be mine.

Just a few short days after Ryder and I finally made it back to the big it was time to celebrate Valentines Day! Taylor was anxiously waiting for me to come home so we could make her valentine box for her class party.  She decided on a Hello Kitty box (no surprise there) and we had so much fun decorating it! Then it was time to whip up some delish treats and help throw her class party! 

 

 

 

These babes are my everything and I just adored spending the day with them.  Ryder was thrilled he was able to go to Sissy's party and feel like one of the big kids for the day!
The next day...we left for Boise to visit the Wolf family!

There is always a good time had by everyone when we get together with these guys!  Its literally like 4 sets of twins.  We just all share so many similarities.  We are in the process of planning our 10 year wedding anniversary trip with Luke & Angie to MAUI!!!  We were married a month apart almost 10 years ago and it will be so much fun to celebrate this huge milestone with them...in the sun...in Maui...with no kids. :)

 

Busy month of February for this fam.  No signs of slowing down either.

So bring it on March!

 

17.

My Mom and I planned another trip to Vegas this year for the Furniture Market.  I was looking to pick up a few new lines for JD Designs to carry and my Mom was working on orders for her shop.  We had a great time and I was thrilled with the Britney tickets my Mom decided to buy...so much fun!  Dad surprised Mom with tickets to Donny & Marie for her birthday and I was totally blown away with what an amazing show they put on!  We had a successful trip...lots of work and even more play!

 

When we returned from Vegas the plan was for Ryder (who had been hanging out with Gram & Grandpa while I was in Vegas) and I to drive back to LG.  I had about 5 days before I needed to be back over in Cannon Beach for work.  The weather was getting so bad that we decided to just head to Cannon Beach early and not risk getting stuck in LG and missing out on being in Cannon Beach for work.  That meant that Tay and Ryan would have to survive another week on their own!  At that point Ryder and I had already been gone for one week so it was a hard decision.

Ryan and Tay did AMAZING.  Ryan had to balance taking Tay to and from school, ballet, tap, cheer camp, play dates AND keep up with work.  He did so great with Tay and I even got texts from Taylor's teacher about how great Ryan was doing with getting Tay dressed and her hair done!  This picture is Tay all dressed up for Western Day.  Oh and yes, those braids are Ryan's work!  It was so hard for me to be away from Tay and miss out on all her fun activities...especially cheer camp. I died when I realized I had to miss camp and the performance!  Thank God for FaceTime and pictures!

Meanwhile, while Ryder and I were in Cannon Beach...it decided to snow...like crazy.  I lived in Cannon Beach for 21 years and I have never seen snow like this before! 
The main reason I needed to be at the coast was to receive a huge truck of furniture that I had ordered for a client.  Of course with weather like this, the truck was delayed for days...which meant so were we.  Thankfully we eventually received the truck and then after the weather cleared...we made it home safely. 
It only took 17 days.
That is just life in the big.

 

happy to you.

Yesterday was my Mom's birthday and I was sad we weren't together to celebrate.  I found these old pictures and just had to share! The business card with the note is from my Mama.  She snuck it in my makeup bag over 10 years ago and I of course have held on to it.  My relationship with my Mom is one of the things I am most proud of in life.  To be able to call your Mom one of your best friends....and mean it, really is a true blessing.  We haven't always been best friends, of course we had to make it through those lovely teenage years.  I remember saying goodbye on the lawn at George Fox University and thinking, oh no what am I going to do without her?  I of course didn't want to admit that I was missing her!  I distinctly remember telling her that she was "ruining my life" when she wouldn't buy me a new dress for my first college date.  Back then I would email her almost daily.  Little did I know she was saving all those emails and over the course of 4 years would create a binder with all of those emails.  Its an amazing way to look back and watch our relationship grow into such a close friendship.  Of course now we talk daily.  She has seen me through so much in life and I am so thankful for her.  It's so hard for me to think that she had to grow up most of her life without her Mom. It breaks my heart.  She has done such an amazing job as a Mom and now as a Grandma...or Backa as we call her (thanks to Taylor). 

