Tuesday, August 25, 2015

KonMari

Have you heard of this book? The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up? They call it the KonMari method, which is a mashup of the authors name, Marie Kondo. It's a book written by a Japanese woman who is a organization specialist in Japan. She has all kinds of ideas about how to organize your house, and she wrote a great book that everyone is going nuts about, including me.

We have lived in our house for 11 years. It's 4,000sf, six bedrooms, three stories, four full bathrooms. When we moved here I thought living in a big house was going to be the greatest thing ever. And then I tried to clean this beast, lol. I'll be honest and say that a lot of times I kind of hate the size of my house. Everywhere you turn, there is more house, lol. And when you have lots of house it becomes really easy to have lots of stuff. I can go a long time without organizing things because there are gigantic closets and extra rooms all over the place in this house where I can just stick things in a corner and decide to worry about them later. And unfortunely, that's what I do a lot. And then eventually I go on a cleaning binge and decide to clean things out and it's just a nightmare of stuff I forgot I even had and don't know what to do with. So that becomes overwhelming and I end up just shoving things back in closets and corners and decide to save the project for another day.

And then I discovered the KonMari book and it really opened my eyes. Her whole thing is about surrounding yourself with things you love. Don't focus on what you need to get rid of, focus on only keeping things you love. She lives in Japan and the book was originally written in Japanese, so some of her book has some little cultural things that seem a little out there. (Apparently your items have feelings and you should thank your clothes when you get rid of them? Japanese people are adorable. And I mean that sincerely. Japan just seems like a whimsical place, doesn't it? They're always doing something cute.) And also I got the feeling that when she was writing the book, she was thinking of small Japanese houses, not American monstrosities. So I didn't feel like everything in the book applied exactly to my situation, but I was able to adapt it, and the concepts are the same.

So Shawn and I both read the book and we've been working on her methods. The first thing you're supposed to do is go through your clothes. Her idea is that you should organize in categories, not by room. Often I will decide to organize one persons bedroom and go through their clothes, but then I run out of time or lose interest before I get to the next persons room. And then by the time I get to the next person, the first persons needs to be done again. It's never ending. Her idea is to organize in categories for the whole house. Don't just do one persons clothes, organize every single piece of clothing in the entire house at once and then that category is done for the house.

So last Saturday we did that. We have had a clothing crisis going on here lately. We have too many clothes that haven't been gone through in far too long. Laundry is a disaster, no one can ever find anything and it's always chaos. Ideally I like to go through everyone's wardrobes every summer before school starts and get rid of things they have grown out of and figure out what they need replaced. But the last few years I haven't done a thorough job of it. We like to hand down Josh's clothes to Matthew, so when josh grows out of something I tell him to stick it in his closet until Matthew grows into it. Josh has a huge walk in closet in his bedroom, so he just piles grown out stuff in a corner and in theory we go through it and give it to Matthew. In theory. In reality, that pile has gotten awfully large lately.

So on Saturday we started with the boys and I told both of them to clean out their closets, their drawers, their nooks and their crannies, and bring me every single piece of clothing they own and pile it in a big pile in the middle of my bedroom floor. And the pile was embarrassingly gigantic. But we sat down and one by one, piece by piece, we went through each and every item of clothing and discussed its merits. Do they love it? Does it make them happy? Does it fit? Is it in good shape? If they loved it and it was in great shape, it stayed. If not, it was discarded. Between the two boys we discarded six gigantic bags of clothes that we sat aside to be donated. And what was left was organized the KonMari way. She has a genius way of folding clothes that is going to work so great for my kids. My kids used to just stack clothes on top of each other in their drawers the normal way, and what ended up happening was that things would get scrunched up in the back of the drawer and forgotten and they would wear the same three shirts off the top. The new way is to line everything up next to each other so you can see everything in the drawer when you open it. It takes up less space, it looks neater and you can see everything you have so nothing gets crammed in the back and forgotten. They kids are loving it.

