Glad tidings and good cheer

5 days in the house, it's still standing, and we're still unpacking! Not to worry, the kitchen and bedrooms are pretty much all set. We're working on hanging pictures, making sure the living room is just right and getting the last of the Christmas decorations in place.

A moving recap: we had a stellar crew. Unbelievably wonderful. We couldn't have asked for better friends to help us. From packing up dishes to moving the heavy things - we certainly couldn't have done it with out them. After two U-Haul truck loads, everything but the little things (random cords, the odd trashcan, a curtain rod or two) was in our house. We celebrated the first night in our house with dinner for our moving crew and a few hours (yes, hours!) of Taboo. Who doesn't love a good game with friends?

Audrie and Greg championed the washer and dryer, moving it from the dining room to the laundry area. The table is all set-up and we put together our kitchen island. I haven't had a chance to take photos of the (almost) de-boxed house, but rest assured, photos to come from Christmas!

Speaking of which... we got into the holiday spirit by going to see The Nutcracker in Seattle. The sets were designed by Maurice Sendack (the illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are) and they were spectacular.

And in the spirit of spectacular, photos from the evening:

Pictures...

I know the saying: Pictures are worth a thousand words. So, I've updated some of the previous posts with pictures.

More from moving in this weekend to come!

Home. Owner.

Okay, okay, it's totally official. We own a home. And we have the keys.

That's right folks: Greg and I picked up the keys to our house last night. We toasted the occasion with a high-quality, super festive bubbly (okay, it was Sparkling Apple Cider - delicious nonetheless!), danced in the kitchen, did carpet snow-angels in the living and dining room. And we made our to-do list.

First thing: cleaning.

We're fotunate in that the house was recently painted and all the cabinets are new, so apart from adding some drawer handles, giving the bathrooms a good cleaning, and polishing the rest of the place, we're in good shape!

We're headed back tonight to tackle cleaning and tomorrow we'll start bringing things over to unpack. Unpack. In our new house. It's an amazing Christmas gift, and one that we are still pinching ourselves about. We're thrilled - and we can't wait for you to come over!

Okay, I haven't downloaded pictures from the camera yet, but check out this link. You can take the virtual tour of the house: http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=559773

Picture of us in the house, and unpacking thing, to come.

Appraised!

High fives all around: the appraisal went through and we're looking to close on the house next week! I feel like we're at a point that we can officially start packing things up and planning for the (short) drive to our new digs.

Last night we visited the house to ensure the repairs made met our expectations. One thing that the appaiser mentioned was that we need to put on hardware to the kitchen cabinets! (Something we were planning on, but funny-odd that the appraiser noted it, too.)

This weekend, plans are in the works to hit up the home stores in search of a washer, dryer, and refrigerator. Who knew there were so many options? (And, judging by the online reviews, so many people passionately for or against their appliances?)

It's been frightfully, bone-chillingly cold here. No snow or ice where we are, just really, really cold. There has been some great looking snow up in the mountains, though, and I think a snow-shoeing trip is also in order.

Warm wishes to you today!

We're waiting...

Things have slowed to a dull roar around our house in the last week or so. We're in the last stage of the waiting game (I think) - just waiting on the appraisal of the house to be completed and for us to close. If things go smoothly this week (and all signs point to "green lights ahead") we should close on the house next week.

And, yes - we are planning to be all moved in before Christmas. We like to think of the flurry of activity as invigorating and by inviting friends to share in our moving party - we're sharing in the holiday spirit, too. (There's nothing like being surrounded by friends at the holidays!)


A quick recap on the last week or so:

We had a lovely Thanksgiving. We kicked off the festive weekend early and celebrated with the Gause family on Wednesday night for the full meal-deal: turkey, ham, two kinds of potatoes, salad, pie... deliciousness. On Thanksgiving Day, we spent the morning sleeping in, watching the Macy's Day parade and enjoying a leisurely breakfast. We visited Zoo Lights on opening night and rode the carousel. I rode the seahorse. Greg had a horse/jaguar. Audrie rode the pig. It was a sweet little spin, and put me right in the holiday mood.

We avoided the crowds and went for a great bike ride on Friday out near the foothills of Mt. Rainier. It was a gorgeous day - sunny and perfectly autumnally crisp. For the rest of the weekend, we enjoyed a "no schedule weekend", visiting a friend's cabin, playing Scategories, taking in a few movies.

