90 Days Already

Arizona was amazing!!!  It was in the 80s the entirety of my trip.  I climbed a mountain and got a tattoo.  It was wild, just as I promised.  I'll have pictures up soon.  

When I got back from Phoenix, we had our last foster-adoption class at which time we found out that our 90 days to get registered was up in a week!  And we were moving the next day!

Thankfully, a lot of friends volunteered to help with the move and it all got done yesterday.  In the meantime,  the 90 day foster registration requirement is creeping up on us.  Our check list is almost done.  I turned in a new fire-safety plan for the new house and....... We have our home study on Thursday!!!  This means we've been assigned a case worker and she will interview us for several hours and make sure the home is safe.  This also means we have to get the house in order - FAST.  Luckily, we've moved so many times that we're experts at putting a house together very quickly.

That's all I have time to post right now.  How was YOUR weekend? (hopefully a lot more mellow than mine!)

Turns to Golden

One time, me and Brit did a photoshoot.

Hello!  I am in sunny Arizona, sans computer!  The occasion?  Brittny's golden birthday!  She's turning 27 on the 27th and we're doing a big, golden birthday in sunny Arizona courtesy of her parent's timeshare.  It's 90 degrees there!  Brittny moved back home to Wisconsin in July.  This will be the first time I've seen her since then.  sun/Brittny/tan = a few of my favorite things.  I can't wait!

Sticking with the gold theme, I bought every gold item that H&M and Forever 21 had to offer.  We're going to look like total sluts fun girls.  There will be some hilarious pictures on this blog next week, I promise you that.

I get back Friday.  Saturday is our last foster-to-adopt class and then we move on Sunday!  Can we ever do just one major thing at once?  I'm starting to think we can't.

Talk to you next week! XOXO, Lindsy

Half Marathon

I ran a half marathon last week and Dan was there to take photos (on his camera phone).  The race was in my home town.  My best friend, Sara, invited me to run it with her.  We ran the Seattle Rock-n-Roll half last summer, too.  This race was particularly special because it was all women and it was a breast cancer fundraiser.  Sara lost her aunt last summer to cancer so we ran in her honor.  I finished in 440th place in just under 2 hours.  I'm very proud of myself!  I think I'll be running some more halfs.  They're really not that hard.  

Break Time

Next Sunday we are moving to a wonderful little house where we can start a family.  We're only moving about 2 miles but it's still so much work, as you probably know.  We started packing this week.  We are so excited!  ( I think I've said that, typed that, tweeted that, and blogged that 100 times ... but, it's true! )

Even though we're excited to move, we still have to live in this loft for a week.  Dan will be here a lot more than me.  On Tuesday I'm leaving to go visit Dan's cousin, one of my very best friends, for her golden birthday bash in Arizona. When I get back, we have our final foster-to-adopt training class and we move the next day!  So, I'm trying to get a bunch of the unnecessary things packed so I don't come home to a ton of stress.

While packing this week, I decided to unpack a few things.  I just received my sister-in-laws cello.  I played viola as a kid so I'm excited to get back into it!

We took a break from packing to take some photos...

Asking for Help

Dan and I both have a hard time asking for help.  We love to help people so it doesn't make sense that we don't ask for help.  We both come from big families:  He's the middle child of 5 and I'm the oldest of 4.  Maybe we've spent most of our lives doing things on our own because everyone around us was so busy?  Regardless of WHY, we will NEED to learn to ask for help.  So, I'm going the passive-aggressive route and posting a blog instead of asking you face-to-face.  (You're welcome!)

Photos of us on our first day of training:

Dan travels about 7-10 days a month.  Most often, these are consecutive days.  He will tour through the mid-West, stopping in Billings...Minneapolis...Chicago... to Nashville, leave the van and fly home.  Or they head south to Portland....Eugene...Redding...Sacramento...Reno...LA...Phoenix...etc.  Those are the usual places.  Sometimes it's middle-of-nowhere South Dakota, Wyoming, West Virginia.  Starting in 2012, they'll start touring the East Coast and the Southern United States.

I need to learn to ask for things - and, more importantly - to not be upset when someone can't help.  For me, that's probably another reason why I don't ask for help very often.  I don't want to be upset with a friend!  So, I'll just NOT ask for help so they don't have to say no.  Avoid awkwardness at all times, right?

