A Vacation, Part IV: Germany

France, Italy, and Croatia had been a whirlwind of organized chaos amidst figuring out public transportation, airbnb contacts, and what to see/eat/do in relatively short timeframes. Four days here and four days there, the thrill of a nomadic life is indeed thrilling and a bit exhausting. We had traveled by plane, train, bike, bus, and boat by this point (I think our transportation record in one day was: shuttle to train to airplane to bus to boat. Europe!) The main reason we headed across the pond, (besides a romantic adventure), was to visit Daniel's sister, Lana, and her husband, Chris while they are doing the whole expat thing. We had originally planned for one additional stop in Italy but decided to split the rest of our trip between Chris and Lana's flat in { Regensburg} and an upcoming short venture to Prague. AND I'm so glad we did! Germany was a breath of fresh air. Literally.

They welcomed us with open arms into their new home, which quickly became our home-away-from home. Family, food, and an insane mountain climb during a thunderstorm (Lana, we need to post those GoPro videos!), what more could you ask for?

If only Germany wasn't so far away. I'd ask for that.

We did it! And then we got drenched. 

(this hike HERE) 

Everyone. EVERYONE at the top was over the age of 40 and looked like they stepped out of an REI catalogue. 99% had those funny ski pole things, used for, well, hiking. 

Look at us. We conquered. We flew up and down that thing. In tennis shoes and basketball shorts. 

The motivational power of prosecco and pasta, my friends. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Want more Germany photos? Check out Lana's IG: @lanamarie23

Want more (boring) Oregon photos? Check out my IG: @bonifous

Why I Chose to be a Stay At Home Mom.

(I'm not curing cancer but I'm not eating bonbons all day...usually)

   
   Recently my husband and I switched up our health/life insurance plans, (because after making a human being and purchasing a house AND successfully keeping a potted plant alive during the majority of the summer it just seemed like the next logical thing to check off of our grownup list), and of course like most things on the grownup list, it involved some paperwork.

   Filling out my personal history and medical background wasn't too difficult. I'm generally average on the health spectrum, never smoke, mysterious biological tree due to adoption=check "N/A" on all the scary things, and azythromicin gives me a purple rash. Done. What's my prize? A standard co-pay, Yay!

 Only one little fill-in-the-blank was standing in my way: "Occupation:"___________

   Glancing over at Daniel's paper as if I could cheat and copy his "Civil Engineer" answer, my palms were beginning to sweat and that blank kept blankety blanking at me. 

Awww, what the Blank!
What am I? 

   SAHM? Domestic Engineer? Jane of all Trades? Coordinator of Chaos? Soccer Mom To-Be? 
They all sounded cheesy, try-hard, and gloomy. 

   (Which could almost be a perfect description of motherhood, just add some PURE JOY! + more cheesy) 

   Usually when a conversation steers towards the "And, what do you do?" portion, I am met with either congratulations or pity. So, let me get this straight. I might be doing the most important job in the universe!!! Or I miiiight be selling my soul to the ghost of Walt Disney. It's a frankly perplexing and honestly comical spectrum.

   Ever since our son entered the world almost two years ago, I have been his main caretaker Monday-Friday, 8-5, (unless you count the frantic afternoon call to Daniel's office lamenting how I Windex blasted a spider and it just won't die),  no holidays, and getting paid in sticky peanut butter kisses. While my husband calculates roadway designs for the greater Portland area and banters around the water cooler about last night's "Walking Dead" episode, my day involves calculating a new track design for Thomas and his musical caboose on the train table,(yes. that musical caboose. I should've listened to you Amazon reviews), and negotiating why Peanut M&Ms are never a wise breakfast choice, (for a two year old, 'cause I totally just had a handful with my morning coffee...again). 

   Honestly, some days, the hardest project I have to tackle is figuring out how to begin a new tub of Clorox wipes. Twisting that first one through the bear trap of an opening. It's not rocket science, but sometimes my finger gets scraped and then the bleach stings...so...yeah, HARD!

   This is my life. And of course, like most things in life, it involved some choices. 

   Falling in love and getting married wasn't too difficult. Even giving birth was enjoyable, (because I'm a high pain tolerance hypnobirthing weirdo who could somehow tap into inner Jedi-labor powers. Plus, I really wanted to be done with the whole thing and eat Burgerville). 

   Marriage, parenthood, and staying at home were all good choices for me. It involves a whole lotta love. 
They were also hard choices for me. The whole lotta love requires a heckofa amount of selflessness. 