So then we did the same with Clarissa's clothes, and then we tacked our master closet. I'm not going to lie, our master closet was in sad shape! It looked like a Gap store had exploded in there. I owned more jeans and t-shirts than anyone reasonably should. And even though we have a walk in closet with plenty of shelves, we had more clothes than space. There were stacks of jeans and piles of sweaters and rows of shirts crammed in there wherever I could find a space. I can never find anything in there, and there was no organization. So we emptied the entire closet out like we were moving and piled it all on the floor and again went through it piece by piece. It took forever. I found things I didn't even know I owned. I let go of piles and piles of clothes that I don't wear. I had a whole box full of jeans that don't fit that I keep around just in case I ever lose enough weight to fit into them again. Nope, those are gone now. We didn't keep anything that doesn't fit, we got rid of anything that doesn't make us feel good when we wear it, and basically just kept the clothes that we really love. I got rid of three quarters of my wardrobe. When we out everything back in the closet, all organized and in order, I was amazed! Our closet looks AWESOME! I went from having so many clothes they were crammed in corners, to having so few that I have two empty shelves in there. And I love it! I love having a smaller wardrobe, because it's all clothes I love. What the book is teaching us is that it's better to have fewer things that you really love than to have a bunch of stuff you just tolerate.

So the project continues. Yesterday I did the master bathroom. I emptied out the entire bathroom like we were moving and piled every single thing out of the cupboards and drawers into a big pile in my bedroom and I spent the day going through every piece of makeup, every hair accessory, every brush and comb and curler and tweezer. I threw away so much makeup. I used to have a whole drawer full of it, plus a big makeup case. Now I have one small plastic box of it in a drawer, and that's it. And it's only makeup that I actually wear and love.

The author of the books says that when you finish doing this for your whole house, what you're left with is only things that you love, that you're happy to take care of, that are easy to put away because everything has a home, and then you don't have to tidy all your stuff daily, because everything is already where it goes.

This seems like common sense, and I suppose it should be. We used to have a fairly organized house, but it has really gotten away from us over the years. I want that back. I am so excited to wake up now and get ready in my organized bathroom and get dressed in my organized closet. I finished up the bathroom project by buying new towels and bath rugs, which desperately needed replacing. Everything feels new and fresh and happy.

So now that the kids are out of the house all day and I have a few weeks before I start school, I'm continuing the project throughout the house. One category at a time I'm going to be organizing and discarding and making our space fresh and happy and organized. It's not something that will happen overnight, but it's been fun to wake up every morning and decide what to organize next. Once you get started its kind of addicting!

So that's how I'm spending my first kid free days now that everyone is in school. It's a lot easier to do this project when no one is here. I can crank up the music and get to work! :) And now that I've finished my blog post, it's time to do just that. Another day, another category!



Monday, August 24, 2015

Home Alone

Well, the day has officially arrived. I sent the boys off to school for their first day this morning (Clarissa has already been in school for a couple of weeks) and I am officially home alone. I know I was sort of already home alone for part of the day last year. Clarissa was in kindergarten in the mornings last year, so I had my mornings free. But this is officially the first day I have all three kids in full time school. After 15 years of kids at home during the day, this is the first day of the new chapter in my life.

I sort of thought I would be sad about it. I'm ridiculously nostalgic about everything, especially when it comes to my kids growing up, and I thought closing that chapter would be hard after all these years. And it is a little bittersweet. But I think I'm ready for this change. I'm kind of excited to see what happens now. Knowing that I'm going into this new chapter in my life with a purpose and a plan has made this adjustment much easier. School doesn't start for me until September, so I still have a few weeks, but I'm looking forward to it! Lots of changes around here lately!

The kids seemed excited for school. Clarissa is on a different schedule than the boys, so she has already been going for a few weeks and loves it. She's figuring out how to maneuver the cafeteria at lunch time, since this is her first year eating lunch at school, and she's making new friends and seems to be enjoying the whole experience.

Matthew starts 7th grade today. Remember last year when all three of my kids were moving up to new schools? This year has been waaay easier with everyone going back to the schools they were at last year. It was fun taking Matthew to registration this year and watching him walk into the middle school with confidence, knowing the teachers, knowing the school layout, knowing how to use a locker. Last year there was a lot of nervousness with all three kids trying to figure out new environments, but this year it was smooth sailing. Matthew loves middle school and will do great.

