Pregnant/Family Photo Shoot!

Andrew actually can look good in a photo...


... the question is, will he?


Maybe after a few tries...

...and after mocking cheesy maternity photos with me.




But overall, he looks great. And his goofiness makes me laugh and I love it. And I love him.

Crocheted Sweater for Baby Girl Platypus!

I made a cute little sweater for a cute little girl! I am pretty happy with it. Now on to bigger and more challenging crochet projects!



The pattern (which I found on Pinterest) is from http://www.yarnydays.com/2009/01/bombay-love.html

Parker Family Reunion but Mostly Pictures of Babies and Friends

We went to the Parker Family Reunion at Tamarack Resort in Idaho. It was a long, nine-hour drive for us, but I am glad we went. We met people I have never met.

Andrew got in a lot of twin time. What a lucky guy!


Andrew with Ella and JaNae with Brynn


Hi cute twin! Not that she is any cuter than the other. They are identical.


Andrew practicing for his own little girl.


Our little family--See our hands together?

And then we went to Lake Cascade to get some sun.


Andrew, maybe Ella, and Hannah in the shady pavilion.


Heidi and maybe Brynn. Heidi is way excited to be an Oma.


And then our friends the Tolleys came. You may remember Tyler from my past. He is my ex-boyfriend and one of Andrew's best friends. So there they are: Melissa, Tyler, and Nathan with the cool hair.


Andrew and Nathan.


Nathan getting to know one of the twins and Glenn's hat.


Ray holding one of his twin granddaughters, Heidi, and Sheri sitting on the beach.


Nathan sleeping in Melissa's arms after his father traumatized him by making him lay in the water with his life jacket on. Poor little fellow.

And then my camera battery died. It was a fun little weekend trip! Even though we drove and drove and drove, it was a good time. Yay for family and friends!

Backpacking Fail #2: Somewhere Near Mt. Baker

We decided to give backpacking another try. I found an area, called up the ranger station, they gave me a recommendation near Baker Lake. There wasn't snow, it was relatively flat, and about 4.5 miles in to the camp spots. The weather was supposed to be clear for the weekend. We had just bought a new, 3-man tent. The trip was going to actually work and it was exactly what I wanted. We packed our packs, loaded our car, and drove towards Mt. Baker. (FYI, Mt. Baker is a volcano, just like Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Adams--all of which are here in Washington. Mt. Baker is in the northern part of the state, though.)

We got to the road and it was closed! Thank you for telling me, ranger station. I was not happy with the rangers. The road being closed because of construction is definitely something they should have known about! So we decided to drive up a Forest Service road, find a new trail, and camp there. This place should be crawling with trails.


Mt. Baker's tippy top


We reached the snow. No backpacking up here!


We found a trail (finally) and followed it for a ways without our packs, just to check it out. We reached a raging river of death and no campsites. No backpacking here!

We were getting tired of this, as we had been driving for about five hours and had not found a place to pack into. So we found a pull-out and pitched our tent. Backpacking fail.


But our  new tent is very nice. There is room for us to play Skip-Bo in! And there will be room for a few babies, too.


And then we lit a fire and ate our dehydrated food and I peed in the middle of the night and did not get eaten by animals and our tent didn't leak. I'd say it was a successful camping trip--just not a backpacking trip.

In the morning, both Andrew and me were happy. Yay! We slept well!


And then we went to look for some hot springs we heard someone mention. We found them!

They were more like warm springs, but it was still nice to soak our legs in sulfury water. (Do you like Andrew's legs? I told him he looked like he was naked in the picture, but he really did have on his clothes.)


See, Andrew has pants on. :) If this blog were inappropriate, I would say, "Darn." But this is an appropriate blog, and I don't ever say inappropriate things like that.


Me in the warm springs. I wished we knew about these before and brought our swim suits!

And then we went to check out Baker Lake.

It was pretty. It is actually a reservoir. I think we are going to plan a fishing trip to here sometime.

