Whirlwind Party

I have survived five whole days of partying. I feel that is quite a feat. The food was fantastic, the new meal sharing quite a success, and the laughter endless.

I wanted to share some pictures of the girls (3 nieces) and others (but only the more flattering ones, I promise).

The last three days have been somewhat less packed, as one little chickie got sickie. Really, she threw up at least twice each day for the last 3 days. In between those spells, she seemed ok, although I think she may have napped quite a bit, too.

I also accomplished something I promised to my mom--I cleaned out the closet and attic in my old bedroom. 8 boxes for Goodwill, 2 full bags of trash, and 3 full boxes and 6 empty shoe boxes for recycling. Both areas are very organized now, and Maddie had a blast sifting through my treasures and questioning why I kept some things (like dry, old leaves, ugly cards and stickers, and my old finger cast from when I broke my ring finger in football in college). I was in a good place to sift through trash and actually clean out. Spring cleaning mode in December. Awesome. It felt amazing.

Anyway the pictures will follow in other posts.
Enjoy looking!
I hope your Christmases were as fantabulous as ours!

Christmas Photos

Some new TU gear.

A lovely, soft green sweater.

A Harley colored Henley!

A credit card case with Celtic designs.
Beautiful!

Hot pants! A fine pair of perfect black dress slacks.

Mas photos

Maddie with Pinky the Pig.

Katie watching the snow fall.

Katie practiced holding Jane.
She did a fantastic job.

Such a beautiful face.

She's getting so grown up!
Two teeth gone and two more on the way.

The last few

The crew on Christmas Day.

The 26th after a very snowy 2 mile walk.

Purple Sistas...

Leslie with Katie's cow...I can't remember the name.

A very tired Papa.
I think Jane forgot to sleep
the night before Christmas
because she was SO excited!

Queen of the Castle.

After our very own Christmas on the 24th.
Super fun day! Super fun weekend!

Merry Christmas to us...

The holidays are here and we're off. Well, we will be shortly. And, as in true holiday spirit, something had to go wrong before leaving for several days. It's always that way.

Monday our water heater busted. I felt an electrical surge through the floor, the lights got super bright and huge POP! sounded. My toes tingled for over thirty minutes after that weird experience. But, I couldn't see anything not working, so I went on my way. About 5pm, when I was cooking, I realized the hot water was really tepid. That's when I called in my favor.

Our water heater went out already once this year -- a coil died. Turned out, it happened again. So, we were able to get a new water heater. Our maintenance guy decided we needed it (thank goodness). The one we had was probably 25-30 years old. I swear. It looked ancient.

So, now the water is hot, but the water pressure is all jacked up (as in not pressured) because of the sediment from our lovely town's water that has clogged our pipes. When will it ever end?

At least we can shower now. And wash dishes. I actually had to shower at the gym, which was awkward, on Tuesday evening. A friend stopped by that afternoon, as well, and was welcomed by 3 days of dirty dishes (awaiting hot water to wash), a chaotic living room (because the back room where the water heater was had to be emptied), and my scrapbook stuff everywhere. It was embarrassing. Luckily, I wasn't trying to impress her. She understood.

I'm ready to leave this little abode, to be honest. Ready for the good food, the games, the playing with kids, the relaxing in a house with more than 3 rooms. *sigh. Christmas.

A Tribute

We lost a great man this week, my second cousin Mike Weller. And although the second cousin business might sound too distant for it to impact me, in this situation, that would be incorrect.

Growing up we spent a wonderful holiday evening every year with great Aunt Miriam and Uncle Dale and their kids, Cindy and Mike, who were my dad's age. We had the best farm food from scratch, the best rolls and jam (I ate SO much jam at Aunt Miriam's), and it was always warm and cozy and full of laughter.

Contrary to my typical aversion to men, I really attached to Mike at a young age. He was so gentle and funny. Everyone in that house told jokes and laughed constantly. The impression of joviality there will never leave me. I often tell people that my dad is the nicest, most generous man in the world. And if anyone could give him a run for his money on that title, I'm quite sure it was Mike. It's heart breaking to have lost him so early. Such a man is hard to come by.

When I think of Mike, I have this one specific memory from my childhood. It was one of those Christmas/Thanksgivings that we spent at his mother's, and I was probably 5 or 6 years old. I remember sitting on his lap and not wanting to get up. I was so comfortable; I felt so secure. It seemed to me that someone took a picture of us that particular night, and sure enough, a few days ago scrounging through many photo albums, I found it.

