thankful list | December + January

01. autoplay on Hulu when my strained back confined me to the sofa.
02. discovering Once Upon a Time when I needed a diversion (see above).
03. a rolling chair at work so I didn't have to get up so much.
04. being in a reading mood again.
05. Ian finishing the last two LARE sections (results in 3 months).
06. MUTEMATH live.
07. a date to The Nutcracker.
08. CookieFest 2011.
09. freshly waxed eyebrows and a dinner date to celebrate.
10. smooth travels and only an hour flight delay.
11. the art of packing for 10 days in a carry-on.
12. a sweet brother-in-law who shopped for us at IKEA.
12. the drive to Denver with Ian when we had to exchange items at IKEA.
13. Swedish meatball consumption because Ian forgot to send Ren frame dimensions.
14. Grandma Judy driving out to see us.
15. updated family photos with Dane, Micki and Ren.
16. gold toenails with extra sparkles.
17. Grandma Marilyn's fall resulting only in a shoulder fracture, nothing worse.
18. being around when Grandma Marilyn fell so we could take care of her.
19. tasty Christmas dinner even when it's late and reheated.
20. incredibly thoughtful gifts from everyone.
21. Creatures, the card game.
22. Grandpa's WWII stories in digital format. I almost cried.
23. using Grandma's old Encyclopedia to answer trivia questions.
24. seeing cows dotted across the prairie under a vibrant sunset.
25. a walk down the farm road.
26. potato sausage and rhubarb pie.
27. friends everywhere we go (miss you, thanks for driving and hosting us).
28. A great anniversary spent on the Plaza in KC.
29. warm fuzzy sweaters and hiking socks when it's 10 degrees outside.
30. Wen's cookies.
31. new music on a cold dreary day.
32. kiwi.
33. Suburgatory (cold outside = more tv inside).
34. quick trips to the MFA thanks to our membership.
35. Old Try's BCS championship watch party.
36. dinners + great conversations with old and new Boston friends.
37. minimal damage (only laundering needed) when our radiator turn into a geyser.
38. a trip to California in January.
39. picking up exactly where left off with old friends.
40. Caleb + Tina's wedding.
41. Jordan and Brittany offering to loan us a car for a day + host us.
42. palm trees.
43. Din Tai Fung.
44. In-N-Out Burger.
45. JetBlue's leg room and snacks.
46. free movies because of a delayed flight home.
47. our bed.

assumptions.

"Hi! Are you waiting for the bus?" the woman asks as she arrives at the bus stop. She's well dressed in long coat, bundled against the cold New England weather that finally arrived with the new year.

"Yup." We are at the bus stop, after all, I think to myself.

From under a big hooded coat, she asks, "What bus you are taking?" followed by "Where you are going?" and informs us she just had dinner with a friend. Her trip home is long apparently, and she has to work tomorrow.

We recommend a different bus to give her a more direct route.

She listens as if considering our suggestion, then cautiously declines. "I don't think so. I know where I'm going."

At this point it dawns on me. Her awkward questioning tactics. The slight slur blending the spaces between slowly enunciated words. The hesitancy to change from the familiar. She might be special needs.

"What bus are you taking?" she asks again, and now I am sure.

She goes on to tell me about her job at Lord & Taylor. It doesn't quite fit with the mental image I have begun to construct, but it would explain the coat and designer handbag. She mentions something about stocking.

After my answer to each question she asks and my agreement to each statement she makes, she pauses long enough to give the impression that the conversation is over, then launches in again with awkward, ill-fitting replies. My phone tells me we will be waiting for at least five more minutes. I want to talk to Ian instead, but how can I be rude to someone like her? So I respond. Agreeing that, yes 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. makes for a very long, exhausting work day.

"Nine hours straight is a lot."

"We get an hour break for lunch."

Eight hour work days twice a week. Must be rough. I remind myself to extend grace. She continues to complain, citing a busy holiday season with extra hours: almost 30 one week.

Finally the bus comes, and she says goodbye with a flourishing wave before she gets in line ahead of us.

As we sit down a few seats away from her, we exchange glances. "As soon as she asked us again what bus we were taking, I knew," Ian confides. "She's drunk, so I just zoned her out."

Oh.

Why is snow amazing?

When the storm clears, kids with sleds appear. It makes my heart full.

