Dynamic Systems Inventory Software

Hey family!

I am the head of marketing for an inventory management software company in Redmond, WA. Dynamic Systems has been developing and selling asset tracking software and barcode technology since 1981.

If you want to know more, check out the Dynamic Systems website or read our Barcode Software Blog.

Future House

Our Future House

Currently we are on pins and needles awaiting a response from the bank saying "You got the house!" In which we will proceed to jump for joy!!! :) So until that comes I can't say for sure that this will be our house. But if all goes well this will be our future home.

I have been planning out different ideas that i have for certain rooms. In our current house i went a little extreme on the colors so i am going to tone it down a bit in our next house.

Here is my idea for the kitchen:

Current state:

My inspiration for the room:

Jackson Family Update...

(One of my recent favorite picture of Peter at Red Robin)

Hello everyone,

I know we havent been on here in months and I am sorry about that! I had a little free time and decided I should put up a blog post. I have recently gotten into following quite a few other blogs and wish that I could do the same. One of my favorite blogs: http://www.younghouselove.com/ has inspired me to give it a try. We will see how I do. I am going to try and commit to posting atleast once a week.

For the past few months we have been in the process of buying a home. We placed on offer on a cute little house in the South Everett area in May. Unfortunately its a short sale which is good and bad. We have yet to hear from the bank....so we are constantly wondering when we are going to hear back. Out lease for our apartment is up in July so we decided to temporarily stay with Rod, Signe and Tyler until we are able to move into our new house. I will post more information on the house and what our plans are for it in a seperate post.

Peter is already 1! I cannot believe it! We celebrated his birthday at the Bothell Landing park in Downtown Bothell. The weather turned out great and we had a great show of people. We barbequed burgers and Peter ate his first cupcake :)

Peter is growing faster than I can believe. He is such a joy to be with everyday! I cant imagine our lives without him. He runs in circles around our apartment and I am sure will love our new house once he can play out in our future yard.

Well......I got to run. Peter just woke up from a nap. I will post more pictures later this evening.

Jen :)

Newborn Portraits (finally...)

I wanted to share with everyone the newborn portraits that we had done in the hospital. It was actually quite suprising to us when a photographer came into our hospital room and asked if we wanted photography done!? Of course we said yes and are so happy that we were able to save these precious moments we had with Peter in the hospital. These are coming four months late because we didnt have the money until now to purchase the cd with all of the photos. I hope everyone enjoys!! I will be posting some recent photos of Peter soon! (hopefully later on today if I have time)

Also on a side note:

Peter went in for his 4 month check up last week and he weighs 15 pounds and is 25.5 inches long. On the growth charts he is right at the 50 percentile for his weight and in the 75th percentile for his height. It looks like he might have missed my short genes :)

Videos of Little Peter Bjorn Jackson!!

Sorry we have been so lazy about posting stuff on here! I will take some time to explain how little Peter came into this world! On Sunday June 13th I started having contractions when we were on our way into church at around 10am! I continued to labor for the rest of the day around the house until about 7pm ish. During that time I went for a walk with Neil's help and spent some time in the bath tub (which was awesome in relieving my pain!). We had Tyler drive us in to the hospital around 7pm so that Neil could help me through my contractions on the way there since we had a 45 minute drive! When we finally got to the hospital I was relieved to find out that I was already 4cm dilated. I got checked in and was in my labor and delivery room by around 8pm! Within a span of 3.5 hours I was dilated to 10cm!! It was crazy but I could definitely feel it! lol I mentioned to the nurse that I felt like I needed to push but she said she doubted it since I had only been there for 3.5 hours when she checked she was astonished! I pushed for about 10 min and little Peter was born at 12:03am on Monday June 14th! It was the most amazing experience and I have never felt anything like it before. It was so worth all of the pain and struggle! We are in love with our little boy! :) With out further delay here are some videos that we have taken in the past few weeks! I hope you enjoy!
Love,
Jen :)

Job!

