We’ll be flying to PA on Thursday so I thought I’d do a Thankful Tuesday instead.

Today, I’m thankful for 6 glorious years with this guy:

We celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on Saturday and had a really awesome, kid-free night.  Shaun’s cycling buddies had given us a very generous gift certificate to Chandlers Steakhouse A YEAR AGO and we just used it for this dinner.  It was amazing and a once in a lifetime dinner-we can’t afford that ourselves! Especially with my new gig! We even ordered a bottle of Prosecco!

If you would have told me that day 6 years ago  in Jamaica that I would love this man more today than I did that day, I would have told you that you were crazy.

If you would have told me 2 and 3/4 years ago that I would love my husband more today than I did that day, I would have told you that you were crazy.

Guess what?  I love my husband more and more every day.  Sure we don’t always agree but I know, without a doubt, that he has my back and that he loves me no matter what.  He is amazing and WE are amazing.  Here’s to another 60!

(I toasted to 60 more years on Saturday and he laughed.  I (jokingly) told him that I was going to divorce him when I was 90-yeah right!)

Our 6 year anniversary also marked our 1 year moving to Boise anniversary!  Wow, what an amazing and life changing year!

I don’t think I have talked about my love of Vaseline.  I mean it, I LOVE Vaseline. I use it, without fail, EVERYDAY. Love it!

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As you know, I now live in Boise.  What you may not know is that Boise is the high desert. What that means is that it is DRY here. There is very little humidity and what that results in is very dry skin. Now that I live here, I basically bathe myself and Lucy in Vaseline on an almost daily basis.  I realize that it’s Petroleum but I figure that that does come from the earth and it works.  Plus it’s CHEAP.

I do not use it on my hair.  We all know how that turns out. Need a reminder?

Yeah, not a great hair product.

But as a skin product? It’s awesome.  I use it on my feet, my legs, my hands, my elbows, my arms, my lips, to remove make-up, as an eye “cream”, as face “cream”.  On my face, I only use it at night-it gives me quite a sheen and Shaun always asks me “What’s wrong with your face? I can see you shining in the dark.” Apparently, it can be used as a night light as well .  I use it on the rest of my body as soon as I get out of the shower and I apply it to my hands and lips multiple times a day.

I have a tub in my bathroom, a tub in Lucy’s room, and a tube in my car.  The only problem with the one in the car is that it gets cold and it’s hard to get out.  In that case, I sit on it with my seat warmer on and it’ll come out in about 5 minutes.  Sometimes I’ll forget that it’s there and I’ll get to where I’m going without ever using it. Evidently I am not a princess, nor would I feel a pea.

Lucy has super sensitive skin and I can only use Vaseline or CeraVe lotion on her skin. Even Aquafor (for whatever reason-probably the lanolin, which I have issues with) breaks her out.

On my birthday, I went and had a facial.  Usually, I get told that my skin is a mess and needs all sorts of help.  Not this time.  I was told that my face was in beautiful condition and to continue what I was doing which includes CeraVe cleanser morning and night and Oil of Olay (with SPF) moisturizer in the morning. I use make-up about twice a week that has SPF in it as well (Bobbi Brown). The esthetician did recommend that I use powder with SPF in it throughout the day as SPF wears off after about 90 minutes.  I haven’t started doing that, but I’ll try.  Those years competitively swimming, life-guarding, and teaching swim lessons have done a number on my face but it’s nothing a little Vaseline can’t fix.

For those of you worried that it will give you blackheads?  Worry no more-it’s actually noncomedogenic. Who knew?!?!?!

You do, now

We woke up yesterday to this:

Over 8 inches of snow. We had to get Lu in her snowsuit just to get her out to the car.

All the schools were closed and I headed over to my sister’s house to work so that she could help watch Lu.

Look at the North End!

In true snow day fashion, we had to get out and play in the snow.  Doesn’t it look like fun?

Who is that man?

She cheered up once we started throwing snow at her?!?!?!  Weird kid.

See, Frosty isn’t so bad!

Tessa made a snow angel.

With a little help:

Isn’t it pretty?

Frosty thinks so.  Can’t you feel his excitement!?

Now that we’ve been having real winter weather-weather that is NOT NORMAL for Boise, I get asked a lot if I miss California and it’s “great” weather.  I can honestly say that I do not.  There is something SO RIGHT to me about four seasons.  Even though I grew up in California and only had 2 seasons (Cold/Rainy and Hot/Beautiful), I really love four seasons.  I think that the snow is beautiful and fun.  I’m a little miffed that it’s heating up today and getting to 40.  We’re getting rain-BOO! 

This snow has also made me realize that I really am my father’s daughter.  He loves watching the weather and SO DO I.  I drive my husband nuts with how much I want to watch the news and look at the weather online and on my phone. Weather is cool! Right?

Another thing that this weather has made me realize is that I really like to shovel snow.  A LOT.  My friend Megan (who just started an awesome new blog) describes it perfectly.

