11 on 11

We typically don't do the public mushy, romantic crap..but, it's time. :)

Happy ELEVEN year wedding anniversary, Tim!  June 11, 2005 we committed our lives to each other at the ripe old age of 19.  It seems like another lifetime.  We've come oh so far, and I'm pretty proud of those 2 kids.  I love you.

First of all, thank you for loving me when I don't deserve it (which is rare, let's be honest, ;) )

I'd like to take us back to the beginning.  In the beginning things were idealistic.  I pictured our love story playing out like one I saw on TV. And then you're hit with real life (that's annoying);  The Army, an Iraq deployment, a baby in the NICU for a month, navigating uncharted waters of life after the military, law school, infants, death by insane schedules, the stress and crazy that goes along with real estate investments, a move across the country for your dream job, and I could go on....

Love gets hazy at times.  But, we made it and are making it. And, I constantly remind myself of the following:

OUR LIFE HAS BEEN A ROLLERCOASTER. (yes, I just yelled that)  However, it has never been boring.  It has been full of adventure, challenges that have made me a better mom and wife ( I like to think), and accomplishments that I never imagined.  I've lived in paradise and the opposite.  I've had the pleasure of meeting some amazing people and gaining friends from all walks of life. I fully appreciate it all.  I am LUCKY to have the life I live, and I have you to thank for that.  My life is chaotic, trying, adventurous and fun.  As testing as our journey has been at times, I truly believe that I have the coolest life!  I'm beyond thankful every day that you swept that 19 yo clueless small-town girl off her feet and whisked her away to Monterey, California. Thank you, Tim, for all of the wonderful memories we've made so far.

The first 10 years were nuts! This past year we've found our way to a clearer path, and I'm ready for the next years we are given together.

My commitment will always remain the same.  I love you. 

-Hales

We were able to slip away for a few days to the very first place we ever lived as a married couple: Monterey, CA.  I can't describe the overwhelming emotions I felt going back to where we began navigating the world together away from the comfort of our small Texas town.  It gave me "all the feels"!   Not a second was unappreciated nor wasted.  We were able to stay at the Monterey Plaza Hotel, right on the water at Cannery Row; a place we only dreamt of stepping foot in years ago.  It was so special. 

We hiked, rode bikes along the coast and through downtown, ate awesome food, visited our old neighborhood and apartment, used the bathroom at my old College, and soaked in the perfection of Monterey.  I spent my first two years of college at Monterey Peninsula College, and I cried when I rode my bike up to it.  No clue why...my emotions were in overdrive!
OH, and I knocked on apartment #3 at our old complex to see if the woman and her son still lived there from 10 years ago. It was worth a try!  I thought Tim was going to have a heart attack (from embarrassment).
#nostalgia

Tim carving our initials on the tree

 

hiking at Point Lobos., Carmel, CA. and we all know pictures never do beauty the proper justice

 

Do we look cold? Freaking freezing

 

 

Our beloved.  Apartment #6

 

 

 Riding/ bawling through downtown Monterey, wishing we still lived there

 

Side note: Why Monterey?  Tim went into the Army as an Arabic Linguist, and the Defense Language Institute is in Monterey. This is where all military linguists study the specific language they were given. Therefore he was sent there for 2 years to not just learn, but master, Arabic (top of his class and linguist of the year...duh.  haha).  And since we were married, I was able to join him...We totally scored with Monterey! 

11 YEARS ON JUNE 11, 2016

"Nobody said it was easy......Take me back to the start".

-Coldplay

P.S.  Although our love story hasn't exactly played out as I saw on TV those many years ago ( I can't reference a specific romantic comedy that I'm sure gave me the idealistic view of marriage, ha), but I feel like my life is often times a sitcom without the cameras and with the occasional romance and tons of comedy.  So, there's that!  :)   #winning

Show off!

When we decided that Tim would accept the job offer and move to the sunshine state, I repeated in my head "do not succumb to anything it has to offer. do not do it. Baltimore is your home and you will be back".  WHICH IS TRUE.  Our hope is that we will move back after a year on the job here. 

unsuccessfully packing in Baltimore

HOWEVER: Good ole Cali is a complete and utter SHOW-OFF!  I mean,  I already knew that when the mountains meet the ocean it becomes a place of paradise. But, day-um.  It's gorgeous.  And, I suppose I purposely forgot about it's beauty, because I didn't want to give myself any reason to like it.  If you don't fall in love with it, you won't have a reason to stay, right?!  I'm a sensible person (don't ask Tim to comment on that).

From Day 1 here she showed off and made me like her.  Her is Cali.  KINDA RUDE IF YOU ASK ME, ;)

heading to the Golden Gate Bridge

how can you hate this view...can't.

