A list of things that are tiny

We are getting into our groove. It feels good. I still wake up wondering where I am, but then I chow on some lait (milk) and muesli (granola) and I remember.

I am still psyching myself out for living life tiny-style. Here are some things that I encounter on a daily basis that are smaller than I'm used to.

1. Fridge/Freezer - It seems as if I am living in a camper when it comes to this one. I will be at the grocery store every. darn. day. from here until we leave. It's the way it's done, I guess. I'm trying to embrace it. But it is completely changing the way I do everything. No more making a big pot of soup and storing it all week. There is just no room.

2. Sink - This one is puzzling because it doesn't have to be this way. We saw plenty of homes with normal sized, even big sinks. But mine just happens to be tiny. Camper living still. I have to be insanely on top of dishes or this one backfires big time. Also, there is no garbage disposal so I had to buy one of those thingies for the plug to catch all the food chunks, which I then have to constantly empty into the (yes, tiny) garbage can. I've lived with no disposal before, but coupled with a mini-sink, it feels like a major extra. Let me add right here that I am grateful for a stellar dish washer. Otherwise I'd be the Mayor of Complainer City.

3. Guest bathroom - The guest bathroom is customary in Europe, or so I've been told. When people come to your house, they expect to have their own special place to do their business. I think it's dumb and a total waste of space and I wish it was a closet. Someday I will take a picture of the sink, which is THE tiniest thing you've ever seen.

Goodbyes & Getting There

It's 2 am and Sienna and I can't sleep so here I am blogging and she's coloring on the couch next to me. We finally made it to Luxembourg and I'm feeling excited to just be here. Our plane arrived, our stuff arrived (one bag and two car seats came a day late) and we arrived. So far, so good. I'm also feeling tired, disoriented, overwhelmed, confused, lost, and my head hurts because of jet lag. But, we'll get there. We'll get settled. And when we do, it will feel good. But we won't feel settled for awhile, so in the mean time I will sit comfortably/uncomfortably in some degree of chaos.

This was moving day. I could write a long post entitled Ode to Seattle, because I will miss it and my home. But I try not to think about it. It'll still be there when we get back. Right, renters?!

The week before we flew to Lux, we road tripped from Seattle to Salt Lake City. I LOOOOOOVVEEE road trips. Our first stop was in Hermiston, Oregon. We embraced the greasy spoon lifestyle and ate at the only place in town, A&W. Then we played tag in the dry heat of the afternoon on a grassy patch by the highway. Ahhhh, the open road. 

Our next stop was Boise, Idaho where we had dinner with my brother, Owen. I had this amazing watermelon salad and some fish tacos.

We met his friend, Laria.

Visitors

Tell people you're moving across the ocean and they'll hurry up and come visit you. That's my advice.

My sister, Heather, came solo in January. TOO. MUCH. FUN.

 We ate at all my favorite spots.

 We visited some of the places in Seattle we shouldn't be proud of.

May = Birthday Month

We're wrapping the birthday season a bit early around here. Adam, Sienna and Noah all have May birthdays (on the 1st, 6th, 27th, respectively), and we had to celebrate them all before we left on our house hunting trip next week.

For Adam's he had a typical work day and then we went to 8 oz Burger Co. for dinner. He requested banana cream pie for dessert, so I made that and we ate it afterward at home. This guy gets better with age.

Sienna turned six this year. She is getting better with age, too. (You'll see, this becomes a theme.) She is almost done with her first year of full day kindergarten and it has been incredible to witness her little brain and body wizzing along non-stop.  She is such a delight.

She got a new bike.

Luxembourg. Because ... YOLO

We are moving to Luxembourg! Luxem-what? Luxem-who? Luxem-where? Exactly.

No one is more surprised than us. Life is funny that way, huh?

The opportunity came right when we had settled nicely into our life here in Seattle. In October we celebrated our one year anniversary of living in our house. Our kids are in good schools with teachers they love and students they are befriending. Adam is happy in his position at work. I am happy with some new-found free time during the week and was looking into interior design schools in the area. We were feeling comfortable in our one-year-old ward. The plan was to cruise along happily for as long as possible. Life. Was. Perfect.

The idea of moving to Luxembourg has been something in the back of our minds ever since Adam started working for Amazon three years ago. But it was something we'd consider doing when we got restless in Seattle. Not that it was ever actually going to be an opportunity; there's an Amazon office in Luxembourg, but you don't just get to call them up and tell them you're coming. Anyway, Adam's former boss is in the Luxembourg office and put a little bug in Adam's ear, like, "Hey, we could really use someone like you..." We laughed about it. "Haha, wouldn't that be funny if we moved over there? That'd be crazy!" Adam had just assisted his former boss in finding another employee to fill a position over there and we thought that was the end of that. Then Adam got curious. He asked his former boss, "What if I WAS interested in moving to Luxembourg? Could that be a real possibility?" He talked to all of his bosses just out of curiosity and they all said, "Yes, that could work out well for you."

