Wednesday, July 08, 2009

35 things

Today is Nathan's 35th birthday. In honor of that I present to you 35 things I love about him.

1. He's a great man.

2. He's a great dad.

3. He loves his family.

4.He climbs tall mountains!5. He has great friends.

6.He's adventurous:
7. He can be a rule breaker at times, though never anything serious:
8. He's a hard worker.

9. He can really get into the holiday spirit!
10. He's supportive.

11. He means it when he says that he just wants me to be happy.

12. He's a BBQ master:
13. He likes to tease me.

14. He has a mischievous sense of humor.

15. He likes to try new things:
16. He's a great leader and example:
17. He'll willingly give up the more comfortable spot for us. (here he is on the bottom bunk- giving the top bunk and several feet of headroom to connor)
18. He can do Chloe's hair.

19. He has more patience than I do.

20. He's better at playing ponies than I am.

21. He's a hands on dad:
22. He's goes along with my crazy ideas and will even tell me they're good:
23. He willingly puts himself in harms way for the kids: (he sat in red ants on a field trip with Connor)24. He doesn't make me go camping.

25. He quietly tolerates my piles.

26. He's kinda cute :o):
27. He has a sense of humor:
28. He humors me: (I insisted this was a more flattering angle for a self portrait)
29. He's a great husband.

30. He has a love for travel and adventure.

31. He can make the best of a tough situation(stranded in a strange city arranging for a days worth of unexpected adventure) :
32. He plays ponies and dollies and tea party with her:
33. he's brave( teasing a crocodile!):
34. chivalrous (I'm wearing his hat):35. He's become very handy over the last 10 years!

So there you have it just 35 things from a long list... Happy Birthday!

Monday, July 06, 2009

Weekend project!

We were able to tackle Connor's bed this weekend. He's been very patiently waiting all week!

We began on Friday with a stop to Home Depot to pick out the paint and a couple of other supplies. I picked Behr English Channel based on my pottery barn inspiration. Connor was eager to get started!

Chloe and I pitched in too!

Nathan pretended to help with the painting but I assure you it was for photo ops only. :o) He did assemble, move pieces and drill new lower holes for the side rails in between sanding, staining and refinishing our kitchen table.

The bed in its new home! It looks great and I love the color!

Sunday, July 05, 2009

Kid to work day.

Connor and Chloe recently went to work with Nathan for kid to work day.

They can't understand why he'd rather work from home than go into the office. I mean he can eat all the cotton candy he wants:

He could create bugs in his bug workshop and check out a bugs eye view:



Sure you have to get up early:

And sit in on some meetings:

Oh and you have to be careful to work out all the details:

But how can you complain about those minor inconveniences when you get to create animal tracks:

and be right there interacting with technology?

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Happy 4th!



We hope you all had a safe and happy 4th!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Hot weather dinner

INGREDIENTS
-Brown rice fusilli pasta cooked al dente
-1 can artichoke hearts drained, rinsed and cut in half
-grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half
-garlic to taste
-mushrooms cut into quarters
-rosemary to taste
-olive oil
-butter
-chicken broth

-grated parmesan cheese for serving


DIRECTIONS
Cook pasta

Heat pan and olive oil over med. heat.
Melt butter (2-3 TBS)
Add mushrooms and rosemary until cooked through
Add garlic and stir
Add artichoke hearts and stir together
Add cherry tomatoes
Stir in about 1/4- 1/2 cup chicken broth

Heat through and pour over fusilli and stir together.

There won't really be a sauce, just enough liquid to prevent too much sticking.
Serve and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Yummy!

Monday, June 29, 2009

The rejection letter.


Last week I got the rejection letter I've been waiting for. I had applied to the Respiratory Therapy program as a way into ultrasound. What I realized though, is that it's really not where my heart is so I had decided to turn it down if on the slim chance I did get accepted.

Fortunately I didn't have to reject it- they rejected me! Actually, it's nothing personal. The top 75% of spots go to those applicants with max application points. The remaining spots go to those with the next tier of points. And to add to that if there are more applicants meeting the point criteria than there are spots it goes to a lottery system. So basically it's all a lottery system. These programs have 20-30 spots and get hundreds of applicants.

I didn't have max points but I had enough to apply so I did. Apparently I had enough to make the alternate list. I do have to decline that spot though and I will. I'm going to just wait and apply for radiology after the new year. A good number of people who work in ultrasound also have certification in radiology and are then employed based on that flexibility they can offer.

Until then I'll continue with my anatomy and physiology course and then plan my next move.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Craigslist deals.

I've never bought or sold anything on Craigslist before. So it's pretty funny that I bought 2 beds in as many days off there! I've been stalking Craigslist in hopes of finding a bed for Chloe. Until now her mattress and boxspring have just been on the floor. She decided that she was ready to be up a little higher so I've been keeping my eye out. I found a couple I liked but they were gone already when I emailed.

I was not to be dissuaded though. And I was determined to not spend more than $100 on a bed. Thrifty? Cheap? Whatever... Well yesterday an ad popped up that sounded like a possibility. I emailed and set up a time to look at it. They didn't have an exact picture claiming it was difficult to photograph. Nathan took that as a bad sign. But I was on a mission. We arrived and found this: It is the total opposite of what I was looking for! I was thinking something along this line would be perfect:
But, I saw it and really, really liked it. Chloe liked it and Nathan gave his seal of approval. ( He handed over the $40 bucks) Did you catch that? 40 dollars!

The woman selling it had never sold on Craigslist before but decided to instead of Goodwilling it because it had sentimental value. She used to sleep on this bed when she was a kid at her grandparents house so she wanted to see who it was going to. It was totally worth the money we paid and it looks so nice in Chloe's room! She says she feels like a Queen in there!

Actually Connor liked it a lot also. If the lady had 2 of them we would have bought them both! Yesterday I had also found another possibility but didn't hear back from the seller. Today however we got in touch and set up a time to look at the bed since Connor was so enamored with Chloe's. His bed is just on a plain metal frame- no headboard or footboard. The one we were checking out today was very different looking and I already knew I wouldn't keep it the same color.

When we got there and saw this: I was a little less enamored. But, I could still see it's potential. Connor liked it though and Nathan thought it might work. What didn't work was the $70 price tag. We offered $40 and the seller countered at $50. Nathan pulled $43 out of his wallet and the seller was happy with that. SOLD!

The plan is to turn it this color now: