Nearing the end of 2011 with a smile on our faces

The beginning of this year, I wrote about this being the Year of the Rabbit and what that meant. How perfect!  The Year of the Rabbit brought lots of change to our lives this year, which was to be expected, its not been an easy year but has been a fulfilling year and is ending on a wonderful note! We are happier than ever -- Team Cook is officially adding a member to its team, a little girl! 

Being pregnant so far has been such a surreal experience, I am still just trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. And now I can feel her moving around and its blowing my mind!  I am half way there and can't believe its going by so fast!  I have never looked forward to a year more than this upcoming one!  Amazing how time changes things, this time last year, I was so sad that things weren't working out the way I had hoped.  We put our selves through so much to have our current outcome... glad to see it all worked out! 

We bought the farm house, plans to move their in the spring, and we are having our little girl, Amelia (middle name still being decided) Cook.  So many things to be thankful for and to look forward too!

I am also overwhelmed and overjoyed by the compassion and excitement of all those near me about Amelia's arrival.

I am going to try to be better about posting and will post an image of Amelia's 20 week u/s soon!

It's Official!

We are official - well microWave project that is!  Our little business venture had a milestone, the painful process to get our business license, sort out our tax issues have finally been resolved!  We are officially a business.  We have so many awesome projects planned and 2011 is moving fast!

Eric and I are also going through the painful process of trying to start a family, which has never been an easy task for us. We will have a family one day, its just the way we go about it may be different than what we had always planned on.  We are trying to buy Mt. Echo and have begun talking to the bank -- that is very exciting.  The saying "Build it and they will come" has a nice ring to it and I am hoping that it is a true statement. The house we want to buy is big enough for the big family we have both always wanted. Getting our ducks in a row is not a quick process but I feel like we are waddling our way through it and we are making progress. 

Its also wild to think that Eric and I will be celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary the end of this month!!  That blows my mind!!

Happiness is...

spending the day with Eric and the dogs at the farm house, listening to the rain beat down on the metal roof, cooking up a storm of my own in the kitchen, watching the dogs play,  daydreaming with Eric about what we plan to do when we grow up, sitting by the fire reading, having a neighbor give us fresh eggs from their chickens, discovering Mole sauce at the grocery store that tastes EXACTLY like what I had in Mexico with my good friend Claire, long walks in the country with the dogs, and so much more....

Mardis Gras and all that jazz

Mardis Gras was a blast and a much needed break from life for a few days.  Work and life are moving so quickly for me right now that it made perfect sense to take it easy in the "Big Easy."  Lots of great fattening food, shopping for fun wigs, great parades with lots of awesome throws, and great quality time with friends made the weekend perfect.  I am a lucky girl to have such a strong  support system around me.  I do not take it for granted, not one minute.

Returning home, (literally the very next day) I had to have a minor medical procedure and then make a potentially life changing decision.  Then jump back into work full speed, with crazy all around me and attempt to keep my emotions in check.  Now I am heading out for the weekend to the farm house and plan to relax and hopefully paint some in the studio.  This will be a "me" weekend and I refuse to feel guilty about not going into work on Sunday.

I will enjoy spending quality time with my beautiful husband and two cute dogs this weekend. Did I already mention that I am a lucky girl?!

2011- Year of the Rabbit

So, its been a few months since my last post here. Fall has past and winter is almost over. 2010 was a really good year; a year filled with self discovery, exploration, getting back to our roots, creating a plan. The most important thing that happened to us in 2010 is that we finally figured out how to become unstuck! We rid our feet of the cement blocks, removed the chips on our shoulders (ahem, his shoulders -- just sayin'), stepped out of the sinking mud and made our way through to moving forward with ease.

Now 2011 is here, and I for one am so excited for what it brings. It feels appropriate that it is the year of the rabbit! I think of rabbits as being able to move swiftly but also for producing. I hope to have a productive year, continue to move swiftly forward towards our dreams of starting a family, to Eric finding a new job, finishing his Masters degree (in March - yay!), and moving microWave project forward to a successful business venture with my good friend Allison.

We have already started the process to begin our family, and April will reveal whether Step 1 of our plan worked. If not we will decide whether to repeat step 1 or proceed to step 2. Step 2 has always been a definite step that we plan to take, timing and place has always been the question.

We are also in the process of remodeling our townhouse, which feels like it will never be finished --hell its barely got started. We are also trying to decide whether or not we want to buy the farmhouse. We have until July to make our decision!

I will be leaving for New Orleans next week to attend Mardis Gras with two of my closest friends - Claire and Allison! I have never been before and know that if I don't go this year -- I will never go. I have a rolling bucket list, and this is on it. I will post about the trip when I return with hopefully some awesome pictures!!! We are spending Saturday night of the trip dressed as USO Pinup girls. Crazy!!