Parlez-vous français?

It's official. Kenneth and I have transferred our church records to the French branch of our church.

You didn't know we speak French you say? Well, we don't.
You didn't know we have many french speaking friends? Nope.

We were given a special assignment at the beginning of November to teach the Nursery children in the French branch. They are a very new branch of the church here in Maryland and they needed some help.

We tried to do both, attend our English church meetings and participate in the French branch, but it got to be too much. So we switched over. They do provide translation into English during Sacrament Meeting. And many of the members are bi-lingual (so, we aren't completely lost).

The truth is, much to our surprise, we have loved our time there so far. The members have been so loving and welcoming to us. And, even though I am having a baby in 10 weeks and our future is fairly uncertain after that.. it seemed like the right move.

How could it not be? Look how cute Kenneth is teaching our little Nursery friends:

*If you are my friend and reading this blog post, but confused by things like nursery and church branches check here and here for more info :)

My baby daughter

Here's what we know about her so far....

1. She is coming sometime at the end of April.              

2. Her name is going to be Alina Joan. Alina came from a piece of classical music by Arvo Part that Kenneth really loves. It is also a Norwegian name, which seemed appropriate given Kenneth's scandinavian ancestry. Joan was my grandmother's name. She and I were very close, and I am proud to pass the name on to my daughter. 

3. This week she is 11" long and weighs as much as a large mango. Though she is still in utero, somehow the ultra sound doctor already thinks she she is going to be short. Genetics I guess :)

4. She likes spicy food. Never in my whole life have I been able to eat spicy food. Now that she is calling the shots it's all I want. It can be a spicy chicken sandwich or a Thai curry. She usually prefers whatever kenneth has ordered....which can be embarrassing.

5. She *might* be a revolutionary.  It's hard to know that for sure, but she got really excited and kicked me a lot while they were singing "Do you hear the people sing" in Les Miserables (which we have seen twice now). Her due date is also very close to May 1st - International Workers Day. Coincidentally, this is also Kenneth's birthday. Take that as you will. 

6. She has a lot of cute clothes and gear. Our friends and family were very generous to her this Christmas. This is lucky because I gave away all of the baby things I had been saving before we moved to DC - because it's silly to carry around items for a baby that you aren't going to have, right? Ha.

7. To me, at this point she looks a little bit like a wax alien baby. My mom claims she looks like me. I guess we'll find out in a few months.

My new parking spot....

Yep, that's right.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Coming April 2013

Our day today...

What a strange day today has been. Living in a new city is weird.

We started our day at Founding Farmers. Possibly the best restaurant we have ever been to. According to Kenneth they have the best french toast in the entire world. Everything we have had there has been pretty amazing. They make it all with fresh local ingredients, so it has to be good for you to, right?

After we ate breakfast we walked down to the White House. That's right. They're on the same street. Weird, eh?

The outside of the White House is pretty cool. There are people everywhere - including people actually soap boxing. I have never seen that before.

We then left downtown, drove 10 minutes to Silver Spring - the town right next to ours. We went to the Farmers Market and weekend street festival. They even had an awesome jazz combo playing.

We have really loved our town, Takoma Park, as well as our little neighbor city Silver Spring. They have festivals and free concerts all the time. It's pretty cool.

Of course, we left the farmers market early so that we could go see a movie...

Do you see what I mean about it being a weird day?

116 Hours....

Finally posting on my blog! It has been awhile. A lot has happened.. You might think I am going to blog about our move to DC. Maybe my new awesome job, or Kenneth's cool position at the Smithsonian. Perhaps our 3 week long trip to Utah?

Nope.

I am going to blog about something even more important.

I just finished listening to all 7 Harry Potter books on audio (over the course of several months of course).

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

Of course this means that I have spent exactly 116 hours listening to the audio of books that I have already read (more than once). I am guessing this is the point that you all remove me from your google readers because I am such a geek? Thats okay I guess. Real friends love Harry Potter too.

Trust me on this one –doing dishes and folding laundry are WAY more fun when you are listening to the tri-wizard tournament.

Now how am I going to do my work?

Seriously.



*I guess if you stick around I will probably post about that other stuff too....

Make that 7...

A few days ago I posted that Kenneth and I have lived in 2 different states and 6 different places. Well, this fall we are going to make that 7!!!

