Par Star

With the upcoming of continual good news with Mike's job and the recent half birthday celebrated I figured its time for a brag post on my boys :)

As most of you saw on facebook Mike started his new position as foreman on Thursday! What exactly this means is that he runs his crew now. He has a lineman, 2 apprentices and an operator/groundsman. With being a lineman for such a short time it's a big responsibility that he wouldn't have taken if he didn't feel 100% confident in his job and his means to keep his crew safe. Also this job is ending in a few weeks so it has been more of a trial run... let me explain that.

Mike is officially a Par Star (Amanda THANK YOU for sharing this adorable name, Mike hates it and I love it ;)) He has been offered to be kept with Par. Once this job ends he will be following Par to the west coast of Washington, Everett all the way down. PS yes this means hopefully I can spend some time with our west coast family!! :) In this upcoming job he will go back to being a lineman. The west coast job will last until roughly February than he's being asked to "push a crew" (be a foreman) again for the job that will be opening up in the Tri Cities area! How cool is that?! (more family!!)

For once in the past 5 years it sounds like we will not be getting laid off, whaaaat?! Seriously is this was normal life feel like? We are on the up and up in our savings and finally we won't to relay on it for if/when he get's laid off. No more sitting around for the apprenticeship to call. Folks, this is the freedom you get after topping out. Even if he were to get laid off there are hundreds of halls all over the US ready to put Mike to work. We're just very happy the work is near home though :)

Now onto my littlest man.... Wesson is now a year and a half old.... I'm not joking, I recounted a few times. I think that means I can stop saying he's X amount of months.... is it just me or am I the only mom who has a really hard time remembering! "uh... he's... 17 months?" Jeeze.

Anyways, he a handful. An adorable, happy, very handsome handful.

• he has all of his teeth now except for the 2 year molars. thank goodness he's not a biter
• he runs, jumps, plays in dirt,  & always wants to be outside... he is such a little boy!
• although he loves to play in dirt he has issues with getting pumpkin guts on his hand... strange child.
• he jumped in his first pile of leaves last week and now every time we walk outside he jumps in the leaves, even if there's only a few lol
• the 4 wheeler and dirt bike in garage prove to be a constant battle. our stroller is in between so every. single. morning he runs to one of the other and wants to start them up. we need a shop to hide these toys...
• but to solve? this issue Wesson now has his own battery powered four wheeler that is kept down the road at grandma and grandpas... He got it back in September and its amazing how much better he is already. Mike is trying to convince me he'll be a dirt bike next summer. Did you know that at the pee wee races at the fair they actually say "1-6 year olds?" that's not helping my case of no bike til he's 3... sigh...
• we're slowly starting the potty training bizz. honestly I have no idea what I'm doing but I was told (by my sweet husband) that I'm lazy if I don't try. sheesh! Yesterday morning I was getting ready and the boys came in to visit, Wes kept trying to lift the toilet seat and saying pee pee soooo we let him try, and surprise he actually peed in the toilet. Which let to a fun game of doing it all day. I'm shocked and not ready. He's growing up wayyyy too fast!
• he's slowly talking more. well okay he's talking a ton but we're slowly starting to understand more of what he's talking about.
• he loves yoga day care. my once shy, cry when I leave baby is now running up the stairs to go play when we get into the studio.

He's sleep and eat patterns are pretty much the same still. He's down to one nap a day, which surprisingly I actually enjoy. We're able to get more stuff down now, he loves to bake so its easy to cook meals while he's up. Than I get this glorious 1.5 hours in the middle of the day to clean,  email, work, nap...

he literally wrestles with Remmi now, they will roll all over. cutest thing!

Being a stud with his favorite ladies.

oh yes, our sweet boy prays. He folds his hands and says amen! love!

blue eyed stud

he gives kisses now...

first leaf jump!

of course loved the drill. anyone wanna guess what Wesson is getting for Christmas?!

<3

1st football game. he clapped and yelled right along Aunt Kelsey ;)

half birthday present. a new CAT toy! :)

Wesson is just so much fun and growing so much every day. He fills my heart so much watching his little mind work and play through out each activity... This will be his first Halloween trick or treating. He's saying trick or treat but it mainly sounds like TT but that's okay he's cute enough he'll get candy. We're going trick or treating at Grandpas office than meeting our mommy & baby friends to go down town. Cannot wait! :)

Happy Monday Friends! xx!

International Lineman Rodeo

Since joining the NSUJL team in August, my pride for being a linewife and a NSUJL member has just exploded.

In such a short time I've been able to dive into the line life deeper, I've been able to attend the Avista Line School, visit & make tons of contact with locals in the NW and now I can say that I've attended the International Lineman Rodeo!

I left for Kansas Wednesday morning. It was a little nerve racking traveling so many states away alone. Wesson stayed with my parents (Thanks again mom & dad!!!) Mike had to work but we've both decided he's for sure attending (and hopefully competing next year!) While waiting to check into my hotel I ran into a few Mountain Power guys, it was pretty cool seeing a familiar team so far from home!

Day 1: Amanda (another NSUJL regional rep & my ILR roomie) and I woke up early to meet Mrs Lineman Barn herself, Tammy Kent (a NSUJL sponsor & member) and Tennille (another regional rep who was sweet enough to be my airport transportation!) Once we all got to the booth we got right to work setting everything up. The Lineman Expo was held in the Overland Park Convention Center and we were 1 of 88 exhibitors. It was busy!

NSUJL Booth!

