Life is good!

It has been a while since my last posting and a lot has happened. I am very glad to say that only good things have been happening for the Williamson's. I have been loving my new job. It has been about 1 1/2 months. I really have been enjoying this change of pace. Everyday is something new, everyday flies by because I am busy going places and meeting people. Although I will say I drive a lot and have been at the gas station a LOT. I have been making great money and loving every penny of it. Apparently this is the slow season, I am excited for the busy season. Another perk of the job is you get to meet a lot of people, one day I met someone that was hiring for a couple different positions in this construction company he worked for. So of course I thought of Luke, one thing led to another, Luke interviewed and GOT THE JOB!!! We are ecstatic, we forgot what it felt like to both have stable jobs at the same time. Luke got hired as a Superintendent, he gets benefits for the whole family, 401K, paid holidays, gas discounts and more. His first day is tomorrow.

Aiden has been doing well in Kindergarten. He is excited to go everyday. I have volunteered a couple times in his class and he loves having me there. He went on a field trip last week to the pumpkin patch. That same day he had pumpkin carving night at his school. It's really fun experiencing all these school events. A couple weeks ago we went to pizza bingo night at his school also a lot of fun. I was really impressed by his principle Mr. Terri I was watching him and I think he knows every kids name in the whole dang school. Aiden ran right up to him and gave him a hug...almost made me cry.

All-in-all things are really going great for us. I am just trying to really enjoy it and not take anything for granted.

I got a new job AGAIN =)

Last week I got a new job. I was laid off for about 3 weeks and am very happy it didn't take 4 months to find a job like it did last time. My title is called Assistant Property Manager. My office is in Bellevue (although I won't be there much) it is called Windermere Property Management. I work for one Property Manager, she is VERY nice and we get along GREAT! This job is something that I feel very comfortable in and don't think it will take much training. There will be some big adjustments, such as making my own schedule (part time), being out at homes more than in front of a computer, and being paid base+commission. I had to get a blackberry, GPS, and laptop, all fun things to have just never a necessity. Also I will never need to put Aiden in child care because I get to make my own schedule and can bring him with me to work if needed. I think all these changes will work out for the better it is just a matter of getting used to them. I am anxious to get started and get into a routine.

And I have been reassured that I won't be getting laid off =)

Aiden started Kindergarten!

Aiden is officially a kindergartener he went to two days of kindergarten last week and so far loves it! We went to a school BBQ/Meet the teacher day before school started and Aiden got really excited once he got to see his class room. The second he sat down at his desk he asked if he could color. I hope this excitement lasts for a long time. I already signed up for PTA and plan to volunteer as much as possible. Which seems really do-able right now considering I don't have a job AGAIN. Anyway Aiden's teach is really nice is around my age and Aiden has a crush on her I think =) He always tells me how pretty her hair and face is.

As you may already know I did get laid off AGAIN. This came as a TOTAL surprise to me! All in one day my boss said he was losing a couple clients that brought him allot of income and had to lay me off. I can't believe I am back in this situation again. I did have an interview last week and I will go in for my 2nd interview this Wednesday so keep your fingers crossed for me.

Life seems like it has been very unstable lately. We have just been taking things day by day and trying to stay positive. I know things will all work out in the end I am just so ready to get things back on track and thought we were moving towards that direction and now we have had another set back.

Besides those two major things. Riley stayed with us all last week. We have been going to the park allot. Went to the Dave Matthews concert on Saturday compliments of Sara and the company she works, best free concert I have ever been to =). Visited Luke's parents. Went to the Evergreen State Fair. Luke and I have been loving our vegetable garden. We used some of our vegi's for a stir fry, I made zucchini bread and we had the best BLT with lettuce and tomatoes from our garden.

Hopefully the next time you hear from me I will be writing about a new great job. =)

It's a long one!

It has been about 5 weeks from my last post (i think). Allot has been happening mostly good but some bad.

