2 years

nic & i had our 2 year anniversary last week so i'm a little late. but, i wanted to write (for documenting purposes) this post. i am proud of US. there, i said it. i hope that isn't cocky or annoying or horrible. i feel like we've accomplished a lot in the past 2 years. we've grown as individuals and together as a couple. i'm grateful for all the experiences that we've had to make us closer and better. here are a few:
we moved away to CA. 8 days after we got married we jumped in the volvo and headed to CA. this may not seem like a big deal but leaving our families and all that was familiar was a pretty big step. we sold pest control together. we had so much fun. we ate lots of applebees. we watched the office constantly on our 7-in personal dvd player. we moved back to IDAHO. we started school again. we didn't want to but we did. we lived in a teeny tiny apartment on college ave. we made great friends with our neighbors- the shumates and the alexanders. we started evapaul design. our friend emily encouraged us to sign up on etsy and we did. we are SO glad we did. it has changed everything, for the better. i'm proud of us for believing in ourselves enough to take this step. we moved back to CA. nic was the boss this summer. we recruited a couple of people so we won a big tv! i started out the summer selling too, but it didn't last long. i got really sick for some reason.... we got pregnant! we didn't think we would have a baby for at least a few (5) years into our marriage but quickly after getting married- i changed my mind. nic agreed with me a little after. and then BAM! it was official. we were going to have a baby!
we fell in love with san francisco. we went there for our first anniversary and have wanted to be there ever since. we got to go down 3 times during the 2008 summer but we love it and can't wait to live there. we quit our jobs. after the second pest control summer, we could say goodbye to formal jobs and we've been working only for ourselves for the past year. it feels so good. we can't get laid off. we are in charge. we went back to school, again. we bought a new car {2009 nissan versa} we moved from our maybe 400 sf. college ave apartment to a 3 bedroom house to make room for the business and the baby. we don't own it, but it's a step up :)
daphne was born! january 2nd, 2009. of course she is the biggest and best thing to happen to us in the last 2 years. i still can't believe how much we adore her. she fits right in with us. she's perfect. we went back to school, again (again) we were off for the winter track and i was hesitant to go back to school and leave daphne with her grandma, but i'm glad i took the leap. it still is hard for me every monday and wednesday but taking these 2 classes this semester means i will graduate in december! i'm so so excited. nic has found in the last year what he loves to do. i am SO happy for him. he is going to apply for his bfa in graphic design. yay! we bought a bus! its been our dream for along time and we got it! it is so fun and we love driving anywhere in it. we are so excited for the family memories we'll create in our VW bus. nic. i love you now more than ever. it just gets better everyday. i'm really glad we're married.

campversary 2009

we bought our first home! ok. not really, but we did buy a 1979 VW kombi camper!!!
and, we lived in it this weekend. that's right, i, KIRSTEN, went camping. more surprising, i loved every second.

this trip was to celebrate our second year of wedded bliss. It was perfect. nic is perfect. daphne is too. we had a great trip and plan on making many, many more family memories together in our bus! Now, there is lots of pictures and this is a long post- i'm warning you. but read on, you can do it.



daphne did great on the trip. the drive to lava hot springs was about 2.5 hours. but, we can only go like 60 mph so that may be why. but, she was great on the drive and while were camping too. The first night, we all slept up in the pop-top bed. Yes, the three of us. It was a bit tight and when i woke up at 5am i was feeling super clostrophobic and weird. so, we made daphne a bottle and ourselves some hot chocolate and then we went back to bed. daphne and i on the bottom bed and nic up top. getting up at 9 felt great.



