Braces are off!

Dad says she’s getting too cute and we may have to find some ways to ugly her up a little! Mom thinks he may be right! ~wink~

Mastered his fear of heights!

Wouldn’t you know after we’d prepped the family for his anxiety over heights and thrill rides/attractions he’d show us up?

How did they get this big? And when did that happen?

This was Taylor in his Thomas Jefferson costume yesterday at school. He’s spent the last few weeks working on his biography for him. Yesterday, he had his interview in front of the class. My two favorite parts were his entry and his closing answer. I have to point out that he didn’t answer the question of whether or not he was a perfectionist with a mere yes. It was, “Yes, I am.” How perfectly fitting for this little lad!

I was so proud of him! Here’s a little video clip of his interview.

The wise advice to be prepared is timeless. Yet, I’m continually surprised at the depth of it. There was a time when it meant being ready to take a test or turn in an assignment; a time when it was about hitting a work deadline, and eventually a time when it was about taking steps of independence and starting my own family. That brought an onslaught of new applications to the principle and they moved through my life in perfect harmony with the winds of growth and progress which defined each season. On this note, I must express gratitude for this passing of time and progress. While some elements are those of which you desire an end to never come, there are plenty counterparts that keep you praying for a new day NOW.

Another interesting spin on this preparedness concept runs parallel to daily life. The wisdom of preparation steps in your life to help in times of scarcity make the difference between weathering a storm and being beaten by it. It’s better to be the industrious ant or squirrel than starving in winter. At the time, you may store up reserves thinking it’s for a big calamity or natural disaster, but it’s far more likely to be a personal winter; a lost job, wayward child, etc. And when you go through a few of these you can’t help but understand preparedness in a new light. It’s not about having a year’s supply of food or a garage full of emergency equipment, it’s about being able and willing to step up when the call comes. It means being emotionally and psychologically open to options and solutions as much as being physically able and willing to perform them. It may be a call to move for employment, to make changes impacting your children’s lives and ability to flourish or it could be as simple as being able to give your neighbor that egg or cup of sugar they just ran out of. The size and scope of arising needs is a colorful rainbow of opportunities, and they often intersect with the lives of others.

When my husband and I made the decision to move a few months ago, a key element of our decision was to prepare ourselves for the future. Although we couldn’t define why, we both felt a strong need to free ourselves from objects limiting our capacity to accept potential opportunities. (Like moving to Spain for example.) This move has been key in that process, in cutting financial strings. Surprisingly, it has also enabled us to consider things we wouldn’t have before.

Some things you can’t prepare for. You can’t even predict them. But I’m learning that when you’re doing your best to be prepared, that very process can be your strongest ally in the world of unknowns.

Our time here in California looks to be short. There are needs on the home front with my parents, there are needs within my growing family that being in our hometown can fill. We are now in a position and mindset to consider and deal with both. We couldn’t have seen or predicted these events, and yet here we are evaluating them. The stars seem to be lining up in a way that points to every step we’ve taken to this point having been to that end. Crazy how you can start out climbing one ladder only to realize when you get to the top that it’s pointing to one across the room. So on to the process of building a bridge between them.

But they can be awfully cute!

It’s long overdue, but I’m finally posting details about our new home in the bay area. Blake came to the bay the first week of October for an introduction to his new job and to find us a new home to move to. This was a daunting task as we only had rental images and information we could find listed online to start with. The number of times he called with a report that a place was really unappealing, super de duper small or not in an area we’d want to live in was by far the norm and disheartening. Further, time was short. However, his first visit to the Admiralty in Foster City resulted in an immediate feeling that he thought he’d found the place. Turns out he did, and the 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, two-story condo was secured. The kids and I moved here sight unseen, which Blake will tell you had him plenty nervous (and I must add that after driving around he did very well indeed!) I have many thoughts to share on the psychology transition and shift that made this possible, but that’s a post for another day.

I’ll start with Foster City. For reference, we’re about half way between San Francisco and San Jose. The long bridge we’re closest to is the San Mateo bridge and it costs $5 to cross! We learned quickly you don’t want to miss your exit.

For time reference, the San Francisco airport is about 15 minutes away. A drive to either San Jose or San Fran would take roughly 30 minutes by car.

The city sits separate from most of the surrounding area. This makes for a very small town feel and slow pace in our neck of the woods that I’ve really enjoyed. Several of the homes here are arranged on water fronts and the entire little city is connected by bridges to the surrounding area. There are just under 30,000 people, 3 elementary schools and one middle school and the culture is incredibly diverse with people from all walks of life living here. The community is packed with events, classes and activities for families. The city is beautiful.

We live in a central location (the blue ‘Adm’ marks our location on the map below.) The Admiralty was one of the first residential buildings completed on the island in the 60s by reknown architect Edward Durrell Stone, who also designed Radio City Music Hall and the Kennedy Center. (I had to add that tidbit because it just sounds cool)

Ironically, we live in the corner unit of the photo above. The willow tree is right off the end of our balcony. The complex is currently undergoing a major facelift so it now looks like this, which isn’t so fun to look out on. However, it’s going to look really nice when it’s done which we hope is only another 6-8 weeks away.

