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!

Summer Right Now

Thanks to the Summer Solstice, we are now officially in our Summer days. Here's what is happening. I am...

:digging up a storm to clean up and arrange our little yard into some workable space. The garden is planted! Though I don't currently have space for my big vines (watermelon and pumpkin...next year, guys), we should have (as long as the bunnies stay away): tomatoes, basil, green peppers, mustard greens, collard greens, peas, and garlic. The rest we can get from the market this year...

:smelling the sweet smell of the the air after a long rain

:packing for a small vacation to celebrate marriage, babies and family. It's the only planned getaway for the summer...so we'll live it up, I'm sure.

:organizing, cleaning, and continuing the work of MOVING INto this new home. There are shelves to be built, boxes to sort through, and countless fix up and painting projects around the house...all in time.

:sleeping off a year of stress, chaos and exhaustion.

:enjoying too much coffee, too frequent snacks, and too much internet time in these early vacation days...that's ok ;)

What are you feeling at this seasonal change?

Spring

I cannot believe that I've made it to Spring. There remains only a few weeks of teaching left before my summer recess and I'm so anxious! We are settling into the house and it looks like we may be able to move into the upstairs by Memorial Day weekend! Stephen is finally done with school for the term, so he has a bit of time to press forward on the painting and trim before the carpet arrives. My dad has been a huge help coming over on weekends to help with painting and other projects upstairs. Once we get everything moved up there we can finally MOVE in, and get all rooms set up including the office. This will be such a relief to get the shelves and books and files out and in order and not have to rove through things in the basement.

We've been so anxious to use the little piece of earth that we have to grow some things to eat and be nourished by this Spring, but my time is so limited because of work. We have not had the chance to test our soil, but I just threw some herbs into some planters that were already here when we moved in, and I planted a few cosmos along the front beds. The yard will require a lot of work, but mostly some cleaning up and rearranging. We need to get a fence completed so that we can actually be outside with Cait and not be following her around every second. As of right now I can only pull weeds while she sits in her bike cart and that doesn't last super long ;). We'll see what decides to grow. I know I'll be relying heavily on the Royal Oak farmers' market--which is in biking distance!

I'm currently so focused on getting myself through the last weeks of instruction, that I have not have much time to work on planning our one summer getaway. But we are planning a trip out to Columbus, Pittsburgh and Washington DC for wedding, new baby visit and to see family. I just cannot focus on the details just yet.

I hope you all enjoy your Mother's Day. You are all strong and beautiful. Take care.

Crabby and Tired

(a picture from a recent visit with dear friends from Pittsburgh, whom we miss very much!)

I just laid Caitlin down for the night...I can hear her singing/humming with her glow worm. Seeing her end her day always makes me extra tired. It was just such a long day at work, I felt crabby all morning, the kids behavior was very distracted b/c they'd just come back from 2 snow days, I didn't get lunch until 1:30, and I just felt really unprofessional and disorganized.

The update is that we are planning to move in a week. We are going to pack throughout the week and haul everything to the house next Saturday...so this week will be one of preparations and last min. touches at the house. I WISH our bedroom was ready, but I don't believe we'll be using it for a couple of weeks...fortunately we can set up the bed, etc. in our spare room--though it will be tighter quarters than our master bedroom...but I'm anxious to have that room DONE before we haul things up there. I WILL post pics in the near future...we are just currently w/o a digicam, so I'll have to have family send me whatever pictures they take. I am soooo very anxious to be home. I am anxious to truly feel like an adult and to not be in someone else's space, though family has been overwhelmingly generous...I really need some autonomy to feel more sane. My work is so demanding, my husband's schedule is demanding and our daughter is a busy little lady who needs to be nurtured and played with and I desperately need the experience of coming home to my own space to just "be" after a long day. (It's also hard to share a fridge ;))--I have very different ideas about food, storage, food-buying...and I don't want to force that on anyone else...so I gotta get back to my own fridge.

Okay~ I should get some rest or construct some boxes to prepare for move #6 in the 5 years of Frey-Wagg family life! Atleast we are FINALLY going to a HOUSE that we'll be in for many years (Lord willing).

Love to all~

Holidays, family

In response to my husband's prodding, I am finally updating this blog. It's a good thing because there's so much happening in our lives, individually and as a family, that I really should be recording things somewhere!

It is now late December and we are in the midst of slowly enjoying our Holiday break from work and school. It is so wonderful to be home, to be fully present with Caitlin, to have some time to bake, to sip wine and read before bed, and to catch up with family and friends whom we have not seen in some time. We are still staying with family until the right house materializes, but in the meantime it is nice to have the present love and support of grandparents. Cait is toddling around and exploring. She points ahead of her all the time, saying "dah!" She is now enjoying the surprise of some new toys from old St. Nick--her favorites being the wind up cars that dad picked out, the pretend breakfast in bed tray ;), and her new books (a mom favorite). She appears to be cutting another tooth (finally! number 3!) which causes her some discomfort.

We have much to look forward to in 2011, but I'd like to take a moment and pause and (as inspired to do so by another blog friend) remember my favorite things/moments of 2010--a year of change and blessings! In 2010, we endured Snowpacalypse in Pittsburgh hibernating with friends, Caitlin went through a million changes (crawling, eating solids, interacting more!), we moved from PA to MI to be with family, I started my first teaching job (teaching Honors and At-Risk Social Studies, two diff. grade levels, and managing student gov't.), Stephen started law school and we live in someone else's house! I said to Stephen the other day, I think we are pretty darn flexible given all of our insane life circumstances! ;)

Things we are looking forward to in 2011:
-becoming more involved at Mack Ave
-moving into our house!
-going to the cottage with family! (and maybe camping with grandma and grandpa)
-visiting Pittsburgh in January!
-exploring more of our beautiful state!

We have been blessed beyond proportion, and despite the amount of energy and creativity that it takes to get through each day with our challenging work and school schedules...we all lay our heads to rest each night with full bellies, and very grateful hearts. We have been enjoying the warmth of this Holiday as we embrace friends and family and as we sit in stillness and ponder the wonderful mystery of Christmas.

Autumn is upon us...

My favorite season is here and with that comes sweaters in the morning, treasured leaves pressed in books, and snotty noses. ;) So many things have changed for us in the past few months and we are emotionally and physically tired and overwhelmed. However, there is goodness amidst the chaos.

I am thankful for...
-a job! my first REAL teaching job and all the frenzied stress that comes with it
-a great babysitter (thanks to a friendly connection whom I'd like to get to know better); Caitlin is cared for by loved ones and a wonderful new family w/ children and a dog that she can play with...knowing that she is safe and happy allows me to go to work with ease
-the prospects of a great church: Mack Ave...we've only visited once, but the teaching was excellent and it seems like good community of people who care passionately about the city and its economic revival
-5 years of marriage to my best friend in the world...and the coffee maker that he got me for my classroom as an anniversary present ;)
-FALL! and the prospect of getting to the cider mill...i LOVE Michigan in the Fall; I'm so happy to be here

Stephen is doing what he can amidst the law school work to find us houses to look at; I believe we'll start touring a few next weekend. I'm so antsy to get out there and look!...esp. now that we can get approved for a loan! ;) He's at a new home buyers class right now getting some know-how...and he's been watching HGTV like crazy for tips and insight.

I do hope you're all enjoying the splendor and warmth of this season...