Well, guess what.  [Queue inspiring pep-talk]  Life isn't meant to be lived alone.  I truly believe that we were created to live in community.  Dan and I want YOU to be a part of our journey of becoming parents.

Until the child arrives, here's what we need.

• BABYSITTERS!  You can watch a child in our home for less than 24 hours without a background check.  You can watch a child in your home if you complete a background check: available here. 
• We need a part-time nanny for times when Dan is out of town and my work-load gets to be too much for me to handle.  Email me if you're interested!
• We will need social interaction!  To be honest, the idea of putting a kid to bed at 7:30pm and being "stuck" at home all night is terrifying for both of us.  We would love for some evening visitors every now and then.  Bring a movie!  Bring dessert!  
• A Car Seat.  Once they find a child for us, it's very short notice before they get dropped off at our front door.  We will need a car seat almost immediately after our registration is complete (next month).
• Speaking of registries!  We are registered on MyRegistry.com - search our names.  Even though the gifts listed are for sale in stores we would love if your gifts were second hand.  Nothing brand new.  
• Eventually we will need clothes.  This poor little kid will likely arrive with nothing but the clothes on their back.  My friend, Ruthy, will be throwing me a baby shower after the child arrives!

That's all that I know that I need right now.  I'm sure I'll need a whole lot more once we start parenting.  We are so thankful for our community of friends here in Tacoma.  You are loved!

WHOOPS! Loft for Rent!

So... with the short-notice-move happening we sort of forgot to tell our landlord that we were moving out.  So, to be nice, we are helping them find a new renter.  I dont know why they're making us do this but... anything to get into our new place so we can get a kiddo, right?

UPDATE:  We found a renter!  Thanks for looking!

And thanks for visiting our loft!

25 things you didn't know about me

1)  I have been obsessed with pictures my whole life.  As a kid, I loved looking through my parents and grandparents photo albums and old yearbooks.
2)  I wasn't one of the those girls who dreamed about a wedding or being a wife so it's ironic that I was the first of my friends to get married.
3)  I only played with Barbie so that I could decorate her mansion and dress her in cool clothes.
4)  My senior project was about being an interior designer (see #3) but I didn't like the designers I interviewed so I never followed those dreams.
5)  I don't mind the rain here in Washington state.
6)  I have OCD about my nails.  I cut and/or file and/or polish them daily.  I think it's a nervous habit.
7)  I was in "Future Business Leaders of America" in highschool.
8)  ... and I got 4th place in the state for Word-Proccessing.
8)  I cannot stand mouth noises  (Smacking, gulping, swishing, smooshing...) so we play music at dinner time.
9)  I am obsessed with several [cancelled] TV shows and I savor them (i.e. watch them very, very slowly and incrementally) because I do not want to admit that they got cancelled and will one day come to an end.  These shows are:  The O.C., My So Called Life, Arrested Development, and The Wonder Years.
10)  I do a VERY good impression of John C. Reillly as Dr. Steve Brule... but only for Dan and my family.
11)  In high school people thought I was a stoner yet I have never been high.  I guess I'm just weird.
12)  I am in a rap group.  No, I will not post the link.
13)  I love doing laundry but I really hate putting it away.
14)  I dream of buying my clothes at fancy boutiques and department stores.  I actually buy my clothes at H&M, Target, or thrift-shops.
15)  Dan and I  took photo booth pictures on all of our milestone dates.
16)  I couldn't really snowboard until I lived in the French Alps for a winter.  That was super intimidating!
17)  When I was in the fifth grade, I had a black sweatsuit which I appliqued watermelons onto.  As if that's not enough, I had puffy painted around the appliques.  (My mom had something to do with this project.  It wasn't ALL my idea!)  I wore it about once a week.  It came back to haunt me in the 8th grade when someone brought it up in my math class.
18)  My rapper name is Sweatsuit (ironic?)
19)  I think I have about 7 tattoos.  I never want to count them because I like the shock in people's faces when they ask how many I have and I tell them I don't know.
20)  I think I would be a really great teacher but I don't want to go back to school.
21)  I also think I would be a really great graphic designer but I do not want to go back to school.
22)  Dan and I went to a teeny tiny 60 year old private university in Edmonton, Alberta.  The university closed 2 years ago and we have no idea why.
23)  Even though I said I don't mind the rain, I really love sunshine.  I am obsessed with it.  If it's sunny, I'm outside - no matter what.
24)  I think it would be cool if party photo-booth photography was my real money-making job!
25)  I have over 20 cousins on my mom's side of the family.

