I’m currently living in a small town in Washington State—about twenty-five minutes from the Oregon border—the same town that my parents and two sisters live in. It’s a little country, a little old mixed with a little new, and has tons of character.

I am working full time for a property management company—and yes, I miss my daughter terribly during the day.

Cora stays with my sister while Matt and I are working, and luckily, she loves it. She has loads of fun playing with her cousins, Hannah and Stephen—so much that Matt and I occasionally have to tear her away from them at the end of the day.

Matt and I bought a house roughly five days after moving our belongings to Washington, and have been living in it—our brand new, beautiful home—since the end of April. Our house is four lots down from my sister.

I’ve adjusted to the rain (to be honest, it hasn’t really bothered me yet—at all—and I’m thankful for that), but… I am currently enjoying eighty-degree weather. Summers are beautiful here. It feels like home.

I’m ten and a half weeks pregnant. Matt, Cora and I are expecting a new addition to our little family in the first week of February 2012. I can’t believe how much more quickly my pregnancy is flying by this time around!

With the help of an amazing support group and a Young Life area already in place in our county, Matt and I are in the beginning stages of starting a Young Life club at Battle Ground High School. Years and years of thought and prayer and excitement about this very idea are finally materializing. God is so good, and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for the youth in our little town.

I am selling Avon again. I took about a year off shortly after Cora was born, but have recently opened up my online store again, and am working on a new customer base to get things rolling again. (For those of you who may be interested… feel free to shop ‘til your heart is content at www.youravon.com/jmarbrey).

And while my love for writing and the arts is and always will be as strong as can be, I haven’t painted, scrapbooked, stamped, crocheted or crafted—anything—since I’ve lived in Washington. And to be honest, it’s been so long since I’ve opened a Word document on my computer that I actually forgot where the icon was on my desktop. Sad.

So yes, change. There’s been a lot of it. And in the coming months I can be almost certain that more will roll my way. Change isn’t always easy, and many times can be bittersweet, but I am thankful that for the most part, I can still say that it’s good.

To end… In a whirlwind of change, it’s nice to remember that some things never do. I just looked at my last post in preparation to post this one, and ironically, I’m sitting here eating a Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie. Told you I love ‘em… always have, always will.

My little birthday girl…

…and her super cute birthday bloomers.

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Exploring her birthday cake.

And eating it, of course, too.

Opening birthday presents.

Playing with her cousin, Wyatt.

Wyatt giving Cora a little love slap, I mean tap. Too cute.

By the end of the day, she was full of cake, loaded with toys (and super cute clothes), and was absolutely exhausted.

And before I forget, as promised… here’s a link to the Etsy site where I ordered Cora’s adorable birthday outfit. Enjoy.

My meat tenderizer (that I have yet to use) got me thinking about all those random kitchen gadgets—the ones that get used on extremely rare occasions (or sometimes not at all), but for one reason or another, you feel the need to have them. So I surveyed my own random kitchen gadgets.

I can honestly say that I don’t even know what some of the items in my utensil drawer are. I’m not the greatest cook—nor am I very adventurous in the kitchen—so while I can’t say that all of the attention-deprived utensils in my drawer can be classified as “random”, here are a few of the yet-to-be-used gadgets (that I was able to identify) tucked away in my kitchen, waiting for their day to cook, cut, bake, or do whatever they’re meant to do (I don’t know why, but ever since Toy Story, I feel the need to personify any and every non-living thing—and/or refer to them as a “he” or “she”. Is that weird?).

Meat Tenderizer
Zester
Citrus Peeler
Egg Separator (two of them—and I don’t eat eggs)
Melon Baller
Egg Holder (I think, but I really don’t know what the point is?)
A measuring cup-looking thing with a hole in it (not a funnel, but I have one of those, too. maybe it’s a mini-funnel?)
Surprisingly, I don’t have a garlic press.
But I do have every type and size of spoon and spatula imaginable: slotted spoons, plastic spoons, wooden spoons, rubber spatulas, spatulas with holes, spoons with holes, spoons with short handles, spoons with long handles… that’s not an exhausted list, but I think you get the idea. (And I always go for the same one or two… favorites, I guess. Is that also weird?)

So what’s the point? Can’t say I really have one. Nor can I say that I’m against having all these semi-useless gadgets. Actually, if I had to pick a side, I’m pro-random gadget. I’m a sucker for “sets”, or things that generally seem to go together. And I guess having a drawer-full of utensils (used or not), completes my little kitchen set. (Weird, again.) And in defense of some of these lonely items… how often can you really use them? I mean, are you really making fancy fruit salads so often that you need your trusty melon baller on a weekly basis? Probably not, but when you need it—it’s nice to have, right?

Am I alone? Or are your drawers full of this stuff, too? Do you use them? Do you have any random gadgets that I didn’t mention?

Crazy me, I know…
From my kitchen to yours: happy cooking and good night.

