Mommy's been COOKING!

Oh yes.  It's a miracle.  I cooked dinner two times last week!

I've been inspired to cook more.  Tony's been working later in the evening (not getting home until 6:30 or 7PM or later!) and I just can't wait that long to feed Zoe dinner ... Oh and myself.  I take my lunch break at work at 11 AM since I'm there at 6:30 AM.  My afternoon snack wears off quickly!)

My favorite big sister sent me this AMAZING cookbook "Veganomicon" for my birthday.  And I LOVE it.  The first thing I made was broiled tofu.  The braising sauce was so good and so easy.  It had garlic, the juice of one lemon, water, and a little soy sauce.  The tofu came out great.  And the recipe didn't require me to press the tofu.  I just squeezed out some of the water and was good to go.  I had brown rice and veggies already so I just made a little stir fry type thing.  Tony really enjoyed it too.

I can't wait to make more things! 

Fun Saturday!

The weather has finally decided to cooperate!  It feels a bit like summer!

With this gorgeous weather comes AWFUL (in fact the worse in the country) allergies.  Our pollen and other allergens are at nation highs.  If you don't have allergies, you will if you come here!  It's pretty awful!

The sun was out and the temps were perfect (71 degrees) so I couldn't imagine staying home today.  We did have a lazy morning but we got up and spent most of the afternoon outdoors.

First we went to the park (Alton Baker Park).  We parked at one end and walked to a different area.  Very pretty walk.

Zoe had lots of fun watching all the people riding their bikes and walking their dogs.  In fact every time she saw a dog she yelled "DOGGY!"  She played in the grass a little, but she had a hard time navigating the uneven, grassy, terrain.  (Which was okay because there were a lot of doggy poo and it was like waiting for a bomb to go off-her landing in something disgusting!).  So we moved along to less dangerous territory.















Zoe had a great time until mean mommy wouldn't let her go swimming with the ducks!  She tried so hard to get into that water!  She was not afraid of the birds or the ducks.  She wanted to PLAY!!

After the park, we went downtown (the park is REALLY close to downtown).  Downtown is fun, especially on Saturdays because from April-October Saturday Market is going on.  Saturday Market is always fun and I always find interesting and great things I want!  Plus, there's nothing better then fresh fruits and veggies!  I also discovered this great little store that I think my Auntie Dee would just LOVE.  They have all these girly, antiquey, little treasures.  They really have an assortment of things.  Little nick-knacks, stationary, jewelry, clothes, PJ's, home decor, bedding ... baby things!  Just lots of fun stuff!  I'll definitely be back!

Then after we bummed around a bit, we went to the library!  (Also downtown!)  I love our library (the main branch).  It's always really clean and it's big!  I found a DVD for Zoe and a book involving counting and doggies.  Then I picked up "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys (a friend of mine is doing a long distance book club with this book) and for a little light reading-"The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks!  Hehe!  I'm a sucker for his books.  I can read them in like a couple days ... I'm a sucker for his romance novels!  I've read almost every single one of his books and seen all the movie versions of his books.  :)

Anyway after that, we were tired and decided to come home. 

Zoe's had a runny nose all day (I'm pretty sure it's just allergies .. Or at least I hope!) and I've had a headache and burning, itchy, eyes.  It might rain on Tuesday which will help.

Tomorrow will be laundry, cleaning, and grocery shopping day before the new work week begins!

Hope you have a great weekend too!

CATCH UP!

WOW!  SO much has happened in the last 5 days!  Let's recap shall we?

First and foremost, I need to ask for prayers.

Many of you, if not all of you know I'm adopted.  Before I was adopted, I was taken care of and loved by Ted and Carol Wilkinson and their daughter Debbie.  They are actually the ones who found me my adopted family.  Ted has recently suffered a stroke.

Here is the note from Carol that she posted on Facebook.

