Thursday, July 31, 2008
Well, Butter My Butt?
After a little negotiation and a lot of signatures/initials, we have the Cherrywood Loop house under contract! Now come the fun parts of titles, insurance, inspection, picking new flooring, and waiting for September 5th when we get to sign our life away. (All still contingent upon our house in Pinehurst being signed over to its new owners at the end of August. We're really excited but still holding back just in case things start falling through.) When all is signed and done, we'll have a new place to put this fabulous doormat. . .
Monday, July 28, 2008
A Tale of Two Houses
This is our house in Pinehurst, NC.
We're hoping the sale will close as planned on Aug 28th.
These are the people who are buying our house in Pinehurst.
They're hopefully still hoping the sale will close as planned on Aug 28th.
This is the house we put an offer on in Richland,
contingent upon the sale of our house in Pinehurst.
This is the backyard of the house we put an offer on in Richland.
This is the garden area next to the detached, 2-car garage adjacent to the backyard of the house we put an offer on in Richland.
This is the kitchen that's next to the dining room that leads to the backyard of the house we put an offer on in Richland.
This is the living room that opens to the dining room that . . .
I think you get the idea.
Ally loved exploring our potentially new home.
We should find out today whether our offer was accepted, rejected, or needs to be revised. It's a great home in the perfect location. The square footage is double that of our first house, so we'd have to start pumping out more children to fill it. Until then, we'll have plenty of room for visitors.
We're hoping the sale will close as planned on Aug 28th.
These are the people who are buying our house in Pinehurst.They're hopefully still hoping the sale will close as planned on Aug 28th.
This is the house we put an offer on in Richland,contingent upon the sale of our house in Pinehurst.
This is the backyard of the house we put an offer on in Richland.
This is the garden area next to the detached, 2-car garage adjacent to the backyard of the house we put an offer on in Richland.
This is the kitchen that's next to the dining room that leads to the backyard of the house we put an offer on in Richland.
This is the living room that opens to the dining room that . . .I think you get the idea.
Ally loved exploring our potentially new home.
We should find out today whether our offer was accepted, rejected, or needs to be revised. It's a great home in the perfect location. The square footage is double that of our first house, so we'd have to start pumping out more children to fill it. Until then, we'll have plenty of room for visitors.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Sweet Walla Walla Walla
While watching TV a few weeks ago, Chris and I happened upon a low-budget commercial starring a rappin' onion. We were very intrigued, and thus was born our grand adventure of this past weekend: The Walla Walla Sweet Onion Festival.
I'll admit it. The advertising was a lot more fun than the actual event, but we still enjoyed our trip. We walked through a great little farmers' market and then down three or four blocks of the old-town main street. We saw a live band, all the typical craft and food vendors, an old car, some interesting sculptures, and a few great storefronts. You should check out some of our new pictures. Oddly, the only contact we had with an actual onion was when we ordered lunch from the local historic deli.
The food was great, and Ally loved running up and down the deli stairs to wave at Mommy/Momma from the balcony above. (She's forgotten how to say Daddy and now apparently thinks she has 2 mothers.)The verdict: Walla Walla onions really are sweet. And so is this guy's mustache! They call him the sausage king. . .
Thursday, July 17, 2008
What's in Chris' Head?
Karen's been having all the fun with this blog so I thought I'd give it a shot too. When I was in high school I learned about a form of writing called howling, where you just write and see what happens. So here goes:
-I’d say from all the characters on the office I’m most like Dwight, because I like beets.
-I’ve never had a mallomar. I don’t even know what’s in one. Although I’d imagine from the name that it’s a combination of a marshmallow and some kind of seafood.
-I have had a cumquat but I don’t think I used it right, it was a whole lot of terrible taste packed into a tiny package.
-I used to do leg squats when I was in high school. I think if I tried them now I’d lose a knee. Or maybe something from my bowels.
-We’ve got a lot of little things around our house, but I don’t know if any of them qualify as knick knacks. What’s the knick knack threshold? Does it need to have a tourist destination written on it? Or maybe it just needs to be displayed on a small mirrored shelf.
-We've been house hunting and I noticed that street names make a difference in how you feel about a house. We looked at a nice one on Bing St. Bing! I just like saying that one. Bing! We also looked at one on Killdeer Ct. How many people live on a street named after ending the life of an animal. Killdeer is also a kind of a bird, but I choose the dead animal meaning, it's more interesting.
That's what's in Chris' head this morning.
-I’d say from all the characters on the office I’m most like Dwight, because I like beets.
