Pros and Cons of Homeownership

We'll start with cons, because there aren't many.

Con:

• We had to buy a new fridge. That wasn't the bummer. The bummer is after it was installed, it did not get cold. Thursday after we moved was the earliest a technician could come look at it. Turns out it had no frion. Whoever let a fridge be sold without frion is a nincompoop. The good news is we have a loaner fridge while we wait for the new fridge to come (it has to be special ordered). While we waited for servicing we scraped by with a mini-fridge so it's nice to have a full size and be able to buy some fresh food again.

Um... yeah. That's it for cons. (Yes, other things may go wrong later, home ownership, blah blah blah. Don't rain on my home honeymoon.)

PROS! In no particular order:

• Attached Garage! My car is a dark blue so in the summer it reaches about 1000 degrees sitting in the sun. I love parking in a garage again! Also, I don't have to carry in/out EVERYTHING at the same time up/down 4 flights of stairs while carrying a toddler.  Shuttling stuff to/from the garage is now a delight.
• Baby has her own room! As a result, she is sleeping much better and we can spend our evenings after her bedtime in the living room, our bedroom, or both! I always heard a move can disrupt sleep for kids for a while. I'm so grateful that we've had the opposite experience. She goes down for bed an naps without a fuss and one nap a day lasts one hour. ONE HOUR. Guys! Look, I'm blogging again!
• Flowers! Our yard has beautiful and simple landscaping. All the plants are still relatively young, but I have roses and lilies that started blooming the week we moved and they are gorgeous!
• Linoleum! Namely, in the entry and dining area. It's not as ritzy as tile or wood, but it ain't beige carpet and that's what matters. 
• Shed! We have a cute, sturdy shed only a couple years old. Perfect place to keep the recreational equipment we've been keeping in our living room/cars for years.
• Kitchen Island! When we were house shopping, one of my requirements was at least one span of unadulterated counter space. I was so tired of rolling out dough and running into a wall. Now I have at least 30 square feet of unbounded counter top.
• Raised garden beds! Never though I'd be excited about that. I'm not much of a gardener, but I spent all morning pulling weeds from the flower beds and didn't hate life so that bodes well for the vegetable garden.
• Private laundry room! Past are the days of paying per load. Our situation at the apartment wasn't terrible; there was a laundry room on each floor of the building and I could do multiple loads at a time. But since I had to pay the same amount per load I always waited till I had a full load before washing anything. Now I have options galore! 
• Basement! We have a full unfinished basement. Finally space for food storage, camping equipment, and other random stuff that doesn't belong in our living space.
• Linen closet! I don't have to store all the extra sheets and towels in my closet, under the bed, or on the bathroom floor.
• No wall sharing! Every so often we catch ourselves thinking something that is no longer necessary. "Is the music too loud? Will somebody hate us for hammering/vacuuming to early/late?" Then we remember we are the sole occupants of our building and shake our heads, feel a little silly, and smile.
• Amazing shower head! We bought this for ourselves as a housewarming gift. It has like 10 different spray settings and an articulating arm so we can raise the head high enough that my husband can shower standing up straight. He's very tall, so this is very exciting.

That's all for now. There are definitely others, but baby girl is laughing in the next room which means her nap is over, which means blogging is over. 

Welcome home!

We are officially moved in! Moving day was a little stressful. I mean more stressful than it we anticipated it would be. As I'm married to Mr. Prepared, he lined up a crew of people to help load the truck weeks in advance. Then suddenly the night before/day of we learned only 2 guys could actually help after all. After some desperate calls to anyone we could think of, a couple of angels showed up and everything was loaded without working anyone to death. All the friends who committed to help me clean showed up so that was wonderful.  We definitely left the place cleaner than we found it.

At the other end, the truck was unloaded in a mere 30 minutes by 4 guys because apparently unloading goods and carrying them 20 feet is a little easier than transporting them from the 5th floor across the building, down an elevator, and across a parking lot into the truck.

I'm sure this was easiest move of our married lives, going from a small apartment to a house, so I'm fully appreciating that. I hope we don't have to move again for a long time.

Now comes the part that for some people is fun but for me is very stressful.: decorating. I'm a bit of an overthinker so facing a house full of decisions about colors, wall hangings, window treatments, bedding, pillows, etc. is overwhelming especially when I don't have a clear idea of what I like and what fits our style. It took me a year to finally decide which pictures to hang in the apartment, and where, and how, and then actually hang them.