Let's start with the good. We have been really busy and trying to enjoy all this great weather. We took the kids to Snoqualmie Falls, it was allot of fun did the little hike down to the bottom of the falls and realized the hike wasn't so little and the kids pretty much complained the whole way back (up hill). While we were there it gave me the idea of going back for dinner on Luke and I's 4 year anniversary which was a few days later. We did end up going back for dinner, it was very fancy and delicious. The menu was interesting, duck, pheasant, rabbit all stuff that I would never eat. So I got fish and Luke had duck we both really enjoyed our meals, wine and dessert. Oh yeah we had a fabulous table with a great view and the waitress gave us a special dessert.

Yesterday Aiden, grammy, papa Lyle and I went to Springbrook Trout Farm. Papa Lyle has been wanting to take Aiden there so we finally went. It was a really cute place it had some man made ponds in the woods kind of seemed like someones back yard and a really cool one at that. Aiden got 6 fish within 45 min.

Another thing going on is getting ready for kindergarten, starting to prepare for school supplies and some new clothes. It is really exciting, although I am nervous too because I know I am going to need to start a whole new routine based around school. I really want to make this as fun as possible so Aiden loves school.

Our vegetable garden is growing allot and Luke and I have really been getting excited every time we see how much it grows. Luke even surprised me with some green peppers, more tomatoes, and raspberry's to plant. He is really getting into it, it's nice to both be excited about the same thing.

On a sour note. Luke got injured about a week and half ago. It was the worst phone call ever. I was at work, and he called me in massive pain, saying he cut his hand really bad with a skill saw and he was driving himself to the hospital....probably not a great idea. Anyway he ended up getting ten stitches and the Dr. is recommending surgery because he cut a major nerve. Did I mention we don't have health insurance. Yes I know we are stupid and it is our own fault. Trust me that is all we think about.

Ironically with all our financial stress, I feel like Luke and I have really got allot closer. We try to calm the other one down, when one might be overly stressed. I reassure him when he is freaking and a vesa versa. I feel like our family is closer now than ever before.

Luke and Aiden are like best friends. They like to do the same things and Aiden is now old enough to do all the things Luke enjoys. They can sit and play Zelda, mario cart, and leggos. Aiden really just want to be where ever Luke is and always want to help him with whatever he is doing. Which is great for me because neither one of them care if I need to go out and have a girls night because they have each other to play with.

I have been at my job now for about 5 weeks and still totally love it! My boss and I get along GREAT. I am learning allot but still have much more to learn.

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the beach to hopefully see some Blue Angels and soak up some sun. Monday (my day off) we are going to this park in Crossroads that has water fountains for the kids to run through and cool toys to play on. I love exploring places we haven't been before so we are really excited. I will take pictures and share them in 5 more weeks =)

I think that is everything. Have a great weekend everyone!

Little Update

I have officially started my job. I worked 3 days last week and so far really like it. It is a lot like my old job just a totally different industry. I am very excited to learn more about investing and financial planning, I hope one day I can put everything I learn to use with my own finances. I am anxious for the future and want to be past the learning curve, be working full time and start being able to have some extra money again =)
For 4th of July we went to Dionne and Brian's cabin which we do every year. Like always we had so much fun. Played games, searched for star fish and crab, relaxed in the sun, Aiden and Riley got to ride Alana's dirt bike, and of course camp fires and smores.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!!

Movin on up!

This week has been a GREAT week to say the least. I got a fabulous job working for a financial adviser, I am his client services assistant. He owns his own branch and there is only 3 of us in his office. The pay is more than I was making, plus bonuses, plus benefits. The office is located in a cute area in Mercer Island. I turned down a job a week or two ago because I new I wouldn't be very happy at the job and the pay was NOT good. I new I was worth more and had a lot to offer some employer out there. I am SOOO glad I followed my instincts and stayed on the job market! I start June 30th and already am making lists of things I want to get done before then =)

