Eleven

So, Justin and I have been married for 11 years today. It's crazy how the time flies. I've been thinking about all we've done and been through together and it seems like we crammed a lot into these 11 years. We've moved four times, we've each gotten degrees (I got my M.Ed. and Justin got a B.S. in Biology and an M.D.), four years of medical school, three years of residency, 1.5 cross country moves, we've purchased three houses, sold two, owned four cars, had three pets (our Disco boy and two guinea pigs that - I'll just admit it - were a mistake), and had four of the best kids ever. Seems like a lot right?

But there are a lot of things we've done that I can't quantify. Things like nights spent up with a baby/sick child, evenings hanging out watching TV (when we could very easily be learning a foreign language instead), hours spent listening to music, time we spent up talking when our intention was to go to sleep, countless private jokes, time spent quizzing each other on radio songs, hours of laughter, hours of frustration, hours of tears (good and bad - and mostly mine), hours of worry (okay, that's probably mostly mine too), and so many other experiences that I can't begin to count.

Marriage isn't always easy. Anyone who claims to have a "perfect" marriage is just someone who hasn't let their spouse know all sides of them (and vice versa). I love that we have an imperfect marriage. Sometimes we fight, we make each other crazy, and we get frustrated at each other. However, I always know that at the end of the day, he's going to be by my side. No matter what. We're in this together. Thankfully, our good times heavily outnumber our bad ones. We laugh with each other all the time, we're silly, we work together, and we try every day to be better as a couple and as a family. I know that he loves me and he knows that I love him.

We're a team and there's no one I'd rather be on a team with than Justin. For all our flaws I am his biggest cheerleader and he's mine. We believe in each other, support each other, and love each other.

Happy 11 years Justin. There's no one I'd rather have at my side and no one I'd rather spend eternity with (unless you suddenly loose your sense of humor, then we'll talk). I love you!

**This is our engagement picture. Babes! Babes, I tell you!**

 

Josie

It's happened again. I've gone too long between posts. I keep thinking, 'oh, I need to blog about ___' and then I don't and now I'm behind. So I'm just going to dive right back in.

Josie has had a lot going on lately.
First up, she had her preschool program last week. It was darling and she was definitely the star. Unfortunately, as I was turning the camera on to get some photographs, it blinked at me that it was low on battery (why does this always happen at times like these - why can't it run out of battery when we're at home and it's easily changeable). I have spoken to one of the other moms and I'm hopeful that Josie is in the video she took so hopefully I can get that up on here at some point because, seriously, she was the star. She knew the words to all the songs and she sang them at the top of her cute little voice. Her teacher even came up to me afterward and told me how Josie saved the show (because without her, no one would know what the kids were singing). It really was cute. However, even if she wouldn't have been the best singer in the bunch she'd have stolen the show in a completely different way. 4 year old girl, big spinny dress, no tights or leggings...do you see where I'm headed here? Let's just say we had to have a talk with our little exhibitionist lady.

 The kids sat on the stage for a few of their songs. They put Josie right in the middle.

 Mrs. Halliday giving Josie her 'diploma'.

 We love Mrs. Halliday!

Next, Josie has been taking dance class for the past couple of months. She has LOVED it! She would ask every day if it was time for dance and she honestly just looked forward to it. It was so fun to watch her get so excited about something. Her last day of class they performed a little program. Since it was a bunch of 3 & 4 year old girls it wasn't a very structured program (more like just showing the parents what skills they'd learned), but it was cute to see the girls doing it anyway. (And yes, that is Sammie in the background. Josie's dance teacher was so nice and sweet and just told me to let Sammie dance with the girls.)





She had the best dance teachers. Miss Bonnie (who we didn't get a picture with) and Miss Stacy.
They taught her a lot of dance basics.
Stretching:

On point:

Plie:

At the bar:

Couldn't resist getting a shot of this cute little future ballerina (and her bff Cinderella):

leaping:

Hoola-hooping? (they did a little dance with the hoola hoops - it was really cute):

Josie and Miss Stacy. Miss Stacy used to be in our ward and we see her at scouts sometimes. She's like a celebrity to Josie:

Next up for Josie was her last day of school. We sure are going to miss Mrs. Halliday and how sweet and good she's been to Josie this year. Thankfully we'll still see her next year (Josie won't be in her class, but Mrs. Halliday will be right across the hall so we'll still get to say hi everyday). I can't believe she only has one more year of preschool before kindergarten!

Josie has a big summer ahead of her. Coming up for her are swimming lessons, dance camp, and a month long adventure/vacation to Las Vegas! So she's going to need to rest up for all these adventures:

Josie insisted to me a while back that she didn't need naps anymore. I agreed and we've cut naps out of her routine. Sometimes however (probably half the time actually) she ends up falling asleep anyway.

This one's my favorite. She was waiting for me to get out of the shower and fell asleep on the stairs:

 Looks comfy, no?

 Smashed into the toy room couch and using cushions as a blanket.

 Kinked neck anyone?

I think this looks uncomfortable, but I think this picture is so sweet. She looks so serene and peaceful and beautiful here. Just like a little sleeping beauty.