The awesome thing about decorating though is we can do whatever we want! Paint! Hang! Nails everywhere! #nodeposit. Yay for home ownership!

BIG NEWS! No, I'm not pregnant.

I'm taking advantage of a rare moment to blog. The miniature human that lives with me freaks out when I sit down at the computer and insists on sitting in my lap for the duration of my computer task which makes typing very difficult.

Why don't you blog while she naps? you ask. Because she still takes 30-freaking-minute naps. (Please, no advice. Trust me, I've tried it.) I use that precious time to shower alone, exercise, eat food I don't want to share, fold laundry, or just do nothing because caring for a child means you are hyper vigilant pretty much every waking moment so the best thing ever is just to lie down and do nothing or something else just as mindless like play a dumb app or peruse Facebook.  Blogging takes mind work, so it does not get priority.

Why don't you blog after she goes to bed? Because my husband goes to work before I wake up and comes home 12 hours later so the only time we get to hang out is between baby's bedtime and our bedtime so anytime we get to spend together is precious, non-blogging time.

But tonight I actually have some time all to myself because baby's down for the night and my husband is sick in bed so I have some rare me-time wherein I'm limited to 1. computer stuff or 2. listening to music or a book with headphones because baby's sleeping in the living room and husband is in the bedroom. I can't turn on any lights unless I go in the bathroom or closet, neither of which is particularly cozy. Oh the joys of a one bedroom apartment... the joys of which are soon to end!

BECAUSE WE'RE BUYING A HOUSE!

I've mentioned before that once in a while I have these moments where I feel like a real adult. Getting approved for a loan and being told to start shopping for a house was one of those moments. Buying major appliances this week was another.

At the end of winter my husband ended up getting hired on as a regular employee after all at the place he'd been temping so that was an awesome blessing. He loves his job and has been working long days as he finds his groove with his team. The 60 mile commute? Not so awesome. Since our lease is up this summer we weighed our housing options going forward and moving closer to work and maybe buying a house seemed like the way to go. Turns out we had great credit and someone willing to loan us a crap load of money to buy some real estate so we proceeded full steam ahead!

After weeks of house hunting and four offers, we finally had an offer accepted. Though it was frustrating to deal with such a competitive market (houses we liked were getting a dozen offers and selling for $10-$25K OVER list price) we are so blessed with the house we ended up snagging. It's a convenient to work for my husband, it's relatively new so nothing is falling apart and the inspection went well, the sellers don't have terrible taste so we don't need to re-carpet or paint to make the place livable, it's in a nice neighborhood, we have some family nearby, and it has a yard and shed and beautiful landscaping that is pretty but not too fussy (because I'm a lazy gardener. Remember basil #1?), and a full unfinished basement so if we end up staying there forever, we have plenty of space to spread out a family. Bonus: we'll close in a comfortable amount of time to get pre-move-in-details accomplished before we move for keeps and before we have to be out of the apartment.

For privacy reasons, I'm purposefully not providing pictures or specifics about where it's at or what it looks like, but if you're dying to know shoot me a message and if you aren't a creeper I don't know I'll send you details.

It's really nice to know that though we're moving to a new town, we aren't moving so far that things will be completely unfamiliar. We'll still be in Colorado and close enough to Denver to come into "The City" for special things. I'm glad we don't have to relocate to a whole new state for a whole new job that we may or may not love.

We're at this awkward phase now where it's still too early to start packing but I feel like I should be productive doing something to make the move easier, so I made a head start on deep cleaning the apartment. Our shower tile never looked so good.

Yay for happy changes! We'll miss Denver (mostly the food... ok we'll miss the friends too. and the parks) but we are soooo ready to have a house, and soon enough it'll feel like home.

Birthday Trifecta

It's that time again wherein we celebrated our existence.  I had a great birthday because it was the first birthday my husband didn't have to work through the evening. He has always worked nights since we've been together and always had to work on my birthday. Now that he has a day job I made our evening birthday celebration mandatory for all family members. We ate steak and it was delicious.

The Birthday Girl

Next up, Baby Girl had her first birthday! We celebrated by visiting puppies. She loves puppies. We celebrated more later in the week when we met up with her dad in Chicago. He won a trip to a convention through a class his last semester so we met him in Chicago at the end of the convention to have a family trip.