Josh starts 10th grade today. Although, I feel bad for him because he just spent his summer doing summer school, so he never really got a summer break. He took four classes this summer. He quickly realized after they started that he bit off more than he could chew. Because of the college prep program he's in, is suggested that they take a class or two over the summer to stay ahead, but he insisted on four. I'm pretty sure he was the only kid at the school who took that many. And it pretty much kicked his behind all summer. He has worked really hard to keep up with it all. He had his finals last week. He ended the summer with straight A's, which he's really proud of, because it was harder than he thought it was going to be.

So he finished his finals last Thursday, and on Friday and over the weekend he read and annotated Farenheight 451, which was summer homework for his upcoming English class, and today he went back to school with basically no break. And I'm pretty sure that he has a test today on the book he just read. I don't know how that kid keeps up,  but I'm proud of him. The good news for him is that taking classes over the summer freed up his schedule a bit and he was able to fit in a few fun classes that he's really excited about. He's on the yearbook staff this year, which he's really looking forward to, and he's also doing concert choir. Having some fun classes in his schedule breaks up the tough academic program a bit and I think he'll really enjoy that.

Here are our annual first day of school photos! It's amazing to me how grown up they all look! Also, be sure to notice Clarissa's hair! For the first time in her whole life she got a real haircut! We have gotten it trimmed a few times, but this time we really cut it. She decided she wanted it shorter, so we had five inches cut off. It's much easier to manage at this length.

And now I'm going to enjoy some peace and quiet for a while and then work on some organizing projects that I've been putting off, now that I have the time to do them. I'm home alone all day! It's weird!

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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

College bound

Now that I'm getting closer to going back to school in September, I thought I'd tell the story of how this all came to be.I know I've already kind of mentioned what my plans are, but not the whole story of how it came about. But it's sort of a weird, long story, so you're going to have to bear with me, lol.

Let's start at the beginning. When I was in high school, I wanted to be a psychologist. I'm a people watcher. I love to observe behavior, I love to read and learn about about mental illness, personality disorders, I'm fascinated by people and what they do and why they do it. I always have been. I knew from a really young age that when I had a career, I wanted it to involve helping people with their problems. 

When I graduated and went off to college, psychology was the only thing I really wanted to study. I was really excited about it, and I thought I had my life completely planned out. But if you have been a long time reader of my blog, you kind of already know what happened next. I somehow got lost after I left high school, and I had a few really tough years in my late teens and early 20's. 

Without going into it, I let someone talk me out of psychology and I decided to major in social work instead, which was the closest thing to what I wanted to do, but not really what I wanted to do. I did a year of college, I was really discouraged, I was going through a lot of personal turmoil at the time about several different things, and my year of college was a disaster. My grand plans for my life started crumbling really fast. 

So I quit college and moved across the country by myself to figure out my life. I spent a year traveling, working as a nanny and really growing up and trying to figure out who I was as an adult. Then my dad got cancer, my heart got broken by someone I loved, everything fell apart again and I spent a few more years drifting. 

By the time I sorted all of that out, I met Shawn, we got married and he was working on his doctorate degree and there was no way for us both to go to school. So I got a job to put him through school, and by the time that he was done, Josh was born and my plans for college just sort of fell away. I always felt like I had missed my window to go to college and it was too late. 

That has really eaten at me for years. I never ever thought I'd wouldn't graduate from college. When I was in high school it just felt like a given. Of course I'd go to college and earn a degree. I didn't think there was any other option for me but that. It's what I really wanted. 

I have loved being a stay at home mom all these years and I feel incredibly lucky to have a been able to stay home with my kids. Honestly, even if I had graduated with a college degree in my 20's, I'm not so sure it would have changed anything, because being home with my kids when they were little has always been important to me. But it's like I almost wished I could live two lives. I love being a stay at home mom, but I've always sort of mourned the dream that I never got to live out. I never got the college degree and the job that I always wanted. But I felt like I couldn't do both and I needed to choose the one that was more beneficial to my family, and I want to be clear that I don't regret that. I have loved my 15 years of being a stay at home mom. I know that there are plenty of successful working mothers and I have nothing but respect for them but for me and for my family staying at home with my kids was the right choice for us and for our circumstances and I wouldn't change it if I could.