I just finished my second week as a marketing professional at a technology company in Bellevue, WA. Yep, I am now employed since May 17th and Jennifer and I are ecstatic. It took me almost exactly two months, March 19-May17, and a lot of worry and lots more tears. Last weekend I went and got a new pair of jeans and a “brief case” for work as a Birthday/Graduation gift. It actualy a messenger bag for urban bike messangers.
The commute sucks from Mill Creek, so we are moving soon. We are also moving because its hard to live with mom and dad when your married with a baby on the way. We recently applied for a home loan and are looking for condos in the Redmond area. Redmond will allow me to bike or bus to work easily (to get a few laughs I asked for a bigger cubicle so I can store my bike) . Also, the church we are in the membership process for, and the gym we are joining are literally right next door to my work in Bellevue. Its great how providence works.

On to more exciting news, Jennifer was full term as of Thursday! Little Peter is going to be here any day now!

Love you all,
Neil

Fun Pictures and Random Tidbits...

So I am now officially 30 weeks pregnant! I can't believe it! He is almost here. As well we have decided upon a name!!!!!!!! Peter Jackson! Not quite sure on the middle name yet but I think that will be a lot easier than the first name. lol :)

He is moving around all the time and I think he is still in the sideways position. But we will see when I go in for my next doctor appointment next week! He still has 2 more months to get properly positioned.

I was able to find a doctor through Swedish Medical Center and now I am getting very anxious for the labor to come. Finding a doctor was a bit of a process since we were finding one so late in the pregnancy but it ended up working out great! She works at Seattle Women's Clinic which has the top rated OBGYN's in the state!

We have been hunting on craigslist for some sweet deals and we were able to find an amazing dresser that we are also going to use as a changing table. It's white and will work with our nautical theme very well. It has been very exciting planning this nursery but a little overwhelming since our home situation is still in limbo about where we will be when the baby comes.

Neil has been applying for multiple open positions daily and has had a few interviews so far which is great. Pray that he continues to have such great response. He had a phone interview last week which was very promising so we are praying and hoping he receives a call for an in person interview soon!

And finally here are some pictures from a week ago that my uncle took when we were over visiting with my parents. Neil and I always forget to take pictures so I thought you guys would enjoy these!

The skies were a gift from my dad to Neil. And my uncle always has a camera on him so he wanted to get some pictures of Neil with his gift. lol

Love, Jen :)

Quilt

Here is a pic of what we are doing for the baby quilt (Drawn by Neil, Colored by Jen):

25 Weeks and Counting....

Hello Everyone,

I am now 25 weeks along and I am definitely getting ready for this baby boy to come!! We are so excited! All I want to do is hold him! I think the hardest part of the pregnancy recently has been sleeping. I go to bed tired and sit there tossing and turning. This has been going on for the past week and a half but luckely last night I was able to get a fairly decent amount of sleep. Be praying that I am able to continue with this trend of sleep. I have tried pillows, a warm bath, and reading before bed but nothing has seemed to work.......What have all of you other moms done to be able to sleep through the night?

The baby is now the size of an eggplant! I can feel him kicking around and doing summersaults all the time! It is so strange to feel him adjust when I roll onto my other side in bed! lol I believe that I felt him hickuping the other day but I am not quite sure.

And now here are my week 25 bump pictures. I wore the same outfit so that you could compare from the last time. I definitely feel bigger and I think I look a little bigger as well. What do you think? I am still waiting for my belly button to pop! I have a very deep innie so I don't think it will be for a while. When did your belly buttons pop?

Baby Update!

I just wanted to fill you guys in on our doctor appointment on Wednesday! It was just a typical monthly appointment so nothing to big. We did get to hear is heart beat which was running between 130 and 140. And my uterus was measuring exactly where it should be! I can't believe it but the doctor said my uterus will be growing 1cm a week from now on. That seems crazy! I can feel him alot more now and supposedly he is the size of a papaya. I am officially 22 weeks today. The weeks are flying by and I hope that trend continues.
He seems to be most active after I eat and during the afternoon to night time. I read that supposedly he is sleeping 12-14 hours a day! That seems crazy because I feel him so often.

On another note we are only about one month out from moving back home! Can't believe it is almost here! Be praying for Neil as he has been busy applying for jobs.
Hope everyone else is doing good!

Love,
Jennifer :)

21 weeks!

Hello everyone,
Sorry it is taken us a while to get back on here! It has been a busy last couple weeks. I am definitely starting to feel the pop! Ever since week 19 I have started to expand alot. It is really fun because people are starting to notice and asking me questions about when he is due, etc.
I have been able to feel him since about week 18! And Neil felt him at week 20! And now I can feel him alot more. He seems to be most active after I eat and during the night time. We are still debating names but will keep you posted when we decide up one. I feel like this pregnancy is going by really fast. We are already over halfway through it! I have my next doctor appointment this Wednesday so I will let you know how that goes and fill you all in on that!