 

Thursday was suppose to be our slow day but it was defiantly not boring. We had a consistent flow of people at our booth from noon to 5. After the convention Amanda and I got invited to Local 47s dinner (local 47 is located in So Cal) 47 is a huge sponsor of the sisterhood so we were honored when we got invited. We were even more honored when they stood us up to thank us for everything we do. First off we could not help any families if it wasn't for our sponsors and our members! We left with our tummies and our hearts very full. They even gave us 47 swag :)

Day 2: Friday was predicted to be our crazy busy day and it stood true. When they opened those expo doors our booth was busy! The necklaces, cookbooks, beads, charms, calendars, and coloring books were a hit! If you're curious about any of these items go check out our store HERE! Every penny goes back into helping families!!

imma storm soldier! ;)

After we closed up our exhibit we got to go check out the Storm Soldiers movie. I had heard so many great things and this was probably the #1 thing Mike was jealous about. Don't worry babe, Santa might be bringing you something similar for Christmas ;)

Storm Soldiers is the perfect example of how hard our men work and what little credit they receive. Needless to say we all walked away with tears in our eyes. Such a wonderfully made film. It also showed a few familiar faces that I've had the pleasure of meeting recently. Don't worry friends we'll have special viewings at house once we get our copy!!

pumped for the showing!

Friday night is also trade night at the ILR. Each local, company, team brings their own rodeo tshirt and gets to trade with others. Much like the pin swapping we had at Nationals for BPA. We had a bunch of left over NSUJL shirts from past events so Amanda and I were able to swap shirts and get so many company shirts that will be used in raffle baskets in the future!

don't mind our Canadian lineman photo bomber...

After we were finished trading we were able to attend the BBQ, geeze these people know how to feed hungry girls! We stuffed ourselves up and headed back to the hotel to catch some rest after a long day!

Day 3: Saturday morning was my last day at the rodeo and it was nice to relax. I have to say it was pretty awesome walking into the rodeo and being recognized by people for being part of NSUJL. Our organization is defiantly one of a kind and appreciated which fuels us even more to keep expanding!

love these 3!

 

I was able to watch Astra's hubby, Brandon compete in hurt man & speed climb. I missed the banquet Saturday night but a little birdie told me our friend placed 2nd in overall! How flipping cool is that?! way to kick ass Brandon!! I was also able to meet a few ladies I've "known" for years now. We've literally watched each other's kids grow & have been each other's virtual shoulders over the years so finally meeting was so much fun. I also got my baby fix in again after getting Bash to fall asleep in my arms, ahhh sweetest child!

But after watching linemen compete and holding Bash I was ready to head home to my own boys. This was the longest I've left Wes before and I was so happy to finally hold my baby again! I swear he grew 2 ft since Tuesday!

All in all the lineman rodeo was an experience I'll never forget. I left with closer friendships, a deeper love for my husbands career and so many wonderful (and slightly crazy) memories.  
 

Montana Yoga Retreat

Well if I wasn't so impatient I could have combined my two posts but instead here's my Montana yoga retreat in pictures. A huge thanks to yogi Lance Ross for the amazing photos!

Enjoy!

lodge

dining hall

end of hike

team yogis

tree!

my fav pose! wheel!

"i'm only here for the shavasna"

favorite picture of the weekend

still have aways to get that leg up to but progress!

be open.

Fabulous group of yogis!

silly yogis

 

My Week of Yoga

To say that October has already been filled with yoga would be an understatement.

I started my week out with a last minute yoga rave at the cda resort. Sam invited Kelsey and myself and it was defiantly an experience! I'm used to more flow and less dancing in yoga but that's not to say we had a damn good work out and an even better time!

yogi rave!

The yoga rave was led by yogi guru Travis Elliot. We walked into a blacked out room and were handed glow sticks to wrap around our ankles and wrists. whoa. We laid out our mats, while the dj started getting the jams ready. It was two hours of intense yoga poses while dancing in between. So going from booty dancing to holding warrior 3 was defiantly a new challenge.

yogi guru

 

I took my normal hot yoga classes Monday and Wednesday. I know I say this a lot but if you need a new studio or are interested in yoga, check out The Yoga Room! The instructors are fabulous and child care is so convenient and Wesson is just in love with Michelle and her kiddos.

Friday I was more than ready to head to my first yoga retreat put on by my very own studio!

The yoga retreat was at Six Mile Resort on Swan Lake outside Bigfork, Montana. It was beautiful. I was a little worried it was going to be cold but it was perfect. The leaves are started to change and it was the perfect, peaceful setting for the weekend.

Swan Lake

so peaceful!

We each got to stay in different cabins with roomies and were in charge of keeping our fire burning all night for our warmth. We did a pretty good job and only let the fire die once lol

Friday night we all gathered for yummy food, seriously I would like Hannah's mom to move into my house and cook for me every day like that! SO great! First we were given yogi names (Mine? Apsen Apple Shine) and than we got to know each other by playing a few rounds of "yogi speed dating" and than headed into our "studio room" (a beautiful, wood floor room looking over swan lake, with a large fire blazing behind us) I'm not lying when I said I was in total peace for the weekend.

After meditation and flow, we bundled up fro star gazing on the dock. I even got to make 3 wishes on shooting stars ;)

Saturday following suite with being filled with more delicious food, meditation, flow, hiking and I even got to sneak in a nap. We ended our night with a fire on the beach, complete with wine :)

Karma Mountain, Raja, Aspen & Tiptoe

Sunday we woke up to probably one of my best flows, I've had in a long time. We ended our weekend with brunch and individual pictures from our very own yogi photographer. I'll post the pictures once we get them back.

All in all the weekend was better than I could have ever imagined. It came at the perfect time, with Mike being gone, Wesson turning into a very busy, little boy, me staying very busy trying to get the NSUJL word out to the NW and get our virtual race put together up here; I needed some help getting balanced and centered again. I came home refreshed and ready to take on life again.

Namaste ;)