I'm holding my brand new gorilla, named Gretchen, and you can see how happy I am. You can also see, in the background, how much Emily loved being in pictures. It might have had something to do with her perm. I'm not positive. But this is Mike. And we will miss him so dearly. Beloved by his family, his friends, his church, his entire community. Known for his laugh, his music (he played the trombone for 50 years and was involved in many community bands), his Harley, and his love, he is quite unforgettable.

My hope, though, comes from the fact that I know he is finally home. He is with those who've gone before; he is with Jesus. And he is whole and will be awaiting our homecomings, as well. That is my comfort.

Happy Sunday!

Here we are. This is the third attempt to get him to produce an acceptable face.

Notice how, in the effort to get him to behave and smile like a normal person, I have seriously mussed my hair. C'est la vie!

It's truly Christmas around here...first time EVER.

I'm not a very decorate-y person. I have absolutely no sense of style or what should go together in any given situation. I'm okay with it, truly, but I'm also not one to spend money on seasonal decorations. Seems silly to me.

But now I find myself fielding questions about "Do you and Kyle have a Christmas tree?" and I wonder, Am I supposed to be decorating for Christmas?

I've done my little part, I guess, this year by digging out a few old school Christmas things I've had for a while, and purchasing and hanging two very unique stockings for my eclectic husband and myself.

Here is a glimpse of the few decorations that I put up. Enjoy!

Here is a Mexican nativity set that my kindergarten
Sunday School teachers gave to each child.
How precious is it?
Although, I must admit I've never been quite sure
who the two extra characters are.

My stocking!

Kyle's stocking!

See the snowflake?
It's really an ornament, but seeing as we have no tree,
it either hangs on the wall or sits on a table. It's very pretty.
A gift from a friend in grad school.

This was a new gift from my extremely generous aunt.
I found a tiny version of my favorite picture ever of
Kyle and I. How cute!

First time in a year, we did something crazy...

We've been oh-so-frugal and tried to pretend like we don't want to do or have fun things for a year. It was really hard.

Everyone who promotes the super-strict programs for getting out of debt also says you have to do fun things, too. And since we didn't really during our year-long push to become debt free, we decided that in November and December, we'd take the money we would have put toward debt (which is no longer necessary because it doesn't exist), toward something else.

November: plane tickets to Arizona for Spring Break
December: a ridiculous HD TV that will allow us to get rid of cable (since we rarely watch TV), but still let us get the major stations for football now and Lost this winter.

The Arizona trip is super exciting for both Kyle and I for separate reasons. For me, well, my heart lives in Arizona. After one visit in 2002, I was hooked for life. I have been out there every year on school breaks since 2002, except for last year. It was killer for me, and during that most depressing winter, I could sense the lack of hope for the sun-filled land of mountains and desert in my soul. My nieces and my sister and her fantastic husband all live out there, as well. And let's not forget that this is the land of our most insane engagement story. So for me, it's family plus heart.
For Kyle, who shares strikingly similar interests with my brother-in-law, it will be a great time of talking exotic cars, engines, horse power, motorcycles, guns, and a number of other things I simply cannot converse intelligently with him about (not to mention the enthusiasm levels are lacking on my part). He doesn't have much time in his crazy busy life for things such as these; it will be a welcome respite for him from his tiresome work routine.


The TV, well, with our strong desire to quit paying for cable, we knew that this was going to be an expense at some point. We did some research on LCD vs. Plasma screens, and Kyle made the final decision on which and why. I couldn't understand (nor did I truly care about) the differences.

The TV forced us to do a little living room rearrangement, and we're both very pleased with the results. It all feels more balanced and I have to admit the picture quality is astounding. Seriously.

We broke in the new set up with a viewing of Aladdin on VHS, and despite the years of watching the tape over and over, it was a stellar experience with our new TV.

Dad, you really do need one of these for the basement. You should buy it now while there are still great deals out there for the holiday season.

These were two very fun, very expensive things that have brightened our early winter. Now, back to saving for our emergency fund and paying in cash for my upcoming schooling.

Because I just like knowing things

Wanna know what happened on your birthday? Or what movie won best picture in the year of your birth? Or who shares your birthday? Or any number of prices of commodities for the year you were born?

