Unemployed and it feels so good...

Well, technically I'm not unemployed yet... but I will be in a week. There is something exciting about that statement. There is also something that has me reaching for a paper bag & putting my head between my knees.

I have never been a super spontaneous person. I am always up for an adventure... but I like to plan as much as I can before we go. This is no different.

I have been running through millions of scenarios in my head for months now.  When we get to Portland who will work, where will we work, where will Drew go to school, will we have health insurance... and the list continues... do I want to do the same type of work I do now, do I want do something else, do I want to stay home?

Some very wise friends of mine told me to knock it off.

And today... I feel really peaceful about leaving for Portland with no employment lined up. Is it faith? It's possible. Is it complete naivety? Also, very possible. Whatever it is - I'm finding comfort in it.

Sometimes we have to jump get tossed off a cliff to see if we can fly.

So... for now... instead of worrying about what I am going to do next... I am going to start dreaming about what I am going to do next.

Maybe I'll start a blog!... oh, wait..
Maybe I'll be BETTER about posting on my blog! I have some fun ideas... maybe I just need some time to work on them.

I'm excited.
Are you excited? I'm excited.

this is me, flying... you can tell by my sassy outfit

photo credit: http://vintageprintable.com

XOXO

Cousins

 One of the hardest things about our move to Portland is that we are moving away from family. Much of my husband's family lives within an hour of us so we see them fairly often. 

My family is a bit more spread out but we still manage to see each other at least a few times a year.  I know that we will still see our families - and with the invention of Skype, even when we can't see them in person, we can see them on the screen. But still... I can't help but struggle with leaving them. 

I grew up in Northern California & my mom's family was mostly on the Central Coast so we didn't see them more than 2-3 times a year while grew up - however, my cousins and I were very close then and continue to be so now. So I know that it can be done - my kids and their cousins can still be super close  even if they don't see each other as much as we do now. I believe it!

So.. I thought I'd share some pictures of Drew and his cousins. 

(Some pictures more recent than others)

I couldn't find a picture of Drew and Dakota... so we get Dakota by herself...
Didn't want to leave her out!

Pretty fun, right?!

I love cousins - they're like siblings without the fighting. My cousins are the best, my husband's cousins are the best... and my son's cousins are the best. 

We love you & will miss you...

but we'll see you all soon!

xoxo

Moving on up... geographically speaking

Well, I know it's been a while since I posted last BUT I have a good reason - we've been super busy.

To bring everyone up to speed on the last few months... we have decided to sell our house & move to Portland!

This has not been a quick decision - it's something that we have been discussing and re-discussing for at least 2 years. After a few long talks & a quick visit in December we decided to go for it. We worked like crazy on our house every weekend since Christmas trying to get it looking as good as possible, de-cluttering, cleaning, etc. Finally, on April 17th, we put our house on the market.... and sold it within five days. Holy Cats!

I will try to post more about our move & all the fun that comes along with that over the next few weeks. Thanks for bearing with us over the last few months - I am so happy to be able to talk about all of this now! No more hush-hush!

Anyway - so excited to bring you along on this crazy adventure of ours.
The Lepper Colony heads North!

Cheers!

photo credit: sweet southern nights

Drew's Sports Class: Soccer

Mark and I have Drew enrolled in a multi-sport class; 2 weeks of soccer, 2 weeks of t-ball & 2 weeks of basketball. Mark plays adult-league soccer twice a week plus we watch it on TV frequently so I thought for sure Drew would be super into playing. Especially if his dad played with him.

I was surprised to see his reaction to his first class - he wanted nothing to do with it. I was stunned. Here is a kid that runs out in the backyard as often as possible to kick around a soccer ball.... but then when it was an official class with other kids, he wanted no part of it. Say what?!

After much coaxing (and threats.. promises.. etc) he finally kicked the ball around and made it into the goal. If I can brag for a second (and since this is MY blog, I can), Drew is already very talented at soccer. He can dribble, kick, make it in the goal - he's a natural. (Gets it from his dad... not me.)

Stretching before playing

Not interested...

Needing a little assistance from Dad

Hmm... not quite getting the "no hands" rule. 

