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2023 Highlights

By on Apr 6, 2024 in Adventure & Travel, Family, Life | 0 comments

This past year was so full of fun memories. So much laughter and a lot of poop jokes with three boys in the house. January: The biggest highlight from January was the trash truck snagging the power lines and pulling down a power pole right in front of our house. The fire truck showed up along with a couple bucket trucks. The boys chatted with the fire fighters and had a front row seat to the whole show. They didn’t stop talking about it for weeks afterward. The boys got to spend a lot of time with their best friend Zeke while Zeke’s mom went to prenatal visits and the hospital to have his little brother. The three boys get along really well and loved the extra time they had to play together. Listening intently while Baumpa reads a story. Herbie and his ladybug.Herbie was sitting on the couch because he got in trouble. Zeke came over and joined him. February: We spent...

A Very Late 2022 Recap

By on Sep 30, 2023 in Family, Life | 1 comment

I’ve been thinking about writing again. Yes, I know we are nearing the end of 2023 but this has been in my draft folder for about 10 months. I figured I might as well edit and post it. Mainly so I can reminisce and say, “Oh, look how little the boys were!” January: Herbie was 17 months and Finn 2 months. Auntie Cole flew out for a visit and then Grammy flew out a week or so later. A lot of books were read, Herbie helped Grammy make cookies and we visited the zoo. At the end of January, RJ left for a couple days to coach his team at a robotics competition. I stayed home with the boys. RJ’s team advanced to the next competition. February: We took walks in the park, took family bike rides and more family rides with Mom and Dad and Jessie. The boys did some programming with RJ and sat around lookin’ cute. March: Herbie read A LOT of books. RJ went to another...

Merry Christmas

By on Dec 24, 2020 in Life | 4 comments

I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas. It feels like this year went by pretty fast. Maybe for others, it has been the longest year of their life. We’ve had a lot going on this year despite Covid being very present. January and February I spent most of my time sleeping. I was 3 and 4 months pregnant and wasn’t feeling well at all. I discovered I had extremely low thyroid levels at the beginning of my pregnancy and was immediately started on medication and deemed a high-risk pregnancy and sent to a specialist. I had doctor appointments every week to every 2 weeks with ultrasounds to make sure baby was healthy and that my levels were improving. By March I was feeling better. Covid started to hit the city at that point and by the end of the month, RJ was working from home. April, May, and June were uneventful. We spent our time at home preparing for our little boy....

A Year Later…

By on Nov 8, 2019 in Life | 0 comments

It’s been a tough day for me as I know it has been for many others. Today marks one year since the Camp Fire blazed through Paradise, up to Magalia, and through unincorporated places such as Concow, Pulga, and Butte Creek Canyon. A day that started out just like any other. No one knew the panic that would ensue that morning or the sheer terror of driving through the flames that engulfed everything in its path. My mom called and woke me up that morning, wondering if we were evacuating from the fire on the ridge. I wasn’t aware of a fire at that time but I was sure it wasn’t anything too serious. Fires were frequent on the ridge and in the canyon and I was sure it wasn’t something to be too concerned about. Mom said it looked really bad from down the hill and the sky was darkening. I could see a little cloud of smoke on my end but nothing that looked like we...

CA to TN to NY

By on Oct 18, 2019 in Adventure & Travel, Life | 1 comment

We booked a flight to California, mostly for work but it was a good excuse to see family as well. We dithered for awhile the day of our flight whether we should take an Uber or the subway. We were flying out of LaGuardia which is northeast of us in Queens. We can take the F train most of the way if we go through Manhattan, cross Governor’s Island and then take a bus to the airport. But that takes an hour and a half. And we only live 14 miles from the airport. 😳 We decided to take an Uber. That only takes 30-45 minutes depending on the time of day. Yes, still a long time, but we could leave later and didn’t have to worry about transferring lines or delays with the train. I packed everything we needed in our backpacks so there wasn’t any hassle with checking suitcases. Or RJ saying anything about how I always pack too much stuff. 😏 So far, we’ve never had an issue...

Our Journey to Brooklyn

By on Sep 11, 2019 in Life | 9 comments

What a whirlwind these past few months have been! At the end of May we flew to New York City for two weeks and we knew RJ was going to be offered another position at the company he was working with. He had turned down the last two offers because we didn’t feel that moving to NY at the time was the thing to do. And we really wanted to complete our motorcycle trips to the state capitals. Two weeks later we flew home with a job offer on the table and we didn’t know what to do. RJ wasn’t sure he wanted to leave the family business. I had a brand new kitchen that I had barely been able to use because we had been back and forth to NYC and had taken our last big motorcycle trip. It would mean leaving the animals behind. It would mean saying goodbye to our families and friends and church. We had many conversations with RJ’s parents about leaving or staying. RJ would be...

We’re Moving!!

By on Jul 12, 2019 in Adventure & Travel, Life | 2 comments

Just a quick post to tell you all that we are moving to New York City! After flying back and forth for over a year, RJ has accepted the job offer with the title: Head of PHP Engineering. We are packing and will be leaving for NYC in a week or two. Commence extreme panic and stress level at 100! We will miss California and our families but we are excited for another new adventure in the city. ~em & rj

Life Update: Back to New York

By on Jul 11, 2019 in Adventure & Travel, Life | 0 comments

We were home for two weeks from our last big trip before we took off again. Nicole graduated from nursing school a week after we got home so we were able to make it to her graduation. She passed the NCLEX a few weeks later and is a licensed nurse! Save some lives, Cole! When she’s not busy working, she’s off fighting fires. So proud of you, Colebear! A few evenings later, RJ and I drove down to Chico to the fair. We had a grand ol’ time riding some of the rides. And then it was time to pack again. And off we flew to New York City for a couple weeks. We had a little Airbnb in Brooklyn. RJ spent most of his days at the office and I explored more of the city and drank coffee, of course. (If my family holds an intervention for me, I won’t be surprised.) We ate good food and rode all over Brooklyn and Manhattan on the city bicycles after RJ got off work for the day....