Also this week (today) Aiden graduated from Junior Kindergarten. His class sang 4 songs and even did a little dance with sunglasses on it was SUPER cute. I only teared up when I watched Aiden give his teach his cards he made for them, I really surprised myself thought I would cry all day =) During the graduation ceremony they gave out a couple awards to parents for helping through out the year. Guess who got one......I was pretty proud of myself and surprised. They called me the "field trip mom" and gave me a certificate. I just hope my new job will allow me the time to still be apart of Aiden's next school year and all the other years that Aiden allows me to show up =)

ALSO this week Luke and I started a big project (didn't realize it was so big). We removed the wood shed to make room for a vegetable garden. We dug up all the grass and now are getting ready to make the raised vegetable garden. I have broccoli, squashes, pumpkins, cantaloupe, cilantro and tomatoes that we are going to plant. I just hope they don't die after we plant them.

We also went to the Tomlinson's new cabin for the first time a couple weekends ago, we had SO much fun. I included some pictures from that weekend too.

Memorial Day Weekend & lots of pictures

We are now finally getting back to normal and out of vacation mode. However now that we are home and have a new appreciation for our time spent together, we are working on coming up with new and creative ideas for things we can do together as a family out side of the house. With that said this weekend we did allot of fun stuff together. We went to Luke's parents in Cle Elum, we left Friday and sat in TONS of traffic on the way there. The next day, Aiden got to go on a tractor ride with Papa John and a 4 wheeler ride with Papa John and daddy. We took a walk to the river and visited some of Luke's other family that was camping nearby. I got to sit out in the sun and read my book a couple times. We just had a nice relaxing time.
We decided to come home Sunday night. Sunday we had a fabulous day in the sun! We started out with a hike at Squak Mountain, they have this kids trail that tells a story about animals along the hike. We even took Aiden on a big boy hike too off of the kids trail, he really liked it. After hiking we went straight to this new park that we haven't been to yet played there for a while then went out for ice cream. The day was perfect and it is exactly how I would love to spend all my Sundays =)

Tball is over after this week and Aiden has really improved allot. His last game he caught two grounders at 2nd base and threw them right to 1st base. We were so proud and Luke even got some good action pictures of him catching them.

I also got an email today for another interview, she wants me to call her Tuesday to set up a day to meet.

Anyway that is all for now. Hopefully next posting will be all about my new jobs =)



We went to Kuboto Garden's with Auntie Sara


Aiden being silly at Kuboto Garden's




Look at that focus! Aiden gets so excited when he gets to catch the ball =)

Kaui Kaui Kaui

Oooooohh....I don't even know where to start! I have so much to say and realize this will probably all sound like rambling thoughts. Ok, how about the first day in Kauai. Luke and I arrived first out of everyone, went shopping spent $140 on food which barely bought us anything, went to our condo, then walked over to the Hilton where T&T and family/friends stayed. When we walked to the Hilton we quickly realized we were about a 2 minute WALK to the Hilton pool which was amazing and of course made me really happy! The next day was spent at the pool of course, I was surprised to be the first one there I thought for sure Aunt Sheri would at least beat me out there. Throughout the rest of the week we saw several beaches, my favorite one was Anini and absolutely gorgeous, we arrived in the morning w/ T&T and the water was glass and crystal clear, you could walk out several hundred feet into shallow beautiful water perfect for snorkeling which we did. We also visited the Marriot which is a NICE hotel. We ate some really good food throughout our stay in Kauai and have already tried to recreate some of it here at home. We saw a huge waterfall that was very cool. Drove around allot and saw almost all major cities. Luke and I decided we wanted to do a snorkeling tour just to make sure we weren't missing out on anything. It was a 6 hour catamaran tour down the Na Pali coast, we saw sea caves, dolphins, sea turtles, beaches where several movies were filmed, and snorkeled of course. I was surprised to find the snorkeling was not as impressive as I remember Maui to be. The rehearsal dinner was at Duke's right on this great beach, it was a really good time. The next day was of course the wedding which went 100% perfect. T&T looked amazing, the vows were very heartwarming and the whole night was a intimate, special, spiritual occasion that was something I have never experienced! We saw Trevor, Tamara, aunt Sheri and uncle Rob everyday and it was SO nice to get to share these memories together. I never realized how important it is to take vacation with your spouse without kids until I did it, WOW it was great for Luke and I's relationship. While in Kauai I got 2 phone calls for interviews (I new it would happen) the 1st call hired someone before I was back into town. The 2nd job interview I got, I had that interview the day we arrived back in WA. It was in Kirkland on the strip, at Hallmark Realty as a Office Manager, and I really wanted the job and thought the interview went really good, but I found out today I didn't get the job. I was totally bummed but everything happens for a reason...right.
Anyway I have been home for 4 days and am finally adjusting. At first I was bummed, everyday in Kauai was packed with fun times, friends, family and no stress. Then I came home to a quite house and didn't know what to do with my self except hug & kiss Aiden and watch tv.
I also have to mention that we feel SO grateful for our parents helping financially and watching Aiden. This trip was amazing for us and worth every penny.