The New Place

We found a place.  THE PLACE.  And we love it.  I saw it today, I applied, we got approved, and we're moving 10/30/11.  It has everything I wanted: A dishwasher, Washer/Dryer, space, parking...and charm!  I had my new 35mm lens so I wasn't able to capture all it's glory.  (There will OBVIOUSLY be many more photos).  So, here it is....

"You're Moving Again?!"

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF:
My husband, God bless him, has lived in probably 30 places in his life.  If I asked him to count, it would take him a long while to figure it out.  I, too, have lived many places.  My family started out in Vancouver, moved to Salem for two years, lived in Puyallup for 6, then back to Vancouver.  I went to high school in Vancouver, then went to college in Edmonton, Alberta.  I lived in two different places, then we got married and got an apartment, moved to Tacoma, lived in two apartments here, bought a house, sold it, lived in France, moved back to Tacoma, bought another house, rented that out so we could live downtown.  That's 14 places for me.

THE LOFT:
We've lived in this loft for one year and it has been amazing.  We've entertained guests, had big parties, small parties, cozy nights in watching Netflix and sipping tea.  We've got a grand piano, guitars on the walls, and a Rhodes.  It's an inspiring place; a place to create music and art.

I just cant get over a few things:  the parking, the laundry room, and the fact that the government won't approve the window in the child's room.  (SEE BELOW)

THE PROBLEM WITH THE WINDOWS EXPLAINED:  
The windows are floor to ceiling, single paned windows from at least 100 years ago.  They open from the bottom up but they are also barred up to about 5 feet from the floor.  Remove the bars, the kid could crash through it and die.  Leave the bars, and it's not a proper fire escape window.  [eye roll].

OUR PLAN:
We have to move but we have lots of time to decide. It's nice to have the opportunity to be picky.  We both have our requirements and we're working together to find a place that's affordable, in the right neighborhood, and fits our individual criteria.  We are looking at one today!  Dan will love it because it has TWO BATHROOMS!  In 8 years of marriage, we have never had more than 1 toilet.  I hope we love it.  If not, we know that there's a better place for us.  Patience is a virtue, afterall.

Happy [reluctant] house hunting to us!
XOXO,
Lindsy

New Lens!

These were taken at the exact same time.  Left, by KQG, right by LMR.

I just got a new 35mm 1:1.8 prime and I love it!  I'd been putting off the purchase for years.  Now that I've got one, I didn't even know how badly I needed it.  I really, really like it!  I went out and took some photos with Kolin yesterday.  I have been using Kolin as back-up photographer when Dan is out of town and he is quite good.  He has a good eye and he's very creative, even non-conventional, and it stretches me to take more creative photos.  His specialty is post-production so he's given me some great tips on editing, too.  It was his idea to head down to to Titlow Beach.  It's awesome to get new ideas of places to shoot.  Here are the results of my new lens....

 

 

 

 Thanks for the shoot-off, Kolin!

Alphabet

Life's been a little crazy lately. We just went on a mini-tour to Eugene and Portland and we might be moving to a more kid-friendly place. This involves hours on the internet and driving around neighborhoods.  so, this blog is completely pointless but I got this from grace loves the beatles and I thought it was so cute!  Whe is a 12 year-old blogger and photographer!  (twelve!!!)  She's amazing.  

age: twenty eight.  i know! i cant believe it either! ;)

bed size: king  (we are really large human beings).

chore you hate:  dishes, until we have a dishwasher again someday.

dogs:  i long for a french bulldog.  i would name him Francois or Guillame or something like that.

essential start to your day: coffee.

favorite color: a sagey-army greenish color.

gold or silver: i love 'em both!

height: 5'8"

instruments you play: i try to play piano and bass and sometimes drums but i'm mediocre, at best.
job title:  project manager for a marketing group, photographer, wife, daughter, friend, soon-to-be-mom.

kids:  a 0-5 year-old whom i have not met yet but love immensely and unconditionally
live: tacoma, washington and i kind of love it
mother's name:  Alana.
nicknames:  Linz, L-Dub, Sweatsuit
overnight hospital stays:  never!
pet peeves:  mouth noises, laziness, rudeness, close-mindedness
quote from a movie:  i prefer to quote "drunk history" - google it.
right or left handed: me: right, dan is a lefty!

siblings: 2 sisters and 1 brother.  i am the oldest.
time you wake up:  around 8am.

underwear:  i like it.
vegetable you hate:  i love them all!
what makes you run late:  forgetting my purse or phone or forgetting where i parked.
xrays that you've had:  teeth (dentist), leg (snowboarding accident), back 
yummy food that you make:  my specialties are enchiladas, thai stir-fry with peanut sauce, banana bread, biscuits, and cookies.
zoo animal:  i like the aquariums and the lions.

