Whatever you wish for you keep

Life in the South has been good. We are all enjoying it very much. Especially the mild winter. It was 75 the other day and I took Amidala for a walk in a t-shirt and capris. Amidala is getting bigger and smarter everyday. Her and I have a lot of fun together each day but that may be changing soon as I have a job interview next week. Hopefully it goes well. For now I'm prepping for the interview and coordinating what I will do with Amidala for the couple of hours I will be gone.
Since moving into our own house we have been extremely busy but have gotten to take time to enjoy some of the great nature features that NC has to offer. With that note here is a 101 in 1001 update.
#7: Since moving we have been going to church with the in laws. We usually go once per month as trying to get there with a 2 year old is sometime challenging. But we have gone at least once per month in the last 6.
#16: Anakin and I have been watching a lot of Sci-Fi series in particular Star Trek: Voyager and Battle Star Galatica. I know these aren't movies but series but I usually don't watch them so I included them in this one.
#17: Before we moved from Quincy, my last full week at work I offered my seat each day to someone on the T. To my surprise most people did not take me up on the offer. But at least I tried.
#23: We finally went to another farmer's market. The one we went to here is open everyday and is huge. There are about 6 building full of stuff and then outside there are plants and more crafters. It was great to go and we will probably go back in the summer.
#73: During Christmas I offered to babysit for my nephew while they went out to dinner with my in-laws. Amidala had a great time playing with her cousin.
#79: Anakin and I started a savings account before we closed on our house to have some money put aside for work we needed to do on the house.
#98: Going stargazing is something I always wanted to do and Anakin and I did on our deck in January. Since there are no city lights to compete with it was great and I saw so many more stars. We will do it again soon.

That's all for now.
-Rachel

My Big Girl

Yay for the weekend. I know I don't have much merit in saying that while being a stay at home mom but I enjoy getting to spend time with my family. Amidala is now officially a big girl. She sleeps in her big girl bed, starts day care again on Monday, and has no more binky. At her new day care they are not allowed to have in the two year old room so upon reading that, we decided to take it away so it was a non issue when she needed to transfer up to that room. We started on Monday and she has been doing great! With some incentives of course. She go a new Nala and a doodle pad for being a big girl. We went to visit her new school on Wednesday and stayed for about an hour and a half, so she could get used to it and meet the new kids. A couple of the kids had binkies and Amidala pointed at them and said babies mommy. She is such a good goober.
Today is exciting because I have a phone interview and this will hopefully lead to an in person one next week. More to come on that.
Since we were so busy before we moved I didn't have time to update my 101 in 1001. So here is an update since we have been in the south.

#42: I had a goal of cleaning our basement while we were in Quincy but since we had to move it was cleaned in the packing/sorting and trashing. So I do have a clean/organized basement, I just don't get to use it.

#52: This summer Anakin and I have been taking Amidala for nightly walks in Crown Colony before we moved. It was nice to get out get some fresh air and exercise and let Amidala burn some energy before bed.

#72: Anakin and I went on a date with my friends Jen and Evan. We went to Rio's in Quincy which is an all you can eat Brazilian BBQ. It was delicious and I definitely ate way more than I should have.

#91: Drinking enough water is hard, especially while working. Anakin and I found these water bottles called Camelbak's and they are great. I can honestly say I drink a ton of water with it.

Hope you all enjoyed this update and hopefully I will have some news on the job front soon!
-Rachel

The Big Move

So from the short post earlier this week, you probably have figured out we are now living in NC. We drove down over the course of 2 days, 20 hours in the car with Amidala in our car and the cats in my inlaws. It was a long drive that was rerouted due to Hurricane Irene. All in all the drive was not too bad, we saw some beautiful scenery in New York State and Central Pennsylvania. The mountains out there are beautiful and so peaceful.
On day two we began our treck from central PA, through West Virginia and Virginia for most of the day. We even went through South Boston, VA. And the last leg of the trip was North Carolina, which was about an hour and our first run in with rain.
The family and I are happy down here and doing well. Anakin started a new job two weeks ago and I am still on the hunt but have a promising lead from Fidelity. Since I am not working I have the pleasure of spending my days with Amidala. She is quite the artist and we are accumulating quite the surplus of art at age 2. Hopefully everything works out and I get a job soon.
Speaking of Amidala, she will be two in 5 weeks!!! Where does the time go. It seems she was just turning 1!!
That's it for now. If you would like an Amidala original please let me know, I hate to get rid of it.
-Rachel

Now there you go again you say

What a long and emotional month it has been for me. I know May has just started but it has already been super busy and eventful. Amidala needs to get ear tubes. We went to a pediatric ENT last Friday. She had been on new medication for 5 days and still had a bunch of fluid in both ears and one was still infected. They did a hearing test, she is fine and her hearing has thankfully not been affected by the frequent ear infections. The doctor we saw was more than nice. She said she would highly recommend the tubes but said we could wait out the summer if we wanted. We decided it was already long enough for her to be in pain and on a ton of medication. She will have the procedure done a week from Friday.
We also went on a family vacation to visit family in NYC. It was a great time, I was nice to go and see some site and enjoy a new place with family.
the lack of post has not been with out cause, I've been busy with Amidala, had a vacation, had a lot of sorority volunteer events going on and of course working on my 101.
Here is the update:
#2: We visited NYC, I know I have been before but it was for less than a day plus I didn't do much other than be on the bus to and from. We had a ton of fun, got to see a lot of iconic sites, relax, spend time with family and each other. NYC is so different from Boston. It's hard getting around a city I didn't know and sharing a room the size of my bedroom with 2 other people.
#16: Anakin and I watched Tron:Legacy. I have never seen the first one and thought this looked so stupid. We didn't even give it thought to see it in the theaters. I was good, engaging. It has made me want to see the original at some point.
#27: Take Amidala to the zoo. While in NYC we went to the Central Park Zoo. The original plan was the bronx zoo but the ride would have been way too long. In the end the Central Park Zoo was perfect. It was small enough to not be all day but enough animals to hold her interest. She loved it. Her favorites were the snow leopard, and fire fox.
#29: Person #2 for the hand made challenge is done. They are not here yet. I made some things for some friends who are expecting in July. Pictures to come once I have given them the gift.
#55: Learn to make 10 new recipes. Anakin and I made our own pizza dough. It was not the one I grew up making with my grandfather. I only know how to make that one on an extremely large scale. We also tried to recreate the risotto we had from the Lodge in Williamsburg. It was a Vegan risotto with caramelized onions and apples. It came out great and will be made again soon.
#60: Visit 3 museums. While in NYC we went to the MET. It was huge. It reminded me of the Louvre, there is so much you never feel like you see all of it. We really enjoyed the Egyptian and Renaissance wings. Amidala loved this blue hippo and said "hippo" every time she saw it.
#66: Own all the Disney Classic movies. Anakin and I have been buying the classics as they are released from the vault and are up to current on them. I'm not sure that there are anymore classics to get gotten.
#89: This is one of the first Lenten seasons where I faithfully abstained from meat on Fridays and holy Days for the whole time. While it was challenging when we just wanted to order out but it was not that bad.
Check back soon to see how Amidala's is doing and thanks for stopping by. Also look for some more photography by me soon.
-Rachel