But I guess when I decided to be a stay at home mom and give up my dreams of going to college, I never thought about what would happen when I would be where I am now. I never thought about the day that all of my kids would go off to school and there would be no more kids at home to take care of during the day. Josh is going to be a sophomore this year and only has a few more years before he's off to college. Matthew is in middle school and Clarissa starts first grade, so really, for the first time in 15 years, I'm going to be home alone all day. I don't have little kids anymore who need me all day long. And while I will admit that part of me is doing the happy dance at the thought of gaining a little freedom, the other part of me started to get a little panicky. What do you do when chasing toddlers has been your job for 15 years and suddenly you find yourself without any more toddlers at home? 

What I realized was that this was the perfect time for me to go back to school. Maybe you CAN live two lives. I spent a decade and a half taking care of little kids and now that chapter is over. Now that my kids are a little more independent and in the case of Josh, even looking at leaving home in few years, maybe it's time to get back to my other dream.

So in the past year and a half or so, the idea of going back to school has been creeping into my mind more and more. At first I kept pushing the thought away. I'm too old, it's too expensive, it would take too long. I had all sorts of reasons why I couldn't do it. It was partly a self confidence issue. I didn't think I had what it took to actually do it. What if I failed?

And then something really weird happened. I met someone online. And this is where the story gets weird because I don't know how much of it I can tell and still respect the privacy of the other person in the story. And let me just say that the story sounds weirder than it is. Or maybe it is weird, but it's the story, and I will try to tell it the best I can. 

I met a psychologist online who is from New York City and is well known in certain circles. He is someone I actually saw on a television show before I met him online. We met on a message board on a topic that has to do with relationships and marriage. (And before I tell this story, I know what you're going to think while you're reading it. First of all, it sounds like some weird fake internet person. It's not, I promise. And second, I met a man online, which sounds sort of scandalous or something, but it's not. To get both of those things out of the way, it's a real person and just a normal friendship. It's not as weird as it sounds, but I am very aware that it sounds weird, lol.) Over the course of several months, we chatted on the message board and e-mail and I really grew to admire this person. He has an impressive career, he's incredibly intelligent, and an expert in psychology, which even after all these years is just something I'm fascinated by. 

And then he started telling me that I have a knack for the psychology related topic we were discussing. Without knowing anything about my history, he told me that I'd be a good psychologist. And for a second that kind of hit me in the gut. I've always kind of felt like a failure for not following my dream and going to college and now here was someone whose opinion I really respect, who knows what he's talking about, telling me I should have done it. Honestly, it made me sad for a minute. It reminded me that I had given up a dream. 

But then I really started to think about it. The more we got to know each other, the more he kept encouraging me to consider college and the more it started to seem like something I could actually do. His words really stuck with me as I pondered it. Maybe it wasn't too late.

But I could still think of a million reasons why it was impossible. Cost, for one thing. College is expensive and I had my own kids school to pay for. Josh starts taking college classes through his high school next year, so we start paying college tuition in a year, and Matthew isn't all that far behind. I didn't think it was financially feasible.

Plus, being a stay at home mom, I just didn't know how I would juggle it. Would I have to be gone all day in class? What if I had a sick kid? What if I was too busy to study? I've been a stay at home mom for a long time. I'm used to my life revolving around what my kids need. What if they needed me and I wasn't there? These are things I really had to think about. 

And then it just got weirder. Over the course of the past year, in a hundred different little ways, the idea of college keeps getting brought up to me. The idea was coming from lots of random places. People mentioning college programs to me. People talking to me about what it was like when they went back to school later in life. Everywhere I looked, there was the idea of going back to college staring me in the face.