-I’ve never had a mallomar. I don’t even know what’s in one. Although I’d imagine from the name that it’s a combination of a marshmallow and some kind of seafood.
-I have had a cumquat but I don’t think I used it right, it was a whole lot of terrible taste packed into a tiny package.
-I used to do leg squats when I was in high school. I think if I tried them now I’d lose a knee. Or maybe something from my bowels.
-We’ve got a lot of little things around our house, but I don’t know if any of them qualify as knick knacks. What’s the knick knack threshold? Does it need to have a tourist destination written on it? Or maybe it just needs to be displayed on a small mirrored shelf.
-We've been house hunting and I noticed that street names make a difference in how you feel about a house. We looked at a nice one on Bing St. Bing! I just like saying that one. Bing! We also looked at one on Killdeer Ct. How many people live on a street named after ending the life of an animal. Killdeer is also a kind of a bird, but I choose the dead animal meaning, it's more interesting.
That's what's in Chris' head this morning.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Giggles and Screams
This past weekend we were able to take another family mini-vacation. We went to Silverwood theme park and Boulder Beach water park for Chris' company picnic. Just another perk/freebie we've obtained through Chris' fabulous new job. (A few weeks ago he won a gift card for correctly filling out his time sheet; he always seems to come home with a free gas card, restaurant cards, a Walmart card . . .)
Since the park is located north of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, we drove partway up on Friday and visited with Aunt Kathy,
Grandma Clarke, cousin Rob, and little Ethan. We all (except Rob) went out to lunch and then walked around the Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. Ethan and Ally took their very first rides on a carousel. Ethan held onto his own horse like a big boy and seemed to love it. Ally liked the first lap around on the horse, and then spent the rest of the ride squirming, crying out, and trying to climb up Mommy's chest for comfort. After the carousel, the kids and I spent some time sliding down the handle of a big red wagon until I got tired. Then we went back to
Kathy's house to meet up with Rob for dinner, chatting, and laughter. I know we kept Grandma up way too late, but it was fun. Chris, Ally, and I chose to pseudo-camp by sleeping on the futon on Kathy's back porch. We were quite comfortable and still able to enjoy nature and the tell-tale smell of midnight skunk.
On Saturday we enjoyed a big breakfast, packed up, and headed to Silverwood. (THANK YOU, Aunt Kathy!) Before Ally, our priority would've been to go on as many rides as possible. Now our priority seems to be watching Ally take everything in and enjoy herself. Oddly enough, her
favorite seemed to be the carousel. I couldn't have called that considering the previous day's experience; maybe the difference was on Saturday we always chose stationary horses. She'd see the carousel and keep asking for the "Moo, Moo". (Poor confused child-- that's what she thinks horses say.) The only times she cried on this carousel were 1) when she grew impatient waiting for the ride to start moving and 2) when we had to literally pull her off at the end.
I took Ally on her first mini-roller coaster; I think that was against Chris' true wishes. She didn't like the turns at all but I think she liked the speed. If you asked Ally, she'd probably say that once was enough torture for her! (If she knew those words.) We also rode the big train and the antique cars. Ally spent some time in the toddler
section of the water park, but definitely wasn't thrilled with being splashed/ sprinkled in the face. I was impressed when she happily walked into the wave pool with Mommy and Daddy (without the waves) until the water reached her armpits. She also attempted to wade in while the waves were in motion, but quickly gave up on that idea. Although Chris and I didn't get to do much, we really enjoyed ourselves-- and I know Ally loved it! And, yes, that is a picture of my baby scarfing down some french fries. No trip to an amusement park would be complete without a little grease.
