I absolutely love the smell of celery and onion cooking. It reminds me of my Mother, and Thanksgiving. The corn chowder came out pretty good, but I burnt my tongue so many times tasting it that I can't really be sure.

I am looking forward to going home this weekend for Mothers day to see my Mom and Sister. I told John for Mothers day I wanted to walk around Ikea, all by myself, for as long as I wanted. Every time I've gone it's been with Devan, which, needless to say ends with me rushing through to find what I know I need and leaving promptly after. However, since we live so close to one now we've been a lot. So I think I will have to think of a different Mothers day gift.

Anyway, time to get back to putting away my piles!

It's been a while since I've posted any pictures, and my sister mentioned to me that she has forgotten what her neice looks like. So here are a few photos of what we've been up to lately. (Besides the obvious move!).

First things first. John really likes his job. And I really like his job, too. Yesterday was his first day and minutes after he walked in the door we got this humongous bouquet of flowers from a flower delivery guy. It was addresed to me and it looked like this:




(this photo doesn't really do it justice. It's very large). John and I both looked at each other wondering who in the world would be sending me flowers. I opened the card and found it was from John's new bosses! The card said something like "Welcoming you aboard. We are delighted to have you and John join the (company B) family." I was very impressed to say the least! I also felt as though it was one of many tender mercies from the Lord, letting us know we made the right choice.

Next. When I see this photo I think of the word "compromise". You see, John and I, though very alike in many ways, have very different tastes as far as decorating goes. I am very much a more traditional, whimsical type of girl, where he is very much a modern-contemporary type of guy. When we moved in I chose to let our room have a more contemporary feel. Here is a glimpse of what it looks like:

The flower vase I found at a thrift store for 99 cents. The candle sticks are from John's mission, hand carved from somewhere in Africa, I think. I don't usually like that much black, or any dark color for that matter, but I'm happy with the way our room looks so far.

Here is your neice, Q. She's got rather sleepy looking eyes in this photo. She's pointing to her hot pink finger nails that I painted. And she's not wearing pants. As usual.

John and Devan playing blocks. Devan's not wearing pants again. You can also see our new TV unit. And our new TV! (Thanks again to the greatest in-laws ever!)

Below is a little project I was working on before we moved. I was trying to find the perfect way to display John's missionary tags. I finally found this frame and I think it looks great. I'm going to hang it on the wall next to one of John's favorite mission photos. If I can find it after our move. Who knows where it might be now.

That's it for now!

It wasn't long ago
the day that we first met
You had a twinkle in your eye
that day I'd soon regret
You served me empty promises
You vowed that you'd be true
You took my dishes, one at a time
And spotted them through and through
You never really cared
Made jokes of my concerns
You may be laughing now
but this lesson, I have learned
I will never trust your kind
Not ever, ever again
The ugly, old machine
with you I'll never win
If you were my own
I might have you destroyed
But since I am only renting
You are hereby unemployed.

Thats what our apartment looks like right now. Piles of piles of stuff that still needs a home. The problem is that we seem to have more stuff than space. I've reduced the piles substantially, though they still exist in little corners here and there.

We moved pretty quickly. The thing was, when John gave notice at his old job he was planning on starting the new job last week. After our little change of events, he ended up having all last week and some of the week before off. We found the apartment we liked and figured we might as well move when we had time, and not try to move when John was starting a new job. Is it just me, or does moving get harder every time you do it? I always have these great intentions of having the move go so smoothly and well organized, and without fail every time things start to fall apart half way through and I end up just throwing everything in boxes.

Anyway, we are here. We like it so far. It looks and feels a lot like home so there is little to no culture shock, which is what we were expecting with our move to Chicago. It's so much like home in fact that I almost wish we had more of a change. I've just been telling myself that if we can't live in new places then we will just have to make lots of money so we can travel, which I would love. I have a tendency to get a little stir crazy when I haven't traveled away from home in a while. We've already made one trip back home and I'm so grateful it's so close.

I don't know if it's the stress of the move and a new home, but Devan is suddenly feeling very autonomous. Everything has become "Dedins!" Don't even think about claiming something as your own. Or helping her. "I do it myself!" has become a very popular phrase around here. Even though she can drive me crazy I simply cannot escape that fact that I am totally in love with her.

One thing I am very excited about: the beach! It is dangerously close. I might just turn my car into a beach mobile this summer and never look back.

I will post some photos of the new digs soon. Hope everyone has a great week!

We moved. It all happened so quickly, but we are here in Orange County and it is beautiful and we love it so far! We just got our internet working about twenty minutes ago. I will have more to share in the next few days so stay tuned.

