A Few Good Quotes

"There is something so settled and stodgy about turning a great romance into next of kin on an emergency room form, and something so soothing and special, too." ~ Anna Quindlen

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'" ~Mary Anne Radmacher

Monday, February 28, 2011

Ian Is Out of Town

All I can say is thank goodness neither of our jobs require regular traveling. Ian has been gone since yesterday morning and I'm already missing him! The last two times we've been a part since being married, I'm the one who has left. And let me tell you - it is much different to be the one going then the one left behind. I was SO SAD crawling into our bed alone last night. And I have two more nights to go!

For those that are wondering why a high school teacher would be traveling for work, he is part of a team that is assessing another high school. It's this thing called WASC and unless your high school is WASC accredited, the students can't get accepted into a Cal State or UC school. His school is up for renewal next year and so he's learning more about the process by being an assessor himself. So it's good for his career, good for his school, a nice change of pace for him, and all that good stuff. But it makes for a very sad Esther.

It's not that I can't enjoy myself or enjoy the time alone. In fact, I had a great time yesterday. I went to Sarah and Eric's for lunch and stayed several hours, enjoyed the relaxed and encouraging conversation with them. When I got home, I called a long distance friend and went for a walk. Then I watched the entire Academy Awards, snacked for dinner instead of cooking and worked on my engagement scrapbook (yes, I am very far behind on that project). It was lovely. But by the end of the night, I was ready for Ian to come home.

I've already planned a date night for us on Thursday, when he's back (he gets back on Wednesday night, but I'll be at Life Group - and if he gets home early enough, he'll join me) and I'm looking forward to it.

In the past, I have to admit that my cold, unattached heart was very "out of sight, out of mind." But with Ian, absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. If you're reading this in your hotel room, I love you Ian! Mwah!!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday Mornings

On Thursday mornings, I have nothing planned before work. You might be asking, "What could you have planned before work?" Well, on M/W/F I jog - that means I drag myself out of bed and rush right into my work out clothes, since I've probably waited until the last minute possible to get up. Then I jog (if you can call my very slow steps jogging), rush into the shower, rush getting ready and rush off to work (probably at least 5 minutes late). On Tuesdays, I usually pray with my friend (and sister-in-law) Heather.



So, that leaves just Thursdays where I don't have anything planned. And how I love Thursdays. I like to still get up at the same time, giving me a full hour at home before I need to do any type of getting ready activity. I read my Bible, journal, tidy up the house, drink coffee, sit and stare at the backyard - pretty much whatever I want. This morning, in addition to all those things, I made vegetable stew. We have a vegan friend coming over for dinner tonight, so I chopped onions, eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms and so on, all at around 7:05 this morning. It was lovely.

If I love Thursdays so much, you might ask why I don't do that every morning? Because I’m structured. I like routine. Some might even say I'm anal. Plus, I need to work out. It's good for my soul. And I really enjoy praying with Heather. Haven't you notice too how you value something more for its scarcity? It's better and you enjoy it more because it's less frequent?

So here's to Thursday mornings (or your equivalent), where the house is quite, the coffee is hot, the couch is comfy and the solitude is bliss.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A History Lesson

We went to DC this weekend, but this post is a history lesson of three very important friendships, not the nation. This weekend, I got to see three of my dearest friends.

Back just late last night, I'm happy to report that we had a GREAT weekend in DC. We took the red eye out Friday, arrived very early Saturday morning and never looked back! We toured the city, hung out with three different couples, visited a church on Capitol Hill, went to Mt. Vernon and generally had a wonderful time! The highlight of the trip was definitely time with friends, but we like to say that the trip was made possible by Clare, our Tom Tom (we thought her very plain sounding voice made her seem like a Clare - thanks Mary and Mike for loaning her to us!). Without her, we would have been lost, frustrated, short with each other and probably worse. Having Clare made all the difference in the world.

Small disclaimer - we did only okay with the photos this time. That being said, much of the trip doesn't have documentation (like all of Sunday). But we did what we could!

We arrived at 6AM (in Virginia), picked up our rental car and drove to a very cute breakfast place (thanks for the recommendation Lindsey!) where we ate and I freshened up. Ian insists I spent 30 minutes in their bathroom, but with an overnight flight, I needed to change a few clothing items, wash my face, put on my makeup, fix my hair, all of which I'm sure took less than 20 minutes.

Then, with the help of incredible Clare, we headed into DC. We first went to the Capitol, to have a quick look around.


































Then we went to the National Gallery of Art, which was amazing. Of course, we did a few monuments - Washington, Lincoln and the Koren War, all of which are truly beautiful. I had never really looked at the Korean Memorial before and it was very moving (bottom picture).


























