retrospective {2008}

me & elyse (roomie) on new year's eve

Before we get too far into 2009, I thought I'd take a peek over my shoulder to remember what 2008 held for me. Take a walk with me ...

January 2008
This is the month I turned 30 ... at home. By myself. With the flu and a 104 fever. Once recovered, I was able to enjoy a great [gluten-free] birthday dinner with friends.
Not only did I get to visit Christianne, but we learned that we would get to share forty minutes in the StoryCorps booth interviewing one another. Oh, and the whole getting to Florida part? That was pretty funny, too.

February 2008
I went with friends to see Chris Botti live at Jazz Alley in Seattle. It was amazingly beautiful.
I decided to go to the Christian writer's conference at Mount Hermon, reserving my spot just two weeks prior. It was a leap of faith, and I trust it was not in vain.
There was this day where my heart crept up on me (and who but my favorite Christianne-girl should offer me this sweet gem?)
I posted this piece: a confession about how I've treated my body over the years and to which I received responses that made me weep.

March 2008
I continued down a path of remembering, exploring places I hadn't visited in a long time so I could spend time tending to the fears and hurts of a very confused and heartbroken 13-year-old me. It's a path I continue to visit from time to time.
I tried new writing exercises and shared a descriptive piece about waking up.

April 2008
I made a commitment to cut back on my latte habit in favor of French press coffee so I could steward my funds more responsibly (but now I may have a slight French-press addiction).
I shared photos from a solo photo session that I had simply to celebrate me and the life I'm living.

May 2008
Kaari and I bought tickets to Ireland. We will be on our way in just 5 weeks!!
I shared continued and mounting struggles with my health, including my frustration with a malfunctioning thyroid and all the symptoms that came with it.

June 2008
I learned that the loveliest of lovelies (Christianne, Sarah, and Christin) would be coming to visit me in August!!
In a three part series, I shared in depth about the profound implications that my chronic health issues had on me physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally. I talked about the darkness, and then about emerging from it.

July 2008
I continued in the vein of sharing how my health issues were affecting me. I was increasingly frustrated and losing both patience and hope.

August 2008
And more about the health issues (are you sensing a theme?). More frustration, more tears, more just plain ol' sick & tired of it.
And the girls came to visit. It was so incredibly beautiful.

September 2008
Having tried a variety of treatments that all ended up failing, I took some proactive steps in my quest for better health and I felt loved and held in that space.
Sarah shared with me that she had a dream about how God was catching every single tear I shed. And then I shed some more.
I learned that I was faced with a tough and unexpected decision about whether or not I would move for my job.

October 2008
My friend Peggy and I had some fun at the pumpkin patch!!
I remembered those things I would miss about living in Bellingham.

November 2008
I moved.
I unpacked.
I lived in a sea of cardboard.
And I worked, and I worked, and I worked.

December 2008
I worked, and I worked, and I worked some more.
I unpacked some more and said goodbye to what I was sure was an endless pile of cardboard and packing material. Good riddance!!
I set out to explore the new environs.
I played in the snow (as there was plenty of it).


I'm very excited to see what 2009 holds!! Though just 2 days into the new year, it is already proving to be a year full of promise. Things I have waited for and hoped for and prayed with tears for appear to be within reach, ripe with the possibility of fulfillment that exceeds my wildest hopes. It was as though 2008 was a year of letting go and maybe, just maybe ... 2009 will be about being able to receive new and better things.

Stay tuned as the journey unfolds ...

photo by kirsten.michelle

coming up for air

Apparently, it takes a snow day for me to be able to write a blog post!! Like many areas of the country, we're experiencing some severe winter weather. We got 8 inches of snow yesterday and for today that means that I'm still in my pajamas, have played several solo rounds of PathWords of Facebook (so addicting!!), washed the dishes, and also did some laundry. There are thick sheets of ice where a driveway and a road used to be, and we are in no hurry to test the limits of my roommate's all-wheel-drive vehicle.

