Spring Break Wrap-Up

Spring break was a truly wonderful break from both of my jobs. I did get roped into a few moments of event planning chaos mid-week and I had to finish prepping for next term, but I did less work overall than I've done since last summer....and it felt fabulous while also leaving me more than ready for June. The break also could not have arrived soon enough and the day before spring break was one of the most difficult I've had on the job. Thus I'm hopeful I can  bulk it up enough to power through the next 2.5 months.

This last week was equally full of chaos, downpours, and sadness intermingled with smiles, fun, and unexpected moments of sun. Sometimes all we need is a bit of a stay-cation including:

---Happy hour on four different occasions. Finally met up with a coworker I've been trying to get together with and it was loads of fun getting to know her better. Met up with a friend from my teaching program I hadn't seen in a year and it was lovely getting to catch up on the good & the bad while offering each other support. Had a great afternoon chat session over beers with my cousin. Got to catch-up & connect with one of my greatest supporters over dinner & drinks this last Friday.
---Major caught his 5th bird in a week & a half. Hub bought him a collar with a bell on it. The dogs like to chase said bell. Much amusement ensues.
---Several hours of long conversations and tears attempting to clear the air. Resolutions and suggestions made. Some slight actions being taken. Waiting game ensues.
---A friend provided me with her cast-off Insanity DVD work-out program. Read: 60 days of craziness. The fit test almost made me vomit---the rest is kicking my booty. We'll see if I can keep with this one but I am LOVING it.
---Interesting but fun long evening out with a great group of guys including hub, hub's friend, housemate, and one of my vet friends.
---Many long sleeps and a blissful evening nap.
---Hub installed a exhaust fan in our bathroom and replaced the one in the guest bathroom.....and was reminded that projects are never as simple as they appear. I enjoyed watching him wear Carharts, assisted in holding items in place and/or advising on lights, rode along to Home Depot and enjoyed drooling over plants, and scared the bejesus out of both of us by kicking his toolbox in the middle of the night.
---I went to church.....and the message was exactly what I needed to hear.
---We cooked, we cleaned, we paid bills.....and hub took Anna for a much needed beauty treatment. Hopefully our carpets will have less shedding on them and she looks ravishing!
---We finally had donations picked up by the gospel mission.
---We enjoyed the phenomenal day trip up north with hub's bud and were reminded of the need to do it again.
---Somehow (maybe a new persuasive friend, maybe too many martinis) I was talked into a potential double date of one of my worst fears: sky diving for hub and coworker's boyfriends birthdays in May.
---I had afternoon tea and conversation with our land lord.
---I followed suit of hub's cousin and re-cut bangs. Not sure how long they'll be staying but it's nice to have something different.
---Finally went in for a doctor's appointment to check on a few things that have been more off for the last month. No real results were discovered, but I guess it's better to hear the doctor say that things are more normal than they might feel!
---I played mad rounds of Words with Friends on the Iphone.
---My brother and mother came up for an afternoon where much support and conversation ensued....and ended with dinner at one of our favorite local haunts.
---There's a somewhat broody chicken out back. She'll leave the kennel long enough to range a bit here or there but then she's hunkered back down in her spot.
---There was an evening of DQ blizzards and movie rentals curled up on the couch.
---Plenty of text chats sharing life and seeking advice from many friends.
---Airport duty transporting coworker to and fro for his conference. Since housemate #2 was also gone this weekend, hub and I had the first weekend alone together in the house in over a month.

And somehow the week went by so fast and with a few things left undone, but here we are almost back to Monday and it all beginning again! Hope you all had a restful last week.

Day Trippin' Brightens the Week

Spring break has been a whirl wind of both relaxation and social activity, but yesterday we (hub, hub's friend, and I) took a day trip up to Seattle....

We took the ferry...

After checking out Pike's Place Market of course (and being treated to an amazing lunch).

We stopped to see the decommissioned Navy ships at Bremerton, including the ship hub's friend served on.

And then, we decided to head further north and trekked up to Port Townshend.

Where we saw old Army & Coast Guard buildings.

Gorgeous old victorian homes.

Amazing history.

Marinas.

We may have also played in a park, been mesmerized by the happy animals wandering around town, and grabbed a brew with hub's friend's friend at a perfect lil bar.

And it may have been good for some other reasons too......

Sometimes there's nothing better than a fun, random trip to somewhere new. Much needed for each of us!

Busy, Busy Love Bee

Ten minutes to post---and I usually spend at least 45 fine tuning what I want to say so apologies to keep it short and sweet. Tonight the homestead gets plus one and on Saturday, we'll be up to a full house. Woo---changes!