Having worn ourselves out (mostly due to very little sleep on the red eye), we headed to Lindsey's house in Maryland to take a nap and then enjoy a night out with her and her husband, Josh. Lindsey and I have been friends for 20 years - we met in middle school in Texas and stayed in touch all these years, were in each other's weddings and both just recently bought houses. It was so fun to see their house and get to hang out with them. There is just something about being with someone who has known you since you were 11 (that chose to know you, rather than being family). We ate at a great Tex-Mex place in DC and enjoyed catching up and our husbands getting acquainted.

On Sunday, we met Mel and Luke at their church in DC for service. Mel's was my mentor in late high school and then my RD when I was a second year RA and then my dear friend, before falling in love with my cousin and moving to DC. We really enjoyed our time at their church - it was very evident the Spirit is alive there and we found the pastor's message challenging. Then we enjoyed lunch with them and their three children. It was so great to talk about what God is doing in both our lives and we're SUPER exciting that God is calling them back to CA in the near future!

After lunch, we headed to Sarah and Matt's house (back in Maryland). Sarah is one of those friends that each time I see her, it makes me wish I saw her more. I don't know how we ended up so far away from each other! I blame her, of course, since I'm only 20 miles from where we went to school (we met at Biola) and she's a billion miles away. Anyway, the husbands took her two kids to the park so she and I could catch up and then we all joined up for dinner at their place. They made us delicious homemade spaghetti and meatballs - so yummy! After their kids went down, we enjoyed several more hours, just enjoying good conversation. It was over too soon, as always.

After another night in Lindsey's lovely home, we headed out the next morning to Mt. Vernon, with Lindsey as our faithful tour guide. Thankfully, we remembered to take the camera out of my purse.

Here is me and Lindsey on the back side of Mt. Vernon and Ian and me with a view of the Potomac - Washington picked a winner of a spot for his house!




















Here is the house itself - we didn't actually go inside because they were having a huge 297th birthday party for Washington (being that it was President's Day) and the place was mobbed. Due to the holiday, it was also free, so we didn't complain!















We left Mt. Vernon and headed back to the airport, sad our trip was over but so thankful for the time. When we were talking about highlights, we both said time with friends. It still amazes me that these three women, from three totally different stages of my life, who don't know one another, live within 20 minutes of each other. I would want to see each of them as often as possible and to get to see all them in one trip (and in a cool city to boot) is so awesome. Isn't it amazing how God works things out? I am so thankful for these women and who they are in my life - if you girls are reading this (and I know you d0), thanks for making time for us this weekend and loving me and my husband. I love you and can't wait for the next visit!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Always Listen to Your Mother

So my mom came over for dinner last night. My dad's out of town and she was babysitting for one of my sister's near by, so she came to our house afterwards. I love having my mom in our home, because, well, I love my mom, and she's easy company and always thrilled with whatever you serve her and how your house looks. And I think I especially love having her in our home because she made our home possible. I know I've shared before that they invested with us, but I don't know if I've ever been super specific. Plain and simple, my mom gave up her 401K so we could have a house. Pretty amazing, huh? They cashed out her whole account and helped us with the down payment. Ian and I plan on never taking our home for granted and I'm sure you can understand why.

Anyway, that isn't the point of this post. While she was over, I (as any 5th child would when they have their mom's undivided attention) told her all the woes of my recent and prolonged sickness. I told her all my symptoms, in the details you give to your mom - the color of my snot, how tired I am, my sore throat in the mornings, how I'm coughing at night, and so on. She said she thought I should see the doctor, that it sounded like a sinus infection.

Usually when people tell me to go to the doctor, I brush them off. I don't want to waste my time (and money) going to the doctor for them to tell me I have a cold and that I'll feel better in a few days. I could figure that out for myself. But since we're leaving for DC tomorrow (hello Lindsey, Sarah and Mel!), I thought I would try to at least see if there was anything they could do. I've had this for 11 days now, so that's pretty annoying.

So, I went to my doctor's office this morning right after they opened and prayed for a cancellation. As it turned out, they had a no show and I was able to get in and be seen. And guess what the doctor said? BRONCHITIS. Can you believe that? I really don't feel that bad, just worn out and run down. But now I'm going to go on my lunch and pick up the prescription and hopefully feel better soon.

Moral of the story? Always listen to your mother. She knows best.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

A few musings on Valentine's Day...

Valentine's is a strange holiday. Part of me agrees with Ian, who says it is a made up holiday for greeting cards and flower shops. It is silly, to think of "celebrating" love with one day of the year. And of course, I'm thankful for Ian every day, not just today, and I tell him I love him every day, not just today. Naturally, I'm shocked at the restaurants who take their regular menu, double the entrees, throw in a dessert, call it a Dinner for Lovers and jack up the price. Clearly, we're not going out tonight, not going to join in that hub bub. In fact, we're not even doing gifts. NOT EVEN CARDS.