Well, now you can know all of these things and more thanks to: dMarie Time Capsule.

I don't know who runs it, where they get their data, or anything. So this is not very Librariany of me to share. But because the other part of me just loves knowing things, I'm letting everyone know about it, so you can be amazed and learn something new today.

Hope it's as fun for you as it is for me!

Lack of opportunity or lack of Trust?

Sometimes, when given a few moments of silence, or when I read a book full of convicting messages about the work of God that Christians should do and are often fearful to do, I find myself wishing I were someplace else. Just somewhere that had more opportunities, more avenues, more developed programming for people my age and not just for the 18-22 range.

But, in the wishing for a different place, I feel a bit sheepish and with any amount of introspection thereafter, I discover the underlying issue.

I wish I were someone else. More motivated or active, someone who possesses more energy and drive, someone who was less fearful and who didn't live within such a small comfort zone. Someone who was not a homebody, who loved outside adventures, who had a vision of the future, rather than the future that I see which is always full of dread, full of the negative possibilities, fear of loss, fear of failure, fear of moving.

I'm often immobilized by fear. Whether or not the object of fear is worth fearing, I cannot tell you. But I know that I live in a world surrounded by fear. And that's scary.

I have become so calloused, firmly believing that one person can't really make a difference. Maybe if attached to an external organization, one driven by people who have vision, maybe then people, collectively, can make a difference. But I have seen no evidence that any one person makes a difference for good.

Beginning a book by IJM's CEO Gary Haugen, I've been pretty convicted that this stance is the typical American view. And it has brought many of us to lives of inaction. And it's a lie.

Upon this realization, though, I find myself asking, what am I supposed to do? How does this information change my life? Or, maybe more importantly, will I let it?

But how, and where, and when will anything change? And how do I trust God and people enough to open myself up to changing my views, but also my way of life? What will it mean?

At this point in my internal court room, the questions start rolling in. But how will this knowledge and any action taken upon that knowledge change my method of organization, my life, my job, my family? Will that be good change or bad? Where will it go wrong, as inevitably everything in life does anyway? How will I respond to that? Isn't it easier to NOT try to implement change and NOT deal with the ways in which I will not cope well with a new life transition?

You can see the fear taking over. Those questions, my whole internal system of analysis is borne of fear and lack of trust. And this is my typical mental process when encountering any and every thing around me.

Isn't it scary? This glimpse into the internal workings of a preoccupied mind that is full of questions and no answers. That has knowledge and very little action. That wonders who is even listening and if her own life change could ever really matter to anyone anyway.

Reading for fun

I always try to have one book going in my effort to read for fun. For the past few years I've kept track in a little notebook of every book I've read, or begun, as has been the case lately. I used to say with unnecessary pride that I finish every book I read. But in the past year, I think I've decided that isn't always best. I read one great book by Kathleen Norris and then began a second one. After reading 50 pages of it in 2 and 1/2 months, I decided I'd give it a rest. If I can't get into a book, even after trying for weeks, I am finally okay with simply cutting it loose and moving on.

I read Jane Austen's Persuasion, finally, after years of meaning to and checking it out 5 times in the last year, but never reading past pages one through ten. It was fantastic, and I remember, all over again, why I love Jane Austen. Her books never disappoint.

I decided recently to reread a book I've listed as a favorite, The Scarlet Letter. Truth be told, I'm having a hard time getting through it. The Puritanical language is slowing me up.

So, whilst reading that one off and on, I picked up a new novel that my sister had suggested to me, The Weight of Silence. I'm always a little leery of popular fiction. Call me a snob, but I have read such good literature, that I am often disappointed by the efforts of modern novelists to be coy, clever, and prolific. Truly, the book cover drew me in; knowing nothing about the content, the picture intrigued me. By the time I got my hands on the copy both Emily and Leslie had read it, each in less than two days. I subsequently finished it in a 24-hour time period. Though 373 pages long, this is the most compelling book I've laid my hands on in several years. The most shocking thing about it is that the author has never published a book before; this is her first novel. If this type of narration and character-driven plot with unforgettable characters is her standard, then I believe she will be quite successful.


Why do I love this book?

