The Nelson Narrative

I've been meaning to participate in the monthly What's Up Wednesday post, hosted by Shay , Mel and Sheaffer , every month so far this year but have yet to actually get around to it, so I decided this is the month. What we’re eating – Well, I would love to do weekly menu plans and cook most nights but the reality is that I don't get home from work most nights until 6:30 and between after school activities and hunger Paul and the girls have usually already eaten, and if they haven't I don't want what they're eating anyway.  But I usually cook something on Sunday that will provide leftovers for later in the week or I'll make something ahead for later in the week in addition to what we're having that night, and we rely on a lot of pre-made things from Costco, like stuffed bell peppers or rotisserie chicken. What I’m reminiscing about – We just had our anniversary, so I would say our wedding and early years of our marriage.  Oh, and how much

About a year ago, give or take, we decided to book a cruise for July of this year.  I was supposed to lose 30 pounds by now, ha ha.  Hasn’t happened.  I haven’t blogged about it in a long time but I’m still doing Weight Watchers at work.  I’ve been seriously considering giving it up, however, because I just can’t seem to find the motivation to actually follow the program.  Like with any other weight loss attempt, I go through phases were I do really well but eventually I fall off the wagon.  So, as I approach the 2-year anniversary of joining, I’ve decided that if things don’t turn around and I don’t start making some progress by the time we go on this cruise, I’m going to pull the plug.  There is no sense paying the money when all I’m doing is losing and regaining the same 3-5 pounds over and over.  I already do that on my own for free! So, I’m making a last ditch effort starting today, and I’m going to try and blog about it regularly and hope that will give me some accounta

I've mentioned before that it doesn't rain as much in Seattle as most people think, but there are 3 days every year that you can pretty much count on rain.  They are:  Labor Day, July 4th and Memorial Day!  But for once we had an absolutely beautiful Memorial Day weekend!  Which is even more of a big deal than it otherwise would be because of the colder and wetter than normal winter and spring we have had.  I seriously can't remember the last time we had a Memorial Day weekend where it wasn't cloudy and/or rainy at least one of the three days.  We practically lived outside all weekend.  It was so nice! Saturday we took a trip up to Arlington to a place called the Outback Kangaroo Farm.  I never knew this place existed until sometime over a year ago my niece and sister-in-law went and posted about it on FB.  I've been wanting to go ever since and we finally made it.  It's like a small zoo just on someone's property with kangaroos, wallabies, alpacas, ri

Welcome to Music Monday, episode 2.  Today's song was chosen in honor of Memorial Day and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  But first a little back story about this song. I first heard this song back in 1984-ish at a high school dance.  Yes, not only was I alive in 1984 but I was old enough to be in high school (barely, but still).  There was a live band and they played it.  I had never heard it before and just assumed it was an original because every thing else they played was the usual top 40 and hard rock songs that I knew and loved.  I loved the song and was sad that I was probably never going to hear it again. Sometime within the next year or two, I was going to some 4-H function and riding in the car of another 4-H member.  Her mom had the radio on a country station and out of the blue that song came on.  I was so happy to hear it again, and now I knew that it was "out there" and I would probably be able to track it down someday, even

May 13th was our 11th anniversary.  After Olivia's dance recital photo shoot, we got a babysitter and went out to dinner at Daniel's Broiler and got a table by the window with an awesome view (it's on the 21st floor), except for it was kind of cloudy that day.  We had a delicious steak dinner and then went into the lounge to listen to the piano player and have a drink. The next day was Mother's Day.  We went to church and then Paul's parents came over later and we went to an early dinner.  The girls gave me cute cards and pictures they made at school as well as some plants. Last weekend we had the dance recital that I already posted about on Saturday and then Olivia went to a birthday party/sleepover, so while she was there I took Kayley to Michael's to get stuff to make slime (their absolute favorite hobby right now, other than electronics).  Then we went out to dinner and then Kayley and I were going to go across the street to the pottery painting pla

Welcome to Music Monday, a new (hopefully) weekly thing I'm giving a try.  I've been toying with this idea for a very long time of starting a weekly music-themed post.  I used to be really into music of many genres, but have really fallen out of the loop since having kids.  I used to love to turn on DMX (called something else now, but those music channels in the 900s on Comcast) or browse iTunes on Saturday mornings in search of new music but I just don't get the chance that often anymore.  The only music I hear nowadays is the same 3 or 4 songs over and over on my way to work everyday.  Ed Sheeran's "Shape of You" and Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling" are great, but I get tired of hearing them multiple times a day.  Sometimes I'll change the station to a rock station that plays all the 80s hair band music I loved in high school, but other than that it's the same songs over and over. Then every once in a while I manage to

Olivia has been taking a dance class, beginning modern, for the last 4 months or so and yesterday was the big recital (for all the dance classes, not just hers.  Ballet, tap, jazz, modern and dance theater). I was helping out backstage so I missed a lot of it but I got to go stand on the side to watch her performance as well as a few others after hers.  She has several friends that have been dancing for years so they were all performing in the various disciplines.  It was fun to watch.  But it was really hard to get any decent pictures.  I got a few at the rehearsal the night before, though, plus they had a professional photo shoot last weekend so I get those in a few weeks. I'm just glad it's over and we can have our Monday nights back.  We were spread pretty thin these last few months, having dance on Mondays, gymnastics for Olivia and piano for Kayley on Tuesdays and violin for Olivia on Wednesdays.  As I've mentioned before, Olivia will now have to decide if she wants

Today is our 11th anniversary, and this is the first time since we got married that it has fallen on a Saturday.  For the last several years I've been determined to go away somewhere for this anniversary but it just didn't work out.  Olivia has a dance recital photo shoot this afternoon (the actual recital is next weekend) and then there's Mother's Day tomorrow and I didn't want to mess up anyone's Mother's Day plans by having them babysit.  Getting married on Mother's Day weekend was probably not the best choice.  I get kind of tired of having them grouped together most years.  Oh well, totally not a big deal.  So anyway, in honor of our anniversary, I am sharing a fun back story around when Paul and I met and started dating. Back in 2002,  I had been attending the same church for about 7 years and decided to start trying out a few different churches in an effort to find one with a bigger and better dating pool :) .  But on October 27 of that yea

Much to my frustration we have been extra busy lately.  Every weekend it's something else.  There were two weekends in March that had two Girl Scout cookie booths each, plus birthday parties and what-not.  Then Easter and a Girl Scout trip and more birthdays... Last weekend was blissfully plan-free and I was finally able to work on some projects but then this weekend was back to super busy and being gone a lot.  Yesterday we went up to Mount Vernon for the whole day, visited my mom, went to my great nephew's first birthday party and then to my best friend's house for dinner, then today we went to a graduation party for a family friend who just earned her doctorate in physical therapy.  We have a bunch of stuff the next few weekends too and then Memorial Day weekend is wide open at this point.  Can't wait. Here's a rundown of recent happenings. Paul turned the big 5-0 on March 28th.  We went to dinner with some friends at the Melting Pot.  The girls really