 

 

Going back to my sensible personality (typically that lack there of).....

I dug my heels in, gritted my teeth, and told myself to thank God we have this opportunity to explore a new place. I am lucky!  I totally get that.  I changed my attitude by week 3 and have been trying my hardest to make the most of our time here...even if we did have to downsize to a tiny ass 2 bedroom apartment.  ADVENTURE!

 

 

 

DANG YOU CALIFORNIA. DANG YOU AND YOUR AMAZING LANDSCAPE.

 

 

Fact: I could eat Chow Mein for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Fashionably late.... always. But not fashionably. 

This should have been written 2 months ago.  It finally dawned on me.... "bribe the kid with veggie bacon.... duh".  So here I am pounding out our "move story" while Honey Badger chomps away on veggie bacon, Little Bear is playing (probably buying more) games on the iPad in her room and Tim is working. BTW, it's Sunday... but FB didn't hire him for nuttin. However, we are going out soon... speaking of...that babysitter better get here asap! 
Anyway, I'm trying to piece it all back together, because well, I've traveled a lot since our big move, gotten little sleep, drank too much wine, and just completely forgotten many details; probably for the best.  It was baaaaaaad.

I will spare as many details as possible, because nobody actually cares.  But, I need to document.

TRAIN
1. We stayed in a hotel our last 2 nights in Baltimore, since the movers came and took all of our junk.
2. We then took a commuter train from Baltimore to DC where we then loaded onto Amtrak... thank God for sleeper cars.  If you plan to be on a train for longer than 8 hours, do first class... there is no other option!
3.  We spent one night on that train and were dropped off in Chicago.  We spent half the day at Navy Pier where I got frost bite and left my newest hat in a taxi cab.  COOLIO. 
4.  After we walked up and down Navy Pier (on the inside), we hopped a cab back to Penn Station where we loaded onto a different sleeper car to finish the second and last left of the train trip to Texarkana.  Yes, Texarkana has a tiny train station (on the Arkansas side, ewwww.  KIDDING!). But, it is small and gross. 
5.  All is fair in love and train trips:  and why wouldn't Gabriel and I both puke on the train?  I mean, it only makes sense for an already stressful move/trip to become even worse, right?  Only for the Rice's.
In all we spent 2 days and 2 nights on the train.
We made it to our hometown in what felt like millions of tiny pieces.  But, wait, we're not even to our final destination...uggghhhhh.  Everyone ended up getting sick over the course of that week we were in Texarkana; Tim, Sophia, and my mom. 

AUTOMOBILE
We then rented a car and drove 3 hours to visit Tim's parents.  We brought the stomach bug to them too! We felt real awesome about that....
On our final day in Texas, we said goodbye to Tim's family and drove another hour to the airport in Dallas to FINALLY board for San Francisco.

PLANE
My mom went with us, because NOBDOY wants to fly with Honey Badger.  Adults MUST outnumber the children.  It's my only rule when traveling.  Nobody saw Tim the entire flight... that Joker sat about 10 aisles away from us.  I don't blame him..but i was pissed, haha!  We're obviously dumb for putting Gabriel on a 4 hour flight his very first time flying. They did great considering they hate me, their ears popped for 4 hours straight, they were starving the entire time, and were never comfortable... at least that's what it seemed like.  In reality, they both slept for an hour (seemed like 15 minutes) and were overall happy.  It's so much easier traveling with Grammy..thanks mom!

LESSONS:

I learned two extremely important things during this move. 

1. I hate traveling. (although I will be doing it much more now... awesome)
2. Lollipops solve nearly everything.  Let me explain this one a bit: 

A kid barfs on a train?  Lollipop= he's happy
Siblings fight in the car over a movie? Lollipop= I get to listen to music instead
Your kids scream during the descent on a plane? Lollipop=it's suddenly a peaceful landing

You're welcome. 

Pictures coming soon, because well..i ran out of veggie bacon.  GOTTA JET!

From COAST to shining COAST....

OHHHHH EEEEEEEEEEEMMMMM GEEEEEEEEEEE, is this really happening?

Timeline:

2 months ago a long-time Army friend of Tim's said, "hey, I heard about this job opening.  I think it would be perfect for you.  Send me your resume, and I'll get it to their HR department.".   So, Tim did, and then we forgot about it.

3 weeks ago: The company contacted him for a phone screening.  They apologized for the resume being sent to the wrong department (hence the delayed contact from them).  Phone screening went well, and there was another phone screening a few days later with a director.  Mr. Director said, "we'll get back to you next week".

2 weeks ago: And they did.  "We'd like to fly you to our headquarters in CA for a round of all-day interviews".  So, that happened.

