The Most Wonderful Season of All...

I love Christmastime. I always have and I do believe I will continue to randomly squeal like a school-girl around this time of the year. I love Advent and the quiet waiting and anticipation of celebrating Emmanuel, God with Us. I love working at a school where we can read and reflect on the Advent season. I love the creation of gifts for loved ones and the general spirit of generosity. I love that we are celebrating our first Christmas in our very own house. We've been married for 6 years and we've had many adventures in that short amount of time; our biggest one being the birth of our first child, Caitlin. We had to delay home ownership during years of intentional poverty trying to get a community business together and working towards higher degrees. But the blessings of more meaningful work have allowed us to own a small home and its the best thing in the world.

Here's what I SO love about Christmas this year:

Home: What do I love about our new home at this time? I love decorating with the few things we've acquired in our short married life, picking out a real tree at a neighborhood lot (though I long for those fancy Pines and Spruce's...the lower rung will do for now!), baking gingerbread cookies and slowly picking my way through the mounds of gifted goodies and snacks gracing our new, granite counters, our first sloppily-hung green Christmas lights gracing our porch beams (a feature I couldn't do without for our first house), stockings hung with care on our big family bookshelf (it may not have a fireplace...but this will ALSO do!). I am also enjoying a tree clad in all white lights with various collected ornaments, but we need more lights! And I'm already thinking ahead to the beautiful, natural pine swag I will buy for my handrail headed upstairs (which we are going to finally mount over break--we have to purchase a new one b/c the old one had too many layers of old paint and was poor quality).

Family: Driving around the metro area to be with loved ones is WHY we came back home and its so good to return home at the end of a large gathering, or sleep over and drive home in the morning. Having family members drop by to help eat through our Holiday treats and play with Cait and her new toys is also what melts my heart at this time.

Town: I love all of the Christmas decorations EXCEPT those giant blow-up globes that are so popular these days. We took Cait to a Holiday parade right after Thanksgiving and my favorite part are the bagpipes! I should really get some bagpipe recordings to play at home during the Holidays. We live in an area between two very adorable downtown scenes that have great Holiday shopping and small, independent stores with cute gift ideas. I only browsed this year because I bought a lot online, but its fun to look! I also got to sneak away for an afternoon of pre-break grading at a nearby bookstore where I enjoyed the Holiday jazz and a warm beverage (one of my favorite winter things) Now...it just needs to snow because we are walking distance from some GREAT sledding.

Expectations: I have many plans for over break and I spent this Boxing Day afternoon working on various lists, but, honestly, one of the most important things to me is relaxing because Stephen and I are both usually running ourselves ragged during the school terms. I am reading The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen and I have Tina Fey's memoir on my nightstand as next in line. We will surely chip away at the household tasks since there is MUCH to do (curtains, railing, wall hangings, basement organization, organization, filing, etc.), but we are good about reminding each other to slow down and just be still and, yes, get a refill on coffee and cozy up on the couch.

Christmas time is here and my heart is filled to overflowing. I am tired from family gatherings, but grateful for all the loved ones we could see and treasure.

Enjoy!

Christmas is coming...

As I unwind from the week and prepare my mind and energy for the weekend, I am reminded of blessings. I've told some of my co-workers at my new school that this Fall, though very busy, has felt like a bit of a Sabbatical to me after the last few years as there are so many less stresses on my mind and heart. I am grateful as I enter the flurry of this final week before Christmas 2012 for...

-Caitlin's spirit of creativity and ingenuity in her play and her nonstop curiosity!
-a husband who has been willing to cook after long days so that I can catch up with Cait after work
-Tempeh-Lettuce-Tomato sandwiches on a Friday night
-a sense of completion on the Holiday Cards (though a picture card would've been easier in retrospect, these will send some good tidings around and that's the point!)
-a workplace that brings me more sense of calm...
-a husband who is done with exams...for now!
-extra acorn squash from my sister-in-law...hmmm... many possibilities

My husband reminded me to get back into this old blog and update more, so I will try to do so during the Holidays when I have a chance to breathe a bit more...until then...enjoy your loved ones!

Father's Day

We recently spent 9 days in Detroit for a sort-of vacation. Our intention was to go to the cottage in Canada for some of that time, but that's hard to do w/ an expired passport ;(. So we just took our time with both families, a few friends, a grad party and some Father's Day celebrating. I was also lucky enough to get a last min. surprise interview. It may turn into something, it may not...the market is VERY competitive over there as there are so many teachers out of work and folks graduating from teacher's colleges in the area. The fact that I've had 4 interviews is encouraging in and of itself.

We got to spend time with Caitlin's new cousin, Hudson..I'll post more pics in the future. I can't believe I forgot how SMALL Caitlin was @ the nb stage! And she got to play with her cousin Lily who seemed to enjoy entertaining her. It makes me feel good to know that Caitlin is learning her family faces--all the grandparents and her cousins. I grew up seeing one set of grandparents and aunts and uncles pretty frequently and that is something that I want for my child.

