Because I'm a genius!!!

So the bedroom I moved into in my Mom's house has been home to a lot of people along the way...I think all of Dan's kids lived in here at one point or another- I know Danielle and her son were the last inhabitants before myself and Moonshine (and eventually Joel). It's a fine sized bedroom (when you just need it to be a bedroom- not your EVERYTHING room)- and when I moved in it came furnished with a bed and a bedside table. It has a big closet too. But it didn't have a dresser or any shelves or anything- so there was no place for me to put my books, my stacks of papers, etc. Unfortunately, the co-sleeper has become my "throw it in there" area, which obviously won't work for very long.

So after looking around for some furniture in these parts and only finding either very cheap stuff (good price, but made of pressboard), or very expensive stuff (nice stuff, but way out of our price range). So I decided to look online at everyone's favorite Swedish store IKEA. I immediately found a dresser and a bedside table that were simple, cute and cheap. :)

So yesterday Mom and I drove to Chicago, to the nearest IKEA, to pick up said pieces. (We had looked into ordering online, but found that the cost of deliver was WAY more than the cost of the furniture itself!)

The funny thing was that as soon as I mentioned that I was going to buy IKEA furniture, everyone started questioning WHO was going to put it together for me! Apparently, people don't know that I am a genius!!! :) The truth is that I'm just good at building stuff. In fact, way back in high school, when I had to take the job placement kind of proficiency test (everyone had to take it, whether or not you already knew what you wanted to go into in college) my highest results came in two areas- first in working with people (teacher, social worker, etc) and second- this one was kind of surprising, but it was carpentry. I don't even think they offered a category of job- it just straight up said, "Carpentry."

So, needless to say, putting together IKEA furniture, scary directions and all, just didn't scare me. :)

I put together the bedside table already last night as soon as we got home- Dan helped me because he got out the power drill, and while I'm not scared of a screwdriver, I wasn't interested in using the power drill. So, he did the screwing while I did the putting together. I messed up once- attached one piece upside down so the holes that we needed long after we originally attached the piece, were face down instead of face up. Oops. So we had to take one piece off, turn the other piece around, and then proceed correctly.

So today came the job of putting the dresser together... Dan had other things to do, so he brought me regular screwdrivers, and I went to work.

Here is the picture of all the stuff laid out in the beginning...

Because I was working alone, I didn't have anyone to document my progress... but right at the end, as I was just literally putting the last pieces onto the drawers, Dan came up, with the drill, and helped me do the last 12 screws. I didn't NEED his help, and didn't even ask for it- but of course, getting through those last couple of steps more quickly was nice. :)

At the end, I struck a victorious pose with my new dresser- which will also double as changing table for Moonshine once s/he arrives.

The funny thing was that my mom kept looking at the bag of screws and saying, "There are just so many screws!!" But to me it's like- well, I obviously need them all for something...I'll just use them one at a time til they're gone! And when you follow the directions (which really are easy) you just get through them all. In the end, Mom was saying to Dan, "We need to go buy the shelves we've been meaning to buy while she's still here..." :)

The knitting pictures...

Alright then... so, if you missed the post before this, go back and read it... because these pictures go with it. :)

So first off, here is the needle case my SIL made me:
a) all folded up

b) unfolded

c) inside!

Isn't that just the coolest thing you ever saw? I love it! Thanks JJ!

And here, my hat and scarf, which together rather resemble a jellyfish...

And sporting em... never mind the pjs... I showered and put on real clothes right AFTER I did all this. Had to catch the last of the afternoon light...

Knitting and crocheting....

I haven't given up on knitting... I just wasn't doing much of it in Angola because I think when it comes down to it, when you're in a place that hot, you just don't want wool on your lap all the time. At least that is my excuse.