Last of all it was this guy's birthday. Last year was so great he probably thought it couldn't get better, but it did. I'm good like that. Besides, how could getting a robot ball NOT make the greatest birthday a boy could want?

Hey there

I've been rereading last year's blog posts to remind myself what I've talked about. Lots of baby stuff. Understandable. I was on a steep learning curve, and it's a job that doesn't allow for many other concurrent occupations or interests.

Speaking of concurrent occupations, who has two thumbs and no longer is a regularly scheduled employee? This girl! I thought I might need to work a bit longer, but everything worked out to leave after the new year. I will provide support to the office on occasion but I'm confident things are under control without me.

As expected, my husband graduated from his university in December in what has to be the longest but most efficient ceremony I've ever been to. He's working as a month to month contract employee but looking for a full time position somewhere else since this company can't bring him on full time. No, he doesn't have any solid prospects yet, and no we aren't confining searches to a particular geographical location. He won a design competition in one of his final classes and as part of his prize the client is taking him to Chicago in March for an international product show. That will be an excellent networking opportunity for him.

The child we made is taking tentative steps already. She's still a crawler but will be walking in no time. She's so dang light she has no bulk to carry around. She's almost 10 months old and wearing size 3 MO pants today. She has 3 teeth with more coming. It's making her life miserable this week on top of having a cold, but I don't mind because she's the only thing I have to worry about and I've been getting great sleep. Starting on New Year's Day she miraculously began to sleep through the night for the first time ever. It's amazing how quality of life and emotional endurance improve after a night of uninterrupted slumber! I feel like I can take on anything right now.

I work with the young women at church now. Our congregation is so small that we combine with the young women who share our church building and there are still only a handful of girls. It's been fun getting to know them and interesting experiencing the program as a leader instead of a participant.

That brings you up to speed on our current status. This is going to be a year of big changes for us. Already it's different with me no longer working and my husband no longer in school. It's exciting and a little scary to know other things are going to happen, but have no idea what form they will take or when. Maybe we'll stay here in Colorado or maybe we'll end up on the other side of the world! Ready or not, life as I know it is changing again.

Stay tuned.

Back to work

I went back to work when Pepper was 8 weeks old.  The first day was awful.  I could not think straight.  I did not want to be there.  I forgot words and made a mess of training the new office employee.  Things weren't much better at home with her dad.

I happened to have a follow up appointment at the birth clinic that day and I completely lost it as soon as the nurse (who was the attending nurse at Pepper's delivery) took me back to a room and asked me how I was doing.  Then the midwife came in and asked the same thing and I started bawling all over again.  I cried through most of the appointment.  Bless their hearts; they just hugged me and let me cry it out.

Pepper was at home with her dad while I was at work.  She was most determined to not eat from a bottle or take a pacifier, so when she wasn't sleeping she was crying and hungry except when my husband brought her to me at lunch to feed her.  He was pretty frazzled by the time I got home.  I was frazzled from holding back guilt tears from knowing she was hungry and upset all day.  Baby was frazzled from wondering why her routine was so jacked up when we'd had such a good thing going.

Thankfully, I am on a part time schedule, so I had the next day off where we were able to recover emotionally and physically.  The next two work days went much better.  Since my husband was in the middle of his last weeks of school, I took her with me to work those days so he could finish school projects.  Having her with me all day was wonderful.  She stayed happy and fed and I was way more productive knowing she was happy and fed.

The second week of work I had her with me half the time so my husband could take his finals.  She still wouldn't take a bottle so the time she did spend hanging out with Dad was still fraught with frustration, but we all managed to survive.

The next two weeks, school was finally over and his new internship hadn't started yet, so her daddy stayed with her all week but said heck with the bottle feeding attempts and brought her to me for every feeding.  Happiness reigned all around.  After that, his full time summer internship started and I took her to work every day.

Thankfully I work in a small office for an private employer who'd rather accommodate than lose me.  Everyone else is a parent too so they are understanding.  I've been back to work about three months now.  Pepper is getting bigger and more social so sometimes it's hard to give her the interaction she needs to stay content.  I'm learning to make myself step away from the paid work to give her my undivided attention when she starts acting out which helps her mood, and my coworkers will take her for me when she's fussy and I need to get on a phone call or finish an urgent email.  Or they take her just because.  Everyone likes to get in baby time with her every day.

