The Semester is Over!

Kaitlyn finished the first semester of her Junior year with finals this week.

Her lowest semester grade was 96.7% and her highest grade was 101.2%. The poor child really needs to try harder, don't you think? I don't know how she is ever going to get into a good college with those grades!

No news yet on Rose & Derek's scholastic achievements. Their schedule is different than Kaitlyn's.

I love my new computer and the ability to post these old photos of the kids. Weren't they cute??? They were so little. This photo was the year before Tim and I got married.

Guess Who??

What a cute baby!!

Do you recognize that sweet smile?

It's Baby Kaitlyn!

I just bought a new all-in-one printer and it has scan capabilities. Yay! I can now upload her baby photos. Oh she is going to love this!!!!

Catch - Up

Wow! I haven't blogged in a really really long time. There's lots going on so let's catch-up.....

Christmas 2008
We had a white Christmas, which was much more annoying that you would expect. It made driving to work and to the mall for shopping quite challenging. Poor Kaitlyn had her keys taken away for a week until the roads cleared. You would have thought we were torturing her!
My Mom came over for Christmas. Because of the snow she couldn't drive here, so Tim and his handy-dandy Ford F250 4x4 went to pick her up. He also picked up Rose & Derek and they all spent the night here on Christmas Eve. We had a relaxing Christmas day all together and a freaking fabulous dinner (if I do say so myself!).

New Years 2009
I was sick and had stayed home from work for 2 days, so our New Years Eve consisted of me sleeping and Tim complaining that his life sucked because he was stuck home with a sick Kris. I would like to point out that he had the option of going out with friends and doing something, and that it was his choice to sit here like a bump on a log! Kaitlyn spent New Years Eve at Mackenna's house hanging out with her friends. She truly loves the freedom of a car and a job that provides cash!

Work Update
My boss took a job in Indiana and with the current state of the Merrill and Bank of America merger, there are cuts happening every where. Since our Director left and we are a relatively small complex, they decided to fold our complex into 2 other complexes. Unfortunately for me, that meant my job was eliminated - which totally sucks! The Seattle complex does not currently have a Client Relationship Manager, so I am going to go there and help out for awhile. The Director there made it clear that he was looking for a permanent CRM with more experience than I have, which he is actively searching for. That means that my job in Seattle could last a week, a month, or 6 months. Who knows? Of course, this is a little stressful! I have updated my resume and know that something good will come out of this eventually. The transition was supposed to take place this week, but has been delayed. The Tacoma office threw me a "going away" party last Friday. Everyone has been walking by my office with a peculiar look wondering why I am still there. I think I will be there for 2 more weeks, but things change at a moments notice these days.
I will admit I had a few melt-down days from the stress of it all, but am getting to acceptance. I had zero control over the circumstances, so I will just roll with it the best I can and hopefully find the perfect job.
In the meantime, I will do my best in Seattle and knock their socks off. However, I am not looking forward to the 3-hour commute that it will take to get to and from the Seattle office every day.
Luckily Tim's job is very secure at the moment. Whew!

Kids
Kaitlyn, Rose & Derek are all doing well. Rose is still working at Starbucks and Kaitlyn is working at Target. Derek turns 16 here in a few months and is hoping to get a job too.
Tim and Derek are planning a trip to Whistler for Derek's birthday for snowboarding. Tim has a tendancy to run into trees while he's boarding, so hopefully they will make it home in one piece!
Rose is getting excited for graduation this June. She's not decided on what her plans are for after graduation.
Kaitlyn is 1/2 way through her Junior year and sits for the SAT exams in March. It's the first big step in the college application process and the scholarship applications!

The Great Northwest

This was the sight out of the office windows yesterday afternoon. The clouds above Mt. Rainier were incredible.
Luckily someone was prepared and had their camera phone handy to grab this shot. Thanks Stacey!

Going to the Chapel......