1 week ago: " We'd love to have you, so would you be willing to move to our headquarters?"

SAY WHAT, SAY WHO, SAY WHEN?

1 week ago: negotiations, anxiety attacks, discussions, negotiations, negotiations, sleepless night...

Sparing all the crazy, exciting, boring details, and many curse words, WE ARE MOVING TO THE SAN FRANSCISCO BAY AREA IN TWO WEEKS.  He starts his new job November 30. Who are we?

Why would we give up the perfect life we have in here Baltimore?  Our friends, careers, our company, Sophia's sports, activities, and her friends, our house that we're in love with, our neighborhood that we love even more, our friends, the city we love and claim as our own..... We are settled, comfortable, gotta a great thing going! So, why? 

The short answer: When FACEBOOK knocks, you answer. This little company in Silicon Valley known as Facebook has just hired Tim, and it's kind of a career dream come true for him.  All I know about his new job is that he'll work in FB's security department.  We're looking forward to the impact he can have there!

MY LIFE IS CRAZY!  But, we make ourselves feel better by calling it adventurous.

Two more things:

1. Who wants to rent or buy my house?  I prefer a renter so that I can move right back in after a year.
2  Condensing 2300 sqft down to about 1000 is an art. To achieve this art, you must get rid of half of your belongings.  ACHIEVED. 
Ok 3. Did I mention that this area of CA has the highest cost of living in the country?  It beat out NYC.  YAAAAAAAAAAAY. :/.    Hence the downsizing we must do.  We'll need to fit into a 2 bedroom/2bth apartment for the first year. ADVENTURE.  And even that will cost  $3500 a month in rent.  #kill me
It's actually really fun for me to get rid of stuff.  Even our couch and bedroom suit!  I love it.  My house feels so fresh.  Or empty, others might say.  #intheeye

I thought I was going to make a long story short.... sorry.  And there is a lot more to be said, just no time to say it.  And really, nobody cares except for my mom, and she knows most of the deets.  So, I shall leave you with some recent pictures of Little Bear and Honey Badger.

I suppose I should re-activate my Facebook account? That's awkward! 

I have a break down at least once a day, but I need to take my own advice.  I've been telling Sophia, "it doesn't matter where we live, as long as we're together'.  CHEESEBALL.  But, it should be true.  It's nice to change things up a bit, or a lot.  We'll experience new things, grow together, and maybe the bay area fog will help my kids sleep in!

There are LOTS AND LOTS of loose ends to tie up before we leave, so my next post will probably be from our humble abode in NorCal.



-Hales, a Texan turned Baltimorean, pretending to be all Californian soon.  LIKE, TOTALLY. 

#help

p.s. Tim and I lived in Monterey, California for two years way back in the day, so it won't be completely new to us. 

 

Ode to Honey Badger

Our most recent rice grain is thriving and hit a year old on April 8th!  Tim worked a half day Wednesday, and we had a family afternoon at the Maryland Science Center.  I spent that entire day in and out of tears.  Time gets away these days.  How can my little baby honey badger be one already?  Although Gabriel was the most beautiful baby boy I've ever seen, Tim and I are actually overjoyed that he isn't a bitty baby anymore.  They're tough! And we've had the TOUGHEST babies.  They don't sleep, hate their bottles, cry, have colic, spit up, have to visit GI Dr's, etc.  But, I can 100 percent say that it was and is worth it.  The accomplishment I feel as a mother is beyond words.  The adorable personality that Gabriel has developed is worth all of the sleepless nights..seriously, he's adorable and makes me laugh so much already.  Although, I would prefer to be well-rested as I laugh at his funny personally, ;).

Honey badger has tested my limits, no doubt.  Which is why we call him honey badger.  Honey badgers are nocturnal menaces, and if anyone gets a change to watch the Netflix documentary about the Honey Badger, you'll think "Gabriel Timothy Rice..that's him!", haha. 

Every mother can remember being sleep deprived.  It's an exacerbated situation when he's screaming from tummy pains at dark:30, and you had just fallen into a deep sleep 20 minutes prior.  I don't know about other mums, but I become kind of psycho when I'm exhausted and pacing the room with a screaming baby.  I'm not saying that dent in my bedroom wall is from a bottle being thrown at 2am... but it's a possibility, ;).   When Gabriel was 3 months old we said, "omg, it'll be so much better when he's 6 months.  He'll be over the colicky stage and hopefully not feeding through the night anymore".  Then when he hit 6 months we said the same thing."When he's 8 months, he certainly won't be eating through the night anymore, should be full from all the table food he's now eating, and we'll all sleep better".  8 months rolled around, and you get the picture.  Now, at a year old our pediatrician is finally referring us to a pediatric GI specialist, because this guy is in pain.  It's really sad :(.