I love having a part time schedule.  I don't choose to work for the sake of working, but since I do need to work for now it's lovely only working every other day.  Reduced hours, a smaller work load, and additional competent office employees have done wonders for bringing down my stress levels.  I'm not forgetting to eat and drink, I'm leaving on time at the end of the day, I'm getting in regular exercise on my off days, and overall I'm just feeling happier.

The tentative plan is to only work through the next semester when my husband can go back to full time work.  To that end, I'm busy training my replacements and teaching customers to do without me.  I've done good work at this job, but I'm ready to give all my attention to family life.

She likes to keep an eye on what's going on.

Improvising a way to keep baby sitting up while freeing both my hands to work

Tummy time is hard.

Office selfie

She found her thumbs.

The New Roommate

A certain young lady has arrived here.  She hasn't brought much luggage with her, but she evidently means to stay.*

*Anyone who correctly identifies the allusion gets my utmost respect and a mention on the blog

I'm going to educate you

I'm a little disappointed nobody actually answered the question, except for the two who just asked another question in turn (namely, "You're head is missing?" and "You've gained some weight?").

Guys, the answer to my question should be yes.

And by golly, why shouldn't I look different?  I've been working for every inch.  It's disheartening to be steamrolled by those who think they are doing me a favor by discounting my size when they are really making me feel like there is something wrong, or like I am some kind of wimp for feeling large and tired but only producing small results, or I'm flat out lying about being pregnant.

FACT: the 26 week gestation baby inside the woman who looks ready to give birth is just as large as the baby inside the woman who looks like she's doing a poor job hiding a football under her shirt.  And both women are uncomfortable.

Just like you should never ask a woman if she's pregnant, don't ever comment on her size (after her pregnancy is independently or voluntarily confirmed, of course).  No matter her size or gestation, 99% of the time you'll sound like a douche-bag to her when presumably you don't mean to. Err on the side of telling her you're happy for her and hope everything is healthy.

No matter how it looks from the outside, carrying a practicing human in the uterus is uncomfortable at every stage, so give all pregnant women credit for what they are accomplishing.  At the end of the day, they are making people with their bodies and everyone else is not.

For all other questions people need to stop asking, this article sums many up nicely.

Now that I've preemptively returned the favor of giving unsolicited advice, your reward for reading it, i.e. answers to the questions I know you wanted to ask:

• Due date: March 8, aka 26 weeks gestation
• Baby's sex unknown by choice.  Yes, this was a rational decision.  No, I have neither a suspicion nor a preference if it's a male or female. No, I don't have a problem calling Baby "it".
• Yes, both of us are healthy.
• Yes, husband and I are excited.
• Yes, Baby moves a lot. Within the last week it can reach my ribs when I'm seated.
• Yes, we have several names lined up.  I'm not sharing here but you can ask if you see me.
• Yes, I'll take maternity leave from work, but no I don't know what I'll do afterward.
• No, I'm not sick anymore.
• I'm 21 weeks in the blue-dress picture.  I have a more recent picture but it looks like a prison photo.  Since I'm not in the habit of publicly distributing ugly pictures of myself, if you want to know what I look like, look at the blue dress picture and imagine me slightly bigger.
• Sadly, the basil is dead.  It was a seasonal plant, anyway....

Look at me from the side...

... do I look different to you?

Summer activities

The basil is doing great.  I introduced a sister plant to the pot and now I have a little basil bush.  It really needs harvesting but I keep putting it off because I want to make sure I have enough to make a batch of fresh pesto.  Pesto takes a lot of basil.

Other than cultivating a houseplant this summer, I went to Utah and witnessed this:

and went to Idaho and witnessed this:

and my husband made me this, which I'm learning to ride:

Yay summer.

No Foolin' Here

Exactly one year ago my husband sent me to his kitchen to get an apple out of the fridge.   A minute later he was on his knee in that tiny kitchen asking me to marry him and he was not joking.

Of course, I said yes.  Or maybe I said "of course".  Same difference.  We're married.

It actually never crossed my mind that he was joking.  (I forgot it was April 1 till later when a few family members texted me after we spoke to make sure it was real and I had to assure them I was serious.)

I realize this is every Facebook jokester's dream, y'know actually getting engaged and announcing it on April Fool's Day because nobody will believe you and then the joke's is still on them.  But I have too much respect for my close friends and family to take advantage of this golden opportunity.  I'm also a terrible liar.