Then, we were off to the hot springs. well, not the actual hot springs (because they are hot tubs- no babies allowed) but to the lava hot springs pool and slides. not a great day for the pool. not a great day to be outdoors actually. but, we pressed on, road our bikes the 1/2 mile to the pool, paid $16.50 and enjoyed about 20 minutes splashing around with daph in the indoor pool. then we spent another couple of hours there at the pool, in the grassy area as it sprinkled and we ate lunch. we decided it wasn't looking like the rain would pass and if it did, we had our hands stamped and could get back in so we headed back to the campsite.


daphne took a nap and nic and i played 5 crowns, uno and speed on our little table. the camper is equipped with a stove (where we made each of daphne's bottles all weekend, it worked great!) a refridgerater (which we think we need a new part for... it didn't work) a table, 2 beds (sleeps 4) an extrenal shower, a sink and lots of storage. we keep on discovering new, awesome things.






I feel like this is the perfect father's day/anniversary trip for the binghams. when nic and i had been married for maybe 2 weeks we got in a fight (gasp!) about camping. He mentioned casually that he would like to have a truck at some point. For some reason i kind of lost it and was like: oh my gosh, we're going to be like a camp-y outsdoor family! THIS IS NOT WHAT I WANT!!! but, to show that i had kind of gotten over that- i gave nic a tent last father's day. but, we've yet to use it. the bus really takes away most of the things i hate about camping. sleeping on the uncomfortable ground, rocks, getting the tent all dirty, rain/leaks, feeling damp in the morning ect. the bus is just divine- that and the pretty decent bathrooms at our campsite made this a great trip.

5 am on day one. nic took some awesome
shots of the bus.



On Saturday Nic saw something outside and ventured into the rain to find a baby beaver! it was all sad and whiny and lost. it found a little solace with nic's shoes. i was pretty afraid of it and thought it was creepy. kind of cute, kind of creepy.

daphne is brave and apparently, a beaver lover.

It was a great trip. happy anniversary nic, i loved this weekend but most of all- i love you. i love that we have every weekend {and weekday too for that matter} to spend together. it's always so fun when it's me and you. (oh and you too daphne)

daphne just learned to... well, i'm not going to ruin it for you- just watch the video yourself :)

doll!

I made daphne a doll. I wanted it to look really handmade- which is good because i'm horrible at sewing. But, I think she likes it, so I'm happy. {daphne at 23 weeks}

update!

new hair.
i just can't have long hair. i hate blow drying it. i hate straightening it. i hate that it takes SO long to air dry. i hate the way it looks when it's air dried. i hate how hard daphne can (does) latch on to it. i hate how it makes my neck hot. i hate it while i'm working out. i know, i am so negative. i just really like having short hair- and my friend camille helped ease all my troubles today.



{sorry for the horrible photobooth pictures. but, the batteries died in the camera, and i'm too lazy to change them :) }


Brooks, Heather and baby Brooks visited us from Utah this weekend. It was so nice of them to travel all this way just to see us. They are moving to WA for Brooks to get his PHD. yeah... phd. We won't get to see them as often and we'll really miss them. Brooks is such a cute baby and Daphne and him were both pretty facenated with each other. I can't believe these are the only pictures we got from the weekend. But we also....

baby! attack!!!
I thought Heather would appreciate his cute little fist in this one.

--made pizzas friday night when they got in and started their love affair with arrested development.

--went to the IF farmer's market. It started to rain while we were driving there and it was pouring by the time we arrived. We braved the freezing cold with our poor babies in toe and bought mint, basil, cilantro, green peppers, yellow peppers and mr. stripey tomato plants and also kettle corn and tamales to eat while we were there. I wish it wasn't raining but it was still fun, i love farmers markets.

--we also went to a little baby store in IF that I had been wanting to go to. they had the cutest stuff. we got daphne some baby legs (they are SO funny on) and a cute TEA dress that I had been coveting online (and it was on sale!)

--took the kids swimming. it was SO fun. daphne laughed the whole time and her little bikini fits so well now. we're going to go all the time!

--at strawberries and waffles before they left sunday morning.

Thanks for making the long (tear-filled) trip to see us. We love you guys!

today daphne went to college!!! our typography teacher told us we could bring her in some day and we decided now would be the perfect time since Grammy is in California. She was really well behaved and i think she learned a lot.
such a little ham as soon as she sees the camera. i love it!