Ketchup

I yet live.

Some of you may have wondered. (With reason.)

Actually, to be honest, the reason I didn't post anything for so very, very long is because I was having a hard time finding much nice to say about my situation. Ok, that was the case for a few months, but then I just vacillated between being busy and being lazy. (Sorry.)

But here's the down low:

* We moved back to Utah. I was not an initial fan of this plan (Pete admitted that he was actually terrified to bring up the idea because he knew how much I loved living in NYC). But when his parents decided to serve an LDS mission and the opportunity came up to live in their home free of rent for 18 months, well, the lure of saving money for a future home eventually won me over. (I'm much happier in Utah now than I was those first few adjustment-y months.)

* My In-laws did NOT leave on the above mentioned mission. At least, not until seven months after the initial planned date. They were originally called to serve a temple mission in Brazil, but because of visa issues, their departure date kept being pushed back month by month until they finally tired of waiting and requested a reassignment.

* My in-laws left for a mission to Mozambique. That's in Southern Africa, for those of you who had only a foggy idea of where that may be located. So I no longer live in the same house with anyone who is not part of my immediate family. It's nice. But won't last long; Pete's cousin is going to live in the basement (not a separate apartment) while he's waiting to get married. Then we'll have all sorts of family staying with us as we get ready for my sister to get married. Which brings me to my next point:

* My baby sister is getting married. Kind of exciting, and I'm a little bit embarrassed of how much time and effort I put into searching for the perfect flower girl dresses. (They are pretty fab, though.)

* I've lost 25 pounds. We can talk more about this later. Or maybe we won't. I tend to think of my health (weight, diet, etc.) like I think of my sex life. Just because it's there doesn't mean it needs to be discussed openly, and with strangers. But people ask, and I have to admit, it is pretty exciting to have found something that works. And I'm also considering becoming a health coach for the program I've been using, so if that happens my weight loss story will become a shameless marketing tool. We shall see.

* I've started refinishing furniture. So far I've redone a decorative bookcase and a set of whicker patio furniture. Next I'm planning on working on a coffee table. My ideas are becoming more ambitious a lot faster than my skills are progressing, but since I'm working with thrifted, garage sale fodder, I feel validated experimenting.

* My kids are growing up. For reals, though. Georgia has transitioned from a baby into a little human being, complete with a definite personality, sense of humor and extensive vocabulary. It amazes people that such clear, thought out sentences come out of something so small. And Amelia is practically a lady. She's getting ready for her second year of pre-school, and is taking a ballet/tap dancing class. She's always running out the door to the neighbors' house and talks incessantly about what her friends said, and did and all that kind of stuff.

(Is this reading like a Christmas letter?)

Anyway, we're in Utah. Pete works for doTerra as the Corporate Communications Manager (and loves his job, actually) and his wedding cake and catering business, The Mighty Baker, is doing well and picking up steam. I have fun hobbies (plan to start writing seriously again IN THE NEAR FUTURE) and my life is full. We are really happy. It took me a while to be able to say that honestly, but it is now true. We are happy.

And I might post here again soon.

Maybe.

If I get over being busy/lazy at the same time again soon.

Retrospect; My 30th Birthday

I spent five hours on a bus covered in vomit. Life is glamourous, no?

Pete and I decided to go to visit my sister's family in Boston for Thanksgiving and we left on my birthday. (We still lived in NYC at the time, remember?) Of course the traffic leaving the city was horrendous. And, of course, my baby got carsick. Poor babe was fussy and unsettled. She kept going back and forth between Pete and me and then finally settled down long enough to throw up all over me. I was able to step into the nasty little horror of a WC at the back of the bus and get both Georgia and myself cleaned up, but it was only a matter of a few minutes before she repeated the performance and I was out of options for clean clothes.

Georgia felt much better and spent the rest of the journey snoozing peacefully on her daddy's lap wearing nothing but her raincoat and a diaper. I pulled my coat on over the smelly mess on my chest and cracked open the window.

It wasn't the best beginning to a birthday celebration I've ever had. But when we arrived at Sharon's house my sisters surprised me with a party and Pete had secretly made me a cake. Lovely Mexican food and balloons everywhere.

I really was happy about my party and cake, I promise. This is just what happens when someone else is in charge of taking the pictures.

So now I'm 30. It feels good. I'm more comfortable with myself, my talents, abilities, personality and purpose than I've ever been. I'm pretty sure that this is my prime decade. Life is better than ever and I'm loving the adventure.

Saying Goodbye

To New York City.

It all happened so fast; one minute we're living cozily in our (maybe) 500 square feet of New York rented space, and the next we're hauling our lives back across the country in favor of a 5 bedroom home with the most agreeable rent agreement possible--free. And just in time for Christmas.

I suppose we did kind of see this coming; Pete wasn't exactly making headway in the saving-for-a-bakery plan and we knew his parents were planning to leave for a mission to Brazil. I just don't think I really believed that we'd head back to Utah so soon--or ever.

We made the decision and acted fast, giving ourselves three weeks for packing and checking off our city bucket list. I must say I'm proud of everything we were able to squeeze into those three weeks, but of course there were things we left unexperienced.

One thing I insisted that we do before leaving was have a family portrait taken. It turned out to be a bit of an ordeal to make it happen (our poor photographer had to cancel last minute due to pregnancy complications so we had to scramble to find a photographer, and the dear friend we asked to step in and take our photos last minute didn't have any of his equipment available at the moment so he had to use my camera, which he wasn't familiar with. Nor is he a portrait photographer, he's a fashion photographer which is entirely different) but we got our photos done.

So here are a few images of my family bidding farewell to New York City and leaving our blessing. And a promise that we'll be back to visit someday. When we've made our fortune.