One night I was talking to a man from my church. He is someone I don't really know very well and it was supposed to just be a quick conversation, but as I was leaving he asked me what my college background was. There was that topic again! It was a totally random question that had nothing to do with what we were discussing. I told him that I had some college credits, but no degree. He asked me if I had ever considered going back through a program our church university offers, which is a really low cost way for older students to start back on the path to college. He told me to check into it and when I did I realized that not only was it realistic for me, I could do it all online and I could afford it!

Suddenly it all kind of clicked together. I could actually go to college. Clarissa will be in school all day this fall, so my days are free, I can afford this program, which is through a real accredited university, and it offered a bachelors degree that will get me on the path to the career I want.

Which, actually once I researched it more is not exactly psychology, but in the same relm. I'll be getting my bachelors in Marriage and Family Studies and then a masters in clinical mental health counseling (or possibly marriage and family counseling, I'll decide when I get there). That will allow me to eventually have a career in counseling, which is really what I wanted to do. I'll get to take psychology classes, learn about mental health and other psychology related topics and eventually counsel people, which is ultimately what I wanted to do all along.

So I told my internet psychologist friend who had first put the idea in my head and had been encouraging me and he was thrilled and offered to call me so we could discuss it. We had a great conversation and he has offered to be my mentor! This is kind of gigantic for me. This is someone whose career I really admire who is offering to show me the ropes, give me advice and help me navigate my way through my bachelors and more importantly, through grad school, which right now just sounds terrifying to me. He's been there, done that (he has a doctorate in Psychology) and he's going to be an amazing resource for me going through this.

The last hurdle I felt I had to jump was to tell my kids that I have decided to go back to school. They're used to me being here and available to them 24/7, and while they're gone most of the day during the school year, it will be an adjustment for the whole family for me to have homework to do and classes to take. My kids were amazing when I told them. I have never felt as loved and supported as I did that night when they told me how excited they were for me and offered to do anything they could to help get me through it. Shawn, of course, has also been nothing but supportive. He has always known that not finishing college was something I've struggled with and he's been incredibly supportive of my decision to give school another try.

So with the support of my family and an amazing mentor, I start college in September. I'm planning on it taking around 6 years. If things go according to plan, I could graduate with my masters degree at the same time Matthew graduates from high school. Which honestly, will be a great time to start a career. With both boys off to college and grown up lives, it will just be Clarissa at home and I'm hoping I can find a job where I can be home after school for her. Even something part time for a while in the beginning would be fine with me. I want to make sure that I'm still available to her for her teenage years. If I get into private counseling, it can be fairly flexible, which I would want.

So there is the story of how I decided to go to college. I'm terrified, I'm excited and I'm doing it. It's a brave new me. :)

Sunday, August 2, 2015

July

Whew, we had a really busy July! I decided I'd better get over her and document it before I forgot all the fun stuff we did!

Earlier in the month we took our long awaited summer vacation to Oregon. We've been planning to take the kids to the Oregon coast for years, and for one reason or another it just never works out. Every summer we say that next summer will be the year, and it never is. But finally this summer we decided that it was time. I started to realize how few summers we have left with all three kids at home, and now that I know that I'll probably be in school for the next several summers, our window of being able to take a big family vacation with all of us is quickly closing.

So we packed up the car and made the trek on an epic vacation. I kind of wish I would have blogged as it was happening, because recapping all of the things we did would take forever! I will try my best to recap!

The first day we visited Multnomah Falls, which is an absolutely gorgeous waterfall on the way to Portland. We took a short hike up to a bridge to get a better view of it. It's beautiful! I absolutely love Oregon. I've been to lots of different states and two other countries, and I still think Oregon is one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

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The Oregon coast is about and 8-9 hour drive from our house, so it's doable to drive the whole thing in a day, but we like to take it slow, so we spent the first night in Troutdale, which is just outside of Portland. The next morning we got up and went to the Portland Zoo.