On our way back home, we went on an interpretive trail with signs. Andrew had to pick some berries.

He wasn't supposed to get off the trail. Oh well.


Me: "What kind of berries are they?"
Andrew: "I don't know. You have a fifty percent chance with red berries."
Conclusion: These were not poisonous but not tasty.


Me by a huge old tree. Don't let it fool you, it is actually bigger than 62 inches (my wingspan and height). This is just the perspective fooling you. Don't you remember that from art class? It was probably at least seven feet wide.


The sign identified this berry for us! Red huckleberries! Yummy and tart! Don't you just love Andrew's silly face?

In conclusion, this was a much more delightful experience than our first backpacking trip. However, it was more of an impromptu camping trip. I cannot wait to see what our next backpacking fail trip will bring.

The World/The System VS Homemakers and Frugality

Perhaps this blog title, "The World/The System VS Homemakers and Frugality," is a little extreme. But really, it is not. I will retrace some of the ridiculous things that have happened lately that have convinced me of this.

Some women (and men) stay home from work. In my case, it is a choice, one that I have struggled with a lot and finally have come to peace with it. I feel very strongly that I need to be at home for my baby and my future babies. I'm grateful my mom was there for me. I hope I can influence my children. Now, I also want to get a PhD and stay involved in history, but now is not the time. That is why I've struggled a lot with my decision to stay home. But I am glad that I am able to because of Andrew's job. I know that many women cannot do so, even though they desperately desire to.

Call it what you will, a SAHM (stay-at-home mom), housewife, homemaker, unemployed by choice, or a domestic manager (my preferred term), staying home from work is no picnic. I don't even have kids yet! I clean the apartment, run errands, and try to occupy my time until I have small people to care for. Anyway ... it sounds nice, but try keeping sane while staying home for a few weeks and I bet your respect for domestic managers goes up.

One website, found here, gives the job responsibilities and equivalent yearly salary for a homemaker. For a homemaker's work as a private chef, house cleaner, child care provider, driver, laundry service, and providing lawn maintenance, the website listed a homemaker's equivalent salary at $96, 261 per year. Wow!

So anyway, now that I'm a fervent champion of homemakers and domestic managers, here is my view on frugality.

Andrew and I are really frugal people. We paid for half of our car with cash and paid it off in less than two years. He has a credit card which he rarely uses and pays back promptly. I have never had a credit card. We use cash when we can, keep a budget and actually do record our purchases and expenses. We plan to pay for our next car in full with cash. We save about $1000 per month. We want to put 20% down on a house payment and pay off our mortgage as fast as we can. We don't go to movies, we rarely eat out, and we don't buy a lot of stuff. I'd say we are frugal.

I'm a champion for homemakers and frugality.

We want to buy a house. We met with a real estate agent and a mortgage lender. He did our credit checks. Andrew's credit score was perfect---except he hasn't used his credit card in over a year. I do not have a credit score (which I was happy to learn, meaning all the identity theft has been taken care of). So what did the mortgage lender suggest? Andrew use his credit card and I get a credit card and use it.

Fine. We'll jump through the hoops. But it really is nonsensical to require us to spend in a way that can get irresponsible quickly so we can prove we deserve a loan. A look at our bank statements should tell you that we are financially responsible. The world/the system is against frugality.


OK, OK. But how is the world/the system against homemakers? I go to our credit union where Andrew and I are joint account holders. I apply for a credit card, as had been recommended to me. "Why do you want a credit card?" asked the worker. "I've never had one and I need to build my credit so I can buy a house," I answered. "OK!" she said.

We go through everything. Then she asks for my income. I replied, "I don't work. I don't have an income. But my husband does. We have joint accounts with you." Well, they can't give me a credit card if I don't have an income unless my husband comes in and cosigns with me.

Seriously!?! The world/the system is against homemakers/domestic managers.

