Laura's Favorites #14 - Mommy friends

The hospital parent/baby class that I took at Evergreen for the first year of Nathan's life is proving to be way better than I could have ever hopped it could be.  Not only did get the support I really needed when I started my new life as a mom but Nathan & I gained a boat load of good friends.  Amazing mommy friends: that are super busy with their life but made us family meals when Alex was born.  that motivate me to run.   that will listen to you talk about potty training or what a bad night you had.  that have wonderful children that Nathan likes to hang out with.  that make a summer playdate schedule so that we at least get out of the house once a week.  that want to hang out together once a month so we can talk/drink without our children around.  I am pretty sure I would be in counseling or a padded room if they were not around.

Laura's Favorites #13 - Spicey Hot Food

I really enjoy food, I enjoy reading cookbooks (yes sitting down and reading them for pleasure) and cooking magazines.  I like to try new things at least once.  Sweet treats are at the top of the things I enjoy eating.  Cheese probably makes the top 3 list but spicy hot food is something I really enjoy.  Curry and stir frys must have some added heat to make them better.  A boring casserole and eggs... add some more spice.  Oh and the Aztec Chocolate donut at Frost has just a bit of heat to it and so does one of the Theo's Chocolates.  So good.

Laura's Favorites #12 - Amusement Park Rides

I am putting this one on my list not because it is gets priority when we take vacations but just because I enjoy going on the rides.  In high school I love any rides that didn't go upside down.  Then I did my first upside down ride at the Seattle Center Fun Forest and I was hooked.  Something about the anticipation about waiting for the thrill to happen is great.  Paul and I were at Six Flags near San Fransisco before kids and were in the super short line waiting for V2. We watched it go a few times and found my self just waiting for Paul to back out.  I mean this thing was taking off at a super speed.  In the end I was so glad we went because this is one moment that I have had with Paul that I will never forget.

Laura's Favorites #11 - After run glow

I started running 7 weeks ago.  I am doing a couch to 5K nine week program inspired by lots of my mommy friends.  Never in my life did I think I would be able to run for 25 minutes straight but I have been doing it all week.  So really I can't say running is my favorite thing.  I can say that I love how I feel for the 3-5 hours after running.  My skin feels fresh, warm inside and out, light on my feet, my head is clear and I have some extra energy.   Really I don't think I am describing it very well.  It is much like how I felt after doing hot yoga with out the migraine that followed after every yoga session. 

Picture is from blueberry picking last August.  I think it looks like he is running.

Laura's Favorites #10 - A sweet treat

I have a huge sweet tooth.  Cake, donuts, scones with a ton of raspberry jam, creme brulee, cookie dough and chocolate fondue top the list of my favorite desserts.  Dutch babies, Norwegian pancakes and French toast are my favorite breakfasts.  (is it just me or is it strange they all have nationalities in the name??).  Too bad there is nothing in the house tonight to snack on.

Laura's Favorites #9 - Library

Free books and DVDs delivered to you local library.  Really what could be better than that? Did you know you can have 25 hold requests just sitting there.  I love technology... see favorite #3.  Nathan, Alex and I make a trip there 2-4 times a month for new stories for bed time and I usually have a parenting, novel or DVD to pick up.  I love how excited Nathan gets when I find a book about a train or a bulldozer.  Nathan sometimes has a hard time returning the books but that ends when we get to drop it in the huge book return that is outside.  Alex is just learning the joys of taking many books off the shelf and the power cords by the computers there.  Our library has a camera on a heron nest so we are also take the time to see how the babies are doing.  I also get to read  a few pages of a current cooking magazine while I am there.  I often will photo copy a page to take home for a new dinner idea.  Double bonus Kenmore just had a ground breaking for a new fancy pants library.  No more triple wide trailer for us.  We are moving up in the world.

Pictures was during the December power outage of 2006.  I was pregnant and had morning sickness with Nathan.  We were staying downtown at The Vintage due to our house being a chilly 42 degrees.   We had an amazing view of the Seattle public library.  Best thing about it was IBM paid for 3 nights in the hotel and we got to bring our kittens.

Laura's Favorites #8 - Costco

I know, I know I am sad to admit it I love Costco (but then again I also hate it).  Free samples, cheep gas, good seafood, meat, nuts, cheese and the Kirkland brand. I can fit both kids in the cart and still buy a ton of food.  Want a whole fresh salmon?  yep they have that.  Huge 5lb bag of clams... yep they have that too.  Wine, ok I will have some of that.  Huge block of cheese that you would only get a 1/4 lb at QFC for the same price.  I enjoy the organic spinach and the huge things of sweet peppers.  Summer brings huge baskets of berries.  Need a cute Carters out fit for the kids.. yep you can get one there too.  Vacations where we have a kitchen... Costco is one of the first stops we make.  I haven't made too many bad purchases at Costco... but if you don't like something they will take it back with no questions asked.   Don't forget the huge piece of pizza for lunch.

