BRRRRR!

When the person on the radio said it was 22 BELOW this morning, I waited for them to laugh and say they were joking...but they weren't lying. It really was 22 BELOW ZERO this morning with windchill. It makes the sun just seem like a cruel taunt to come out side and bask in its glory when really, if you did that you would DIE from FROSTBITE (can you tell that I'm a little bitter about the weather?) I'm going to Orlando next week for work and while they are complaining of 50 degree temperatures, right now that sounds like paradise. I did see my first "sun dog" this morning (look it up, it's for real) Eliot, my boss informed me and my coworker Sam that it's a rainbow of ice crystals that form around the sun when it's this cold out. I love a good rainbow, but I'll take mine after a thunderstorm thank you very much.

a wonderful dilema

i have just finished reading a book, a fluffy novel telling the story of an Italian girl and her family growing up in a milltown on the East Coast in the 1920s. now i have the dilema of choosing what to read next. only a true reader understands this quandry. when you finish a good book there is a feeling of satisfaction like drinking a really good cup of coffee or enjoying a pefectly moist and dense brownie. it's wonderful, but at the same time it's over and even if you have a stack of good books in front of you, it takes a little while to get into another story, introduce yourself to a new set of characters and immerse yourself in their life's story. so here i am sitting in front of my bookshelf, weighing my options between the Grapes of Wrath, which i know will be wonderful, but it seems a little daunting, a Jodi Picoult novel, equally wonderful, but much lighter, and an assortment of other novels. what will it be? in the end there isn't a wrong choice, but there are certain moods for books, so which one is best for the end of January?

technology

I am sitting on the floor of our second bedroom, fiddling with a pair of rabbit ears (Adam insisted on putting tin foil on them, but I don't think they really help) trying to get a clear signal to watch the Bears game. It's so frustrating to get such fuzzy reception when we're used to crystal clear digital images. But I also realize how spoiled we are to not have to deal with these funny looking antennas on a regular basis. You ask why we are resorting to an antenna? Well, it seems Mediacom, our local cable provider is in some kind of feud with FOX so we don't get that channel anymore. I'm not a diehard football fan, but I was raised on Sunday afternoon Chicago Bears games. And according to my brother, the Bears haven't won the superbowl since 1985 so I'm doing my part and supporting da bears.

snow day

Adam and I have declared it a Sunday snow day. It started snowing late last night and by this morning we had 4 or 5 inches. I'm sure we could have made it to church, but it's so much more fun to stay home and make pancakes, drink coffee, and watch cars try to navigate the roads. Does anyone else find pleasure in looking out their windows and watching cars spin up the hill or trying to get out of the mound of snow the plow left in front of their driveway or is it just us? Our next mission is to track down someone with a sled (I think Bo is our best bet) and bundle up to go sledding. I'm not sure if we'll actually be that ambitious, but it sounds good.

It started snowing last night and before I went to bed I lay on the couch looking out the window at the gray sky that seemed to glow as it released its flakes onto the world below. There's something so perfect about snow falling. I love how it muffles the rest of the world and covers up all our dirt and grime. When I was a kid I hated it when the mailman or paperboy trekked across our front yard. I loved the perfection of the smooth layer of snow over the otherwise gray yard.

I'm listening to Norah Jones. Her voice reminds me of rainy days and watching it snow outside. I can't wait for her new CD to come out the end of the month.

more to come, i promise...

Happy New Year

It's that time of year to make new beginnings and reflect on the old year. This is my version of a Christmas letter.

Here I go with a little game I like to call High/Low

Highs of 2006:
Adam and I bought our first house in March. It is a condo in Des Moines, really close to downtown where we work, and it has been great to get it furnished and decorated and make it feel like home. We've been in it 9 months (which is a record for me to be at one address) but it feels like we've been here a lot longer.

The Drake Relays. I think the last weekend in April will always be reunion time in Des Moines. Laura was in from LA and Lynn was back from the Virgin Islands for a much needed girl weekend.

Weekend in Chicago, visiting friends and watching the Cubs beat the Cardinals :)

Week at Lake Okoboji with the Schmidts. Adam got to experience my childhood vacation spot and we celebrated our one-year anniversary. I also played my first 9 holes of golf.

Throughout the year we have started meeting more couples at church and have finally found our niche in ministry there. We help with the set up and tear down of one of the services and will be leading a Bible study this winter.

Visiting Laura in LA for Labor Day weekend. 4 glorious days consisting of shoe shopping, coffee, red wine, champagne, movie sets, ocean views, and of course, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL: Countdown of the top 50 musicals of all time.

Adam and I had all kinds of fun this fall going to an apple orchard, drinking cider, and going to a costume party.

I started leading a creative writing workshop at the women's prison with a friend from college. Once a week we go write with a group of 10-12 women for an hour and a half. It has been so rewarding.

We spent a weekend in Minneapolis/St. Paul Christmas shopping and enjoying the sites with our friends Jim and Allison.

Thanksgiving and Christmas were both spent with family and loved ones. We are blessed to be close enough to drive home and see both of our families.

