"the only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. you either have to laugh or cry. i prefer to laugh. crying gives me a headache." — marjorie pay hinckley
Christmas post... finally! We had a great time at my parents' house. We slept little, ate a lot, played lots of games, and ate a lot. And I played the piano a lot. It was so nice being with the whole fam. I love my family!!!
Prepping the punch for Christmas Day dinner with Mandi. We ate at my grandma's house because there's too many of us for my parents' house anymore!
We took the boys (Chris and Max) to the Holiday Festival of Lights. Here we are roasting marshmallows. Or rather, here are Ryan and Mandi and the boys.
Our happy family. I still miss him to pieces.
Caroline looks lovely, but Collin looks like a fox! (Can boys be foxes?)
All siblings and siblings-in-law, grandsons, and dogs. That makes 11 of us.
Chou!
Zumi and Max!
Sisters!
Brother!
Taking Chris and Max on the carousel and getting some freaky pics.
Naturally, your friendly festive Christmas light bulb.
For New Year's, we went to the Limas' New Year Eve bash. Here is Kurt, looking stoned. He's not... I promise...
Chris getting his dance on!
Max thought about getting his dance on.
We look stoned. But we're not... I promise...!
We took the boys to the playground at JICP and snapped a few pics. Actually, Steph and Mandi did while Caroline and I took the dogs to the dog park.
Do you like how I finally changed my Christmas layout and playlist? (Note to Alisse T and Mo: if you have any other songs that remind you of freshman year, please lemme know!) Yeah, I'm slowly getting back to my normal life. And I was planning on doing some major cleaning on Saturday, but we've decided to drive down to Tucson. So it will have to wait. Anyhow! Here are my goals for 2010: -Lose 20 pounds by June. I know--I have 20 pounds to lose. It sounds like a lot. But I can definitely do it in 6 months. -Stay on top of my homework. For this semester, that means reading 2-3 books every three weeks, writing 2-3 pages on each book, and writing a short story every three weeks. Oi. -Keep my house clean! Big goal for me here. My therapist helped me break down my chores into things that need to be done weekly, things that need to be done semi-weekly, and things that need to be done monthly. I gave it a trial run in December and it was awesome! Before I was trying to get everything done every week. Well, I am OCD. -Wake up every morning at 6:30. I need to actually do my hair in the morning, wear mascara, and get to work on time. -Work out 4 to 6 days a week. I feel so much better when I'm working out regularly. It really helps regulate my moods and stave off depression. -Finish my book by the end of the year. Really, I'd like to have it finished and thoroughly edited by then, but with school I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on it. -TAKE MORE PICTURES.
My January goals: -I've already read one book, so now I'm reading another and since it's longer I'll only read 2 books by the beginning of February. Write my 2-3 page response to each. Finish the short story I've already started. -Only eat sweets on the weekend. This is gonna be hard! -Finish Kurt's scarf. I still haven't! I'm such an awful wife!! >_<
Tonight, my phone died while I was at a reading tonight. When I got back from to my dorm, I plugged in my phone and started getting ready for bed. Then I turned my phone on to see that I had 5 missed calls from a number in Denver that I didn't recognize. I also had a text from that same person. "Call me as soon as possible, I have your dog by the side of the road," it said. My breath caught in my throat and called the number. A man picked up and said, "I don't know how to tell you this," and I knew. The world seemed to rush in on me and the tears started falling before he said that Zumi had been hit by a car, and had died. It's been a rough night, to say the least. I started crying and told the guy I was going to call my husband and give his number to Kurt so Kurt could get the body. Then I called Kurt on his cell and work line without answers. So, hysterical, I called my family. When I finally got to Kurt, he was already on his way home from work and was able to call the guy and find out where Zumi was. Next time Kurt called, he had Zumi in his arms and was walking home. He was sobbing. This is the first time, in the 3 and a half years that I've known Kurt, that he has cried. Kurt and I cried together on the phone as he found a box for Zumi's "casket," laid him in it, and tucked his blanket in around him. We decided to bury him in his favorite spot in the yard, right by the wooden fence, where he'd like to lay when it was sunny. To those of you who think I'm being dramatic, let me tell you that you have no idea how much you can love a pet until they die. And remember, Zumi was our child, for all intensive purposes. We don't have kids yet and so he was who we gave our parental love to. (I told Kurt that I hope we never lose a child, if it's this painful to just lose a pet.) He was a sweet puppy, the best natured dog I've ever known. When I got home from work, he'd always be in the back yard, hopping around, ready to play with me. When I mentioned the word "walk," he'd run to the front door, too excited to go out to sit still long enough to get his harness on. He could sit, lay down, army crawl, shake, and jump/twirl for tricks. He always had some sort of smile on his face. When he was in a really playful mood, it was a happy grin. When he was more calm, it was a mischievous smirk. He rarely barked. He followed you around and sat at your feet, happy to be near you. He had a spot in the kitchen where he laid while I cooked dinner or cleaned the dishes. I was so looking forward to him keeping me company during the long, lonely, busy tax season. When I took him to the vet, and he got scared, he'd lean up against me for comfort. He was my little buddy, my happy boy, my puppys, my Zoomers, Zoom buggy, Zumy do, Zumba, Zoom, my Zumi. It's amazing how much a small dog can touch your life in 8 shorts months.
