Family Photos...

Figured since the 1st of FEBRUARY is already creeping up on us, I best get the family photos we took the last day of DECEMBER in order. Muddy shoes, bald eagles, and laughs...that's what these pictures will always bring to mind.










There are a few more included in our gallery on SmugMug if you care to check them out.


peace

Wisdom Beyond Her Years...

"Sometimes you have to do what's best for the whole family, not just think about yourself." - Brea

I often wonder how a 5 year old can be so wise. I've been wrestling with her comment since she casually added it to our dinnertime discussion on Saturday night. In many ways she is so right...I just wish it was that simple in practice.


peace

The Truth...

I've been writing this post for a while in my head. Trying to figure out how to put a positive or creative spin on my feelings. Thinking about how, as a yogi, I'm suppose to be accepting and unattached and all "puppies and unicorns" about life. (OK, not really, but you know, that's what it feels like sometimes...the puppies and unicorns part that is.) But if I try to be anything here, it's honest and real. Soooo...

I've been thinking a lot recently about relationships. I think it's partially because it's January winter. January winter sucks. I mean in the summer we get out. We go to the pool and run into people. We make plans to meet people at the park or get together for "drinks on the patio". January winter, in comparison, just seems lonely.

I think it's also because I'm already wondering where I will find myself working after the 2011-12 school year comes to a close. I work with a whole group of great people I really like being around, and there is absolutely no guarantee that I will be back with them for the 2012-13 school year. That stresses me out both because I'm already wondering about how I'm going to fill the need for me to generate income AND because the best part of my year has been the social connections I've made with my co-workers.

I think it's partially because I'm feeling...kinda sad. We've been removed from the day-to-day lives of our Grinnell friends long enough that I no longer really know their current events. And honestly we haven't been to visit, or had visitors, as often as I had expected being as there's only 60 miles that separate us from our old home and our current residence. And a few of my friendships, that I thought would withstand the distance and the challenges of life, have just...faded. And I know I should be thankful for the time we have spent together in the past without worrying about the future, when in fact I'm neurotically wondering what I did/said that has contributed to the fade. (Facebook you say...don't even get me started on how social networking is just a false sense of connection that has done nothing but helped to make me more insecure about my social networks.)

I think it's partially because there a few things happening with extended family that make me wish I had closer relationships with those whom I share genetic code.

I could probably list a number of other things going on in life, and thoughts going through my head, to try to justify (mostly to myself) my feelings. But when it comes down to it I'm just sad and mourning the loss of (or lack of) connections that I have held so close to my heart.

At the same time I'm so thankful for those relationships in my life that have stood the test of time, sometimes distance, and my (admittedly) poor relationship maintenance skills.

I'm working on 'em...


peace

My High School Sweetheart...

Later this month will mark 20 years since Scott and I started dating. How quickly 20 years have passed. It hasn't always been perfect, but at the heart of it all there's always been love. How lucky I am to still be able to so often feel like a giddy 16-year-old when we are together? (Thank goodness the teen aged awkwardness and angst are mostly a thing of the past!)

We snapped this photo on New Year's Eve while out with our girls taking some family portraits. It was a gorgeous 55 degrees. We tromped through some mud down by the river. A bald eagle flew calmly overhead. It was a perfect way to end 2011. I hope to have more of those shots to share here later in the week. And who knows, maybe a winter greeting card will still get out before the spring thaw!


peace

Christmas Peek...

(Our first Feliz Navidad at the Snyders!)

(Christmas PJs, 2011.)

(Surprise mini Lego people were hidden in the tree waiting for us to find and assemble on Christmas Eve.)

(The girls were so excited about the gift they found Daddy at RAYGUN.)

(Chatting with Uncle Jason.)

peace