All the two story condos are on the top two floors. From the photo above you can see what the size of ours looks like from the outside. The two sliding glass doors are on the main floor, one off the dining room and one off the family room and the two windows above are to our and Taylor’s bedrooms.

My only complaint about the new place is the lack of storage. The two inside closets you meet upon entering the unit have both been converted to house a washer and dryer. This is great for laundry, but stinky for storage. When you walk in the front door you look right at two doors, the one to the left is the half bath the other the washer with the family room to the left and the living/dining room to the right. The washer closet is right beside the main entry door, which you can’t quite see in the picture. Oh, also note the coat hooks I put up by the entry - that’s in place of a missing closet for storage, but it works!

The kitchen and office provided some real challenges. The kitchen has cabinets but no pantry, so I had to get really creative. There is no office so I found a corner unit for my computer and a bookshelf to organize all the office papers (why do we alway have so much paper crap?!)

The family room is very small compared to our old home, especially housing the kitchen dining set, so for now the kids are using bean bags for chairs in that room. I’m hoping to make a couple of recliner chairs fit. On the upside I can see the TV perfectly from my favorite computer corner.

Note the conversion of the shelves into a “pantry” by the TV.

While Taylor says we live in a hotel, I think it’s starting to feel rather homey. We’ve even found places for most of the Christmas decor.

And most importantly, we all have our own bedrooms and separate bathrooms! Yes, Blake choose well, and Christmas has found us here just as it has in every other place we’ve lived.

And there you have it, our new life at the Admiralty.

I was just reviewing some pictures from our weekend tonight, and this one just begged to be posted. I’m not sure what was going through the heads of either, but these two have always given us reason to raise eyebrows.

What do you think they’re talking about?

Yesterday we took the kids out to see the beach. It was so fun to drive 20 minutes, enjoy new scenery and play at the beach. I think we’re all thinking we’re going to like it here!!

There was a fun area of organic fruit and vegetable farms along the drive, and I can see the workings of the next big event being the Christmas trees there. I have a feeling we’ll be going back soon!

We took in some beautiful scenery of the reservoir on our way back. The diversity here (of everything!) is so wonderful!

Another year has passed, and that means another birthday week for both kiddos has come and gone! I can’t believe my babies are 8 and 13!! Where did the time go?

These are pictures of Redwood City, California - the place where Blake has accepted a job offer and where we’ll be moving to the end of next month.

I’m still reeling - excited, but reeling.

So, this Spain thing has really brought some changes. A few months ago my husband and I were comfortably on the accumulation path. You know, the path of getting and then paying off the process of getting things. Things run your life. You don’t mean for it to happen, you don’t intend to give intangible items such control over your time, energy, resources and emotions but somehow they repeatedly end up in the driver’s seat. Somehow the drawers fill up, the closets become black holes and the garage…well, we won’t even go there to say nothing of the bank statements and credit bills that find their way to you.

I find that even with awareness of the accumulation path danger, I still find myself on it far too often. And it’s not enough to just get a few things because once you obtain those said things the next step is to upgrade. The small things happen almost without thought - the new computer, vacuum, etc., while other things seem to find a way to reproduce on their own like all the contents of a junk or makeup drawer, or how about that infernal missing sock pile?! The big things are not immune either, in fact they’re more visible and therefore tend to stay on the list (or mind) like the newer car, bigger house, etc., etc., etc.

Most people won’t reach the point of self awareness on this topic until they are one foot away from the grave - when they are literally forced with the reality that you can’t take “things” with you. Suddenly, the definitions of what really matters comes into view with clarity and new beliefs are formed around traditional ones. If you’re lucky, you may be fortunate enough to go through various levels of this re-evaluation exercise earlier. I’ve gone through smaller levels of this exercise with each move, especially those that cross multiple states. Yet even with that I still find myself looking around wondering how I managed to get so much stuff again.

The reality is, if this Spain opportunity pans out we’ve already decided on the process of elimination and retaining “things” at least generally speaking. We’d take the basics of clothing, toiletries and our technology of cell phones and computers. Virtually everything else would go minus a few items we’d ask family to store for us like some artwork,the one piece of furniture made for me by a family member, photos, awards - that type of stuff. The mentality shifts from ownership to renting, being tied down to freedom. Once you’ve crossed the initial hurdle of resetting your expectations and parameters, I find it’s actually quite exhilarating. In fact, we’ve already had discussions about how accomplish these same goals even if the Spain thing doesn’t work out.

I wish I could put into words the exhilaration that’s resulted from this mindset of letting go of all previous ideas and assumptions about so many things. Suffice it to say, regardless of what happens I’ll be forever grateful for the reset button experience.