4 years!

Today is our 4th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that much time has passed, but then again, they have been a very packed 4 years. This year we're just sticking around the house, enjoying some family time. I bought H1 a box of dark chocolate covered strawberries (his favorite) and he got be a Swiffer wetjet (which I'd been eyeing for a long time now). I'm making corned beef and cabbage (a favorite dinner) and we're just going to relax for a while. In some ways, it's a bit reminiscent of the night we got married. After the ceremony, we came back to the apartment completely exhausted. Both of us were hungry because with all the talking, we barely ate during the reception. After a brief debate, we went to Taco Bell and grabbed some dinner and then came back, sat on the couch, and watched How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days and fell asleep on the couch! Our wedding was a lot of fun with all our friends and family there, but it was tiring all the same and I had just graduated college the week before.

For our first anniversary, we went to Gatlinburg, TN, and spent a few days hiking and browsing through shops. For the second, H1 bought season passes to Colonial Williamsburg and took me there for 3 days of sightseeing and tours--I had never been before at the time and absolutely loved it. Back then it was about a 3 hour drive from where we lived, and we had no idea that God would land us right there in the future! On our third anniversary we went strawberry picking in the mountains near Charlottesville and to a restaurant called the Melting Pot. That would have to be some of the best and most expensive food I've ever eaten. If you haven't been there, it's worth the experience. It's a fondue place and I would say the food is completely worth it. I was about 5 months preggo with H3 on our 3rd anniversary too!

All that leads up to today, celebrating 4 years of marriage and our wonderful little family. We've been through 5 moves, 4 jobs for H1, 3 jobs for me, sadness with the loss of a family member, rejoicing with the addition of a new one, and joy in watching God's plans unfold. Here's to the celebration of 4 years and looking forward to many more!

~H2

Moving and such

The last couple weeks have been tied up with moving from one rental house to another, pretty much just across the street from each other. We didn't get a u-haul or anything this time because a friend from church let us borrow his pick-up truck. Basically it's been a bunch of trips back and forth and we finally moved the last thing over last Friday. This is the first time we've moved since H3 was born, and it's taken me a lot longer to unpack than I ever imagined it could, so keep that in mind when you see these pictures! I'll post more once everything is unpacked and set up.

Our backyard (that needs to be mowed)

Front view of the house (I'll do some landscaping after we've gotten the inside unpacked!)

Living room (still unpacking)

Part of the master bedroom

Den-ish area in the kitchen, complete with fireplace

Laundry room

Kitchen (note the stove...it's about 35-40 years old and either undercooks or chars just about everything.)

Shannan's room

More of Shannan's room (I love her closet)

Dining room

Cabinet in the dining room

Third bedroom that will be guestroom one day....for now it's the location of everything from our storage unit

And that's the first tour. Like I said, it's a mess! I'll try to get some more pictures up soon of our progess. Right now I'm only getting to a few boxes a day because of my class and some other daily necessities that have finally started to demand my attention (laundry, meals, H3, etc). We're getting there though! I'm guessing we'll be here about 2-3 years, depending on how H1's job goes. If we stay in this area any longer than that, we'll be looking to buy a house, but for now it's the renting thing. Stay tuned!

~H2

Back from WA

From April 11-18th, H1, H3, and I took a trip out to Washington to visit family and friends. My parents flew out from OH at the same time and stayed with my dad's brother, Craig. We stayed with Bethany's family (my college roommate), whose house in conveniently located in the middle between my dad's side of the family and my mom's. Easter Sunday we went to church with Bethany's family, and then had a delicious lunch with them before heading to Uncle Craig and Aunt Peggy's for the afternoon and dinner there. My cousin, Eric, was there as well. We really enjoyed saying hello to everyone and introducing H3, who spent most of the evening on Peggy's lap! Monday afternoon we drove with my parents down to Lacey, where my mom's parents live. Her brother and sister came down as well (one from Orcas and one from Snoqualmie). It was the first time the three of them were together with my grandparents in over 30 years. We had a wonderful dinner and spent as much time catching up as we could. The last time I saw Dayton and Ally (cousins) was a couple hours at a McDonald's when I was 10. We're all pretty close in age though. My grandmother was able to talk a bit, which is more than we were expecting, and she recognized all of us and called us by name. That may seem like something small, but she has dementia and we never know who she will recognize or what she will remember. The nurses at the convelescent home said she talked about our visit all week, especially about seeing my mom and holding H3. She and my mom hadn't seen each other in 19 years.