The baby has been growing a lot! My belly bump is really there now, and the baby is moving around like a disco star. Now that the winter weather is here (today's high: freezing. That's right 32 degrees.) I'm getting a little more creative at keeping the belly warm, but for the most part, my jackets are still zippable and buttonable, and things are still fitting okay.
(See the picture at above? That's me. Being a wild turkey.)

We have also adorned our place with our Christmas tree. I wasn't keen on the idea of only having a tree up for one week, so we chopped down a great little tree that smells divine and looks very rustic. Greg was thrilled that he could carry it one-handed (javelin-style) into the house. That'll make moving it to the house so much easier!

Watch this space for updates (and pictures!) about the house. Stay warm out there...

Check, and check.

Another milestone down, and a few more to go: the inspection on Saturday went pretty well! In all the experience I have going to home inspections... (ahem, never before Saturday!), I think, for a 98 year-old-house, it's in great working order.

Of course there were things on the list from the inspector to fix.(And there are things on my list to fix. Like knobs on the cupboards in the kitchen).

But all in all, it was a good inspection and the house (relatively) passed with flying colours.

And the even better news? The seller has accepted the repairs that we've requested. (I'm a little stunned - it seems that this is happening so much faster than I had thought.) We're on to the appraisal, repairs, and closing. Whew! (Once we're clear of all the wickets, I'll post some pictures. I'm still a little stunned at how quickly this is all going, and I want to make sure we clear all of the paperwork before I start celebrating too much!)

More good news? Yes, please! Audrie is staying with us, and that is something that makes this girl a happy one. There's nothing like hanging out with a best friend, especially at this time of year. I'm loving having her here. It's just dreamy.

This week, we are so thankful for:

• Our family, friends, and our family of friends
• Our growing family, and the healthy baby that is on its way!
  
• All the things with the house going so... smoothly... thus far
• Seeing family at the holiday (this week and in a month!)

What are you thankful for?

A quick update

So, after being married for 3 years, I have proudly perfected my signature.

Last night, over the course of 25 pages of real estate documents, the perfection wilted, and my signature became little more than a squiggle of a line. My initials were little more than a C (squiggle) (squiggle) G.

Yes, this all means that we've signed lots of paperwork about the house, and we're due to have our inspection tomorrow! (I'm planning on bringing snacks - it's supposed to take nearly 3 hours!) Wish us luck. And wish away any bad juju that might be lurking beneath the beauty and sweetness of this little gem. We'll hear back tomorrow night/Sunday about the inspection report. And, hopefully, that means we'll be able to press forward towards moving into a new abode. Perhaps we'll have Christmas in a new place?

In another update: we had our 23 week ultrasound for our bambino. Everything looks great! The baby is growing like a champ, and is quite proud of being able to move so much. This little bean is quite the wiggler! It's been a total joy to feel the disco that the baby has been jammin' to. In the picture the tech printed for us, the baby is looking right at us. It's amazing to look at your baby eye-to-eye.

Things have gotten blustery up here, and I think we are officially into the latter half of autumn, staring winter straight in the face. So, stay warm out, bear friends and family.

Because life should be lived

and not observed from the sidelines.

We've been back from Australia for almost two weeks and here the update:

1. The baby is officially making its debut! My belly has really popped, and you can tell that I'm really expecting a baby! This week we're at five-and-a-half months, and with an ultrasound and a doctor's appoint scheduled for this week, things are trucking along splendidly.

2. Greg purchased his graduation gift: a brand new computer. He's a gadget man, and this new little wonder is impressive. He's loving it, and so am I. 

3. We put an offer on a house (why not?!). And then we put a counter offer on the same house. And now, we're accepting an offer and coming to mutual agreement with the seller.
Here's what I've learned so far in this (very) new process:

• There needs to be layman's terms of layman's terms in real estate. Seriously, I'm wondering, could they make the paperwork a bit more convoluted?
• Several post-it notes from God would be helpful along the way... It's a scary step to be buying a place (especially for this girl, who still considers herself a permanent tourist, a global wanderer, and a resident of where she is in the current moment) and it's tough to know that you're really making the right decision.
• It's a game, and if you're willing to play, you can really get most of the things you'd like in a place (location, size of house, number of bathrooms (very important), yard) for a pretty reasonable price. 

So, updates to come as we learn more. We'd appreciate you're prayers as we continue down this path....

Port Stephens

I'm not sure how I came to the conclusion that Port Stephens should be the spot on the coast that we would go to... but whatever little gentle nudging I had deserves congratulations. This part of the coast is a gem. And quite hidden from all the tour buses/tacky tourist sights, etc.(Which was so dreamy.)

