a not so yummy continental breakfast and headed out to Wing Mountain, but I'll save that for another post.









{espen & his icicle or what he calls 'obstacles'}

{before we left Yarnell my dad asked jeremy to help him drag his canoe up a hill on the side of their house and tried to ride it down, somewhat unsuccessfully}

{family portrait with our pizza}

{zero}

{super 8 is totally fun}

{super 8 is totally metal}

{ugh, so mad that jeremy made his weird tongue/eye face and what a lovely background, chevron}

{new years kiss}

{happy new year, it's effing cold out}

{by the time we woke up it, this is what we had to deal with}

How do you stay warm when it's below zero? Layers!!

bicycle

Oh my gosh. How I miss riding my bike. It's been a long summer and I am more than ready for the desert to cool off so I can hop back on my bike and ride around town.

This past Sunday, after we finished dinner, Jeremy & I rode some old bikes (my old bike...that I miss) around Yarnell with Jenny & Joshua.

The sunset was incredible so we stopped to snap a few pictures. This is what transpired...


me: Let's take tough bike guy pictures
jeremy: Ya! Go like this!
me: uh....


me: not gonna happen, I can barely touch the ground let alone toss the front of the bike up in the air
meanwhile, Jeremy's still workin' his cool 'trick'


So, I couldn't do the trick, but I could prop myself up on my tip toes and try to look cute.


How about a normal one... but what the heck happened to the sunset?!


There it is.


note: Seester, we need to get you a new camera. Although mine does a similar thing without a flash, what's with the pixely pics.

4 years

Months ago, for reasons unknown to me, Espen requested a Christmas birthday party. I think it's because at some point I mentioned another pool party like last year and he must of thought no, let's do the complete opposite. As the months went on he'd still periodically mention the Christmas theme...that is how we came to have Christmas in August.

I'd like to take a moment to thank my beautiful friends and loving family, we had so much fun on Espen's birthday, it just would not have been the same without you.

From having the pool completely to ourselves, to jeremy making a mad dash in the morning to grab the balloons that I forgot, to the wacky Christmas cake and gifts wrapped in Santa's and snowballs-Espen's 4th birthday party was a huge success.

So many photos were taken and I'm sorry, I'm going to share about 40 of them...for now, I'll start with the day through my eyes/camera.




{so cute}

{mama!! in the pool!!}

{nerds talking about true blood}

{espen hiding from the camera}

{up in the air}

{papa, an orca & a smoke, 'nuf said}

{caribbean cooler?}

{INWL-Improvised noodle water launcher}

{i couldn't resist, this is my dad XO}

{blurry balloon/birthday boy}

{heck yes, christmas cake}

{i cut those trees down myself}

{what happen's when your cake gets a huge crack? you fill it with icing}

{uh, woops}

{time foe bed birthday boy}