In any case my sister in law, also an avid knitter, rocked my Christmas present this year... a home-sewn knitting needle case with a pair of giant needles inside, a book called something along the lines of "easy knitting for babies" and a skein a beautiful blue merino wool. Of course, not knowing our baby's sex, she opted for blue because it's my favorite color... but, the wool was SO my favorite color that I was all, "I'm making myself a scarf! Baby can wait!" :) So I finished my scarf yesterday. I wore it today, and it was lovely, perfect. I'll have to take a picture- I keep forgetting to do it while I have good light. In fact I'll have to take a picture of the needle case my SIL made too, because it's just awesome.

So, once I made my scarf though, I knew I needed to make a hat too. Unfortunately, I don't have the pattern with which I once successfully made a few hats. So I was looking for an easy pattern that didn't require knitting in the round, which I just haven't gotten that good at yet. I found something that looked like it would work... so tonight, I made a whole hat, finished it and everything (that is, sewed up the seam along the side, since I didn't knit it in the round) and then put it on my head to find that it was, as I had guessed all along it would be, too big. I mean, way too big. Like, kind of silly. So, the hat that it took me a couple hours to knit got unraveled in a matter of minutes. Ah, such is life. The pattern for the hat wasn't bad, so I might have to make it again, just smaller. Hopefully I can actually figure out the right size.

And so for the crocheting... I picked up a "I taught myself Crochet" book during Christmas. I got it out today, and I got the chain stitch down, and then the slip stitch as well. Not very neat/even, but, passable for a first timer. I'm kind of excited because I really want to crochet a baby blanket. Also, a friend on facebook saw that I had written about learning to crochet but not being sure I was doing it right and offered to help me. So that is cool. Hopefully we'll get together next week, and I'll be a crocheting fool in no time. :)

There you go... basically... I'm just trying to pass the time here in Michigan. The weather makes me want to hibernate- but even I can only spend so many hours on the internet, and I need other things to do... so, knitting and crocheting it is!

Snow...

Ah... Michigan... so it's been snowing this week like it's going out of style. Like Mother Nature needs to empty her stash...except she had NO IDEA just how much she'd saved up. My natural childbirth class was canceled tonight due to the snow, and I had to drive around today in fairly unpleasant conditions, so, I figured when I finally got home, I would try to capture some of the beauty. There is beauty to be found of course in all this snow... and I think it's quite alright if I prefer to view it through the window, or better yet, when I can, only in pictures. :)

The evergreens are heavy with snow...

Don't walk under these puppies!!! Danger!

Every little branch has its weight to bear

I call "not it" on taking out the garbage!

The dog loves the snow... for about two minutes. She was begging to come inside before I was even done taking pictures. :) I tried to get her to go in the part of the yard where the snow is a few feet deep to get a good illustration of just how much we've gotten, but she wasn't buying it.

This car hasn't moved or been cleaned since it started snowing. Yeah, that's a minivan.

The easiest place for me to find the beauty of the snow is obviously the evergreens... :)

Across the street from mom's house

To the left...

And to the right...

It's a winter wonderland alright!

10 years...

I've seen quite a few posts on some of my favorite blogs looking back on the last 10 years as we head into the new decade here. Of course, they have made me think about how my life has changed and moved forward in ten years as well...

I rang in the year 2000 pretty miserably. I was part of a group of young people that organized a big ole party, which was fun, but, I had spent the last 4 months of 1999 getting over a guy I broke up with... and then he was there, at the party. On the 30th our romance seemed to have rekindled, but, on the 31st he wanted nothing to do with me, and somehow we managed to have a big fight right at about 11:58pm, so that when I walked back into the main party area just for midnight I was basically in tears and hating life as I looked around at all my friends kissing their boyfriends and having a good time. It wasn't a very good start to the millennium.

I did eventually get over him though, and the year 2000 was a pretty good year. I finished my second year of university and started my third. This was the hardest time I ever had in my friendship with one of my besties AS, but thankfully we got through it.