It wasn't exactly a chapel, but the outcome was just the same: Terri Stafford and Jay Stein are now

Mr & Mrs Stein

After being together for almost 18 years, these two decided to make it official on Friday evening. It was a very pretty and private ceremony at their home. Terri's best friend for 22 years (me!) and Jay's long time friend Don from Oregon were the witnesses. Tim and Don's wife Angela were also there. Jay's first friend in Washington and long time co-worker Doug performed the ceremony and his wife Rainey took the photos. It was a very intimate group of close friends to share this special moment. Following the ceremony was the cake cutting and champagne toasts. The toasts that Terri and Jay gave to each other were so touching that there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Then it was off to dinner at a Japanese steak house. Yummy!

Congratulations Terri & Jay. I wish you many more years of happiness together! Love you both!

Thanksgiving 08

As we do on most Thanksgivings, we headed up to Sequim to have dinner at my cousin Karen's house. She has the perfect Holiday house up on the hill overlooking the Dungeness Spit. The kids are in the backyard showcasing the amazing view.

While the adults are chatting downstairs and getting dinner ready, the kids are upstairs challenging their spelling skills with a game of scrabble.

Bye Bye Braces!

This week we had a major milestone in Kaitlyn's life.....she got her braces off! Kaitlyn started going to the orthodontist when she was 9 years old - that was 7 years ago! She had several phases of treatment, with the actual braces being put on in the spring of her 7th grade year. It is now fall of her Junior year and she is finally brace-free!
Her teeth are beautiful and her pretty little smile is no longer filled with metal!

Our Beautiful Rose.....all grown up

Senior Photos 08

Homecoming Photos.....

From Kaitlyn's camera throughout the evening. Kaitlyn's date was Charlie, the same young man that escorted her last year.

Homecoming Preview

It's that time of year again. Here's what my beautiful baby looks like on her way to her Junior year Homecoming.......

Today Is Your Birthday!

No its not, today is MY birthday. I am now the ripe old age of 41! Wow, only 9 years to 50, as Tim so lovingly reminds me.

My special day started off at work at 7:20 a.m. I had some nice (alcoholic) presents from my coworkers, a dinner gift card, a coffee gift card, and a plant, not to mention a nummy chocolate birthday cake. It's a good thing I had a piece as my "breakfast of champions" this morning, cuz that was the only birthday cake I had today! Later this morning I headed to our Olympia office where I worked until 7:30 tonight.
I finally made it home about 8:30 tonight, after a brief stop at the UPS distribution site in Fife. Kaitlyn is at her Dad's house and Tim was just sitting on the couch watching sports and playing on his computer. If you didn't have a calendar that proved it, you wouldn't know it was my birthday in my house!
My exciting day ends catching up on my personal email (I had 36 unread messages....whoops!) and now quickly blogging before I head off to bed.
Lucky me gets to go to work in Olympia again tomorrow morning. I am so very special!
The only good news to share is that on Sunday, Tim and I are getting on a plane and going to Reno for a few days. "Why Reno and not Vegas?" is the question I'm getting asked a lot lately. Two main reasons: Reno is CHEAP and I need to relax. There isn't anything relaxing about Vegas, but Reno is really laid back. I need to unwind, hang out, drink lots of free cold adult beverages, and let my mind not think about work. I wonder how that is going to go when my blackberry is my cell phone now. I'll have to practice the art of ignoring it!
Thank you to everyone who called me, emailed me, or sent me a card for my birthday. I really do appreciate your remembering my special day!
Good night!

What a day!

Unless you live in a vacuum, then you've probably heard that in a deal put together over the weekend (in less than 48 hours), Bank of America bought Merrill Lynch for $50 Billion (that's billion with a "b") in an all-stock transaction.

I was resting peacefully yesterday afternoon when my phone rang about 4:00 in the afternoon. When your Director calls you at home on a Sunday afternoon (and your stock was in the tank on Friday) you know something is up. I was informed that our Board was meeting in New York to approve a sale to B of A. I immediatly turned on the computer and CNBC to absorb all of the information that I could get my hands on.

