A brief update

Well it's been about a month since my last post, so I figured it's time for a little update!

Life here in Ellensburg is good (as usual), the weather has been fairly good to us, cold mornings and warming up a bit in the afternoons.  We haven't seen much snow lately *knock wood* other than the occasional dusting in the morning (which melts by noon) which is a huge blessing to me!  With the sun shining more and more I'm getting antsy to rush outside and start prepping my garden!  If only the ground would thaw out and dry!  Another reason I'm excited for warmer weather is that my daughter Evelyn desperately wants to get outside and play in the yard, on her swing set and climbing trees!  She refuses to go out if it's too cold so she has spent a lot of time inside this Winter.  I think we all have a little case of cabin fever!

I haven't done much this past month.  It's just been cleaning, laundry, scrapbooking and the occasional woodworking.  Evelyn has been asking if she can get her play kitchen back, but seeing how it has been given away that's not going to happen.  SOOOOO we decided to build one of our own!  We found a lot of good plans on various blogs that I follow and finally decided on making one from an old TV entertainment center!  We are very excited about it and working on it as much as possible.  I can't wait to post pictures to show you all, but I think I'll wait until the finished product (but don't worry, I'm taking pictures of all the stages!).

We have had a tough winter to say the least.  Finances are definitely a bigger concern in the Winter months than they are the rest of the year.  Our heating costs are through the roof, which is another reason we can't wait until it warms up!  We had our roommate move out a few days ago, it's sad to see him move on to a different place, but great to have some personal family space as well.  My mother lost her sister-in-law in late November, and her youngest brother Mark (the husband) exactly two months later this January.  This came as a great shock to us all and I think there is a lot of regret surrounding his death.  Mark and his wife left behind four children, two of them were 13 and 15 at the time.  My awesome cousin Ashley (who is my age) has really stepped in and taken on a lot of responsibility for her sisters which is a great blessing.  They just moved in with her and she will be raising them from now on. How great it is to have such a loving supportive family!

With all of the hardships of these past few months, there has been a lot of good come out of it as well.  The changes in our family have been significant.  It is sad that death is often the one to bring family members closer together, and it really makes us all appreciate what we have (even if we think we have it "bad").  But all the same, I'm grateful for the opportunity to get in touch with the family that we don't often see or hear from.  I worry about my grandparents in California.  My grandfather is old and doesn't have much life left in him, I can only hope that we get to meet again before it's too late.  I love him so.

Now let's see....some good things to talk about.  I recently got to visit with my sister-in-law and her family when I was in town.  Evelyn just loves her cousin and I enjoy getting to watch her grow into a beautiful little girl!  I always love catching up with my sister-in-law and only wish we lived closer together!

With all of the depression that hits around this time of the year, Matt really takes good care of me!  He wanted to surprise me with a trip to see my best friend in Atlanta, but I blew the surprise when I asked him if I could try to surprise her for her birthday in March!  When I asked he said "Well Steph and I were actually going to try to send you out there two weeks after her birthday!"  I couldn't be more thrilled about going to see Steph, I miss her so much!

Anyway, I guess that's enough of an update.  Here are some random pictures of the past month!