But seriously, it really means a lot to me to personally tell my own good news, and let others personally tell me their good news.  Those closest to me know they must call me to tell me important news or I will pout.  Three have called in the middle of the night to tell me their engaged.  My sister rustled me out of bed to tell me she was engaged.  My brother called me in the middle of the night to tell me I was going to be an aunt.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

After we got engaged I systematically called my mom, dad, siblings, Grandma, various other relatives, and best friends in turn.  Since there are a lot of them, it took a while.  When I couldn't get to everyone, I let the rest of my family spread the news too.  Sorry if I didn't get to you.

I actually didn't ever get around to putting it on Facebook though I did blog about it about a month later and casually referred to it occasionally.  Sometimes I almost regret not capitalizing on the opportunity for such a good joke, but then I remember were so many other things going on at this time last year that were more important than making a joke that I no longer feel bad.

In conclusion, I'm glad it was no joke.

Spring Accessorizing

My image needed refreshing, so I decided to explore some new accessories. Tell me what you think, and be honest please.

I heard rings are really in this season, so decided to try one of those first.

Goes well with my skintone, dontcha think?

It was ok, but didn't seem to be right all by itself.  I decided to get a dress to go with it.

Like I'm really going to show you what it looks like?

Of course, the whole ensemble wouldn't be complete without this key (and I must admit, my favorite) accessory:

ac·ces·so·ry (n); see also accomplice, partner, co-conspirator

We're going to throw a party soon to show it all off because that's half the fun of a new outfit, right?

Back by popular demand

I actually wrote up this post weeks ago, but work has been so busy the last few weeks I didn't have time on my lunch break to pick out and upload photos.  Things are slowed back to normal now, so no more excuses.

Christmas and New Year's were nice, though sandwiched with madness.  A water main broke in an office building in our work complex and flooded the basement level floor to ceiling and part of the garage with a million gallons (literally) of water December 23.  Our office didn't suffer any damage but power was out in the whole complex.  It took some ingenuity and merciful people to do my job that day since I couldn't use my work computer or phone.

But then I got to leave it behind temporarily to fly to the Inland Northwest and spend Christmas and the New Year at my parent's home.  Brought a Christmas surprise with me too.  Nobody knew about it till we got there, but apparently my parents were the only ones actually shocked.  I was still quite please with myself, keeping it all a secret.

The week home was mostly enjoyable as we visited some of my good friends and did lots of family stuff.  I say "mostly" because nearly everyone took turns suffering from a brief yet violent viral plague.  I will spare the details.  Or perhaps you know the details, having already become acquainted with the little bug.

Work has been very busy so far this month dealing with the aftermath of the flood and changes we're making at other locations in addition to my usual workload.  I had some flashbacks to last July and August's work insanity, but I'm happy to report everything parking is back under control and I'm officially caught up with all my work.

Birthday shout out to my dad.  His birthday was yesterday but he's on a Mexican cruise with my mom celebrating their wedding anniversary, so I didn't get to talk to him day-of and he probably didn't see my card before he went out of town.  For the record, I remembered.

And birthday countdown for me!  10 days!

Fall[ing]

Well, howdy fall!  It's like Colorado knew when September started because *BAM*, 50 degrees and rain.  But true to form, it has since forgot and all week it has been 80 degrees+ though mornings are a little colder than they used to be.  I get kind of restless on chilly mornings because I feel like I should be running a cross country race.  My body still gets all anxious and ready for it.  Unfortunately, running has sort of faded away for the last little while.  First, because my running buddy is back in nursing school and thus forfeited her life until December, and second, because I've been doing other fun things instead like

(click on any picture to view it full size)

slacklining,

longboarding/rollerblading,

window shopping at IKEA,

making pizza,

watching pee wee football,

and appreciating nature

...with this guy.

East, West, Home's Best

Two posts in a week?  Gasp!  Yes, it's true.  Now that the most stressful nine weeks of my life are behind me (complete with 10 min lunches, going home "early" meant going home an hour late, poor posture, scrambled brain, tears, and a few outbursts at the futility of it all) I'm coming back to life and happy to be here.  My workload is back to managable levels, and I got to run away from it all and take a trip home to Idaho!

Yay!

I don't make it there very often these days.  I think I've spent a collective 12 days in Coeur d'Alene in the last year and a half and most of that time was during the winter.  August is definitely the time to visit the great Inland Northwest.  Perfect weather, warm water, and still green green green everywhere. 