This morning I was at the office at 4:45 a.m. ready for an analyst call at 5:00 a.m. Gotta love the Eastern to Pacific time zone issues! The day then followed with the phones ringing off the hook, a global employee town hall teleconference, a local office, and lots of questions from clients and employees. After almost 12 hours at work, I called it quits at 4:34 this afternoon and headed home.

So far we are pretty positive about the deal and what it means for our division of Merrill. The wealth management piece is what B of A was after. Our model and infrastructure will hopefully stay in tact. Only time will tell.....

Out & About

Yesterday Tim and I enjoyed the beautiful sunny day out in the Puget Sound.
We launched the boat in Tacoma at Point Defiance. Tim was very impressed with the launch. It was well worth his $13 launch fee.
We then headed over to Redondo to meet up with Tim's friends, Kenny & Don, who were fishing in that area. It gave Tim a chance to show off his boat to his buddies.
We then headed for Gig Harbor, where we docked up at the Tides Tavern for some lunch on the deck overlooking the water.
After lunch, we boated under the narrows bridge, back over to Ruston Way, and then back to the launch. It was a beautiful day on the Sound. Very peaceful and scenic.
(Silly me forgot the camera, so this photo was taken with Tim's cell phone. Not bad!)

My New Kitchen Floor (finally!)

After months and months, its finally finished - my new kitchen floor. We decided to replace the kitchen floor early this spring. We picked out a marble laminate that was installed in late March. It looked pretty, but was impossible to clean. After several conversations with the flooring store, visits from the product manufacturer, and lots of debating, it was decided we would rip out that laminate and put down something else. Tim and I decided to bite the bullet (like we should have to begin with) and buy the italian tiles. It is so pretty and durable. This floor will outlast our lives in this house and will probably still be standing and looking beautiful for years and years. I couldn't be happier with my floor, but now its on to paint and other fun projects! :)

a Whale of a Tale

Tim "the birthday boy" Babbitt (seen below in his new Captain's hat) got his wish and we boated to the San Juan Islands on his birthday for a few days. We just got back late this evening.
The weather was incredible! We spent Monday night in Friday Harbor and Tuesday night in Roche Harbor. The photo is our boat docked up in Roche Harbor - it looks so tiny between the two bigger boats/yachts on either side of us. You have to look closely but we're there. 27 feet is nothing compared to the sizes of yachts that are in these marinas. The price tags of these babies are unfathomable.
The sunset photo is last night's sunset over the marina in Roche Harbor. It was an incredible sight!
Speaking of incredible sights - today was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen - a pod of Orcas swimming in front of our boat. In fact two were so close they swam under the bow of our boat and came up for air about 50 feet behind us. It was amazing and honestly, a little scary. I was so afraid they were going to hit the boat or tip us over and we'd be done. The water was pretty rough where we spotted them and we were rocking pretty good that one little hit with a whale-tail or bump from underneath would have sent us in for an unscheduled and mighty chilly swim in the Puget Sound. I can't even describe what it is like to see whales popping up all around you for about 5 minutes. Crazy Cool!
We met some really nice people on our journey. Talk about a small world! On Monday afternoon we were entering Friday Harbor on our way to our moorage slip for the night and we pass my cousins Karen & David in their brand new boat. They were about 10 slips down the same dock from us. It was so fun to see each others new "toys". We had dinner together for Tim's birthday - some great fish & chips!
We even had left over fish in sandwiches the next afternoon before we headed out to go our separate ways (after Tim and David did a little mechanic work on their boat). We headed to Roche Harbor and they were headed to Sucia Island for a few days. I love Karen dearly and it was so fun to see her in this setting and spend some one-on-one time chatting! I hope we run into them again when we are out in the water. Maybe next time we'll even plan it!
All-in-all it was a good trip. I survived sleeping, eating and showering on the boat. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated. This boat is so much smoother in the water than our Sea Ray. We hit a rough patch of water yesterday. I told Tim that if we had been in the Sea Ray I would have been on the floor crying. On the Monterey, I just sat there, holding on, but not freaking out.
Tomorrow is "clean the boat day". The salt water reaks havoc on the poor thing. She's covered in salt and will get a good scrubbing so she's bright and shiny the next time we go out.