thank you, thank you, thank you kindly..

So much to be thankful for this year; this difficult, heart wrenching year that has seen its fair share of ups and downs.  In the chaos of our every day stresses, finishing up projects at work, and looking towards the new year, JP and I haven't had a lot of down time to reflect on our blessings.  This year we carved out some time to get out of town, and last minute car troubles not with standing, we got ourselves out of this here town in one piece!  Thanksgiving has always been a holiday my family celebrated in Iowa with my grandparents and cousins, aunts and uncles.  So many of us packed around tables that were set up in every room on the main floor, sometimes with not enough seats for everyone so we had to eat in a kind of rotating dance.  We always ate well, celebrated loudly and closed the festivities with pinochle; grandma of course always made her way to the top table and held her own there for the rest of the night.  My memories of those celebrations are beautiful, and even though I would give a lot for them to not be over, I wouldn't change them a bit.  Now we are moving towards creating our own traditions and discovering different ways of celebrating with both the old and the new.  What better way to welcome in the new than with a vegan celebration with JP's family in Utah!   This time I was feeling much better than our last visit when I was in the midst of my post-haitian stomach troubles, and I even documented a bit!  The food was amazing, and I could even participate in everything except the tofurkey which had the gluten in it.  They made gf cornbread stuffing, broccoli and rice, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and even a gf pumpkin pie!  Yum!  I could eat more at this celebration that I probably could have at others so it was definitely a win!  With four whole days (minus two 11 hour driving days) before us, we packed in the family fun time with, among other things, a hula hoop competition, bowling, friendship bracelets, vegan sushi, guitar playing, tree trimming, lights hanging and homemade hot chocolates.   We were busy, busy!  Oliver and Yin of course barely stopped to breath the entire time, taking in the pack of seven dogs the Berry's have, running around their two acre fenced in yard, and cuddling up to the girls who couldn't help but spoil them with love and attention.  O was passed out cold the entire drive home, and was so exhausted he didn't even puke while we were crossing the mountains, which is an all time first!  Now I am going to throw a hodge podge of photos at you, all of which encompass the fun time we had.  I can't believe we didn't get a group shot though!  Guess we will just have to return soon!

 

 

Which brings me to the blessings I was talking about, and of which there are too many to try to make a comprehensive list.  I'm so thankful, SO THANKFUL for my beyond amazing family.  Each and every one of my siblings and parents are stronger, more dedicated, more caring, more beautiful and more amazing than I can even believe and I am so incredibly grateful to have them to lean on and to prop up.  I can not express the gratitude I feel for being born into such a group of amazing individuals.  I'm so thankful every day that I am living this life with my best friend at my side, who I grow closer to every day, and who has given me so much of himself.  Though our paths were meandering, I am constantly surprised that we found each other not once but twice.  I'm a lucky girl to be sure.  I'm thankful for the Berry's for welcoming me into their home and holidays, and making me feel so loved and appreciated.  It's a great gift to feel so accepted by JP's family in so many ways.  I'm thankful for each of my friends, who all feel like family to me.  They support my crazy academic pursuits, listen to my woes, and cheer me on every step of the way.  In every way I feel blessed, and I am going to work hard to carry that feeling into all that I do.  Thank you for being exactly who you are. 

Perhaps you recognized the reference in the title of this post to the song from Amahl and The Night Visitors, one of my favorite Christmas stories.  In my head whenever I hear that song I can't help but think of my little brother Micah.  When we were younger he had a habit of belting out songs and substituting his name into the original words.  It was so endearing and sweet, and in a lot of cases pretty ridiculous (do the micahrena anyone?), so when I think of this song I hear "this is all we Micah's can offer you!  Thank you, thank you, thank you kindly.. Thank you thank you, thank you kindly..", and it warms my heart.

long time coming

I haven't written on here anything about my dad's cancer for a number of reasons.  Mostly, I think, it's because when I think about it is just makes me cry, and I'm not sure where it would all go.  BUT, today I am making an exception, because he just finished his LAST round of chemo and is doing amazingly well.  I am so proud of him and my whole family for staying strong through this entire experience, and allowing cancer to once again be in our lives without destroying us.  It's hard to describe how we made it through both my mom's cancer and now my dad's, and I am grateful every day for the support I've felt from all of the people in my life.  There are a lot of unanswered questions still out there, but for now we are taking the time to celebrate his accomplishment and to look towards the future with hope.  I thought I would share a video of my dad singing, which he is always doing at some point in the day, from my cousin's wedding we went to back in October.  My brother Joe is on the mandolin and my cousin Liz is on the guitar.  This is one of my favorite songs, Annie and I used to listen to it on the Keepers soundtrack when we were little, and one that my dad and brother have done at more than one family gathering.  Fair warning that it might induce tears!  You can find it here.

on the eve of our second snow

It's November!  We are gearing up (read making sure we have adequate breakfast supplies on hand) for our second snow fall of the year!  This one is supposed to be a foot or so starting at midnight, and JP is anticipating working from home...hence the breakfast supplies.  I've got a debate tomorrow in my genetics class, but other then that I am free all day!  I'm planning on taking the pups out for snow tromping, going to the gym, and coloring in my anatomy coloring book I just got!  Wooot.  Things have been nice lately, I only have a month and a half until I am done with school and I am dreaming of all the things I will need to review before I ever start PA school if I get in.  Tonight I scooted to the store all bundled up so I could make a special dinner for JP who has been having some frustrating days at work lately.   I ended up making spinach and parmesean stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon and mmm were they ever delicious!  I should have gotten a picture, but we scarfed them up too fast!  I wanted to share some pictures from our first snowfall which was last week.  It was beautiful and peaceful and everything a first lovely snowfall is.  Isn't that funny how you can be so inspired at first and then a week into winter you are ready for some grass again?

