The Nelson Narrative

This Easter was our last with high school-aged or younger kids in the house.  So weird. I thought that I wasn't going to bother putting up what few Easter/spring decorations I have, but on Saturday I realized that I have a cute wreath that I definitely wanted to put up, so I got out my decorations after all and put them up.  Just a few things for the mantel, the wreath and some old Easter photos of the girls. This table runner is new this year.  Saw it at Fred Meyer and thought it was cute and needed something for spring. The girls' last (maybe, we'll see) Easter basket was a Trader Joe's mini tote filled with favorite treats.  I didn't even know about the mini totes until a co-worker mentioned that she went one morning and they were selling them, and apparently it's a big deal because people get there early and wait in line.  So she went ahead and bought 4 of them and then asked me if I wanted one or two, perhaps for the girls.  Then she said that another ...

 Happy Easter! He is risen! This cross is in front of the potato processing plant that was (might still be, not sure) co-owned by my brothers’ potato farm. It shines bright for all travelers along I-5 in South Mount Vernon to see.

Several months ago a new business opened up in my town called Books and Bottles, which is, as you would imagine, a combination bookstore and wineshop.  I mean...two of my favorite things!  I had been meaning to check it out forever and mentioned it to a few friends and we all decided to make a girls' night of it and went a few weeks ago.  It was so fun to browse books while sipping wine!  You can't buy an actual glass, but you can get up to 5 tastings, and then of course you can purchase whole bottles but you can't open/consume them there.  It's such a cool place and we talked about going back regularly.

I'm really behind with blogging but I just don't have time.  But I'm desperate to post something because I'm trying to hit 120 posts this year.  A little over a week ago I was about to post that we finally got a teeny bit of snow a few weeks before that, but then we got more snow.  Yay! Here is the dusting we got in mid-February: And then we finally got several inches last week:

Saturday was the girls' 18th birthday.  They went to breakfast with some friends and then they got tatoos!  For dinner we got their favorite, Chipotle. Olivia (r) and her bestie, Nyla Kayley (middle), Katie (l) and Liv (r) They got these beautiful flowers Olivia's tatoo.  It says "Made for more" which is a lyric from a Christian song, I think. I never did get a picture of Kaley's but this is a reference photo: They had a great day!

Today is the girl's 18th birthday!  18 years ago today I finally became a mom at the age of 39.  It was a long, painful and expensive journey but worth every tear, shot and penny.  

  This is the second installment of my new series called, "Things I Won't Miss", where I talk about all the different things that I won't miss once the girls go off to college in the fall.  Please note, they themselves will never be on this list. But this is. A sink full of dirty dishes, none of which were dirtied by me.  Every. Single. Day.  Here is a typical scenario:  I make dinner, Paul and I eat it but the girls are both at work.  Or maybe one or both are home but just don't want what I made.  So after dinner either Paul or I will clean up, then a few hours later one of the girls will get home from work and make herself something to eat. I always tell them to clean up and they say they will but they don't.  But even if they do, right after that the other one will come home and make themselves something to eat.  Same thing.  One way or another, a bunch of dirty dishes gets left in the sink. Another scenario is that they make a mess w...

A few years ago I decided to make it a thing that Paul and I have regular date nights. We decided that once a month would be ideal (well, I would love to have them weekly but that's not in the budget).  I ended up planning a bunch of them in advance, but not all.  Here is a year's worth of date nights: January - my birthday month, so we had my birthday date at Finn's Bistro and then saw the play Dial M for Murder at the Village Theater.  It was our first time there even though we had lived here 17 years (at the time, 18 now). In February, we had our Valentine's Day date at an Italian restaurant in a neighboring town. March is Paul's birthday month.  We had his birthday date at a pub-ish type restaurant called The Black Duck Cask and Bottle. April - Jazz Walk in North Bend.  I was actually supposed to be on a girls' trip to Phoenix the weekend this was taking place, but ended up not going due to cost (had recently helped each of our girls purchase a car, and was ...

It's the last Wednesday of the month which means it’s time for What's Up Wednesday, hosted by  Shay  and  Sheaffer . What We're Eating So far this week we’ve had a couple of Hello Fresh meals: Bahn-mi-style tacos and brown sugar bourbon meatballs.  I just decided today that I’m going to pick up a rotisserie chicken for tonight and have that with mashed potatoes and a veggie, and then tomorrow I’ll make enchiladas with the leftover chicken.  Friday we’re going out and Saturday we are probably going to Paul’s mom’s for the girls’ birthday. What I'm Reminiscing about The girls turn 18 this Saturday, so I’ve been reminiscing about them being little. What I'm Loving Just the usual—life, family, Jesus What We've Been up to Paul and I spent the weekend at Crescent Bar. We’re in the process of getting the condo ready to put on the market so this trip was spent doing some cleaning and going through the storage closet to get rid of some stuff. What I'm...

For as long as the girls have been alive I've vowed to give them the following every year:  An Easter basket, a Christmas stocking and a little Valentine's treat.  Growing up, Easter baskets were hit and miss--some years I got them and some I didn't.  By around age 10 I'm pretty sure I stopped getting them altogether (and yet, Mom gave all of my nieces and nephews one every year until they were at least 18).  Same with stockings, although I think I got one most years.  And not that V-day is that big of a deal for kids, but I only remember getting anything once, maybe twice.  But then again, we always had school parties where we got lots of candy, so no biggie.  So anyway, I vowed that the girls would always get all of those things until they graduated from high school. Valentine's is never much, usually just a small treat and maybe a gift card.  This year I got them each a small candle from Target, their favorite candy (Altoids for Olivia and wint...