   I was so selfless. Once. That time the flu knocked me down and I still managed to put together a Cars puzzle for my son. Self to the Less.
Well, you get the picture. The selfless lessons are going to be a lifelong course.  

   In my homemaking tongue, I could wax on about how a freshly folded pile of laundry glints a tear in my eye, baking from scratch in my pink KitchenAid mixer centers my soul, and the giggles of an innocent toddler brings fresh life into the room. 
I could also just as much wane about my lack of privacy in the bathroom, the incessant repetitious natures of theme songs on PBS, and the peace and quiet that rarely trickles past my eardrums. 

   "Staying at Home" instead of "Going to Work...for Someone other than your Family or Maybe you Own a Family Business so You Double Work for your Family and I Guess You could Have a Home Office That you Stay Home and Double Work at Home." Is that what it's called now? 

   Well, I guess that first thing is what I chose. 
Simply, because it works best for my family.


   Here's what will happen the next time I see that wide open space. 
"Occupation:" The Best and Being Really Good at It Even Though It's Hard and Sometimes I Don't Feel so Important but I am and there Won't Ever Be Anyone else Like Me, so Suck it Trebek! 


   I think most women could agree on wanting to do that. 
Whatever that "job" may be. 

   Paperwork is dumb. 


xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Halloween 2013

 "I pity the fool!" hashtag feather earring hashtag is this real life

   I've never been a BIG Halloween person. First of all, I hate spiders, and feel like this could be a general consensus with the majority of the world's population. Then every year October rolls around and spiders become cute, (CUTE?!) on the shelves of Target and fake cobwebs become a celebrated addition to the household like we normally don't Swiffer them the heck out of our ceiling fans. Nope. 

You've walked through a cobweb before, right? 

We all look like cats clawing our way out of the bathtub when it happens. 

Not cute. Not ok. 

   My Halloween HumBug List: 

*Spiders. That's been established. 

*I hope all dead things just go to Heaven and stay there. I'll live my life here, you stay there. We can celebrate later.

*Watching Miley Cyrus' VMA performance once was enough to last a lifetime. Your costume doesn't need to show us that the main side effects of too much twerking are poor choices, latex, and cow tongue. 

*Fake blood reminds me of four life experiences: Childbirth, donating to the Red Cross, smashing my thumb in the sliding glass door, and high school wood working class. 

We've seen enough of the real stuff. Go away. 

So why why why do I partake in Halloween? 

Twelve Words. 

Anything caramel chocolate and a miniature Mr. T searching for "More candies!" 

(Also, of course, watching "Hocus Pocus" which goes against my humbuggery but, I mean, Bette Midler. You have to)

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

Bauman Farms

   Like most of the general public, (general public=on Instagram or in Oregon), we went to the pumpkin patch this past weekend. Not just any pumpkin patch though. THE patch of all patches, (p of all p's=Bauman Farms), basically: Oregon Disneyland.

   Want to know how distractingly fun Oregon Disneyland (Bauman Farms) was?
   We didn't even buy a pumpkin. 
(Unsolved mystery: Does the patch of all patches have the pumpkin of all pumpkins?)

   The baby farm animals, apple tasting, apple cider donuts, apple cider, apple slingshot, apple cannon, did I mention APPLES, bug train, swings, tractors, mazes, and slides, pleasantly distracted us all morning long. (Grabbed a $.48 pumpkin at the grocery store afterwards, because, I'm a consumer who can't let it be October without an orange squash rotting in my house).

   All of us were hot, sticky, sugar glazed, and tired as we made our way back to the car. Just in time to see an enormous crane hoist up two gigantic pumpkins, release to the crowd's 3-2-1 countdown, and smash down through the roof of a beat-up van target.

   Three days later, and the Bean is still talking about it.
"The crane! The pumpkin! And the car! Ka-boooooom!"

   (If he needs therapy later in life for an irrational fear of either cranes, pumpkins, or cars, we know why)

Happy October Traditions! 'Merica!

xoxo

{Bon Bon}

The Lake House: California 2013

{Clear Lake, 2013}

|A week spent in the Golden State taught me these valuable life lessons| 

1. In-N-Out fries are gross. 

2. Whoever invented the union of Starbucks with a Barnes & Noble and a children's section WITH a Thomas the Train table is a genius. Best pit stop ever on our 9 hour road trip. 

2. World War Z the movie and World War Z the book are two entirely different things. 

3. Sleeping with a 21 month old in your bed is like snuggling an anaconda. Not good.

4. Homemade cocktails every night will ruin you for ordinary life when you return home. 

5. Corn Hole is the funnest game with the weirdest name. 

xoxo

{Bon Bon}