2013: St. Croix, Montreat, Chicago, and Pleurisy

What did you do in 2013 that you'd never done before? I met up with a group of friends I knew only from the internet, had a lovely weekend hanging out with them, and confirmed to myself once and for all that I was right: there is no difference between friends and internet friends. My 1999 self was very wide-eyed about the whole thing, but it was fun and funny and natural and I loved it. 

Other new things I did this year: I traveled out of the country with three small children, I battled a flea infestation in my house, I watched my sweet husband put out a fire in our kitchen, and I went to my first conference at Montreat (as a Presbyterian born and raised in North Carolina, it is a little bit shocking that it took 32 years). Oh and I got pleurisy, even though it was the year 2013 not 1813, which was officially this year's dose of what the fresh hell?!?

Did you keep last year's resolutions, and will you make more for this year? My resolutions last year were to be textier with Mark at work during the day, send more emails, and try two new recipes a month. I get a big ol' MEH on all of them. I was sometimes really good at them and sometimes really not, so I guess for most people that would be a resolution fail, but if I am better now than I was then, I am calling it a win because that is just good math.

And I am a month into 2014 and I have no new resolutions. Some years I totally care, and apparently this isn't one of them.

How did you spend Christmas NYE? Mark and I were kid-free while the babies spent a few nights with my mom, so we got to ring in the new year at a classy restaurant with friends, followed by really fun birthday/NYE champagne cocktails rimmed in frosting and sprinkles, and an upside-down Christmas tree, and New Years Rockin Dicken Clarken Eve or whatever it's called, and also our fancy steakhouse had the best celery Another Nathan has ever had, so.

What dates from 2013 will remain etched in your memory? January 29th: our plane tickets to St. Croix. June 21st: the day Mark and I celebrated ten years of marriage. July 27th: the day after Nathan's 6th birthday, when we went to Montreat together. December 23rd: when my nephew Sullivan was born.

What countries states territories did you visit? The biggest thing this year was our St. Croix trip for Brad's wedding, which I am still high on almost a year later. Not just the vacation, but my whole family of origin, together to celebrate and add Marija to our ranks. And to do it in a beautiful place with my husband and kids and best friend, encompassing the oddest blend of relaxed and chaotic I've ever experienced on a trip. I'm not sure what else a gal could want from a family vacation.

Whose behavior merited celebration? Anneliese, actually. After some terrible hard months, she has now (minus a frustrating nightly cleanup crying habit) settled into that delightful stage of being four. Four is great. Four is cheerful and independent and inquisitive and funny. Even better, four is almost five! (I have yet to encounter an age better than five. If we get to one that trumps five, I will let you know. Til then, five forever!) (Oh whoa, I just saw that last year I said it was Anneliese's behavior that appalled me. Well look at that, she turned it around.)

Whose behavior appalled you? People who still knock on doors. Ring doorbells. Show up in circumstances where that would be warranted. You know what I mean. This has become my favorite thing to hate, except I actually hate to have to hate it, because HOW IS THIS STILL A THING??

If I know you are coming, come on in. If I don't know you are coming, you fall into two groups: 1- you have a key, and can come in whenever you want (without knocking), or 2- I don't want you to come over. Solicitors are most definitely in the second group. Delivery people who knock on doors and then run back to their trucks are also in the second group. Neighbors who want to talk to us about fence fixing or hedge trimming or whether or not the city is going to build a sidewalk on our road, IN THE SECOND GROUP. 

I'm just not sure how or why it is still a culturally appropriate thing to show up at someone's house, in their space, and assume that they would stop what they are doing and deal with what you want them to deal with, on your time, when you were not invited or even necessarily welcome, and if you want them to BUY SOMETHING FROM YOU, then that is even worse because it is an egregious distortion of the appropriate consumer/provider relationship. 

Let's let 2014 be the year that we, as a society, reserve showing up unannounced at people's houses for only times of emergency or need.

Okay, end rant. That is not what this post is about. Moving on.

What was great this year when you weren't expecting it? Montreat. It was a pretty last-minute decision to volunteer for the youth conference as a small group leader, and an even more last-minute decision to have Nathan come with me. And then suddenly what I had been expecting to be a simple champerone on a church trip turned out so much better. Truly, a highlight of my year.