We stayed in a little town that really was only a town because it had a mail box. There were no shops, no restaurants. Just beach and the neighbourhood. (And real live koalas in the wild!) It was totally relaxing. Our bed and breakfast was very zen and we enjoyed breakfast on the patio with a blue-tongued lizard (that the owners of the b&b have name Red) each morning.

We spent our days on the coast exploring the small beach towns, relaxing on the beach (in gorgeous sunshine and splashing in the warmer, but still cold ocean), kayaking on the fantastically clear and pristine water, and sand-duning. Yes, sand-duning: we cruised in a land cruiser over the largest sand dunes in the Southern Hemisphere - 40 kms of golden sand that stretched about a mile and a half wide. The dunes are moving 5 kms each year toward the bush land that borders the dunes on one side (on the other side? The vast ocean). We sand-boarded (like sledding, but warmer and much faster!), saw a "city" of tin buildings originally built for shipwrecked sailors (and now available as holiday homes...), and stared mesmerized at the vastness of it all.

Twice we saw koalas in the wild, just lounging in trees (and mostly sleeping), and we saw a kookaburra - in a gum tree (cue the song, please), a wombat at night, and a fantatic sunset. Really, it was the perfect ending to our first taste of the land down under.

The Blue Mountains

We were daring and rented a car. A sweet little hot rod. A baby blue little motor machine: the Huyndai Getz. We upgraded and got an automatic.

As we drove out of Sydney west to the Blue Mountains (which really, are not like the mountains that we have here. It's really much more like a forested Grand Canyon. Plateaus of marbled, layed rock, and eyefuls of views, it was gorgeous.) navigating sounded like this:
"Turn right, but stay on the left."
"Um, make the turn around the median, but stay on the left."
"On the left...."

There are about a dozen little mountain towns that trickle through the Blue Mountains, and our bed and breakfast was at the end of the trickle. A quaint little town, it's most known for it's rhododendron gardens (which are gorgeous! And huge, and all volunteer managed. It was perhaps the biggest surprise of the trip and completely worth it. It was a true hidden gem).

On the first day we were there, we went for a short hike at Govett's Leap... but when we arrived, the fog was so thick, when we looked out from the vista, it was like looking at a white sheet. Really. There was no definition of landscape out there. We toddled down the trail and crossed a river (on stepping stones. It was very story book) and climbed up to another vista, and as we reached the plateau, the cloud was literally moving through the valley before our eyes. It was a magical unveiling of the valley and of our first views of the canyon. Waterfalls scattered the walls of the canyon and lush green rippled through the valley. It was gorgeous.

Day two, we decided to hike to the bottom of the canyon on a trail aptly named Grand Canyon. (Plus, I think it's cool that we've been to two Grand Canyons in two different countries and two different hemispheres.) The trail wound its way down on to the floor of the canyon and then along a river. We hiked on a rock ledge and heard a racket of birds everywhere. Greg was desperate to see some wildlife, and I spotted a big lizard... except it was dead. And not just dead as if it had died of natural causes. It was perfectly positioned on the handrail, and the rear of its body had been, well, perhaps enjoyed for lunch by another critter. In any case, I think I about jumped out of the canyon it startled me so much. But, regardless, we check "seeing" nature (wildlife) on the hike. Rest assured, we did see something alive  as well: giant freshwater crayfish that were bright orange.

Breakfasts at our place were "happy-belly" delicious: full English breakfasts complete with fantastic potatoes, poached eggs, unlimited fantastic toast, real bacon, and gorgeous sausages. This is the kind of breakfast that makes a girl happy.

Next stop? The beach!

Sydney

So, I'm still adjusting to this blog thing. I'll use a bit more brevity to make the posts a bit shorter, a stop giving in to my ramblings so much.

Day 2 in Sydney: With much of the rain letting up, we walked (yes, more walking! Greg informed me that he thinks we walk more on holiday than we do in real life. It's probably true) to the Royal Botanical Gardens, the Opera House, Circular Quay (where most of the day ferries and cruise ships dock in Sydney), and The Rocks - Sydney's historical neighbourhood. While explore the Opera House, we decided that we should try to see a show there, and because we're under 27, we scored a half-priced tickets to see Taming of the Shrew that evening at one of the Opera House's venues. (Hooray for youth!)

We walked through the Royal Observatory and got a quick lesson on the Southern sky, Southern Cross, and Australian astronomical heritage.

Day 3 in Sydney: We took the ferry to the zoo! But... not first without some scouting. I read on the zoo's website that you could get a buy one entry, get one free by using a coupon available on Kellogg's boxes of cereal. Music to Greg's ears: have you seen how much cereal this man can consume?! So, we went to a few grocery stores, and scored our "golden ticket" on a box of cereal bars (thank goodness we didn't need to buy the extra large box of Cocoa Puffs). The coupon worked like a charm.