We also got to go on a DATE! Our budget has been tight and we don't have as much free babysitting around here, so we've just been enjoying the post 7pm hours as "adult time" for conversation and renting movies. BUT...it was extremely nice to finally get out and spend the whole evening together. We went to a vegetarian restaurant in Ann Arbor, got coffee at Espresso Royale and sat in the park. We lucked out b/c it was 1/2 off wine night @ the restaurant...I look forward to more dating in the future! ;)

We also did a bit of preparation for moving into Stephen's family's house. I am so grateful that they're allowing us to land there temporarily while we begin the hunt for the right house, the right price, and the right neighborhood.

summer is here

Caitlin has now been to two weddings this summer. There are two more to go and, unfortunately, we missed one of a Pittsburgh friend. I have always enjoyed weddings, but I have enjoyed them even more since I've been married and I truly understand the hard work and wonderful benefits of married life. I know I was naive about the commitment that I was making when I said, "I do" almost 5 years ago. But I felt that I knew Stephen well and I felt confidant that our families would love and support us through the growth process. I am glad that I waited a year out of college to get married because I did learn a lot about myself during that year. Hopefully I can pass that advice on to my daughter if she is making similar decisions in the future.

What I also love about wedding celebrations is I find myself listening to the words of the officiant (pastor, priest, etc.) and taking them to heart in whatever stage I find our marriage to be in. It's a nice chance to just hold each other's hand, listen to the sage advice, and be reminded of the blessings that we have in our love.

Stephen's cousin, Tom, is getting married in July. Again, I look forward to celebrating with and for them as they begin the journey that we began 5 years ago. Marriage and now parenthood can be stressful, but the ways our love has strengthened over the years humble me.

Managing

This may seem like stating the obvious, but I was just realizing how much more responsible parenting has made me. I am so much better at balancing my checkbook, and keeping track of finances. I am way better at being mindful to try and get the dinner dishes cleaned every night (I said "better"...not 100% successful ;)). I am more keenly aware of how many food groups are involved in the meals I'm eating (that started in the 1st Trimester). I am far more organized at work....I'm hoping this soon transfers over to the home office. I am also better at meal planning so that we don't waste fresh food.

I have great aspirations for heading into this task of moving with incredible organization. I am going to start a family binder to keep a family calendar, to organize bills to pay, and wedding invites ;) and other pertinent info. that I can just throw in my purse during the move. I also started a packing list for every room with two columns, one column for storage items and one for "take with"...as we'll be moving in with family and it's going to require major sorting! I admit that I stole the idea from a blogger...but the packing info. is my own twist as that section applies to our current situation.

Last day of work for the 2010 School Year! Wahoo!

Off to organize this great binder!

On Eating Healthy...

Last night after the babe had been put to bed and my husband and I were relaxing on the couch we started talking about our eating habits. Stephen is scheduled to begin doing "healthy eating" tours at Whole Foods in the coming weeks and he said that the amount that he has learned about food from his job really convicts him. We have, admittedly, made a number of trips to Aldi this winter/early spring to cut down on our food budget. We still get most of our produce from Whole Foods, but we were getting some of our staples from Aldi. The unfortunate thing about those cheaper foods is that they are EXTREMELY high in sugars (unnatural ones) and preservatives. If I am diligent about sticking to my budget, with our 25% discount at WF, I can actually get a comparable amount of food for the same amount as I would spend @ Aldi or a standard supermarket. And the advantage is health. (I haven't been sick w/ a cold or flu for 2 years!!) I end up buying way less boxed and canned goods when I shop at WF and they don't sell my indulgent hash browns--which is GOOD for me! I think the conclusion that we came to is that the real difference in cost-savings and waste is: MEAL PLANNING. I make much better use of my fresh foods if I come up w/ a tentative meal schedule for the week. And hey, ultimately, we will eat a lot of rice and beans and burritos and spaghetti b/c of our limited budget.

Here's a few ways that we've saved this winter:

1.) Buying dried beans v. canned (cook them w/ some garlic in the crock pot)
2.) Bake more! a loaf of Banana bread, some corn bread...these things are better snacks than chips!
3.) Avoiding buying too many fake meat products (I like them more than Steve and they're expensive...but still not as expensive as real meat--yuck!); there are wonderful non-fake-meat protein options: quinoa, lentils, felafel, tofu, beans, sprouted beans on salad, pesto, etc.
4.) No soda
5.) Meal planning
6.) Shopping only every 2 wks.
7.) Getting 1/2 off bread from BreadWorks (local bakery; and buying a lot and freezing it)
8.) Making our own babyfood (baked veggies pureed in the blender--Caitlin loves them!)
9.) Buying bulk rice, soy sauce and olive oil (from wholesalers in the Strip District)
10.) Less eating out (easier to do now that we have a baby ;))

I do enjoy being in the kitchen. Someday we will have a kitchen space that is more ideal, but until then I work with what I've got.

Mange Bien!

A break in the clouds

No pics today as I'm posting from work.

We had a lovely family evening last night. We had a big recycling errand to run across town, so, in conjunction, we stopped at our favorite hot dog 'n beers place. Because of the nice weather, EVERYONE was out and this place was packed w/ a 30 min. wait. So, we got some of their draft root beer and some dogs and fries to-go. We ran into our friends Tony and Angela as we were waiting outside for our food. We always run into them at that exact spot! They informed us that they are expecting! They are due in December, so that makes TWO friends now who will be having babies around Christmas--how exciting. Once we got our food we took it to the park. We watched a softball game while Caitlin played in the grass (we had a mat for her but she kept rolling off). Thank goodness for a break from this gloomy rain!

We continue to wait on word from my last teaching interview. I am hopeful from the prospect of a few new job postings around home, but I do hope it is a while before I make baby C take that long drive with me again.

Happy Friday!