Back in November we finally moved to the Tri City area in Washington State!
It was a big move with lots of changes, risks, and hopefully reward for our little family. Austin is now working commission-based which will allow him to hopefully earn more than salary. More importantly, it allows us to get a feel for potentially opening up our own practice. We visited in June last year, and felt it was home. A perfect small town and big city compromise, and a great place to raise a family affordably. Our family also cannot wait to explore Portland (2.5 hours), Seattle (3 hours), the ocean, Spokane (3.5 hours), Coeur d'Alene (4 hours), etc.
For right now, I made the decision to stay at home with my boys. I've never had the opportunity before, so now I am doing flips and spins off the high dive right into the stay-at-home-boy-mom life! I still transferred my license to WA to stay ahead of things. I really miss nursing... it's very hard to be out of the operating room, but I also wouldn't miss this incredible chance to be with my boys. I thought I'd be pursuing ICU for CRNA school right now in life, but life has other ideas in mind. When we start rolling a little more, this would be a great time to finish the 6 classes I have left for my BSN and then up and onward! I am still passionate about doing CRNA, and have decided to slowly make my way until the both boys are in school. In June, (when license renewal occurs here) I'll reevaluate because sometimes working part-time or as-needed is easiest to maintain my nursing license. Or if the need arises as well (knock on wood!)
Austin basically just started at his firm (another long story...but we're past it), and we cannot wait for that first paycheck! We have been super careful, and honestly blessed we have been able to be fine from November to mid-January without any sort of income. It's been fun and interesting budget decorating, keeping the boys entertained, and a useful challenge to eat everything we've bought and stored. Not knowing the area or average income, we also chose to live in a budget-friendly apartment which has actually been really good to us thus far. We'll slowly save for a house and find schools we think would be a fit for our boys over the next year or so.
Austin is really excited because his case-load is picking up quickly. In fact, he's becoming so busy we had to get a larger L-shaped desk for our spare room so he can also work hours at home on the weekends and such. I'm really excited for him, and he's really positive about this change.
The boys have officially kicked my ass. They are bundles of pure energy, and it never slows down, haha! Sometimes I wonder how they survive because they never eat a lot at meal time, and they also never sleep. Someone needs to find a way to harvest that energy and sell it to us old people.
I know I say this often, but this blog (yes, blogs are OUT...) has become an impressive document and journal for our family. We are on our 10th year of marriage, and I think I've kept this journal/blog for near that long. I almost feel it would be a great loss to our little family if I just stopped.
So there are a million and a half things that have occurred between now and then, but I also have time to pick this up. I don't think from the time I last wrote to now I could've imagined we'd be here in Washington, but here's to new adventures :)
Picture breakdown time:
Our little complex! This is a view outside our window, and it does snow here! The snow is covering the basketball blacktop, and to the right is a pool for the hot summers. It's nice because the 3-bedrooms (which we are renting) are the mostly detached units with no-one below or above.
I really only feel I'm done with decorating and setting up the boys' room! I have projects for our walls in both the bedroom and living room so I'm holding off on that currently. Plus it makes for more blog updates :D Unfortunately during the move, the boys' bunk bed broke beyond repair. We also decided not to take the crib because it was one more piece of furniture, and A is transitioning in 4 months to a regular bed (we did R's at 18 months.) We got a daybed with a trundle, so A can transition and be low to the ground. I'm pretty proud of their room, and it's a place where we play often because the boys love it, too. R requested his birthday banner be over his bed in his "Washington Room" before we moved, so we kept our promise!
Xoxo,
From Washington
 |
| Our dorky tourist photo-op from when we visited in June, 2019! |
Austin basically just started at his firm (another long story...but we're past it), and we cannot wait for that first paycheck! We have been super careful, and honestly blessed we have been able to be fine from November to mid-January without any sort of income. It's been fun and interesting budget decorating, keeping the boys entertained, and a useful challenge to eat everything we've bought and stored. Not knowing the area or average income, we also chose to live in a budget-friendly apartment which has actually been really good to us thus far. We'll slowly save for a house and find schools we think would be a fit for our boys over the next year or so.
Austin is really excited because his case-load is picking up quickly. In fact, he's becoming so busy we had to get a larger L-shaped desk for our spare room so he can also work hours at home on the weekends and such. I'm really excited for him, and he's really positive about this change.
The boys have officially kicked my ass. They are bundles of pure energy, and it never slows down, haha! Sometimes I wonder how they survive because they never eat a lot at meal time, and they also never sleep. Someone needs to find a way to harvest that energy and sell it to us old people.
 |
| Inside the boys' pop-up circus tent which about sums up the crazy... |
I know I say this often, but this blog (yes, blogs are OUT...) has become an impressive document and journal for our family. We are on our 10th year of marriage, and I think I've kept this journal/blog for near that long. I almost feel it would be a great loss to our little family if I just stopped.
So there are a million and a half things that have occurred between now and then, but I also have time to pick this up. I don't think from the time I last wrote to now I could've imagined we'd be here in Washington, but here's to new adventures :)
Picture breakdown time:
Our little complex! This is a view outside our window, and it does snow here! The snow is covering the basketball blacktop, and to the right is a pool for the hot summers. It's nice because the 3-bedrooms (which we are renting) are the mostly detached units with no-one below or above.
I really only feel I'm done with decorating and setting up the boys' room! I have projects for our walls in both the bedroom and living room so I'm holding off on that currently. Plus it makes for more blog updates :D Unfortunately during the move, the boys' bunk bed broke beyond repair. We also decided not to take the crib because it was one more piece of furniture, and A is transitioning in 4 months to a regular bed (we did R's at 18 months.) We got a daybed with a trundle, so A can transition and be low to the ground. I'm pretty proud of their room, and it's a place where we play often because the boys love it, too. R requested his birthday banner be over his bed in his "Washington Room" before we moved, so we kept our promise!
Now that most things are settled, too, and I've found a proper fine art printer, I'm starting to paint! I cannot wait to load my Etsy shop with originals and prints. It feels good to get back into art and painting! I've missed it. Lots going on, and lots to follow up on :D
From Washington
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