Monday was a whirlwind of activity but just about everything on that to-do list got accomplished. Recycled the old lap top, old batteries, plastic bags, CDs, an old cell phone, random cords. Filled the car with gas. Dropped off the bag to Goodwill. Sold books to Powell's and donated the rest. Graded last week's assignments and half of this weeks. Made the return to Freddies and returned all the bottles. Met the coolest guy at the bottle return who was a real gem and incredibly nice. Bought groceries, including sweet little somethings for hub:

Can I win an awesome wife award for buying him Cinnabons and our Louisiana beer?! :)

 The dogs and I reminded ourselves how much we love the Sorento over the Civic and we bought the straw for the chickens:

And I was reminded of why farmers aren't fat--hauling that straw took all my muscles! But the chickens seem much happier.

Add in a 4.2 mile run and vacuuming the entire house, including the nasty furry baseboards. The shower got scrubbed and the final touches of picking up the house occurred. An hour spent chatting with hub and then lessons got prepped and emails responded........and then the day was done!

Tuesday and today are just as full---but it's been our final days of alone time in the house. Here's hoping these changes will be good :)

It's a New Year

I've been reading everyone's New Year posts across the blog-o-sphere and via Facebook for several days now and thinking about my own approach to this latest of New Year's. For some reason I've felt some apprehension to 2012 in the last two weeks mixed in with some disbelief that we're this far along already into the 2000's. I find my apprehension to the new year ironic, as many of those who surround me are most hopeful and excited for this newest year. I definitely hope this year brings much fulfillment, peace, and joy to all of those that I love....and really all people the world over, but for some reason I can't help but wildly wonder if 2012 really might bring the zombies out and the end of it all. I guess all I can do is live it to it's fullest and not hold back.....even though not holding back frequently gets me in trouble. ;)

New Years Eve was rang in with much joy surrounded by some of my extended family including my incredibly fun aunt, my brother & his wife, a young soldier visiting from New Orleans, my Canadian friends, and hub. We were quite the mixed bunch but it seriously was one of the most fun NYEs I've had---top five all around even if it couldn't beat out New Orleans last year. Before heading to my aunt's, the soldier, hub, bro & SIL, Canadians, and I went to this incredibly Portland-funky restaurant that serves French fusion/Cajun food. It's where hub & I always take our out-of-town guests to thoroughly expose them to the fun & weirdness of Portland, get some great mixed drinks, and eat some decent grub. The food seems to be hit or miss, and it was pretty entertaining hearing the soldier from New Orleans relate that this "Cajun" food tasted like Chinese food to him. ;) Haha--loved it!

Hub & I weren't sure we'd find anything fun for New Years this year, so it was great that it turned into such a good time, even if my own actions led to an actual first day of the New Year full of frustration and annoyance as thoughts tumbled through my mind. I've spent the day in introspection and I'm hopeful that this means that the rest of the year can only get better! ;) (Although I'm sure just writing those sentences might be like foot in mouth yet again.)

What part of this introspection led me to though is that I am so thankful for many of our blessings, especially for hub's and my friends. I feel incredibly fortunate and blessed that we were able to see so many of our nearest and dearest this holiday season. Starting in November with hub's friend's visit to our house here in Portland and my friend who visited from San Fran, navigating through all of our hometown friends who really are our family, and ending with the New Year's visit from one of my favorite buddy's and his girlfriend (which he's not really Canadian, but she is and he's been there for 8 years so I just link him into it too!). We had so many great moments with our visitors and those that we visited from dinners out, to beach afternoons, to Christmas lights and parties, and to just plain old conversations on couches. Most of these are people we've known since high school. People who have seen us at our best, our worst, all the moments in between, and at times have "taken us in" when the rest of the world pushed us out.

I'm also feeling an immense amount of gratitude for hub, who I more than frequently take for granted. I've mentioned before I'm not easy to live with and I've also mentioned that I frequently navigate between periods of my life of being the B-word and being an incredibly empathetic person. Somehow this man I'm married to continues to put up with me and my daily complaints. Lord knows neither of us are perfect, but I'm much less likely to point out my own faults than his. So here it is I'm putting it in writing, no matter how much he might hate it should he stumble upon it, I'm incredibly proud of the man my husband is now and fortunate that for all the rocky moments that have existed, we've continued to walk forward together. He might never know just how much he extends the hidden elements of myself and for all my harrumphing, he's exactly what I need in a partner and in my daily life. God knew what He was doing when He brought us together, even in the moments that we've doubted that knowledge. The last week or two have only further reminded me of the extra fun and love that hub brings to my life, and how much he and I with our crazy fur crew compose our family unit. I so appreciate his humor, his perseverance, his heart, his strength, his opinions, and most of all his patience. He's continually making me into a different woman than I was, but I also see how our being together has made him into a different man. I have no clue where this marriage and life might take us, but I'm incredibly hopeful that it includes many more supportive, true, and yet humorous moments together.