 

 In the morning when we woke up there was snow all over, and I let O outside to pee.  I think he had forgotten about what snow was cause he was super cautious stepping out into it at first.  Then he started licking it and was SO EXCITED that he could eat this funny white stuff.  As snow was falling from the branches in clumps, he raced around the yard trying to catch all of it.  It was hilarious!  The above picture is our yard that is completely covered in Oliver tracks since no one else wanted to go outside.

  

  

  

We went out for a walk, and all the trees (which had just recently changed colors) were so gorgeous with their colors all covered in snow!  The next day when the snow melted there were almost no leaves on any branches at all so I was particularily happy to have seen it!

 

 

We took them to the reservoir where they usually run around, but I was afraid Oliver would be overzealous and run into the icy water to meet his feathery friends, so we just sat up there and watched the geese for a little while.

  

 My two Louisiana natives were freezing even though they were all bundled up.  JP is wearing the hemp scarf I just knitted a few weeks ago, it's amazingly soft and comfy.  I might never go back to wool.

 
And here are our sad pumpkins that were munched by the squirrels the night after we carved them.

and if you are STILL wondering

then wonder no more!!  I just heard from the University of New England in Maine, and they have invited me for an interview at the end of January!!  I don't think I have stopped smiling, humming, dancing around since I read the e-mail yesterday morning.  I am just so shocked and proud and overwhelmed to have gotten to the next step of this whole future plan of mine.  It is finally starting to feel like it was all worth it, and even if I don't get in, I will know that I did everything that I could and I will take what I can from the whole experience and do it all over until I succeed.  I can not wait to get on that plane and be welcomed into town by my brother and sister, to show JP what our potential future next city looks like (not that I'm getting ahead of myself at all), and to show UNE exactly what I'm made of.   HOOORAYYYY!

pumpkin, pumpkin

Mmmm fall is in the air here for real, the leaves are changing and blowing all over the place, the air is crisp and perfect for lighting up a fire and listening to the wind.  It's my most favorite time of the year, and this weekend I didn't have to work or study or do anything in particular.  It was fantastic.  I went for a few bike rides (as you might have seen from my last post), shopped at some thrift stores, watched a movie, raked and of course made time for pumpkin carving.  I sure love me some pumpkin carving, and this year was no different.  Actually, it was a little different in that we had to contend with one extremely curious puppy who was eager to get in on all the action.  It was pretty funny to watch him try to sneak off with the tops of the freshly carved pumpkins, or lick the insides experimentally.  I think he might be a big fan of this time of year too!  While we carved, JP had some ribs on the grill, and did they ever smell delicious while we moved around the yard.  Mmmm hmmm.  It's nice to get some time to yourself once in a while away from the hub bub of normal life.  Here are a few pictures for you:

I think Yin was mostly just happy to have Oliver distracted and not jumping all around in her space, so she took the opportunity to sunbathe by the fence.

Our final products!  The pictures are pretty bad, but without flash my camera couldn't grab them very well.  We each did one and then did a collaboration on the one toothed one.  Of course, you can't carve pumpkins without roasting up some delicious seeds to chomp on.   So that is exactly what we did. Mmm.

In case anyone is wondering, I haven't heard from any schools yet.  And if you know me, you know that I am oscillating between feelings of hopeful patience, and extreme dread of the nebulous future that may not contain what I want it to.  Then I just take a deep breath and get on with it.

possibly the dorkiest thing ever, ever

Soooo, we share one car right now, and since JP works in Boulder he automatically gets it for those long commutes.  I scoot happily around balancing groceries precariously and moving around at a cool 30mph.  This has worked out really well for us, with the exception of a few things.  One of these things is that I can never take the dogs to the dog park on my scoot, and it gets dark so early here now that there just isn't any time for them to go!  Then I remembered bike trailers... and then I became obsessed with getting one and amping up my dorkyness.  There were a bunch on craigslist, but they were all pretty expensive and with my awesome skills at estimating, I wasn't even sure both pups would fit inside!  Luckily, goodwill came through for me again.  I was just browsing over piles of kids toys and underneath them I thought I saw a small tire.  Low and behold it was an InStep bicycle trailer!! Whaaa?  And only $35!  Our biggest problem was getting it in the car, but after that it was smooth sailing.  I pumped up the tires and they held air just fine (which was my only worry about buying it), I wiped it down to get rid of the cobweb-y debris, and snapped that thing on the back of my bike.

 

WOOOOOT.  It was pretty much amazing.  After settling the pups in back, which they kind of resisted a lot, they just cuddled together in a pile and were calm the entire trip, even when a dog passed us while at a stoplight.  That's pretty good!

It was so much fun!  I am so excited that it went so well, and now I can bring them out whenever I want!

things have been good

I've got an upcoming family wedding (last one this year I promise!) and my best friend Annie is coming to visit soon!!  I am so very excited to skip home for a quick weekend to see my family for another beautiful celebration, with dancing of course, and to show Annie my life in Denver.  She hasn't even met Oliver yet, and I can't wait to see what she thinks of my wild child.  If only she could bring her sweet pup as a carry on, they would have so much fun together... or just terrorize each other, but either way it would be amusing!  In any case, this picture is mostly for my parents, so they can see I'm doing well even though the semester has been a tough one so far.  I'm doing my best to keep on smiling!
 

 

Yin, Oliver and I just took a long walk and watched the sunset to end my weekend before heading back to work tomorrow.