On Wednesday we went up to Seattle, toured the Space Needle, and had lunch at the restaurant below. Thursday was a trip to Ellensburg to see where I was born and to visit some family friends. We stopped at Snoqualmie falls along the way. So beautiful! Friday morning we went back to Lacey to visit my grandparents again without everyone else around. Originally, my parents were going to come with us, but my mom came down with pneumonia and was hospitalized on Thursday night. They didn't release her until Saturday afternoo, just in time for their flight on Sunday morning. We flew out on Saturday morning. That's the basics of the trip in a nutshell (a very small nutshell...maybe pistachio shell?). I was going to blog a bit about what's happened since we got back, but maybe that will wait until tomorrow. Below are some pictures we took while out in WA (Facebook will have to cover the rest, since there were so many!).

My grandmother and Shannan

H1, H3, and I at Snoqualmie Falls

My parents, H1, H3, and I atop the Space Needle

At Pike's Place Fish Market

My grandparents, Cousins Ally and Dayton, H3 and me

4 generations

My mom, her siblings, and her parents

Bethany and I at a garden in Tacoma

Pretty garden!

Walking along Puget Sound in Tacoma

Aunt Peggy with H3

Bethany and H3 on Easter morning

Where to begin

These last few weeks have been quite eventful around here. Unfortunately, I neglected to document them regularly here so I'll once again be stuck with a summary!

Several weeks ago, we had the delightful pleasure of meeting my cousins family. They were driving across the country from Washington (yes, the state, not the city) and came through Williamsburg. H1 was able to take one day off so we could join them in their sightseeing, and then I took a second afternoon with H3 to say hello for a bit longer before they left. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and seeing my cousin again. His family is so sweet and it was wonderful to finally meet his wife after all the emails we've exchanged! Below are some pictures of my cousins family having a little fun outside the courthouse in Colonial Williamsburg.

The next week is when everything started moving a bit faster. We signed a new lease on a house and are in the process of moving yet again. 5 times in not even 4 years now. I really hate moving. This new place is about twice the size of what we're in now, so we're finally moving out of the storage unit (hurray!), but it's also a mess. I've been running over there in the afternoons to paint and clean, trying to get things ready for us to be in by the 22nd of this month. The power is being turned on today, finally, so I'll be able to get a steam cleaner in there for the carpet and see if the appliances work. The stove is older than I am (we're guessing around 30 years old, maybe?) and the washer/dryer are about my age as well. I know that the only way to turn the washer on right now is with a pair of pliers! Can you guess what I'll be replacing as soon as we get back from NY this summer? I would do it now, but we're only going to be in the house for about 6 weeks before we move, and after all this chaos I don't feel like hunting down anything else on craigslist (already had to buy a fridge, area rugs to cover yucky linoleum, and a buffet for the dining room for storage). The landlord wasn't willing to clean up the place at all after the last tenant moved out, and I'm pretty sure that tenant didn't clean the entire time he lived there, but the price is right for the amount of space we're getting, so here goes! I may be offline for a bit as we try to get things moved over, but we'll see. Another teacher from H1's school is taking over the lease where we live, and she's living in H3's bedroom while we finish moving out (she had to get out of her other place due to.....we'll just say stuff), so the power and everything is still on at our "old" place.