Christmas 2011, or 4,811 miles in 12 days

Boston — Atlanta — Denver: 2,149 miles

We finished our packing early the night before (11 p.m. as opposed to after midnight), and the next morning our friends John and Erin were kind enough to drive us to the airport. Our flight left at 8:30 a.m. instead of our usual 6 a.m. cheapest option, we had a sit down lunch in the Atlanta airport, and our second flight was only delayed an hour despite the big snowstorm in Denver. Aside from my seat's lack of padding, the falling airplane interior wall panels, and window shade that wouldn't stay up, it was the smoothest trip home in a while.

Denver — Bennett — IKEA — Goodland: 269 miles

While waiting in Atlanta, Ian confirmed with Ren, chauffeur/brother, that we could detour to IKEA to pick up frames for some Advent Conspiracy art we planned to gift. Ren offered to do even better: little Sweden was on his way so he could pick up the frames for us. Ian texted the style and price before we boarded the plane. Ren met us at the airport with the frames, then the plan was to continue on to Bennett, meet up with their cousin Ryan, and then drive on home. Until we realized Ian forgot to tell Ren the most important detail for frame procurement: dimensions. We dropped Ren off with Ryan in Bennett, then drove back to IKEA where we made the most of our frame-exchange delay by indulging in Swedish meatballs and lingonberry jam while recounting our favorite childhood Christmas memories.

Two hours later than originally planned, family and cats greeted us with open arms. The next two days were filled with family photos, good food, and quality time. Since we aren't home often, we've got to make it count. (And thanks Grandma Judy, for driving down from Smith County to spend time with us!)

Goodland — Dodge City: 193 miles

We packed up again and right after the Christmas Eve service, we headed down to Dodge. Yes, the same one as "get the heck outta." Despite missing a few people (Jim, Syd, and Karla) we had a great Christmas planned. Presents in our pajamas, football, basketball, and prime rib.

We timed the meat for dinner at 4 p.m. And right at 3:50 p.m., Grandma Marilyn fell. She tripped on the desk in the spare bedroom and hurt her shoulder (we found out later that night it was a compression fracture). Dane, Debbie, and Susan rushed Grandma to the hospital while the rest of us held down the fort. Which also involved taking care of Adam, who had just come down with a stomach bug. We ended up eating dinner in two shifts, and doing a lot of furniture moving to accommodate Grandma. She felt so bad for "ruining" Christmas, but we were just glad we were there to help out (Grandma, we're so thankful you're doing better!).

Dodge City — Oakley: 134 miles
After all the excitement in Dodge, we were thankful for some low key time with my family, which involved Settlers of Catan, Creatures, a cute new sandwich shop, Mexican food, and Sherlock Holmes 2.

And not that I didn't like my family before, but the older we get, the more fun it is to be together. Maybe it's because we don't see each other that often, maybe it's because I'm no longer the bossy big sister (right guys?), maybe it's because Mom and Dad are more relaxed, or maybe growing up is making all of our age differences irrelevant. Whatever the reason, we had a blast playing games and catching up on life.

Oakley — Farm: 255 miles
After a few relaxing days in Oakley, we were back on the road, on our way to Grandma's farm. We paused in Hays for lunch at Freddy's to meet up with a high school friend, and arrived at our destination by late afternoon.

I could wax poetic about Kansas. How I've missed the vast plains, the endless sky, the countless stars, the quiet, the fields of wheat stubble speckled with cows, the simple life. I appreciate the opportunities Boston affords us, but it's grounding to visit your roots every so often.

After dinner, we opened presents; because Grandma said, "well, I s'pose we'd just as well get it out of the way." And I choked up when I opened the cd set from Aunt Coleen, Uncle Eldred, Brian, and Ellen. All of Grandpa's cassette tapes recording his WWII stories are now in a digital format.

We stuffed ourselves on dinner, served on the good dishes. I could live on potato sausage and rhubarb pie. We watched How to Train Your Dragon, answered trivia questions with Grandma's 1966 encyclopedia set (old-school Google), looked through old photos, and wandered around the farm.

Farm — Manhattan — Topeka — KC: 198 miles

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early: Nathan had a 1 p.m. wedding to attend in Topeka, and he was our ride. We stopped in Manhattan for 1.5 hours while Nathan dressed up and repacked. Enough time to see Uncle Jim for 10 minutes, see Jordan and meet his lovely fiancee in 5 minutes, and sit down for breakfast and hot beverages (made by Steve, the best barista ever) at Bluestem Bistro with Britni and Joe. After two years, it was great to catch up in person.