Dear Praying Friends, 

This is a letter that no one ever wants to write, but Ted is in the hospital as of this evening with a stroke. The doctors looked at the x-rays and say that there is no hope. However, the doctors haven't asked the Lord what He is going to do. We are asking you to pray with us that God will perform a miracle, but if He doesn't we will still trust Him. Our trip to American next month is going to be cancelled and we are waiting for God's next step for us. Right now Ted is in the ICU (emergency) room with constant surveillance. Thank you in advance for your prayers for Ted. Gratefully yours, Carol

Ted, Carol, and Debbie mean more to me then words can say.  They have done so much for the people in Kurume-building a Bible Church and bringing God into their lives.  

So, now onto the new job and Zoe's new day care!

Well, I was very nervous about going back to work.  Being at home for basically the last 8 months has been great.  Some days were hard, but we had gotten into a fairly good routine and I was really adjusting to being a stay at home mom.  Financially, we just needed a little extra push, and quite honestly, I needed to get out of the house a little and have something of my own, accomplishing things and socializing with other people.

I must say, I love my new job.  It's a great schedule-Mon-Fri, 6:30 AM-3:30 PM.  It is quite early in the morning but there's nothing better then getting off at 3:30 PM!  It's a small sized company and EVERYONE is so friendly.  The company sells training materials to various companies/schools/fire departments, etc for CPR, AED, First Aid, etc.  There's a lot to know-mostly product knowledge.  I place orders for people, help them figure out what they need to do for updates and their instructors, etc.  I am on the phone a lot but we all know I love to talk so really it's no problem!

But I think Zoe is the one that loves me being at work the most! HA!

Tony drops Zoe off at daycare since I have to be at work so early and then I pick her up.  She didn't freak out when he dropped her off.  The teachers said she just kind of observed for a while (which she does when we got to someone's house-she just kind of stands in one spot and watches everyone and everything) but she warmed up rather quickly.  I went to pick her up and when I walked in I was expecting her to run up to me and hug me.  Nope.  I walked in, she goes "HI!" and resumed playing.  I literally had to coax her to leave.  Tony dropped her off the next day and said she smiled when they got to the daycare.  The teachers commented on how sweet she is.  :)  She's been eating great there (they provide snacks and lunch).  And she's started napping on a mat, like a big girl!  They don't have her napping in a crib/play-pen!  I'm not sure what their trick is, but she just lays there and goes to sleep for them!  (She does not do that for us!)

There is one girl in particular who is a month older then she is but she is very shy and not totally adjusted to Zoe being there.  But her teacher says Zoe is very sweet to her and tries to share food and tries to play with her but the other little girl just isn't so sure yet.  But I have a feeling eventually they'll become very good friends!

Zoe is only at day care 3 days a week.  They are 3 full days, but still only 3 days.  Tony is home with her on Mondays and Tuesdays and I'm obviously home with her on Saturdays and Sundays.  


It is a temporary job, but they expect it to be long-term temporary if not permanent later on.  But I'm open to whatever.  The temp agency I work for is GREAT.  They are really nice and really on top of things and market you like crazy.  They found me this job within  a week of me meeting with them.  So I'm very confident that if this current job did end, they would place me in another position rather quickly.


Well, I think that's about it.  I better go .. We've had a lazy morning and I'd like to go do something fun since the weather is nice!  Maybe go to the park?!  We'll see.


Love and hugs,
Courtney

 

Well ...

... it's official.

I got the job!

I start tomorrow.  6:30 AM-3:30 PM.  That's a HUGE change in schedules for us!  So, it might be a rough week!

I'm obviously a little nervous and a part of me is sad to leave Zoe, but I know it's the right decision. 

You can uncross those fingers now!  I'll be sure to let you know how it goes for all of us!

15 Months!

I added a picture on the side of the blog, of Zoe that I took today ... It's not the greatest.  I tried to take away the pacifier so you could see her cute smile better, but she got kind of mad.

 

Today she said "baby" really well!  So now, everything might be "baby"!  She also says something that sounds like thank you.  I'm working very diligently to get her to say Zoe.  :)

Also I forgot to tell you something funny that she does.

Zoe's room is upstairs-it's sort of like a converted attic, but a really great space.  (Definitely need a window AC up there though this summer).  Anyway, whenever she gets tired and wants to take a nap, she goes right to where the door is and starts banging on it.  Or if I say "Let's go lay down" or "Time for bed" or "Time for a nap" she goes straight for the door (usually gets there before I do) and starts banging on the door.  It's really cute!