Who is the best new person you met? Liz. Hands down, Liz. Liz from Montreat, Utah Liz, LIZ. I don't want to be all sappy about her (again) on the internet, but she is super, and I can't remember the last time I met someone with whom I connected so easily and so quickly. And it has lasted, even months after the conference last summer. (Also, I think this year I started to re-claim my own extroversion. I love meeting new people and listening to their stories. My life hadn't afforded much of that in the past few years, and then in 2013 it was everywhere, and I enjoyed it. Liz was a big reason why.)

Who did you miss? These days I miss my sister a lot, especially since she spent most of the year pregnant, and last time she was pregnant we were pregnant together, and so it made me think of her, and us, pretty often. Every time Ashley and I visit, we just talk a mile a minute and hear each other's feeeelings and then suddenly it has been hours and we're exhausted but in a really good really connected way, and yeah I just kinda love her a lot and I miss her when she feels far.

What did you get really really excited about? Our trip to Chicago, a trip just for Mark and me. I get excited any time the two of us can get away together. We are great on vacation, and there is no one else I would rather travel with. I had a ton of fun planning it out and booking it (Mark and I both love that the planning is MY part of any trip) and then I looked forward to it for months. And then it was an awesome trip. Because of my excellent planning. And also because Chicago is lovely and Marky is great and blah blah blah whatever GOLD STAR FOR TRIP PLANNING, SELF.

Where did most of your money go? Mortgage, health insurance, taxes, school tuition, Starbucks.

What was the best thing you bought? The chromebook. I have my own computer! That I share with other people also, but whatever, we now are a family of more than just one computer!

What was your favorite show? The Mindy Project and Parenthood are the two shows Mark and I most look forward to watching. We also continue to watch the hell out of Daniel Tiger which the kids, especially Charlotte, adore. I know the jingle that goes with every episode, oh yes I do. Feel free to be very impressed. *brushes shoulder*

What was your favorite book? Eleanor & Park, by Rainbow Rowell. Her writing is beautiful and honest and clear, and the story is about young love. Like, real love. It is a really really great book.

What was your favorite movie? Mark and I went and saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty the day before New Year's Eve, and we loved it. It was part sobering reality, part fantastical daydream, had beautiful scenery in Iceland and the Himalayas, and was easy and delightful to watch. 

How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year? How many scarves do you now own? Twenty-six. Come at me brah.

How old were you on your birthday, and what did you do? I turned 33, and I had a lunch date with Another Nathan and we did our traditional first peek through the mall to start forming Christmas lists. Then I had a fancy and romantic Laotian dinner date with Marky. And then a couple nights later we had mexican food and spicy cocktails at an empanada bar with some friends downtown. It was lovely and exactly what I wanted.

What was your biggest achievement in 2013? This rainbow cake.

Your biggest failure? My ongoing struggle to be more patient and kind, especially with the kids. Sometimes they drive me nuts doing things that are perfectly benign, and I want to react to that better. In those situations, my nerve-shot feeling is almost always about me, not them.

What song will always remind you of 2013? Imagine Dragons - On Top of the World. Yes, I know it was actually released a whole year ago, but Nathan and I sang it a thousand times wandering around Montreat and now when I hear it, that is what I remember -- our first trip there. Also A Great Big World's This is the New Year, which I used in his birthday video, was one of my favorite songs this year too.

What kept you sane? This is a serious question, yo. Sanity is no joke, and when I am able to come by it, I don't take it for granted. The precious hours Mark and I together many evenings, after the kids go to bed but before we do, are probably the most sanity-giving regular times in my routine. Also consistent support and friendship from Another Nathan, especially our Wednesday coffee dates and Tuesday post-choir blue moon chats, which are so healthy in need-to-vent or need-to-laugh ways, depending on the week. Also choir itself. Also my unlimited texting plan. Also library books. Also coffee. COFFEEEEEE.

What valuable lesson did you learn this year? Lesson still being fine tuned: not to let a bad day overwhelm me about my forever.

Snowme Day!

It snowed in Raleigh!

Like, for real snowed.

It is our first real snow in about four years, which means Nathan and Anneliese (last time, two and an infant) didn't really remember it, and this was Charlotte's very first. She spent the whole day saying snowme day! wook! I found it! in a very classic-Charlotte way. I found it! might be her trademark phrase. (Snowme day is her pronunciation of "snowflake day," which is an episode of Daniel Tiger, and is apparently not only her word for snowflake, but also snowman and snow day and well, just snow in general.) (Is adorable.)

