Chad and Amy

Well, I haven’t posted anything in about 8 months….that is just crazy! I have been more into FB cuz it is just a little easier.

I’m not a die-hard blogger for several reasons #1 Time, it takes about 2 seconds to post FB. #2 I am not a writer. I hate to write, it takes me forever to figure out what to say, then I reword it about 500 times, then I have to correct 1/2 of what I wrote because I can’t spell. #3 What to write about. There is sooooooo much going on, and so many things going on in my crazy head, that I often don’t know where to start.

One of the biggest reasons that I have not been blogging is that I have a duel personality 🙂 Crazy, I know. First, I want to update everyone on what is going on, but then I ask myself “Does anyone really care?” Then I rationalize, of course they want to know 🙂 So I think of all the things to write about…keeping in mind, I’m not a writer… I want to tell everything that we have been doing, where we have been going, and the struggles that we have been having. Then I end up thinking about how crazy the week was going out of town, working, and going to places like Brussels, Marseille, and London. No one really believes that it is not all fun and games when we talk about traveling to these places. Plus, people always say “poor you” you have to go to all these places. Mind you, we do love to go, but it isn’t “vacation”. So my second mind kicks in and tells my brain not to post anything about those trips because people won’t understand. So nothing gets written.

Then, I think, maybe I should just be honest, write a blog about feelings and not just about everything that is going on. I’ll be honest, that probably wouldn’t be a good idea. Diving into the mind of a crazy person can be scary, so I’ll spare you the chaos of that. So as you can see, I’m just battling my mind over what anyone really wants to know 🙂

So if you are still reading this, I’ll let you know how crazy life can really be!

I am now just over 25 weeks pregnant. Lauren will be 2 years old next week (still can’t believe that). We sit in an apt. 1/2 filled with boxes. We are waiting on visas for moving to the UK. As soon as we get our visas, we are moving shortly after, sometime in April. We get to rediscover living in a foreign country, we get to relearn the medical system for having a baby, we get to live in a temporary apartment for 3 months until after the baby is born, then we get to move again (that will be the 8th time in 4 years). This is our life right now, this is our definition of craziness 🙂

So if you are wondering why I can’t make any decisions, if you are wondering why I can’t give you straight answers, and if you are wondering why I haven’t posted much…now you know. Hopefully, this is step #1 to recovery: Acknowledging the craziness and working towards a more stable life.

Oh how I love summers in Paris…there are a few drawbacks, but so many positives help make up for them!  (Summertime by my definition is late July to the end of August, in case you wanted to know.)

I love the warm sunshine.  Granted, there is no air conditioning, so there are occasions that you want to drive around in your car just to cool off.  But the rain every few days to cool off the world makes the heat more bearable.

I love that everyone is outside in the summers.  There are people everywhere, in the streets, in the yards, at the parks, all taking advantage of the sunshine.

Probably the most noticeable bonus about summer in Paris is the break in “rush hour” traffic.  During the year, rush hour is defined as the hours between 7am to 10am 11:30am-1:000pm and 4pm to 8pm…so as you can see there isn’t much time during the day that there isn’t a TON of traffic around Paris.  In addition to the normal traffic, you have to factor in the shutting down of entire highways, accidents, etc.  This can make things rather “fun”…or not.  But…oh, in the summer, the Paris roadways are so much more clear since all the French go on vacation!   It is wondrous.

One of the downsides of summertime is that it is so short in Paris that many stores have an ever so brief period of “seasonal” items.  If you want anything “seasonal” you had better buy it in June.  If you wait until July, you either won’t find it (anywhere) or you might pay a pretty penny for the high priced items that are left that no one can afford.

Take for example an air conditioner.  Chad and I have debated purchasing an air conditioner (a small one) for the 3-4 weeks of the summer that reach the 80-90’s with no breeze and no reprieve from the rain.  At the end of May, I noticed them in the stores.  At the beginning of June, during a particularly long warm few days we debated buying one.  At the end of June, we decided we wanted one, so we started looking…by the beginning of July, all we could find were 500+ euro air conditioners.  So now we don’t own an air conditioner, and we are praying that the rest of the summer isn’t too terribly hot.  Of course, we know we will survive…we have for the past two years 🙂

Another example is my search for the perfect sandbox for Lauren.  At the beginning of June, Chad and I went to Marseille.   Lauren had so much fun playing on the sandy beaches that we decided that she “needed” a sandbox to play in.  After getting home, I purchased sand, but decided to look around at the different types/styles of sandboxes (this was mid/end of June).  I looked some were too small, some were ugly, so I finally decided which one that would work best.  Of course, by the time that I actually decided which one to purchase it was now July.  You know what that means…everyone was sold out.  So, here are pictures of Lauren’s new sand box…literally 🙂

Got to love summer!

Anyone actually check this thing anymore?

We really wanted to get pictures of Lauren with the tulips in Holland, but her birthday was a little too early for the tulips to be blooming:)  Who needs Holland when you have tulips and other pretty flowers at your park?

It was hard to get many good pictures.  Lauren is at a stage where she would rather play instead of posing for pictures.

Hope your weather is as beautiful as it is here!

If you want to know what we have been doing…you should check out Chad’s blog  🙂

Lauren decided that taking a few steps here and there wasn’t enough.  Today, she decided that walking was more fun.  We took several videos, but the files are a little large.  Here are a couple so that you can see her moves 🙂

Inside…

..and outside too!

Watch out world…

Spring cleaning has started…Some of you remember a post a while back…mostly me complaining.  Well, just so you know, I’m in project mode 🙂  We are fixing some of the “dislikes” and making the most of everything!

I have been HATING the lighting in our house.  So, I have added curtains to several rooms, changed the yucky dim yellow light bulbs, and added under cabinet lighting to our low-hanging cabinets in our kitchen.  Hopefully, tomorrow we are going to purchase ceiling fans to help with the lighting that hasn’t been fixed.

The “To Do ” list is getting checked off, and stuff is getting accomplished in the midst of both Lauren and Chad being sick.

Just thought you might want to know.

One year has come and gone…can you believe it!!!  Do you know where we spent Lauren’s 1st B-day?

Lauren loved this shoe and didn’t want to quit playing!

Ok, through all our travels, we have always said that Alaska was “God’s country”:  nature, adventure, the people, the fishing, everything…we love Alaska.  But I would have to say that I have found a new rival (I won’t speak for Chad).  Although Alaska still wins in the nature category, I would have to say that the Netherlands is one of the most beautiful (if not number 1)  places that we have been in Europe so far.   We still have several countries to go to give an official ranking of  favorites…but the Netherlands definitely tops my list right now!

Seriously…how can you not love this!

So we decided to head outside and work in the yard.  Lauren loves to be outside, so we decided to try the walker…Don’t try this without supervision…Lauren has… and she doesn’t recommend it 🙂

Note:  Driveways and walker’s don’t mix!

Here are a couple of videos (and a picture) for your entertainment.  Lauren is now pulling up on everything and trying to crawl everywhere 🙂

Even the stairs…

…and the bathtub.

One last look…