Transition time at work is starting to draw to a close and I am so thankful for that! Since I arrived here a month ago, I've not had a work day that was shorter than eleven hours. As for me and my house, we've been doing our best to break down cardboard, get settled in and set up, as well as navigate our way around this new place, discovering where we can find some good sushi or the best pho in town.

And speaking of new places, I have to say that I'm really digging this one. It's been amazing to see how those things I was concerned about leaving behind have also been provided for in this new place. From a mountain view to a good chiropractor, the Lord has provided for every thing I knew I was going to miss.

Last weekend, we took a walk around our new town and were utterly taken in by its charm. I hope you will be, too!

photos by kirsten.michelle

a very rocky start, or how i began to wonder if i'd make it to florida at all

By now, you all know that Christianne & I had a beautiful and wonderful time in Florida. So beautiful and wonderful that those words begin to lose all meaning. But what you don't yet know is how very hilarious and difficult the process of getting there actually was. Allow me to summarize ...

I spent the bulk on my day on January 28 doing laundry and sorting through summer clothes, giggling at the fact that I was packing flip-flops and short sleeves when there was snow outside my window and the little pond in my backyard was frozen over. More snow was predicted, but since the day was clear with scant bulbous white clouds (not even a little bit ominous-looking), I wasn't concerned, weather forecasting in this area of the country more closely resembling voodoo than actual meteorological science.

It was shortly after sunset that the first flakes began to fall. They grew increasingly large and fell thickly through the sky. It wasn't long before my driveway and street were covered in a thick blanket of white.

Hmmm.

Now for a little background information: I live approximately one hundred miles away from the Seattle airport and had secured reservations with a shuttle service for a ride to the airport in Seattle. The bus left at 2 a.m., and I needed to be there at our local rinky-dink airport no later than 1:45 a.m. My sister would be taking me, but considering the increasingly treacherous road conditions, we needed to consider how we would get to said local rinky-dink airport without sliding quietly into a ditch.

I pulled the chains out of the trunk of my car (chains that had procured my salvation from an icy hill just a month or so before) and we set to work trying to put them on my front tires. Trying would be the operative word. These chains were hand-me-downs and even though my car drives on the smallest tires made (13"), the chains are somehow a tad too small but can be coaxed onto the tires when the appropriate amount of strength is exerted.

We tugged and we tweaked, we pulled and we grunted, we took turns laying down on my purple yoga mat on the dusty garage floor in a vain endeavor to find the best possible angle. Several times, we were within about one-half inch of the promised land. But after nearly an hour of pulling, tugging, and me starting to curse like a sailor (Kaari exhorting me to just step away from the chains and calm down), we still fell short.

This is where older, burlier, and most willing-hearted brothers come into play. Kaari and I are at a distinct advantage to have a brother who considers providing varying means of rescue for his sisters as part of the Big Brother Contract implicitly agreed upon at our respective births. When others were sliding backwards in attempts to make it up the icy hill to our street, Peder was able (with the advantage of all-wheel drive and new snow tires) to come to our rescue. He and Kaari managed to secure the chains on both tires and even took it for a test drive down our icy hill to ensure we'd be safe when we ventured out in the wee hours of the morning.

Hallelujah!

The chains secured, we all sat in our living room, simply enjoying one another's company for awhile, taking note of the size of the flakes falling outside. There was already a couple of inches on the ground after just a couple hours of snowfall. We opened the door and listened outside for the hush that inevitably befalls with the thickening layers of snow. Then at about 8 p.m., the house went went black. Our power was out. Of course.

I had just purchased a large package of candles the day before, so we set about setting them out and lighting them. We were hoping, of course, that power would be restored soon. Can you imagine getting ready in the morning by candlelight? That would be hilarious! I'm sure it will be restored before we leave at 1:30.

The adage famous last words was invented for such cavalier persons as myself.

Peder still being there, he helped us manually open our garage door so we could move my properly-chained up car outside. One less thing to concern ourselves with in the morning.

