Summertime fun

 

 

New (to us) house

We moved into a new (rental) house on Saturday the 8th. We like the layout a lot better than our last house and the kids like the backyard. I'm pretty happy with everything. I can't wait to do some decorating. I did almost zero decorating in our last house, and this time I really want to make it feel like our home. I will post more pictures of it as pictures get hung and all that.

 

We haven't put up the trampoline enclosure yet.

 

That is hard work

Things have sure turned around for Nate. A couple months ago, I posted about us moving back to Liberty Lake. Nate was going to quit his job because things were not going well with his boss and because he was working his butt off and not making big sales. Although he was enjoying his job, he felt like his particular position was really tough.

 

When he didn't get the job that he had been interviewing for in Spokane, we realized that moving there without a job was too risky. So Nate decided to continue working on a potentially big sale at a hospital here in Vancouver. Over the past couple months he has worked really, really hard on this account. He felt like it was his only shot at succeeding in this position, so he did everything he could to build relationships and impress the doctors, nurses, and O.R. staff at this hospital.

 

Well, we found out last Thursday that he made the sale! It's a huge accomplishment and I'm so proud of him. He is beyond excited about this. When he got home, Paige had this note waiting for him... 

 

 

Cute, huh? 

 

Way to go, Nate!

I think I've found it...

My favorite Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. I have tried a lot of Chocolate Chip cookie recipes over the years, but I didn't feel like any of them were perfect. Many of them were really good, but there always seemed to be some minor problem. But a few days ago, I found this recipe on Pinterest and I had to try it because the blogger who posted it was so passionate about them. Umm... let's just say I've made them twice in the last 3 days. They are perfect! They're fluffy and soft and delicious. And they don't flatten out, like some do. You should definitely try them.

I found the recipe here.



Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips (I strongly prefer Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, but that's just me.)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.Beat in egg and vanilla.
3. Add flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Drop dough onto cookie sheet using a cookie scoop or tablespoon. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until they are just barely starting to get golden spots. Do not cook longer than 10 minutes. Let cool on sheet for 10 minutes then move to wire racks until completely cool.

Photo from http://69.195.124.79/~twolitu2/

 

 

 

 This may sound familiar because I recently found the perfect Snickerdoodle recipe too.

See this post.

Life right now

I just thought I'd give an update on us. So, we really thought we were moving to Spokane a few weeks ago, and I was excited about it. Nate's boss had been treating him horribly and also had very unrealistic expectations for Nate as a new rep (his boss is brand new to the division), so we thought it was time to leave. But then things started improving a lot with his job because he has some big potential sales in the works, and his boss sort-of apologized. And then he didn't get the job that he had been interviewing for (for 4 months!) in Spokane, so obviously it wasn't time for us to leave.

I was disappointed, but the truth is, I am really liking it here in Vancouver. I have started to make friends in our ward and I feel more at home. It definitely takes a year or more for me to feel comfortable in a new place, and it's been a year that we've been here. I feel good about staying here for a while. I'm thankful to be living in a place that I really like.

Unfortunately, a few weeks ago we told our landlord that we were moving and she found a new tenant very quickly, so we have to move out of our house at the end of this month. But I'm actually really excited about it because I found a good little house to rent down the street. It's still in our neighborhood, so we are in the same ward and school boundaries. And it's across the street from a nice park. It also has a larger yard, which will be great. It's not a big house, by any means, but it feels more spacious than the house we're in now.

Here are some pictures, for those who may care. :)


Images from zillow.com

 

FAMILY ROOM

 

 

LIVING ROOM

 

 

 

BEDROOM

 

LOFT

MASTER BEDROOM

 

BACKYARD

Random

Today I looked over at Halle and she was sitting just like this. She put the backpack on by herself. I love to see her imitating the things she sees us do. Today she also picked up my cell phone, put it to her ear and said, "Dadadada." Adorable.

 

 

Paige got a new dress and backpack yesterday and I thought she looked so cute this morning.

 

 

Grandma Bev sent some cute dresses that she made, along with some presents for Halle's birthday. Kate never wants to take this Little Mermaid dress off.

 

Kate loves having her nails painted. She asks me to do it all the time. High maintenance! :)

 

 

We're moving into a different house down the street on June 1st, so we've started packing. (nightmare). The girls are obsessed with making forts out of boxes and sometimes they get inside and slide down the stairs.

Paige

Isn't she cute? She is really growing up. I feel like she's much older than 5 most of the time. She definitely keeps us on our toes and is very strong-willed, but I love the fact that she is a leader. She is also very social and wants to be friends with EVERYONE. It's really cute.