And for Lows,
I really only have one, and it's a selfish one, but it must be noted that my dear friend (and co-worker) Becca moved to LA to take a fabulous job at Bon Appetit magazine. It was an opportunity she couldn't pass up, but I miss her dearly. I always knew she was wonderful (who else slaves over birthday cakes, will go on walks with you any time, and always have time to take a lunch break when you're having a hard day at work?) but it's only that more apparent now that she's not here. But she was back in town over the holidays, and I'm confident that in two years she'll be back in Des Moines...


God only knows what this next year has in store for us.

Christmas with the Cooleys

Adam and I put up the tree this weekend. I was like a kid in a toy store discovering all the things I forgot we had. I think my favorite is the nativity scene.




And you can't get in the Christmas spirit without a big dose of sugar! I had some friends over and we made and army of gingerbread cookies and sugar cookies. Yum!

thanksgiving weekend

Adam and I had a busy weekend traveling to see family in Missouri, Illinois and Eastern Iowa. 700 miles later we're home and have eaten as much pie and turkey as possible. Friday was Adam's birthday, but since we knew we'd be out of town we started celebrating Tuesday night in the spirit of a birthday "week"



Thanksgiving day we were in rural Missouri visiting all of my mom's family. I remain a city girl at heart, but with sunsets like this (and close to 70 degrees in November) I'll take an occasional day in the country.





I love hanging out with Karen. She plays skipbo with me to my heart's content and watches endless episodes of Gilmore Girls, who could ask for anything else?

i love books

I was in a local bookstore recently, one of those small corner bookstores, with comfy couches, a coffee pot in the corner and the owner walking around talking to customers, kind of like the bookstore Meg Ryan owned in You've Got Mail. Anyway, this quote was painted on the wall and I had to copy it down I liked it so much:
"Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier."
Kathleen Norris

hula dancers

Adam and I went to a Halloween party last weekend dressed in souveniers from our honeymoon in Kauai. I am convinced that adults enjoy this celebration more than kids. We don't even need the incentive of candy to dress up and do crazy things. It just seems we want an excuse to be someone other than ourselves for a night.

caffeine free

I haven't had coffee since Friday morning. This wasn't really a deliberate choice, I just wanted to see if I could get by without it. I do get a little tired and crabby mid morning, and I'm definitely not considering giving up my favorite reason for getting out of bed in the morning during the week, but I thought I'd try it for a weekend. I haven't been completely caffeine free though. Adam tries to not drink soda during the week but on the weekends he will drink it, so I've swiped a few swigs of his carbonated beverages this weekend to tide me over. It's definitely not the same as coffee though. That goes straight to my veins and perks me up anytime. And I keep reading that it has some kind of cancer fighting powers, so it can't be all bad, right?

there's something about this time of year, when it's just starting to get cold out that makes me want coffee or something warm to drink all the time. In the last week I probably stopped and bought coffee sometime during the day 3 times. Usually I'm really good about making my coffee at home, loading it up with my favorite flavored creamer and filling up my travel mug. I feel like that justifies my coffee intake because it's cheaper than $3 a cup. I can't believe how much people are willing to fork over for a good latte. I mean i like that professionally frothed milk as much as the next person, but for $3 a day I would much rather go shoe shopping :)

the bridges of madison county

I still haven't figured out why there are covered bridges in the heart of Iowa, or anywhere for that matter, but I decided no matter the reason, they are romantic. It was the annual covered bridge festival this weekend so Adam and I went to check out the excitement with our friends Kelsey and Ben. We decided that Winterset is one of those hidden gems in Iowa. We wandered around the city square eating candy apples, pulled pork sandwiches and hot apple cider, listening to local quartets serenade the sunny autumn afternoon. We even sat down for a slice of apple pie ala mode at the cafe Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep made famous in the movie, Bridges of Madison County. I can't imagine a better way to spend an afternoon. All through college my roommate Lynn raved about this festival and somehow I never made it with her, but now I understand her enchantment with it all. I'm sure there are festivals like this across the country. And even though I will always be a city girl at heart, I can still appreciate a little small town fun.



(and for those of you wondering about my new hair color, this is it, what do you think?)

Freedom

What is freedom?
maybe you can't understand it until it's taken away
we talk about freedom to choose
freedom to vote
freedom of speech
freedom of religion
but none of these freedoms mean anything if you don't practice them, appreciate them, value them

Freedom to drive a car
Freedom to have children
Freedom to walk in the sunshine

Do I even know the freedoms I have?
Freedom is intangible
you can't put a price tag on it,
but then how do you get it?
Can you earn it? buy it? deserve it? find it?
Or is it illusive like a shooting star, impossible to grasp, priceless.

Some freedom is inherent
it's a choice—to love, to believe,
Some freedom is personal
Some is political

We have no control over it,
or do we?
Someone has control over it, but who?
What freedom do you have?

apple picking

Adam and I found an apple orchard north of Des Moines and had a great time picking apples and going on a hayrack ride. Now we have more apples than we know what to do with. I'll be making apple pie, apple bread, apple crisp, apple muffins...for weeks.