Happy Birthday Mom...I really love you and can't wait to celebrate your special day in VEGAS next week!

roar.

Taylor went to dance camp this week and then got to perform to Katie Perry's Roar at the High School basketball half time!  The only problem was the performance ended up being at 8:30 pm...as you can see in the picture above she was SO TIRED! Poor little tiger. 

I just love that Tay has a passion for dance!  She's begging me to let her take Jazz dance in addition to ballet and tap. Seems a bit much for a 5 year old...but I do love that she enjoys it so much.  In a few weeks she will be going to cheer camp...watch out people! I mean...she really is a mini me.

Just sayin.

 

my handsome.

love.

Being a "worker man". Gloves? Boots? Hat? Worker Man Shirt? Worker Man Vest? Check!

that face!

This little man has my heart.  I mean just look at him!  That face.  Oh he is just so sweet and kind hearted.  Sure, he is 2 and definitely acts like it.  He's my baby though and I just can't believe how big he is getting.  Right now it's just him and Mama when Tay is at school and we just love our time together.  Sometimes I get a snuggle but most of the time we are working hard with his tools and such.  You see, he is a real busy guy.  His bopbops (trucks) are always breaking down and his workbench is always full of a project to be worked on.  He doesn't have all the activities that Sissy has, but that time will come.  For now he looks forward to his music classes once a week and he loves playing with his buddies Elijah and Luke.  As long as he has his gloves (doesn't matter if they are matching), a pair of boots and a hat...he is good to go.  Unless he decided he must have his worker man pants and shirt...and then stop the presses.  That boy loves his "worker man" clothes.
So much has changed over the past year with this little guy, but he is still my handsome! 

in bethlehem town.

Taylor's Christmas Concert at Heidi Ho was beyond darling.  Watching her and her classmates jingle those bells like it was their job and then singing on the top of their lungs...amazing!  Taylor had wanted the part of Mary so badly, as I am sure all the little girls did.  When she was given the part of an Angel I thought, oh no.  Thankfully Taylor was perfectly happy with the part of an Angel and it turned out to be a speaking part!  All week she practiced that line. "In BethleHAM town".  We kept trying to correct her...don't you mean "In the town of BethleHEM" Tay?  Nope. We had it wrong.  When it came time for the performance I was just so excited to see her shine!  I know...it's only one line.  It's just the little moments that I love though!  The class had put together a "five little angels" poem and the reason it was "in Bethlehem town" was because it ryhmed with the line before hers! She did have it right...minus the HAM part of course. :)

Regardless, it was perfect.  I remember when Taylor was so shy...times are definitely changing! 





Taylor's class playing the bells!

 

Such serious faces! 

Pretty, pretty, pretty!

In Bethlehem Town! 
Taylor's first speaking line and she nailed it! ;)
 

christmas in the big 2013.

 

 

I realize this post is a bit out of sequence, but as I said earlier I really want to make sure I document life so much better than I have been!  Christmas has always been my favorite. The time with family, the traditions, the opportunity to focus on the Reason for the Season, decking the halls and then decking them a bit more, the Santa visits, the wish lists, the shopping, the cooking...you get the picture! 

This year was one for the record books.  Decking the halls was taken to an entirely new level. Three trees, fresh garlands, chalk tables, personalized décor and more.  Preparing for this was so much fun.  I really enjoyed every moment and as I stated earlier I had promised myself to try and not freak out if things didn't go quite as planned.  The main thing for me was having a Christmas in our home for the very fist time!  Our kids had never woken up in their own beds on Christmas morning and so this was major!  Even more major was sharing that moment with our family!  We were sad to not have Joel, Ashley and Jaxon here but it was the "off year" for the Nelsons which meant they were with Ashley's family for Christmas.  We had them for Thanksgiving though!

Bryan, Courtney and Calvin made the long trek from DC and Julie came from Hawaii! Both sets of parent's experienced their first Christmas away from their homes since having had kids!  It was a big year of change for everyone which made me super nervous!  I just wanted everything to be perfect and more importantly for everyone to be happy!  Thankfully it went off without a hitch really.  I am just thrilled with the memories we now have and wanted to make sure I shared them on here! 