I was slightly annoyed. I do recognize that the lender needs to know I can pay my debts, it is still ridiculous. I did not feel very good, as supposedly anyone can get a credit card. Except me. Frugal frugal domestic manager me. And thanks for making me feel like a sixteen-year-old.

The world/the system is dumb. I am annoyed. But I will get that credit card, and by golly, I will buy an ice cream cone once a month! And I will pay it off before it comes due and they won't take interest from me! And I will have a perfect credit score and we will buy a house!

So there system. And we'll do it while saving $90K each year, thanks to my domestic management skills.

Backpacking Fail #1: Barclay Lake

At the beginning of June, we decided to head up into the Skykomish ranger district and go backpacking! It  would be amazing! We got our food ready, packed everything up, and were ready for a good time in the mountains. Since it was my first time backpacking, we picked a short, level trail. It was about 2 miles in to the lake. And, to make things even better, it fell on free fishing day! Score!


The bridge on the way to Barclay Lake


Me on the bridge. I look so cool with my backpack on. Also, keep in mind how awesome and kick-butt I am! I'm like 19 weeks along on this trip.


A lovely stream


Me at the camp spot. Our tent is incredibly attractive, right? It fits two people who like to be cozy. Don't I look soggy? That's because it is June in Washington!


Barclay Lake--it was really quite beautiful.

By this point, we have successfully packed in to the lake. So far, so good. No backpacking fail yet!


Andrew pumping the water. He was SO excited to use his new pump.


"I'm pumping the water and it is raining! Yay!"


Andrew trying to light wet wood on fire. This was a backpacking fail. We never got it to light.


Andrew looking epic at Barclay Mountain.


Throwing our rope for the bear bag. I was terrified we would meet a bear. But at least the bag was far away from our camp, so if it came to eat our food, it shouldn't eat us, too.


Time for hot chocolate because we are freezing to death!


Fishing for free. Andrew is so happy to be fishing. Backpacking fail: neither of us caught a fish.


Me fishing, but mostly doing casting practice. Whenever I've caught a fish, it has been on accident.

We were wet and cold and had nothing to do after we fished. We brought cards but our tent was too small to sit up in, so no go on the playing together agenda. And so we went to bed.

I remember trying to stretch out my leg but feeling some cold at the bottom of my sleeping bag, so I curled up into a ball.

At about 2:00 a.m., Andrew sighed and said, "My feet are wet. Are yours?"

"A little," I say. "I really have to pee." I'm pregnant and myself. I pee twice every night.

"Me too." It must have been the hot chocolate. Andrew never pees in the night.

"I have to pee bad enough to face the wild animals, but if I go outside, all this water will fall on us," I said.

"Yeah," Andrew said. "And we would be soaked."

"And my hips hurt. I have tried to not move so I don't get wet." If you touched the side of the tent, you got wet.

"This isn't a very good tent," said Andrew.

And we just laid there in our sleeping bags for about an hour. Then we talked to each other for about an hour. We were both in pain from our bladders and my hips really really hurt. We were also both cold and very wet. Then we laid there for another hour.



Andrew being miserable in the morning.


Our wet, cold toes in our sleeping bags. Tent, you were somewhat useless. Can you see the water droplets on the inside of our tent!?!?

Finally, it was 5:00 a.m. Andrew said we could get up in 15 minutes. So we did. And I peed a great pee. Andrew peed a great pee. And my hips felt so much better.



We are tired! It is 5 a.m.! Do you like Andrew's hipster hair?


Best part of the morning: our bear bag survived. We have breakfast!


You suck. We are buying a new one.

And we ate food and packed up our soaking wet gear and were out of there by 7:30 and to our car by 8:30. And since we weren't thinking clearly and it was free fishing day, we drove to Fish Lake (like two hours away) but couldn't find a place to access the lake. So then we drove for another 45 minutes to Leavenworth and bought a pretzel and bienenstisch. And then we drove forever home. We were super tired. That night was officially the worst of my life.

I couldn't believe myself when I told Andrew that I was willing to go camping again--if we had a different tent.

Backpacking fail.