L'aventure américaine

I love Christmas.  I do.  It's my very favorite holiday and I love that it brings people together...  that you express your love and affection...  that you spend time with your family, biological or not. I was far from my family this year and I missed them.  I really really missed them.  But, I am so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life here, who although they might not normally celebrate such a Christmas carol filled, ornament adorned, festive holiday, put on quite a show for me.  I am so appreciative! On Christmas Eve, we celebrated with the Van Dykes (Stephanie and her parents).  We all decorated the tree together and Papa Van Dyke made a delicious dinner of eggplant parmesan after some decadent cheese fondue.   Ice cream sundaes and plenty of wine made for a festive party, filled with excellent conversation and much laughter. The newly decorated tree, the Popes, and the Van Dykes! The beautiful tab...

It's Christmas time, which is always a time of reflection.  This year has brought a tremendous amount of change for us.  I am reminiscing about my Christmas Eve last year with my family, celebrating our holiday together.  I wondered when Randal would propose.  I was happy to have my parents, my cousins, Mary and her family, and Randal all together.  I was so tired after 6 months of non-stop action in school.  2012 had been a year of extreme ups and downs and I was ready for an emotional break. I am not sure that 2013 was full of the serenity that I had imagined.  But, it was so full.  Full of joy and full of sadness and full of success and full of love.  Always full of love. I have done a tremendous amount of research this year on health and wellness.  Because of that, I eat better and exercise more than any other time in my life.  But, in the research that I have done, I keep coming ...

The Storm (Bear) by Mary Oliver Now through the white orchard my little dog      romps, breaking the new snow      with wild feet. Running here running there, excited,      hardly able to stop, he leaps, he spins until the white snow is written upon      in large, exuberant letters, a long sentence, expressing      the pleasures of the body in this world. Oh, I could not have said it better      myself.

The house seems quiet today and both Randal and I feel a little melancholy after such a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. My parents came for a week and we had a marvelous time.  Randal and I enjoyed taking them to every room in the house and showing them every detail...  what we had decorated, what we planned to decorate, what we planned to keep.  We showed them the town of Klamath Falls and they even came to the Kiwanis Club meeting where Stephanie and I presented.  We went to a winery, a creamery, and a chocolate shop.  We walked the streets of our neighborhood.  And we celebrated Thanksgiving with family and we so grateful to do so. So many things to be thankful for this year.  Mom and I found a great store in Jacksonville with some kitchen-inspired headgear. Mom and I also went to Albany, OR to visit our dear friend Lois.  She turns 90 next month, but still made some delicious meals.  It was wonderful to see her. Mo...

Once upon a time, a pouty wife told her husband that he had forgotten to wish her a "Happy 11/11!"  "You are my closest person!"  She insisted.  "My mom did it.  My brother did it.  My Aunt Juanita did it!  But you forgot!" "Oh no."  He replied.  "I'm so sorry.  Happy 11/11!  What can I do to make it up to you?" "Well, I need my closest people to all wish me a happy 11/11.  So, you and Bogey [the cat] and Maizie [the dog] all have to wish me 'Happy 11/11.'  And I would like Bogey to wish me 'Happy 11/11' in the form of a sparkly, light-up sign, please." "What?"  He understandably asked. "A sign that lights up and says 'Happy 11/11!'" She answered.  "Do you hear me Bogey?  Get out of bed and start working on it!" The spoiled wife went out for the day and enjoyed an 11/11 hike and worked with her partner.  When she returned home, she found this on ...

 The new Sky Lakes Wellness Center decided to add pumpkins to the Pumpkins Carving Contest at the hospital this year.  You win the contest by having the most money in your tin at the end of the day.  The Wellness Center worked quite hard on our transition pumpkins (chronicling the journey of a typical Klamath Falls citizen from a life of medications, junk food, and TV to healthy foods and exercise).  However, being a two person department, we didn't have quite enough man-power to stuff the ballots.  We had a great time putting them together though! I was, as you may know, very very excited for Halloween this year.  Randal and I happened to buy a house on the prime trick-or-treating street in Klamath Falls.  You know the one...  where parents drive their kids and drop them off.  We prepared by donning our capes, stocking our house with over 600 pieces of candy, and making a warm, tequila-y beverage in the crockpot. Our costumes were ...

  We are about to celebrate two months as husband and wife. And it makes me excited for the rest of my life. My husband is patient and kind and sweet. And he's handsome, except for gross feet. He's painted my walls and appeased my whims. He's planted three fruit trees with cute little limbs. He has plans for greenhouses, co-ops and compost. He is always much more interesting than most. He's so smart and so fun and such a good man And I love him.  I love him, with all that I am.

I thought that I would get that out there first thing.  If anyone found that they had a large influx of cash, I would love to take it off of your hands.  I would even name a building after you! You see, Stephanie and I are still moving along with the clinic.  However, we have to yet to permanently establish a home for the Sky Lakes Wellness Center.  While the hospital has offered to foot the bill, we are hoping for some extra money to fully renovate up to our standards (green building, teaching kitchen, community space, windows, windows, windows!) and we hate to ask the hospital for all of that money.  So, if you know any philanthropists, if you have been searching for a building in which you could invest, or if you want to save me some grant-writing time, please send $850,000 our way! Klamath Falls from the top of the ridge where Maizie and I hike almost daily. We are, in fact, moving along and are having some success.  In fact, the local pap...

The problem with having a wonderful, whirlwind two weeks before a wedding is that it is hard to remember everything that happened later.  If I go through my calendar, I see some of the events that happened: Day with Mackenzie, drinks with Charlie McKeen, Donna and Greg arrived, walk with Charlotte, massages, bachelorette party, wedding rehearsal, wedding.  But, that doesn't even come close to encompassing all that were those two weeks. Randal and I would wake up in our little attic bedroom, surrounded by wedding props and dirty laundry.  We would go downstairs and Dad would most likely make us a delicious fried egg for breakfast.  Josephine would be sitting at the table with her dad and you would try to talk to her, but she would duck her head and bat her eyes at you, grinning sweetly before looking at Charles.  Everyone would discuss their plans for the day: Me: I am finally going to finish those place cards. Randal: Tree house. Dad: Cleaning...