Becoming the 12th Man and Our Anniversary

We were lucky enough to attend the Seahawks vs. 49ers game in Seattle a few weeks ago to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary and the 12th Man did not disappoint. It was my first pro football game and I was a little apprehensive that it might be too rowdy for me. After all, it was the night where the 12th Man was attempting to break the world record for the loudest fans in a stadium, ever. And yes - we did!

Let's just say, this trip was an adventure from the ride up, to finding drugs in our hotel room, to thunder and lightening at the game, to the late night arrival in Ellensburg Sunday, to finally coming home sick on Monday. I think the long weekend and weather caught up with me. In addition to being in the rain capitol of the world, on Friday we were in Pendleton, OR for the Pendleton Roundup and it was 96 degrees. The next day we were in 60 degree Seattle. No wonder I got sick. And am still sick. Regardless, it was an adventure with my love and a great way to say "Hurray" to 5 years marriage!

Here are a few memories we shared:

I was almost a Southern Bell

This Summer we were offered a great opportunity to move to the South. Greenville, SC to be exact. For those who don't know, Jeremiah worked for Fluor Government Group and the group he worked for (and their headquarters) are located there. Over the years, he traveled to Greenville several times and the invitation to move was always extended. However, it was never something we wanted, despite the financial benefits. But this Summer Fluor decided to close all of its Richland offices as of the end of September 2013 and offered relocation packages to a select few. Jeremiah being one, of course. The retention offer and benefits of moving were very enticing. And most would have gone without hesitation. But we have other priorities and values in our lives. We love that both of our families are here and we want to raise our babies with family near them. Also, my health issues make me apprehensive to move away from my doctors and support system. So while we really do love Greenville and the opportunity presented was great, we knew we needed to pray.

We went ahead and accepted the position to move (just in case), but knew God would take care of us no matter what we ended up doing. Well, it had barely been a week when out of the blue Jeremiah got a call from another company who wanted to interview him for a job. Apparently, another co-worker interviewing for a different position mentioned his name to the company who had been seeking to find a new analyst for months. Talk about a God thing! Within a couple of weeks Jeremiah interviewed and was offered a position at a very competitive rate to what Fluor had offered. We accepted and Jeremiah shared the news with Fluor, where they were very understanding. They knew his reasons for not relocating before and were sad to see him go, but respected his decision.

I know it wasn't easy for Jeremiah to leave the co-workers and position he held with Fluor and give up the financial benefits of moving, but I am so thankful he values my opinion/wants/needs and is on the same page with me and what we want in life. I am also thankful for the new opportunity awarded to Jeremiah and what appears to be a better/healthier work schedule and stress level with the new position. I pray this job brings him happiness and success and he can be an equal blessing to his new employer at Energy Northwest! So proud of my hubby! He has made quite a name and impression for himself in the MIS world and co-workers from Fluor have already called for help in the past few weeks. Another even called to tell him he quit to move to a new position with a better work/life balance.

All the glory to God! He's real and He works for your good! :)

XX!

Rebecca - Senior Session

I recently had the opportunity to take senior photos for my niece Rebecca at their beautiful property in Finley. This meant open fields, horses, hay, streams, bicycles, and cowboy boots. We even got her boyfriend in on a few shots. Oh young love. :)The sun could not have been more perfect and the photos turned out like a dream. Rebecca is a gorgeous young woman with a bright future ahead of her. She is full of spunk, fearlessness, and kindness and can rock a dress and shotgun at the same time. Love this girl! Congrats and enjoy your senior year, Becca!