#1. The Characters. In the same way that Barbara Kingsolver laid out the chapters of The Poisonwood Bible, Heather Gudenkauf has six characters that each narrate a chapter, and they are arranged in no particular order other than one which will speedily feed the plot. Every character, save the main one, 7-year-old Calli, narrate in first person. Calli's chapters are in third limited. This is deliberate and comes together beautifully in the end.

#2. The Story. Heartbreaking, deep, breathtaking, and believable, this story speaks to emotions and feelings (love, hate, betrayal, fear, abandonment, and hope) that we all experience in life at various times and levels. It calls forth the unquenchable spirit of the Young, their bravery beyond what adults can really comprehend, and their understanding, at times, that is far wiser than their years. Astonishingly enough, the action of the story takes place during one day, like the TV show 24 or the movie Bella.

#3. The Writing. Gudenkauf's skill in story-telling is remarkable. Besides the six narrators, there are many more characters that feel fully developed and three-dimensional. The main antagonist is never allowed his own voice, or I should say his own perspective, and yet the reader is provided an intimate view into his deepest and darkest, his truest self. One of my favorite parts of literature is character development -- when I can love and hate characters, when I know fully what they are capable of, when their actions fit seamlessly into what I expect out of them. Never once in all 300+ pages did I question the actions or words of a character. I believed her story.

Perhaps more than the average person, I believe wholeheartedly in the transforming power of literature, how it can open your eyes and enable you to see the world, yes, but also yourself. Almost as a looking-glass, a mirror from which you can hold up traits, character strengths and see how they fit with you. But also, through which you can identify weaknesses, struggles, and pain, in order that you might be more fully self aware and work toward positive change. For me, education and literature both serve this function. Some might call it enlightenment, all I know is that it can change you if you let it.

This book is powerful because of the universal human aspects upon which it touches, sometimes digging more deeply than we prefer to go. It reminds us that the events of just One Day can impact and transform our lives, that we should be mindful to cling to the hope that we have and to work toward change for ourselves and those we love, because each day has the potential to alter us permanently.

Perceptions

I just this very moment found out that I won an award this morning.

Oddly enough, it came from Arizona, and since I live in the Midwest, it was at first perplexing. Let me divulge the title of the award, and then we can talk specifics.

"Looks the Most Different from When They Wake Up to When They are Ready for the Day"

At first, I said, "How could I win this award? I don't even wear make-up." And my hair isn't really too crazy when I wake up, usually just a few more waves than day-time hair. I was baffled.

Then I got to thinking, and digging deeper, I found a few reasons why my 7-year-old niece might find me "most different" from waking to leaving the house.

1. My very thick glasses that reduce my eyes to the size of peas.
2. My plastic mouth splint that covers my top teeth and prevents my jaw from fully closing to spare me from TMJ disorder face pain.
   
3. My hand braces, which keep my wrists straight and prevent the carpal tunnel pain whilst sleeping.

Those are three very significant changes that, in fact, are more transforming than make-up to a seven-year-old. It's beginning to make sense. These pieces make me somewhat robotic when I sleep and upon waking, could be potentially scary for a little person used to seeing such transfigured images only in their crazy child dreams.

At that point in the conversation, my dear sister piped up: "Well, don't forget your wheelchair and IV pole. Oh, and your metal leg." Which certainly could complement the above list. But thanks, Em, I'm not quite there yet.

Oh the minds of the young! How free and hilarious they can be.

Reverting, always an adventure

Today I had the great fortune to revisit an old stomping ground: the Orthodontist.

I had years of orthodontic work done during the ages of 12-14. Back in 2005, my senior year of college, I returned for a new problem, no longer crooked teeth and crooked jaw, but a clenching jaw causing popping and clicking and pain about my face. I continued to visit the office for the duration of my grad school studies.

About a month ago, during a particularly stressful period of time, I found that I'd wake up in the morning with my jaw clenched tightly against my specially-made jaw splint that is to prevent clenching. That brought me to the conclusion that I'd worn down my poor device so much by clenching and grinding in my sleep that it needed a significant adjustment.

Thus, this morning, I found myself back at my old orthodontist's office, saying hello to some faces I've known for half of my life, changing my name in yet another medical office, and seeing new assistants gazing into my open mouth who are far younger than myself. That was, perhaps, the most startling part.

