Me:
I am no longer with the City of Vancouver, I took another position with Clark Public Utilities. I quickly realized that customer service isn't my niche so I applied for another position and got it! I am the administrative assistant for Fleet. I work with a great group of guys and my schedule is M-F 8am-5pm.
Dan:
Dan left his job and WaferTech after he accepted a position with BNSF. He has been there since May 2013. In July, he left the Air National Guard in favor of spending more time with family and staying on this side of the globe.
Liam (13):
Liam is well into his seventh grade year and is loving all of it. He still procrastinates a bit (don't we all?) but his grades have gotten better and he even received an award for Student of the Month! Since Dan and I are both working full time, Liam is home before/after school. He still spends about half his time with his dad.
Pippa (2):
Miss Pippa is fully potty trained now and we are having a blast with her. I'm astonished at her vocabulary on a daily basis. You can have a full "normal" conversation with her. She surprises me every day. Pippa is in daycare at Nancy's again (Liam's previous daycare) - she's like family to us. She misses Liam when he is gone and is annoyed with him when he is around. :-)
Our family has had some huge changes this year, 2013:
Dan's father, Dewey, passed away in January
We both started new jobs/positions in May
My grandmother, Florinda, passed away in July
We bought a new house (and moved) just last week!!!
We are fortunate enough to be able to afford both houses for while. Our hope is to clean up the "old" house and put it up for sale early in the New Year. Even if we make no money from the sale of the house, it will be so nice to not have to worry about it anymore.
We found a new house in Ridgefield still (same school district - I promised Liam) that is on acreage (4.45) and has chickens and a creek! We spent our first night there on Thursday and we are in love. We knew we wanted this house the second we saw it, it was perfect for our family.
We have been on a warpath to pay off all of our debt (starting last May). Most all of our debt is student loans, then we have my car and our homes. We have been plugging away as much as possible and are down about $20k in 6 months!
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| Pippa at our family photo shoot in October 2013 |
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| Liam at our family photo shoot in October 2013 |
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| Pippa and Liam swinging on the beach in Seaside |
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| Big brother helping out his sister at the Esther Short Park fountain. |
Okay, that was the quick and dirty update to bring you to where we are today.
This Christmas Eve my dad is coming to visit and we are having our big dinner. Dan is at home right now smoking a turkey and we will have scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, veggies, rolls and pie. Tomorrow we will open gifts and Liam will go visit with his dad. I hope to take lots of pictures of the kids, present opening, chickens and house to get everyone up to speed.