Here's what hit me as soon as we walked into the zoo. Remember in 2009 when we took our vacation to Oregon and I got the call from the adoption agency that we had been matched with a baby at the beginning of the trip? That was the last time we went to Portland. If you were reading my blog back then (or want to go back to the posts from June 2009), that trip was pretty memorable! We were just planning to take a little weekend getaway to Portland and it ended up being a life changing moment when we got our referral call and our first photo of Clarissa, and then I spent the whole trip obsessing over the photo of the beautiful baby girl on my cellphone! We went to the Portland zoo on that trip in 2009 and I spent the whole day staring at Clarissa's baby photo. I wanted to see her in person so badly! I could hardly stand to be on that vacation, I just wanted to go home and get the paperwork started so we could go to Korea and get Clarissa.

So on this trip, the second we walked into the zoo, that memory hit me of carrying that photo around all day and starting at it, trying to imagine what that baby was going to be like when she joined our family. So to be there again this year, with our sweet Clarissa with us, was kind of awesome. I enjoyed her so much the whole time we were at the zoo because I just kept thinking of the last time and how much I wished she were with us, and now she is. Getting to go back there with her was kind of awesome for me. It just make me think about how far we've come. I'm so incredibly grateful for how everything worked out. We had a really great time at the zoo and I just had a peace in my heart all day and an extra appreciation for my kids and that we were all there together as a complete family. It was a great day.

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And after a fun day at the zoo we continued on to the coast. We rented a beach house in Oceanside for the week and we were really excited to get there and get settled. My boys haven't been to the ocean since they were little and Clarissa has never seen the ocean, so we were excited for them to see it. There's just something so majestic about seeing an ocean. It reminds you of how big the world is.

The one thing about the Oregon coast is that it's not very warm. Which actually is one reason I like it. It's been over 100 degrees all summer in Boise, so escaping the heat and going somewhere in the 60's is awesome for me. I prefer cool weather. But it makes playing in the ocean sort of tricky. The kids were excited to get in the water, but the quickly discovered how cold it is! It didn't deter them though. We played in the water every single day of our vacation. It was cold, but we were having too much fun to care. The first day we got there we didn't put bathing suits because I thought we were just going to look at the beach, but the kids ran in, clothes and all!

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The place we stayed was great, the ocean was beautiful and we had so much fun taking day trips to tourist spots along the coast.

One day drove up to Seaside to visit a little aquarium. The aquarium actually isn't all that impressive, but we remembered from a vacation many years ago that they have a tank with seals in it that you can feed, and that's what we wanted to go back to do. It was as fun as I remembered it! You can buy some disgusting fish parts for $1 and then toss them into the tank for the seals. The seals get very excited about that and will do little tricks and try to get your attention. I kept sending Shawn back for more fish parts because we were having so much fun to wanted to keep doing it.

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After that fun we stopped at a restaurant in Seaside for lunch. It's funny as a mom which parts of the vacation were most fun for me. We did a lot of big fun activities, but for some reason that lunch stands out to me as one of the best parts of the trip. It wasn't a special restaurant or anything, but as we sat there eating we were all laughing and joking and talking about our favorite parts of the trip and things we still wanted to do before we went home, I just had one of those moments where I looked around at my husband and kids and I wanted to save that memory forever. Everyone together and laughing and happy. That's all I want in life. Just those four people around me, laughing and enjoying our time together. It was perfect.

On a different day we drove to Newport, which is a great town to visit in Oregon. On the way we stopped at the Yaquina Head lighthouse, which is absolutely gorgeous. You can walk down a bunch of stairs to the beach and there are tide pools, seals and sea lions in the water, and it's just an absolutely gorgeous view. We had a really great time there. That is a place we've never been before and I will definitely go back the next time we're in Oregon.

On that day we also visited the Newport Aquarium, which is really big and nice. We had a great day there! OH!! And I have a funny story! Remember the story of the snow globes in Mexico? Clarissa wanted a snow globe and we broke the first one so we bought another one and it got taken away at the airport, so we bought a third one and almost got that one taken away?

We told the kids that they each had $20 to spend on souvenirs on the trip. Clarissa said that she wanted to add to her snow globe collection. We found her a snow globe at the gift shop at the aquarium. We carried it around in a bag for 20 minutes before it got dropped and broke. At which point I looked at Shawn and said "SERIOUSLY?!!" We went back to the gift shop to buy another one. They took pity on us and let us exchange it. They wrapped the second one in several layers of bubble wrap. We are not responsible snow globe owners.