Normally snow isn't my favorite, but with school canceled and Mark just happening to be off work, we didn't need to go anywhere. So it ended up being really fun and sweet.

I will stop teasing my mom for buying us snowpants now.

They didn't know what to make of it. so they ran in circles. all four of them.

Three snowy babies in a sled!

And then they took turns doing this while Mark and I melted.

This is also basically all he does... at the beach. 

Also, we built our kids' first snowman! (Alltogethernow: "do you want to build a snowmaaaaan?") (If you're not singing, you're doing it wrong.) Like everyone else in America, we named our snowman Olaf. He is tiny. 

Presenting... Olaf Goettsch. He is a tiny snowman. 

For perspective, here is Olaf with the kids. See? Tiny.

Snow makes things too bright to smile pretty.

Unless you're Anneliese. In which case there are no objects to pretty smiles.

Look! We are southerners with pictures of our kids in the snow! Is it too soon to order next year's Christmas cards?

Happy snowme day!

Six and a Half

Nathan is very suddenly six and a half, which is weird because I had barely wrapped my brain around him being six, and it is becoming clear that he is really and truly, for real life (as he likes to say) reneging on his agreement to stay five forever. WHAT THE WHAT, NATHAN.

However, at six and a half, he is still (mostly*) delightful. (*Six is moody. He has bad days. Of course.) He is quite shy until suddenly he feels comfortable and gets chattery (although he glares if I call him either shy or chattery, so).

He is helpful, sweet and playful/bickery/playful with his sisters, and incredibly generous with a kind thought or compliment. He loves showing people love, and he is good at it, in the best ways a child can be. (And I adore this about him, clearly.)

He likes dinosaurs and puzzlies and patterns, and facts/trivia about animals and nature-y things, and he will talk about them to anyone who will listen. Also sometimes when we aren't listening. He likes yogurt and pbj sandwiches and hot chocolate and gummy fruit snacks. He loves to draw and write. He has capital-o Opinions about many of his shirts. He gets excited when he can wear ties, like Daddy. He still likes building with legos, he has an up-past-bedtime reading habit, and he has become a pretty fast little runner for a kid who took a healthy season of forever to decide he could walk.

He likes to send emails and write people notes and cards. They are full (full!) of exclamation marks. He is learning a little more on the computer but is still contentedly clueless (read: Mark and I are content) about phones and other techy stuff. He does know how to turn the TV on and find pbs kids, which our saturday mornings thank him for. He can make his own breakfast and pack his own lunches, mostly. He does his homework happily and quickly, which I know is no small thing and believe me, we do not take it for granted.

He frequently brings us new taped and stapled papers he has turned into books -- about music and math and people he knows, and occasionally* (*HA HA HA HA) a dinosaur or two makes an appearance. He loves to quiz everyone around him (including his sisters) on what plus what equals what. (We all need to perfect Charlotte's raised-eyebrow blank stare in response to these questions.)

He tells terrible jokes which are really just nonsensical questions with no punchlines. Why does YouTube have a face? ...And that's it. No follow up. Just the question, followed by lots of giggles. Ummm that is not a joke, buddy.

Oh and speaking of YouTube, we taught him that he can enter almost anything into the search box there and find a video about it, so he has therefore logged hours and hours of fossil documentaries, slideshows of toy cars with japanese subtitles, dinosaur sketches shown over rock music soundtracks, and every Jurassic Park trailer, twice* (*gross under-exaggeration).

Y'all, it blows my mind how bright he is. He is blowing through chapter books and asking insightful questions about them, and working through math ideas with a creative approach he definitely didn't get from me. (He still has not solved the Rubik's cube. I know someone will ask. At some point he will realize he can ask YouTube how to do it, but he hasn't yet.)

He is ever more clearly an introvert, and ever more clearly a sensitive creature, a being of feeeeeelings. He hates hurting people, but he also hates apologizing. He shuts down in the face of emotional conflict. Like, completely shuts down. He loves snuggling and back scratching, and when words and conversation evade him, he needs to be physically close to feel emotionally close. He has a very clear sense of what is fair (and not fair), and while it doesn't always line up with what we think is fair (or not fair), I like that he cares enough and is observant enough about the world and other people to have his own ideas about it.