We picked up Nathan, met Winston (best dog ever), left Nathan in Topeka with Sara to attend the wedding, and headed on to Kansas City for our anniversary. Our first stop was the new Kauffman Center, then we wandered the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (with free special exhibit tickets and parking thanks to our MFA membership), had dinner at Aixois thanks to Nathan and Caleb's Christmas gift, drove around to see a few Sasaki projects in KC, and spent the night at the Southmoreland on the Plaza (for the third time, honeymoon and first anniversary being our previous stays).

KC — Atlanta — Boston: 1,613 miles
In the morning, we had a fantastic breakfast, walked around the Plaza, and then headed downtown to meet Nathan and Sara for lunch. It was so fun to get to know Sara and talk shop with both of them. After lunch, Megan picked us up and we hung out at Starbucks before heading to Karen and Jeremy's for the night. Our generous hosts even made us curry for dinner and waffles for breakfast before driving us to the airport (on their own anniversary, I might add).

Two uneventful flights later (and free checked bags thanks to a full first flight), we were home again. Unpacked and in bed by 11 p.m., even.

We are so blessed to have such wonderful and generous friends and family. To everyone who hosted us, drove us around, and took the time to see us, thank you. You make it worth the miles.

Click here for more photos.

MLK

photo from the Library of Congress

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

MUTEMATH + Matt & Kim

I would be remiss if I didn't note that we were able to see MUTEMATH when they rolled into town for WFNX's Miracle On Lansdowne Street in mid-December. Alex, one of Ian's good friends from work, and his girlfriend, Amanda, joined us for the show because Alex didn't want to miss his favorite band, Matt & Kim.

MUTEMATH, as expected, did not disappoint. No handstands on the keyboard, but they did play highlights from their older albums as well as their latest, Odd Soul. Ian especially loved how they transitioned between old and new songs. He has vowed we will be at their headlining show in March. And it could be just me reading the Relevant magazine article, but I think they seemed a lot more relaxed and happy.

After MUTEMATH came Matt & Kim. I'd only seen one of their music videos on YouTube before the show, so I knew they had a fun, catchy, upbeat vibe. What I didn't know was how crazy their shows are. High energy. Everything is "f***ing amazing." Nonstop smiles. Balloons everywhere. They aren't my new favorite band, but I must admit, it was pretty fun.

We also got in some good people watching. A drunk girl in front of us kept falling backwards, and the guy she kept kissing trying to eat was only halfheartedly preventing her from bumping into us. Another girl showed up, and a few minutes later the guy left with her, leaving drunk girl to jump around and fall all over us. After we left, Amanda gave us a fuller story thanks to seeing the non-drunk girl's text messages. Apparently she came with the guy, then the guy's ex-girlfriend, i.e. drunk girl, showed up and told her she loves him. Awkward. For everyone.

But what's a show without a crazy story, right?

a Christmas date to the Nutcracker

We kept extra busy this Christmas season with working, being sick (I was super successful at that one for a whole week), and blogging our musical advent calendar. Who knew keeping up a daily blog series for 25 days straight would be so time consuming? But we did carve out some time for a special Christmas date.

Ian sent me a Google calendar invite (nerd alert) for a surprise date, and bought tickets to the Nutcracker. As I mentioned in our advent calendar, I've watched the PBS broadcast almost annually on Christmas night, but had never seen it live. Ian, ever the thoughtful romantic husband, decided to change that.

We started with pork soup dumplings at the Dumpling Cafe. Nothing can replace Din Tai Fung, which we discovered on our year-and-a-half-moon in Singapore, but it's as close as we can get in Boston.

Then we were off to the opera house.

This year's Nutcracker performance was the last season with the current set, costumes, and choreography. Which were amazing. We both couldn't believe how many times they changed the set during each act, and the dancing was beautiful. We especially loved the bear (who might be retiring to the south of France now that his 20 years of ballet have come to an end) and the mechanical toys. That a dancer can make you believe he or she is a wind up doll is astonishing.

We also enjoyed people watching. The Boston Opera House is a stunning piece of architecture, and a wide range of people sat in the audience, from elderly couples that probably were patrons of the ballet to folks that looked like they would be more comfortable in Southie eating pizza. All of the kids were dressed in their Christmas best. It almost makes me wish I had gotten a special Christmas dress. But even in our cozy sweaters, we fit right in.

Ian, thanks so much for a great evening. I love being married to you.

concrete aspirations 2012

I like lists a little too much, I think. They can become a security blanket. I know what's next, but when the list gets long, I procrastinate. And I failed big on last year's long list of goals. So I'm trimming down this year's concrete aspirations. Just what I think I can do/want to do this year if I stretch just a little. (Italics are in progress.)