Of course it had been three years since I'd last seen my orthodontist. I trust him implicitly with my particular jaw needs, and thus I refuse to find one that's a reasonable distance from my home. While reading my chart, he asked the fewest number of questions possible to get the information needed, made the necessary adjustments to the splint, and then, stepped around in front of me to chat for a minute. When he found out I was a librarian, he shared that his brother is a librarian at a prestigious NY school and began regaling me with the difficulties that all librarians are facing with funding cuts and the loss of resource budgets.

As he chatted, he lowered himself into a nearby chair and removed his paper mask and I found myself shocked by how much he has aged in just three short years. Somethings about him don't change, like his wild red, curly hair, his most notable feature, although it was less robust than I remember. But other features were markedly different: his eyes were a bit sunken, his face wan, his belt very tight against his thin frame. I began to wonder at his age, then at how long he has dedicated his life to perfecting teeth and helping stress-filled people like myself cope with strange jaw-related issues like TMJ disorder. It's interesting to think of having a profession in which you can so concretely measure your success. He's helped x number of patients and corrected x number of orthodontic problems. My profession has absolutely NO method of measuring how we help people, even though that's a large part of what I (we) do.

It's funny, and seems very odd to even say this, but I will always have a soft spot for my orthodontist. He was always cheerful, even when he was ripping out glued-in appliances and some of your teeth along with them.

Ahh, here it is again. This restlessness.

What am I waiting for? Or hoping for?

I can't determine if it's simply the days and months leading up to winter that cause this unsettledness in me, or if it's really something else. And what would that be, that something that brings disquiet to my mind and anxiety to my soul?

I don't recall if a year has ever passed by that I haven't felt this. It's so familiar and yet unwelcome.
Instead I desire peace and tranquility of mind and spirit.

But this is my reality. Oh, to change that. Would that I knew how.

Something I never wanted

Has anyone ever really wanted their face plastered on a billboard?

And by anyone, I mean any regular Joe-Schmoe. Maybe Hollywood personalities have desired that their whole lives, but by golly, I have not.

You could tell me to count my blessings because, in fact, I will not have my face on a billboard. However, just recently, I have been made the friendly face of the library for an advertisement that is to be a web page "banner" regarding our new Information Desk. They wanted a picture of it. Sure. No problem. With a person at it, okay, small problem. All librarians hate to have their pictures taken. And, I might conjecture, being a younger librarian, some believed it to be a good idea that younger faces = better advertisement. Breaking molds, removing stereotypes.

Thus I have found myself photographed at our Info desk, on a Friday morning, really not wanting to be there, and showing my Gottschalk chin. Dang it. Can't escape it. For the first time I look old.

Not my best moment. Too bad it was captured on film and is soon to be posted to the web site.

Recent Addictions

I love it when the seasons pass by each other this time of year, the slight chill in the air requires soups and hot beverages enter the weekly, if not daily, diet.

In early October I began making soups. I've made several, although at this point I can't remember all of them. One was Alaina's Grandma's recipe for Cheesy Smoke Sausage soup. Delicious. Another was chili, which is always divine. Beef vegetable was really good, too. A new recipe.

I've been using the Crock Pot at least once a week, which Kyle thinks is slightly ridiculous, and he could complain about that were it not for the fact that he loves almost everything I've made (there have been, of course, a few bombs). Emily supplied a few cookbooks full of Crock Pot recipes, and I feel equipped for the winter months now.

ANother thing I decided in October was to start making a special concoction of cider, cranberry juice and cinnamon. I'm not even certain where the recipe came from, but it warms your home with the incredible smells of cooking apples and cinnamon. Plus, it is sweet and warms you right up.

Mid-October, I went directly to the Hot beverage aisle in Meijer and found my favorite tea medley: Celestial Seasonings' Fruit Tea Sampler. What's interesting to me is that they change one or maybe two of the fruit teas that make up this divine box. This year they added Blueberry. Now, I've had blueberry black tea before. It was pretty good, but it doesn't even hold a candle to the flavor of this one. Plus, this herbal version is caffeine free, a growing necessity in my life. I've had Blueberry tea every day this week. Mmm-Mmm-Good.

While I can't even pretend to like winter, I do like having hot things: food, soup, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, hot cider, and electric blankets. Those things are fun. So I guess I'm thankful there's a time of year where I can have or use all of these things in rapid succession for months on end.

Happy November!

October 18th...a day to remember

It began as another typical weekend day. We overslept because of our ridiculously comfortable bed combined with a down comforter from heaven. I expected nothing spectacular.