5 Year Honeymoon

This past August we celebrated 5 years of wedded bliss. Or as Jeremiah's favorite joke goes, 3 years happily married. 5 total. Hardy har har, Mr. Atkins. I cannot believe we have been married five years! It seems like it was just yesterday Jeremiah was bringing Lil' Jackie cat treats to steal my heart and taking me on wild and crazy trips to woo me. It all worked and I'm glad it did. Being married is the most meaningful adventure I've ever been on and one of the most awesome experiences in life. Even for all you marriage haters (I know I was there) I recommend it. ;)

For our anniversary, we originally planned to go to the San Juans, but that quickly changed when I decided I wanted to go to a Seahawks game instead. And Jeremiah being the awesome guy he is, bought me tickets for our anniversary. Lets try and forget about the 500% mark up on Stubhub we had to pay. Yikes! We still planned to do a weekend or day trip on our actual anniversary, as well. However, we are in the middle of a serious indoor remodel of our home and when the weekend came upon us we both looked at each other exhausted and had no desire to do anything. Haha. We both just wanted to stay home, keep working on the house, and get some sleep. So not like us! We love to get away and use every celebration as an opportunity to do so. So you know we were tired! It was nice to know neither one of us was letting the other down by not wanting to go. So Jeremiah got his Swiss Army Victorinox watch he'd been eyeing for a while and I got my game. So excited we still have that to look forward. It will be the perfect celebration of the place we got engaged and a welcome to Fall. 

Xx!

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere!

* Never posted this on the old blog because I intended to add more pics, but eh who cares. This will do! :)

In May, I crossed another 2013 goal off my list and made it to New York City!

We originally planned to do a tropical getaway and even considered a cruise. We had a very short window of time in which we could take a vacation so as the time got closer and everyone and their dog was giving us advice on where to go or not go and blah blah blah we decided to fool them all and go to New York! Then came the annoying questions of, "Why are you going to New York?" Why not?! I have wanted to go since I was a child and most people never make it there if they have no reason to and we didn't want to be those people - since we really have no other reason to head that way, either. I am so glad we didn't listen to other people. This was the perfect trip for a couple of DINKs. I cannot imagine doing this if we had children! We went at the perfect time of year. There was a glorious heat wave that made the old concrete jungle hotter than the TC's so we were happy to get away to the city for some fun in the sun! There's so much life to live and adventures to go on and I am so glad Jeremiah loves to experience it all with me! Mr. Atkins, I adore you and your love for life and me!

Overall, the trip was a blast/exhausting/intense/nonstop/unpredictable/expensive and probably a once in a lifetime thing. So of course, we crammed in everything we could! I have some great recommendations if you ever need them! :)

In the meantime, here are some of our favorite Big Apple moments:

Times Square - Arriving just in time to see the Lego X-Wing Fighter before it moved to San Diego that night!

M&M World/Toys R' US (with indoor ferris wheel)/Hershey's store - 3 Childhood dream stores right in Times Square and just a hop skip and a jump from our hotel.

9/11 Memorial and the new Freedom Tower

Wall Street/NYSE (New York Stock Exchange)/Charging Bull - NYSE is a beautiful building, but don't let the bull fool you. He is not worth wasting your sweet precious time in line for a photo.

5th Ave Shopping - Saks. Tiffany. Bergdorff Goodman. Need I say more?

FAO Schwartz  - Channeling our inner Tom Hanks in Big. Except for the whole avoiding the athlete's foot on the Big Piano which was crawling with barefooted little rif-raff.

Apple Store - Man heaven.

J&R Electronics - Ditto to the above. Although, we did buy an external charging device for my phone to charge up the battery. Can't be without Google Earth on the iPhone in the big city!

Staten Island Ferry - It's free and offers fantastic views. Plus, seeing the hustle and bustle of the local working folk makes you feel less touristy. Or maybe more. I'm not sure on this one...

American Museum of Natural History - Unlike Night at The Museum, nothing came to life. Bummer. And we even brought gum!

Zabar's - I am obsessed with bakeries and authentic foods (at least the ones I can have) so I found Zabar's before we even left and knew we had to go there. It's a Jewish market with cheeses and baked goods galore. All delicious! Took our fair share back to the hotel that night.