2001 brought my 21st birthday- oh what a party. And it also brought my first substantial amount of time spent living abroad. I studied in France that summer. I totally fell in love with the French way of life, the language, and of course, my host brother. :) I extended my stay that summer by two weeks by hooking up with another course mate who was staying on with her parents for two weeks. So, we traveled around and got to see more of the countryside. I pretty much came home kicking and screaming that time... I DID NOT want to leave. I'm thinking that this was the time, as I headed into my 4th year of university that I really started seeing teaching abroad as a possibility. I didn't know anything about how it worked just yet, but, I was ready to do anything I had to to get back to France. :)

2002... How is it possible that the years get so mixed up? This must have been the year that my friend KS and I cemented our rekindled friendship (we knew each other from high school and had hooked back up in 2001), and moved into the Burr Oak house. All of these years (the early 2000s) were tough ones friendship wise for me... if I wasn't struggling with one friend it was another. I think this was the year AW and I had issues. I was dating TK at this time, and lost myself in him in a bad, bad way. DB got married that year, and I started freaking out about still being single with no REAL prospects.

In 2003 my life turned upside down! I graduated from university, and even at the height of the SARS ridiculousness (the US gov knows how to make everything look so much worse than it is), signed a contract to move to China for my first teaching job. I packed up all of my things, left my family and friends and struck out on my own. The last 4 months of 2003 were probably the toughest of my life to date. Adjusting to life in China, without any normal support networks, without my friends, trying to make new friends, desperately seeking a man... and endlessly struggling with my weight... not to mention, being a first year teacher!!! Whew! It was ROUGH. I came home in December twice that year- first for AS's wedding, which was fabulous, and then two weeks later, for winter break.

2004 started off with my still in the States and not at all wanting to go back to China. I was done with that place! When my mom took me to the airport, she literally had to push me through the security gate as I wept. It was the hardest thing ever to make myself go back. But I did. I cried a lot when I got there (like a full 24 hours!), and then I went back to work, and I learned to love my life in China. I started going to yoga 4-6 days a week, I went out on the weekends with friends and partied hard, I lost a ton of weight, I enjoyed the crap out of cheap massages, and I believe this is also when I started cooking and baking for fun. Eventually that year I met HG, and although for the most part he was a dark spot in my life, I sure did enjoy him then.

In 2005 I ended my time in China, and not knowing where else to go, but not really wanting to come home, I headed to Latvia. Of course, I did come home that summer, and had the honor of being maid of honor at AW's wedding. I brought HG to meet my family and friends, and though no one really said it to my face, everyone was relieved when we finally broke up for good later that year. It was like a "Thank God THAT didn't work out!" So I learned to live in Latvia- not quite as hard as adjusting to China, but so very hard in different ways. The thing was, it was supposed to be easy- everyone, including myself, thought it would be a piece of cake compared to China...but it wasn't. Just knowing how to speak a language does not make you fit right in- the cultural adjustment was huge- Latvia was nothing like America (not that I expected it to be) or Latvian American society- and yet it wasn't as foreign as China either. It was another tough adjustment period, especially between hating the horrible little apartment I lived in at first, and not having a very easy time of making friends (thank goodness for DC and LC!).

In 2006 DB moved to Latvia, and she and I had a great couple of months together. I believe it was January 2006 that I laid eyes on Joel for the first time, and said the "If he's single, HIRE HIM!" line to the HR person at school. :) Between Joel coming back into my life in August though, I had one more relationship- the most classic rebound relationship I've ever had (I was still working on getting over HG). It started, continued intensely, and then ended with one short conversation. And when it was over, it was so over that it was almost like it had never happened. Funny. August came, and the start of the new school year, and Joel and I started dating within a week of the beginning of the school year. The rest is history, right? :) Either 2005 or 2006 was the year that I started therapy though- a big move for me. It takes a lot to get over all the judgment that people have around therapy, and just do it. It was a good move for me. Between all my issues (I'll spare you listing them) it was good to have someone to talk to about it all.