He still does his track/walking club before school on Fridays, and taekwondo once a week, and he sings in the children's choir at church (where Another Nathan is finally finally his director, a moment I thiiiiink they have both been waiting for since oh I don't know, 2009-ish). He has started in orchestra at school, where he now knows the proper names for the strings on his cello and is learning to legitimately read music. (He freaking loves that cello. Loves. It. WE HAVE TRIUMPHED AS BAND GEEK PARENTS.)

So yeah, that is Nathan, at six and a half. And we love him so.

Yesterday Today Tomorrow, Good Hair Version

{Well this yesterday today tomorrow (prompt from jayesel) was written a looooong time before it is getting posted, and now yesterday really *is* so far away, so yeah.}

Yesterday - Okay first of all, I had a really good hair day yesterday. Like, really good.

Y'all don't even know the amount of  boob I just cropped out here.

I went to church in the morning and then I snuggled with Marky all afternoon but! don't worry! my hair stayed good! Which is important because then we went out for drinks with a big group to celebrate Another Nathan's birthday, and it was fun and funny and lovely and also I had good hair.

There were more pictures and people, but that's enough for you to get the gist of my good hair, right?

Today - Today I slept late because it was my turn. (Do you know how few things in my life make me happier than sleeping in? Very few. I think the order of stuff that makes me happy goes like this: 1- my family. 2- sleeping in. 3-super friends. 4- coffee. 5- pretty neon things. And really that list could probably be rearranged because I maaaaaybe like my family most when they are letting me sleep in.)

Anyway then we took the big kids to see Frozen, which, y'all, is DELIGHTFUL. The whole internet is absolutely right about this. It is a story about  love between sisters, and supportive friendship, and also a reindeer and a snowman, kinda. The soundtrack is fantastic, the characters are captivating, it is funny, it is honest, I love love loved it. I will see it again, I will sing along, and someday we will own it on dvd.

I guess animated Norwegians don't show their teeth when they smile? mmkay.

Then Another Nathan needed a watch fixed, so I used that as an excuse to wander around the mall with him for a while, pretending to shop but mostly eating truffles.

When I got home I made our favorite leeky chicken pot pie, a recipe I don't think I have shared before but it is very good! And leeky! And it has two crusts (two!) MADE OF PUFF PASTRY so you definitely want to make it, if I would ever provide you with the link, okay yes I found it here you go. YOU'RE WELCOME. It tastes like fall, if that kind of thing matters to you. Not that I mentally sort recipes by season or anything, that would be weird.

Tomorrow! Hm I guess that didn't need an exclamation point. Oh well. Oh wait yes it did! Because tomorrow, Mark is taking the big kids (school holiday) to the zoo in the morning, and Charlotte has preschool til 12, which means I have the house to myself (and hold up just wait a second that means I get to sleep! in! again!) which is never not delightful. I have big plans to drink coffee and then take a reeeeeally long shower complete with facial scrub and mask and deep hair conditioning, and a really thorough blow-drying. Which means I might have another really good hair day. Exxcellent.

Awkward Sibling Pic, v9.0

How have I not posted any awkward sibling pics since last June? And only one in all of 2013? Huge fail on my part.

Let's remedy that.

This is me trying to get a picture of Nathan with the girls in their new "best sister ever" shirts he got them for Christmas but of course photo ops never happen the way we want them to, so yeah. This:

(He found the shirt first in Charlotte's size and wanted to get it for her, but then also wanted one for Anneliese because she is the best sister too, but he already had a present for Anneliese, so if he got her two things then he wanted to pick out a second thing for Charlotte too, which he did, and so both girls got two presents including these shirts, and basically it is the most Nathan thing that has ever happened.)

"And the other one right here is Q."

Nathan has officially started in orchestra at school! I should probably wait until he knows how to play a song (or at least hold the bow) before I post a video, but when he got his cello out the other night to tell us about his class and pluck it for us for the first time, I did whip the camera right out, and I am not sorry, because LOOK AT THIS:


If you can't see the embedded video, click here to watch it on YouTube.

Okay so he might need to work on the names of the strings. Whatever. IS CLEARLY A MUSICAL GENIUS. This right here is why band geeks fall in love and make babies -- so that said babies grow up and pluck tiny cellos* and make their parents melt.

*Is it cellos, or celli, by the way? Who knows. Brb still melting.