And here my 21 week bump pictures! Enjoy :)





I hope everyone is doing good! Miss you guys!

Jen:)

It's a Boy!

Our precious little baby boy! (If you can't tell, this is a side profile of him)

We just got back home from the ultrasound! And it was such an amazing experience! The doctor was poking around looking at all of the body parts when she exclaimed its a boy!!! And it sure was a boy! You could see its little wee wee sticking out for all to see! lol

I was so excited and still feel like I am on cloud 9. Neil couldn't believe that we were going to have a boy! He almost jumped in the air!

The doctor said that our little baby boy is growing excellent and looks perfect! He measured in at 18.5 weeks putting me a week ahead of where we thought we were! She said I could either be a week ahead or our baby is growing at a faster rate! He was moving around alot when we were having the ultrasound, it was so precious to see his little body moving around inside me!

She was very surprised by my long torso, which I was not aware that I had! lol Our baby was streched out all the way with his head resting just above my bladder and his legs up by my belly button! lol It looked like he was having a grand ol' time with his feet crossed as if he was relaxing. His hands were tucked up by his mouth and chin most of the time. Seeing his little fingers and toes brought tears to my eyes!

We were able to see all of his organs from his heart to bladder! The way that he was positioned made it difficult to see the front of his face so we mainly got side views.

Sorry for blabbling so much I was just so excited!

Jen:)

There is his little wee wee! lol So cute! :)

Baby Update!

We had our appointment on friday and everything went great! It was pretty crazy when the doctor was locating the heartbeat...she was able to follow our baby around my belly as the baby was moving around! It made a swooshing sound when the baby made a movement. I couldn't believe how active he/she was! I can't wait till I get to feel the movement, which my doctor said should be in a few weeks!
As well I was delightfully suprised to find out that we will be having our ultra-sound this Tuesday!!! I will fill you guys in as soon as we find out if it is a boy or girl! (If they are able to tell...cross your fingers) They told me that you have to drink 30 ounces of water an 1 and 1/2 before your ultrasound with no trips to the bathroom! Lets hope I can make it through without bursting! lol How come you have to do this? Do any of you know why? Does it make your stomach larger so that they can see the baby? lol

Be praying that the baby and I continue to grow and be healthy!

Okay well I hope you guys are having a great week back!
Talk to you soon!

Love, Jen :)

Back home!!

We made it home on Sunday and Neil and I both started our new classes for the quarter on Monday! It is so great to know that we only have one quarter left! I am pretty excited about the courses that I am taking this quarter: Childhood Development, Social Problems, Social Psychology, Choir(I am such a choir geek), and a few excercise classes. Neil also has a full course load with ASL 3, Small Group Communication, Senior Capstone(for Communication majors), as well as a few excercise classes. On top of his classes he was also asked to student teach a course called Leading Change, which he is absolutely thrilled about. I think it will be such a great experience for him!! :)
Our next appointment to see the doctor is coming up this friday! We will get to hear the hearbeat again which I am completely thrilled about. In about three weeks we get to have an ultrasound!!!!!!! I can't wait to buy baby clothes ;)
Well I think that is everything for now! Talk to everyone later!
Jen:)

16 Weeks

We are having a baby, and it still hasn't set in. Look at my girl! She's so cute!!!!!! That's my baby in there! She finally looks pregnant, which she is so excited about. I can not say how much I love this girl...my beautiful Jennifer.

Portland Marathon!!

As you all know Neil and I completed the Portland Marathon two weeks ago!! It was very difficult for us towards the end of the race! But.....we finished! We ran it in 4 hours and 45 min. I believe the hardest part of the race was running from miles 20 through 26. Luckily there was tons of water, a Gatorade type drink, and few snacks offered along the way to keep us replenished and energized. We are already ready for out next challenge which we believe is going to be the Vancouver Marathon in May!

There were race photographers who took our picture along the way and here is one that we purchased.

There are more photos available but we are not sure if we are going to buy them because of the price however you are welcome to check them out if you would like at:

www.portlandmarathon.org click on the photos section and either type in bib # 5046 or 5047.