I believe

I believe in second chances, mercy, and forgiveness.
I believe in true love and high school sweethearts.
I believe in hard work.
I believe in sunrises and sunsets—new beginnings every morning and a quiet end to an otherwise crazy day.
I believe in God—the one who created everything, but still has time to love me.
I believe in the power of family to carry you through any situation.
I believe in good wine, dark chocolate, and coffee.
I believe in loving your neighbor, turning the other cheek, and listening before jumping to conclusions.
I believe in myself.
I believe in freedom—freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to education, and freedom to live in peace.
I believe I am entitled to my own opinion, that I can make my own choices, but once those choices are made, I am responsible for the consequences.
I believe you get out of life what you put into it.
I believe in angels and things unseen.
I believe in the power of prayer and miracles and dreams.
I believe in heaven and peace on earth, not just at Christmas time.
I believe in random acts of kindness and true beauty.
I believe.
I believe.

little joys

when all is said and done it's usually the little things that make my day. Like:
how easy it is to buy a cd on itunes. Talk about instant gratification. My most recent puchase is Toby Lightman's new release.
lunch dates with my husband
the satisfaction of a good workout after a full day of work
new magazines in the mail. i just got the new Radiant and can't wait to dig into it.
long phone calls with far away friends

what makes your day?

monarch butterflies, buckeyes, and candy corn

These are the signs of fall in iowa.
Monarch butterflies do some kind of migrating in at the end of the summer. I had a professor at Drake who was a little obsessed with monarchs. In one of his classes he would periodically let us go find a place outside to just sit and wait to see butterflies, i miss those days. So now every time i see a butterfly, especially in Sept I can't help but smile.

Buckeyes are those quirky little nutty things that seem to magically fall out of the trees right before the leaves start to turn. Adam and I were on a walk yesterday afternoon and I spotted one of the casings they come in. Before he could stop me I was filling the pouch of my sweatshirt with the notty little eyes. i think they will make a wonderful centerpiece.

And candy corn. I guess it's been out in stores for awhile, but I bought a bag yesterday. There's something about the sickeningly sweet kernels that only taste good for about a month. My roommates and i used to go through bags of them in Sept and Oct gorging ourselves on the sweet and salty combination of candy and peanuts.

happy fall

so true

There's no combination of words I could put on the back of a postcard
And no song that I could sing but I can try for your heart
And our dreams and they are made out of real things
Like a shoebox of photographs with sepia-toned loving
Love is the answer at least for most of the questions in my heart
Like why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard?
It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving
I'll tell you one thing, it's always better when we're together

It's always better when we're together
We'll look at the stars when we're together
It's always better when we're together
It's always better when we're together

Jack Johnson, Better Together

I've always loved Jack (yes, we're on a first name basis) but I usually don't think about the words even though I seem to know them all. But when I saw them typed out they were so real. I ask myself all those questions, as I'm sure most young adults do. Someone told me the other day that our parents must still be keeping secrets from us. There must be some trick to growing up that I just haven't mastered yet, right?

all dressed up in front of Laura's adorable apartment


you have to go shoe shopping when you're in LA :)


it's so sunny in LA they give you umbrellas to block the sun. aren't we cute?


lunch in malibu. how gorgeous

LA Delight

I spent a long weekend in LA visiting who else but Laura Jean. I was out there last September visiting for her first birthday away from Iowa, but this trip was longer and we just got to be girls. I have been telling people about the trip and a lot of people are surprised that Adam didn't go with me (he went to Indianapolis with his dad for some drag races). I tell them that I LOVE the fact that we are married but can still do our own thing when needed. And this weekend proved that I as much as I enjoy being a wife (yes, i am now OK with using the "w" word) I will always be a girlfriend at heart :)

responsibility

when i lived at home i was responsible to keep my room fairly clean and my stuff (interpretted books, bags, shoes, clothes, etc) if not out of sight atleast in an orderly pile. but dishes, vacuuming, cleaning the bathrooms and laundry were taken care of by my mom. they just happened without me realizing it.
Then i get to college, living in the dorms. While i now had to do my own laundry, the bathrooms were cleaned daily and with meals in the cafeteria dirty dishes were wisked away to be cleaned for the next meal. and with no one to tell me to put things away (my roommate had just as much if not more "stuff" than I did) things started piling up until i either took notice or had time to care.
Then I moved into a house full of girls and while we now had to take care of dishes laundry and general cleaning ourselves, if the kitchen was messy or there were shoes, magazines, purses, keys, strewn all over the living room, even if the majority of the stuff was mine it was easy to write off the mess as a joint mess.
now that it's just Adam and I living in a place it's not so easy to walk through the kitchen and see a stack of dishes in the sink or a pile of shoes by the door. I know that if I don't do something about it the said mess will probably still be looking at me tomorrow. This is not to say that Adam doesn't do his fair share of picking things up, but i know that generally half if not more of the mess is most likely mine and if i don't take care of it no one else is going to be picking up behind me. just one more of those realizations that my mom could have tried to tell me but that i couldn't have understood until now.