baby sitting :)

So, last night and tonight Kara and Coltin asked me to babysit while they go show a plan for their business. The kids are super easy to watch, so I don't mind at all doing it. Last night, I couldn't get Jada (the youngest at 6 months old) to go to sleep. So she ended up just sitting up in my lap while I watched Downton Abbey on Netflix. She finally fell asleep just before 11pm and then Kara and Coltin got home at 11:30. She was out, so at least she didn't wake up. Today, since I knew I would be watching the kids again, I knew that I needed to get out of the house and away from everyone for a while. Luckily, Joe (kara's brother) was thinking exactly the same thing and called me to see if I wanted to go out and get coffee and hang out. Thank goodness! So I picked him up and hung out with Coco for 20 minutes while Joe primped and made himself beautiful :) We went to get coffee and he started talking about everything that is going on in his life (or rather not going on, since like me, Joe is currently unemployed), and his relationship. I love Joe like a little brother, so I feel that everything in his life is not perfect. I just want him to be happy so bad! Anyway, we ended up going to the mall nearby and just walking around browsing a whole bunch of stores and talking about everything for several hours. It was nice, but neither of us wanted to go back home by the time we were done walking around the mall, so I suggested that we go to this dive-looking bar just down the street from Kara's house. It was pretty sweet. Bigger than it looks from the outside, and all of the cushions on the stools are all ripped. The locals were obviously regulars, but they were very friendly as they each gave me their particular opinions on the local brews. :) When we finished our drinks, we came back to Kara's and and I ended up in a tickling match with Mira and Alyssa while Caiden and I also wrestled. He'll be dangerous when he gets bigger, but for now, he is still light enough that at the very least, I can just pick him up and toss him away from me onto the couch to get away. As Kara and Coltin and their friends were leaving to go to their plan, I surrendered myself to Mira for a make-over. I got more and more scared as she started taking even the lip gloss and spreading it around my face. But she was working so hard and was really trying to make it look nice. As she worked, Alyssa did her own makeup and then it was my turn to do Mira's makeup. As I was doing hers, Vincent decided that he really wanted in on the fun! Now, normally I would not have encouraged him, because I know that Coltin really does not like it when his boys show any interest in anything "girly", because he doesn't want them to think it's okay, because I think he is terrified of them becoming gay. (There are several gay people in both Kara and Coltin's families, so I think it is something that he constantly worries about.) Anyway, I wanted to share the pics with you, since they are simply crazy!

Sunday

After a late night of babysitting for Coco's little girl last night, Joe and Adam and I stayed up late watching a few movies :) I was still able to wake myself up early sunday morning and make it to a Spin class at the gym and shower and get home in time to go to church with Kara, Coltin and all of the kids. My initial plan had been to go back home and take a nap while everyone was out of the house; but that's not how things go around here :) So after we got back, Kara's friends who rent the lower level of their house, decided to make lasagna for everyone, so Kara and I decided to take the time and do our nails. I really like how mine look, I think they are pretty awesome! After that, I snuck off to my room and watched a movie, and by the time it was over, it was dark in the house and everyone had sort of disappeared without me even realizing it. But within about an hour, more people turned up (of course). We made popcorn and some of us drank some wine (yes, i was a part of that!), and then as they were all settling in to play some card games, I holed up in my room again, for some Netflixing. It's not that i didn't want to be social, it was just that the people who are here, are all family and close friends of Kara and Coltin's friends Justin and Kody (the couple who live in the lower level). I felt like they were all over to hang out with each other and catch up, and me being there would be odd. Tomorrow is monday, and several of the kids are back to school (after them having all of last week off), so it will be pretty quiet around here. :)