Then, while entering some financial information into our monthly budget sheet, I had a HUGE realization. Today was the day we would become debt free.

I believe we began addressing the debt issue on a strategic basis in January of this year. That would mean that in 10 months we were able to knock out debt equal to one of our yearly salaries. This exceeds my imaginative powers.

We could not have done it alone. My sister coached us along, provided a fully-formulated worksheet into which we could plug our own financial state and see how to budget appropriately. My brother and his wife provided the reading material that would change our lives: Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I know Ramsey seems like a fad, but let me tell you that his plan is hard. It's painful. It's not fun, and yet it is 100% logical and in some ways fool-proof. If you follow what he says, you will find that the weight of your debt lifts quickly.

I also believe that when you are faithful to God with your resources, He will bless that. Thus, we had a great deal of one-time extra money come in this year, thousands of dollars, that also made this possible.

I'm in awe of this process, of how quickly (though at times it seemed long and impossible) we could create this budget, follow the guidelines, even managing a small vacation and some fun weekends with friends, and come out on top in less than a year. Praise the Lord!

To anyone who is discouraged about debt or money issues...I do highly recommend giving Dave Ramsey's solution a try. Even if you despise him, try it and see. You can even modify it to fit your lifestyle, to an extent. We didn't do the cash system because we don't have a bank nearby. We use a credit card, but we pay off every thing as soon as it shows up. We use a debit card. But we do keep track of everything we spend and we've spent less than we would have had we not wanted so badly to get out of debt.

Thanks to our parents and grandparents for the help they provided, and the examples of living responsibly and within one's means. Thanks to our friends and siblings who understood when we couldn't do fun things because of cost. We still can't, actually, because now it's time to save for a house. Bigger and better things await!

It's a big day. Hard to fully comprehend. My school is paid for and when I start school again this summer, we can pay in cash! God is good!

Disappointment and Confusion

People amaze me. Not in the "wow, that's incredibly awesome" way, but more "why would you do that" sort of way.

I've just been through a particularly difficult week because of one seemingly small situation. I keep playing scenarios over in my head, trying to figure out where I went wrong or if I did what I've been accused of doing. My conclusion is that I did nothing wrong and yet, why do I still feel defeated?

I'm so lucky to have Kyle around. I think I may have lost my sanity last week had it not been for him. Lord knows I desperately needed support.

Even though I fully believe that sometime later in life this particular situation will prove to have been a useful learning experience for me, that cannot change the fact that I'm shocked at the lengths people will go to to prove themselves correct, to "win". Every year I am more aware that keeping score in life is counterproductive. Nobody wins when we keep track. Everybody loses.

Last week, everybody lost. And it doesn't feel good.

Birthday fun

My birthday was awesome this year. Despite my attempts to help out my family in coming up with great present ideas, they all found better ideas and thus I received an amazing array of gifts.

• silk sleeping bag: so I can stay at my in-laws' and in hotels, and even at my parents', without bringing my own sheets because of a weird skin reaction to scented detergent.
• a smoothie maker / blender (see picture below)
• several movies: Becoming Jane, Hitch, Patch Adams, and Pride & Prejudice
• a fabulous shirt combo
• a coffee scoop (and I am MOST excited about this)
• a tennis skirt
• $, which enabled me to get a new pair of jeans

Let's also not forget the brand new tennis racquet and wrist support that I received as a very early gift in July. We've had so much fun this summer using our new racquets!

As is standard in our family, I had a scrumtrulescent birthday meal courtesy of Mom. It included manicotti with meat sauce, green leaf salad, garlic bread, and peaches doused in cinnamon. Oh my was it all delish. For my cake, I requested a Dairy Queen one, because who doesn't love two flavors of ice cream accompanied by layers chocolate fudge and crunchies and topped by the lightest icing ever. It was phenomenal.

All of us failed to get adequate pictures, as has been the trend of the Wilson household this year. But here are the three that we managed to grab to commemorate the day.

I did it...finally.

Well, first, I turned 27. Which was a surprise to one of my coworkers who, bless her heart, said, "Oh, I thought at MOST you were 25." I appreciate that coming from her age of 23! But then suddenly I remembered how old 27 sounded when I was 23. Four years is a long time in that stage of life.

