update

We've been back from Mexico for over a week now, and I am fully aware that I am way behind on updating this blog. It's been a crazy past few months (I've been having a somewhat difficult time managing everything in my life), but things are looking up, and I am trying to take it easy on myself, and, I've been working on taking it one day - one thing even - at a time. So, I will leave Mexico for another post (soon, I promise!), and for now will give a quick update of all things relevant and exciting in the Shevlin household:

1. Athletic endeavors are in full swing over here. Kev is busy pounding the pavement in training to run Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN this June (it will be his third one ever, and his first of the year, since he is planning on running the Twin Cities Marathon again this October), and I am busy with training for both the Gary Bjorklund 1/2 Marathon (part of Grandma's), and the Twin Cities Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk (60 miles!) that I will be participating in with four friends this August. Ambitious!

2. Spring is making a valiant effort to finally emerge in the Midwest. I'm sure many of you have heard about the deluge of snow/rain/flooding that the poor folks in Fargo have been getting, and, thankfully, we have not had it anywhere near as bad. It's been warm-ish (for us), in the high 30's and low 40's, and rainy, with just an occassional splattering of tiny snowflakes (with none sticking, yay!). A bit colder than we would like it to be at this time of year, and not a lot blooming yet because of the cold temps, but the birds are chirping again, a few brave geese have flown home, and with no snow or ice on the ground, we are feeling okay about having to wait a bit more for spring to really arrive.

3. My little sister, Gigie, has been accepted to the Univeristy of Puget Sound, Lewis & Clark College, Reed College, and UC Berkeley! GO Gigie! My mom and Gigie are currently in Berkeley checking out the campus and visiting my in-laws, and tomorrow they'll be in Portland visiting Reed and Lewis & Clark (thanks, Bob and Cheryl, and Sarah and German, for hosting them!). Very excited for my sister, and though, of course, I would love to see her become a UC kid (yeah!), I'm super excited to see which of the schools she ends up choosing.

4. And, finally, on the house-search front...we put an offer down on another house! I can't remember if I wrote about the reasons why we backed out of the James house post-inspection, but it had something to do with: a botched exterior paint job (no primer!), a lead pipe that we would have to replace ($2,000), $90,000 worth of upgrades with no permits (meaning, nothing done to code), and us just feeling that, in the end, there were too many red flags for it to be the right home for us. I truly believe that there is a reason that happened, and, I think, that reason is this lovely home:

Trying not too get too excited until our offer is accepted (waiting for the counter-offer to arrive tonight), and we've gone through the inspection, but I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed that this is it! Will keep you all posted!

Hoping you are all well.