 

While the big kids were snowboarding Papa, Back and Taylor made this epic Snowman!

Two little Dearinger boys!

First time back on the Mountain in years for all of us!  I didn't last as long...but I gave a whirl!  Felt good to prove to myself I still had it in me!

Papa and Handsome sledding out in front of the house.

This pictures is everything!  Love. Love. Love.

Caught Trapper watching tv with Cal!

Another amazing handmade gift from Papa!  A wardrobe for her new American Girl that Santa brought!

The Dearinger Men cheering on their Hawks!

The cups were a major highlight!  Ryan almost lost his mind when he opened them!

Christmas Eve breakfast!!! Ho. Ho. Ho.

Gram with her baby boys!

Mom and I enjoying our peppermint martinis after making Christmas dinner!


 

dancing queen.

Taylor now has 5 dance recitals under her tiny little belt!  This winter recital was exciting because it was her first TAP performance!  Two dances in one night was of course thrilling for this Mama, costume changes and all.
Side note: Costumes or lack there of, were very disappointing this year.  For some reason the studio decided not to order any this year.  That along with the same choreography recycled yet again was the reason I decided to switch dance studios after this recital.
That all being said, Taylor did a wonderful job!  I just love watching her grow in confidence and technique!  She has been waiting for over a year to be old to start tap dance and has had so much fun learning this new style!  Her girlfriend Cassidy (shown in picture above) is in her class and the two are so dang cute tapping away!
Ballet is still my favorite but Taylor is definitely showing interest in tap, jazz and ballet.  Now the decision of whether or not to let her do all 3 quite yet!? 
Although I was disappointed in the studio, Taylor had a great recital and we were thrilled to have auntie BF in town!  She and Neil came to see Tay's recital and Christmas concert.  Just love that they were here to see our dancing queen!

a new website and blog for jd designs!

I am getting super excited for my new jd designs website and blog that my very talented friend Annie is designing for me!  5 years ago when we moved to Oregon and I had the opportunity to start my own design business I threw a website together myself just to get something started.  Fast forward and that dang website hasn't had any attention!  I have been blessed with so many wonderful projects over these past few years and I am thrilled that people will finally get a chance to see those on the new website.  Annie was the one that suggested I start blogging for jd designs again...which led to me finding the desire to start blogging for myself again as well.  Today I posted this picture on what will be the new jd designs blog.  It is the one portion of this process that I can help with...Annie is doing all of the hard stuff with designing the website, and I am so thankful for that! 

I posted this pictures because I am always being asked by my clients to see what my house looks like.  I totally get why they ask, but I have never taken the time to take pictures of my own house!  Ryan snapped this one for me and I posted it saying "hello from the big" along with a littler blurb on my personal design style.

 

 

Yesterday another talented friend of mine, Jessie Street did a photo shoot with me at a project I recently finished here in town.  I had so much fun staging it for the shoot and getting things all set up...can't wait to see how the pictures turn out!  Of course...they too will be on the website. 

I literally packed up accessories from my own stash and from around the house.  Gone are the days of just loading up the car from the showroom at Black Goose Design...gotta get creative here in The Big.  Just thankful I have my own inventory! :)

our kindergartner.

Meet Mrs. Mielke.  She is Taylor's Kindergartner teacher and an amazing one at that!  We made the decision to have Taylor attend Heidi Ho this year rather than public school and we are so thankful we did.  She has a small class of 14, 11 of which are girls!  Taylor is excelling in school and we are so proud of the little student she is becoming.  She started reading this summer and has become quite the confident little reader...unless Mom tries to help her and then forget it.  I was so frustrated at first that she really didn't want me to teach her, but my Mom tells me I was pretty much the exact same way!  I am just thankful that she will let Daddy help her and she definitely lets Mrs. Mielke teach her! 
She and Mrs. Mielke have found they share a love for all things polka dotted.  The other night Glenda (Mrs. Mielke) messaged me and asked if Taylor could please wear her grey and white polka dot sweatshirt so they could be twins the next day at school.  Taylor felt SO cool and it totally made her day! This year has been a big one for Taylor with starting REAL school and I can't believe it's almost half way over!  Next year is still uncertain as to where Tay will be going.  We are trying to make the best decision for her and are tossing around a few options.  Some of which require quite a bit of driving.  We love our baby girl though and want to make sure we make the right choice!  Education is so important and we want her to know and understand that from an early age.
Love you Tay and proud of you!  Keep up the good work!

oh hi there.