I think we're all caught up on Josie now. It's been a busy month for our little lady and it will continue to be busy, busy, busy for about another month (and then Vegas, where we are totally planning on unscheduled fun and r & r). Love this beauty to pieces and I'm so glad that I get to spend all this time with her and watch her experience all these new things!

 



Oregon

Justin and I have been talking for years (YEARS) about where we would like to settle down once this whole crazy med school/residency thing is over. As the years have progressed our ideas have changed and places that we once thought were perfect for us we are now not even considering. Justin only has one year left of training (he graduates residency next month and then has one year of OB fellowship and that's all folks) so the talk around our house has been getting more and more serious.

We had decided that we'd wait until the fall before we took interviews and looked at contracts and made the really tough, important decisions but it seems that there was a different plan for us. Early this year Justin was contacted by a small Indiana town (just outside of South Bend). They want to hire him. Bad. They have made it very enticing and we're liking what we're hearing. As an added bonus, we could stay in our house for a while because the commute isn't bad (hooray for not having to move). However, Justin told them he wasn't ready to look at a contract yet. They have respected that and, while they continue to woo him, they haven't officially offered him a contract. Yet.

Fast forward a few months and Justin gets contacted again. This time by a small town in Oregon called The Dalles. Let me pause here for a minute and comment about how proud I am of Justin. Seriously, we haven't had to look for a single job because they keep coming after him. I'm impressed by him and in awe of him. He's pretty awesome. Anyway, they contacted him. He had a couple of phone interviews and made it very clear that he wasn't even available to start a job for over a year. They were undeterred. After two phone interviews they invited him (and me!) out for an in-person interview and community tour...all expenses paid. Um, yes please! So we flew out my saint of a mother to stay with our kids for the weekend (so it was a great weekend for all the Smiths - my kids always love Grammy time) and Justin and I went to Oregon!

The trip started out a little hectic. Right before we left, Sammie threw up. She seemed fine after that though and so we dropped her and Josie off with a friend (my mom got in after we left) and went to the airport. The plan was to leave our car in short term parking and then my mom would just drive it home when she got in. However, right as we pulled into short term parking we got a serious flat tire! Unfortunately, we only had 45 minutes before our flight so there was NOTHING we could do about it. Thankfully my brother was able to come pick my mom up, change my tire and then take care of things. My family is the BEST!

After that little hiccup our trip went very smoothly. We arrived in Portland and instantly fell in love. The scenery reminded us so much of our beloved Vermont that we instantly fell right at home. The first order of business - FOOD! We had done a little research and Justin had found this bbq restaurant that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network. It's called Podnah's and if you're ever in Portland, you need to go. It's in a place called Killingsworth which is a totally sketchy neighborhood but the food makes it totally worth it. I have been watching what I eat pretty carefully over the past few months but I had decided that there was no dieting on this trip. And, oh boy, did we eat! (This is the only picture we got in the restaurant. We were so busy chowing down that snapping a picture was the furthest thing from my mind.)

After our calorie-fest we headed out to The Dalles. The Dalles are about an hour east of Portland and the drive is gorgeous! You follow the Columbia River and it's honestly one of the prettiest drives I've ever taken. It reminds me (sort of) of the drive from Vermont to Stowe but with a river. Once in The Dalles, we checked in to our hotel (where there was swag already there waiting for us - oh how I love being wooed) and then went out to explore a little.

The Dalles is a pretty town right on the river. It's crazy though because it kind of looks like it was literally carved right out of a mountain. So hilly! We ended up down at the riverfront. It has this great, flat 8 mile running/walking/bike path that goes right along the river. I could easily see me running there in nice weather.

The weather in The Dalles is really nice. It's kind of like high desert so they get a lot of sunshine year round, it's dry, and they get four (mild) seasons. Perfect! Especially since I was expecting the weather to be like Portland where it's rainy and cloudy all year.

Unfortunately, we woke up super early on Friday (curse that 3 hour time change). So we worked out and then I took Justin to his interview. I went back to the hotel to shower, get ready, and relax before meeting Justin at the gym so we could have lunch and go on a community tour with a local realtor. The tour was very informative and helped to ease some of my concerns about living in such a hilly town. That night we had dinner at a local restaurant with some of the hospital administration. After the dinner they offered Justin a 'non-legal' contract! My baby's in demand!

The next morning (after waking up early - yet again - our bodies were so slow to adjust) we decided to explore. There was nothing scheduled for the day interview-wise (since they'd already given him their offer) so we were on our own. We headed to the gym to work out and then we got massages (heavenly) and then decided to drive up to Mt. Hood. Mt. Hood is about an hour drive from The Dalles and it's another nice drive. Twisty roads though! We had been told at dinner the night before that we needed to eat lunch at the Timberline Lodge at the base of the mountain. It did not disappoint! It was a buffet and was so delish! I ordered their signature hot chocolate (because even though it was in the 80's down by the river, Mt. Hood was covered in snow and WINDY) and it was the best hot chocolate I've ever had!
This is the view of the mountain right before you get to the lodge.