Get To Know Me Questions

Okay, for Am Doing My Best, here is a random non-family-update thing to blog about, and it was fun! And now I want everyone I know to do this too!

If you were on an island, who would you want to be with? Why? Mark, duh. He's my super co-vacationer. Wait I'm not on this island forever, right? I get to come home and see my kids and friends and family? So yeah, on the island, Mark and only Mark.

If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be? Ooooh the nativity, I think. Or the making of the Sound of Music in Austria in the 1960s. That makes me sound like a total heretic to mention those next to each other in the same answer, but yeah. There it is.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? I am a good musician, but I have always been sort of sad I can't play the piano. So, that. Or fly, if we are being implausible. Who wouldn't want to be able to fly?

If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to? Gretchen. I've always kinda felt like a Gretchen. Yes really.

If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Pay off the mortgage, pay for my family's mortgages, buy one fancy gift each for my favorite ten or so people, and then go on vacation. Maybe to that island we just talked about. (That is the first, second, third, and fourth things I would do, because I'm not a rule-follower and also I am wordy.)

If you could be any fictional character, who would you choose? Hermione.

What do you want to be when you grow up? HAHAHAHAHA

What was the last movie, TV show or book that made you cry or tear up? I cry at almost every book, and literally every movie (Mark and Another Nathan can vouch for that. I cried at Ted. TED for crying out loud. I hated that movie! Yet, I cried sappy tears) but I think the last book I cried at was Eleanor & Park, and the last movie I cried-cried in, tears-in-my-neck, snot-soaked sleeves, was Saving Mr. Banks.

What do you miss most about being a kid? Oh, this will be heavy, but I do miss my mom and dad and sister and brother all living in one house. It feels like some level of whole that is very hard to re-create as an adult, although with my own husband and kids now, it is getting there.

What story does your family always tell about you? My sister swears up and down that I told her Hitler lived in our toilet and would come out and get us when we flushed. But I did not come up with that, and I know I didn't, because I was scared of it too! (We were odd children; I can see this now.) I really thought she told me, but she's 32 now and legitimately insists she didn't, so I believe her. Maybe it was the product of someone's bad dream or something and what was one scary idea turned into a joint childhood fear. Or maybe we just watched waaaaaaaay to much of The Sound of Music. Regardless, we believed it, we became experts at the flush & run, and our family still talks about it. HITLER. IN THE TOILET.

What is your dream job? Travel writer. Pay me to take a trip, see new sights, eat new foods, meet new people, notice things to form opinions about them, and then write all about it? Yep. Sign me up.

What cause are you willing to fight for? Correct usage of apostrophes. It is my hill to die on. (Also, equal marriage rights for all people who use apostrophes correctly, regardless of sexuality.)

What was the last national park you visited? Buck Island off St. Croix, where we went snorkeling last year on my brother's wedding trip. Fun fact: it is the only national park that is completely underwater! (Also I am a traveler who is full of fun facts! You definitely want me on alllll your national park trips.)

What was the first thing you learned to cook? I made a lot of hamburger helper for my family when I was a kid, does that count? The first thing I learned to cook cook as an adult was this peasant pasta with sausage and peas I learned from watching Rachael Ray on tv in the early weeks of my marriage. I watched a lot of Rachael Ray on TV in the early weeks of my marriage. A lot.

What book can you read over and over again? A Little Princess, Where the Red Fern Grows, Harry Potter, A Son of the Circus, The Poisonwood Bible.

Did you ever work at an on campus job? Heck yeah I did, I was a happy minion in the music department office (before minions were adorable animated movie characters). I learned important things like: 1- how to make a pot of coffee that doesn't piss off the organ professor, 2- there is no problem that can't be solved by sticking a post-it note on something else, 3- most grownups a generation ahead of me are scared of computers, 4- how to lie talk to prospective students/families about opera and dance programs that didn't really exist at my school 5- to never ever under any circumstances staple a check to anything, ever, especially not a band/orchestra camp application. I can haz mad office skillz.

What was the first concert you went to see? Richard Marx! It was so so awesome. I am not even being sarcastic. I also saw Boyz II Men on Valentine's Day in eighth grade with my (gasp! tenth grade! scandalous!) boyfriend. And his parents. Which was also awesome and that is also not sarcasm.

