More frumpy, less comfy. – Bremer life documented.

Summer 2018

We barely dodged summer boredom for a few reasons:

Frankie got to see Niagara Falls just a week ago, and I went to California twice- once in April to visit a friend and once at the end of July for a life coaching related conference.

This stud muffin in front of a big old waterfall last week. Please weigh in on the recent haircut.

We went camping one time for two nights. But there was a fire ban so that was not fun at all. 😉 Nina actually started the summer off with Girl’s camp, but that was so long ago nobody remembers.

Family and friends came to visit us. Fred and Kathy visited in June with their doggie Izzy. And Aunt Kathy let us get away for two nights to Estes Park. Weekends away are always fun for the parents (and I also heard that the kids got pretty spoiled when we were away!).

Couple selfie in Rocky Mtn. National Park.

Moome visited over the 4th of July. It was soooo good to see her. And she also spoiled the kids.

We took Moome out to eat in Evergreen so she got to see some of the mountains.

And just this week friends from Portland stayed a night at our place before heading on a 2 week family vacation in South America.

This friend is 14 months younger than Nina and a good 2 inches taller.

Maya was off to 6th grade orientation early in the morning when she had to say bye.

Drew had fun with his partner in crime, much to his chagrin.

In between visits, we would have been totally bored had it not been for us getting a PUPPY! He has kept us busy with dog walks, tug of war, and cuddling. The kids also watched plenty of TV while I was working some days.

I don’t know what is up with Drew’s forehead. Otherwise a great picture.

AND Baseball! How could I forget baseball? Drew had another great season. Drew also got to attend cub scout day camp and had tons of fun doing that one week.

We got to go to a Rockies vs. Giants game. Giants lost.

This was his favorite activity at cub camp. Easier than archery but still shooting stuff.

We also started demolition on our Master bathroom. Progress is slow, but I think we finally have a solid plan in place so it should go faster now.

Now, school has started so the summer is over. We are excited to have all three kids at the same school. One pick up and drop off!

YOU GUYS! I have a high schooler! What the heck! Also, Maya is 6th grade and Drew is 4th.

We hope you’ve had a fabulous summer!

PS. This will most likely be the last post on this blog. I am almost out of free picture space and I AM out of the habit of updating. I strongly encourage you to get on Instagram, because I post multiple times a week there. Or you can just email or text every once in a while and bug me for pictures and an update.

Springtime update

I feel bad for not updating sooner, but it seems like there hasn’t been much to say!

The weather lately in Denver has been pretty cold, but very little snow. It has a been a terrible winter for illness in our family. Nina has missed 6 days of school in only a few weeks, and I was sick for about 6 weeks after Christmas!

In between these illnesses, the kids and Frankie have been able to go skiing a couple times. But no pictures.

I started a home organizing business! No overhead, just profit. It has gone really well, but I do need to find a few more clients after a slew of 5 people or so scheduled multiple projects for me to help with. I have enjoyed helping people get their home more organized. Here are a few pictures of some of the projects, though I keep forgetting to take before and after shots!

We are going to visit friends for part of spring break and are really looking forward to that. Hopefully the weather in D.C. will be good!

The kids are all doing well in school. Same with Frankie and work. Life is good!

Big Goals

I realize my last post kind of glossed over all the details of our time since we’ve been back in Colorado. But really, everyone just wants to see the pictures right? There is one thing, though, that I would like to explain in words. In fact, I don’t really have any pictures.

Because the kids are now all in school, I find myself with the decision about what to do with my time since I am a stay-at-home-mom. Of course I can continue being home and doing all the support work I’ve been doing for 14 years. I have lots of opportunities for volunteering, and my time goes very quickly every day.

But through the years, off and on, I’ve thought about going back to school and getting my master’s degree. In fact, it was a strong thought when we moved the Germany, but it just didn’t feel right. And it still doesn’t quite feel right.

While in Germany, I listened to many, many podcasts. Two that I really got into were Jody Moore’s Bold New Mom and Brooke Castillo’s The Life Coach School podcast. These ladies are both life coaches using Brooke Castillo’s method called The Model. I have learned so much listening to both podcasts in their entirety and found myself wanting to do the work they were doing. The idea of becoming a life coach just feels right. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, I have always loved helping people, especially in the realm of mental and emotional health and the things they talk about get me passionate! It seems to intersect my interests and talents, which I think is the perfect combination.

In addition, my kids will be my top priority until they move out of the house. I believe that my work as a mother is the most important thing I can do. But I know there will be life after an empty nest, and I want to start preparing for that life. Life coaching is something I can do from home via phone or Skype during school hours and then ramp up when I am ready to do so. Again, perfect for my situation.