Hi everyone! It's been a while since I've posted and that's because I've been loving life in Charleston with my family for the last two weeks. And guess what... I actually took pictures! But Kurt took the camera home with him because the battery was dead so you'll have to wait for those. Neener neener. And why, do you ask, is Kurt home and not me? Because I'm at my grad school residency here at Converse College! It's been amazing so far. I'm learning lots and loving being surrounded by writers. I miss Kurt and Zumi, but it's not too hard during the day with lectures, workshops, and readings. Unfortunately, since Kurt took the camera, I won't have any pics, but I will for the June residency, I promise. Also, here is (extremely belatedly) our Christmas card. I meant to post it just before Christmas but spaced it. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! Hooray for 2010!
that I'm (a little) obsessed with the New Moon soundtrack. It's really good. So, to give you a taste, here are some of my favorite songs from the album.
Inspired by Carissa's post. Introducing... 10 things about me!
1. I love wikipedia. I can spend hours article jumping. Some past topics I've looked up are marsupials (wallaroos to be exact) and the etymology of our days of the week. 2. I've had plastic surgery on my nose. You know the part that separates your nostril, your septum? Well, mine was disfigured to the point that it partially blocked both nostrils, so they fixed that. But on my medical records it say "rhinoplasty" which is what they call cosmetic nose plastic surgery as well. 3. I have a really hard time understanding lyrics. But I memorize lyrics really easily. So I'm often walking around, singing the wrong, but sound-very-close-to-right lyrics to songs. Kurt understands lyrics really well but doesn't remember them well. Together we're either the perfect team, or the completely wrong team (depending on which parts of us you combine). 4. In my writing, I love using ;'s and --'s. And ()'s. They're fun. 5. I love Thursdays. I'm not sure why. I just do. 6. I have recurring nightmares about my teeth falling out, tornadoes, and, strangely, dinosaurs. I kid you not. 7. I wish I had to wear glasses all the time. I think my glasses are cute and I like the way I look with them on. But I'm not supposed to or my eyes will get addicted to them, or something like that. 8. I love earrings and necklaces, but never wear rings (other than my wedding ring) or bracelets. 9. When I work out, I hate having hair on my neck. Drives me bonkers and makes me feel hotter! I don't understand girls who can run with their hair down. Just seeing them makes me feel antsy. 10. I only get out of bed at :05, :10, :15, :20, and so on. I started it as a way to stay in bed a little longer. Now it's a compulsion. Which is appropriate since I'm OCD (literally... just ask my doc).
Total written in November: Chapters: 2.4 Pages: 39 Words: 11,483
I obviously did not get through half of my book, but I'm proud of my effort just to same. I hope I continue my writing trend, though I have about 200 pages (maybe more) to read for grad school by January 2nd, so we'll see.
On Wednesday we took Caroline snowboarding. It was so much fun and she did really well! The temperature was probably somewhere in the upper 30s--so nice--and the snow was pretty decent. Have I mentioned I love snowboarding? Because I do. A lot. Caroline taking a break. Feeling triumphant after a full day of snowboarding. Feeling sore after a full day snowboarding. Maybe I am getting old. ;)
The rest we didn't get pictures of: Wednesday night, Steph flew in. On Thursday morning, we played football with some of Kurt's coworkers and even got Steph to play (which is quite a feat). Oh, and my team won--woohoo! Thursday evening, Laryn and Sheilla and Laryn's brother, and James and Camille, came over for dinner and thanks to a very frozen turkey (it'd be thawing all night and all day and still was frozen in the middle!), we didn't eat until 8 but dinner was very delicious!! Oh, and we played mafia while we waited for dinner. On Friday morning, Steph, Caroline, and I got up at 7 and hit up the mall for some early bird shopping. Then we watched New Moon. Then we took naps and it was awesome. On Saturday Caroline left, and I showed Steph around downtown Denver. Yesterday was church and just hanging around Denver and home. Oh, and Saturday we watched the Cougars beat the Utes! Huzzah!! We had a great Thanksgiving break that flew by WAY too quickly!!!!
I can't believe I'm 25 now. I feel so young! It also helps that my husband is 28. :D For my birthday, we went to eat a Thai restaurant in west Denver we discovered recently. The food was delicious and the company even better! Sheilla and Jen Laryn and Sheilla Nate and Wendie Kurt and Jeff, the facial hair crew (Kurt shaves his mustache tonight... YES!!!) Guess who My best friend, Caroline! Caroline came down for Thanksgiving week and it was amazing!! It was so good to see my sister! And Steph flew in on Wednesday night and it was so great having the three of us together. I hate living so far from my sisters! Laryn promised me $10 if I drank his spicy curry broth. So I did. Now I'm $10 richer. This sign is hard to read, but I promise it's worth the effort.
