bliss is...

       having the whole family together.

                        12/24/12

where wild things are

in my nephew's bedroom.
i just L-O-V-E that my brother in law taught himself to knit just so he could make these toy monsters for the baby's nursery. <3

catch up

where have i been for all this time?  much has been keeping me away from this blog, and i've missed it.  here's a  peek of all the exciting things that have happened within the past six months... details will have to follow.  right now i just want to get back into blogging!

new (old) furniture for our house...

retaining wall in front of house...

 kicked the astro turf to the curb!

new nephew!!                    with uncle m:

                                         and me

                                       and noah the big

finished my masters degree!

sang my first lead in an opera!

and experienced so much happiness along the way.  grateful.

last weekend

 

that's my darling nephew.  can you believe how cute he is?

jasper and lola thought so, too.

belated

i've been meaning to share this precious photo of my nephew since it was taken last month.

isn't he just the sweetest?

<3<3<3

copycat

 i loved  hyperbole and a half so much that i decided to experiment with the cartoonish fun.  

i made this hyperbolized cartoon version of my family.

i realize this is nothing short of plagiarism,

and this doesn't make me creative or clever,
but it was sure fun.
you'll probably see more sometime.
because life's more fun in cartoons.

Projects, Projects, Projects

they're not all about houses.  remember this adorable baby that was born into the family a few weeks ago?

well, he's three weeks old now and i still haven't met him (thank you, car.)

i want to hold him so badly it hurts!

but until we can get home to see him, i've been soothing the pains of anticipation by working on a little gifty for him.

check it out.  it's not finished of course, but it's going to be sooo cute on him when it is!

i'm going to knit little pockets for the front with red buttons

and i'm going to sew a zipper down the front

since i'm allergic to using patterns, 

i only hope it turns out!

Gratitude

"Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving." 

Kahlil Gibran

Our Thanksgiving plans did not proceed as we'd hoped.  Because of a car problem, we are stranded in Chicago and will not be able to see our families today.  But how can we complain when there is so much we have to be thankful for?  Every day I am thankful for

AND

AND

AND

 AS WELL AS 

faith

good health

friends

abundance

the beautiful earth
freedom

 a job

education

This year we also have so many new things to be grateful to God for.

a new nephew

a house of our own

the ability to better ourselves through further education

new friends

I pray there is never a day that I take any of these for granted.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Welcome

 There's a new member of my family!

My BIL and SIL welcomed a beautiful boy, Noah, to the world on Saturday evening.  

I can hardly wait to meet him and kiss his sweet little face.

Ah, baby fever.

A Belated Birthday

Well, my birthday is in August, but it's taken me this long to get the photos I took onto the computer and ready to share.  M surprised me with a gift that I'd mentioned months earlier I would like someday, a ukulele!  

 Isn't it pretty?!

Knowing I'll never be a good guitarist, I set my sights on an easier yet equally portable and harmonic string instrument.  It's very easy to play because the strings are nylon and there are only four of them.  What's great is that it's a soprano ukulele, so the easiest chords to play are in my singing range.  Overall it's just an awesome instrument and was a wonderful gift- I've really been enjoying it!

My parents and grandparents gave me an equally awesome gift that I've not had the chance to use yet but I know that I will when I have more time:

  It adjusts to my size and just looks cool as a piece of furniture, too.  

I can't wait to get my hands on it!

I'm lucky to have such generous loved ones, aren't I?

Balancing Act

So, now that school is in full swing and I've had a month to adjust to the new pace of my life, I hope to be able to continue with my little blog.  I'm slowly remembering to do all the little things that have been slipping my mind to make room for the bigger things, like homework.  This weekend we were in Michigan to celebrate with my sister-in-law, who is expecting a baby boy in less than a month!

The nursery they've set up for baby Noah is adorable; but with all the gifts they received yesterday, I'm wondering where the baby will go?

Michigan is beautiful this time of year!  I'm happy we were able to make a visit home before all of the trees are bare.

Oh, October.

Brief Update

Well, as you know, the fall season is well underway, and that means school has started for both me and M.  I have been slowly adjusting to the pace of full time school and work, and as a result, I've not been chronicling the important details of life here.  But I hope that will change soon because this is a very exciting time for both of us.  We are still waiting to hear one way or the other about the offer we made on the house, but we are content where we are for the time being, thanks to Jen!  Jasper and Lola haven't ever been this happy, (except when in MI); they get to run around the yard until they're too tired to run anymore, and it just makes me happy too.  Especially when the smell of fireplace fires is in the air.  I think October is my favorite month.  

Happy October!

As Promised...

Just a few pictures from our trip... but enough to show just how much fun we had.  

You can tell, can't you?

Cabo Wabo

I've just returned from a fantastic vacation I know I will remember forever.  M and I stayed for a week in Cabo San Lucas with my sister + hubby and brother + girlfriend.  There's something about that place that made me truly sad to leave when I'm usually ready to come home at the end of a trip.  It could have been all those piña coladas, margaritas, and Bahama mamas by the pool.  Or it could have been the trips to town to taste the best of authentic Mexican totopos + fresh salsa.  Or the calming effect of watching and listening to the waves turn over while sitting next to palm trees under a brilliantly lit sky.  Or maybe all of the vitamin D I soaked in?  Then again, it could have just been that wherever in the world we were, the people we were with would make it seem like the best place anywhere.  So thanks to Lis, Adam, Casey, Katie, and of course, M for an unforgettable week!  