My thoughts of the day and of the New Year also led me to think about what all this year will and can hold. I feel a resolve to truly embrace and demonstrate who I am. I see this occurring more so within my teaching as I share more of myself and my own thoughts on public health with my students and I see it occurring as I share more of myself on this blog, but I'm also being reminded that there are so many other areas where I'm failing to really bang my drum. I need to stop being afraid of being who I am in this moment of life and time, and to instead embrace her with all her flaws. Although I recognize that sometimes embracing who one is at one point in time can in turn push others away. (Case in point: the happiest year of my life I passed time with some sketchier people through the eyes of some of the others in my life, while I learned more from those friends than I did during many other years of my life, I also lost a few other friends based on who I was associating with---judgment will always be passed and disassociation will always occur....and at times I will also be the one engaging in both of those behaviors.)

So that being said, I want this year to be a year of.....wait for it......simple authenticity. ;) A year of being me and letting others see exactly who that is. A year of embracing and relishing turning 30. A year of re-alignment in jobs. A year of trying to see a bit more of my sister.....and being kinder to my mother. A year of honoring my family: my husband....and my parents. A year of distancing from other individuals and environments. A year of praying more and maybe complaining less. A year of caring for our fellow stranger. A year of love for my friends and trying my darnest to visit two of my dearest out of staters and road trippin' with my high school gals. A year of P90X, summer time hikes, and lots of doggie cuddles. A year of good wine, good coffee, and good brew celebrated over good food and with good people. A year of bucking expectations placed upon hub & I and living true to our own values and means rather than the way others might wish. A year of trying to be a better person but accepting whoever and wherever I am. A year of gratitude and faith in whats to come. A year to prepare and hope for the future. A year of honesty. And a year of forgiving myself if absolutely none of it is achieved. :)

Because truly it might be a New Year but in the good ol' lyrics of Faith Hill:
"Me
That's all I have to give
What you get is what you see, yeah
No second guessing, no pretending
With you, all I ever have to be is me
All I ever need to be, oh yeah
All I ever have to be is me"

Here's to a great, authentic, and fulfilling New Year for you and yours!

Christmas Gifts

This year the exchange of gifts turned out different than I had planned or expected. Any long time readers still left of this blog know that it wasn't that many years ago that receiving gifts at Christmas left me in tears, as my needs were already met and yet so many others in the world go every day without. This is a sentiment that I still hold in my heart, but somehow the ways of the world have grasped me back in their embrace---partly due to marriage, partly due to time, partly due to changes in surroundings, etc.

Long time readers also know that usually hub and I do not exchange gifts for any holidays, etc. So imagine my surprise earlier this month when hub mentioned that he wanted our return to Oregon for the holidays to be like a new start and he wanted us to pick things up for each other---hmmm, but seeing that hub rarely likes me to provide any material goods for him, I decided that it'd be worth it. We have a bad habit of spending a bit more freely than we should and of purchasing whatever we need/somewhat want during the month for ourselves, so to help this process, we put ourselves on a "no real buying anything for ourselves" freeze. Ironically we both ended up buying each other a book that actually really interests and then rubber liners/mats for our respective vehicles.....plus one other thing a piece.

The other thing that I wanted to do this year was not buy any gifts at all---instead I was going to donate a much larger amount to charity. However as it got closer to Christmas I started feeling guilty about not having anything at all for my sister's kiddos or my brother's kiddos. I still feel that we all mainly have everything that we need however, so I decided that this year we would assist in the procurement of tasty experiences for my relatives instead. Thus a gift card for Burgerville went to my sister's family, one for Olive Garden to my brother & his wife, Sizzler for Mom & Dad, and a multi-diner-option to my brother's family in Colorado. Maybe not "things" but still a gift they can use to treat themselves at some other time. Hub's family and their needs are very different than my family's, so this year we actually set them up with a membership to Costco & a gift card toward groceries there. We also still donated---a larger check to the gospel mission, clothes for the sponsored family, items for the deployment boxes, money in the offering plate, but in a sense we donated to our families' joy as well. I guess in some ways I need to still remember that AND begin to settle it internally a bit more---that even when there is such a need in the lives of others, that it's still good to bless the lives of those that we love too.

I also feel like I did a better job of being gracious about the gifts that I did receive this year and the thoughtfulness behind the gifts did not go un-noticed. Almost all the gifts we got were based on thoughts toward our needs and happiness---hand-made earrings & a bottle of wine, a waffle maker (my sister's old one & something hub's been wanting) & an amazing looking organic cook book, Dad's usual standby gift of special calendars, a shirt a piece, bathroom towels (although there might be some regifting here.....:)), a hand made key chain holder, a special used book to help hub with anatomy, cash, and then a fun flying helicopter for hub......not so sure that was a need but it brought my parents much joy watching him fly it around all evening! While we might have failed at mailing out any Christmas cards this year---the thank yous will definitely be written and going out soon!

And so it appears that somewhere between who I was at Christmas and who I currently am---there's been a compromise, but it too feels like it's an alright place to be this year.

(Although the best gifts always are and will continue to be....the multitude of memory making moments.......)

Merry Days are Here Again!