In other news, we leave tomorrow morning for a trip out to Washington State! Our flight is at 1:00pm, and we're supposed to arrive around 8:00 tomorrow night in Seattle. We're staying with Bethany, my college roommate, and her family. My folks are also flying out from OH, but are staying with my aunt and uncle. The main purpose of the trip is to see my mom's parents, and my grandmother has't been doing too well. Both of my mom's siblings and their families will be joining us on Monday for a dinner and family photo session at my grandparents home. I haven't seen this set of grandparents in 19 years, so I'm really excited to see them. Other than 2 of my uncles and my former roommate, no one else living out there has met H1 (or H3), so I'm happy to be able to introduce them. Of my cousins (6 of us total) from my mom's side of the family, I think I'm the only one married. Anyways, I'll be sure to post plenty of pictures when we get back!

During the trip I'll be studying a lot for my class. I'm missing a lot of work and will have a mid-term exam when I return--ewww. I still like this class though and am enjoying the work. It's an ever-changing field and presents a challenge!

Off to clean and pack more things--both for the trip and the move. More later!

~H2

Quick trip

Yesterday after church, H1, H3, and I headed down to Virginia Beach, although we took a slightly scenic route through Suffolk (on purpose this time) to see some of the beautiful houses on the waterfront. When we arrive, we only walked around the beach for about an hour before getting in the car to head home. Where we live, it was in the 60's, but there (an hour south) it was maybe in the low 50's or colder, and of course the wind was pretty nippy too.

On the way back, we stopped by Target to see if they had the laundry detergent I was looking for. Of course they were out, but I did spy something in the dollar section that I just had to have.

I thought these ears were hilarious. I put them on her while we were walking around in the store and people kept laughing, so I decided they had to come home with us. She doesn't seem to mind wearing them, except when they fall in her face because the headband is a bit big. Oh well. My poor child. What do parents live for except to take pictures that will embarrass their children in years to come? Kidding, of course, but still.....

Tomorrow night will be my second exam in my EMT class. So far this class hasn't been too difficult, but I suppose this test will be a better judge of that. The instructor has warned it will be harder than the first test. Guess I should do some studying tonight! Maybe that would be a good companion for all the cookies I made this afternoon--Cowboy Cookies, my mom's recipe. Some are with coconut and some without. Yummy!

Dinner and studying are the immediate agenda!

~H2

Weekend

The weekend is almost here! Granted, my next couple weekends won't quite be the normal, but it's still a weekend nonetheless. Tomorrow, I'm dropping H3 off with a sitter while I head to West Point, an hour and a half away, to babysit for Friday night through Saturday at noon. H1 will pick up H3 right after he gets off of work. Originally, H3 was coming with me to the babysitting, but I found out today that one of the kids has strep throat and I'm not going to introduce H3 to that right now after she's been sick for the last 2 weeks. Poor little thing needs a chance to get better first!

For next weekend's plans, I had an EVOC class, which teaches me to drive an ambulance. It's necessary for my EMT class. I'm kinda looking forward to it, but mostly not. I need to know how to drive those, but I hate the idea of driving a big box like that. Plus, the class is 7-10 pm on Friday, then from 8am - 5pm both Saturday and Sunday, so my weekend is completely shot. The class is 45 minutes away too, so I'll be leaving early and getting home late. Major bummer. It's only one weekend though and I will survive! I am really enjoying the EMT class. We're about 1/4 of the way through right now. Even better will be when I get to use my certification up at camp this summer! I'm so excited to be spending another summer outside, in God's beautiful creation, working with my family!

~H2

Green beans and such

I cannot believe how big H3 is getting! She loves to sit on my lap while I type and bang on the keyboard herself. Such a technology savy baby! Haha! She talks to the computer too. It's so funny.

I decided this past week that H3 must have some strong Blanchard genes in her. She loves green beans, which are her mommy's favorite veggie, along with her grandpa, and maybe her great-grandpa, although I'm not entirely sure because I've never asked him. I know they must be one of great-grandpa's favorites since he eats them a lot. Anyways, they are certainly her favorite food so far! She's had a blast with them this last week. I took quite a few pictures of her today while she was playing, so here are a few of them.