1. Figure out how to access Rosetta Stone once we get rid of the PC, then do the lessons (or use another system) at least once a week.
2. Write for “Riding with Charlie” once a month. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12)
3. Organize and clean up photos in iPhoto.
4. Make grandma’s cinnamon rolls, rolls, angel food cake, and potato sausage.
5. WiiFit 3x a week. I do well at the beginning of the year, then summer hits...
6. Read through Luke 10 times. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10)
7. Call or e-mail one friend each month. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12)
8. Write to Grandma once a month. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12)
9. Video chat with family twice a month. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12)
10. Go through Sacred Marriage and Celebration of Discipline with Ian.
11. Design and order/print a bookplate stamp/sticker/embosser. Between that and my dust jacket covers, I’ll feel like we have a library. Dream come true!
12. Curate the rest of the bedroom, then move on to the kitchen and bathroom so they all are as streamlined and simplified as the living room.

More details on my progress are in related posts.

Concrete Aspirations 2011 in summary

These 28 things were my concrete aspirations for 2011, which backfired a bit. I didn't pressure myself to knock it all out, so I ended up not accomplishing much at all and then feeling bad about leaving so much unfinished. If I had tried harder and managed my time a little better (i.e. watched less TV and spent less time online), I could have done more: they're all things I really want to do. But I also know I'm not a super hero. For 2012, I'm reducing the number and getting even more specific in hopes of being more successful. (Items in italics were started but not completed.)

1. Go through the Tagalog Rosetta Stone lessons - do at least one a week. (Didn't get started: we need to reassess our language lesson access, but I really want to learn.)
2. Read 3 of Ian’s creation care books. (Serve God Save the Planet, Green Revolution, Kingfisher's Fire)
3. Write something for “Riding with Charlie” once a month. (I only did this the first couple months...)
4. Keep my inbox under a maximum of 25 email at any given time - I get stressed when it piles up. (While it sometimes fluctuates over 25, I'm procrastinating less, so I'll call this mission accomplished.)
5. Upload our professional wedding photos to Flickr for peace of mind.
6. Learn two quick, cute ways to style my new haircut.
7. Organize and clean up photos in iPhoto.
8. Make one new soup each month - most soups are healthy, right? (Another goal that fizzled out...)
9. Make grandma’s cinnamon rolls, rolls, angel food cake, and potato sausage.
10. Eat fruit and veggies at lunch and dinner for one month (in theory this will turn into habit). (This wasn't as trackable as I thought it would be, but our fruits and veggies intake went way up with Boston Organics membership, so I'll say this is done.)
11. WiiFit 3x a week for one month - when I got my job and had less time I fell off the Wii-gon and want to get back on (again, in theory this will turn into habit).
12. Floss every day for 2 weeks straight (again, habit).
13. Make or get rid of all the recipes in my recipe box. And nothing new goes in without cooking/baking it first. (I sorted, but didn't get much further than that.)
14. Only eat out one meal a week max (this means packing lunches regularly).
15. Read through the Bible chronologically again, this time in NASB. (Got behind and while I read a lot, I didn't finish.)
16. Have date night with Ian once a month. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12)
17. Call or e-mail one friend a week.
18. Write to Grandma once a month.
19. Go through Sacred Marriage and Celebration of Discipline with Ian.
20. Figure out my personal style and give away at least 10 items in my wardrobe that don’t fit that. (28+ items gone - the closet can breathe again!)
21. Do an at-home pedicure once a month. (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12)
22. Design personal cards and print them with moo.com.
23. Design and order/print a bookplate stamp/sticker/embosser. Between that and my dust jacket covers, I’ll feel like we have a library. Dream come true!
24. Curate the rest of the bedroom, then move on to the kitchen and bathroom so they all are as streamlined and simplified as the living room.
25. Figure out and implement a good system for our under bed storage.
26. Choose one evening a week to go without electricity-powered entertainment (read! play games!).
27. Paint and decorate the pink floral round box to match the living room.
28. Obtain a better aquarium for the frogs with a light and a filter.

More details on my progress are in related posts.

our 2011 Christmas letter

Last year, for various reasons they will not list here, Ian and Anna were not able to complete their 2010 Christmas letter. Realizing they had left their devoted readers in the lurch, they decided to make up for it by packing in two years of updates into a single sheet of digital Christmas letter goodness/awkwardness. Without further ado...