Tacoma?

Hey, it looks like the verdict is in and we are headed to Tacoma for a few months. We have a lot of reasons to come back to Walnut Creek at least for several weekends through April. After that, I'll at least have to be back once a month for my prenatal check up. I am really excited to just know where we will be. It has been pretty tough being in Limbo for so long. Spencer is excited about his role, which will provide him with some good Leadership opportunities. Also, the corporate housing scene is looking great.

Right now in Tacoma it is 45 degrees (vs. 58 in Walnut Creek). I'm really hoping it's not too cold and that the winter doesn't last too long. If anybody knows how long the winters are in Tacoma, I'd love to know.

Cadence is going to especially miss Luke, Rebecca, Lauren and Avery, and Wes adn Linda (the Carlsons, whom we live with) and Matt and Mimi. I'm going to miss a lot of people too. Merica, Kellie, and Mimi and Matt, especially. I would probably miss Heather more if I got to see her at all :). That's true about a lot of you. I am also going to miss seeing Victory be a real person again and miss Heidi's and Whitney's great lessons.

One final note: for those of you who know my sister Mignon, and that she's been serving a mission in Korea, MIGNON GETS HOME ON SATURDAY! I'll see her for the first time next Tuesday. Keep your eyes peeled for a special post all about it.

This is Cadence at 3 days old. She was such an angel baby. Just thought you might like to see the development of the cutest baby ever.

This (below) is Cadence as a very cute Unicorn and Luke, her man of choice, as a ruggedly handsome cowboy. And when I say "man of choice", I mean it. She pretends to call him on the phone, they love to kiss (unprovoked by us big people), and she talks to him even when he's not there (lately she's been heard saying "Luke, No! No, Luke.")

My Favorite Cadence-isms

Cadence is at an age where everything she does is so new and usually hilarious. This is a list of my favorite words, games, etc. from Cadence:

-Ahgotchanose!! (Playing the "I got your nose" game. She likes to tell daddy to "put it back!") She plays this game with herself, or people, or her stuffed animals.

-When she wants a bottle, which means she's tired, she says, "A make a bottle, YEAH!"

-Calling for Nina, Annie, or Nana. I have no idea who those people are, but she calls for them often.

-Shakes her booty. If you instruct her to do this, she'll place both hands on the back of her hips and really move that thang. She's an avid dancer. She's also got a shimmy that'll knock your socks off.

-Obsessed with shoes and bags. She loves to find different pairs of shoes in her drawer and begs me to help her put them on. After trying them out, she'll find another pair and beg to wear them instead. Trying to take her out of a shoe-store is a nightmare. Oh, and if you have a handbag on you, be prepared. She's going to assertively take it from you so she can sling it over her shoulder and walk around. She especially enjoys this if there is a cell phone around that she can pin between the same bagged shoulder and her cheek and talk.

-Talks all day long. She says everything we say. "Shake-a-booty!" is one she really likes. Most of the funny ones are things that Spencer has said that are embarrassing for one reason or another. She makes sure she talks from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes down. When you walk in her room after she's made it clear she's awake, the second she sees you, she frantically starts naming the first things she sees and tries to talk about them. This is hard when she is groggy, and it turns into a panicky babble, usually. It's my favorite part of the day.

-The blame game. In preparation for potty training, I've taught her to recognize when she is "Stinky". But she thinks she's smarter than me. If you suspect she is stinky and ask her, she'll say, "Mama stinky? Grandma stinky? Teddy Bear stinky?" She'll blame it on anybody in the room and then look for toys to blame it on. I don't know where she learned this!

Well, I could go on and on. It looks like I already have. If you aren't convinced now that she's the cutest, come visit us! I know I'm THAT mom. I'm perfectly fine with all my friends being THAT mom, too. Go ahead, tell me the cute things your kids do.

Correction

In my first post I loosely cited some General Authority with saying it's "cool" to blog. It wasn't whoever I said it was. It was Elder Ballard and he said that while the rest of the world is using websites and blogs as ways to spread their own agendas, we should be using it as a tool to share the true principles of the gospel (as in, offer the correct version of mormonism, etc.) and to share how our lives are enriched by it. That's a really great point, isn't?
Okay, Heidi, if that's not right, you'd better tell me!

Why the Nomadic Lifestyle?

This blog is for those of you who may not know exactly what the subtitle of our blog is supposed to mean. ("Yes, we live, just not in the same place...blah blah," just look up and you'll see it.) If you already know our current living situation, it will be boring. Don't read it. Except the last paragraph which may update almost everybody.

Well, Spencer's line of work is one that allows him a certain degree of control over his assignments or projects. It is a huge company and so has clients in need of people almost anywhere. That means that if he chose, he would never have to leave the Bay Area which we've so happily inhabited since 2006. Not MY HUSBAND. He has never had much need to be grounded in one spot, in fact quite the opposite. He wants the most exciting project there is, so he's been travelling. He started this travel stuff in July of last year. The first couple of months we just dealt with it. He would be home two or three days a week, and the rest of the time I would call Matt and Mimi Snow and beg them to come keep me company...every night.

By the end of October I told him I was notnotnot going to stay one more night alone, oh and Cadence was getting kind of sad, too. So we drew the line and started going with him. At that time he was on a project in Orange County, so Cadence and I started living in his hotel. It was a great ward down there, and we had some fun. I really fell in love with the area (last week it was 78 degrees). I never had to clean a bathroom, or make my own bed. The hotel provided free breakfast buffets and evening snacks or dinners. All the hotel staff loved Cadence and so we make friends. It really wasn't too bad. After a few weeks of this, we thought, "Why are we paying 1200 a month for rent?" So in an impulse decision we moved everything we have out of our apt. and put most of it in storage. There is a really wonderful couple here in our ward (I'm talking back in the Bay Area) whose children are all grown and they have a couple of rooms/bathroom that they rarely use, so we have an arrangement with them and when we come here for the weekends, or as is the case this week, for more than a weekend, we have a place to stay with some of our own stuff.

Now Spencer is between projects and is looking at all his options. I vote stay in the Bay Area this time. But then we'd have to move our stuff out of storage and into an apartment, and pay rent...so, we'll see. Hopefully we won't be in limbo for more than a couple of days.

If any of you are considering this lifestyle, please consult me, and I'll give you a list of the pros and cons. Or if you are curious.

Too long. I'll get better.

Okay, Okay, I'll Blog... (you win, Nor).

Words from me are in big demand right now, and all my devoted fans are begging... okay, not really but some of my friends have mentioned that since I have a weird nomadic-type lifestyle, I should really blog, so that sometime, someone might know where my fam and I are. However, some other people have made it clear to me that they think blogging is a waste of time and other things I think may be true, which is why I have made myself some blogging rules:

1. No post will exceed three paragraphs in length.
2. No week will exceed three posts.
3. My blog is not posted as accessible on blogspot's page or through search engines (that's for you, mom).
4. I will include pictures of Cadence always. (except today because I don't have pics on my new computer yet).

This is why I decided to blog:

1. Heidi said that Boyd K. Packer said it was cool (or something to that effect).
2. I don't write in my journal enough.
3. As a mom, I lie down at night and drift to sleep with songs by the Doodlebops and Mickey Mouse in my head. I think forcing myself to write will help my intellect.
4. Cadence is really too cute to not share. Mom, I think you might secretly like this.

Okay, I don't know how to include lists in my paragraph count, but I think I've exceeded already. Blog over.