Laura's Favorites #7 - Seattle Weather

Seattle weather is something I adore.  Rain, sun or rain shine.  I love it all.  If it rains I am happy because that means there are puddles to play in and I won't have to water the garden.  If it is sunny I am happy the playground won't be too wet and the tomatoes that I planted might actually turn red.  Seattle has the perfect balance of seasons. A drive to Snoqualmie in the Fall to see the burnt red and oranges is top on my list to do. In the winter there is good chance that it will snow in town at least once and if there isn't any snow is just a short drive away.  Spring brings on hail storms, green trees and lots of flowers.  Summer well nothing beats a Seattle summer.  Not too hot and long days for playing outside.

Laura's Favorites #6 - Sleep

I think every mom loves sleep. Last night was lacking about 4 hours of sleep that I needed.   3 years ago I had no idea that it would be a never ending cycle of getting up with my children at night.   Just when you think you have a sleeper then they master something new and are up in the night again.  I am thankful that if I really need some extra sleep I can go to bed at 8pm and will get some much needed rest.

Photo from a month ago at 2am when Nathan was sick all night.  There really wasn't any sleeping going on here.

Laura's Favorites #5 - Planning a Vacation

Just the word vacation makes me want to start to look at prices for flights and hotels.  Research and read reviews, finding the best deal with good days and times to travel.  I have the longing to get out of Seattle to somewhere sunny in the winter time and have no desire to travel away from Seattle in the summer time, unless it is a quick trip to somewhere within in driving... like the coast or Vancouver.  As soon as I get the go from Paul I am nearly obsessed with finding the perfect trip.  The next part of the high for me is waiting for the trip to happen.  Going back to look at the hotel or condo that I picked over and over.  Looking for fun activities and finding a fun new restaurant to try out.  Don't get me wrong I love the actual vacation too but would never want to leave the planning to someone else.

Speaking of .. Paul where and when are we going on vacation next?

Ioa State Park in Maui , May 2010.

Laura's Favorites #4 - The Cabin

In 1976 my parents decided that they wanted a lake place.  They bought an old shack on Lake Cavanaugh.  Nearly every weekend of every summer from when I was 2 until a teenager was spent at the cabin.  BBQ, water-skiing, riding around the lake on bikes, ice-skating on the frozen lake, the out house, running cold water, baths in the lake, making mud cookies in the sand, rainy 4th of Julys, walking to the store for a candy bar, trips to town to go shopping with my mom and swimming for hours on end in the rain or sun.  Most of my childhood memories were made there.  I went away for University and came back to an amazing summer home.  I still call the place "the cabin"... it is the same view that I loved growing up.

Laura's Favorites #3 - Technology

There was a reason I got my computer science degree. I grew up loving computers that my dad brought home. My first memory was before I was in 4th grade and my dad brought home a acoustic coupler modem where you stuck the handset of the phone in to the modem so it could listen to the computer and talk to computers at my dads office. Wow that was amazing to me as a little kid. I was programing my own Mad Libs application in junior high in basic and drawing CAD drawings of cars in very early versions of CAD. I could print them on my dads massive printer that we had at the house. I have fond memories of the Apple IIes at school and remember begging my dad for one. He put his foot down and said we were not getting that kind of hardware at our house. We got Prodigy soon after it came out,  loved to post on the BBs and I had a email address. The computer commons at UW was amazing to me. We were underground in a dark room with UNIX. Geek heaven. Moving to current day I have no desire to program anymore just use all the amazing things that people are create. I can hardly pick just one thing that I enjoy the most.

Hardware favorites: Laptop, iphone, squeezebox, GPS, digital SLR Camera, DVR computer with MythTV on it.
Software favorites: Photoshop, Firefox, Word, any spell checker, iphone applications.
Websites favorites: Facebook, Google, Goolge reader (for my 100 blogs that I like to read), Gmail, Shutterfly (for perfect photobooks), Hulu, mommy message board, and blogs of all kinds.

That is me in 2002.

Laura's Favorites #2 - Growing Children

Yes of course my children would be second on my list but is so much more than just them. I could talk about them 24 hours a day and probably do. I am excited to watch them learn new things, get frustrated along with them, experience the fear of something new and the joys of getting it done. Alex 9 months and Nathan nearly 3 years old play together. Something I didn't expect to happen so soon. Can't wait to watch them grow and have a family of their own.

Laura's Favorites #1 - Paul

Paul has many meanings to me. Husband and father are the first two that come to mind but he is so much more than that. Canadian, funny, athletic, God loving, geeky, green card holder, easygoing... I am thankful that he enjoys to do things that I enjoy, that he enjoys being a father, that he works hard everyday for our family. I love that he is either with me or just a text message or instant message away from me at any given time. Knowing that he is there to listen or support me 24 hours a day 365 days a year with normally no wait makes me know that we have something special going on. Way better than any 800 support call that I have made. Yep, I love him.

(Peer pressure again.... I am coping two other moms that are doing favorite things on their blog, thanks Laurie and Dagny).