A Tribute to Santa Barbara

There is something in California called June gloom. Who knew? Honestly-- it's not too gloomy, just some overcast skies in the mornings with a nice dew that wets everything down. It's the worst weather there is in Santa Barbara, besides an occasional winter rain storm. I'm telling you this because it's juney gloomy out right now, and I just saw on the news that Seattle is having the coldest June week EVER recorded. I am supposed to be packing stuff for our move to Portland but we ran out of tape and I can't lift anything heavy so I'm stuck. I could walk to the store but I'd have to cross railroad tracks and go under the freeway, and I don't want to. So here I am.

When we moved to Santa Barbara we were convinced that we would never take the weather for granted or skip a single day at the beach. Funny thing... a year changes you a lot. Just yesterday I grumbled for a good 10 minutes about Tor making me walk on the beach instead of the path because it was high tide and the sand was soft and the wind was blowing and the seaweed smelled, yada yada.

Santa Barbara is a crazy town full of crazy people. It's almost exactly like that Soap Opera that used to be on. The prices are exorbitant and the people are outlandish. There is no Target or Walmart, or any other discount store for that matter. There is a Costco in the next town over, thank goodness. The maternity store on the "fancy" street sells jeans on sale for $200 and we never leave our favorite breakfast place without spending at least $25 bucks for the two of us. Winter is super fun here cause all the cute girls and their cute moms pull out the matching Uggs and wear them with everything. I get shivers just seeing the girls in their mini skirts and Ugg boots. I have personally sworn to never wear them just on the principle of the matter. The doctor who did my ultrasound had a picture of Oprah in his office. Her trainer had a baby and she came to visit. He says that she is very kind and down-to-earth and that Santa Barbara is her favorite place to live because no one treats her like a celebrity here. (snort).

I like Santa Barbara because it feels like we have been on vacation for a year. Granted we had to work, but every minute we had off was filled with various vacation activities: picnics on the beach, whale watching, ice cream on the wharf, wine tasting, surfing, etc. Working wasn't so bad either. I got to see Tor every day, and the hospital is pretty nice. They are currently measuring the hospital rooms to fit them with flat screen plasma TV's. The whole hospital has wood flooring and they just remodeled the cafeteria in a nice designer green. Did I mention they are tearing the whole thing down to build a brand-new hospital? Told ya-- wacky.

When people here find out we are moving to Portland there are two reactions: "Oh I hear that's a cool city" or more likely they look at us with extreme pity. Little do they know we actually chose this crazy path we're headed down.

I'm excited for Portland. I'm excited for the seasons and mountains and the beautiful greenness of the whole place. I'm excited to not pay sales tax, and stay in bed on gloomy days instead of feeling guilty because the sun is shining again. Mostly I am excited to be closer to family and friends and feel like part of a community. But I will miss Santa Barbara.

Family Ties

Tor and I spent the morning morphing our pictures to figure out what our future progeny will look like. Here is the final product:


What a cute baby we will make! We are hoping Lars ends up looking a little like this :)

The toddler years should go well!

Hopefully this heinous creature has a great personality and is super smart cause no one is gonna wanna marry this thing.

You too can see if you should reproduce at: www.morphthing.com

Go Fly a Kite

Tor wanted to hop in the car and drive to Vegas for 5 hours of spontaneous gambling fun, after spending half an hour talking him out of that one we jumped in the car and went to Costco. Our spontaneity soon led us to this super cool kite. Yipee.

We decided it was some sort of beetle. 80's style and of the male variety.

In this video Tor tries to imply I was not being an effective kite flier. However, my actions did indeed make the kite go higher AND made the pinchers pinch. Thank you very much!

The Baby BELLY

Here is a little dose of the baby belly. I have been assured by my husband, who would never lie, that the 30 lbs I've gained is ALL baby. That's gonna hurt...

The Quick and Dirty Update

Tor and I are living in Santa Barbara and will soon be moving to Portland, OR (soon as in 2 weeks). Baby Lars is due to arrive August 10th. My mom and I have a bet going... She says he will be here August 12th, I say the 3rd. Since there is $100 and a ton of bragging rights riding on this bet I may have to cheat. Here is an update in pictures as to what we've been up to this last year (in no particular order):

Wedding at Semiahmoo

Holloween at the hospital.

Tor's medical school graduation

Mazatlan, Mexico

At the pool in Mazatlan

Kayaking in the Channel Islands

Leah's 1st 5k race.

What a girl Tor would look like.

Camping on the Beach in Mexico

Disney Land!

As you can see, intern year has been tough... but not that tough. We have found the time to enjoy traveling, our new digs, and each other. We are going to miss the beach, but we are ready to move on to P-town.

And So It Begins...

Today Tor and I discussed having a blog of the baby to share with friends and family who were actually interested in our little growing family. Tor's response was "Okay, but you do it. You're gonna be the house mama... I will actually have a job". I would get offended except that it's true. So here's my attempt at keeping you all up-to-date.