Since the park is located north of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, we drove partway up on Friday and visited with Aunt Kathy,
Grandma Clarke, cousin Rob, and little Ethan. We all (except Rob) went out to lunch and then walked around the Riverfront Park in downtown Spokane. Ethan and Ally took their very first rides on a carousel. Ethan held onto his own horse like a big boy and seemed to love it. Ally liked the first lap around on the horse, and then spent the rest of the ride squirming, crying out, and trying to climb up Mommy's chest for comfort. After the carousel, the kids and I spent some time sliding down the handle of a big red wagon until I got tired. Then we went back to
Kathy's house to meet up with Rob for dinner, chatting, and laughter. I know we kept Grandma up way too late, but it was fun. Chris, Ally, and I chose to pseudo-camp by sleeping on the futon on Kathy's back porch. We were quite comfortable and still able to enjoy nature and the tell-tale smell of midnight skunk.On Saturday we enjoyed a big breakfast, packed up, and headed to Silverwood. (THANK YOU, Aunt Kathy!) Before Ally, our priority would've been to go on as many rides as possible. Now our priority seems to be watching Ally take everything in and enjoy herself. Oddly enough, her
favorite seemed to be the carousel. I couldn't have called that considering the previous day's experience; maybe the difference was on Saturday we always chose stationary horses. She'd see the carousel and keep asking for the "Moo, Moo". (Poor confused child-- that's what she thinks horses say.) The only times she cried on this carousel were 1) when she grew impatient waiting for the ride to start moving and 2) when we had to literally pull her off at the end.I took Ally on her first mini-roller coaster; I think that was against Chris' true wishes. She didn't like the turns at all but I think she liked the speed. If you asked Ally, she'd probably say that once was enough torture for her! (If she knew those words.) We also rode the big train and the antique cars. Ally spent some time in the toddler
section of the water park, but definitely wasn't thrilled with being splashed/ sprinkled in the face. I was impressed when she happily walked into the wave pool with Mommy and Daddy (without the waves) until the water reached her armpits. She also attempted to wade in while the waves were in motion, but quickly gave up on that idea. Although Chris and I didn't get to do much, we really enjoyed ourselves-- and I know Ally loved it! And, yes, that is a picture of my baby scarfing down some french fries. No trip to an amusement park would be complete without a little grease.Thursday, July 10, 2008
Carless and Carefree
Our move to Washington was full of changes and adjustments-- both big and small. One of those was selling our faithful, older Malibu and becoming a one-car family. The original plan was that I would drop Chris off at work each morning and hopefully remember to pick him up again in the afternoons. Well, sometimes Ally is still sleeping at 6:45 am; sometimes her mommy is too. We've come to the conclusion that it's better to let sleeping ones continue to sleep, so nowadays Chris usually drives himself to work. If I want/need the car, I put Ally in the stroller and walk the 20 minutes up to Daddy's office and fetch it. (I think I've done that once.) Usually we'll just walk to the local park or visit the BigLots plaza instead. It is so wonderful to be somewhere where 1) there are places to go and 2) having a car is not required for day-to-day living.
Today was another one of those sleepy days. Ally and I woke up around 7:20 am. (We're such slackers.) Having no car and wanting to be somewhere air-conditioned, I decided to take Ally on a bus adventure to the mall. We caught the Ben Franklin just outside our complex and, 45 minutes and 2 transfers later, we arrived safely at the Columbia Center Mall. Ally has always loved public transportation, and today was no exception. She pointed out the windows and giggled and chatted and made some new friends. I loved the trip, too, but for different reasons: 1) Ally loved it. 2) We got out of the house. 3) We kept cool. (Did I mention it's been over 100 around here lately?) 4) We didn't get lost 'cause the system is easy to navigate. 5) It's cheap to ride and 6) Going to the mall on a whim is still a novelty. Ally and I even found our way back home again and didn't have to call Daddy to come and fetch us. Hooray! for independent women.
Tonight we decided to spend some family time in our complex pool. So, here is a picture of our little swimmer in her faithful blow-up dolphin. I need to buy her more things that float. . .
Today was another one of those sleepy days. Ally and I woke up around 7:20 am. (We're such slackers.) Having no car and wanting to be somewhere air-conditioned, I decided to take Ally on a bus adventure to the mall. We caught the Ben Franklin just outside our complex and, 45 minutes and 2 transfers later, we arrived safely at the Columbia Center Mall. Ally has always loved public transportation, and today was no exception. She pointed out the windows and giggled and chatted and made some new friends. I loved the trip, too, but for different reasons: 1) Ally loved it. 2) We got out of the house. 3) We kept cool. (Did I mention it's been over 100 around here lately?) 4) We didn't get lost 'cause the system is easy to navigate. 5) It's cheap to ride and 6) Going to the mall on a whim is still a novelty. Ally and I even found our way back home again and didn't have to call Daddy to come and fetch us. Hooray! for independent women.
Tonight we decided to spend some family time in our complex pool. So, here is a picture of our little swimmer in her faithful blow-up dolphin. I need to buy her more things that float. . .
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
So much to write
So, I started this blog about a week ago and am already failing miserably at posting things. I see that a sister-in-law has tracked me down (Hi Katie!). Now that I know I have an audience of at least one, I shall hopefully be more motivated to stay on top of things.
Once again, it's late at night so I'm finding it difficult to think. We have been enjoying our new life here in Richland and have taken Ally on several memorable adventures over the past 2 months. (Check out our pictures if you haven't already done so.) We're trying to cram as much culture into her as possible so that she'll be a smart, well-rounded child. That, and Chris and I would go nuts if we stayed at home all the time.
