Summer is leeeaaaving....

Bah, the sun is setting so much earlier...the wading pools are closing down...some trees are actually starting to turn yellows and reds...I'M NOT READY FOR SUMMER TO END. Usually I am pumped for Fall...I'm ready to bring the sweaters out, start planning crock pot meals, pumpkin spice everything, and hello-apple spice donuts at Mighty-O (I'm not bitter that they messed up my wedding donut order and DIDN'T make the apple spice donuts I especially requested). But no...I'm not there yet. This summer has been beautiful and I have spent more time outside than any past summer I can remember (nannying...parks every day)...but there are so many things I still want to do. Like camping...we never went camping this summer. And hiking- not a single hike happened! And the West Seattle pool with salt water- never went there. Alki- hardly spent any time at the best beach we have in our city and is a few minutes away. I actually don't think I even put a swim suit on once this summer. Etc. Etc. Etc. Please September...take your time transitioning into Fall.

With Summer quarter being done, I have finally found some time to read. I just finished the third book in the Ender's Game series. I have zipped through all three of those books- I don't know how I hadn't ever read Ender's Game before...I just started my new book club book yesterday and am already almost halfway done- Where'd You Go Bernadette. It is based in Seattle, and while I think it might be a little over the top with the Seattle references...it is pretty funny and spot on with some of the jokes.

Brian and I spent some time last night working on our Honeymoon itinerary. I think we are going to do four days in Paris, and then Rome, Venice, and probably a smaller(ish) city in Tuscany...maybe we will go to Florence, but I am hoping to decide on one of the smaller ones. We sent in our request for midnight mass at the Vatican with the Pope. Hopefully that will work out...it sounds like we should be able to get in since there are only two of us. Trying to figure out what we want to do for accommodations...hotel? hostel? airbnb? It is that balance between wanting to stay in a somewhat decent place, but also- we will be out exploring most of the time...how much do we really want to spend? It didn't even occur to me today, but of course we will go to Disneyland Paris! We have been craving a Disney trip for quite a while, and checking flights...ultimately deciding each time that we can't do Disney before Italy...but now we will get both!

Oh my goodness, the twins are growing up so fast! They are 7 months old now, and Lily is already starting

to crawl (not the actual crawl, but the push and scoot). They don't look like infants anymore...they are actual babies. Sitting up and playing.

To further the point from my first paragraph...this morning (afternoon, really), Brian and I went over to Alki, grabbed a drink from Starbucks and walked for about an hour up Alki, and along Beach Dr. We went down onto the rocky beach and slid our way along the seaweed. Admired the homes, read about the sea animal sightings. We made our way back to the main strip of Alki, and had lunch at Cactus- YUM. Why haven't we been doing this all summer?

Tomorrow night is the HUGE Sounders vs Portland match, with Clint Dempsey's home debut. The match is sold out...neeeervous!!

That's all- have a fantastic week! (And Labor Day weekend!)

One year

Yesterday afternoon, about an hour before I was leaving to pick him up from work, Brian sent me a text that said 'before you leave, will you: feed the cats, leave a light on for the cats, dress nicely."

I picked him up and he drove us up north, we caught the Whidbey Island ferry, and went to dinner at the restaurant we ate at a year ago when he proposed! What a guy.

It was so crazy to reflect on the past year...so much happened! We both left our jobs and started new ones. We planned a wedding. And got married. We moved into a house. We have kittens. I have completed a full year of school. My goodness.

I love that we get to celebrate on Whidbey Island every year!

A Friday Five

I have the day off today, Friday...and while I have a huge list of To-Dos for the day, I figured I would take a second to write an actual Friday Five.

1. Summer quarter is OVER. My goodness, this class was tough! I don't know if it was the teacher, if it was the fact that the quarter was 3 weeks shorter than a normal quarter, if the material was especially difficult...probably a nice mix of all three...but this class really took up much more time and effort than any of the other classes I have taken. I really have no idea where I am as far as my grade goes because 100 points were completed in the last week (out of 400 for the whole quarter), and 2 out of the 3 homework assignments hadn't been graded yet. We'll see...whatever the grade ends up being, I certainly learned! Next quarter is microbiology and hopefully an online math class (I still have to take the placement test, and I'm so annoyed by that- it's a 100 level math class- why do I have to take a placement test?- that I've been putting it off.)...and then I will start applying to programs in November.

2. Speaking of school- I just made my final student loan payment today. The last $117. I didn't have a HUGE loan to payoff in the first place, thankfully...I hear about the amounts that kids are leaving school with and it just about gives me a panic attack. How does college cost that much?! I have always been a HUGE advocate for college- you'll never regret having an education...but sometimes I'm not so sure anymore. Maybe you would regret $60,000 of debt. Anyway...mine is paid off...just in time to start accumulating some more. Woo.

3. Brian and I got a new bed this week. We never set up the bed frame I had when we moved into the new house- Brian didn't like the bed, and figured if we set it up then we would never get a new one. So we have been sleeping on a mattress on the floor. I have been trying to put off buying a new bed, but Brian hasn't been sleeping very well, and feeling sore every day...so it was time. We found a good deal for a latex mattress on Amazon- hundreds of 5-star reviews. And we went to Ikea and picked out a new bed frame. I know it is a well known thing...but for the love, putting Ikea furniture together couldn't be a bigger pain. After several hours over two evenings, we finally completed the project last night. And then discovered that none of our sheets fit the new bed. Bah (that is something on my to-do list today).