(More pictures soon to follow but here's a photo of where we stayed)

I really do believe the quote that heads this blog.

"Life is eternal, love is immortal, and death is but a mere horizon, and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight."  

Today my sweet Aunt Annie crossed over that horizon, and she will be missed, as she was very dear to our family.  I will remember the many fun times we shared with her as children whom she invited into her home without hesitation to enjoy her pool though we'd mess up her yard and her house time after time without fail.  I will also remember her glorious singing voice; she always wanted to sing opera but was always discouraged by her father (though he was an opera lover himself he could never approve of her desire to pursue the art.)  She took a special interest in my singing because she had longed to sing more herself.  She always wanted to come hear me sing, and I wish she had been able to more because music brought her such joy.  Always smiling, loving, gentle and sweet, you never would have guessed how much she was suffering from her lung cancer because she didn't complained.  The world needs more of people like her, and extra now to make up for her absence.

In memory of my sweet, sweet Aunt Annie.

The Stuff of Life

Happy 75th birthday to my grandpa Joe.  You are loved so so so very much!

Happy Times

 Tuesday was one of those days in life that was made for happiness! 

My littlest brother graduated from high school and *nearly* the whole family was there (missed you, L&A!)  He was born on my ninth birthday, a special gift to ME of course, and wonderfully he will be going to college right around the corner from me here in Chicago!  We'll be closer as adults than we were for much of his growing up.  Cheers to you, Sammy... I'm looking forward to the next few years!

Mom

Love you, mom!

For your fun sense of humor

For how much you love us

For all the sacrifices you made to give us a beautiful life

Fuzzball Withdrawl

What a strange morning without my posse of three... M took the dogs to Michigan for a visit but I couldn't go along. Mornings just aren't the same without them! I'm feeling seriously snuggle deprived, as there was no one to give me kisses when I woke up.

No giant ears to make me giggle!

No fuzzy bellies to rub.

There are a few pros to not having them around: my socks are safe from theft, I didn't have to take them out in a storm, I don't have to suffer their miserable stare as they watch me get ready to leave... But I actually miss the mischief when they're not around.

Aren't they cute?

My grandpa's letter to his first-born son

My Uncle Steve found an old letter written to him by my grandfather that had gone unread and unnoticed for 47 years. The discovery of this letter is pretty timely considering the ill health that my grandfather is in. I wanted to share it with whomever is reading this because I thought it was very sweet and touching. This is what it said:

Like you, Steven, I am cursed with insomnia. But tonight is Christmas Day 1962 and things in my heart are bursting to be said. And I know if I defer the task, too soon it will be Christmas 1963 and these things will still be within me. I wish that I were more articulate and could put down more profoundly what I wish to say. And that in itself is part of it ... part of this puzzle called life ... to wish. To wish to be better -- stronger -- more skillful -- more witty -- more physically attractive. But as it is, we are what we are.

A season such as this is one of life's milestones. A time for review ... for looking back over the shoulder at this story we have written. And when one looks back, the way seems so short. How natural it would feel for me to be back in my child's body. Back in that old backyard peering intently at a bumblebee busying himself among the hollyhocks. Or lying on my back in warm, moist grass watching cloud-pictures.

We had an old barn with a high window. It would be completely right if tomorrow in my child's body I should go out and take the dare and jump out of that old high window, and have my heart stop for an instant as I whoosh down.

A tree of heaven flourished in the back yard (whoever named that tree must have meant it as a joke). When you touched the leaves, your hands smelled vile. In front stood a catalpa tree. When it blossomed into an unbelievably fragrant white cloud, we would pick the blossom cups and suck the nectar. That was a real tree of heaven. It would be perfectly natural if tomorrow, in my child's body, I would go back and climb that catalpa tree. The last time I climbed it, I was seven years old. But I could climb it tomorrow and be at home in it.

I have watched these hands that now write this. Small hands that struggled to learn to tie a shoelace (with assistance from a wiggling tongue). How quickly they were man's hands. How quickly. On summer nights when the weather was sticky and no one could sleep anyway, we would sit in the dark on the front porch. And you could hear the voices up and down the block as other people sat in the dark and talked, and just listened to June bugs drone. And somewhere a radio played far away.

As the years pile up, they speed like the vortex of a whirlpool. And the press of obligation, the urgency of the moment, supersedes all. Until, at times like this or sometimes when I look at you in sleep, I remember how short a time it really was that I dreamed child's dreams and thought child's thoughts. I am not wise as I wish I could be. But I have come to a conclusion about life that I want to pass on to you, my darling children. It is very simple and this is it --

This very instant is life. Nothing can be changed in that which has just passed. Nothing we do can assure us of the next one. Do with this very instant of life whatever you can. Savor it ... don't set your dreams aside for tomorrow. Dream them now or do about them what you can. This instant is all that matters. Never keep words of love shyly in your heart, for they will wither there like flowers.

I have said for today all I can, for as I look at the wall clock, it is 12:10 and Christmas 1962 is gone forever. Today I am 34 years old.