tomorrow...tonight...today.

Tomorrow, we shall do something that we've never done before - put in an offer to a house that we hope to own as our own. It's been a roller-coaster ride for this house, but we both feel confidant enough about it to make an offer. I'm excited.

Tonight my friend Rosanna and I will get together with our little ones as our husbands are away celebrating Man Fest 2010. I think this is the third Man Fest since we've all been friends. Us girls usually do something while the boys are away celebrating their manliness. Johanna wasn't able to make it, so it's just Ro and myself tonight (we'll miss you JO!!). We're planning on eating yummy Indian food, and watching a chick flick...and somewhere in-between putting our boys to bed.

Today, we had our first batch of April Showers. It thundered and rained pretty hard. As I gaze out our balcony window I'm amazed at how green the grass looks! YESSS!! I'm not a huge fan of rain, but every now and then it's okay - especially when I get to stay indoors and enjoy it safe and warm. ;)

((As I type, the sun is shining right into our apartment. I love the sun...and I love that it's still around at 7:00pm. :D))

P.S.
Joshua Radin is officially my new music crush. ;)

Adios March...it's been a fun adventure.

March is over and done with. I shall never forget March 2010. It was a crazy and fun and ever-so-busy month for us and our extended family. I've decided to sit myself down and try to sort this past month out. I can already tell this will be a long post so bear with me.
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WEEK ONE:

{friends}
The month started off with hanging out with friends. My friend Brandy moved to a different state and so we spent a lot of time hanging out and cherishing the last few days that we had together. We also had one last girls night out with all 5 of us. It was fun hanging out with my girls and enjoying the fellowship and funny conversations.



WEEK TWO:

{shower 3.10}
My dear sister (in-law) Bethany got married on the 12th. Ruth and I threw her a personal shower a couple days before her big day. We had fun decorating my apartment and making it all girly. The cake I made turned out really well too (whew). We shared many laughs that night as we showered Beth with fun and playful presents. Here are a couple pictures of the glorious food. :D




{wedding 3.12}
Friday was an exciting day for the Gulbranson (and Harzell) family. I arrived at the church around noon to help the girls get ready. I had my trusty makeup apron full of my brushes and my fun makeup kits too. I enjoyed helping Beth with her hair and makeup. She looked stunning. It was a rushed process with doing the bridesmaids makeup, but we survived and I think the girls looked wonderful. The wedding was gorgeous and perfect. Simon didn't make it all the way down the aisle as the ring bearer, but he did make an effort and I have to say looked pretty swell in his suit. I love my kid. The reception was kind of a blur as we were chasing after our little one the whole evening. I think next time we go to a family wedding, we'll hire a babysitter to come with us to watch our kid(s) so we don't miss everything. Whew, where we ever exhausted that night when we got home - who knew chasing after a 19 month old could be such a workout (especially in heals). ;)





**All of these wedding pictures are courtesy of Abigail Stranz (and her sister Sarah). They did a wonderful job - check out Abby's website: http://www.wix.com/Abbiegirl/BeautifulMoments

THIRD WEEK:

{family drama far, far away 3.17}
My little brother Josiah (12 yrs) broke his left clavicle while riding his bike. My dear mom has gone 26 years without any of her kids braking a bone. Leave it to Josiah to break that record (haha, no pun intended). ;) It's hard living so far away when stuff like this happens. You just want to give the kid a hug (side hug in his case) and pamper and make him feel better. Poor little guy...lol, I say little, but really he's almost as tall as I am. Gah!

{baby 3.19}
This week was also a fun week for the Gulbranson family. Peter's older brother, Matt and his wife Jackie had their first baby on the 19th (one week after the wedding). Jackie should get an award for not having the baby the week before (we were all holding our breath and crossing our fingers that she would wait until after the wedding so they wouldn't have to miss it). Penelope Danger Gulbranson was born on a Friday, with a beautiful head of hair and a beautiful spirit. We went to visit them at the hospital that next day. She's such a gorgeous little baby and I can't wait to watch her grow up...and I get to spoil her too, 'cause I'm an AUNT!! :D Peter and I are both excited to be Aunt and Uncle for the very first time.


{house hunting 3.20}
Peter and I met with our Realtor on Saturday to look at a few houses...6 to be exact. This was our first experience with the whole house-buying process (other then applying and getting approved for a loan). We came away from the experience a little dazed and depressed. It's tough being on a budget and feeling like you're settling for less then you want. But that's how it has to be sometimes. Someday... ;) We didn't really find any that we were comfortable with (they all had characteristics that we liked, but sadly the bad outweighed the good).

FORTH WEEK:

This week was full of random things that kept us busy. We babysat for friends, I finalized and sent out my music CDs (see emotional music post), worked out, had a date with my husband, got my hair cut - AHH!!, saw an additional 4 houses (more on that later) and had dinner with Matt and Jackie (Shane and Jess) and baby Penelope (among other things that would simply bore you to tears).