I Can't Believe This!

We live in a loft in downtown near the University of Washington Tacoma campus.  We love the loft but it has its issues:  no dishwasher, the laundry room is 3 (long) floors down, oh, and you pay for parking but you almost NEVER get a spot.  It's a long story, but last week it took me 45 minutes to find parking.  FORTY FIVE MINUTES!  This got me thinking....  "What if I had my soon-to-arrive foster-child with me?"  You cant drive around aimlessly with a kid for forty five minutes.  I was so upset that I went directly to the school's offices, where I've been before, and complained, as I have before.  I felt a revolt needed to happen.  I think they could sense my rage because this time I [finallly] got the name of the woman who can make things happen.  I wrote her a long letter telling her that the parking situation needs to be fixed.  I'm not trying to get a to class, I LIVE HERE!  The woman who's supposed to make things happen hasn't been very much help.  She's told us we can move.

I adore this loft but I am very worried about bringing a child into it.  I know I said in my announcement post that we love our loft and will not be moving.  However, we're not so certain of that anymore.  In addition to the parking drama, we're trying to register our home for foster-care and this loft has only one exit.  The law requires that there are two for fire-safety purposes.  We are waiting to hear if this will pass the home inspection.

So, I've started dreaming about finding a new place even though I do NOT want to move.

My requirements for a new place, should we move:
1)  A place that's easy to get to.  That's important for me because I work from home so I don't get very much social interaction throughout the day.  So, when Dan is on tour (which is about 10 days a month) I want to see my friends.  The loft is a big, fun space to entertain guests in but it's not a convenient place to visit because of parking.
2)  Laundry.  If the foster child that's placed in our home is still in diapers I would like to do cloth diapers which = LOTS of laundry.  Walking up and down the 67 steps (Oh, yes, I've counted) is a pain!
3)  A dishwasher would be nice.

It's not much to ask.  Right?  We'll see......

Cheap, Tasty AND VEGAN?!

The Rockstar got home from tour on Tuesday.  Since I hadn't seen him in two weeks I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen making dinner.  As I opened the refrigerator and cupboards I realized that we had a lot of Mexican-style foods.  So, we threw together the quickest, cheapest, tastiest meal known to man.  We're calling it Mexican Succotash!

Combine in a bowl:  One large can of [organic] black beans, cubed avocado and tomato, fresh corn (cut off the cob), cilantro, lime juice.

Then, I made some chips similar to my friend Ruthy's chips.  Instead of deep frying them I put a layer of oil on a baking sheet and bake the tortillas in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

VOILA!  An easy and cheap meal that tasted amazing and didn't harm any animals.  Everyone wins!  

Wedding Videography: Ashlee and Peter

In August, I was called upon to do some wedding videography at Tacoma's Landmark Temple Theater.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day!  The bride and groom were so sweet and so happy.  They even recommended me to their friends, Steven and Jen, who got married 3 weeks later!  So, I will have a another snippet of wedding videography up in a few weeks.  Here is a sample of Ashlee and Peter's beautiful day.

I took a few photos during the day so that I would have something to use for the packaging.  I got these DVD cases and disk labels at Office Depot and designed it all myself!

This Rocks!

I amazed myself last week:  I re-upholstered an old rocking chair that we found on the street in Seattle.  (I don't know if this happens in other places but here in Tacoma/Seattle, when someone doesn't want something, they put it outside with a sign that says "FREE".  Happens all the time!  Need furniture?  Drive around long enough and you'll find some.)

The local fabric store was having huge sales, like 60% off, so I got a TON of stuff for the kiddo's room.  I chose a neutral fabric and decided to add a pop of color with the yellow/gray fabric that Dan picked out.

I think it needs a little something more.  The yellow doesn't pop quite as much as I thought it would.  I want to make a larger, square pillow with red and white stripes.  Since the chair was free, this entire project cost $25!

You can see the before photo HERE!