In 2007 the biggest things that happened were moving in with Joel (he was the first and only man I ever lived with!), and starting my masters. That summer Joel took me to Venice for my birthday, and then I headed off to Madrid. What a fun, intense summer! I loved so many of the people I met that summer, had the crazy adventures with the landlady- and most importantly realized what it felt like to miss someone (Joel), but at the same time know that it really was ok to be apart for a while. In fact, I realized that not only was it ok, but I knew how to have fun and be fully functioning and everything without him. I guess this might sound a little silly to some of you, but the codependency I'd thrived on for years in relationships was gone with Joel and it was an amazing freedom for me.

2008 was another year of big changes... Joel and I got engaged, and decided to move to Angola! I still struggled a lot with personal issues, and continued/restarted therapy (with a different therapist). Joel and I both spent time adjusting to life in Angola, our new jobs and living together in a new space. That Christmas I made my first trip (of what I know will be many) to Australia. I finally met Joel's family in full, as well as put lots of names of friends with faces.

2009 of course took us out with a bang! We got married, and we got pregnant! Everything else that happened last year kind of seems to blend into the background of not really mattering (like work sucked for me, ah well...) because of how good the good things were. :)

Looking back on these years as a whole, they were tough years...it was a tough decade! It was my 20s! I've mostly heard that that's just how your 20s are... there were lots of ups and downs. What strikes me is just how roller-coaster-y it all was. The highs were high- France, the good times in China and Latvia, meeting/becoming engaged to/marrying Joel, getting pregnant- but the lows were so low. The struggles with my weight, my whole inner being, etc, the fight against depression, bad relationships- it all leaves quite a bleak smear on the decade. But, I guess the good thing is that ushering in the year 2000 was the polar opposite of ushering in the year 2010- that years anger and loneliness stands in stark opposition to this years love, family, togetherness and all over goodness.

Let's hope that if the beginning of 2000 had anything to do with the way the 2000s went, then the beginning of 2010 also sets the tone for next 10 years. I have a feeling it's gonna be good. :)

Happy 2010!

Here's hoping that all my readers are happy and healthy now in the new year. I also hope that you had fun ringing in the new year... here's what we did...

Joel and I drove up to a small town just outside Madison, WI to the home of KA & AA to celebrate in a very adult fashion... and by that I just mean that it was 5 married couples (and a toddler) having a dinner party...not fancy or anything, but, a far cry from the parties that many of us were engaging in only a few years ago it seems. Ah, life is changing. And not in a bad way- it just catches me off guard sometimes. :)

Joel and I got up pretty darn early the morning of the 31st (after having gone to bed pretty darn late on the 30th) to have breakfast with my brother and sister in law, and dad and step-mom. My bro and SIL were headed back to Colorado later that day, so this was our goodbye breakfast. It was lovely, and I miss them already! It was so great to see them again!

After breakfast we drove to the W's house which is about an hour from our final destination in Wisconsin. The great thing was that my dear friend DB and her husband were already at the W's, so we got to sit around, chat, and very typically, eat ice cream for a couple hours. It was great. Once we got moving we had to stop at a couple stores before heading to the party house. Man, I think we can all agree that shopping at 5pm on NYE is probably not a good idea. Especially not for booze. Thankfully, we didn't mind that much because it just gave us all more time to talk. :) There was nothing we could do about the lines, so we made the best use of the time! :)

Anyway, my point in all that detail is basically to say that by the time we reached our destination around 7, I think, it had already been a pretty darn long day. I was feeling a bit fatigued, but of course, there was more work to be done, a dinner to be prepared and all that, so we kept on keeping on!

The women set to work in the kitchen while the guys.... well, until it was meat time, I'm actually not sure what they were doing. They weren't in the kitchen though. :)

I know people were regularly heading outside into the FREEZING temps to have a smoke or hang out with people who were partaking... *I* did not do that. It was **SO** cold that night!
I guess maybe the alcohol I also was not consuming helped keep this trio warm!