 Some info about the lodge.

You can sort of see how packed the snow is outside the window. I can only imagine how it looks in the winter!

 My hot chocolate! Heavenly!

 The view as we ate.

 The Lodge.

Us with Mt. Hood. Justin looks underwhelmed but we both really loved it. It was just so windy and chilly and we weren't dressed for that!

After Mt. Hood, we decided to drive to Multnomah Falls. There are tons of beautiful views, waterfalls, and hikes in Oregon. We were told to go see Multnomah (about 45 minutes from The Dalles). It didn't disappoint.

On our way back we also stopped at Horsetail Falls. Seriously we passed so many trailheads and little waterfalls along the way. I loved that! The only downside were the small roads with no shoulder. I'm glad Justin's a good driver! It was making me nervous at points!

That night we ate frozen yogurt for dinner (because we were still so full from lunch that we didn't really want another meal) and went to see Iron Man 3 (amazing, by the way - my favorite one so far)! Then we got back to the hotel to go to bed. Of course, on our last night there our bodies finally adjusted to the time zone so waking up at 6 the next morning so we could make our flight in Portland was really difficult. However, our trip back to Indiana went as smoothly as it could have and we arrived home to find four very happy kids and one very clean house (thanks mom - love you)!

It was a great trip and we definitely have a lot to discuss and think about now. I could certainly see us in The Dalles so we'll have to see. Hopefully in the next few months we'll have a decision made about where we're moving next! Wish us luck!

Two Things:

First: This little bedhead is officially 20 months old:

How does this keep happening? Remember last month when I thought she was 20 months and I was so happy because I have never gone this long after a baby without getting pregnant again? Yeah, that celebration is happening now. She's running (seriously, you'd never know she had been delayed) and into everything. She's talking up a storm, leaning new words every day, and making a few 2 and 3 word sentences. My personal favorite is "I yuh oooh" (I love you). She's a doll and she makes us happy each and every day. There is so much sass and humor and sweetness and personality in this little body. I honestly want to squish her face all day long. Love you Sammie.

Second: It's finally warm enough for this:

My kids were so happy to be outside, riding bikes, and eating popsicles. It made me pretty happy too!

Clayton looks a little less than thrilled, no? He's growing up and with that comes a certain level of frustration when I try to take his picture. Picture him saying, "enough mom!"

 Can you get too many pictures of a messy baby face? No, no you cannot.

 "I swear I will OWN this popsicle, if it's the last thing I do!"

 Mission accomplished.

 Uh, Mom? I'm with Clayton now. Can we be done taking pictures?

So glad to have the sunshine and warm weather returning to us (slowly but surely). I hope that this was the first of many popsicle days in our immediate future!

4: The Big Birthday Bash!

We love birthdays around here. I love the little traditions we've started and I love how excited my kids get over each birthday (their own and their siblings') and I love celebrating with them. While I love doing the fun little things each year, I'm not a big fan of huge birthday parties every year. They take a lot of work and, frankly, I just don't think my kids need them every year. Since I grew up in a house where we did birthday parties every four years, I have become a big fan of that system. It didn't take long for Justin to see the wisdom in the every-four-year-party idea and so that's how we've been doing it. I love it.

Because Josie turned four this year, she got to have her very first birthday party. She'd been talking about it for at least a month. We decided to do a makeover/princess party (appealing to every girlie bone in Josie's tiny little body). We invited six of her closest girl friends (in fancy party dress, of course), kicked the boys out of the house, and we had a very fun and feminine time!

We began by having the girls sit down while we talked about how the beauty of a princess has more to do with her inside than her outside. Then we decided that, while it's most important to be beautiful inside, it's a lot of fun to get beautiful on the outside too!

We had the girls sit in the kitchen while we (myself, my mom, my SIL, and our 8 year old helper) painted the girl's toenails and fingernails and put some lovely make-up on them (lots of red, pink, and glitter).

Kambry was our 8 year old party helper. I highly recommend this to anyone having a party for a group of 4 and 5 year olds. Those girls adored Kambry and were over the moon to have her there. She was a great helper too! She ran party games and helped the girls with everything! Seriously, this may have been my best party idea.

 Don't the girls look lovely?

We made little bracelets with the girls.

 It was perfect. The girls were so focused on their bracelets, it was so quiet!

After the bracelets we had some lunch and then...
high heel races!
The girls each got a pair of my heels (low ones, of course) and they had to race across the family room. It was pretty hilarious!

Then it was time for cake! My mom made Josie this princess pillow cake - complete with crown! Josie, of course, adored it. The pinkness, the crown, the candles...it was a hit!

 Each girl got her own crown to wear.

 Then it was time for gifts. Josie was so funny while opening her presents. She would get so animated and scream things like, "OH MY GOODNESS!" and "IT'S MY FAVORITE!" and "OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" It had us cracking up.

It was a great party. The girls were so good and everyone (including the adults) had a great time. I will admit, it was pretty fun planning and throwing such a girlie affair. I look forward to doing it again (but not for another four years).

Happy birthday Jo! We adore you!