{house hunting take two - 3.27}
So like I stated above we saw an additional 4 houses on Saturday. We were only impressed with one of the houses. It started off quite awkward as the whole family was there when we stepped in to see the house, and to make matters worse they didn't speak English. Awkward! We did end up poking our heads into each room to get an idea as to what the layout was like and how big the rooms were, even though there were people napping (including a brand new baby). We pretty much liked everything about the house (layout, neighborhood, landscape, lawn, garage and shed). The only downside was that they were in the process of fixing the roof. There was some pretty serious damage done to it and even though they're fixing it, it's made us a little nervous about going forward with putting in an offer. It's also a short sale house, so it could take quite some time before we could close on it (between that and the roof problem). It's all in God's hands and I know that if this isn't the house for us, then He has a better one waiting for us. :)

FIFTH WEEK:

{miscellaneous stuff 3.29-31}
Monday, we went and looked at the house again (along with another possible house that we were thinking of - that house needed too much work though, and we decided that it wasn't worth it). Tuesday, I worked out and had Small Group at our place, and Wednesday, I called my little brother, Matthew who turned 22 that day to wish him a happy birthday. I'm blown away at how fast my younger siblings are growing up. Crazy!

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So yeah, that was March 2010. We went through the whole month without a single snow flake, which is crazy because March tends to be the snowiest month of all here in MN. Apparently we haven't gone without snow in March for 130 years - pretty impressive, right?! I'm looking forward to April where the weather will be gorgeous, the grass will be greener and the trees will start to bud at a faster rate. Adios March, Hola April.

"Home is where your heart is"...okay heart, show us where our home is.

House shopping is one of the strangest things we've had to do since getting married. There are so many details that you need to think about. Two years ago I was apartment shopping...and let me tell you, there's a world of difference between shopping for an apartment and for a house. Gah. Last Saturday we went on a tour of 6 houses that we were interested in (from the pictures and info that we were able to glean from MLS.com). I wish there was a way to morph 3 houses together, coming up with our "perfect" house. There were definitely some houses that stood out to us (one especially)...but non were perfect. I was hoping that that would be the case...a sense of peace. Today we saw an additional 4 houses. There was one that stood out to us (nice neighborhood, nice layout), but it's a short sale which could end up being a long process...without any promises (whoever thought up the term: "Short Sale" apparently didn't know the definition for "short" - haha). We're kind of in a time crunch if we want to take advantage of the $8,000 credit as well as getting our apartment deposit back (making it so we would have to move out of our current residence by the first of June...the time where our current lease will be up).

Location is a big deal to me. I love Saint Paul, but to me the area that we want to live is: 1) to expensive and 2) too far away from family (who graciously babysit Simon on a weekly basis while Peter and I attend our churche's small group and go on a date every now and then).

Price is obviously a big deal as well.

The layout to me as a semi-organized women is huge. It doesn't make sense not to have a bathroom on the second floor where all of the bedrooms are (I shudder at the thought of my potty-trainee toddler going down the stairs in the middle of the night to use the bathroom - Hmm, the words "chamber pot" comes to mind as a possible solution - lol...eww!). Also, having no closets in the bedrooms is just.so.very.wrong. lol. Sadly those were the houses that I liked the most last week. An unfinished basement isn't ideal and yet...that's how most of them were. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty with fixing up a house. I'm okay with making one of the three bedrooms a communal closet if that has to be the case.

House hunting is such a strange and stressful process. I know the stress will go up a level once we put in an offer (not to mention the numerous questions that come with that action...how much do you offer and how long will it take before you know that you actually have won the offer war...). You would think purchasing a house would be easier as almost everyone has to go through this crazy confusing process. Thank goodness for friends who are Realtors (someone you can trust and feel comfortable asking "silly" questions - haha).

Anyway, if you think about it, pray for us as we go though this process. I won't lie, I do yearn for a place to call my own. A yard to plant flowers and vegetables in, and a yard for my child to play in. A house to entertain and have guests over (a guest room for friends and family). And selfishly, a craft room to house all of my accumulated "stuff" (sewing machine, scrapbooking accessories, yarn - you know, crafty stuff) ;). But more importantly, a place where people feel welcome and feel the love of Jesus pouring out upon them. I know the Lord is using this opportunity to stretch us and make us rely on Him and for that I'm grateful. I do love watching God work as we step aside and fully rely on Him. I pray that we remember to do that more often as we go through this process. :)

Romans 8:28 & 31

Homesick

I'm homesick today. I called home this morning to check up on my little brother (Josiah broke his arm on the 17th while biking) and to catch up with my mom on how the family was doing. Simon was being especially cute while I was on the phone and I just wanted to share the fun with my family. I looked up tickets while on the phone and was astonished at the prices: $450-750 (note to self Delta is expensive flying from MSP to FWA). Ahh! We haven't tried driving out to see my family since Simon has been born...I can only imagine the stress of a 10-hour trip (not to mention wasting 2 whole days driving). I feel like it'll only get harder and more expensive to visit my family as the years pass on by. That's depressing.