And then, of course, the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo!  Yep, I made it back to help out at the Elephant Ear Booth this year.  Our family worker roster was a bit lean this year, so I went home to help out.  I had a blast.  I went boating twice, worked at the fair everyday with a mass of relatives whom I love, went running and hung out with my dad at Tubbs Hill, played my harp, met my newborn nephew, hung out with friends at the fair, went to my brother's cross country meet.  I think it was so good because it was the most engaged I've been in being home and taking advantage of all the, well, advantages. 

Photo collage of the trip, because it's a lot easier than uploading pictures individually.  And it takes less time to load.  And you probably wouldn't care to look at each picture individually anyway unless you're my stalker.  Or bored.  Or my dad.  

Click on collage to see it larger.

The love of my life!

Today is our anniversary.  I'm SO blessed to be sharing life's journey with you!  Loves!



Together since June 10, 2005 <3

To commemorate this day, here are a few pictures from over the years....

Roadtrip!  I'm, uh, checking my voicemail, Mom...

Visiting Danny!

 

Same roadtrip, but now I'm in the backseat!

My trusty Taiwan fishy!

Aerial shot!  Can you see her?!

Remember how the windshield used to be cracked?!!  



Ooo, shiny!


Today is also the anniversary of my high school graduation, as well as THE day of my younger brother Scott's graduation.  It's kind of trippy, because I remember when he was born.

(In case you didn't pick up on my ironic overuse of exclamation points, I'm not actually obsessed with my car.)

Grandpa Lee

Leo J. Lee. Christmas or Thanksgiving 2004. 35mm b&w film.  (c) Sadie Lee 2004.

I took the above picture as a senior in high school.  I was in a black and white photography class. I used my dad's old brick of a Cannon SLR for the class, where there is no such thing as an automatic setting.  I wasn't so good at choosing the best camera settings, but what I lacked in the shooting process I learned to make up for in the development process.  I cropped this print down from a larger picture which actually includes my uncle to the right.  I think they were playing cribbage as the family is wont to do at gatherings like these.  I made several test prints of varying sizes and played around with making it lighter or darker.  This is the print I actually turned in for a portrait assignment.  My name and class period are still penciled on the back.  I have a duplicate larger print framed somewhere among my things in Idaho.

I love this picture.  I put in in a little black frame and took it with me to college.  It sat on a shelf or desk or hung on a wall in every aparment I lived in.  It's sitting on my dresser right now.  I like it because he doesn't know anybody's looking.  If he knows his picture is being taken he gets self concious, sets his lips in a thin, tight half-smile, and sort of looks out of the corner of his eye as if to say "You done yet?"  But this picture is how I see him in my head.  Relaxed, thinking about something, white hair carefully combed, plaid flannel shirt, probably wearing suspenders, sitting in the old house down the street with the red shag carpet (even though Grandma replaced that carpet 15 years ago).

I don't think Grandpa ever saw this picture.  He would probably be embarassed, call me Ol' Sade, peer at it and say "Who's that old cotton picker?"  And then I'd laugh at his political incorrectness and modesty.

Grandpa Lee died last Tuesday sometime in the night.  He went into the hospital last month the day before my birthday from things that come with old age and being sick.  He eventually got released to go back home, but that episode was an intense reality check for me.  I finally realized he wouldn't stick around on earth forever.  I had a merciful month to get used to the idea before Mom called me with the news last week.  I thought it would be a terrible moment, but it really wasn't.  More just, sad... and peaceful and reassuring and like everything is fine, because it is fine.

I only really get down about it when I think about the things I'll miss having him there for like reunions, and Christmas, and my wedding, and my future children.  I hope my older cousins appreciate how much of their lives and their children's lives they got to share with this guy.  I'm sure he'll still be there for all my special times and so will Grandma, but the camera won't see them.  Thank heaven for memories, friends, Grandma Helen, and other family to keep him alive in our hearts until we can join him for eternity.



Headstone, Moyallen Quaker Meeting cemetary, Ireland. (c) Sadie Lee 2010.



Abbreviated Christmas Seasonality

It never feels like Christmas till I'm home in Idaho.  Sure, I put up a good front between Thanksgiving and Christmas: tolerate the songs, plan my gift-giving, wear lots of seasonal colors, plan parties.  But I really don't feel Christmasy until I'm home next to my own tree with the Carpenters Christmas album playing comfortingly in the background.

That means this year the Christmas season lasted about 26 hours.  I arrived home around 10pm on December 24.  But they were a nice 26 hours.

