A few pictures from the trip

Here are a few pics from our week here in Ohio! I'll have to post more later and explain about this whirlwind week. The trip visiting has been good with my parents, but everything else in life (details for summer) have been insanely stressful!

Grilling at the park

Playing in the popcorn bowl

H3 checking out the grass

Hanging out with me in Target

Standing in the kitchen


Sitting in Grandma's lap

In Cleveland

Greetings from Cleveland, OH! The weather is absolutely gorgeous up here. Mid-70s and no humidity, compared to the mid-90s and high humidity we left back in VA. Such a nice change! The trip up here was pretty uneventful and we arrived around 10pm Sunday evening. H3 wasn't the biggest fan of her new carseat, but she managed ok. This new carseat doesn't recline as much as her infant seat did, so her napping wasn't as easy as it used to be. She still did ok and was pretty happy most of the way. Yesterday was a big recovery day for her so she was a bit grouchier than usual. This morning she woke up back to her normal self and has had fun playing with her toys in the living room, to the delight of her grandmother (Mom).

Mom has been doing pretty well since her surgery. Her recovery has gone better than expected, so we are very blessed. She's getting around the house on one crutch and with some moderate pain from the surgery. I make sure she sits down plenty and ices that knee! I took a look at the surgery site last night when we re-wrapped it, and it looks like the doctor did a really good job with it. There isn't much swelling either, so that's good news. We'll be taking her to an appt on Thursday morning for an evaluation and I'm expecting the doc to agree that it looks good.

I'm still waiting to hear results back on the test. Supposedly I should find out by the end of this week, although it's not guaranteed. I did find out that one of the guys proctering my test is known to fail people for silly, non-legit reasons. Apparently he has the god-complex that a few in the medical field have, and I was told that he faults some of the students for things that aren't really a big deal. That wasn't the news I wanted to hear as I'm waiting on the results. Argh! Just praying that this will all go through ok. Sooooo nervous!

I've taken a few pictures so far and will try to upload some on my parents computer later tonight!

~H2

And we're off!

Our bags are packed, we're ready to go....almost! Just a few more things to add to the car tomorrow morning. Of course there is more than I'd originally planned on, but we've got it all to fit. The car is packed, except for a diaper bag, one duffle bag, and the large plastic tubs that are going on the back hitch basket that we bought for our car to make this trip possible. It's really hard to pack for 10 weeks, especially with the weather. It can be in the 40s or in the 80s in the Adirondacks, depending on the week, so we really had to bring everything! Oi! This summer we will supposedly have high speed internet access on occassion. I don't know that I'll be able to post pictures, but at least maybe I'll get the chance to update this a bit. Tomorrow we're driving to OH to see my parents and will be there until Saturday, the 20th, and then we're heading to see H1's dad for a couple days before heading into the Adirondacks and the camp. I'm really looking forward to seeing everyone, family and friends. Time to catch a few z's before we leave. Until next time!

~H2

Just a quick update

Well, it's almost that time of year. On Sunday, 3 days from now, we head up to NY for the summer to work at the Boy Scout camp again! H1 will be the waterfront director (4th year in a row now, I think) and this year I'm switching from lifeguard to assistant health director. Woohoo! H3 gets to hang with me all day while I check on little scouties and hand out medicine when needed. 8 weeks of living on a lake in the Adirondacks and getting paid for it! Can't beat that!

In the meantime, I'm almost done unpacking the house. It's been quite the challenge to unpack since I'm also repacking for the summer at the same time (had to unpack in order to find the stuff that I needed to pack). My EMT course finished two nights ago and tonight I'm heading out to take the state test. I'm really praying this goes well. If God has brought me this far and this is the job He wants our family to have this summer, I have to believe He is going to give me the strength, patience, and clarity of mind to get through this. I'm still nervous though!

H1 has his last day of school tomorrow. Yesterday and today were both half days, and tomorrow is a field day. It's been a good school year for him, but we know some hard changes will be going on next year. Two of his good friends have left for other teaching jobs, including one of the other PE teachers. We're praying that they will bring in a good replacement for this guy, and it would be great if he and H1 would get along well, since they will have to share an office!

Well, he should be on his way home right about now so my EMT partner and I can leave, so I'd better get ready. Hopefully I will have the test results soon and can celebrate!

~H2

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