I guess it's time to explain what's been happening over here. This will probably be long.

I'll start from the beginning. Many of you know that the company John works for was recently bought out by another company. John happened to survive two rounds of lay offs, but it was only a matter of time before he too joined the unemployment collecting crowd. So he began looking for a new job months ago. It was looking pretty bleak for a while. He literally sent out dozens of resumes every few days all over the country. I was ready to pack my things and move wherever he found a job. I was itching for an adventure.

Months went by and nothing. Nothing but lots of interviews for the same position: a financial advisor assistant intern type thing. The kind of job that paid about $5 a year until you completed the program and then they MIGHT hire you on. Lame-o is what I said.

So one day our luck started to change. John did a little networking and got a phone interview with this company in Chicago who is worth billions (literally). We'll call them Company A. The phone interview went well and then they flew him out first class and put him up in the Four Seasons for more interviews. During the interviews he found out they not only pay for full relocation, but they also give you discretionary cash for your move, pay full health coverage, full continued education reimbursment and much, much more. Things were looking good.

Meanwhile, John had also started interviewing with a company we will call Company B. They were located in Orange County. They were small and couldn't come close to the things that Company A was offering us. John seemed to like them though, so he contined the interview process.

Company A had a lot to offer. They were a great company and treated their employees very well. However, we soon found out that they were also very, very selective with potential candidates. John had to jump through several hoops for them, but in the end they chose him and made him an offer. He accepted. We were packing our bags for Chicago. Except not really, because they were packing for us.

After John accepted Company A's offer, Company B wanted him to come down for a final interview type meeting. I told him not to go, because he would be wasting their time. For some strange reason John decided to go anyway. He went. They made him an offer. The offer was not as good as Company A's, but it was good. They seemed to really like John and were willing to go the extra mile for him. John came home from that interview and was really torn. I kept telling him that Company A's offer was much better, and how could we possibly say no to free health care and more money? Not to mention it was (a little) cheaper to live in Illinois than Southern CA. We discussed the possibility of working for Company B, but in a "we already made our choice" kind of way.

John told Company B that he would have an answer from them two weeks ago on Monday. When that Monday came around I was ready to just be done with Company B. We had people coming to get an estimate on how much stuff we were moving to Chicago and people calling about shipping our cars. We had a package from Company A with lots of maps and books about Chicago, including a $100 gift card to some fancy restaurant in Chicago. John sent me a text message on that Monday saying " I broke up with Company B. They took it well." This is where it gets interesting. My heart sank when I read his message. For some reason I started to feel really confused. Why did it feel so wrong to say no to Company B?

John had similar feelings. They day after he said no to Company B we again began discussing the choice we had made. All of the sudden we both felt really strongly about Company B. All of the sudden we realized that while we were being swept away by Company A, little ol' Company B was waiting around for us to realize that really, it was them that we wanted. And we started to realize that John is SO not a corporate kind of guy, that even though Company B may not have billions, it does have millions and it's better to be a big fish in a small pond rather than a small fish in a big pond, right? Plus, John realized that the job Company B was offering would get him closer to what he really wants a lot quicker than Company A.

So John called Company B back. The very next day, to ask if the offer was still good. They wanted to think about it. They wanted to make sure that John was commited and that he really did want to work for them. They needed reassurance. John gave it to them and went down AGAIN yesterday to let them know that he is commited. They still want him. And now, we want them. John had to break the news to Company A today and it's still a little scary to me to know that we are walking away from a job that would provide more financial stability for us, but that is where the leap of faith I mentioned comes in. I recently visited with a family friend of ours who made a goal when he was in his twenties that he wanted to retire by the time he turned 50. He retired when he was 48. He obviously had a succesful career to be able to retire at 48. He said to me, "Most of the decisions I made in my career and in my life were based on the fact that they felt right."

For some reason, Company B feels right to us. Company A never felt wrong, in fact, it felt really good. But I don't know that I'd say it felt right. So that's the story. We are listening to the still small voice and having faith that it will all work out. I'm packing my own boxes and won't get the new furniture I wanted, but I know that someday I will. And if you have actually read this whole thing, I am impressed!

I have another little interesting part of this story that includes three different fortunes from fortune cookies but I will write about that later.

Remember when I said we were moving to Chicago? I actually meant Orange County. There is a very, very long story behind this sudden change of plans. It involves many sleepless nights, loss of appetite, stress times infinity and one giant leap of faith. The good news? We still get to keep our tradition of going to the Book Festival. That's not really the only good news. We are excited about the new job and the move, too. And, if you haven't ever been to the book festival, you should definitely try it out this year. Maybe you'll see us there!