Putting the ball down in front of the goal

Kicking it in the net

Surveying the result

Wait.. let's try this again...

Dribbling..and..

GOAL!!!!

Victory lap

Next week we start t-ball. Mark and I already agree that we're not sure Drew with a bat is a good idea.

Thanks for stopping by!

Lepper Colony Etsy Shop

It is official - I am a shop!

I opened my Etsy shop last week and it has been going so well - I made 3 sales within my first few days!

I currently only have a few things on my site but I am bound and determined to fill it up with awesomeness as soon as I can.

I pinky-promise that I will not incessantly post updates on my shop or its contents but I couldn't help but announce it's birthday.

Feel free to stop by... here is the address: Lepper Colony Etsy Shop

And... here are a few items currently in there. More to come... Promise. I love holidays so there will always be holiday goodies available!

Thanks for stopping by!!

A Boy and his Camera

Drew got ahold of my old digital camera and the pictures he took were hilarious. I thought I should share.

First, I showed him how to use the camera

He learned pretty quickly...

The self portait series

Skyping with Gramma

More self portraits...

I actually took this one... Just in case you were wondering how
his arms were able to reach so far. Hee hee.

In my opinion, not too bad for a 2 year old, right?
Just some silly photos for you to enjoy.
Have a happy day!

Amy

Happy New Year!

I'm a bit late, but sincere none-the-less. Happy New Year!!

I've been seeing a lot of bloggers posting about their new year's resolutions so I figured, why not jump on the bandwagon?

Typically, every year I make a laundry list of things I want to accomplish in the new year. Last year's list was fairly attainable.. or so I thought. When I recently re-read it, I laughed & realized I had completed or achieved about 1/4 of the list. Even easy things like "read 3 books" was only met by 1/3 completion. Eek! So this year, I'm keeping the list short and simple.

Read More

Family Art Night 

Make Date Nights truly dates

Open Etsy Shop

Cook New Things

Drink more water

Silly... probably. Doable... yes!



Read More
I used to be quite the avid reader before my little sprout was born. I read tons of fiction and even some non-fiction (especially when we decided to start our family). I read one book this year for fun and realized how much I had missed it. I found myself easily blowing off TV to go read.

A few things I have on my list...

Photo Credits: Amazon.com

Does anyone have any good suggestions for books? Chances are I have not read it!


Family Art Night
When I was pregnant with Drew I was already planning family traditions in my head. I am a huge sucker for traditions and wanted to start them as soon as possible. I think they are important for kids while they grow up to have fun things that they can look forward to. Family Art Night will be once a month (to start) and will just be a fun night of some new art or craft activity that all of us do together. Our first project will be some Valentine's Day cards to send out to our family.

Photo Credit: Miscellaneous Pinterest

Date Nights
My mother-in-law has graciously come over one night every week since Drew was born and allowed me and Mark the opportunity to spend some time, just the two of us. For a while we were making efforts about going fun places but then it kind of turned into errand running or just staying home. Mark and I agreed that we should turn these nights back into "dates." I don't think we'll go as far to get dressed up or anything (maybe every so often) but definitely put the effort back into these special nights.

Just a picture of me and Mark... a very old picture.. Look how young I am! 

Etsy Shop
I mentioned in a previous post that I was working on a Etsy shop. I am still hoping to be able to get some inventory in stock soon so I can launch away.

Banners, Buntings and Garlands, oh my!

Cook New Things
What are we serving? Chicken or Chicken?

This wasn't on my original list but after reading the 7-day Challenge over at Dinner: A Love Story I decided to join in the fun & add some new recipes into our dinner repertoire. This week I already have 3 new things on the menu!

Photo Credits: Dinner: A Love Story, Skinny Taste

Drink More Water
This one is fairly self-explanatory. When we were training for our Ragnar races it was always super important that we hydrated before the race and, even though it made me have to use the facilities every 30 minutes, I always felt so much better when my body was fully hydrated. My company moved into a new office this January and it has a filtered water & ice machine and I am super excited about the ice. Is that silly? Yes... but it makes me want to drink water so it's cool.

 I wish everyone a very Happy, Healthy & Blessed 2013!


Amy