April 2013?
9 months later and I decided to pick this blogging thing back up again.  As you can see from my last post, life had gotten hectic.  After recovering from surgery it has taken and is still taking time to get back to "normal".  If there really is such a thing.
We are still living life in The Big.  Taylor will be turning 6 in a few months and my handsome will be 3.  I mean...wow just wow.
So a full update would be next to impossible but since this blog is mostly for myself and the kids down the road someday...I want to try and keep a brief record of what we have been up to.  As I was looking at my old blog today I was finding myself feeling so thankful that I had been so dedicated to blogging in the past.  I don't remember so much...it is terrible.  Life literally has been flying by. Married almost 10 years?  What? So I promised myself right then that I would give this another whirl.
So....
December we celebrated an amazing Christmas here in The Big with both the Dearingers and the Nelsons.  I was so excited to finally be hosting and took the job very seriously!  I planned, planned and planned. Then promised myself to not freak out if nothing went as planned. 
We had a few "Griswold" family moments like when the garage flooded and all the gifts were in danger of being ruined. Or when the extra fridge in the garage decided it preferred to be a freezer and our turkey wasn't defrosting. We survived though!  We all really enjoyed ourselves and I tried to soak it all in! We were just so thankful that our family was willing to travel from all over..literally...Hawaii, DC, Vancouver and Cannon Beach.  It's a Christmas we will always remember. The BF and Neil made a visit out earlier in the month and were able to see Taylor perform in her dance recital and Christmas concert at school.  She had her first speaking line! "In Bethlehem town". So proud of her and so happy that the BF was here for it!

November was Thanksgiving at the beach and that meant time with BABY JAXON! Love that little man.  Nephew number #2 for this Auntie.  The weather was abnormally nice and we all enjoyed time on the beach which literally never happens in November.  We also replaced all of the windows on our house that month. Quite the project but one that really needed to be done.  Along with the new windows came black trim for the exterior and I am loving the difference they make on this old house!  As I like to say "stepped things up a notch".  Also, Ryder moved into a BIG BOY BED! I was sad to make the transition because he really was quite happy in the crib.  We had the opportunity to buy matching beds for the kids and I decided to just go for it.  Of course the handsome loves his big boy bed and thankfully still treats it like a crib!  He doesn't get out of it without calling for me to get him.  Keep that up baby boy! Lastly, we had a quick visit from Monica & Sophie which we always love.  They were here to witness the great Scenty massacre that occurred in my family room....I can't talk about it. Just still traumatized.

October was BUZZ LIGHTYEAR and JESSIE and lots of fun Halloween festivities!  Annie came to visit which was so much fun!  She and I dressed up like witches and along with Ryan had had a blast taking the kids around town and to campus for Trick or Treating.  Before that Back and Papa came out to The Big.  Of course Dad worked on some projects for us which is always appreciated and Backa had lots of fun activities to do with the kids.  Earlier in the month Ryan and I left the kids with Dan and Glenda in Vancouver and we flew to Arizona for a wedding!  It was so nice to have a brief little getaway and meet up with so many of our friends.  We also caught a Seahawks game while there! The very beginning of the month brought the BF out and she and I went to an event called Shabulous.  It was a vintage buying show...amaze! 

September of course meant our baby girl started KINDERGARTEN.  I still can't believe it.  Ryan started his 5th year at EOU which also doesn't seem possible.  This year he is up for tenure and is working on publishing his book.  Ryder started music classes. Taylor started tap and continued with her ballet classes.  The BF was in The Big again and we harvested peaches!  Ryder saw his first drive-in movie which was a blast, Planes!  Oh and me, I was incredibly busy working and being a mama. 