Christmas has come and gone and there have been oh so many memorable moments in the making between our two treks to the coast and a trek over to central Oregon.

Just some of the awesomeness of our holly-days:
---Hub & my shopping trip to purchase clothes for the family sponsored by my work center
---Dropping off the deployment care package boxes and seeing just how amazing people are in their support of our troops
---A holiday Christmas party with hub's "family"
---An entire afternoon with one of my local hometown gals
---Two weekends of quality time with my M&D
---Two days of time with hub's father & grandmother, including a delish salmon & butternut squash dinner cooked by hub
---A most amazing dog park in the middle of Bend, Oregon
---A quasi-shower/appreciation brunch for one of my best gal's & her beautiful baby boy visiting from Georgia
---Cuddly time with said "nephew" and moments in the presence his parents aka two of my dearest friends
---A four hour drive "home" with hub & one of my best friends from high school---it was the first time we'd seen each other in three years
---Plenty of doggie smiles and excitement from the back of the Sorento
---My cousin who willingly cat & chicken fed, mail gathered, and all other things which encompass caring for our house during our adventures away
---Hub & mom's cinnamon roll making
---Christmas afternoon/night with my brother & his wife, including watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
---Two trips out to see the amazing holiday light displays at the coast; one with hub's fam and one with mine

---An incredible beach afternoon with hub, the dogs, & my two gals and their families

---Actually putting the Sorento to it's use crossing the mountains, hauling 6 adults using the third row seating, and also transporting 3 adults, 2 dogs, and baggage on a separate occassion
---Participating in the bowling fundraiser to raise money for the "Mr" competition held by our high school
---Donating change in the Salvation Army red pails
---Hearing Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and Feliz Navidad, plus a lil Bing
---Candlelight church services (during which hub dropped his unlit candle, which rolled down the tile floor to the front of the church.....)
---Seeing some of my previous church mentees
---Facetiming with my brother in Colorado & his boys
---Christmas texts with my sister
---Hunting down snow for the dogs to run through
---Mom & Dad's gorgeously decorated Christmas tree......and watching their kitten climb up it

---Dad calling the cinnamon rolls "mixed gender" aka with nuts or without......
---Our dogs running around M&D's back yard and tucked up in their beds in the back of dad's truck at night
---Dad's tarp strung up across the patio to give the dogs shelter from the rain
---Hub taunting M&D's kitten with his remote control helicopter they got him for Xmas
---Christmas carols in Sunday morning church
---Morning coffee with two of my high school bests
---Late mornings with hub & I snoozing in our matching twin beds ;)
---Mom's hilarious stockings hung on the chimney with care....and helping to fill them

.....and the listing could go on and on. But these moments are some of the ones that make me so incredibly glad that we could be back in Oregon for the holidays. Our first married Christmas actually spent with our family and friends, and I personally think it went incredibly well. Here's hoping next year's will be just as grand!

We've still got a family happy hour tomorrow and my baby cousin's wedding this coming weekend, plus drinks out with a friend of mine in town tomorrow night. Then we'll ring in the New Year with my buddy & his gal visiting from Canada and to finalize "break" we're hoping to get in a snowshoe trip with another of our favorite Portland couples too. THIS is exactly what I've been needing after the long fall term and it couldn't have unfolded any better than it did--I feel most fortunate and blessed.

Hoping each of you celebrated a wonderful Christmas surrounded by those you love and hold most dear. What a blessed season and yet what a wonderful season full of opportunity for us to GIVE. Love and hope to each of you!

December Gratitudes

Today I'm thankful for:

---Sunshine in the midst of winter flittering through leaveless trees

---Geese passing overhead en route to the South for winter

---A morning of working from home to finish some online tutorials

---Pay days and bill paying

---Playful doggies

---Reply texts from the hub

---Fuzzy socks and warm boots

---Two days of weekend

---Completion of the online course

This week I'm thankful for:

---Adorable pictures of "family" near and far

---Beautiful frosty mornings

---Quick defrost cars

---Efficient work days

---Fun and informative lecture evenings

---Preparation

---Burgerville's peppermint milkshake

---Two evenings of moments sharing with the hub

---New clothing combinations

This month I'm looking forward to:

---The end of fall term and grades inputted

---Christmas tree decorating

---Flexible work schedules and a few hours for "holiday"

---Weekend trips "home" to visit with family & friends

---Christmas music & advent in the moments of church attendance

---Stockings hung by the chimney with care

--Visits from dear friends

--Savings, savings, savings

What are you grateful for and anticipating this month?

Holiday Zoolights

A few pictures from last night's Holiday Zoolights for you all to enjoy! Definitely not something I'll need to go to each year, but was a great experience overall. It's so incredible to see what people can come up with and it was GREAT to spend some much needed quality time with my brother and sister-in-law!