Thanks Rod and Signe for coming and rooting us on! It was so fun to have family to share the adventure with!

We cant wait to see everyone for Christmas!!!

Love,

Jen :)

Labor Day Weekend!

This weekend was so relaxing and great to see family! We headed over the mountains to Seattle with Tyler! It was fun to carpool and made the time pass. We left on friday and just got back late last night.

Friday was spent relaxing after a long drive home by eating a delicious dinner of flank steak and was topped of with homemade molasses cookies!

On Saturday Neil and I went for our long jog (14 miles) and then had a fun trip down to Seattle with Rod and Signe to Starbucks new independant coffee shop called, 15 Avenue Coffee and Tea, on Capital Hill. This coffee shop was amazing and you would not be able to tell that is was starbucks in diguise. The decor was very urban and inviting. The experience was so fun! You walk in to see an assortment of different coffee beans that you can choose from. From there you pick which coffee beans you would like to try and they scoop it right there to make your custom coffee! All of the pastries that we tried were delicious and unique to this particular store with nothing I have ever seen at Starbucks!

When you guys come visit we will have to take you there!

This is the website. Check it out! http://www.streetlevelcoffee.com/

The rest of the weekend was very relaxing and spent hanging out with my own (Jen's)family. I hope that everyone else had a very enjoyable time for their labor day weekend! Cant wait to hear about it.

Goodbye for now!
Jen:)

p.s. pictures to come soon!

Our Weekend Trip to Pullman

This weekend Neil and I had planned on going on a camping trip in Northern Idaho....when we showed up to the camping spot early saturday morning we were disapointed by the sad display of a campground. So instead of being disapointed for the rest of the weekend we decided to turn it into a spontaneous trip down to Pullman to visit Tyler! It was quite fun and it was a little interesting considering we only had our camping gear with us! Saturday night we grilled burgers out on tyler's porch of his new apartment and they turned out delicious. :) That night we hung out at his apartment and watched the newest batman movie, which was surprisingly quite good!
The next day we ventured around Pullman seeing the sights by runnning through the town. Jogging through an area is surprisingly a great way to get to know the city! That night before we headed home we went out to eat at an italian restaurant that had a special going for college students, at $5 dollars a plate for a spaghetti dinner which included salad, breadsticks, and a beverage. It ended up being a decent place, I think we might go there again the next time we go down and visit Tyler!

We had a great weekend even though we werent able to go camping!

Jen :)

Spring Break

So I want to let you know about spring break. Jen and I are leaving to come home to the Seattle area on the 17th of March. On the 18th and 19th I will be taking Jennifer up to Cama Beach State Park to stay sea side in a cabin for two nights. The cabin is only $23 a night which is perfect for us newly weds in college! The goal is to relax and have some alone time in the greatest place on earth: the beautiful pacific North West. We are bringing our own food and grill but in the morning we are planning on going out to a little coffee shop called Scandia which is a coffee shop dedicated to preserving the Norwegian heritage in Stanwood. For lunch one day we may go by Matt and Rachel's coffee shop.
On the 20th we will go home to celebrate Tyler's (my little bro for those who don't know us) 20th Birthday! We will also be going home to Mars Hill Church for Sunday, which we are looking forward to soooooo much! We miss our church, our family and our city. We will always go where ever God may send us, but we pray that he send us to Seattle for good.

What we want to do when we grow up!

Recently I was watching a video posted by Mark Driscoll about the movement that has recently begun. I am slightly upset that this has already begun and that I am not part of leading it yet. I am glorifying Jesus that great things are happening in his name! I want to be a pastor such as Driscoll or John Piper or C.J. Mahaney so badly that I almost tear up when Jennifer and I hear of opportunities that I cannot be part of because of my position in life and my current location. I want to be a major leader in developing this movement and bringing Jesus to the end of the world. If you would like to understand Jennifer and I in terms of what we want to do when we graduate then please watch this in its entirety. This is it: limited but concise. I get such an adrenaline high that in order not to have anxious melt down or emotional meltdown I must work out, pray and at times recite scripture aloud to calm myself down. If this clip brings tears to your eyes than you understand the desire and freakish drive Jesus instilled in my heart. I am so thankful to be a part of this movement even in the small way that I am. (Matt. 9:35-38)