I made the decision to go to bed for what would amount to about a two-hour nap before I'd need to get up and make those last-minute prepartions so Kaari could drop me off at the shuttle. She and my roommate and I all took a few candles with us to our rooms, all of us laughing at how very Little House on the Prairie this all felt. All I was lacking was a bonnet for my hair and a long white nightgown with a lacy collar.

When I got upstairs, I set out a few tealights around my bathroom sink so I could see as I washed my face and brushed my teeth. As I spit out the foamy remnants of my teeth brushing, I leaned over the sink and slurped some of the running water so I could rinse. Now, what is that pungent smell? What is that crackling noise?

That would be my hair on fire. Of course.

I frantically batted my head and looked in the mirror to ensure the flames on my head had been squelched, hoping this incident would not become a cautionary tale against lighting candles in the bathroom and placing them in such close proximity to the sink when getting ready for bed. It was a matter of seconds before the whole upstairs began to reek of my burned locks. I looked to the sink and saw a rather interesting mix of discarded toothpaste and small chunks of my singed hair.

Good gravy.

The alarm went off at midnight and despite the hour, it was surprisingly light out as the moonlight reflected off the thick shroud of white outside. I expectantly reached over to the lamp on my nightstand to flip the switch. Nothing. It appeared as though I'd be putting the finishing touches on my packing by candlelight.

I went to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth again, placing the candles as far away from the sink as possible, desperately wishing not to repeat the attempt to see how my hair might double as a torch. I got ready as though in a fog, and even with the candlelight, couldn't see much of what I was actually taking with me. Reasoning that Florida would no doubt possess what I may have forgotten, I decided not to worry myself over it.

I lugged my bags downstairs and thanked Kaari again as she lumbered upstairs from her room, the hood of her sweatshirt pulled tightly around her face. She warmed up the car and we took my bags out. There was at least five inches of snow on the ground.

We made it to the shuttle without further incident. My little car lumbered up and down the snowy, ice-packed streets without incident and I was deposited safely at the curbside where the shuttle would pick me up to take me to the airport in Seattle.

Sigh. Thank God.

Once the shuttle was safely underway, blazing down the decidedly bare freeway, I got a text message on my phone from Kaari. It was 2 a.m. She had arrived safely home and the power was back on.

Of course.

And that, my friends, is the crazy grand adventure of how I got to the airport in the first place.

snowflakes & flip-flops

Don't get me wrong: I am so ready to go to Florida to visit my dear friend (and yours), Christianne. According to Accuweather.com, I can expect temperatures in the mid- to high-70s during my stay. I do so need to thaw out. Here in my corner of the world, the red line of the thermometer has not been able to push much past 20 degrees. My attire these days is regularly comprised of gloves, scarves, thick socks, and my favorite black puffer vest. I come home with icy white hands and toes purple and tingling from the cold. So it seems ironic to be packing a suitcase with short-sleeved tops and contemplating the question of whether or not to pack flip-flops (in which case my agenda for today had better include a pedicure) when there is a fresh dusting of snow in my backyard, resting on the flat and frozen surface of the little pond outside my window.

We got some more snow here yesterday. Having had a couple of unfortunate driving experiences in this kind of weather over the past year or so (nothing major, just those slippery and icy situations you don't want to get into), I typically respond to those first few flakes like an old and wrinkly Scrooge, crossing my arms and sticking out my lower lip, thinking bah humbug. I don't want to drive in this stuff (said with spit and disdain), or I will most certainly slide into a ditch (which, for the record, has not happened).

Yesterday wasn't like that. I ran outside to the snow like a nine-year-old, wondering if this means school is going to be canceled. As those first flakes fell, resting on my arms and eyelashes and nose, something playful and mischievious was awakened in me. My brother and sister felt it too. We played right along with our littlest neighbors. We knew it was magic.

So we just went with it.

see all the 27 jan 08 snow day photos by kirsten.michelle