Keen's Chophouse - Only surviving original building in the theater district. 138 years old and features smoking pipes from Babe Ruth and ex-presidents, in addition to the best steak of Jeremiah's life!

Empire State Building - It looks like a Christmas tree!

Macy's Flagship Store - 9 floors of glory with beautiful old wooden escalators. We may have spent one too many days here trying to find Jeremiah new shoes.

MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) - Fantastic and authentic art. Best museum the city has to offer.

Seeing Wicked - And to think I didn't even want to see a Broadway Show! Loved it!

Brooklyn Bridge - No big deal. Just walked across in 91 degree 70% humidity. Oy!

Chinatown and Chinatown Ice Cream Factory - The website made it look better.

Harbour Cruise - We cruised around Manhattan and saw Lady Liberty up close and personal, in addition to the amazing views of the city and it's famous landmarks.

Shake Shack - One of the best burger chains in the US. And the custard and shakes are beyond words!

Today Show - Waited around in hopes of being seen on the small screen, but alas - no. But I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of Matt Lauer in the window on commercial break. ;)

MOMA - I can appreciate lots of art. Even when I don't understand it all. But I will never allow myself to consider that throwing a dildo in a glass case or making a naked video of your self boxing yourself is art. There are much more useful ways for one to spend their time. That is a self-indulgent and selfish use of oneself and time, if you ask me. You do not better the world or bring beauty or talent by doing these types of things. I have very strong feelings on this! ;)

Top of The Rock - We heard Top of The Rock had better views than Empire State and it's true! It's not quite as high, but is still insanely high and the view is truly unmatched!

Rockefeller Center and where the famous rink and tree and go.

Central Park - I think the below photo says enough of the beauty.

Traveled by plane/subway/boat/taxi/foot and spaceship - Okay, maybe not the last one. ;) After all that crazy travel we upgraded for the ride to the airport to the Denali parked outside our hotel. Pretty sure I've never spent that much on vehicular transportation in my life.

Saw Upper/Lower/East/West Manhattan/Chelsea/New Jersey and everywhere in between. Amazing city with amazing history. No place like it.

I really do LOVE New York!

XX!

The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

Today was the big day - the day I got my braces off. After two and a half long years of cutting my corn off the cob and every other fruit and veggie into bite size pieces, I headed to Dr. Ostler to reveal my new straight pearly whites. It should have been a fantastic day. Not only were my braces coming off, but our new California King Sleep Number Bed was set to arrive. But for some reason this day went wrong from about 4am.

Here's a quick look at how it all went down:

Had to work early due to orthodontist appointment.
Woke at 4am with bad stomach pains and never fell back asleep.
Went to work, where it was obvious to all I did not feel well, and left for my appointment with a less than happy tummy around 9:30am. Figured the anxious/excited feeling I had about the braces coming off might have been part of it.
Once at the appointment, my tummy was not happy and neither was my bladder, as a result.
Hygienist had trouble getting a few brackets off and it hurt - this was by far the worst part of the entire braces experience.
Ask to use restroom thanks to bladder/tummy issues. Due to leaving my purse in the car, I put my iPhone in my back pocket and forgot. Next thing I know, kerplunk! Why, why why?!?!?!?!
Head back to chair and let everyone know what just happened. Still feeling yuck and end up needing to use the restroom a few more times. They think I'm sick and need a towel and garbage can next to me. Super embarrassing. However, it is very hard to explain IC to people so I just let them think that.
They hurry along and send me to get impressions where they have trouble and have to take them twice. The impressions aren't so bad, though, thankfully!
Come home and see the bed arrived in the few hours I was gone that morning and they left it in our driveway. Thanks, guys. Thankfully, Jeremiah ran home and helped me get it inside.

All in all, the braces are off and the bed arrived. I have no clue if they gave me any instructions at the ortho because I was so out of it/embarrassed/feeling blah. This stuff only happens to me. I swear! Hopefully, tomorrow when I get my retainer it will go much smoother - my day included!

XX!