I've never missed a Christmas at home.  I know eventually I'll spend it somewhere else. All the more reason to keep coming back while I can.  Especially when there are people like this to spend it with:

She stole my camera and took this of herself.  She doesn't actually have a double chin.

Polishing the silver.  Might be my first Christmas dinner not eaten with plastic utensils.

He's learning how to play.  He entertained us with half of one song all break.

We went bowling, per usual

Oh, hello.

Grandma is not punching her.  It just looks like that.

Strangely, I didn't get any picture of Danny.  Sorry, dude.  You'll just have to trust me that he was there too.

August

This time of year makes me think of two things: elephant ears and school.

Elephant ears (the food, not the body part) are delicious confections often found at fairs, particularly the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo the third week of August every summer.  They consist of a sweet dough rolled out, deep fried, and covered in cinnamon and sugar.  Oh, and they're as big as the platters you use for the Thanksgiving turkey. My extended family has run an elephant ear booth at the NI Fair since time immemorial... or maybe just 30-something years.  Long enough to become an institution and a landmark with loyal customers the world over.  The profits from the booth go into a family fund of sorts and are applied towards things like helping send cousins on missions for our church.

This is my first year missing the fair.  Ever.  It's really weird.  It's always a party in the booth--a big, close, hot, sweaty, greasy, sugary, loud party.  I don't miss the greasy, hot, sweaty, sugary part, but I do miss seeing all the cousins and eating my fair share of EE's and chocolate milk.  I miss everyone ordering everyone around, complaining if someone doesn't roll/cook/sugar/mix the way they like it done (roll 'em nice and big, no holes, cooked blonde, and evenly coated please!).  I miss getting into the fair free, going to the rodeo after the Friday afternoon shift, bartering for MICA burgers, and watching the summer climax and creep to an end.

And then comes school.  Or not!  This is the first fall I will not start a new year of school in 19 years.  That's a long time.  It's like, 83% of my life.  I should feel weirded out, right?  But I don't.  I thought I might, but I'm over school for reals. I guess I have a talent for appreciating things while they last, then moving on when the time is right.  If I dwell on the past, I miss the exciting things coming up ahead.  I'm really so over and done it would feel weirder if I had to go back.

I still have the urge to buy new clothes and school supplies.

Announcements

No, not that kind of announcement.  I'll prepare you better before that happens. Speaking of marriage, I was with family all weekend so I got that question a lot.  Not as much as I used to get.  Maybe they are giving up on me.  Or graduation overshadowed my singlehood this time.  Haha, that reminds me of a story.  My little brother and I had a conversation this weekend.  It went like something like this:

     little brother: So are all those guys at BYU idiots?
     me: Apparently.  Guys don't go for girls who aren't staying around.
     little brother: That's dumb.
     me: Well, what would you do if you liked a girl but she was moving away in a week?
     little brother: Change her mind.

Good answer, little brother.  I gave him a high five and assured him of future success in life and marriage with that attitude.

Yes, I'm moving away from Utah.  That's one of the real announcements.  My brother Luke offered me a job with his company in Denver and I accepted.  Now that I'm done with school and nobody has really tried to "change my mind", there's no reason to stay around here.  I'm moving to Colorado next weekend and start the job in one week from today.  I don't know anything about Denver except that everyone likes it.  That's encouraging.

The other announcement is connected to the reason I was with family all weekend.  Twelve days ago I took my last final ever.  Then I went home triumphant until my mom called to tell me my Aunt Gayle had passed away on a humanitarian trip to Tonga.  It was shocking and terrible, but we're ok.  She's ok.  Uncle Gary's ok.  Isn't it so nice how we can be ok because of what we know?  I love that.  I've felt really peaceful and good about the whole situation despite the tragedy.  It's sort of weird, to be ok about it, but I know she lived a great life and is still doing good where she is now.  The hard part is learning to live without her.  But even in that department there have been miracles to reward our faith.

One blessing is I got to see all my immediate family but Josh this weekend as we traveled to Rigby, Idaho, for Aunt Gayle's memorial service.  My mom got us hotel rooms and all the siblings had to share two rooms.  No additional deaths or major altercations = another miracle.  (We love each other, but sometimes we love better from a distance.)  Under the circumstances, it was a nice weekend of fellowship and comfort.

Uncle Gary and Aunt Gayle are both from Coeur d'Alene originally, so the local paper did a nice story on Gayle.  You can read it here if you want more details.