illness, and boredom

So, a few days ago, Kara's oldest kid, Coltin, had a cough and watery eyes. Alright, no biggie, right? NOT RIGHT! Now 2 of the other kids have a cough, headache, bloody noses, and seriously watery eyes! What the heck is this??? I'm washing my hands every 20 minutes and loading up on echinacea. Whatever it is, they look terrible and I do NOT want it! Other than that, things are going pretty good :) I'm not terribly homesick. Of course I miss my friends and my family a lot. But I'm doing alright. I keep sending out my resume to these large science companies, but haven't heard anything back from them yet. Tara, you had excellent advise, and I promise I will follow-up with those companies tomorrow! For whatever reason, I find it very easy to put off calling them and asking if they have received my resume, and letting them know that I'm very interested in working for them (seriously, working at any of these companies would be awesome!) I know that I need to do it, but it is hard to find some time to make any personal phone calls without the kids making tons of noise in the background, especiall since all of the kids have this whole week off of school. And then when I do find some extra time, I want to call friends or family to chat or catch up, not make business calls. Ugh, I promise myself and all of you that I WILL do it tomorrow. It is really hard to think about being in a different time zone, too. The worst is that in order to use free evening minutes, I need to wait for 9pm, but that's 11pm at home, and midnight if I want to talk to Mary in florida! I will have to make sure that I keep track of the minutes being used so that we don't go over. I'm still exercising at least once a day, and twice a day several days a week. But as usual, my body doesn't have any interest in losing weight! It's so stupid. I did a genetic test of my body thru my Amway business a year or two ago, and one of the things it said is that in order for my body to lose weight, I need to be doing multiple sessions of high-intensity exercise a week. One of Kara's friends out here has been doing Insanity. I'm thinking that I should start inviting myself to workout with her. Maybe that would help. Besides that, I've become familiar with the neighborhood I'm living in, so I no longer need to use my GPS to find things :-) And I've been working on including myself with Kara and Coltin and the people that they hang out with, so that I am more comfortable hanging out with them. It's not the same as making my own friends, but at least it's something. I really need to start talking to people so that I can meet people. But as I'm sure all of you know; It's really hard to make friends as an adult! I've been thinking of trying to find some sort of group on craigslist to join, but am a little leary of that. If any of you have any suggestions as far as meeting people, or finding a group to hang out with, let me know. Oh, and lastly, Washington drivers are pretty darn polite and laid back :) Mary, if you read this, you GOTTA come out here sometime just to compare drivers in WA and FL! They all follow the speed limit, and totally let you merge in front of them if you put your blinker on. It is so funny. Alright, so, hopefully I'll get something a lot more interesting to write soon, but if any of you are on skype, go ahead and find me (see below) and we can video chat. Also, if any of you are interested in checking out any of the products I sell on my website, I am running a 10% off promotion of any nutrilite or XS products for the rest of the month! Text or call or email or facebook me if you have any questions. My favorite are the meal replacement shakes and bars, and the concentrated fruits and vegetable pills (they also have those in the liquid form that you squirt into your water, but I already do that with the joint replacement thingys, so i just take the pills) Hope you are all well! Love, Katie Skype: klhen12 My Store: www.amway.com/katiehenrikson

Staying busy and getting lost

So, I know all of you will understand this, but it sounds weird. I have been staying sooo busy, but haven't really been doing anything! It's just that will all of the commotion that goes on here at Coltin and Kara's house all day, every day, I feel like most of the time i'm very busy. Everyone here exercises pretty much daily, and i have invited myself to tag along with them all of the time :) So Kara and her friends Kody and Kelsey do a dancing video at home with Shawn T, and Coco, Devon (coco's boyfriend) and Coltin go to LA Fitness, so I've been exercising pretty much twice a day. I really like this, and even tho I really want to find a job, I will be sad to have to cut back on the exercising, it's been fun! Last night, Coco and I helped Coltin, Caiden, and Mira write all of their valentines to their classmates. It was sooo fun, and brought up some funny memories that we shared :) Anyway, today was Valentines Day. Obviously, I didn't really have any plans, so when Kara's sister, Coco, called and asked if I would go with her to the mall, I was all over it. We just stopped in at a couple of stores and she bought a few things, and then i was going to bring her home. I have learned the way between her house and Kara's by now, but Kara had called and asked me to stop at the liquor store to pick something up. Well, when i was leaving the parking lot, somehow i got all turned around and went 4 miles down the wrong road, in the wrong direction before i realized it!!! And the roads are set up so skrewy in Renton, that there is no direct route to anything! In order to get anywhere, you have to go pretty much in a huge circle and take lots of turns. It's messed up, but eventually, I made it home :)