Apple picking 2014

It's that time of year for apple picking! Seth's family came this past weekend, and we did our yearly tradition of apple picking at Paulus Orchards and then dinner at Pizza Hut. Carter started soccer Saturday morning (post to come), so they were also able to catch his first day of soccer, too! It was definitely warmer than normal this year. The weather was still really nice...just pretty warm! 

Every year, I take pictures of the kids on the apple crates. Usually they have ones that say Golden Delicious (which is perfect for those little blondies!) but this year they didn't, so we just grabbed the nearest one. It will be so fun to look back on for size comparison. I remember when  Carter's legs stuck straight out! 

 

Now, we need to get crackin' to make our applesauce and who knows what else!! Yum!

Bye, Bye Baby

That's it. It's official. She's not a baby anymore. She's potty trained, she speaks in paragraphs, does everything herself ("my do it!") and now this. 

She has been pitching a FIT at bedtime the last couple weeks. Excuse after excuse and mounting frustration for Seth and I. Then it occurred to us that she might be tired of the crib. An easy removal of a couple screws and sissy is now in a big girl bed. Eventually, we'll switch her over to the white furniture in Carter's room because it's more feminine and we'll move this stuff over to Carter's room and convert this crib into the full bed for him. We just wanted to make sure it worked before we disassembled everything! 

Night one: 4 minutes of blood-curdling screaming, 1 fall out of bed at 1 a.m., and 6:05 a.m. wake-up call. We call that a SUCCESS!

Tonight is night two and there was about 15 seconds of crying and some tossing and turning but she's asleep! 

We pack her for college in the morning.

New job

I figured now that I'm in my third week, it's probably time to catch up and blog about the new job. A couple weeks ago--while on vacation actually--I got the call offering me the job as the director of communications at my alma mater, Messiah College. Messiah is literally 2.1 miles from our house (we mapped it to see the exact!) which is an AWESOME change from my 25 mile commute. In this role, I'll be responsible for managing the feature and news content on the website, and in key areas around campus. I'll also be the college spokesperson, manage all media inquiries, manage the College's social media, and serve on the crisis team. 

I absolutely loved my job at Penn State Hershey, but it sure was hard to pass up a growth opportunity like this so close to home! So far, things are going really well. And, I'm not going to lie, I LOVE the option of running home at lunch and starting a load of laundry, the crockpot, or relaxing. I've gone for lunch several times with my new co-workers and I've worked out a few times too. I'm definitely getting into a new routine but it is so very awesome to be home 3 minutes after I leave the parking lot.