Oregon Coast

Matt, Roman and I spent 4 days up on the Oregon coast over Halloween weekend. We went up with his family to enjoy some time on the beach. Even though the water was way too cold and rough to swim in, we were able to wade around in the water and watch some beautiful sunsets. Here are some pictures courtesy of my sister-in-law.


This is Roman and his cousin Josiah playing in the sand....a lot of sand came home with us :)



Beautiful sunset



Harbor seals taking a sun bath


We went crabbing and caught lots!


Family picture time!





Roman loved playing in the ocean and making sand castles with his cousin. We hope we can spend many more vacations on the beach in the future.

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend we spent Sunday getting the boat ready for its Maiden 2010 voyage. Turns out, after 30 years of wear and tear, the outside of the boat needs quite a few coats of wax and the teak wood can really drink up the oil!! After a few coats of each, the boat is looking very nice! There is a nice shine on the hull and the wood looks very flashy! We also get to put brand new ID numbers on the boat and I'm thinking we may put a name on the boat as well. Since it has been in the family for over 30 years, I am open to suggestions. I'm kinda thinking of "Family Values" but please give me your input!



Roman was practicing his driving skills!


Then he climbed up onto the bow to be the lookout :)

He has also been practicing walking around in his life jacket. The first few times in the jacket, he was stone stiff and would just fall over but as his walking improves, he gets much better at adjusting himself in the jacket (which is still bigger than his upper body)

Monday we went up to Boulder to a BBQ after the Bolder Boulder race. We spent the evening with Matt's parents and had a nice dinner with his whole family. I hope all of you had a wonderful Memorial Day!

May Life

It is amazing to me how fast Roman picks up on things. He was taking his first steps on his birthday and now he is a pro. He can walk around and carry stuff and even drink standing up too. He watched very closely and wants to try everything we do. The other day I was filling up the tires on his jogging stroller and after watching me, he picked up the air hose and was touching it to the rim of the tire just like I was! Although he doesn't have the coordination, he knows that his socks and shoes go on his feet and tries so hard to put his socks on by himself. He can also help dress himself in his shirts and put his arms through.

He is doing great in his daycare and moved up to the toddler room a few weeks ago. They get to play outside and have much more "sophisticated" toys. He never cares when I drop him off. He just joins right in with the kids and has a great time.

Matt and I started playing on Cliff's soccer indoor soccer team and boy, are we outta shape! We sweat like crazy and have a good ol' time. Our team is undefeated (3-0) and they are a hoot to play with. With every week we play, our stamina gets better and the ball-handling skills get better too. We also started a Monday night movie night with several married couples and friends we know. It is nice to have a night alone with friends and be able to get back into the entertainment part of society. So far we have seen Alice in Wonderland in 3D, which I would highly recommend if you have good sense of imagination, and we have also seen MacGruber. If you are familiar with the SNL skits of MacGruber, this movie might be disappointing. The characters are played with the same idiocy but there is way too much cursing throughout the whole movie. I can appreciate a well placed cuss word but this movie takes it too far. Other than that, the movie was hilariously retarded.

And lastly, we have finally gotten around to landscaping our backyard. With 2 St Bernards, it is very difficult to maintain a lawn. When we moved in, we didn't really have mich lawn to start and the dogs just finished the job. Over the last 3 weeks, we built a dog run and laid sod. The yard looks amazing! It is so nice to have a color other than dirt brown! Now Roman can have a good ol' time playing in his own back yard :)

8 Months Later

So turns out that I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog. I am much better at posting things on Facebook. Here is a wrapup of the past 8 months.

Since my last post (in August!) we have been through Halloween, Christmas, New Years and Easter. I was kind of a lazy mom in Halloween and didn't dress Roman up as anything. Even Matt and I went to a party and we made very last minute costume decisions.

Christmas was much more thought out. We had a Christmas Eve dinner at our house with my family and and Matt's family. Matt's family came back over for Christmas day and we had a big brunch and we opened presents around our very tall fresh cut tree!

The day after Christmas we went over to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with my family. We went out for a quick sledding trip with Jenny, Joe, Ben and Maddie. After a little whitewashing episode, we ate dinner and played some Wii sports and air hockey.

We hosted a New Year's Eve party at our house just like we did last year. We had a great turn out and were able to put together a Beer Pong Tournament. We were very greatful that Matt's parents volunteered to watch Roman over night.

March 23rd was Roman's 1st birthday! We had several friends and family come to celebrate with us. Roman got lots of toys and clothes and was really diggin' his cake. He was very timid about his cake at first but eventually dug in.

Jenny and Joe and the kids came out the weekend after Easter. We got pictures taken with all the kids. They turned out great! I will try to get some of them up soon.

At the beginning of February, I decided to make a change in my job. For the last 3 years, I worked for the riding school at the barn close to my parents house (where I actually learned to ride when I was a kid). After a few years, I decided to go partially "independent" which means that I worked for myself with my own clients and insurance. At that time I also worked for the school and when students were ready to "graduate" the program, I took them under my personal instruction. By doing that, I was able to make more money and make my own decisions. Well after 3 years and a few co-worker changes, I decided that I had had enough of taking orders from other people who had been there years less than I had. I went fully independent and I'm now my own boss. I was able to take all my students with me which means I wasn't losing income. Actually, I doubled it. Before, I was only making 40% of the profit the school was making, even though I was doing all the work. Now I make 100% of what the clients pay (minus Uncle Sam's portion) but even after all that, it is a much better move. Being my own boss rocks and the relationships I have with my clients are more personal and I don't have to worry about anyone leaving. If someone is unhappy, I will know it right awa and be able to fix it. It is very liberating and the stress has left.

Matt is still enjoying his job with GE Johnson. He was working 3 hours away in the mountains for about 4 months which means he stayed in a hotel 3 nights a week. That time was very stressful and lonely for both of us but that is over. He is now home every night and hanging out with Roman. We have witnessed his first crawling steps, his first walking steps and maybe sometime soon, his first words.