Anini Beach

So busy!

So much has been happening. I often wonder how I got everything done when I was working full time because it really seems like I am busy all day everyday. Allot of fun things have been happening lately.
Aiden and I went to Elensburg a few weeks ago to visit Auntie Shell with Grammy. We stayed in a hotel with a pool which is Aiden's favorite things to do. We got to see Michelle's TINY dorm and we had allot of fun.
Aiden also started Tball a few weeks ago. He really likes it and it has been so much fun! Luke and I have been helping the coaches (Cory & Stan) and just really enjoying it. Aiden is the youngest and smallest and so dang cute!
We went to Dionne and Brian's cabin last weekend in Bremerton. We had such a great time and got some much needed relaxation. We took walks on the beach, had a fire, bbqed, and played games, basically got to spend some really good quality time with our family and best friends.
Two weeks and we will be in Kauai I feel so unprepared and can't believe I am going on vacation while unemployed. However this was paid for a long time ago so we will be fine, it still feels weird though =) Aiden gets to stay with Grammy and go to Ocean Shores with them he is really excited and it makes me happy to know he is in good hands and going to have fun with his Grammy and Papa.
Next posting will probably be pictures of Kauai. Unless something really exciting happens but I am guessing I will be busy doing laundry, organizing and packing the whole family for the next two weeks =)

Aiden turned 5!

So yesterday was Aiden's 5th birthday and we had such a fun day. The day started out with a present for great grammy and papa sent from AZ, which he totally loved! Then we got ready for the day and went to his school at 8:30am for a field trip. We went to the Puyallup Fair grounds and learned about animals and farming and we even got to see and pet animals. It was allot of fun and such great timing a field trip on his birthday. We got back to his school around 1pm, went home and met my mom. Then my mom, Lyle, Aiden and I went shopping and of course Aiden got totally spoiled. They basically let him pick out what ever he wanted, clothes, toys, snacks. It was funny watching him because he really didn't know what to do with himself. After Aiden's shopping spree we went to Chucky Cheese and met Uncle Sean there too. We had a blast at chucky cheese, lots of games, pizza and cake. Finally we got back home around 5 to spend the rest of his bday with daddy. It felt like a REALLY long day but it was super fun!

Aiden also had a party for his birthday on Saturday. It was pretty low key, which to me means less stress =) He got lots of cool stuff and got to hang out with his favorite people for the day. Thank you everyone for coming!

Today I went to Briarwood Elementary and registered Aiden for kindergarten. I still can't believe he is starting this chapter is his life already! He also is officially out of the baby/toddler section of clothes. We had to shop in the boys section in Target SOOOoo weird.

Anyway thank you everyone for making this birthday so special for Aiden. He is a really lucky boy to have such great friends and family.



This is at his field trip


We got to pet a chicky




Playing games at Chucky Cheese with uncle Sean's help.



Aiden was pretty good at air hockey =)




I had to take a pciture.



ARRrrrrr!