A Simple, Lovely Friday

Whew! What a day! I stayed up last night getting lists made for this weekend and finishing prep work for one of my courses. Once finally in bed, I just couldn't fall asleep. Thus at 7am, I fed and let the dogs out, then crawled back in for some more shut eye. Next thing I knew it was 10:20 and Roxi was barking outside---she must have known I wanted to see if the Freddie's sock sale was really something to talk about.....Somehow I still made it cutely dressed, face-on, and checked out of Freddies with wool socks (at $4 a pair) and a Christmas candle (for $5) by 11:05am. 

On the way home I stopped at the local feed store to buy a 25lb bag of chicken feed and yummy chicken "scratch" for them. The ladies sure clucked in approval as I filled up their feeder and spread some scratch on the floor of their home!

After brewing up morning espresso, I thought about getting started on some work, but instead took care of a few financial to-dos and then pulled down our crock pot recipe books as I have been wanting to make a pot of soup for weeks. I started out with the intent to make some veggie chili based off a recipe I'd made before, but once I chopped and added half an onion, some celery, carrots, and sweet potato to my chicken broth.....I just kept chopping and peeling through half the squashes I'd used as fall decorations.......threw in some dry white beans and added a variety of good smelling spices from the cupboard....I'm calling it mixed squash soup and it's been simmering in the crock for a few hours now---yum!

The rest of those squash halves got chopped in larger chunks and thrown with some baby carrots, chopped turnips, rosemary, olive oil, garlic salt, and ground peper into a greased pan. I slid the mixture into the fridge til I got home this evening and then I roasted them in the oven at 375 for about an hour---delish dinner!

The chickens gladly gobbled up some of the squash peelings and the rest got added to the compost, as well as one of the bags of shavings and chicken droppings. Next the box of old bras to donate to The Bra Recyclers finally got wrapped and then mailed.  And I picked up one of my cousins to go check out boots at Penney's and to chat for a bit. From there I decided to look for a wreath and some other Christmas decor---and I came home with two poinsettas and hung a wreath on the front of our house.

This evening hub texted to say they didn't see any sign of elk today, but hopefully he's having a good hunting trip with his buddy all the same. I've missed having him around and will look forward to us putting up our tree and adding our LED Christmas lights to some part of house once he's returned. Two pairs of boots ordered from Penney's online (my suede boots that I already own are not going to survive all this rain---time for slick leather boots since we're not in Louisiana anymore), and I've vegged out to a DVR'd episode of What Not to Wear (with a great explanation of the concept of CPU--Cost Per Usage! :)).

Now it's time to shower, make some tea, and do some lecture prep/other work for the rest of the evening! Unless of course a few of those magazines from the stack call my name---sometimes I enjoy too much a simple day of rest.

Hope you all had a wonderful Friday too!

Thanksgiving in Pictures

 This year I made cranberry sauce using a recipe from one of my best high school gals---it turned out fab and will definitely be contributed again.

 Hub was kind enough to hook up our DVD player last evening so I also got to huddle down under my new super soft & comfy winter blanket and watch one of my favorite Christmas movies: The Family Stone. While hub and I are unsure if we'll have kids, this movie always makes me wish for a big house of crazy functional dysfunction someday!

 Hub contributed pumpkin cheesecakes and a deep-fried turkey. In this photo he's prepping the turkey and the dogs are oh so hopeful that he'll accidently drop it on the floor!

 Hub's joke this morning was whether or not it'd be cruel to take the turkey out to show the chickens.....

 One of the three beautiful tables decorated at my aunts. Always a wonderful time together with immediate and extended family! Life has been so crazy that I haven't even seen much of my aunts/cousins that live less than a mile away, so it was so great to have time to catch up with many of the family.

And I also got to spend some focused time with one of my nephews---don't get to see them as frequently as I'd like....and most the time I love my job as "aunt." :)

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and it always passes so quick! Here's hoping each of you had a wonderful holiday surrounded by family, friends, gratitude, and lots of love!!

Cancelled Morning Meetings

Sometimes a cancelled morning meeting is a highlight to my week, and at least this time I was told ahead of time. Don't get me wrong, I'm really looking forward to the next time my supervisor and I can finally get together to connect about things....but I didn't mind sleeping in this morning, connecting with a few friends over Facebook posts, picking up the backyard, dancing with the dogs in the kitchen to Christmas songs on the radio, nor savoring my home-made peppermint latte while watching my new found HGTV love Dear Genevieve. Sometimes a lazy morning is fab-u-lous, even if that means I will now be spending this evening after I teach class, reviewing for the lecture I'll give tomorrow at noon and cramming in another meeting before class tomorrow.

