clio haz a bucket

Just like mom did.

Is she my kid or what?

father's office

It is kind of unfair that Leif's office has cool toys and swingsets.  Mine only has germs and the smell of disinfectant. 

I think it is obvious who the loser is in this competition.

daydreaming

I have a fantasy of running away from city life, buying some acreage and starting a farm.  Chicken coops and an orchard and vegetable gardens.  Maybe a wedding venue for a couple months during the summer?

I've never had much of a green thumb.  In fact if the plants in our living room could talk at this very moment they would barely be able to rasp out a parched plea for water*.   Which is kind of why the idea of living on a farm is way out of the realm of intelligent ideas.  Still, it is a fantasy I carry right around in my heart next to the one I have about suddenly inheriting a large sum of money after the death of a distant, elderly and unknown relative.  And the one about being invited on stage during a rock concert to sing the chorus of a song and being so good that I get asked to be part of said band.

But since we are moving to Oregon in just a couple of months, where land is still relatively cheap, the farm has been a fantasy that I've been indulging in more of as of late.  My unrealistic aspirations aren't deterred any when people feed into them, which is just what Josh did when he sent me and Leif a link to a property thirty minutes outside of Portland that is for sale.

15 acres of farmland.    

1600sqft, four bedroom house.

Rolling green hills.

Swoon

And are those lilacs fields I see? 

I'm getting light-headed.

For 299,900 dollars.  I'm not even joking a little.
Want to see what that gets you in my neighborhood in Los Angeles?
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Nothing.  Not a single piece of property.  You would have to spend 350,000 to get a 2 bedroom, 1000sqft house on a lot that is 4000sqft.

I'm not crazy.  I know that realistically speaking 15 acres of farmland is not possible to work and maintain by two city mice with full-time jobs and no experience in growing anything but weeds.   But it does make me wonder about what is possible for us.  I feel like there are more opportunities to be had than just an 8-5 job and a house in the suburbs.

For now though, until I figure out just what is possible, I'll just keep daydreaming.

I'm curious, what are your daydreams?  Realistic or not when it comes to your ideal living situation?


* My guilty conscience got the best of me and during the writing of this post they actually got watered.

moms

This lady here is my mom, Beth.  Age indeterminate in this photo.  20something?

Look at all that dark hair.  Nice eyebrows Mom!  They are the same type of eyebrows I spend too much money on maintaining on myself each month.

Beth is one smart lady.  Super smart, actually.  She will kick your ass at any word game in existence, which is why I don't often play against her [read: I am a poor loser].
Beth bakes a mean apple pie.  Your apple pie is not as good as my mom's.  Sorry. Sometimes the truth hurts.
Beth is a master crafter.  She knitted the coolest hot air balloons for Clio's room. I'll have to share them here sometime.  She also makes jewelry that is pretty cool.
Beth is a great mom.  Love you mom.

This is my sister, Lisa.  She's a mom too.

She's probably the most patient person I've ever known.  She is a Special Ed teacher of 5-6 year olds.
Crazy patient and kind, people.
She loves her girls so much and is such a wonderful mom to them.  And her girls are the happiest, most well-behaved children I've ever met.

This Ginger Lady is my mom-in-law, Tricia.

She raised Leif.  He. Is. The. Very. Best. Human. On. The. Planet.  That simple fact right there makes her pretty awesome.
She makes gorgeous pottery.
She is super nice and kind.
I really lucked out with her as my mom-in-law.


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.

the desert

For our anniversary we went out to the desert this year.  

We kind of love us some desert.  

This is the third year in a row we've chosen to spend celebrating our marriage in one of the most inhospitable environments in all of California.

Usually we go to The Ace hotel in Palm Springs because it is the one time of year we can pretend that we are hipper than we really are.   They play good music at the pool (think; The Shins, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire) and the sticky toffee pudding is abnormally good.

Although, I can't tell a lie, the major drawback from staying at that particular hotel is that it does come with its fair share of d-bags.  

This year it was booked solid.

It is almost as if they did not get the memo that it was our anniversary.

Instead we stayed in a pretty crappy hotel in Desert Hot Springs.  Admittedly I am a hotel snob.  I'm not ashamed of it though.  Generally hotels sick me out because I know that even the nice ones are still germ-laden bodily fluid-filled boxes of filth. 

The one we stayed at was particularly disgusting.  

But it was closer to Joshua Tree State Park, which was why we went out there this year.

It was beautiful and, ahem, deserted.  

Like, more beautiful than I thought was possible for a place that only receives 4.5inches of rain a year.  

The weather was cool (low 70s) and so we ended up hiking around for three hours while Clio spent a lot of time zonked out. 

five years

Yesterday was our anniversary.

Five Years.

Of love.

Of laughter.

.

.

.

We are

so very fortunate.

Love.  So much of it.

leif's birthday

Last weekend was my sweet husband's birthday.   To celebrate we had a picnic lunch with family and dinner with friends.

It was a simple weekend- just the way we like them.