In more exciting news. Today, I submitted my application to grad school.
Wait, you say, don't you already have a master's degree.
Why, yes. Yes, I do. But I've always wanted this particular master's, or, I should say, to continue this particular interest of mine academically. And now I'm almost sure I can!

This will also be a boost to me professionally. It is typical (and oft required) that academic librarians have a master's in a second and unrelated field to Library Science. If you want details, I can explain it to you. It's too long and complicated for a post.

The plan is to start next summer, which for the school at which I applied means May (in 8 months). Each semester (and each of the two summer sessions), I will take one course. This is a stipulation from my job. I can't really do my work to the best of my ability if I'm trying to focus in three or four directions. Because this degree is encouraged, yay required, by my employer, they are providing me four hours per week from my standard 40 to get to my class. Which will be necessary, as the school is 1.5 hours away from where I live, work, and eat.

It's always exciting to launch into something you're passionate about, also a little scary to take the timid step of faith believing that this is the right course of action. For me, for my career, for us, for our family, etc. I've lately been struggling with the question, Can I even cut it anymore in an academic classroom setting? It's only been three years, but can School Lana be compatible with Married Lana. Ah, that is the question. How to juggle and balance all that my life is now that it was not when I completed undergrad and rocketed through SLIS.

It's also a whole other story to plan to spend three years of your life slugging through a degree that should take 1/2 that time. But this is what's laid before me, and I'm gladly accepting the challenge.
Strange as it sounds, I think classroom challenges are the only type of challenge that I feel equipped and capable of handling.

Guess I'll find out!

The Vacation Pictures.

Our vacation began the morning after Margaret's wedding. We stayed in Indy that night at a relative's in order to cut out a couple of hours from our drive to South Carolina. We might have gotten 6 hours of sleep. It's debatable.

Nevertheless, this is the chronicle of our trip.

The early morning journey begins, obviously I'm thrilled.


Why is he always so happy?

Second night at the beach called for a Burger and fresh veggie feast.
Kyle makes the best burgers. Leslie, the best veggies. Calli and I helped.

It was Tommy & Tracy's evening to relax and wait for the food.
Such gracious hosts.


The next series of photos are from a crabbing venture we undertook.
The first is a photo op of a new Emo group.
Any good name suggestions for them?

I'm sorry, is Leslie's head attached to that chunk of raw meat on the end of that hook?

Success! 1 Crab.

This is how nearly all of my attempts to get a picture of Kyle turn out.
The man cannot be serious.

Leslie, very seriously crabbing.

She's so happy because she's losing so badly.
He still doesn't understand that you just don't mess with her.

Yay for sunshine!
I was very excited for a real tan, for beaches, and for escaping Indiana for a while.


We managed to get up for a sunrise one morning.
Unfortunately, it had rained all night, so it wasn't as spectacular as it could have been without the clouds.
It was still very pretty.

Plus, we found tons of creepy crawlies and scary things on the beach that made me not want to get in the water anymore. Like two dozen jellies.

This guy turned around as I snapped a second photo of him fishing in the early morning. Made for an awkward moment. At least this picture turned out well.

Finally, a truly rare moment when I'll let the world see me in my glasses. Our sunrise adventure requried my glasses. I think we both look a little tired here.

And that's the extent of the photojournalistic efforts of our beach trip.
We returned well rested, though hardly ready to face the next two insane weeks that have now zapped us of all the rested progress we'd made. Oh well. Such is life. :o)

Um, hi? Um...hello? Hi.

I used to be good at this. Not anymore. What happened? I cannot tell you. Except that perhaps my need for self expression is now fulfilled in a new context...I finally have someone to talk to every single day. Wow. That's new. And it's someone I want to talk to. Even better. [Think crazy house from 2006.]

I have some pictures from vacation, some from Margaret's wedding, and maybe a couple from before that. Figured I should post them.

This picture is from July, but I love it and just had to post it.

Some family shots. Obviously missing some important players:
Leslie, Mom, & Dad, as well as Franz.

Brian and Clayton, telling me a joke.


Sisters of the Bride. The oldest Judd sisters.

The happily wedded couple. How cute are they?

Katie really, really wanted to dance with Kyle. In fact, she was almost reduced to tears because he didn't hear her request at first. He did dance with her, of course, when he heard her after we'd changed from our appropriate wedding attire. "But Katie, how are we supposed to dance," he asked. "However you want, silly," was her reply.