So what's been up with us? Well a whole lot and a whole little. ;) Hub woke up yesterday morning at 2am with food poisoning (yea for eating left over bacon & cheese sandwiches from Safeway.....) so he spent most the day hanging out at home. We had made a trip to our hometown on the coast this weekend--the first time I'd been back since this summer and it was a nice change of scenery (literally too as the drive is always gorgeous). We took the trip so I could attend hub's best friend's baby shower and so hub could watch our high school football team's first play-off game. I spent the rest of the weekend hunkered down at Mom & Dad's and hub ran around with his buddies. But the trip itself was great for work, as I corrected about 75 assignments and 50 exams in 4 hours---woot, woot---maybe we should head south every weekend! Plus its always refreshing for me to spend a few days with my parents with their constant positive support, comfort, home cooked meals, and now their fuzzball of a new cat.

The last few weeks have been full of work, work, and more work for the most part. I'm looking forward to this next term when I hope to have a bit more routine schedule and I'll also be teaching one less class. I'm also beginning to think/plan for changes that will probably need to be happening work wise in the next year, as my part-time position will more than likely be transitioning and reposted as a full-time position. As much as I love it, I'm also starting to miss being able to really be present and true to my passion for public health. Many times in the last weeks, I've been put in the uncomfortable position of having to dodge questioning as to which job holds my true allegiance....but I'm also having to think about future job opportunities 5-10 years down the road.....and sometimes it can all contradict itself. Are you getting tired of always reading posts about my job(s) aka current life existence ;)

In other news, I'm incredibly looking forward to the holidays, when several close friends will be returning home to Oregon and there are additional plans to spend time with my siblings and their families, who I haven't been able to see as much as I had originally expected. Unfortunately though my eldest brother and his family won't be able to head out here from Colorado as they'd hoped, but it will still be great to see the other members of my family. I will still be arranging my schedule to work 20 hours a week, but I'm looking forward to a bit of admin time as well. I'm also wishing I already had a bit of savings as my host sister from Argentina is getting married in December and I would LOVE to be able to be there. I haven't been back to see any of my families & friends there since I left ten years ago, as plane tickets are over $1,000 round trip and as more time passes the desire to go and take hub only increases. Once we get there, the costs won't be that much, but those ticket prices always make me apprehensive!

A somewhat scattered post---again I've had multiple moments of things to post in the last few weeks, but the timing is always off. Speaking off, must get moving out of sweats and into work-appropriate gear. Time for afternoon meetings and teaching my evening class! Hope each of you has been enjoying a wonderful mid-November week (and that you remembered to thank a veteran last Friday!)..... Take Care!

New Years in New Orleans

 HISTORY: This building is where the Louisiana Purchase was signed

 CULTURE: Street musicians on Bourbon

 ARCHITECTURE: French, Spanish, and oh so Southern

 SPIRITUALITY: Beyond voodoo, New Orleans is home to St Louis Cathedral and numerous other amazingly beautiful places of worship.

 CELEBRATIONS: New Years Eve at Jackson Square

 FOOD: Many thanks to Food Network---Mother's Restaurant for Po' Boys

JAZZ: Preservation Hall was amazing and authentic.

Overall, a great final travel venture for the hub and I in Louisiana and a wonderful way to celebrate 2011 with friends both old and new. 

Christmas Thoughts

Finally moments of Christmas day, following my old solo tradition....a final quiet hour tucked into the couch pondering upon the glow of the Christmas tree, the blessings of life, and the desire to lift the want and need of so many of those who are walking upon this earth....

No matter how joyful the season due to the birth of a most magnificent gift, I'm always left pondering on the messages that he came to this earth to teach us--that of loving and providing and caring so deeply and profusely for the brothers and sisters who walk this earth with us.

A rather relaxing day begun with traditional coffee and sticky buns and a few opening of presents (mainly socks under our tree!), conversation, cooking, a meal with friends, and the evening wrapped up together with a viewing of my old holiday favorite A Christmas Carol....

This particular year we watched the 1984 version and for the first time the scene where Scrooge is exposed to the ghoul-like children Ignorance and Want struck a cord. Why I never quite got all the symbolism this movie provides I'll never know....but this year it made sense just why this particular movie reaches straight down into my core. Ignorance and Want which can be the ruin of the best of men and which encourages many and most of us toward indifference to others in this world. Ignorance and Want which lead us to make poor choices. Ignorance and Want which lead us to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to our fellows.

So frequently I get caught up in the ease of Ignorance and Want, but how much I do not want to be within its grasps...

And so this holiday season--frequently full of materialism---I am grateful for the simple blessings that surround. The large items: Family, friends, work, passion, health, love and on down to the small: lights a' twinklin', fuzzy blankets, warm socks, dog sighs. I am reminded that to those whom much has been given, so easy it should be too give and from whom much can be expected.

And to each of us regardless of our stead in life, well Tiny Tim summed it up best when he said, "God bless us, EVERYONE!"

So in this holiday season and as our Christmas comes to a close, let's head into a new year thankful for all that we do have, expressive to those who have done much for us, and open and willing to give to those who could benefit from our abilities and gifts. May each of you be passing through your own version of a beautiful, silent night headed toward a most blessed and fortunate year ahead.

