Vacation!

Our house feels quiet this afternoon without our visitors! We enjoyed a lovely vacation from our routine with Rachel, Mom, and Dad in town from Utah. Our many activities included a trip to Costco (our fridge is stocked!), a couple of movie nights with Rachie, a sunset on the beach, a shopping trip to H & M in Oakland, watching Ryan surf at Pacifica, and lunch and ice cream at the traditional Fenton's Creamery. We jetted all over the Bay area and took in just about everything we could in a few days.

It was fun to show off our little nursery, and both Rachel and Mom got to feel the baby hiccuping! Dad was a huge help getting some final home repairs taken care of, Mom left me with homemade noodles for chicken noodle soup, and Rachel caught me up on John Mayer's latest albums! Thanks for coming, you guys!

Baby's Got a Bed!

After lots of crib browsing and a hunt to find the LAST one of these cribs in the Bay area, we finally bought and set up our darling crib. I love it. It is "vintage white" (aka cream), though the pictures may not do the color justice. We found it at target, on sale for $139 down from $200. Even $200 would have been a darn good deal! Ryan probably thought it was ridiculous how much I enjoyed picking it out and setting it up. But what girl hasn't imagined setting up a nursery since she was little? And plus, it helps me feel more like a mommy.

The crib set Ryan's family gave me for my baby shower looks adorable in it. Thanks, Julia!



Here's the proud Mama- and Papa-to be! (Not the greatest picture, but that's what you get for taking it at 11pm.)


Then, to top it off, I found this steal on craiglist: an upholstered glider and ottoman originally from Babies R Us for $50! I've been hunting online high and low for one of these but had almost given up since I'd never seen one for under $300. I guess sometimes diligence pays off. :) I think the baby will love both of our recent purchases.

Speaking of Baby...It's time to cast your votes! Only one month to go, so enter your vote (boy or girl) in the poll to the right. Thanks!!

California!!!!

Well - I think I will post my first post, something I have been meaning to do for probably more than a year. I at first was reluctant thinking that blogs were somewhat of a narcissistic activity and still think they probably are. So please forgive me.

Erica and I consider ourselves blessed to be here and very fortunate. We are thoroughly enjoying California and wouldn't second guess our decision to move here for a second. For 2 years people have been giving us funny looks and telling us how expensive it is here, our response is that if you want to live cheaply we know of some very affordable property in Indiana. Often time we are also warned that we may die in the next earthquake. Our response to this one is that we are not going to be scared of what could happen, we are just going to enjoy the lives we are living.

Anyway - a few of the things that I have really enjoyed the last 6 weeks:

• I love getting up in the morning walking to Piazza's (similar to Whole Foods) next door and buying fresh fruit and vegetables grown nearby. Erica makes this awesome salad with fresh corn, tomatoes, croûtons, olive oil, onions, and mushrooms all purchased from the farmers market and grown locally. It really is good! We've also eaten locally grown asparagus, artichoke hearts, and honey. Erica got a big box of strawberries for 5 bucks and made a whole bunch of her great jam. Erica's mom took us to Costco and bought us among other things steaks and fresh salmon! We've had several evenings grilling, jumping in the pool, and then watching a movie.
  
• The beaches are great - Maybe they're not like Hawaii or even San Diego, but I bet the beaches here are a lot less crowded. Once you get your wetsuit on and you're swimming around you hardly notice that the water is 55 degrees. I have continued to try and learn how to surf which has been a whole lot of fun.
  Once I actually learn how to surf with some degree of competence, I'd like to try windsurfing and maybe when Trenton is old enough kite-boarding.
  
• We haven't been hiking yet, but there are lots of great trails around here. Sometime I'll get my mountain bike fixed up and tell you more about the trails.
  
• Our ward is great. We have met several younger families like ours and feel more comfortable at church here than we did after 2 years in Provo (How are those snorting dogs???).
  
• Having the satisfaction and feeling that we are actually going to be living here for more than 12 months. We do miss Notre Dame, but are excited to have a place to call home.
• Our complex is filled with friendly caring people. Most people here are excited about Erica's baby and she is often getting complements and individuals expressing their concern for her.
  
• Above all we are excited about the baby and are looking forward to welcoming it into our family.

We are very grateful to be here and are looking forward to having Erica's family visit in a couple of weeks.

Fun with the Fire Alarm

Today we were officially inducted as resident managers at our complex: the fire alarm went off. Twice.

Residents came meandering downstairs in their nightgowns; apparently no one gets too freaked out when the alarm sounds. With the exception of the one crazy lady who was mad at Ryan and I for "interrupting her sleep" (as if it were our fault), everyone was surprisingly jovial. It was complex bonding time--waiting for the fire department to show up and chit-chatting with the old ladies about my upcoming birth (over the sound of the insanely loud alarm, of course).

The fire alarm panel in the office told us which smoke detector was having a problem, so Ryan checked it out. No fire, no smoke.

About 10 minutes after the fire department silenced the alarm and left, the alarm was triggered again. Ryan and I both frantically got on our phones trying to contact dispatch so the fire department wouldn't come again...No need to be charged for two false alarms! We silenced the alarm again and tried to avoid the aforementioned crazy lady.

We can't get the system serviced until Monday, so cross your fingers that the alarm doesn't keep going off all weekend!




Oh wait. After dealing with that all morning, we decided at about 4pm to swim some laps in the pool. As we were drying off, we heard ANOTHER alarm. This one sounded different than the other two, so we deduced that it was the sump pump. We booked it over there and--thank goodness--switched it from auto to manual before the sewage started overflowing.

All I can say is, this complex needs us.

Growing, growing, growing

Can anyone believe it is already July 10th?? As of tomorrow, I only have 5 weeks of pregnancy to go. Yikes! I've been getting requests again for another profile pic, so although I can't say I looove this picture, here it is.

Also, check out my redesigned website! Working with my business coach this summer helped me define my target market, so my updated website aims for a new crowd--people who have tried to make a difference in the world and have lived meaningful lives. Hopefully you can pick up on that when you're looking at the site. Anyway, I've had a lot of fun designing it and still have a ways to go.

www.layne-histories.com (The link's in the sidebar on the right.)

So Domestic

This weekend we passed a fruit stand where I bought a big box of strawberries for 5 bucks(!), which prompted my next step toward domesticity ...HOMEMADE JAM!

I was spoiled all growing up eating only my mom's homemade strawberry and raspberry jam, so I can hardly stand the store-bought alternative. Needless to say, it was a loooonng winter in Indiana without my mom's jam. This year, though, we're going to fare much better (if it lasts that long, of course).

While I'm on the topic of food, I thought I'd share my latest discovery—cookinglight.com. I just signed up for my two free issues of the magazine, and I am ecstatic! And I love, love, love getting ideas from cooking websites and blogs. (Watch the sidebar for a list of my favorites.) It's especially useful when the site allows you to log in and add recipes to your "recipe box" online. I use this feature a ton at allrecipes.com and cookinglight.com Do any of your girls have other cooking websites to share??

Anyway, tonight we tried a Cooking Light recipe, minus the mayo, along with grilled corn and grilled mushrooms. We are pretty much obsessed with our grill this summer!





If anyone wants it, here's the link for the recipe: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1065508 I can't get blogger to let me link it.