Me: My arm hurts from bowling last night. Does yours?

John: No. I have muscles.


The rest of my body hurts from bowling last night, too, but that's another post. It has to do with me chasing my daughter down the lane before she reached the pins.

Thanks Aunt Corinne, for the super cute bathing suit! Devan loves it. I'm a little worried that it might not fit her still when August comes around, but that's okay, because with this weather she will surely get plenty of use out of it.

And yes, while I sipped my (caffeine free) sweet tea and had my feet in the water I did question (several times) why in the world we are moving. But I'm still excited for a new adventure! Happy Spring, everyone!

The other day I made some minestrone soup in the crock pot. John was tasting some and took off the lid to set it on the counter. Devan was sitting at the table and touched the lid with her index finger. Upon realizing that it was hot, she quickly pulled her finger away and said, " I cooked my finger!!"

I like good deals. I like them so much I'll go ahead and say that I LOVE finding a good deal on something. Most of you know this. I am going to share a little more with you, so if you're already bored, you can stop reading.

I have rules when buying clothes. I might have mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again. When buying clothes for Devan I have come up with several rules. Pants, for instance, will not be bought for more than $10. I absolutely will not spend more. In fact, the average price I pay for pants for her is probably around $5. Shirts have to be under $5. I'd say they average price for a shirt is around $2. This makes shopping a little more challenging, however, once you get the hang of it and you know where to go, it's super easy. I have gotten very good at this. I can go in a store and not even see the regular priced clothes. I'm serious. I shop sizes in adavance, so I am never in need of a particular size. I thought I'd do a little organizing in Devan's room today and this is what I found.

In her dresser:

42 shirts. (These are only the shirts that fit her now. And not the ones that are in the laundry, sitting around the house or hidden somewhere amongst baskets of toys).

24 pairs of shorts.

Pants and dresses: (Didn't get around to counting these)

Here are the bags of new clothes that she will grow into in the next couple of years. Organized by size, or course.

I had an economics teacher in high school who taught that in order to get the best deal on something you needed to wait until the item had been marked down three or four times. Here is an example:

Above is an outfit that I bought to have for a baby shower gift. The original cost was $15. Then it was marked down to $11.50. Then $7.50. Then 50% off, which leaves the final price at about $3.75. ( I know you are all amazed by my math skills). That was only three markdowns. You can all imagine now how much fun my husband has shopping with me. You can also imagine my reaction to finding something like this in a store that is actually asking $15 for it.

Anyway, I'm sorry if I've bored any of you, but that is what I mean when I say I think I have a problem. I wonder if there is a penny pinchers anonymous meeting somewhere...

We have had a pretty nice weekend so far. Not much going on, which I love. On Friday evening we went down to the beach. All this Chicago talk has made me really appreciate all that I have here. Speaking of Chicago, it looks like it's a go but we will know for sure this week. I'm SO EXCITED but it's a bitter sweet feeling. Such is life, right? Anyway, we went down to the beach and I took some photos of my two favorite people. This first one is my favorite. I love the holding hands, the wedding ring, the goose bumps on her arm and the little hairs on the back of her head that are wet from a wave that crashed into them. (And I love her dress-thanks Grandma!!)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

I had an interview in Chicago yesterday that the company flew me out for. I didn't know what the details were until I got the itinerary the day before. It was quite a shock to see that I was staying at the Four Seasons, but not as shocked as when I got to the airport and realized that my seats were first class. More shocked I became during the flight itself. I had never flown first class before, but I was really impressed the entire time. For those who haven't flown first class let me share my experience with you:

I sat waiting for the attendants to start the boarding process. Over the intercom they announced, "Now boarding First Class passengers only", so I stood up and started to walk down the skyway. As I strolled towards the plane I heard someone yell at me to stop! I looked up in surprise to find an attendant running from behind to catch up. "What gives you the right to walk down here?" they asked. "I am going to the plane!" I replied. The man then changed his tone, "No! What are you doing WALKING? Haven't you ever flown First Class?" I shook my head.

Then appeared a rickshaw pulled by small asian men. "Hop in! Ret us take you to the prane. Warking is for suckels." I knew that, so in I went, for the remaining 20 feet to the plane. So far so good.

Once in the plane I was directed to the left, behind the velvet rope and silk curtain to room that I could only describe as sophisticated. The walls were paneled in aromatic cedar with frescoed paintings on the ceilings in which depictions of rich and powerful people were being carried through the heavens on the backs of plebeians. The chairs with high backed and leather with wonder reclining features.