Emotional Music

I've been so emotional lately - thank you hormones. Friday and Tuesday night I cried silly tears. I started tearing up as I was thinking about my family just a little bit ago too...I guess I'm homesick. Sigh. I hate not having total control of my body. It's frustrating and I'm sure quite annoying for my husband as well. ;) I've been quite exhausted from numerous activities that have been keeping me busy these past couple of weeks. Now that life is starting to slow down, my body seems to be doing the same. It's times like these where I wish I could sleep in and take naps whenever I wanted. The thoughts of taking a vacation has also entered my mind - ahh, how lovely would it be to escape from this apartment and city to somewhere sunny and warm with my husband and well-mannered little boy (hey, a girl can dream) and just relax.

I've been working on a music playlist for the past month. A few girls and I are trading CDs full of music that have shaped our lives. It's been an interesting experiment. It's definitely taken me back quite a few years, that's for sure. I've also noticed that my music taste has grown a lot...and that I still enjoy listening to music from back in the day. Hopefully I'll finalize it soon - I've become such a procrastinator when it comes to this project. Bad Jes. ;)

A much needed break. Time to blog.

What a CRAZY 8 days! I've literally had something going on each and every day - mostly fun things. This week is going to be exactly the same, what with Beth's personal shower at my place tomorrow evening and her wedding *squeal*, Friday night. I'm pumped and ready to go!

Last week I was able to spend a lot of time with my girlfriends. Wednesday all 5 of us got together for the first time in a while. We ate at a cute cafe and wandered down Uptown to this fun shop called Heartbreaker...too bad we only had 10 minutes to shop before they closed, I could have spent an hour there browsing through their cute dresses and fun jewelry and...shoes (which I didn't even get to look at *pout*.) I think our next girls day should consist of consignment shops and Heartbreaker. :)






Amid the fun of last week, there was also a sad time for me. I had to say goodbye to my sweet girlfriend, Brandy. We have really grown close this last year and I had a hard time saying goodbye to her on Thursday. Thank goodness for Skype and cell phones. :)



As I stated above, Ruth and I are throwing a personal shower for Beth tomorrow evening. I'm deep cleaning the apartment today and tomorrow (there's nothing like having 15 people at ones home to spur on spring cleaning). And, I made this cake today as well. I'm almost done assembling it - so far so good. I'm nervous and excited about the end result. I've only made it once before and that was a couple of years ago for Peter's birthday. It was a huge hit, and it's still talked about even to this day, so I'm giving it another try and crossing my fingers that it turns out just as well...if not better!


On Saturday, Peter and I went out shopping for the wedding. I actually found quite a few deals - skinny jeans, black wedge boots (both of which, obviously weren't wedding related), an adorable gray sheath belted dress, and yesterday, I bought some really cute Vera Wang bow shoes. love. I hate how excited I get when I buy clothes, it's seriously a disease. ;)

Well, enough about my life. I need to publish this, get the boy up from his nap and make dinner...ahh!! Breath, just breath. :D

What to do?

I've always had a hard time feeding my child. It started with breastfeeding and is now continuing on with solids. There was a very brief time where he would eat anything and everything we gave him, but that didn't last very long.

Currently, he's the most picky little-kid eater I've met. He closes his eyes and shakes his head when he doesn't want to eat and that happens often (I do have to admit, the closing of his eyes is pretty cute...it's almost like he's saying I can't see it, therefore it's not there). Dinnertime with my little family has become a struggle. I hate that. I used to look forward to dinner, sitting with my husband hearing about his day, enjoying our time as we all sat down together. Now it's a constant battle to get Simon to eat...and eat the right way. When he doesn't want to eat, he often times makes a big mess, playing with his food flinging it here and there. To make matter's worse, Simon has also become quite the independent little boy. He hit 18 months and wants to do everything himself and in his own way. ((Yes, Mom he got his strong will from me)). It's cute watching him try his hand at different things, but when it comes to eating he hardly gets a bite in his mouth. He's enamored with stirring and and playing with his food and forgets that the food actually goes into his mouth. He hates it when I take the spoon from his hand and tries to feed him. When I do succeed in getting food into his mouth, he promptly spits it out. It's frustrating to both myself and my little boy. He hates veggies and mostly anything that's good for him (does he ever love empty carbs though!). He does enjoy a nice bowl of oatmeal or hot cereal every so often, so that's nice. I've tried pureeing veggies into his oatmeal, but he's getting wise and figuring out the scam.

I want my little one to eat properly and enjoy the good healthy stuff. I hate forcing it upon him and don't want him to have a food complex growing up. Feeding my child ranks high on my Most Frustrating Things About Motherhood list.

So, if any of my dear mommy friends have any advice or wise words of wisdom for me, I would greatly appreciate hearing them. Until then, all I can do is pray and wait patiently. I really do hope that this is just a phase that he's going through.