Who is someone from your past that you are sorry you lost track of? Oh, lots of people. I am all for looking someone up when I think of them, but the ones that can't be tracked down, even online, kinda confound me. The first one that comes to mind is Hank, one of my best buds on foreign study in Germany. Weird we went through this awesome transformative thing together, bonded over our young engagements and similar book tastes, and shared snacks on night trains and laughed til we cried at the automated lady on the phone cards for calling America. We stayed close through the rest of college, and then we got married (on the same day!) and he fell off the face of the earth. Sad. He was smart and fun and lovely. Still is, I'm sure.

If you could see 24 hours into the future what would you do with this ability? Go nuts, I think. That sounds terrible and exhausting. It would send me into a panic of trying to control everything (even more than I do now!) and oh my geesh, suddenly I am very very very glad there are some things we never get to know or predict. YIKES.

If you had it to do over again what would you study in school? I majored in English (with a double major in German) (HASHTAG USEFUL), but I think if I did it over I would do something more writing-ish. Yes, more than English. Like something more about journalism or media or design/communications. That stuff fascinates me now. Actually wait I take it back, I loved my years of reading books and writing papers about them and getting a degree for it. What am I saying? That was super.

What do you know how to say in a foreign language? Lots of things! Want me to write this blog post in cluttered German? Because I can! At one point I could also say "would you please take our photo?" in fourteen langugages because I am That Traveler, and fun! facts! are not the only thing I can offer to a vacation. (Mark rolls his eyes and then feels super glad we have a the pictures, so.)

What was your first paying job? I babysat as a teenager, and then spent my adolescence as a lifeguard, but my first paying job in the "real world" was a sales job for a company that arranged non-profit travel (disaster relief, humanitarian aid, mission trips, that kind of thing). It wasn't what I thought I was looking for when we moved to Raleigh, but I loved the lady I interviewed with and I loved the company's vision (originally borne of the Mennonite church which was odd but lovely) so I took the job, and was so glad I did, because it turns out I am totally good at sales. Not in a schmoozy gross way (I know the word "sales" is a big turn-off to a lot of people) but in a listening to what people need, smart at creative logistics way. I was good at it; my clients liked me and so did my company. I don't mean to sound douchey, just saying it was a great job for me. I did it for like six years, til Anneliese was born, and I would do it again.

(Edited: I just remembered I totally had a job in the "real world" right after we got married, a sports shop in Clemson, where I was hired to something something implement bar codes something men's section buying choices blah blah blah it was retail with a crappy cranky boss and it was not my favorite, but through sale samples, Mark did start to achieve his lifetime goal of owning All The Clemson Shirts.) (Said lifetime goal has since been abandoned.)

What is the strangest food you have ever eaten? I am not a super picky eater, but I also can't think of anything truly weird I have eaten. Once when we were on foreign study in the Netherlands, Mark made me eat a whole pickled (raw? I can't remember) herring drenched in raw onions. It was... not good. (Another Nathan says this is where I should admit I ate food in China that I couldn't identify, which even if the food itself was normal, is apparently not a Normal Person thing to do. So there's also that.)

When was the first time you saw the ocean? I am guessing before I was even a year old, and suddenly I am sad for people who might have a definitive memoried answer for this. Or maybe jealous of them, for having it be a noteworthy memorable experience? I love the ocean, I love the beach, I don't recall ever not knowing what it was or what it was like. I'm a Carolinian so that's to be expected though.

What is most memorable about your high school years? Laughing a lot with my awesome band dork friends. Being completely in puppy-love (and then real love!) with Mark. Constant muscle soreness from swim practice.

What word describes you best? Emotional. I feel everything, everything, like really really feel it. It is sometimes exhausting, but most of the time it is connective and good. I think. I hope? It means I love people really hard, and I wouldn't trade that. So, good.

Happy Birthday, Another Nathan!

Hey someone is thirty today. Thirty! Someone we love a whole ridiculously lot.

Happy birthday to Another Nathan, my soul friend, supporter of our family, keeper of the faith, constant singer, painter of our house, gifted listener, protector of my scary places, hugger of my children, encourager of my husband, coffee date extraordinaire, tireless bringer of cheer, my almost-brother, basically the jackpot prize in the friend lottery I somehow won. 