We survived Sophia, so we'll definitely survive this guy! 

Gabriel's favorite things: 

His sister

Pasta

Being held all day by his mom

Pasta

Goldfish crackers

Rolling a ball with Sophia

Screaming

Pasta

Not wearing shoes

Blueberries

Being outside

Gabriel's' least favorite things:

Being put down

Milk

Wearing shoes

Being strapped in carseat

Being strapped in a highchair

Mom leaving his sight

Sleeping in his own bed

A FEW of my favorite things about Gabriel:

He loves me more than I deserve... it's unconditional. 

How he immediately lays his head on my shoulder when I pick him up; even if IT IS a nano second, lol

His hilarious facial expressions and personality

The fact that he LOVES being chased and giggles when I go after him

How we can make him laugh at the drop of a hat, even if he has just been screaming

How frustrated he gets if I take something out of his hand (like a pen that he could poke his eye out with... doesn't he get it? :) ). It's quite cute to see his frustration.  I just laugh. 

His scrunchy face he makes when smiling.

And of course I could go on, but I'm at work....shhh

Both of my kids are miracles... we all know Sophia's hard start to life.  But, it was a very tough year before having Gabriel, and I couldn't be more thankful that he was given to us.  He is my rainbow baby. 

Parenthood doesn't work for everyone.  We can all think of a deadbeat that we know.  But my children have made me a better person.  I will love them unconditionally and hope that they will forgive me when I fail them as a mom. 

Gabriel, if you ever read this:  You are the perfect addition that I didn't realize I needed.  When we found out your gender, I couldn't wrap my head around having a boy..I was a girl mom! I played dress up for 4 years.   But you are so perfect, and I know that I was meant to be a boy mom as well... we click.  I get excited when I see boy toys that you may enjoy playing with.  I love the balance our family now has.  We're stuck together... mainly because you won't let me put you down, :)  You and your sister are my greatest successes in life.  I love you, honey badger. 

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY!!

Traintastic

 

THE RICE'S TOOK THE TRAIN.....

TO A TRAIN SHOW......

AND BOUGHT THEIR FIRST FAMILY TRAIN SET....

THEN WENT HOME AND PUT IT TOGETHER WHILE WATCHING "THE POLAR EXPRESS' (obviously)

Gabriel didn't make a peep the whole day we were out, and I didn't throw up on the light rail.  It was a SUCCESS! 

Our Rice grains are growing beautifully in smalltimore.   And now we're addicted to trains (thanks to Tim's awesome idea).   We had a blast! 

Perspective from a "seasoned" mom...

Lately, I've been losing my mind.  No, no, I've lost it.  You know why.... it's when they teethe, have tummy issues, and a cold with fever all at the same time.  Why would they not, right?  Sometimes Gabriel will take a 15 minute nap AND go to bed at 11pm the same day.  Winning!  Not.

My real estate work is actually saving me.  I almost said "work is saving me", but all stay at home mothers know that they are working hard for zero dollars..group hug to those who aren't getting paid! ;) Anyway, I've been working outside the home more lately, and it's keeping me sane; relatively.  I was in my office two days ago talking to a friend who is a mother of 5 kids. But not just a mother of five; an awesome mother of five.  That's TOUGH!  I mean, one kid was hard!  I mentioned the goings on of my sleep deprivation and the reasons why; complaining basically.  And in her sweetest voice she says to me, "I know it's hard.  But you know, little people, little problems.  Big people, big problems".   Hello. 

What I actually heard was this:  You think right now that your 4 year old talks too much and at an extremely high volume.  But one day, when she's 16, she may not want to talk to you at all.  Be thankful for her sweet little loud voice.  You think right now it's tough getting little to no sleep at night, tending to a crying baby in the crib next to you.  But one day you will not sleep at night because you may not know where he is..he hasn't come home yet from hanging out with his friends.  At least right now, you know he's home safe next to you.  Be thankful for this time. 

In the midst of the craze, I feel like my problems are big.  I'm stressed, sleep deprived, and haven't had a normal meal in a few days.  I'm living off of coffee and cough drops.  But, PERSPECTIVE IS KEY.  "little people, little problems".  WOW, so true to be reminded of this.  See, this mother of 5 has kids from 11-25 years old.  She's experienced all the problems at each age.  She knows!  So, for right now, I'm going to be thankful and happy that Sophia LOVES talking to me and that I know Gabriel is safe and sound at home with me, even if he's not sleeping, ;).

THANK YOU, KAREN!  You had no idea that your words came at the perfect time.