Music Review? Why Not!

Music is such a huge influence in our lives. Whatever state of life I find myself in, there is always a specific realm of music or artist that speaks to where I am emotionally. So I thought, if I post my thoughts on movies, why not do the same on the latest CD I'm listening to? This morning, as I started my work day, I started to play the same CD I've been playing for a couple of weeks now. I've been listening to Brooke Fraser's Albertine alot lately. The peaceful rhythms and tones of Brooke's voice are just what I need in the midst of the chaos of the transition we are in right now! Here's the video to Albertine for a sample:

If you are interested in ordering this CD by any chance, I think it's an import from New Zealand and may take a little longer to get via shipping. I ran into this issue when I wanted to order it as a birthday gift for a friend, just fyi.

Heading Back to Arizona

This may be new news, then again maybe not. Greg and I have deliberated for months about moving back to Arizona. We have had countless conversations between ourselves, with family members and friends as we have carefully weighed and considered this idea. We finally decided that we believe moving back to Arizona is what is best for the three of us and that's the decision we've made.

One of the big factors in the timing of our move was the status of Greg's job. However, prayers have been answered and Greg will be able to keep his job in Dallas and will simply work remote from Arizona. That being said, we will both be working from home and that may become a prayer in and of itself! :)

We have put our house back on the real estate market as our next step in this process. When our house sells, we will be packing up and moving out. Our prayers are now for our house to sell as close to list price as possible. With the state of the real estate market right now, this could be asking for a miracle but we are asking anyway! Feel free to send anyone our House Listing who might be interested in living in beautiful Murphy, TX! It really is a great location. :)

Another step in this process that may seem trivial but it's really not is we have to find a good home for our 12 year old cat, Charlie. Logistically, when we pack up and drive out we can't take Charlie with us on the 24 hour drive this time around. I'm not sure what the drive will be like with Nathan but we had already promised to take him with us. (j/k!) If any of you would like to adopt or know of someone who would be willing to give Charlie a good home, it would give me great peace of mind. Here's a picture of Charlie, a great, well-trained cat:
Our final step will be to drastically minimize to help make this move easier than the last one. Needing the 56 foot truck was just plain ridiculous last time. The movers said they had never seen anyone with so many chairs. We plan to have a 'sell-everything-sale' once there is a contract on our house. We're selling living room tables, dining room furniture, chairs!, etc. - so stay tuned, you or someone you know may be looking for something we're selling when the time comes.

Lastly, please think of us and send good thoughts our way or say a prayer for us during this process, we would really appreciate it! :)

You've Come a Long Way, Baby!

This is just a current video of Nathan eating.

Memorial Day

The tone of this post was initially going to be a much different, than what you will see. It was going to be a very somber, our country is so confused, glass half full ranting but then I realized it's not just the United States, it's simply man-kind. So I erased it all and now I'm starting over. We are blessed as a country, we should thank God. That's all I'm going to say about that without the risk of this post looking like the ramblings of a crazy person! :)

Here are some pictures from our weekend:

(My Mom)

I just wish you could have been there for this next picture. You've read that Nathan likes to climb the playground and we have to carefully walk behind him with every step. Well Greg was on duty and when Nathan came to the end of his journey at the top of the playground, the only way down was by slide. So I tell Greg, "You can't send Nathan down the slide by himself, he's too little!" So Greg, very relunctantly, puts Nathan in his lap and proceeds down, except he couldn't exactly slide down. He didn't quite fit the slide and was pinned on both sides. Here's the picture of them trying to come down...of course I was hysterically laughing my head off and snaping the pictures which is why I wish you could have been there, it was so funny!

Car Show in Rockwall

On Sunday we went to Rockwall by Lake Ray Hubbard with Greg's parents. We had lunch and briefly took in a view of the lake, it was too beautiful a day to not take some pictures, here they are!
The real reason for our trip to Rockwall though was to see a friend from Arizona who lives and works in Texas now. Chris Staffeldt has a very cool job working for Stoked Out Specialties, an award winning full service custom auto shop. Chris is an inspiration to me. He set a goal, he achieved it and now he does something that he loves and has a passion for. The part that gets me though is that he's so young! He got a big part of life figured out by 21! We met Chris when he was only 15, he was just a punk kid! j/k Now he's very successful at his job, he seems to have his head on straight and he has no visible body piercings or tattoos than I can see (lol). I'm just so proud of him!!

Here's Chris sporting his 'cowboy' hat which he felt compelled to get now that he is living in Texas.
Here is one of the cars his shop was showing for the auto show, I specifically took a picture of this car for Chris' brother, Josh who has an affinity for VW's.
I'm standing inside the shops 18 wheeler trailer that carries the cars to the auto show. The inside has a car lift...that's just cool to me.Greg and Chris definitely connect on the car thing, here they are talking 'car' talk.
It was a bit of a long afternoon and even though it was a beautiful day, it was hot. I have to give props to my little man though, he took it all in stride, as he always does. Here's a picture of Nathan towards the backend of our afternoon. He could have been grumpy & fussy but he wasn't, instead here he is giving Chris a smile and leaning into Dad.

Nathan stuff...

Last week was one of our toughest weeks as new parents. Nathan was sick in every way so with our lack of experience we were up against a learning curve with each episode we faced. However, I have to say that Nathan is one tough little boy, he handled it all pretty well.

Despite the rough week, Nathan was 'almost' back to normal by the weekend. The only exception being the allergic reaction to the medication he was taking. However, we still went to the park where Nathan loves to walk...BY HIMSELF. Don't even try to hold his hand. If you grab his hand, no matter what dangers you are trying to protect him from, prepare for a FIT!! Here's Nathan happily walking by himself.
Although Nathan is walking, he still falls alot. It just happens. Here's an example:
Nathan was standing, first picture. Then he fell, second picture.
And now that Nathan is walking on his own he is fearless in climbing the playground structures. I'm having heart palpitations that I won't catch him in time as I carefully walk behind Nathan with every step. I could only take 2 quick pictures of him at this first level before I needed to assume my parental position right behind Nathan.
This picture was one of those moments that take me by surprise when I realized how quickly this is all going. It wasn't long ago that Nathan was a little baby and now he's this little boy.

One Quarter Asian and No More!

If you've never noticed it before you will now. When taking a leisurely walk, alot of Asians will often walk with their hands behind their back. It's the walking posture. Now, I have tried and tried to get Nathan to eat rice, explaining to him that he's Korean and he should like it, to no avail he still spits it out. However, I am proud to say the Asian in my son has surfaced! On different occasions Nathan assumes the Asian walking posture. I've only been able to catch a few pictures when he's standing in front of the t.v. at home. Here are a few shots:

Cookie Monster Caught!

As I was getting ready for us to head out the door this morning, Nathan went about the house. He often opens cabinet doors and explores the contents of the shelves. This time, I had to grab the camera. I found Nathan contentedly sitting on the floor by an open cabinet munching on cookies. I keep his diaper bag inside this cabinet where he found a plastic baggie of cookies, that looked to yummy to pass up!