Anyway, that’s a very long winded way to say that I’m loving this weather and the thought of moving back to California does not sound appealing at all.

This looks like one happy family!

Ask me again in February…

It has been COLD and snowy here in Boise.  The coldest I’ve seen is 1* on our outdoor thermometer and we’ve had snow on the ground since Monday. We woke up today to more snow!  There was a Christmas parade and the Farmer’s Market in Downtown Boise this morning so we bundled up and went!  Call us crazy

Lu in the car, ready to go!

Don’t the girls look happy?

Wouldn’t you be ecstatic if your Mom dragged you out to watch a line of Minis?

No? How about a snowman! On a Harley!

Really?  Are you having fun yet? Maybe not:

(I think my dear daughter is thinking “EFF YOU MOM.  This SUCKS!”)

The marching band that made both my sister and I start crying-they always do-WTF is up with that?!?!?!

Dancers…sort of dancing…

Isn’t this fun? Well at least there are candy canes!

(“Really Mom?  Really?  Even this candy cane can’t make me smile.”)

Cool old car:

These people said “EFF IT!” and put up there hard top.  How awesome is this car?!?

This float was so sad.  The characters were all falling over because of the snow

Horse-in a a blizzard! (not really)

We ended up going to a Vietnamese place for Pho and watching the rest of the parade from the window.  We saw Santa, sorta…The girls said they had fun or something like that…

  While we were doing that.  Daddy was out mountain biking.  No really!

He had a blast!  So did we-no really we did!

I’m loving the seasons here.  We’ll see if I say that in January or February or March….

Wow! What a weekend! Lu got to wear her costume at least 5 times this weekend.  She loved it!  We’ve washed it and I’m sure it’ll be making an appearance again!

The first event? Playgroup where they practiced with their costumes, “bobbed for apples” (scooped crab apples) and “trick or treated” (they knocked on doors and Moms would open them and give them a block in their bucket-it was cute!

“Bobbing for apples”:

Lucy (the Giraffe) and Tessa (the Zebra) on their way to The Y Party:

There were too many people there for Lu’s taste but Tessa LOVED it:

On Saturday we went to the Boise Philharmonic Philharmonsters, first there was activities-an instrument petting zoo where Lu tried to play a violin but REALLY liked the xylophone.  Lu wanted her face painted but couldn’t get the nerve up to let the lady do it.  Mommy, Auntie Lala, and Tessa all got hearts but Lu wasn’t so sure.  After the activities, the different sections of the Philharmonic (strings, wind, horns) played spooky music. We were running into lunch and naptime and the girls lasted about 30 minutes.  It was really neat.  Here we are before going in:

Shaun got an ear infection this weekend and while he slept it off and after Lu’s nap, I went grocery shopping and Lucy hung out with Auntie Lala and Tessa.  Auntie Lala figured out how to get Lucy to wear her giraffe hood-wings!

It’s a fairy giraffe!

On Halloween, we took the girls in the wagon down to Harrison Street. 

On our way there we saw a beautiful double rainbow. What does it mean?!?!

Harrison Street is CRAZY on Halloween.  We just went to check it out and visit our friends that live there. They stop when they hit 1,000 trick or treaters!!! This was at 5:15-I can’t imagine it at 7 or 8!

Look at these pumpkins!

Trick or Treating was a success!

Next up? Unkie Jake and Aunt Amy’s wedding in Mexico!!

We went to a pumpkin patch this weekend!  First the tractor came and go us:

We all got on and rode out to the patch!

They took us out to a real pumpkin field with pumpkins still attached to the vine. Lu and Daddy looked:

Uncle Will and Tessa looked:

The girls looked:

Lucy found one!

And tried to pick it up.

“It’s STUCK Mama! IT’S STUCK!”

Tessa got one of a more manageable size.

While they got weighed, the girls played.

And afterwards we had really great Mexican food in Kuna! I got the Camarones Borrachos in a Molcajetes. YOM!

Lu liked it!

Our pumpkins are now safe and sound at home.

I have a bit of a pumpkin obsession and I’m only allowed to buy 1 pumpkin for each member of the family (pets don’t count) and I have to be able to carry them myself. (Shaun is SO MEAN-a girl wins one 125 pound pumpkin 6 years ago and never lives it down…) I’m happy with my purchase.  The 2 non-traditional looking pumpkins can be baked and eaten and are quite delicious. SCORE!

I also got some amazing local, raw, honey.  I can’t wait to break into that stuff! Have I mentioned lately that I love it here?!?!?!

Last night I had to work late and I didn’t get dinner started.  We decided to try sushi and take our friends Luke and Megan to thank them for helping with Lu while I was on the East Coast.

They suggested that we go to Tavern at Bown Crossing.  It’s a really nice steak house (not Japanese but an American Steak House) that also has sushi.  You would never expect this place to have sushi, but they do and it was GREAT!

