decade*

wow, it just dawned on me this morning that this decade is over. what a ten years it has been. so much to look back on. ten years ago i was a 24 year old, account manager, two+ years into my first real job - at maxim group/tek systems selling computer consulting services to companies in north, northeast and southeast portland and vancouver/camas/longview. i was making good money, living with my boyfriend of ~ 3 years and feeling on top of the world! we were dink's and didn't realize how easy life was! today i am a 34 year old, stay at home mom (a term that still makes my heart race...both because it scares the heck out of me and it makes me so happy), wife of 6.5 years, making NO money and tackling the most challenging yet fulfilling job of my life.

some highlights of the last 10 years (via my digital photographs, which i bought in 2003, so 2003 is when it starts!):

january 2003 - free trip to cancun with maxim group/tek systems! lobster, room service whenever we pleased, swimming with the dolphins, dance party, tequila shots...all free and so much fun! why did i quit that job?! oh...i hated it at the end!



may 2003 - aa and i spent 3 weeks in japan - - to visit adam and (his then girlfriend) sarah, our friend brad and my uncle/aunt/cousin. such an incredible cultural experience. i don't know that i fully realized it at the time, though! would love to go back...but there are so many other places in the world to see!


august 16, 2003 - we climbed mt st helens with jan, bryan, adam, stacy and a few others.


july 26, 2003 - aaron popped the big question at salishan on the beach on one knee. elated! finally! ;) sadly...no pics!

september 2003 - we made an offer on our first house - planned to live there for 3 years max...that was 7 years ago and yes, we are still here!



january 2004 - started new job at banfield the pet hospital as a college recruiter. traveled around to different colleges around the country recruiting doctors. fun seeing all college campuses, but the travel got old real fast!

may 1, 2004 - our wedding day! tied (with the birth of my babes) for my favorite day in life.






and 3 week honeymoon in Belize - pure bliss!!






april 12, 2005 - my first day at nike as a recruiter - LOVED working for this brand/company. great people, employee store discounts, challenging work, sample sales, cool events...yes, i was in the audience while phil interviewed mj in honor of his 25th anniversary with nike.


may 2005 (five weeks after i started my new job!) - traveled around peru for 3 weeks and hiked the inca trail to machu picchu w/ the gassner family. amazing!









sept/oct 2006 - 3 weeks in africa in celebration of our 30th birthdays and a big hoorah before we attempt to start a family.





october 22, 2006 - ran the nike women's marathon in honor of my 30th birthday - my mom and mother-in-law came along to celebrate!




march 2007 - december 5, 2007 - pregnant w/ kellen, due date was november 22 (thanksgiving of that year), but 13 days overdue!


august 2007 - babymoon #1, kauai, hi



december 5, 2007 @ 10:46am - our boy is born...first family photo



may 2008 - my first mother's day!


may 1, 2009 - 5 Years! our first night(s) away from kellen for a long weekend to san francisco.


august 2009 - babymoon #2 - maui, hi...a little different with a 1.5 year old!


october 14, 2009 - one week before giving birth...kellen comes down with croup - first ER visit, then ambulance ride to emanuel and overnight stay - 9 months pregnant! poor sick boy, poor pregnant mama.



october 21, 2009 - my 33rd birthday and maya's birthday @ 11:57 pm - our first photo with our girl!



july 2010 - our first family road trip to northern california - super fun and many good memories, but probably our last for at least five years!


september 3, 2010 - my last day at nike. such a bittersweet day. i view it as a sabbatical - extra long and hope to find myself back there when the time is right for us. for now, i'm loving this time and can't wait to see what the next decade brings.

cheers and happy new year/decade* to all.

* i realize acutally that we are probably a year into the official decade, but since this is my blog...i'm counting my last ten years!!! :)

moves

inspired by some awesome tribal sounding music yesterday, maya decided she'd start standing up on her own to do a little booty shake. i love how she waves her hands in the air with her finger pointed...a signature move she learned from her daddy. when he is in the room, she searches for him to make sure they both are doing the same move!

bye bye ba!

today was a big day in our house...the day we would trade in all of kellen's bas (pacifiers) for a toy of his choice. we'd been talking about it for a little while - that when he was ready (or by the time he turned three) he could take all of his bas to the toy store and get any toy he wanted. we've offered it up several times before this and he would say he wasn't ready. well...today was the day - good thing, because tomorrow he turns three! he was very excited this morning rounding them all up - all three of them, including his favorite ba - the orange and green one! we headed out to thinker toys and he zeroed in right away on a thomas the train set. knowing that he might have something like that coming his way for his birthday and hanukkah, we tried to find something else equally as exciting, but in the end it was thomas that came home with us! when we went up to the counter, he handed over the baggie with his three bas. they guy looked at us like we were crazy, but luckily the women next to him knew what was going on and played it up for us. what a big boy...trading in his pacifiers for a toy! kellen tells us that new babies can now have his ba and that he still has his teddy and blanket!


our big, ba-less boy loving thomas!

what fun he had setting up the train and playing...but it might have been the catalog of other thomas engines, sets, accessories, etc that he enjoyed the most today. what is this one's name, daddy? how about this one? as fun and exciting as thomas was, i was a little worried about how bedtime would go, which is the only time that ba is actually used (well, naptime too...but no nap today because of civil war!). he did ask for it...mama, where is ba? i want my ba. i reminded him that we traded it in, that we have thomas now and that bas are for babies and he is a big boy. 10 minutes later he was sound asleep! crossing my fingers it continues to go that smooth. and guess who else made it into the bed...thomas, of course!


see thomas sticking out underneath puppy! teddy is there under the book (a recent request each night, bookie please!).

go duck

last night at bridgeport village there was a civil war pep rally featuring benny the beaver and puddles the duck. kellen is a BIG fan of the duck, so we couldn't miss it! it was cold and a little drizzly, but my boy was in awe! couldn't wait to see the duck "being funny". we were there for close to two hours and only pulled him away by convincing him that the duck and everyone else was going home to go eat dinner and go to bed, too. the marching band starting up again as we walked off didn't help.

maya looks up and realizes something is not quite right!

kellen was a big hit too...little did we know when we put on our colors to head out the door that one of us would be crowned best dressed little duck fan! yep...kellen won the fan vote of best dressed. it was pretty funny - in the final round (yes, it went from about 10 kids down to top 4, to top 2 based upon crowd applause!) he was up against a kid dressed up in a full duck costume and it was deemed a tie. kellen was clueless about what was going on, but happy to walk away with a little duck football that plays the fight song.


kellen is a bigger fan of the duck from a distance!

afterwards we walked over to whole foods for dinner. kellen couldn't stop slamming the football on the table to make it plays the fight song and maya was quite happy to dance to the music! fun night.