Christmas Happenings

Definitely feels like the Christmas season is upon us! The hub is now on two weeks of vacation to relax and work on some of our transition items.  So far the holiday season count has included:

--Two office/work parties for my work.

--The hub's mandatory work holiday gathering.

--The incredibly fun military ball last weekend located 1.5 hours south of here in a casino and including an overnight.

--The local town's parade which were the last pictures I posted. 

--Picked up and decorated our free Trees for Troops tree last weekend.

--The Natchitoches Holiday Lights festival and dinner in our favorite little  nearby town last night.

 

The tree all decorated with a few gifts from Granny underneath.

The main street looking down historic Natchitoches.

The light displays along the farside of the river bank in Natchitoches.

The dogs enjoying their holiday treats!

Our Christmas cards are ready for pick up and mailing out, and this morning I ordered the final two gifts for my niece/nephews. (Yea for Amazong and free shipping!) The hub mailed out the few packages that we actually sent earlier this week. We're not big on receiving nor on sending gifts, although we do gifts for my siblings kids for their birthdays and Christmas each year. We try to keep the consumerism and materialism of holidays to a minimum and I have spent at least two Christmases in tears due to family giving me gifts when there are so many other individuals in the world who actually have needs. We both prefer to pick things up for others throughout the year to fill a need rather than to purchase something for someone due to society telling us that we're supposed to do so. Thus this year we donated money to a preferred charity of my parents and we did send three usable items out--1 to Granny and 2 items to the hub's family.

Somehow this season has not been stressful and each moment has been enjoyed in its own way. I've spent several evenings loving the scent and twinkling of the tree, and we've had Christmas music playing since Thanksgiving. In the midst of normalcy so many amazing memorable moments exist such as last night's hour drive home including a Christmas sing-a-long in the truck with our neighbors. ;) The season is one of the hub's favorites and so I came home mid-week to find him elbow deep in Christmas decorations and preparations!

We're planning on going to midnight mass with our neighbors down the street (why exactly the hub wants to go to mass when we aren't Catholic I'm not sure.....but I'm just stoked to have us planning on being in a church!) and on Christmas Day we'll cook a meal together and invite some of the single guys who didn't go home to head over as well.

Somehow I envisioned this week at work to be slower but so far the schedule looks otherwise! I've got a doctor's appointment on Thursday morning and then I'll be looking forward to a day off on Friday! Woo hoo! The best Christmas gift---besides the remembrance of the gift of the birth of Jesus Christ--will be the opportunity to have three days of rest and relaxation.

Hope each of you has a happy and healthy holiday season! May you be able to enjoy moments of quietude in the midst of the hustle and bustle!

Local Christmas Parade

This evening the hub and I headed into the downtown of the local small town near our military installation. The population of the town is about 6,000 people but we'd never seen a holiday parade like this one---at least 70 individual floats! It was so neat to see so much of the town out to celebrate and cheer on floats passing. And I've never seen something wrap up so seamlessly--at the end of the last vehicle, the road opened back up, people returned to their vehicles, and everyone headed home without traffic or any chaos. (Although they left an awful lot of trash in the streets which blew across downtown with the wind)

We had the military ball on Thursday, which while fast was a pretty fun event! My office Christmas party  was last weekend. This coming Friday we have a Christmas lunch for the Dept of Human Resources on post that the husband actually elected to try to come to if he can get off work early enough.

We recently had a message from the hub's good friend wanting to know if we had the same address and were ready for the holidays. The address might be the same, but since we do not yet have a tree, lights or decorations up, or holiday cards figured out....I'm not entirely sure we're ready for the season. ;) Although tomorrow we'll hopefully get a free tree again via Trees for Troops and we hope to find some decent Xmas cards when we go to the local large town to return my original ball gown. We haven't decided if we want to put lights up on the house yet, but if so....then we'll just about be in holiday season. :)

Hope you all are progressing into the season with calm and thankful hearts. Sending positive thoughts and blessings out your way!

November Summary

Sometimes blogging is far from my mind....leading to a month's absence with hardly a second thought. Then I set aside a Sunday midday to check in on some of my most favorite bloggers and am mesmerized by their words and constantly shouting at the hub "look at this picture!" and "listen to this funny bit...".

Sometimes I don't see the point anymore to putting my thoughts down in blog formation when I'm not really sure that I'm living my best authentic life in this very moment, in this very location. (And I'm not really sure that most people care to entertain themselves with my random thoughts....) But I'm living one day at a time, enjoying what I can and I guess that's as good as it can get at times.

The last month has been full and yet mainly lovely in its own right. So in all my randomness, here are my lengthy highlights.....

