Progress

We are here! We are officially in our new house and have been working hard to make things ours, fresh and under control. Here is a few pictures to show what we have been up to and the progress we have been making.

Here is a picture of the front of the house before we moved in:

Now: we have painted the door red and trimmed the bushes back. We actually got a compliment from a neighbor about the different door color. Apparently there were many who were not a fan of the teal door.

This is a frog that was left with the house, and Bridger has adopted it as his own. Just thought I would throw this in here.

Here was the backyard before we moved in (blackberry bushes, thistle and 3 feet high grass):

Now: we can actually go back and play! Our goal now is to see if we can keep some resemblance of a green lawn for summer, or if the yellow grass that showed up overnight will win the backyard battle.

This was Bridger's room before (notice the whole patch of wall unpainted):

We were privileged to have my mom come and help during our move and we put her to work. Initially, I envisioned a cutesy, cartoon-like (think Winnie the Pooh) room with rolling hills that perhaps had some Oregon features in it. As my mom began to work her magic, Bridger's room was transformed with a beautiful real life mural of Mt. Hood (this picture really doesn't do it justice). Jim wishes this one was actually in our room. Thanks mom!

For Kacy's room, I had a lot of different ideas. Before having a girl, I would never have dreamed that I would paint a room in my house pink. However, 5 gallons of pink paint left in our garage provided us an opportunity to draw inspiration from this dress:

For this room:

So, we did paint the walls pink and Jim and I painted on chocolate-brown flowers, leaves and vines. It turned out cute and I have fully accepted that we have a GIRL! And we have some extra pink paint if anyone is in need.

This is the kids playroom. Yes, there is a bright orange wall, bright green wall and bright, sunny yellow wall. But it will be light and bright, all year round and I love it!

On one of the walls, we applied chalkboard paint so the kids can have a wall that is okay to write on. Hopefully we can contain coloring to just the one wall, but will have to see if we will pay for it later.

Last, but not least, in the master bedroom, we did a red accent wall, with neutral-green walls all around. Before you hear red and green and think "Christmas" check it out. I think it really came together and I love having a nice, big bedroom that our bed actually fits in (it didn't fit in our room at our last place).

I think I felt entitled to splash color on every wall I could so that I can have bright, sunny, happy colors to enjoy all year round - which come winter I will be really glad to have. As we move to the hallways and living rooms I am going to tone it back a bit... maybe... :)

Anyway, this is the new place! Come on over for a visit and a tour anytime!

Blue Lake Triathlon

Just after I had Kacy, I felt like I needed a goal to get back in shape that I could look forward to. So I signed up for the Blue Lake Sprint Triathlon, and even talked my friend Brittany into doing it with me. So, we prepared ourselves for the 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike & 5k run.

My cousin, Greg, and his son, Jeffrey (who I swear I used to be taller than) also were doing the sprint tri also. It was fun to know other people doing the race. I appreciated Greg entertaining all my questions leading up to the race and giving me great advise on how to survive my first triathlon.
I actually had a really great time. My goals were to be in shape enough to finish the race, keep moving the whole time, and have fun. Thanks Jim for supporting me and teaching me how to a "primal yell" for that extra rush of adrenaline at the end. And thanks mom for being in town to help paint our house and watch our kids that morning so we could let our babies sleep in while we went to the race. Here were my stats:

Total time: 1:51:35

Swim time: 0:22:09 (575th place overall)

Bike time: 0:48:41 (560th place)

Run time: 0:31:46 (473th place)

So, I survived swimming in a lake, getting passed on my mountain bike while others were on their fancy road bikes, and running on jello legs. Now, my next one is in August and is a women's only race. Anyone want to join me?

My Marathon Man

So, this is almost a month in the past, but I needed to brag about my marathon running hubby. The Newport marathon was on May 30, and preparation for it was truly a family affair.

We ate a lot of spaghetti...

We got to sleep in a hotel bed...

We went to some pre-race festivities...

We got up bright and early to be at the start of the 26.2 miles.

And best of all, we got to cheer on Daddy as he ran! Go Daddy Go!

The Newport Marathon is a lot of fun to be a spectator on, because you can drive the loop the runners take and meet up with your runner at various points along the race. Jim ran this 26.2 miles in 3 hours and 45 minutes. That is 22 minutes faster than last year doing this same marathon. Can you believe he only has been running for 2 years? He is doing the St. George, UT marathon in October and hopes to really cut down his time to run at a qualify-pace for Boston. That means he has to run it in 3 hours 10 minutes!! Whoa! Good Luck Jim!

Here is Bridger getting in on the action:

Happy Father's Day Jim! Thanks for the many family adventures!

MIA

We have been a little preoccupied lately, so it seems like from our lack of posting that life has been boring when really, things have been quite exciting.

First of all, Jim ran his 3rd marathon on May 30th in 3 hours 45 minutes. Great Job Jim! Pictures to come.

I am doing my first triathlon this weekend and am getting butterflies in my stomach in anticipation.

We bought a house!! And are currently moving, packing, painting and split between two locations.

I keep having that song from Pocahontas run through my head that has the line "you'll discover things you never knew you never knew" (or something like that) as we prepare to officially move into our new place.

For example:

Who knew we would have an opinion on whether or not clips would show on the valance above the windows?

Who knew there was a sign at Home Depot that says "Husbands may not buy paint without a note from their wives"?

Who knew they do not even sell paint that is just called "Yellow" or "Red" or "Green"?

Who knew grass could grow so high in our backyard so quickly? I think it is above 2 feet now.

Who knew it would be so fun to sleep on air mattresses in your new house, you would not even miss your furniture. Well, I wouldn't mind having my bed...

Anyway, we will be continuing our little hiatus until we get everything in one location and don't have paint sticking to our fingers.