We decided since we saved so much on our entry fee, we should indulge in a koala encounter, so we had the opportunity to visit with 3 koalas and a koala expert for about 20 minutes. Most importantly: we had out pictures taken very close to the koala. In New South Wales, you can't touch koalas (it's against the law), but you can get as close as you can! Interesting facts about koalas:

• Koalas sleep about 20 hours a day, since their primary food (eucalyptus) doesn't provide much energy.
• They don't drink much at all.
• They are territorial over their feed trees, but other than that, they are fairly friendly.
• Their fur is super soft.
• The primary predators for koalas near urban areas are household dogs. 

After the zoo, we went to Bondi Beach - Sydney's closest surfing beach, and the home to one of the oldest lifegaurd clubs. The beach was pretty dessert (thanks to cloudy, rainy weather), but there were still some die-hard surfers out there.

Trip of a lifetime

My wonderful husband indulges me often, mostly when I get talking about "going somewhere." I'm not super particular about what place it is, but every few months I get itchy feet and need to go someplace new, see something different, and take a step outside of day-to-day life.

The indulgence this year? Australia. Yes, for 12 glorious days we explored a country/continent that I have been talking about going to for... well, for more than a decade. A decade, you ask?! Here's the scoop: my family of friends and I decided to go to Australia when we were 25 together because we would be financially stable to spend a few months there and catch up on each others lives - after all, it would be a few years after college, and certainly any student loans we took would be paid off. Ah... the dreaming minds of 11 year olds.

By the chances of fate (and my sheer determination to explore beyond the American border), here we are 25, and I really did go to Australia. No, it wasn't for a few months, and Greg and I certainly did miss having the friend-family there. But the sweetness of being there was not lost, and we are counting on going back. There's still a lot of Australia to explore.

So, it's a 13 hour flight to Sydney. If you're lucky, you'll fly on a trip 7 airplane and be in control of the movies you see (and when you see them!) because you'll have a handy-dandy little screen in the back of the seat in front of you. You'll even have the option to play video games to help pass the time.

If you're on a budget, you'll fly on a 747, and crane your neck to see the one screen per cabin (at least that's what it feels like) that is suspended from the ceiling.

We were on a budget.

After a somewhat restful flight, with only mildly okay food (one more reason that we always pack plenty of granola bars, an apple, a couple of fruit leathers, crackers, etc.) we landed in Sydney on Sunday morning at quarter to seven. We were the first flight of the day - and already the airport was hoppin'! A quick check through customs and a new passport stamp later, we were on a bus from the airport to the central train station in Sydney.

We chose to stay in a neighbourhood of Sydney that doesn't get much tourist traffic, so we walked about 15 minutes from the train station to our quaint little bed and breakfast, took a quick nap, refreshed with a shower, and hit the town! First stop: Wagamama's for lunch.

It's maybe a bit hard to describe Wagamama's to those who have not yet been there. Here's what you need to know: it's delicious, it's fresh, and it's fast. It's a Japanese-style noodle bar complete with communal tables (so you get to know other people!).

As we were enjoying our deliciousness, the rain began pouring outside. As in torrential downpour. So, we ordered a second round of green tea, stayed a bit longer, and when the rain didn't let up, we walked (okay, we splashed!) next door to the aquarium. We saw displays of Australian sea life and walked in tunnels of sharks and stingrays and turtles swimming around us. It was a great lazy way to start the vacation.

We spent as much of the day as we could walking the city. I think it's the best way to really see things. So, we walked to the Sydney Fish Market, and we walked through Hyde Park and to St. Mary's Cathedral.

We spent the evening in our little neighbourhood and called it an early night (or morning, depending on how we were keeping track of the time).

This whole blog thing

Well. This is a place that I never thought I would be! Admittedly, I am a bit intimidated by the blog-o-sphere: we all have plenty outlets in our lives that sound-off (sometimes completely unnecessarily!) about this, that, and the other. And I certainly don't need to add to the cacophony of social commentary. So, this blog is about our life.

Still, it's with much trepidation that I blog about our life adventures for fear of being one of those people who just prattle on. Feel free to chime in to comment, and certainly let me know if I've become one of those people.

So! This is a place that we can keep you all up-to-date about the various things we're juggling. It's a way for us to bring our life a little closer to you all, to give you a window into our silver linings.

Grab a cookie, some milk, and read on.