1) I Took a Vacation

My trip to Atlanta to visit my gal Christina was amazing and well needed. Interestingly my poor Honda had an issue the day before I left but thankfully hasn't had any other issues since then and didn't act up on the 10 hour drive there or back. I'd contemplated taking the truck for mental security but after calculating out the extra city parking hassle and gas mileage....it was worth a potential issue to still take the car. Gas mileage wasn't as good in my car as usual but after realizing my tires needed more air in them, it didn't surprise me....check your tire pressure, folks! ;)

I wasn't as impressed with much uniqueness about Atlanta, but spent some time exploring the great history of the city via MLK's roots and the Oakland Cemetary (on the plus side: both are FREE venues...always hitting up those frugal must-sees!). I had the unique experience of using the MARTA (public metro system) and realizing some of the continued segregation that still exists in the South. (I've recognized the remains of discrimination and racism in my own rural area in Louisiana and on my visits to friends in North Carolina, but Atlanta was the first time in the South that I seriously noticed how divided aspects of the city truly remain. It also was an interesting experience to be the minority individual on public transport, but an experience worth having all the same.)

The highlights of my visit to Atlanta were: real coffeeshops, local breweries and sustainable food systems, real shopping (Target, West Elm, H&M, and DSW all in one location!) were I could finally find flannel sheets and a pair of $30 dress shoes for the upcoming ball, and loads of catch-up and conversation with one of my lovely friends and all her CDC public health fellows! I love me some nerdy conversation at times. For the first time in over a year, I was the weird non-single one. In explaining how I ended up in Louisiana as a career counselor after finishing the MPH (master of public health) program back in Oregon, I got really good at stating "uh, I married a soldier?!" ;) And the reality is....I also had to realize how much this military spouse life has changed me...

2) I Thought a Lot About Family

Granny broke her other leg exactly three months after the break of her right leg. She'd made it thru all her rehab and was back to the point of living independently, mainly using a cane, in her own home again, when she got dizzy (from blood pressure meds) and fell. Same surgery as before, metal rod inserted the lenght of the bone, and she's taking it all in stride....which is really quite amazing. She spent Thanksgiving at my aunt's and she's the most positive individual about this that you can imagine. She's been working hard in rehab and will be moving back into the home of another aunt's for continued recooping on Weds! Being back in Oregon, my family has consistently been visiting her and she's had numerous visits from her social circles too. With this determination, she should be back on two feet in time for her 100th birthday next summer. Such a motivation to all of us!

3) I Officially Was Approved for the Part-Time Job

I think I may have mentioned that I Skype interviewed for a part-time college instructor position back in Oregon. Last week I got the email that I was officially approved by the dean and will be teaching two courses during spring term. Definitely excited and hopeful this will lead to even more teaching opportunities for coming terms. Still thinking and saving for the overall financial picture, but hopeful it will all come together.

4) There was a Wive's Social Event

With the upcoming military ball, there was an event hosted for a dress-take, free dresses used by other military spouses in past balls that are passed on to the next group. While I already had a dress, I went to socialize and it turned out to be a good outing. I ended up finding a free dress that I probably will use instead or for another event in the next year, but what I got out of it was that the wives from the department are in the need of social outings....so I've been tasked out to arrange an event for January.

5) The Hub and I Had Our First Official Thanksgiving at Home AKA The Hub Rocked My World This Week/end

Last year we were on the road, using his 4 day to visit my hometown-friend-transplanted-to-Canada-grad-student who was in New Orleans and then we continued on to Georgia for the wedding of our local friends here. This year was our first real Thanksgiving here and it was great to be home together! We had our first meal last Sunday with our neighbors down the way, I had a small meal over at the house of my coworker/friend whose husband is currently deployed, and then I came home to a meal 100% prepared by the hub. We put together three plates which we transported to his guys on duty for the day and then we came back to settle into our own meal. My coworker and her teenage daughter came over in the evening for board games and pumpkin cheesecake, and the whole day just left my heart swelling and my pride growing in this husband of mine. Now he did drag me out of bed at 2:30am the next day to try to score a doorprize of a new washer/dryer (beyond the banshee shriek, our dryer is also now latched via duct tape since the actual closure went out, we're still line drying about 80% of our laundry but recognize a new dryer is something we probably could benefit from....), but he left me in the truck while he waited in the cold in his place in line (and ended up being 1 person too late in line....). No doorprize in sight, we headed back home for me to catch another hour of zzzs before heading off to the office for Friday. My week/end of spoiling not only included a fabulous homecooked holiday meal, but a from-scratch cinnamon roll was just deposited on my lap an hour ago, a small container of peppermint ice cream showed up last night, and last week my dream camera that I'd expressed a desire for months ago arrived on our doorstep. When I went to Atlanta, our projector was set up for movies-in-bed viewing moments. These moments when his real heart glows and shows makes the pessimist in me question what happened?! ;) but make the optimist in me glad for the breaks he gets from work and hopeful for what the next few years of our future might bring. Yesterday marked his official 4 month until he's out of the Army date.... A great weekend indeed....

Hope the month has been full of beautiful moments and silver lined clouds for all of you.....Can hardly believe December is right around the corner!