Progress

So, the last two days have brought some exciting news to our family! Yesterday T found out he'll be able to start telecommuting in the very near future. His office was doing a pilot for this program for the past year or so, and they are ready to start making it an option for more employees. So, we will be getting a phone line installed at the house on Friday (plus switching providers for internet and adding basic cable, because the bundle is cheaper than just internet and phone). The plan is for him to start working from home 2 days a week, and may increase to 3 days shortly thereafter.

And today my boss (Dr. Jobe) asked if I would like to start working full time! That is 32 hours a week at our office (as the schedule currently stands, it may be changing in the near-ish future). I told him I'd absolutely be willing to do so, so I will start that schedule next week. My hours will be: MTTh: 7:45-11:30(ish) and 2:45-6:30(ish), W: 2:45-6:30(ish) and F: 745-11:30(ish). I'm excited about the extra cash flow we'll be getting due to this situation, which will mostly be going toward savings for a car and any future baby expenses, but will hopefully allow us a little extra 'fun' money, too.

And lastly, a few pictures of our new planter box, the veggie seedlings, and my latest knitting project:

Productive weekend!

This weekend Tyler and I got a ton of stuff accomplished around the house! He stayed home on Friday due to being up all night nauseated, but was feeling much better when he finally woke up around 10AM, so that added quite a bit of time for us to get stuff done. Here's the list of what we accomplished, followed by a list of things we still need to get done in the next few weeks:

-dusted and vacuumed the house
-cleaned both bathrooms
-did laundry
-recycled old magazines (2 armfuls!)
-sold textbooks online
-went through my clothes and collected 2 garbage bags to be donated
-scalped the front lawn
-built a raised garden bed for our veggie garden
-went to the bank
-got my oil changed
-cleaned the kitchen

We still need to do quite a few things:
-take boxes from guest room and put in attic
-purchase bed for guest room
-refinish dresser and bookcase for guest room
-buy new bedding for master bedroom
-take Christmas lights off the house (I know, we're TERRIBLE! I'm a little ashamed, and very thankful we don't have an HOA)
-edge the front and backyard
-spray weeds in front yard
-kill off grass and weeds in backyard
-fill raised bed with soil and transplant seedlings
-cut flower beds into front yard and plant flowers
-put down new mulch around trees

Those are all of the major things I can remember right now. It's truly a never-ending list of items once you become a homeowner (even if you buy a brand-new, never-before-lived-in house like we did!). Wish us luck as we continue in our weekend warrior endeavors. :) I will post pictures of our outdoor progress soon!

I'm way behind on blogging! Let's see what's happened since the last time...

We switched races with Team in Training. We'll now be running the Heels and Hills half marathon, which is a local race. The fund raising for Seattle was just too much for us at this point, so we made the switch to save a lot of stress.

We also ran our first half marathon 1.5 weeks ago! We crossed the finish line together in 3:20:45, and we could still walk the next day! Our goal for the next race (Heels and Hills, May 2) is 3:00. Fingers crossed that we can make it!

Our veggies and herbs have started to sprout, and I'm so excited each day to see what a little sun and water can do to the plants! This weekend we have lots of plans to get started working on building the raised bed to put them in, plus lots of other little house and yard projects. We have a daunting list for this season that I'm hoping we can accomplish. :)

We're still trying to get pregnant, so far to no avail. We're on our 8th consecutive cycle as of today, and our 13th cycle overall. We're praying to God every day that we will be blessed with a little one of our own. I'm trying to remain hopeful, but it is hard, especially when you hear so much about pregnancy and infant loss and infertility. It is truly a miracle whenever a baby is born healthy!

Other than that, not much is going on. Work is still going really well, and I love getting to know our patients and my co-workers. Tyler and I are also having so much fun watching Lucy as she learns our routines, how to interact with other people and dogs, and just watching how much fun she and Pongo have together.

We also just got back from a long weekend in New Mexico with my in laws. We got to go inner tubing (on the snow, not in the water), and spent lots of time talking and playing with our niece, who is so precious and funny. It was great to get to see the family and just spend some time together.

More updates (hopefully with pictures!) to come soon, I promise!

Support a great cause!

As you may know, Tyler and I are currently training for a couple of half marathons. We have joined Team in Training to train for our second half marathon, the Seattle Rock N Roll on June 26th. In order to do that, we have a fund raising goal of $9000 that must be met. I am posting tonight to ask my fellow bloggers to help us reach this goal. Every dollar counts in the fight against blood cancers! For more information about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, click the banner below! To make a donation, please click the Team in Training logo. :)



Please consider making a donation to LLS today! 75% of each dollar donated goes directly to research and patient education and support services. If each person who follows this blog donates just $5, we could raise almost $100!

Crazy week!

This week is going to be kind of crazy. Here's what I have lined up:

Today: dust and vacuum house, work (2ish-7ish), run
Tuesday: work (7ish-11ish), gym, work (2ish-7ish)
Wednesday: run, laundry, work (2ish-7ish), attend open mic night
Thursday: work (2ish-7ish), painting night with the life group girls
Friday: work (7ish-11ish), massage, date night
Saturday: attend race expo, host pancake fundraiser
Sunday: Spring forward!, run 1st half marathon

I have a feeling I'm going to be exhausted this entire week! I also really need to get everything together for my massage therapy license application, and work on thank you notes and donation solicitation letters for our Team in Training fundraising. *sigh* Wish me luck with everything! :)

Gardening

Since the weather is so nice today, DH and I decided to create a plan for our vegetable and herb garden for this season. We've never done this before, so we're just hoping everything turns out OK.

We decided to build a raised bed (5 ft X 20 ft), which we hope to have completed by the end of the month. We think this will give our veggies the best chance at survival, since they won't have to fight through our rocky clay soil to put down roots.

We chose 7 veggies/fruits and 1 flowering herb bush to plant in our bed and purchased the seeds and peat starter pots for those today. I got all of those put together this afternoon, so we now have the following (I put all the peat pots into the lid of a copy paper box to keep them together and easy to move back and forth from outside to inside, so that is what the chart below represents):


We also chose 5 herbs to grow, and sowed those seeds into individual pots, where they will remain. We planted seeds for parsley, cilantro, thyme, chives, and basil.

Once we get our raised bed constructed, we will transplant the germinated seeds as soon as we can based on the guidelines for each type of plant (the lavender will be transplanted to flower beds in the front yard). We also have plans to make a gravel patio in our backyard and to create flower beds in the front yard. We have a lot of work ahead of us, so wish us luck!

The Ravelympics are over!

And I completed my project by the deadline! I am now the proud owner of 1 pair of fingerless mittens, and 2 fancy Ravelry badges/medals.


Coming up: finishing my Ripened lace scarf, a pair of socks for my Stitch n Bitch knit along, and then who knows! Also stay tuned for a guest blog from fellow knitter/internets BFF biomaj5!