That's when it became real. However, we were both very against going. We just got settled! We didn't want to move anymore! We'd had some great adventures; in our time together we've lived in Massachusetts, California, Arizona and now Washington. We were ready to stay put for awhile.

But then I fasted and prayed about it. Dun dun duuuuun. And my whole perspective shifted. After that, I knew we were going. And now, seven months after deciding, it seems like an obvious choice. You get an opportunity to live in Europe and you take it. Easy. But at the time, the logistics of the entire endeavor were making my head explode.

Now that I've had plenty of time to process everything and now that it's finally happening, I'm ready and sooooooo excited to go. We'll move there mid-June.

And now, Fun Facts about Luxembourg:

Boring, Stressful, AMAZING, Repeat

Motherhood has always been boring and stressful with bits of amazing thrown in to keep me going. Lately there has been a whole lot more amazing than boring and stressful. And this has TOTALLY taken me by surprise.

I still think of myself as a new mom. But I'm not. Newborns and toddlers are in the past. I'm in a completely new stage. It's true what they say: during the course of my kids' lives I will have parented hundreds of different versions of them. My kids as newborns and toddlers were very different than they are today. As Sienna and Noah approach their sixth and fourth birthdays in May, I am nothing short of stunned at how different my life is right now than it was when they were new little blobs of helpless flesh. I didn't know it would be this way.

Sienna is smart and sharp and sweet and observant and kind and thoughtful and gives surprise kisses and surprise "I love yous" and, I mean, who is this child?! She has rough calluses on her hands from tirelessly swinging between monkey bars. She ran nearly a mile and a half with her kindergarten class for a fundraiser. She knows how to clean her room and can even sometimes inspire her brother to help. I mean. WHO IS THIS HUMAN?!

My Fanifesto

For years I didn't understand the draw of watching sports on TV.

I get it now.

Two weeks ago, I was able to sit down and watch an entire football game from start to finish. My kids played happily with our guests' kids the entire time. Before having kids I just did not care about TV sports. It was for the men in my life who had either played sports in the past or seemed to understand sports better in general.

After having kids I especially resented all the sports watching. I was always on de facto kid duty while my husband watched sports. Thankfully and to his credit, we didn't have cable until a year ago, so it's not like I've suffered madly for years. But this year with cable, there have been many hours of sports watching, mainly baseball and football. And I have resented it.

Then the miraculous kid-playing and then me miraculously sitting still for several hours and then that MIRACULOUS GAME in which the Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers. That. Game. Was. Bonkers.

Christmas 2014

Christmas was lovely! The minute I got out the decor, Sienna loved playing with the two nativity sets I inherited from my childhood. They have so many more broken pieces every year I open them that I decided this was their last year and they are currently on their way to the land of recycled ceramic pieces. We all got a kick out of the headless child shepherd. Next year I will be buying an indestructible nativity set either made of wood or cloth or one of each probably. Adios, piano playing wise men.

 The washi tape Christmas tree was a fun way to display the cards this year.

The kids saw Santa at the ward Christmas party. Sienna asked for  a Tinkerbell doll.

 Noah and his buddy Ben sat on Santa together. Noah asked for a Cookie Monster.

Noah participated in an adorable little preschool presentation of the story of Jesus. I love this old, musty Methodist church where he meets. Teacher Bonnie and Teacher Joan are the best.

 I believe he was a wise man / shepherd hybrid of sorts. I think. Whatever he was, it was so cute.

 We joined Adam's entire family in Denver for 10 days over Christmas. It snowed and we were in heaven.

 We made a tiny little snow man. Or two. And then Noah stomped all over them. Sienna broke the branches for the arms, and here she is "holding the snow man's hand."

 We went sledding a bunch of times. This was the first year they both unabashedly loved it.

 Sienna played Mary in the live cousin nativity.

 Diane had a vintage doll from her grandmother, I think, and Sienna got to take special care of it as her baby Jesus.

 It was so precious to see her take it so seriously. At the end of the day on Christmas Eve, I was walking her upstairs to bed and she said, "Today was a very bad day." I said, "Why?" And she said, "Everybody laughed at me." She is so sensitive to people laughing at her and we try to explain to her that people laugh at her because they think what she's doing is cute. She can't comprehend it yet. Always makes me sad. :( Ian, Max, and Sam are with her in this picture.

 Noah had zero interest in dressing up for the nativity but he was pretty animated when Santa came. Here he is telling Santa that he is three years old.

 Christmas morning!