Well, I guess that's it.  Hopefully I can get some more pictures taken over the next couple of days when Tony's off.  Maybe one of us can keep her still long enough to take a few pictures!  She just wants to run right up to the camera as soon as she sees me trying to take a picture!!

What's New?

As you all probably know, I've been on the job hunt for a few weeks now.  I've had a couple interviews but so far nothing yet.

The interview I had on Thursday went REALLY well.  They said they were going to make a decision Friday and have whoever they chose, start Monday.  (This job was through a temp agency).  When I called the temp agency late Friday afternoon they hadn't heard anything.  Soooo, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  But I really felt very positive about it.  They complimented me on a few of my responses to their questions, I felt very relaxed and calm, and at the end of it the one lady said "Wow!  I really enjoyed this!"  So, I'm still hopeful I'll get a call on Monday.  Fingers and toes crossed! 

I have picked out a day care, just in case I do get a job.  It's just down the street from our house (pretty much in walking distance) at a small Church.  The staff is really great, it's state certified and licensed, and obviously Christian based.  It was a small group of kids her age ... Really it seemed like the perfect amount of kids.  There was one girl there, a month older then Zoe, who was so cute and sweet!  I think they'd make great friends!  :)

While I'm sad to not be home with Zoe, I feel like going back to work is the best for all of us.  Zoe being in a small daycare, means she'll get plenty of attention from her teachers, she'll get to socialize with other kids her age and makes friends, and she'll also learn! 

Bringing in a second income will give us a little more financial stability and breathing room ... And really that will relieve a lot of stress!

And I'm anxious to be around adults more!  Being with Zoe is great, but I do miss that adult interaction.  And it is kind of nice to not be with Zoe 24/7 ... That can be really overwhelming and tiring.

Tony's doing well at his job.  His schedule changed (a few months ago!) so he's working Wed-Sun.  During the week he works 9 AM-6:30 PM ish, and on the weekends he works 2:30 PM-11:30 PM ish.  He's reporting more and not just doing the photographer thing.  The industry is just evolving more and more to where they don't use photographers (AKA videographers) that much.  They want more of the "one man band" types, who can report and shoot their own footage.  News photogs are more in bigger markets, which let's face it, Eugene is not!

If the weather continues the way it is, I think Tony and I will be looking to move.  Well, we already kind of are looking to move.  But not until Tony's contract is up.  Not really sure where ... Not Arizona but probably more east.  A couple places mentioned: Texas (NOT Wichita Falls!  More like Dallas, Austin, or Houston) and Louisville.  Not really sure honestly.  Tony probably needs to move to a different market to really grow more in his career.

We had wanted to move to Seattle, but after the weather we've been having, and explaining to Tony it's a lot worse in Seattle, that was very quickly scratched off the list!  Plus the cost of living there is a lot.  We'd definitely have to live outside of Seattle unless one of us was making a lot more money! 

And really we're just TALKING about it.  We've still got a good year and a half or more on Tony's contract.  We LOVE it in Oregon and I'd love to move to Portland.  But the weather has definitely been a bit hard on us lately ... Very depressing ... Summer has yet to arrive!  We had 2 days in a row last week of sun and warm temps (Thursday and Friday) but the gloomy clouds and rain came back today and they're sticking around tomorrow!  I think it went back to the 50's or 60's temp wise.  It was pretty chilly!  And it's growing increasingly hard to be so far away from family.  It's hard not having them around when we could use a little help!  Plus, we really miss them!  So, we'll see.

I do hate the heat but I'm dying to see some sun!  When the weather is nice here, it's REALLY nice!  Sunny but not too hot!  It's just that those days are few and far between!


So anyway, that's about it from us here in Oregon! 

Love and blessings.

Courtney

Oh and can you believe it?!  Tony and I have been married 8 years today!   Oh and I had a birthday Wednesday ... Leaving the mid-twenties and heading quickly to 30.  Thank you for all the great birthday wishes and cards and presents too!!

Let's Vacuum!

I had just finished vacuuming the house and Zoe decided she needed to redo some spots I apparently missed!  :)