City Folk

Greetings from Delaware!

Here is a little recap of what's been going on lately.
Blake Grad-ee-ated...

Claire could not get enough of that bright gold tassel! She loved it so much that we never even got a decent picture of her. 

 I Went to Women's Conference with these lovely, amazing women. We had a blast! It was my first time being away from Claire, I hired a really good babysitter (my mother) so I didn't have to worry. I missed her (and Blake) a lot but really enjoyed myself and left feeling really uplifted :) We made some really good memories.

We are very happy to announce that we will be COURGARS once more! Blake will officially be attending law school at BYU this fall. We are SO excited that we get to stay close to home. Things  really worked out for us and we feel like it's where we're supposed to be.

 Claire's face in this picture is just too funny not to post. This was after she ate her first cookie (given by grandpa B) and she had this smirk on her face that cannot be described.

Now a bit about Delware!
Blake's official badge. He's kind of a big deal...

 

A snippet of our luxury apartment... courtesy of Blake's company. I don't want to brag or anything (okay actually I do..) but this place is HUGE. I can definitely get used to it. I kinda feel like I'm living in a hotel. There is even a cleaning service that comes every other week. I'm worried I may get just a bit spoiled this summer... and never want to settle for anything less...

 We are really liking it here in Delaware! It's fun to experience another part of the country. It is VERY different from what I'm used to and definitely has its pros and cons. I will list a few:

PROS-

-It is beautiful. Everything is so green right now and there are just so many trees everywhere, the scenery just driving on the interstate is spectacular.
-We live right on a riverfront, and there are lots of little restaurants, a bakery (which I visit frequently), a market, and a nature center.
-It's humid, and makes your skin feel nice.
-You can drive 30 mins and be in Philadelphia, or 2 hours and be in D.C. or NYC. There is a lot of neat things to see and do that really aren't that far. In Idaho, I'd drive 30 minutes and be in Shelley or Blackfoot... haha.
-People have really unique cool accents. They probably would say the same thing about me... minus the cool part.
-It is really close to Oliver and Kelsey and my nephews

CONS-

-It is humid, and makes you feel sweaty and sticky. I'm told this will start to get unbearable in the hot summer months.
-The water here is YUCK. I'm kind of a water snob and firmly believe that Idaho has the best water on the planet. I have had a really hard time drinking it, even showering in it... (I do bring myself to do so). But really, the water smells, and is soo strong. Water should NOT smell or taste.
-You gotta watch your back at all times haha. Not that it is dangerous where I live... but there are definitely some shady parts of town. And the people are much different... sometimes in a great way and sometimes in a not so great way. And I know I ain't in Idaho anymore.

Last week I got invited by some sweet women in my ward to go to a really awesome park in Philadelphia. It was pretty sensational, I'd never seen anything like it, and if I didn't have a child to look after I probably would have been going crazy with all the fun things they had to do.... but of course I'd rather look after my child:) The park was a bit beyond Claire's age, but she had fun just watching the other kids and going down some slides... she didn't particularly enjoy the swings...

Saturday Blake and I went to Philly to do some sightseeing. We went and did a tour at Independence Hall and it was really interesting. Cool to be in the place where they signed the Declaration of Independence. And we also got to see the Liberty Bell.

We went to supposedly the second biggest mall in America afterward... it was quite something!

 Sunday... Mother's Day happened to be my birthday. It feels good to be another year older. On Saturday when we were in Philly going through the tour one of the worker ladies asked me if Claire was my baby, and I said yes, she said "you's young" and she asked how old I was.... she then told me I looked like I was 17... haha well thank you!
I keep telling Blake that I got ripped off having both my birthday and mother's day on the same day, so this week is my spoilage week. I didn't even know spoilage was a word... but I do like it. Anyways, it was a great day and I was so happy that my sister in law Kelsey and her boys could come! Blake made his special Italian lasagna and Kelsey made me a beautiful cake

Not only was this cake really attractive on the outside, it tasted like pure heaven! Lemon poppyseed... with an incredible almond frosting. I'm pretty sure I've had it for breakfast everyday this week... but it's my birthday week so I can...right?

Claire is officially crawling and climbing all over the place! As soon as we got to Delaware she took off. She's been getting a new bruise on her head about everyday and I can't take my eye off her for one second it seems!

whew, that's all folks!