Wednesday, November 4, 2009

New Adventures


Life has found us in Spokane of all places! We left Bellingham October 24th, stayed a night in Ellensburg and arrived the next day to find our house still hadn't closed. Luckfully, the previous owners let us move in as "renters" for a day and we signed paperwork the next day. We are officially further in severe debt now...otherwise known as homeowners! We are loving the house...mostly just because it is ours. After a yucky send off from our previous landlady we are glad to not be renting again. The house is beautiful inside, we don't even need to paint. We had a week off once arriving and got to work unpacking, shopping for household supplies and exploring our new city and neighborhood. We live near some very cool parks! We went on a long wandering walk and came across a huge forested lot with basalt rock outcroppings, a few ponds and trails meandering throughout. As we investigated further we found it was part of one of our local parks. It is now a favorite walking spot of ours and Tinkers. Then there is the Bluff just down the road which has walking and mountain biking for miles and miles...yet again, Tinker was loving it. Then there is Dishman Hills...500 acres of protected land, ponds, hills, and trails just 3 miles away. Tinker thought she was in doggie heaven! Still many more parks to explore. People in Spokane like to say that everything is just a 20 minute drive away...no matter what type of outdoor adventure or city experience you're looking for, you'll find it in 20 minutes. So far it seems to be true!

People have been very nice and generous here as well. Gig met a guy a few blocks away that makes handmade guitars (now Gig is in heaven). We bought a desk from a lady off craigslist and she gave us a pound of organic grass fed beef that she had from a side of cow that she bought! She told us to call her if we needed anything or referrals to good doctors, organic hookups, etc. We went out to dinner and the waitress gave us a free loaf of their signature bread as a house warming gift. We have been very pleasantly surprised with how nice people have been.


Luna has been loving the new house. She has more space to crawl and get into trouble! Luckfully, the previous owners left us a nice retractable baby gate. She celebrated her first Halloween as a chicken. Gig and I were up far too late making her costume, but it was worth it when we saw how cute she was in it. Luna joined cousin Elsa (a puppy for the occasion) for trick-or-treating at the highschool Paul (my bro-in-law) teaches at. Then we went to a few of our neighbors houses to meet and greet and of course get some chocolate. Luna was a trooper as she sucked on the package of a Hershey bar, obviously tired ( and only tasting plastic instead of the yummy chocolate inside it).

Luna is becoming more of a little person everyday. She loves to shake her head "NO" every chance she gets. We're trying to teach her yes, but she's not catching on too quickly. We started on kissing noises too which is very cute to see her attempt to mimic those. She loves standing and is walking with hand support. The biggest change is sleep for both Luna and I. She has been sleeping in a crib in her own room instead of with us. Neither she nor I have been sleeping well the past 9 months, but Gig and I loved having her cuddled with us in bed. She has been sleeping like a champ since being in her own room and I have been getting near 8 hours of sleep again. It's been wonderful! We miss her, but I'm loving the sleep.

Luna is getting 2 new top teeth. It's made for a slightly cranky baby, but she and we are dealing. She has found a new toy of a box that she pushes around like a baby walker. She can get all around the house on her own with it (video to come). Who needs plastic play toys when there are free cardboard boxes at Costco! She's loving seeing her cousins more often since they live only 2 miles away. I now know that we are not cut out to have 3 kids as all hell breaks loose when they're all together.



I have been working full-time for the first time since I was a student (at least I'm getting paid for it this time). I did orientation for the first few weeks, but am now seeing my own caseload. So far, so good. I'm looking forward to working there and the opportunities for professional growth it will afford me. Gig is liking being a stay-at-home dad and house husband. He's been parenting, cooking and cleaning up a storm. It's strange to switch roles so dramatically. He even makes my lunch and drives me to work in the morning.



We had a great Thanksgiving, our first in our new home. We did a local run, the Turkey Trot, in the morning, then had a big family feast with my parents (who drove over from Lynnwood) and my sister's family. Luna enjoyed the turkey and mashed potatoes, but I'm not so sure she still enjoyed it on day 4 of leftovers.

We miss our friends in Bellingham, and the walk-ability of the town, but we don't seem to miss it as much as we thought we would. We are liking it here. The weather has been great, only 1 evening of rain the entire time. It's cold, but beautiful! We are finding good coffee shops and having fun exploring the city.

P.S. You may have noticed the date of this post as November 4th...that's when I started it...yep, only took a month to finish it!