We got some edamame for Lu (and the whole table):

Lucy loves her edamame!

I got some miso soup and salad:

Sushi!

And preggo Megan got a yummy Thai Chicken Salad:

It was delicious!!!  A little spendy but oh so YOM!

My complete HIGH from our move?  I LOVE it here.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  I hope this feeling never goes away.

I went for my first run on Tuesday.  Here’s the trail that is literally 100 feet from my backyard:

I do have to start climbing some of the foothills once I get past about a mile but that’s fantastic too!

This trail also takes us to the park:

That’s about 10 minutes away, 20 minutes if Lucy is “walking”-i.e. picking up rocks, chasing butterflies (and saying “pretty butterflies”), etc.

I took her yesterday for my “lunch hour” and she was so cute.  She LOVED this fire truck and thought it was REALLY cool when the boys jumped in the back and she got to “drive” them.  According to the boys, Lu was Princess Leia.

In other ridiculously cute Lu news, she was home with me yesterday while I worked.  I was on the phone with my manager for my weekly meeting when she comes strolling out in this hat from my closet:

She picked it out and put it on herself-it totally matches.  She wore it for a good 45 minutes.

Like my living room? HA!  My sister is letting us borrow those chairs for right now and while I’m working, Lu has free reign, hence the bears, cd (we gave that one to her as a toy-no worries it does NOT go to the Netflix that you see in the distance), Netflix paper, etc. on the floor.

She has definitely hit the “terrible twos”.  WOW.  She’s awesome and sweet as always BUT can she ever throw a fit when she doesn’t get her way.  We NEVER give in, so I’m wondering when our persistence is going to pay off?  Hopefully it will!

It’s nice being home with her more often.  She does have a sitter that comes either to my house or my sister’s house but I see her SO MUCH MORE.  She is loving having a backyard and going “ow-sigh!!!”  We did sidewalk chalk the other day and she thought it was “Cool” to color outside.

Every night, before bed, she runs through the hose and get’s a “hose shower”.

We’ve also been eating outside almost everyday.  Our grill has already paid for itself!!!

Life is grand :)  I hope it NEVER wears off.

Blueberry oatmeal with farmer’s market raspberries and strawberries.  Topped with my sister’s GF banana bread and almond butter. 

Yesterday was the epitome of a perfect day for me.  I met my sister and we walked down to the farmer’s market and got some great local produce.  After shopping, we ran into a parade.  I didn’t have my camera but it was cool!  The bagpipers and old fire engines were the highlight.  (Crappy phone pictures)

A random parade is not something I would have found in San Mateo!  After the parade we took the girls to the park where they had a blast! (I was so bummed I forgot my camera).

In the afternoon, we went over to my old college roommate (and good friend) Megan’s house for a BBQ.  I’ve written about Megan and Luke before. I am so excited that Megan and Luke live here!  And?  Luke and Shaun will be working together.  How awesome is that?  Shaun starts work on Tuesday and I imagine that we’ll be seeing a lot of Megan and Luke. YAY!

They had set up a table out in their backyard, in the shade.

With beautiful flowers from their garden.

And yummy appetizers!

Lu had a great time running around the backyard.

Dinner was served!

Chicken, steak, fish, grilled veggies and rice salad. YOM.

After dinner Lu went for a swing in the hammock.

Lucy LOVED Aunt Megan.  Lu is pretty shy and takes time to warm up to people.  NOT MEGAN.  She was like Megan’s shadow and couldn’t get enough of her.  Megan is a teacher and is going to be a great Mommy (around Christmas!).

Megan had picked up some fireworks for Lu and we were unsure how she’d react.  What do you think she thought of them?

She kept asking for “Mo! Mo! Mo!”  It was very sweet. 

At the end of the night, Lu christened Megan and Luke’s new tub-they just got a fantastic bathroom remodel and Lu had a popsicle that got all over.

Before we left, Lu gave Aunt Megan a huge hug.

We’ve made the right decision 😉

~~~~~

Yes, that is a plastic bowl and a spoon of Lucy’s up there in the first picture of my morning oatmeal.  Our stuff isn’t here :(.  It was supposed to be here by July 2nd at the latest but it is now sitting in San Francisco.  They can’t find a driver.  I didn’t even know that that was a possibility.  When they schedule a move, shouldn’t the driver be scheduled too?  Mayflower is paying us $125 everyday that our stuff isn’t here and they don’t seem too concerned.  They’ve basically told us that our stuff will get here when it gets here.  So, we wait.  I’m not very happy with Mayflower right now.

BUT

We haven’t let it slow us down.  My sister let us borrow 2 arm chairs and a table with 4 chairs.  We bought a picnic table for outside and we’re having a good time “camping out”.  I was wondering today if we really even needed our 5,000 pounds of stuff?  We do, of course, but it hasn’t been that bad. We have each other, family, and friends-it’s all we really need.