Mr. D and Mrs. M

I'm about a week late for May mental health awareness month, but decided I want to share my piece anyway.  I live with bipolar 1 disorder ( wikipedia ). It has been more than 10 years since I experienced my first manic episode. I was treated in a psychiatric ward (Fairfax hospital in Kirkland WA back in late December 2010). To help me process the experience, I decided to journal about it, shared what I wrote with a couple friends, and was encouraged me to get my writing published in a journal-- so I did!  Google books indexed the journal (Recovering the Self A Journal of Hope and Healing Vol. IV, No. 2 -- New Beginnings) that I submitted my experience to ( https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/9ZwuCoRrEZgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA49 ), and I was originally excited for you to be able to read it there, but Google books recently updated their system to miss it, so instead I am including the text here: * * * * *  Reclaiming Myself: A College Student’s Three-Week Stay in a ...

This past week Neil turned four years old. He's starting to learn how to share and to chose to share. My experience is that kids can have a difficult time learning about sharing. Neil often choses not to share... but perhaps this is changing: Earlier this week we were with his Aunt Ellie and while Neil was enjoying a bowl of ice cream, Ellie asked if she could have some. Neil said no at first, she said okay, and then a few minutes later Neil decided he was willing to share and shared about an 1/8 teaspoon's worth of ice cream to her. She said thank you and told him how much she appreciated it. Later when our family was celebrating Neil's birthday, we got to see Neil share again: Dad: Neil what part of the cake would you like for your slice of cake? Neil: I would like to have the yellow balloon. Grandma: I love yellow balloons, Neil could I have some of the yellow balloon too? (Neil thinks about it for a little bit) Neil: Dad, could you give half of the yellow balloon for gr...

Today I randomly received a phone call from a friend and she asked me about my experience now that I have an au pair. I love talking about myself, my experiences, and sharing information, so it was really cool to be able to help a friend out. Another friend mentioned to me that she had been an au pair before, so I've been chatting with her about her experience and trying to figure out steps I can take to be a supportive host family. I want to be a person who is open, helpful, and supportive. Now I have experience with traditional daycare, a nanny, and an au pair, so if you have questions about these options and want to hear my opinions please do feel free to give me a call or send me a message. The short answer is I think these can all be great options for a family.  Some experiences I haven't tried are using in-home daycare, being a stay at home mom, working a shifted schedule, or relying on family.  I believe there are many beautiful ways to raise a family. I also believe it...

About once a year here in the Seattle area we have snow. This past weekend it snowed! I do not love snow, but I do enjoy having it around for a few days about once a year. We were lucky this year and the snow came on a Friday night, lasted through the three-day weekend, and was gone by Tuesday (allowing our nanny to drive to our home for work safely). 

After living in our home a bit over a year, we decided we wanted to get help decorating. We hired Erinn, a local decorator at Home Adorn , to help us ( homeadorn425@gmail.com ). We are really happy with her work and what she was able to do for our home! (For before photos, feel free to check out this post from last year.) Back before we moved into our home, when we were selling our condo, we had a stager come over and help us know a few changes to make to help our home look better. Our stager staged our condo so beautifully and part of me felt sad that we hadn't hired help when we moved in, since maybe we could have lived in and enjoyed a more beautiful space while we lived there instead of just waiting until we were ready to sell. I'm so glad we learned from this experience and decided to hire help this time around. So, what is the process working with a decorator like? We contacted Erinn and showed her the space we wanted help with. She shared with us a little more about her...

Today our living prophet, President Russel M. Nelson, spoke on the healing power of gratitude: I found the message to be very beautiful and am looking forward to finding way to be grateful this next week as I get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family. #GiveThanks Gratitude journal: 11/20/2020 - Thankful for a living prophet on the earth today. 11/21/2020 - Thankful for baby coos!  11/22/2020 - Thankful for hair cuts! 11/23/2020 - Thankful for sleepy baby snuggles 11/24/2020 - Thankful Neil joined my morning workout 11/25/2020 - Thankful for my piano and music  11/26/2020 - Today I’m thankful for David and all the work he’s done to make Thanksgiving special for our family Mr. D also participated:

Here are the photos for our Fall 2020 family photo shoot: