Oh hi.

Other options for the title of this post were, "It's been 2 years and I'm back!", or "Where in the world are the Barlows?", or "Do blogs even still exist?".

I think blogs are still a "thing"? I'm just gonna dust off this old thing here.

I got out of the habit of writing when we moved to the Bay Area. I had tons of free time but put my blog on the back burner. It was a hard move for me so I just didn't write. I still miss Provo at times but life is good, really good. A lot has happened in 2 years for this Barlow crew!

A short recap is: 

>>> we moved to the East Bay of Northern California

>>> Mr. Barlow temped at Google[x] working on the Google Glass Project

>>> Mr. Barlow commuted 3-4 hours a day to work

>>> I started nannying and teaching Seminary, doing Faith in God for the Activity Day Girls and taught youth Sunday School

>>> we got pregnant, found out our addition was a little boy, long live the Barlow name!

>>> we moved to a house in Oakland, right down the hill from the Oakland LDS Temple

>>> Mr. Barlow's car was broken in to 3 times in 2 weeks, everything was stolen on the 1st break-in 

>>> Seth Jacob Barlow joined our family July 10th, 2014

>>> Seth J. cried a lot, pooped a lot, did not sleep a lot, was kissed a lot and cuddled a lot

>>> Mr. Barlow's contract ended on the the Glass team suddenly 

>>> moved home to LA and lived with the Barlow Parental units while we job searched

>>> Mr. Barlow got a job at a tech start up in San Mateo, the peninsula side of the Bay

>>> I got a job as Resident Manager for the apartments we live in [Beth & Adler, if you are reading this we owe you our 2nd born child]

>>> now we live in San Mateo and Mr. Barlow's commute is a 7 minute walk from our apartments

>>> Seth J. finally learned how to nap and is still working on sleeping through the night

We really have been taken care of by the Lord, family and friends. It feels like it has been a long 2 years and a lot of moving. I told Mr. Barlow we are not moving for at least 2-3 years! I hate packing. So much.

I want to write more. I think Cat wants me to write more. At least I found 2-3 old comments on this dusty blog asking me to. Here you go Cat, because I love you and China is so far. Thank goodness for your VPN and Google Hangouts.

ALSO I HAVE BEEN HOME FROM THE WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE MISSION FOR 5 YEARS TODAY?! WHA??? I remember not taking my tag off until I went to bed even though I was released from being a missionary several hours before. I miss my Wisconsinites. I get so excited when someone brings up Wisconsin or I see something Wisconsin related. Or someone mentions cheese. Sconnies, I love you. I miss you.

And here is Seth J.'s newest trick as of today! Standing in his crib! The little stinker finally figured out how to get up. [Taylor, this video monitor has been a lifesaver, thank you!]

"Sittin on the dock of the Bay..."

good news minute.

mr. barlow and i are packing our bags and moving to the Bay area!

it is a sudden change and came out of left field. 

but we are excited for the adventure and here is the tale...

mr. barlow got an email from a Google recruiter on a Friday afternoon saying they matched his resume up with a job and wanted to interview him that coming Monday [Presidents Day].

[side note: jacob applied for a Google Fiber position months prior just for the fun of it but never heard anything back from it.]

Monday came and he interviewed via Google Hangout and then had 3 more Google hangout interviews later that week. one was a group one where they had to sell each other on Gmail, Android or a Chromebook so they could test all their knowledge and skills about Google products.

they called him back the next week and offered him a position!

for what you ask? we have no idea!

he had to sign a non disclosure form and we still haven't been told the product he'll be working on.

here's what we do know...

he has to be in Mountain View, Ca to train on Google Campus for about 3 weeks and then he'll be working out of the San Francisco office.

oh ya, at the end of this month. in 3 weeks.

that is all.

we are taking a huge leap of faith [not much info to go off of!] but it feels right to the both of us and an adventure will be fun.

especially where it is warmer then we are currently. 

we are definitely going to miss our family and friends in the Utah Valley. 

it has been a blessing to call this place our home for the past 1.5 years. 

any guidance for the Bay area would be greatly appreciated!

also in my last welcome back post i realized how ungrateful i sounded for my former job.

i want it to be known i was very grateful for a good paying job where i learned a lot.

it also helped me to push my Photoshop skills!

[i hate sounding so rude, i apologize.]

welcome back/hello again/where did i go?

HELLO!!!

the last time i updated my blog was 9 months ago. [no pregnancy or baby was had]

i was extremely busy with work and wanted nothing to do with my computer when i was done for the day.

hence my blog got sorely neglected.

i was doing my editing job from home [working in your pj's is awesome, btw] but sitting at my computer for 10 hours a day = not so fun.

spending those 10 hours in Photoshop making people look completely different also was not so fun.

i never had the opportunity to do my own photography and if i did i didn't always enjoy it like i use to because of the time i had to spend editing for my job.

i sound like a downright complainer. sorry.

mr. barlow told me, "your job is sucking your soul out."

so with mr. barlow's encouragement and support i quit at the end of 2012.

HALLELUJAH!

at the beginning of 2013 i was unemployed and that lasted for about a week! 

[we are SO lucky that mr. barlow still has an awesome job with Imagine Learning!]

my aunt is a kindergarten teacher and has 29 kindergartners. 

they approved her for another Instructional Aide - THAT'S ME!

i work 2 hours a day in her classroom and help the ESL kids with their reading and writing. 

it really is awesome. i love to see them understand and finally get it.

now i have time to do my own photography and editing, it is so refreshing!

i have time to help teach kids.

i have time to blog, catch up with friends, have lunch dates with mr. barlow.

i have time to run. [well, once the snow goes away.]

i am one lucky lady.

[mr. barlow gets a huge thank you for his support of my crazy working hours to quitting to being unemployed and now being a really part time worker.] 

  

cheers to more adventures and more blogging to come!

crunch wrap supreme

my friend whitney told me about this recipe and since mr. barlow and i dont 

frequent taco bell we thought we'd give the look a like a try.

oh man! it was good.

mr. barlow wanted to make sure his looked exactly like a crunch wrap!

i went with the easy way.

it was delish.

do yourself a favor and try it.

now.

thank you team lawter.

recipe here >>> taco wrap deluxe

Provo City Center Temple Groundbreaking

have you heard of Portal?!

"Fast thing goes in fast thing comes out." - GLaDOS

i would not call myself a video game player in the least.

ask my sisters. then ask my husband. 

BUT..

mr. barlow would call himself a video game man.

he teaches all about the types of games, the different systems and how to use a controller.

AND i didnt ever know a video game had a story. they do. its cool.

my little sister in law hannah was trying to get us to play Portal with her right after our wedding but i sadly turned her down.

mr. barlow cannot pass up a deal and he got Portal 1 & 2 for like $10!

a steal one would say.

it is the funnest and funniest game!

i am kinda obsessed.

and this come from the girl that doesnt play video games.

love her mother

this is sweet.

i ran 8 miles today.

almost made it to utah lake. couldn't of done it without kim and her stories.

now my body is going to get some much deserved sleep.

cinco de mayo!

we celebrated our cinco de mayo outside in the sun watching BYU Rugby!

very fitting for the holiday i know.

but seriously, rugby is so interesting to watch!

we went with the Lowrys from our ward and Matt played rugby in high school.

he did an excellent job at explaining all the rules to us!

BYU is pretty bomb at rugby. 

they played against UCLA on saturday and dominated.

BYU [103] - UCLA [27]

it was a beautifully fun day.

we gave Mountain West Burrito a try that night to commemorate the holiday.

it was delish.

raspberry oatmeal cookie bars

jacob & i were assigned to the treats for Barlow FHE a couple Mondays ago and i wanted to make something fruity.

i got this app [for android] and found this recipe on there >>> all recipes 

it was delicious!

the recipe you can find online here >>> Raspberry Oatmeal Cookie Bars

i doubled the recipe for the FHE and i also added cinnamon to the oatmeal mixture.

and i added cream cheese to the top!

i found those little additions in the reviews part.

pre baked cookie bars!

i just randomly dolloped [is that even a word?] the cream cheese everywhere. 

[it is, just looked it up in the dictionary.]

baked raspberry oatmeal cookie bars!

and you can try it with any fruit you'd like. so yum!