Now in my seat, and with the other people that shared the plane with us now aboard they commenced the emergency procedures, only this time it was different. There was no video of a ethnically diverse group of passengers joyfully enjoying the free flowing oxygen that arrived through plummeting face masks. Nor was there instruction on how to properly inflate a life vest.

The instruction was much different. We were told that we would be warned before an emergency, at least 5 minutes before hand allowed to board the emergency plane that was kept in the belly just under our seats. Our safety was guaranteed.

The dinner was delicious. I had the Bald Eagle egg omelet with White Rino steak. Jeeves cooked my food on a stove with no visible fuel source. I was informed that the stove ran on the heat generated by the contempt, jealousy and despise of those forced to turn right while boarding the plane. I applauded their "Green Energy" stance. My drink was a concoction of juices from rare berries grown only in the remotest of regions of Nepal (usually requiring a 2 week journey by expert Sherpas) and chilled with the ice chipped from a newly detached iceberg that had separated from Greenland due to global climate changes. It was delicious.

My sponge bath was fantastic too. I mean, how else are you supposed to get clean on an airplane after a relaxing warm mud treatment. I couldn't dare get my recliner filthy.

We landed safely in Chicago, however the weather was terrible and the plane had to stay at the end of the runway for a few hours until the tarmac could be cleared of snow and ice. Man, I am glad that they let us First Class people get on the heated snow cat that hooked up to the hidden exit in the floor.

We got to our terminal and waited to jump aboard our rickshaws again. (I knew the drill now).

So now that I have accurately described to you the First Class experience, I encourage you to land interviews at killer companies that will pay for it.

John had an interview at this ridiculously awesome company in Chicago yesterday. I'm talking awesome. If you heard about all the things they give their employees you would want to switch careers and work for them. John will tell you all the details about his trip out there, probably later today or tomorrow. Now we have to wait to hear if he got it. I'm sending out lots of positive thoughts into the universe in hopes that the answer is yes, and would appreciate it if all of you loyal readers did the same for us! We would love you forever.

In the meantime, I've been making a list of the things I would like to buy one day when we can afford them. Here are a few.

1. Aquafina water. I know, this is not an unattainable luxury. This is hands down my favorite water. And yes, I can taste a difference. A big difference. I just can't justify buying it week after week when we have water at home. But if I were rich...

2. These daily systems (in white) from Pottery Barn. I've been eyeballing these for quite some time and dream of the day that my life can be moved from a pocket calendar to this!

3. This bed from Ikea. Again, certainly not a splurge for the already rich. However, considering I bought Devan's last bed at a garage sale for well under $50 and found her crib on craigslist, spending nearly $400 on a childrens bed definitely warrants putting it on this list. And I hope that when I'm rich I still think that $400 for a kids bed sounds absurd. Does that make sense?

4. Whole Foods. You should try their homemade corn tortillas. When I am rich, I will definitely be shopping here a lot more often. I can't justify spending twice as much on groceries right now, but when I'm rich...

I also look forward to donating more when I'm rich. I love volunteering and donating to all the service projects that the church puts on, but always wish I could donate more. So thats definitely on my list.

On a side not, how many of you saw the Oprah show about Freegans? I still haven't decided how I feel about it. Check it out.

And please, prayers for the job in Chicago, if you have them.

The other day I was playing with Devan on my bed and she asked to smell my hair. I leaned over to let her get a whiff and afterwards she said "Mmmm...smells like fruit snacks!!"

Today marks the birth of a great man and one of my favorite people. Stanley I. Wallet, aka My Grandpa, Devan's GREAT Grandpa.

Stan Wallet was born this day in Brooklyn, New York. He lived there for 50 years, and in 1976, he moved to Los Angeles. In between, he served in World War II as of April 12, 1944, then on Okinawa, and was recalled as an officer and a reservist in the Korean War. He got two degrees from Long Island University; in 1949, and 1976. After 15 years in California, he moved to Florida and will be here forever.

Yesterday we went to the library. Devan picked out a book and sat down in one of the neat childrens chairs. She looked at her book and began singing "think, think, thiiiiiink. Use our minds, step at a time, do anything we wanna do..."

One night after taking her out of the bath, she ran down the hallway naked with her arms flailing behind her like a cape and shouted "To the rescue!!"

I took Devan to the mall the other day and let her play in the playground. She got stuck climbing on one of the toys and shouted, "Help help! Ayudame!"

Okay. If I ever wondered whether or not she was watching too much tv, these recent experiences have definitely confirmed it. Although, in my defense, she is a very quick learner. Definitely takes afer her father. She picks things up right away and only has to see something once to remember it. And she has a great memory. If you ask her what she ate for lunch at dinner time, she can usually remember. However, I'm still going to seriously cut back on her tv time.