As we were browsing the fiction section, we let Cora get down to explore a little. (Just in case you are wondering-no we are not the kind of parents who let our kid get into any and everything. I payed close attention so she didn’t grab and/or knock over a single book.) She was actually really good-she walked back and forth along the bookshelves-admiring all of the books lined up in rows, creating an unconventional rainbow of colors, that-to her-seemed to go on and on.

I backed away from her for a second to snap this shot on my phone. How sweet is she?

The sight itself was sweet to me. I’ve mentioned before (probably more than once) that I LOVE books. It was just priceless to watch little Cora staring in amazement at the huge wall of books. I know that she has little to no understanding (for the time being) of what books really are. She has toddler board books, and she loves them. But what she loves about them are the colorful pictures, and the ability to turn pages and explore what lies behind each one. The words, though, and the idea of reading, still mean nothing to her. It is my hope that eventually the words will mean something special to her-that she and I will share that common love for the written word, and that an endless wall of books will still capture her attention, but for a new set of reasons.

Cora enjoying the view at Silverwood Lake

Carrie and Cora

As a kid—a Girl Scout, and the daughter of a Cub Scout mom—I went camping more times than I can even count, whereas Matt had never, in his whole life, been on real camping trip. And by real, I mean tent camping. No cozy cabins, no hotels a few miles away from the “camp” spot (Matt once told me that he considered the time he went to Yosemite and stayed in a hotel a few miles away, camping—yeah, no).

I’m glad we went. We had a good time with Chris (we call him CT) and Carrie. Here are a few highlights, lowlights, funny stories and lessons learned from our trip…

***

Our trip started like this: As we were setting up the tent, a forest ranger (or policeman, sheriff, something like that…) pulled up to our campsite and signaled for CT to approach his car. Matt, Carrie and I watched from a distance, and overheard the first few words the officer said to CT, “have you seen this man?” When the car pulled away, CT came back and reported that a prisoner from the San Bernardino Central Detention Center had escaped the night before, and that patrol cars were out searching for him in the area. The officer ended the conversation by smiling (sarcastically) at CT and saying, “well, have a good weekend.” Ha! What he really meant was, I’m sure I just ruined your camping trip by making you, your friends, and that baby over there, a little nervous. But hey, try and make the best of it. And let us know if you see that prisoner, will ya? We didn’t see him, by the way. This post would be headed a completely different direction if we had.

***

Note to self: Camping in a tent, in the mountains, in November—not the best way to break in someone new to camping, or the best time of year to bring an (almost) eleven month old baby. It was FREEZING.

When I say freezing, I mean freezing. When I woke up Saturday morning and couldn’t feel my fingers, or my toes, or my face, I hopped in the car and turned on the heater to defrost (yes, I cheated). As I shivered in the front seat, waiting for the air to heat up, I made it a point to check the temperature on the dash: 32 degrees. Freezing.

It was one of the most uncomfortably cold nights of my entire life. Not only was I tense from being so cold, but I couldn’t relax (even after I started to warm up under the blankets and sleeping bags) because I was so worried that Cora was cold. To be honest, I think she was fine. Confused, yes. But cold, not really. I dressed her in a long-sleeved onesie, under fleece, coverall, footed pajamas, under a fleece zip-up hoodie, and put a fleece earflap beanie on her head. Then, of course, there were the blankets, the sleeping bag we shared, and the fact that she was sandwiched between Matt and I. But because I am new mom, I was probably a little more concerned and overprotective than I needed to be. Better safe than sorry, right?

Matt and Cora staying warm by the fire on a (very) cold morning.

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I’ve mentioned before (probably more than once) that Cora LOVES to be outside. It was so fun to watch her enjoy the outside air and scenery for an entire day. And the fact that she was bundled up in comfy-cute, warm clothing made it that much more fun. Isn’t she adorable?

My sweet girl.

***

A few other random notes:

Campsite bathrooms are gross.
Parents who hate the outdoors should not take their children camping (and definitely should not express their dissatisfaction with the camping trip so loudly that nearby campsites overhear—poor kids).
The older I get (I use that term very loosely—I am not that old), the more I realize how silly college kids can be—especially when they are up ‘til 2:00 in the morning, drinking and swearing in the middle of a state park, and surrounded by (sleeping) families with young children.
Starting a fire without lighter fluid is not easy.
It’s ok to get a little dirty every now and then.
I’d love to own a boat someday.
I always forget how much I love the crisp chill and silent stillness of early morning hours—away from freeway noise and city sounds—until I am in the midst of it again.
Nature is beautiful; we have an amazing God.

***

It was, overall, a fun twenty-four hours filled with campfires, fun talks, hot cocoa, s’mores (the BEST part about camping) and new experiences for Matt, Cora, and our family as a whole. Although it was freezing, Matt had a good time, and has signed off on another camping trip with CT and Carrie—in the summertime. Already looking forward to it.