 Adam's family draws out the gift opening all day. The kids took turns opening their gifts, then we had a late breakfast of traditional scones, and then we put on a movie while the adults opened gifts. It was nice not to feel rushed. We really enjoyed all of the day.

 Adam's parents were so kind to babysit for us a Friday and Monday so we could go skiing with Adam's siblings. I'm still sore! And almost got frostbite. It was around 10 degrees or less both of those days. But super sick powder, yo. Did some serious shredding. You know. Dude.

 Diane spoiled us again with a ladies' night to the Nutcracker ballet. What a treat to have Sienna come, too. She was restless during the first half, but luckily the second half we found her a booster cushion and fed her candy, and she rallied. I can't wait to put her in dance lessons. Maybe then she'll get what all this dance stuff is about.

 Diane outdid herself in hosting three big dinners for various friends and family. We ate so well. It's always tough coming off a trip like that. I get home and keep looking around for someone to appear to make us dinner.

 Adam and his dad and his brother, Jason, went to a Broncos game together. They figured it'd be their last time to enjoy to wonder of Peyton Manning before he retires.

It was a perfect Christmas! Now onto the New Year!

Adam Tries Cyclocross

Adam's friends invited him to try his first cyclocross race. We went with him to Whidbey Island to watch. The course was set up at a park. The race is 45 minutes long and the cyclists go around this course over and over until their 45 minutes is up. 

 It includes hills, grass, mud, pavement, and steps (you jump off the bike and run up the stairs, then hop back on your seat).

 He liked it! No gushing, but he liked it. The kids and I were better off at this race than any other race he's done because there was a giant playground in the middle of the course. So, I'm a fan of cyclocross, if that counts for anything.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hosted Thanksgiving this year for some of Adam's co-workers. I wanted to try some new side dishes, so a couple weeks beforehand, I experimented by making roasted Brussels sprouts with apples and bacon. It's official: I don't like Brussels sprouts. I can say that with confidence because if they're not good with bacon, they're not going to be good with anything. So long, Brussels sprouts!

 I bought a brined turkey and brined it again. After his nice soak, I injected him with a blend of chicken stock, butter and garlic, then rubbed him inside and out with sage butter, and finally, I filled the cavity with celery, apples and onions. I didn't get a good shot of the after effect, but it was a beautiful bird and it was, by far, my best tasting, most moist turkey yet. I owe it all to the syringe.

 Buttered rolls fresh out of the oven.

 Guests dishing up. Aside from feeling triumphant about my turkey, I was also stoked to finally make a really good turkey gravy.

 These are our guests, clockwise from bottom left: Kristen, Dave, Yue, Joanna, Brett, Stephanie, and, of course, Adam. Not pictured: Kristen and Dave's newborn, and me. The meal was fantastic. The group was fantastic. We finished the evening by watching the Seahawks game.

 The next day it rained non-stop and we stayed inside as long as possible and watched The Sound of Music and Toy Story 3. By afternoon, we had cabin fever and decided to venture downtown for the lighting of the Christmas Tree in Westlake Plaza. We hit up Piroshky, Piroshky first because nothing is better on a rainy day than a piroshky (a soft bun filled with meat and cheese, or, for me, salmon pate).

 We sat in the hall to eat our piroshkies and Adam and Noah played with Buzz Lightyear and dragon car.

 When we were inside Westlake Mall waiting for the tree lighting to start, we became enveloped in a Ferguson protest. We were on the top floor, coming down the escalators, and tons of protesters flooded the building and went up the escalators. There were police everywhere, including those ones I've only seen on the news lately, with their fold-down masks and billy clubs. It was jarring and I forgot to take any pictures of the Christmas tree or any part of the whole event. The protesters were so loud that the program had to be cut short. The tree was lit and as well as the Macy's star, and the rain let up enough so they could set off the fireworks. After that we decided to jet. We saw on the news later that it did not get violent but there were five arrests. Yikes! It was sad. I was sad for the protesters and whatever pain they were feeling (even if some of them were probably just jumping on the next activist band-wagon) and I felt bad for us and all the other families who were there to enjoy some innocent holiday cheer, and I felt bad for the kids' choir that was too rattled to perform, some of them crying, and I felt bad for the shoppers because the mall closed three hours early. I have never ever wanted to be near - let alone in - a mall on Black Friday, but when I had a moment to peruse Zara while we were killing time, those incredibly low prices made me think twice. Hence my feeling sorry for the shoppers.

On the way back to the car, we stopped at Target for new coloring books (Sienna is obsessed with coloring lately, and had just finished burning through her mermaid book) and walked through a closing Pike Place. We couldn't pass Beecher's without stopping in for some cheese curds and fontina. That's dinner, folks!

 Yesterday was a homebody type day because: snow. It was frigid and windy all day and the snow is still here this morning!