August was a fun month!  Ryan ran the Hood to Coast for the first time with his buddies from GFU. They had a blast and did a great job.  It was so much fun to be there at the finish line! Prior to that we were camping at Wallowa Lake with Papa and Backa which has become quite the tradition.  Camping with a 2 year old...not for wimps. Taylor rode her first horse and the kids both learned to love the paddle board.  We made a trip to Seattle but it was cut short when I broke a tooth!  I know. The worst luck ever. This was a really busy month for JD Designs...but I will talk about that on my other blog. :)
The BF and Neil stopped in The Big as they finally made it back to Oregon!  They had been on a roadtrip all over the states since May! 

July we celebrated 9 years of marriage.  Crazy that we have been married that long although it really does feel like a lifetime ago that we said "I do".  This month we made a visit over to Boise to see the Wolfs and as always had a blast.  It is so much fun seeing our kiddos play together.  Taylor scored her first goal in soccer!  It was for the other team...but we still count it!  Big moment!  Monica and Soph came to visit and we had a great time relaxing and catching up.  The 4th was spent at the beach of course.  This year was special because we had BABY JAXON there and BABY CALVIN!  Both of our nephews which was so much fun!  Bryan, Courtney, Dan, Glenda and Courtney's parents rented a beach house in Arch Cape which made for a perfect location to watch the fireworks.  Joel and Ash were in town as well and we all had such a great time.  The parade is always a highlight and Ryder got to drive Papa's new "bopbop" with him in the parade.  It was a major moment for that little man. 

June took Taylor, Ryan and I to DC to celebrate Calvin's first Birthday!  Ryder stayed behind with Gram and Grandpa and had a blast playing with them.  We also got to see Taylor B and CK while in DC which of course completely thrilled me!  They had just moved to DC and we were so excited to see their new digs and spend time with them!  The Taylors were so stinking cute together. Ugh I wish we still lived close! We always pick right back up though...true friendship.  Right before leaving for DC we welcomed BABY JAXON to the Nelson family!  Ashley is a rockstar Mama and I am so proud of how great of a Daddy by baby bro is.  Sister flew home to try and catch Jaxon's birth but the little man decided he wasn't ready yet so she just barely missed him.  That meant we got to steal all of her time which of course was great. Oh and the twins (Ryan and Bryan) turned 34!

May was t-ball, dance recital and preschool graduation for Taylor.  Ryder loved going to Tay's tball practices and is counting down the days till he is old enough to play.  Ryan and I celebrated my 31st bday is VEGAS!  It was so nice to finally be feeling better and to get away just us two!  We also said bye to the BF for the summer and played at the zoo for a bit with her before she left town.

April is always a crazy month for us because we had two babes that month and it means PARTIES!  Taylor's party was Hello Kitty...of course. A major obsession for her and for most 5 year girls really.  Ryder's party was Buzzlightyear...he was and still is totally in love with all things Buzz.  At this point I was still requiring help while recovering from surgery so we had the BF here and Gram and Grandpa to help with the parties!  Later in the month the kids and I spent some time in Boise so Luke and Ang could help me with the kids while Ryan had to be out of town for work.  Again, the kids loved seeing Payten and Ryker!  Oh we also celebrated Easter with Papa, Backa, Joel and Ashley! 

March was a crazy and challenging month. For me, I was in bed recovering...again.  We had so many people out to help that month.  BF, Gram and Grandpa, Monica, Backa.  As I mentioned in an earlier post...we literally were surrounded with love and support to make it through that crappy experience!  The kids and Ryan were troopers.  Ryan kept the kids busy as did our visitors. 

February started out on a good note.  We had a fun Valentines Day with the kids.  I got to be the "room mom" for Taylor's party and made some darling treats for the kids.  We made it a special day all about the love we have for our babies.  Ryder was in music class, Tay was still doing ballet and preschool and both kids were in swimming lessons.  The end of the month was spent in the hospital and you kind of the know the story from there!