We'll be looking for a new place to live here:

Kenneth was given a fellowship at the SMITHSONIAN!!! 

He is going to have a residency there for a year, an office, access to their archives, and he gets to work full time on his dissertation for the entire time!

 He is super cute and awesome, so I can't say I'm surprised... 

The question is, how am I going to leave this cute girl (and her brother)? I LOVE them so much.

I have been their nanny since they were this tiny!

Luckily, we will have good friends to distract us. 

Some of our very best friends live in Virginia and Maryland. 

Like these people:

And these:

We will be so sad to leave Boston. But we are excited to explore our new city. 

I am so proud of my smarty pants husband :) 

Happy Birthday Beatrix! And Happy Cinco de Mayo :)

Our little kitten turns 1 year old today! (Today meaning May 5th, which is when I meant to post this)... We love her so much and we are so grateful we adopted her :)

Here are some pictures of her first year:

Here she is when she was so tiny:

Asleep with her favorite toy. One of my hair bands.

One of our first family photos:

She is really good at helping me make quilts:

And even better at helping Kenneth write his dissertation:

We really love her :)

She loves us too :)

Although, it is possible she loves Kenneth a tiny bit more. Whenever he leaves she stands here and watches the door until he comes home, or until I distract her with a toy.

And she is now old enough to act embarrassed when I take her picture:

10 YEARS!

Last week Kenneth and I celebrated 10 years together. Not married –that anniversary is in December and we've only made it 8 years. But, 10 years ago last week we got together for reals. We said I love you and kissed and stuff. Since that time, we dated, I went on a mission, we got married, we have lived in 2 states and 6 different apartments... and we still totally like each other! Can you believe it?

Here we are back then:

And here we are now:

For some reason we celebrate this anniversary even more than our wedding. I think this was the day we decided to be together forever... it's just a technicality that I had to leave and live in Venezuela for awhile before we could actually make it official.

Salmagundi!

One of our favorite things to do in Boston is go hatting at Salmagundi. Have you ever wondered how you would look in a top hat, a bowler, or fedora? This is the place to find out. While their inventory is impressive, the greatest thing about this store is their staff. They are not people who sell hats - they are hatters. Seriously. They can often size your melon by sight! And you can trust their opinion; they are not interested in selling you a hat that doesn't work.

A few weeks ago, my brother Richard and his friend Shawn came to visit over spring break (SPRING BREAK AT MY SISTER'S ONE BEDROOM APARTMENT IN SUBURBAN MASSACHUSETTS, WHOO-HOO!!!), and we decided to take them to get hatted. The results? You be the judge -

Kenneth REALLY wants to buy this cowboy hat, but has yet to pull the trigger. He says that since he is neither a cowboy nor a fake cowboy, he is not sure how legitimate the choice would be. But, it looks great, no? Shawn and Richard, on the other hand, wore these beauties out.

You know when it's been since August that you updated your blog and you are pretty sure no one reads it anymore?

Sorry about that! Here is what we are up to right now.....

Mainly just hanging with our kitten.....

Oh, and my cute brother came to visit:

He surprised me and came to visit for his spring break.

I guess I had that coming, since my only wish is to never tell anyone when we are coming to Utah, just so that we can surprise everyone :)

I promise to be better about updating my blog! This post is just a test - to see if anyone is still out there!

I love the ZOO!

My brother and his wife were in town last week (so much fun!), so we decided to take the kids I nanny for on an outing to the zoo. It was a great day for it, not too hot or crowded. The kids loved it and so did we.

Seriously, aren't they the cutest?

I am so in love with this baby gorilla. Isn't he the cutest??

I am in love with this boy too :) Isn't he cute? Yep, apparently we coordinate outfits to go to the zoo.

Your welcome :)

We have also seen this guy walking around the reservoir, dressed just the same. Apparently this is just how he rolls :)

Introducing Beatrix..

Here she is - our new kitten!

We've decided to name her Beatrix, but we call her Little Bea for short.. We also call her Sweet Bea or Queen Bea or just Bea.... you get the idea.

Here are the million pictures I have taken since we got her:

I promise we aren't becoming crazy cat people. She is just really really cute :)

*More posts not about kittens to come!