4. My mom turned 50 this summer (I know, she is so young)...and she was out of town on her birthday in

June...so the huge birthday kind of went unacknowledged. Then about a month ago, one of my mom's awesome friends emailed me and said she wanted to have a surprise party for my mom. Each summer they do a progressive dinner with a few couples, and it would be a perfect way to get everybody in one place without my mom being suspicious at all. Katie's house was the final stop on the progressive dinner agenda, so she had dessert, and themed the stop Disney (obviously)...so the guests arrived while they were having dinner at another house
(all the stops were houses on the lake, so they drove from place to place by boat- and did I mention that each course of the meal is themed- including costumes?)...it was awesome. My mom was totally surprised- cried and everything- in her awesome construction costume. And here is the cake that one of her friends made- amazing! The whole thing was so great!

5. The kittens go in for their last round of shots tomorrow. Frank still has diarrhea- it has been about a month now. They are currently teething. Did you know that happens to kittens? They are losing their baby teeth and their grown up teeth are coming in. Last night Millie had a loose tooth hanging out the side of her mouth, and this morning, it was gone. Frank has a big tooth coming in right next to his baby tooth- we can see the crazy

size difference (big tooth is about twice as big as the baby tooth). Apparently their gums are sore just like a teething baby...and is why they are chewing on things more. They love our new bed, and hung out in the bedroom with us the whole time we were building it. They are enjoying playing on the old mattress- it is their new favorite obstacle course. Millie nearly escaped this week...when I got home from work and opened the front door, she was RIGHT there, and snuck out onto the porch. She didn't run, so I was able to grab her easily, but yikes! I'm not going to do it, because I know it is silly, but I want to get them leashes so I can take them outside...I know they want to go out!

That's all for this week. Have a super weekend...I'm off to get stuff DONE!

Class, kickball, and diarrhea

Yup...that is pretty much been all that has been happening in my life this last month. Class is mine, kickball is mine and Brian's, and the diarrhea is Frank the cat.

Class is pretty crazy. We have had 5 weeks straight that included tests. A Monday, Monday, Monday, Wednesday, and next week is a test on Monday and the final on Wednesday. An 8 week quarter to get 11 weeks worth of information into. I constantly feel like I am playing catch up. She starts the lecture on the the next set of chapters before we have taken the test on the previous set of chapters, and then asks if there are any questions. NO, no questions yet because I am still wrapping my brain around the last set of chapters. I usually feel like I am at mediocre understanding by test day. BUT, I still feel like I have learned SO much more than I did last quarter. I do like this professor quite a bit...she is very fair. And thank goodness, she does lots of partial credit on tests. One week left to go. Lecture and lab is over. Just an exam and the final. Study, study, study.

And right in the middle of the crazy school load is the period of time in kickball where we have playoffs for summer season, and have already started fall season. For example, on Tuesday- the night before my final- we have a summer playoff game...if we win that, we play the championship game immediately following. Then we head over to Greenlake for a 9:30pm fall season game. I'll probably have to keep my notes in the dugout.

Then there is Frank- the biggest kitten I have ever seen in my life, despite three weeks of diarrhea. The cat just keeps on eating. He has had an antibiotic, which didn't do anything. We were given parasite medicine, even though all of his tests have come back negative for parasites. And currently we have him on a probiotic...hoping that maybe he just needs some good bacteria back in his system. Though he threw up a couple of times earlier this week. I have been worried off and on...but considering he literally just FLEW through the air in front of my face- about three feet off the ground- in pursuit of Millie...I think he is probably doing okay.

I don't know how cats age compared to people...but I think Frank might be going through either a 3 yr old or a 13 yr old stage...he is testing us on EVERYTHING. We carry a spray bottle of water with us around the house...he climbs on the table and just looks at us. Stays up there as we grab the spray bottle, watches, watches...and just as we get close enough for the spray, he jumps down. Little monster. Meanwhile, little Millie has just been a champ. She is still tiny- getting longer (I think she looks like a mongoose...I would have called her Riki Tiki Tavi if I had noticed when we first got her)...and so, so sweet. She is so well behaved (and is currently curled up on my stomach, purring as I type- probably for protection from Frank)...

And in other non-cat, non-school, non-kickball news...man, haven't we had an amazing summer?! What a fantastic summer to be a nanny...sorry to brag. Any time those kids start pressing my patience (which happens a lot- they are 3 and 1), I think about how I get to spend my day at the zoo or the park...looking into the newest spray park, which kid band is playing at which library or park...it could be so much worse!

The Mariners continue to disappoint (still managing to make it to a game here and there), the Sounders just signed Clint Dempsey...a HUGE deal. Brian just wrote a blog regarding these two loves of his and how different the organizations are run...pretty interesting- http://bterreson.wordpress.com

Brian and I are making an attempt to get healthier...thus far food is the only aspect we have made an effort with, but we are discussing options for working out. Because we are so busy, we find ourselves eating at restaurants a lot- which usually isn't particularly healthy, not to mention expensive. I don't want to get too ambitious right away, so right now we are just making an effort with our dinners to fill as much of our plate with vegetables, make healthy protein choices, and keep the carbs to a minimum.We have done pretty well this week. We'll see how next week goes.

Busy weekend ahead...I'm getting my hair cut today- finally...my last haircut was in March. I have book club this afternoon- which I haven't been able to go to in probably 6 months. Babysitting tonight. Tomorrow one of my college roommates is in town and is coming over to visit (SO excited!), Mariners game in the evening. And, of course, lots of studying in there.

Aaaand some pics...

Frank the part-dog

Greetings upon arriving home

Nap time for everyone

Play time