Joel took all the pictures that night...here's one of the grill. From what I understand the prawns were lovely, and the beef unfortunately got way overcooked.

Our host, the man who spent the rest of the night apologizing about the beef. :)
(I think everyone forgave him!)

A blurry picture of the festively set table.

Maggie the very excitable dog who seemed to particularly like to jump on me. The toddler and I did our best to stay out of her way. :) She is a very cute dog though.

Back in the kitchen, women still at work. And Joel is taking pictures of my belly.
The belly on NYE.

Sisters KA and DB working it in the kitchen. And KA is like, REALLY working it. :)

Cutting up the sushi rolls. We made 20 rolls, no 19 (there was 1 piece of nori left at the end) rolls of sushi!! DB and I were rolling fools. The bad thing was that the whole time we were rolling we were munching on avocado and cucumber (not to mention the ridiculously good appetizers AW had made)... didn't leave much room in my belly to actually eat when dinner time rolled around.

And then of course, we magically jump to a shot of us AFTER dinner. :) There was SO much food left over! There was so much good food in the first place. I only had eyes for salad and sushi, but if you look closely at my plate in the picture, you can see that I only managed to eat my sushi. It's amazing how once you have someone else taking up space in your belly, you just CAN'T eat the way you used to.

At this point after dinner, it was probably near 11pm, which means already past midnight our time (there is an hour time difference between MI and WI) and I was SO TIRED. It was literally all I could do to sit at that table and stay awake until midnight local time.

When we moved to the comfy chairs I didn't move again until midnight. :)

I don't think I was the only one kind of tired...but I was the only one not drinking, which probably made the difference in who went to bed around 1 and who around 4:30.

I think I took this picture. I think Joel was working on being a hick.

Happy New Year! Just past midnight...

All our men in their party hats

And us gorgeous ladies and our crowns

Belly and champagne in the same picture... so sue me. I had one glass. Moonshine kicked a lot after that...and I had a headache all the next day/evening. Really doesn't seem worth it in the end.

At some point after midnight we did all head outside to participate in the old Latvian tradition of melting lead, and then pouring the liquid lead into cold water to make a new form that you can then interpret as a fortune for the next year. The piece I poured was interpreted by pretty much everyone as a wing, protecting things. I said it's obviously my mamma bird year. :) My mom and step-dad on seeing it a few days later said it looked like a cradle as well, though the wing shape was totally obvious to them as well. Joel managed to pour 4 long, thin strips. When I asked him what he was thinking of the whole thing, his only answer was bacon. When he had bacon the next morning, well, I guess his fortune had come true!

The next morning I had a lovely surprise when a friend of mine who I worked with in China wrote me a message on facebook saying it was just too ridiculous that we were so close (she lives in Madison as well) and not going to see each other. So she was a super good sport and drove round. It was great to see her. We only hung out for an hour or so (she said something about needing to go back to bed...she had had a much more raucous NYE than I), but it was really lovely to see her.

(How is it just not fair that she gets to have so much lovely, fluffy hair, and I get... well, THAT!?!? Sorry... bad tangent...)

So that was it... we had breakfast that morning with all our friends and then we had to take off! Joel was scheduled to fly out the next day and still needed to get back to pack up, etc, so we had to go. It sucks driving back to MI from WI because you lose an hour with the time change. So you think you're doing well leaving at 12, but really, it's already 1 and you're behind schedule. So we kind of had to rush out, which sucked, because when you only see your friends once a year, you want to spend as much time with them as possible! Luckily, I can still see most of these people in the next 7 months...

So there you go...that's the recap of how we welcomed in 2010! Nothing too exciting, but a good time with good friends. Mostly, I'm just excited that 2010 is the year we get to meet Moonshine face to face (although if you're interested in seeing what that face might look like, head over to 9 Months with Moonshine to find out). 2009 was really a good year, but I'm thinking 2010 is going to be great. Looks like it just keeps getting better! :)