hampton beach

i have known these girls my entire life.

okay...since i was 12. so half my life.

same thing.

anyway, i love them with all my heart.

they came to visit a week before we moved.

which ended up to be PERFECT timing because i got to play tour guide one last time and do everything i loved in boston, plus they were so nice to help watching miles while we packed.  and then i even got to jump on the same plane as them when they flew back to utah.  we took them up to hampton beach in new hampshire the first day to see the sand sculpture competition.  

is this making you long for summer and warm weather?  i can hardly stand this winter weather any longer.

he is a child after my own heart.  yes, that is a potterybarn magazine he is looking at.  he was quite grumpy in the car today and that's the only thing that would entertain him. i like potterybarn magazines when i'm grumpy too.

the candy cane

once upon a time
i gave miles a candy cane.
it was root beer flavored.
but i'm already getting a head of myself.

once upon a time we had an old honda accord.
a 1991 to be exact.
with 278,000 miles on it.
i kid not.
and i went on a really long drive.
as in 2 hours.
(i realize this is a lot of numbers for you to take in right now)
and lucky us, the air conditioner broke.
and it was a week of record highs and like 98% humidity.
poor little miles was turning red and sweating up a storm.
so i stripped him of his clothing.
when we arrived in the town of rockport,
i bought a waterbottle and poured it on his sweating body.

now let's get back to the candy cane.
i gave miles a candy cane.
it was root beer flavored.
this was miles first encounter with sweets.
as you can see, he was happy as a clam.

but when he started drooling and getting a sticky mess all over the place,
i was not.
so i took it away.
miles was not very happy with me.
he screamed his head off.
so i gave it back to him.
and even as he sucked on it,
he continued to scream.
i guess my actions were just really hard to get over.
that is one ticked off kid.

(rockport, ma june 2010)

going away in style.

these are pictures of our going away party in boston, held in our backyard on our cute little patio surrounded by brick wall buildings in all directions and greenery.  can you just picture it? i can. and it's making me emotional.  anyway, before i start crying, meet all our boston lovelies:

(the rice krispies from the infamous great rice krispy fire of 2010)

 psst. wade. your eyes are closed.

i miss them all terribly.

clarification

my mother would like me to clarify that none of the comments about my previous living arrangements had anything to do with living in her home.  they all referred to the tiny apartments i lived in in boston.

you're welcome, mom.

thank you and goodnight.

i'm so happy i could cry.

as you know, we have moved.  into our very own space.  let me just say that this is what heaven must feel like.  okay, okay, it is just a 2 bedroom apartment.  but people! i can raise my arms over my head to take off my shirt (do you really want to know this?) without bumping my hands on the ceiling.  we have 4 (YES. FOUR.) closets, one being a storage shed on the patio.  i have a real kitchen.  a REAL one.  with cupboards and a....wait for it....DISHWASHER! and i don't have to load up my laundry baskets and stack them on top of each other and carry them like gus gus on cinderella

 (in case you need a visual image of me)

down the street to the laundromat because i have an ACTUAL washer and dryer in my bathroom.  really, like i said, HEAVEN.  it doesn't take a lot to make this girl happy. 

now that i have my own place, i get to decorate to my heart's desire.  and you guys better be excited because i have been scouring saver's and di and ksl.com for some great deals and i've become such a cheap-skate that i don't even know who i am anymore.  and i buy the most hideous things for .99 cents and i bring them home and wade just stares at me and shakes his head, but he will be happy when i am done. he just doesn't know it yet.

oh and one more reason i'm so happy i could cry:  i lost all the pictures from my last 2 months in boston... our anniversary, the 4th of july on the charles river, my cute friends heidi and lindsay coming to visit me, a trip to rockport, our going away party, my very last pictures of the city the night before i left.  my heart hurt so much. i would lie awake at night, just sick to my stomach that they were gone. WELL GUESS WHAT.  i popped an unlabeled dvd into my computer the other night as i was trying to clean out our junk and there they were!!!  i never put them on my computer, but apparently somewhere between the disaster of moving across the country, they got burned to a dvd.  and i just stared at the computer screen in shock and i really did cry.  so i know it's way behind, but i will finally get to catch up on all our adventures since may. woo hoo!

i quit.

in case you didn't notice...
i failed miserably.
i can't do it.
nor do i want to.

this past week without the internet has been sort of...
nice.

and so i am giving up.
and i think i am okay with it.

and also, i am raising a puppy that likes to play in the toilet.
he goes by the name of miles.
suggestions please!?
or i might just have to duct tape the toilet seat down.
                                                                   

8

 

i present to you

my socks.

they come from the land of costco.

and i love them so much.

mostly because when i look down,

its almost as if i am reading my initials 'kp'

only backwards.

i am that weird.

today is moving day.

i tend to get all weird on moving days.

i'm not a stranger to it.

i've only moved 12 times in the last 5 years.

(it's the college years that did it to me...)

i am not exaggerating, my friend.

but i get all sentimental and sad.

and i usually end up crying myself to sleep 

the first night in a new place.

and for that reason, 

i claim again to be weird.

7

this little project of mine should be re-titled

to "365 views of my child"

but let's be honest

he's the only thing i have to take pictures of.

he's such a good little model.

and in case you can't get enough of him...

be jealous of his eyelashes.

6

miles sure loves his baths.

and i sure love his baths...

because bedtime comes right after them.

:)

5

this is the piano i learned on.

and if my mom has anything to do with it,

miles will learn on it as well.

he has already started his career as a concert pianist,

specializing in the pound and babble method.

4

(boring cell phone pic)

i did nothing today except fill my car with gas

and run to walmart for a wrapping paper storage bin.

i'm going back to work after a week off.

boo.

wish me happy tips.

3

spent the morning playing with miles's new blocks.

he likes to watch me build towers.

and then he likes to knock them over.

he has become sort of a destructive little stinker.

2

home. sweet. home.

our flight got delayed 2 hours.

we got home at 1 a.m.

my lumpy mattress has never felt so good.

apparently miles feels the same way.

he napped for 3 hours and then 2 more.

and now off to do loads of laundry and unpacking.

(the worst part of vacationing...)

1

ok for real this time, people.

we spent the day at san diego wild animal park.

but i'm sure i will be posting lots more about this vacation later.