We love you and we are honored to be your Raleigh family.  If the first thirty years of your life have made you this kind and creative and awesome, just think what the next thirty will bring. I hope it is even better than what you're letting yourself dream for. Cheers to you, my best friend, and happy birthday.

Rough Week? Merry Charlotte! And Daniel!

 It has been a long week.

Some of it was fine and fun, but lots of it involved COLD weather (and school delays, and therefore all-day-behind delays), Mark working late evenings and extra days, both girls being sick (Anneliese got diagnosed with p-neu on the 3rd -- it only took three days for our family to fail at my 2014 goal of no pneumonia, #nomonia I DIDN'T EVEN GET TO HASHTAG THAT B!TCH), several super naughty and frustrating mornings, a day of hard Jan 9th memories, oh and then a shooting near Nathan's school that ended in a lockdown (everyone is fine! had nothing to do with school! all is well! but it sure didn't make my week BETTER), and yeah I don't have many cheerful funny things to blog about right now. But I was looking at Christmas pictures and this made me smile, so HEY! If you're having a rough week, look at Charlotte! IT HELPS!

Charlotte and a big Daniel and a little Daniel (and several of Daniel's friends which you can't see inside that purse) are settling in for a Christmas day nap.

Several weeks and several rough days later, and yep still merry.

It's Cold. Here is a GINT Dinosaur Wearing a Scarf. (another post by Nathan)

{Nathan wanted to write a post for "his blog" (????) several weeks ago and he wrote this but I never got around to posting it. And now it is colder here than it has been in twenty years, so it's a good time for a dinosaur wearing a scarf, right? Right.}

Hi its Nathan. i made a pickshur of a TYRAANASAURUS REX if it was alive today

evryone whoud be runing for there lives!! Becuse it was GINT! and sharp teth.

i have a stuft tyrannasaurus rex his name is Rex and i sometimes i  call  him

rexey and i allways sleep  and play with him he is speshle too me. and tiger is too. and from amezon and i got a plush spinosaurus that means stuft anemal. his name is spino he is speshle too me too!  

no one nos if they got cold but if they wared a sckarf it wud be so funney!

Tyrannasaurus rex and spinosaurus are the biggist predoters. i love trex and spinosaurus they are my faiverte dinosaurs.

and i love littile legos.

BY NATHAN!!!!!!!!!

Gotcha Day, Canine Version

Ten years ago January 3rd, when Mark and I had been living in Raleigh for exactly five days, we went to a PetSmart adopt-a-thon to meet some puppies. The puppies were no-shows, but there was a neurotic little red dog who sat in my lap and shivered in nervousness, and she wasn't what we thought we came for, this odd scared little adult dog, but somehow she was ours.

Bowden. She was my first (and for a while, only) friend in Raleigh. She rode with me in the car everywhere, followed me into any room, accompanied me to the office on worky weekends and snuck into the bed with me in the mornings when Mark showered. She has overcome her fears of the newborn cries, the vet, and staircases (yes really), but still not thunder or drain grates (yes really). Her muzzle and chest have gone from red to gray to white, but she still has the same joy-panic she's always had when you give her a piece of rawhide. She finds nothing not worth barking at, no one's lap not worth jumping into, gives even puppy breath a bad name, and doesn't like to... play. She lies on  my chest to watch tv, and still greets Mark after work with more obnoxious enthusiasm than he deserves (read: wants). She now has a permanent welcome spot on our bed.

Ten years, two houses, three human siblings, and a puppy sibling come and passed, she is still our first baby. Love you, B-diddy.

(Slightly related: ten years ago January FOURTH, Mark started work at his current job. Ten years he has been there! Also a major milestone. Suddenly it feels like it was a decade ago this week, without us even knowing of course, that our current life got planted. Congratulations and love you too, Marky.)

2014

Happy new year! Mark and I rang in 2014 with a fancy dinner with friends, our babies safely tucked in at my mom's house in Huntersville. It was lovely and easy and fun, and our only regret so far this year is that we didn't re-take this picture ten minutes later when the restaurant turned the tree lights on but OH WELL.

Wait wait wait! Here are some tree lights!

(Am awesome at photo editing. You should hire me.)

Anyway for really for reals, I love this dude, and I loved that I have gotten to kiss him the last seventeen new years in a row. (Some of those were the next morning after a night shift or something but whatever, you know what I mean.) Seventeen! With seventy or so more to come.

I can't wait.