Keeping Busy

I have been given a new opportunity to learn how to teach yoga. It is a progam they are doing at my gym and I am one of eight people selected. I am excited for this three-month program to start. I might have my own class as early as June.

In the meantime I have started teaching Bellydance, which inspired the launch of my bellydance blog. I have been teaching and performing again. This time I am doing it on my own terms. I am very focused and inspired. I have some new students and some returning students in the all-levels class I teach at the gym. I might also start teaching an intermediate class at another location every other week. I just have to see what the draw is.

David had spring break last week and took advantage of the time to relax, catch up on some house maintenance and even put his name out there for some IT jobs. There aren't a lot of places hiring right now, but he won't be done until December with his Networking degree, so mostly he is just scouting it all out. He has gotten some positive feedback which is encouraging. I think everyone is just waiting to see what happens with the economy. We would really like to stay in this area but we are open to moving if we have to. David's degree is an investment in our future and we will go where that leads.

The weather hasn't really allowed us to do much work on the outside of the house, but the garden is starting to wake up from the winter slumber. We look forward to doing some work out there on the next sunny weekend.

We had a great visit with our friends, the Millers. They were in town visiting their families and we were blessed to be albe to spend time with them. (I really need to start remembering to take pictures!)

My brother is in boot camp right now and we have been sending him letters. It is a hard time for him because of the intense training and having to be away from his pregnant wife and step-daughter. They eagerly await his return and we offer them as much support as we can. They could use your prayers to get through this tough time, if you are so inclined.

Keeping Up

The holidays were a busy time and here it is already February. Where has the time gone???

David is quite busy studying and working. He will be done with his Bachelor's Degree by the end of this year. We are very excited for him to start in his new chosen career. The best part is that David is really enjoying the material now that he is learning things that pertain to his specialization. I love to see him excited about what he is learning.

I have a new opportunity to teach at our local gym. I will be teaching bellydance lessons again, as well as learning to teach yoga with one of the other instructors. I am very excited about the doors that are opening up there. They said if I got my nutritionist certification that they would hire me. In addition I am already scheduled to compete at the Bellydancer USA in Canyonville, OR. I will be competing in the "7 Veils" category. I'm excited to start competing again. Wish me luck!

It looks like this will be a fast-paced year of transitions. I'll try to keep up with blogging our progress.

Tacoma

Ian was excited to show Dave his dinosaurs. We spent most of the day with Marie and the kids. I'm having trouble uploading photos so I'll add more later.

We went to Wright park in Tacoma to the arboretum there. It was pretty but a lot smaller than we expected. More pictures soon.



There were some squirrels that got very brave and came around looking for food. Marie decided to give one a rice cracker. He proceeded to eat it really close by and when he was done with it he came around again so we recorded it. This time Dave gave it to him.

Olympia

We stayed at the Swantown Inn B&B overnight. It is a lovely old house. The owners are friendly and interesting people. Our room was cozy and welcoming.

The B&B is within walking distance of the Fish Tale Brew Pub where we had a delicious dinner. I had the Cod tacos and Dave had the Salmon Fish and Chips. We also shared a smoked salmon platter that came with dill cream cheese. It is surprisingly great food for a pub! Great beer too and we tried the pear cider. We walked to the pub from the B&B so we got a bit of a sense of what the city was like.

In the morning we went to the farmer's market where we found a bakery that makes spelt bread and cookies. We also tried the coffee of a local roasting company. We spent some time walking around the park by the capitol building before getting back in the car to head north.

Two Nathans are Engaged!

We have Nathans on both sides of the family. My brother and David's cousin. Both are engaged.

Nathan B will be marrying (another) Sarah in December, (and she will have my maiden-name initials! LOL) They will have a legal ceremony in Lake Havasu and a formal wedding at a later date.



Nathan S will be marrying Colleen in October. We will be attending their wedding in Grant's Pass.



So much joy! So many blessings!

Informal Family Reunion

Raynors, Sleadds, Steves and Jones'

Our Anniversary

2 wonderful years! We bought a house, moved twice, David has changed jobs once and started school. We are enjoying our time at home more than ever, especially with compatible work schedules. Life is good!