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Another day on the trip we visited the Tillamook Cheese factory. We learned how cheese is made, had cheese samples and ate ice cream. The entire week we were in Oregon, I think the cheese factory was the most crowded place we went. There were long lines everywhere! In the line for ice cream there was literally a sign like at Disney World that said 'from this point your wait is 12 minutes" or something. Of all the amazing and beautiful things to do on the Oregon Coast, the cheese factory had the most people. The cheese factory. I think that says something about Americans, lol. Get out of the cheese factory and go take a walk on the beach. Says the woman who waited 20 minutes in line at the cheese factory for ice cream. Hey, no one was handing out free cheese at the beach. :)

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The rest of the week we played on the beach, we had movie nights and games at the beach house, we took a train ride by the bay in Garibaldi, we laughed, we bonded, we ate salt water taffy and I bought fudge...twice, we took a beautiful nature walk to Cape Mears lighthouse, and we just enjoyed a glorious, amazing, beautiful week together.

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On the way home we stopped in Portland again and visited OMSI, which is a really cool science center. We watched a 3D documentary about the ocean, we did some science experiments, we walked through Ripleys Believe it or Not exhibits, and had a great day. Also, we ate pizza at the restaurant there and Matthew declared in the best pizza he's ever eaten.

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On our way out of town we stopped at Voodoo donut, just because it's one of those famous Portland places we've heard about and needed to find out what the fuss was about. Weird place, good donuts. There's my review. :)

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And then we said goodbye to our vacation and made the journey home. We had an absolutely amazing week, but everyone was happy to sleep in their own beds again.

I am SO glad we finally took that vacation. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. It might be the last big vacation we take for a bit, so I'm glad that we did it. Next summer I'm going to be taking college classes, Josh will probably be taking some classes and will likely have a job, so I don't see us fitting in another big trip for a bit. We are planning to do a couple of small ones, I think we're planning to go to Utah for Spring break next year for a few days and I want to take a trip to my hometown for the 4th of July next summer, but with college to pay for and everyone so busy, this might be our last big adventure for a few years.

The rest of the month has been just as busy! As soon as we got back from Oregon, we got the boys packed up and they went on a pioneer trek with our church. Every four years they do a really fun pioneer reenactment. The kids dress up like pioneers and they pull handcarts through the wilderness for a few days. It's a big event and the kids had a really great time. It's kind of fun to look at the pictures and see hundreds of kids dressed up like pioneers pulling handcarts. Maybe that sounds miserable, but the kids came home happy with lots of fun stories to tell!

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Last week Josh and I carried on our family book club tradition and we read Paper Towns and went and saw the movie. It was cute, I had a fun time bonding with Josh. There haven't been as many book to movies this year, so I was excited to have one we could read and watch together.

Then last night we had a really exciting event! For Josh's birthday in May we gave him four tickets to see Imagine Dragons in concert and last night was finally the big night! We bought the tickets in February and then kept them a secret from Josh until May, so this has been a long time coming!

So we arranged for Clarissa to spend the night at a friends house and Shawn and I took the boys to the concert last night. This is the first time the kids have been to a real concert, so they were really excited. We made it a big night out and took them to dinner beforehand. The concert was amazing! We all had such a great time, but didn't get home until almost midnight and we were exhausted. It's been too long since I've been to a concert. We had so much fun that now I want to see what other concerts we might be able to go to. I forgot how fun they are!

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So there is our busy July! Now we're into August and it's going to be just as busy with back to school stuff. Clarissa starts school in a week, so I have a lot to do to get her ready for that, and then the boys go back later this month.

I'm anxious to get them back to school because once they're all settled, I start college in September! I'm really nervous, but really excited! I haven't talked a lot about college or the strange circumstances that led to it, but maybe I will next month when it gets going. This is going to be a good thing for me.

Also, as long as I'm sharing pictures, here are a few I took of Matthew and Clarissa in the backyard the other day.

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Ok, so now that I've caught my blog up on our recent adventures, I'm going to go enjoy a quiet Sunday afternoon before a busy week ahead! :)