The Fourth of July was great. We went into Pasco (little Mexico) for a parade. Ally got to see lots of horses and people. Chris got to take lots of pictures. And I got to eat a real horchata/rice popsicle from the hombre de paletas that came pedaling by. I didn't think anything could've beat that, until Chris and I spotted something amazing. What got us so excited? Well, thankfully Chris had the camera ready, so see if you can pick it out of this photo:
Do you see it? Can it be true?
That kid has the sweetest mullet we've seen this decade. His parents must be so proud! Anyway, it sure makes me proud to be an American . . .
We returned to Pasco in the evening to watch some fireworks from the baseball stadium. It was the perfect place to be--as long as you can withstand the country singer impersonators performing the pre-show. Ally kept herself occupied by dancing to the music and running up and down the stands. Since the stadium overlooks the Tri-Cities area, we were able to see the stadium fireworks, as well as those exploding along the Columbia River in Kennewick and over the houses in Richland. Paletas, mullets, and panoramic fireworks. . . I couldn't ask for anything more.
Once again, it's late at night so I'm finding it difficult to think. We have been enjoying our new life here in Richland and have taken Ally on several memorable adventures over the past 2 months. (Check out our pictures if you haven't already done so.) We're trying to cram as much culture into her as possible so that she'll be a smart, well-rounded child. That, and Chris and I would go nuts if we stayed at home all the time.
The Fourth of July was great. We went into Pasco (little Mexico) for a parade. Ally got to see lots of horses and people. Chris got to take lots of pictures. And I got to eat a real horchata/rice popsicle from the hombre de paletas that came pedaling by. I didn't think anything could've beat that, until Chris and I spotted something amazing. What got us so excited? Well, thankfully Chris had the camera ready, so see if you can pick it out of this photo:
Do you see it? Can it be true?
That kid has the sweetest mullet we've seen this decade. His parents must be so proud! Anyway, it sure makes me proud to be an American . . .We returned to Pasco in the evening to watch some fireworks from the baseball stadium. It was the perfect place to be--as long as you can withstand the country singer impersonators performing the pre-show. Ally kept herself occupied by dancing to the music and running up and down the stands. Since the stadium overlooks the Tri-Cities area, we were able to see the stadium fireworks, as well as those exploding along the Columbia River in Kennewick and over the houses in Richland. Paletas, mullets, and panoramic fireworks. . . I couldn't ask for anything more.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Un Gran Comienzo
If anyone happens upon this, WELCOME! I really don't have anything to say at the moment and should definitely be in bed right now. Sleep is a rare and precious commodity when you spend your days chasing after a one-year-old and trying to keep an impossible husband happy. (Don't worry; the last bit is just a joke.) I actually love Chris so much that I decided to name this site in his honor. Well, that, and all the regular "Hoffman" site names have already been taken. (So were "HotHousewife", "InsaneRN", and "Chicharrones". I can't believe someone else thought of those first!) I guess I pretty much set up this account and started blogging tonight in an effort to reserve a decent name. I hope to do it justice.
I don't consider myself to be old (Is 30 old?), but I'm starting to feel that way when it comes to computer technology these days. Some of my siblings and I would make fun of my mother for needing complete, detailed instructions and multiple "show-me-how-to-do-that-again" sessions in order to use her laptop and associated gadgets. Hopefully I'll soon learn how to post some interesting stuff here, or I might become the recipient of such taunting. I know my dear hubby would be more than willing to help me out, but I'm also sure he'd be quick to point out that I'm turning into my mother. . .
So, once again I say Welcome. (How did you find me here anyway?) Hopefully I will have some pictures and videos of Ally posted here soon. Just admit it, that's the real reason why you tracked our blog down anyway. Good night!
I don't consider myself to be old (Is 30 old?), but I'm starting to feel that way when it comes to computer technology these days. Some of my siblings and I would make fun of my mother for needing complete, detailed instructions and multiple "show-me-how-to-do-that-again" sessions in order to use her laptop and associated gadgets. Hopefully I'll soon learn how to post some interesting stuff here, or I might become the recipient of such taunting. I know my dear hubby would be more than willing to help me out, but I'm also sure he'd be quick to point out that I'm turning into my mother. . .
So, once again I say Welcome. (How did you find me here anyway?) Hopefully I will have some pictures and videos of Ally posted here soon. Just admit it, that's the real reason why you tracked our blog down anyway. Good night!
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