After all these thoughts coalescing in my mind, and being back in the U.S., I felt scared. Pursuing a career after years of momming feels overwhelming. I decided that I needed to prove to myself that I am really serious about this by getting a part-time job. Let me tell you, it’s not easy to find a job for 15-20 hours a week only between the hours of 9 am and 3 pm. Eventually, though, I found a holiday job wrapping gifts for a local toy store. I wanted to get some momentum going in my life toward this crazy goal I have identified, and I feel like this seasonal job did it. It wasn’t fun. There was a girl that worked there who was not fun to work with, but I showed up every day and did it. I am grateful for that experience, but I don’t want to do it again.

Around the same time I got this holiday job, I fell into creating a business for myself. I know that sounds funny, but that’s what it feels like. I had tossed the idea around of doing home organizing for people. I didn’t know if I would be able to find a job with the hours I needed, so I was thinking about my strengths and organizing is definitely one of them. So I put a couple feelers out on a local Facebook group. The day before I got hired at the toy store, I had a lady reach out to me wanting to hire me to do some organizing for her. I worked for her for about 7-8 hours and organized her kitchen, a closet, and some basement areas.

Before Christmas I attended a holiday party and just happened to see a friend who is a lawyer. He freely advised me to create an LLC in order to protect myself. So I did. I officially have a business license: House of Order with Denita Bremer, LLC. I need to work on getting some more clients, but after my original feelers, I am confident that many people need help in this area and would hire me. The idea is to save up money from working to go directly toward the fees for attending The Life Coach School. (The Life Coach School is very expensive– similar to a year of college at a state school.) And also to get into “work mode.” There is a learning curve when it comes to juggling work and home duties and I need to learn that!

So that is what I am doing. I am so excited about pursuing life coaching! In addition to doing all the mom things, I am trying to have a side gig to help me reach my goal. If any of you would like to help me out by letting me coach you for free just for practice, I would love that! Or I can come organize something for you (if you’re local).

Home Sweet Home photo edition

We loved seeing that Colorado sun when we landed! And those mountains!

While in temporary housing, we focused on house projects: cleaning, painting, carpet replacement, etc. Nina had strong ideas about her room.

We painted these shelves and the mantel as well as the wall behind them. Still need to whitewash the bricks.

Seeing our friends of course is always a special occasion, but especially after not living nearby for a year.

Next on the list was to get a piano! Nina especially loves our new instrument. We’ve been enjoying this upgrade

One detail about our transition time: Drew read the entire Harry Potter series between September 23rd and November 22nd.

Halloween was our first holiday back. Drew was not a beer stein, but we just thought it was too funny having just come from Germany. (Found it in Target!) Carving pumpkins is a tradition and I enjoyed visiting Drew’s classroom party and helping with the mummy making.

That’s the loot for only one kid!

On Halloween, Nina got the first stage of her braces installed. We are having a hard time keeping bands in her mouth, so the progress is slow.

Nina is enjoying her choir class at school. They had a Christmas concert and it was really good!

Here’s an idea for a fun outing (think date with spouse or child). Go to Target or the Apple Store and play with the new iPhones’ portrait mode. Then airdrop them to your phone! My kids have enjoyed doing this recently.

This girl recently turned 14 and thinks she is the queen of the world.

This guy, Cyrus, joined us for a few days right before Christmas. We thought he would become ours, but alas, it didn’t work out that way. He was such a sweet guy. The kids still miss him.

Christmas dinner with the gang: Oma, Maya, Nina, Drew, me, Rayne, Gina and Frankie.

Maya turned 11 and brought friends together for roller skating.

Rotenburg ab die Tauber

Our final two days in Germany were spent in Rotenburg ab die Tauber. This is a town that has been preserved from its medieval days. Although cars are still allowed. So it’s really only the structures. We only had one day there but we walked the town walls, toured a church building, climbed the main tower and shopped. We had to go to their famous Christmas market that is open all year round. It was a quaint and enjoyable city, but I wish it was even more preserved.

Pretending to shoot arrows from the “windows” in the city wall.

Walking the city walls. They are very intact.

I almost forgot about the Museum of Torture! So many interesting things from medieval times. This is literally a drunk tank. Drunk men would have to wear this if found in public or abusing their families.

Artwork from the Museum of Torture. Can’t even remember the significance!

Some of the buildings in the city. This is supposed to be a photo point, but they were working on the well in front of this building, so not so picture perfect.

Up on the tower the sun gets in your eyes!

Eating lunch on the steps of the municipal building. Then to a bakery for black forest cake (eh).

The famous Christmas market. This place was EXTENSIVE! It just kept going!

Here is the inside of one of the church buildings we peeked into.

The city had a park within its walls on one side and we walked through it and took a family selfie. So peaceful.

At the entrance to the park. Love those pointed roofs.

On October 10th we drove to Frankfurt and flew direct to Denver. As usual, flying from Frankfurt was a hassle, but once we were on the plane it was smooth, albeit long.

Final european airport. Here we come Colorado!