Food

I am feeling like I do not have many profound things to say so I will do what many bloggers do and simply list the things that are currently giving me joy!

-Feeding my baby! She loves to play with the food on her tray and put it in her mouth.
-Watching Caitlin climb (literally) to new heights
-HGTV (It feels like "research" as we head towards a house hunt in Detroit and Detroit Metro)
-the hopefulness that new job possibilities brings
-A long, morning nap for baby = shower for mom, time to clean bathroom, make bed, switch laundry and putts around on the computer
-Homemade macaroni and cheese!
-A gentle breeze...

I hope you all are finding some simple joys in your morning on this lovely Wednesday (I'm surprised I recalled the day of the week! I've lost track since school let out)

on moving...

My husband and I are no strangers to moving as we've done it four times in the five years that we've been married. First there was our 1st apt. in our current neighborhood. Then the unit below our friends opened up and it was in an old town house so we thought it'd be cozy to be "virtually" living in the same house. Those friends relocated months after we moved in (only across the neighborhood), and we quickly grew discontented with that place (really high cost utilities and leaking water and strange smells) and moved into a studio behind our former business. Then the studio got a bit cramped and Stephen needed space from work so we moved up the street to our current residence. We have actually been here for 2 years--a record for us! In retrospect, I would've been fine w/ our first place for all 5 years...but hindsight is always 20/20. Our current apt. has room for a nursery, a front porch, and laundry in the basement so I've been pretty content here. However, we are definitely "house hungry." I think that's expected since we've been married 5 years and been through so many changes; it's that desire to settle into something more long-term and to make it our own.

So we are embarking on our 5th move this month. It is unique for us in that we now have an (almost) 8 mo. old "crawling" around and we are moving in with family. We are trying to avoid a separate storage unit, but there's an obvious amount of sorting involved based on what things we will need immediate access to, and what can be tucked away in respective family basements.

Purging is good.
Sorting is healthy.
Trying to sort while Caitlin investigates the dangerous things in her room does not work so well.

I believe we will get there.
It helps to have deadlines.
We just really need to buckle down.

Wish us luck!

Father's Day

We recently spent 9 days in Detroit for a sort-of vacation. Our intention was to go to the cottage in Canada for some of that time, but that's hard to do w/ an expired passport ;(. So we just took our time with both families, a few friends, a grad party and some Father's Day celebrating. I was also lucky enough to get a last min. surprise interview. It may turn into something, it may not...the market is VERY competitive over there as there are so many teachers out of work and folks graduating from teacher's colleges in the area. The fact that I've had 4 interviews is encouraging in and of itself.

We got to spend time with Caitlin's new cousin, Hudson..I'll post more pics in the future. I can't believe I forgot how SMALL Caitlin was @ the nb stage! And she got to play with her cousin Lily who seemed to enjoy entertaining her. It makes me feel good to know that Caitlin is learning her family faces--all the grandparents and her cousins. I grew up seeing one set of grandparents and aunts and uncles pretty frequently and that is something that I want for my child.

We also got to go on a DATE! Our budget has been tight and we don't have as much free babysitting around here, so we've just been enjoying the post 7pm hours as "adult time" for conversation and renting movies. BUT...it was extremely nice to finally get out and spend the whole evening together. We went to a vegetarian restaurant in Ann Arbor, got coffee at Espresso Royale and sat in the park. We lucked out b/c it was 1/2 off wine night @ the restaurant...I look forward to more dating in the future! ;)

We also did a bit of preparation for moving into Stephen's family's house. I am so grateful that they're allowing us to land there temporarily while we begin the hunt for the right house, the right price, and the right neighborhood.