But on the other hand, I LOVE celebrating. I LOVE holidays of any kind. I LOVE any excuse to go out and have a fun time and live it up. So why can't I celebrate Valentine's Day? If it were up to me, our house would have red hearts hanging from pink ribbon in every doorway in every room. Since my husband rarely offers an opinion about how I decorate, when he does, I have to respect that. So, the only thing slightly Valentine-ish in our house is the red streamers hung in our dining room, remnants of our recent couples game night. The other thing rolling around in my mind is that I want others (like co-workers and friends) to know how romantic Ian is and when we don't celebrate V-Day, he looks like a party pooper. Which he's really not. Then I feel silly for needing other people to think we're so in love. We are so in love and we don't need Valentine's Day to show/prove that.

But then again, why not embrace a holiday? I will admit that I am wearing a red sparkly sweater today, and red high heals (perhaps my favorite pair of shoes ever - they have a ribbon around the edge and a bow on the top. Excessive? Yes. Perfect for me? YES!). And my mom is coming to take me out for lunch and we're going to get dessert. So in my own small way, I am celebrating Valentine's Day.

But tonight, we will put in a frozen pizza and babysit our nephew so Ian's sister and her husband can have their own celebration. And no one will mention it's Valentine's Day. And that will be okay.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Being Sick

Being sick is so lame. I've been feeling down since Sunday morning. Nothing too serious, but enough to bother me slightly all day for the past four days. I stayed home on Monday, hoping that resting all day would help me nip this in the bud. On Tuesday morning, I woke up and felt a lot better. But it was a false sense of health. As the day progressed, I felt worse and worse. So, I laid on the couch again last night, after making a simple dinner. I went to bed early, slept very well and then woke up this morning...worse! How can that be? So I am dragging today - yawning every two minutes, fitting off a headache, pounding the tea, trying to focus on work. I have BIG plans to lay on the couch again tonight.

What is it they say about how a good attitude makes all the difference? Blah. They didn't have a sore throat and pressure in their ears when they said that. Who are they anyway?

Friday, February 4, 2011

Clothing Exchange

Last night, I hosted a clothing exchange at my house. If you haven't done one of these with your friends, you really should. Not only are they a fun time to hang out with ladies, but it's like shopping for free!

Our group has done quite a few of these and we always have a great time. We do much more than clothes - we exchange purses, shoes, scarves, jewelry, home goods, and we're expanding to books, movies, and who knows what else!

Anyway, I had a really fun time getting our house ready for the evening and organizing everything. Here is the food & drink table:

This time, I put little signs up, so as the ladies arrived, they knew were to unload each of their items. It worked out pretty well!



These photos are from before anyone arrived, so it's just my items out there. Once everyone showed, we had lots and lots of stuff!
There's another bonus to the exchange - when we're all done looking over all the items, we donate the leftover stuff that no one claims. This time, Heather's work was having a fundraiser so she took all the clothes.
I am happy to announce that I am proudly wearing TWO, that's right two, items from last night's exchange. Some jeans from the Gap (I actually don't know who brought these, but I'm thinking Chanda?) and a vest that my friend Laura brought. Super fun and super cute! (I would include a picture, but I have no one to take it. And that's also a little weird.)
So there you have it. I love me a clothing exchange!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Why I Didn't Post About "It" Sooner

If you read my post "A Little Deeper" then you might remember that I said I would post later about why I hadn't posted sooner. =)

I think there are lots of reasons for my hesitancy in talking about trying to get pregnant on my blog. First, as I mentioned in the post, I was worried about being too personal. It is a public forum, after all, and while I don't think this is the case, it is possible that anyone could be reading the blog. And I don't really want just anyone knowing about our personal stuff. But I made it over that hurdle.

Second, I was hesitant to talk too much about it, because I have mixed feelings about people asking me about it. I want my friends and family involved in my life and in our process, but I also don't want to have to give status reports, especially since sometimes it makes me sad to talk about it. And who wants to talk about sad stuff all the time? Also, and this is something I'm working on, I am very sensitive right now, and so people say things that hurt my feelings, without meaning to. I know admitting that puts people in my life in an awkward position, because they are afraid of saying something wrong, but I know the issue is really mine and I'm learning how to be gracious and give people the benefit of the doubt. Everyone is just trying to love me.

Third, I didn't post about this struggle sooner because I didn't want to create any barriers. See, there are several dear friends of mine who are also trying to get pregnant. If one of them were to receive that joyful news, I would be so, so, so, so, so sad if they felt like they couldn't tell me, for fear of making me sad or mad (if you are one of those dear friends, please read that sentence again). I would indeed feel very sad if one of my friends had exciting news that they were wanting to share but felt that they couldn't. I most certainly want to celebrate the good gifts that God is bringing in other people's lives. Basically, I was afraid that if I made this more public, more "official," that it would deter friends from feeling free to share with me.

Fourth, I didn't post sooner because each time I thought about it, I felt like, "Well, what if next month I do get pregnant?" I felt like I would feel silly for having posted, having made a "big deal" of it. But seeing as several months have already passed with me saying that, it seemed like that wasn't a good reason. And anyway, sometimes blogs are silly.

So, there you go. My latest thoughts.