Okay, I've been procrastinating for a very long time on posting something on this blog. I got overwhelmed when I started to fall behind again, thinking I would need to catch you all up on every single thing that's happened in our lives between the time I stopped blogging with any measure of regularity, and now. It was too dang much for me to wrap my head around, and, so, I procrastinated. Then I decided, well, okay, I'll just pick up from where we are now, and make it a goal to blog with consistency for the remainder of the year (and then I'll make a new goal for the new year). So, if it's okay with you, I'll skip past a low-key summer in the Cities, and right on to our trip to Spain and France at the end of August/beginning of September. Except, I'm not going to do that right now because I've got studying to do, and the trip really deserves it's own post (or two). I just wanted to put it out there, into the blog universe, so that I have something to hold me accountable so that sometime this week I actually follow up with a recap of our trip (and pictures --- so many pictures!). For now, here are some quick facts about life as it currently is:
1. I'm back in school on a full-time basis. Changed my major to English (from Poli Sci), and it has felt like coming home. I am taking 17 credits (5 classes) this semester, and so far (we are in the beginning of the fourth week), very good! I feel more engaged, motivated, excited, and energized than I have in months. I am taking four English classes, including an editing class, a literary non-fiction writing class, a Shakespeare class, and a literary analysis class (listed in order of how much I like them). I'm also taking a statistics class, which means that, after nearly a decade of on-and-off collegiate life, I am FINALLY fulfilling my math requirement! Next semester I will also take about 17 credits, then one more class during the quick 3-week May session, and then --- oh man it feels good to be about to write this ---- GRADUATION. And, the party of a lifetime, which has been a decade in the making. Can I get a WOO-HOOOO?!
2. Kevin is still at 3M, and is currently applying for new positions within the company. This is how the company structure is, with people at Kevin's level changing "businesses" (what the individual divisions at 3M are called) every couple of years. Lot's of good prospects for him right now, which is wonderful.
3. Kevin has gotten a bit more into woodworking, which means I got a brand new coffee table for our anniversary! I'm very impressed, and excited about his new hobby because I've been promised a new dining room table by Thanksgiving. Sweet! Until he is able to build his tool set (as in, actually get a single wood-working tool), he's been using the plans from thissite(check outthese dining tables--- one of these will be in my house soon!), and going to Home Depot to have the pieces cut to the specified sizes. I'm thinking I need to start saving up for some cool saw, or whatever kind of tool my handyman wants, as a Christmas present.
4. October will be a month of small trips for us. Kevin runs the Chicago Marathon (for which he's been training very hard) on the 10th; I leave for Texas on the 14th, and will be driving back with my mom that Sunday (yay for Momstarting her life of travel with an extended stay at Casa Shevlin!); I am running a 5K race on the 23rd with my dear friends from our Ithaca days,Emily and Alison; we are home Halloween weekend, and then my beloved Nicole gets married in Orlando on November 6th (which means a mini-reunion with our third musketeer, Sarah, and the men, of course!). Then it's practically Thanksgiving, which means time to chop down our Christmas tree at the farm and decorate for the holidays, then it's December, which means my 28th birthday, and then my family comes to Minnesota to celebrate Christmas and New Year's with us. And, my mom will be here with us until February, so, needless to say, we are looking forward to an awesome next few months!
And that's about it for now. Here are a few pictures from our trip to Europe, as a preview of what's to come in my post about our trip. Enjoy!
1. Getting caught in a crazy summer downpour on a long walk with my cute husband and goofy dog. Thinking we were just going to get drizzled on, then realizing it was going to pour, deciding not to care, taking our time walking home, and both of us laughing at my urge to splash in every puddle I could find. Glancing over to look at the man I love and just feeling so, so, so very --- free. And drenched. And happy.
2. Celebrating the 4th of July - one of my favorite days of the year - with good friends, good food, lawn games, and an absolutely spectacular fireworks show over the Mississippi in downtown St. Paul. Seeing the looks on the faces of two of our favorite kids, ages 5 and 3, as they watched fireworks for the very first time. Magic. The grand finale was so spectacular it literally made me squeal with delight.
3. New sandals. They are yellow. I know, it's materialistic - but they do make me really happy. Thinking about strolling through the streets of Barcelona and Paris in them makes me even happier.
4. The husband and I looking over at each other every now and then and just saying "PARIS!" and grinning like fools. We are stupid excited about this upcoming trip. I am excited because it's been a lifelong dream of mine to see Paris (I know, how original), and because the idea of two romantic, carefree weeks exploring lovely cities with the man I love is something quite nice to anticipate. Also, I love cheese, and I'm pretty sure Spain and France have some really excellent cheeses waiting for me. Kevin is excited for similar reasons (except in his version it's not the man he loves, it's me he's exploring the cities with, and in addition to the cheese there is the sliver of a hope that I'll actually concede to spending part of our time in Parishere), and also because, I suspect, it makes his heart happy to make one of his wife's lifelong dreams come true. I am very lucky, and very grateful.
5. Deciding to take a big trip this summer after all. It's not the most financially responsible thing we've ever done (we could really use some more money in our savings account), but, it feels right. And I know we won't regret it. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Right? Right!
6. Corn on the cob. It's 39 cents at Trader Joe's. Salt and butter, and that's it. My favorite summertime food. I like to take note of how people eat their corn on the cob --- I like to eat one long thin row at a time, and work my way around the cob until there is not one little kernel left. Kevin likes to chomp around haphazardly, and he always leaves some kernels on the cob. What does this say about us as people? Maybe nothing, but I still find it interesting.
7. Getting text messages about perfectly beautiful little babies who have joined the world this summer. So many healthy little ones to be thankful for. Welcome, you lovely girls (they have all been girls lately) - we can't wait to meet you and squeeze your chubby little legs!
8. The big lush hydrangea bushes blooming in the front yard. They are heavy with fat white flowers and big leafy green leaves. Hydrangeas are my favorite flower - I carried them in my bouquet on our wedding day - and it makes me happy every time I peek out the porch windows and see them all gloriously abloom. I am very glad we decided to do all the re-landscaping work in the front yard ourselves --- it's very satisfying to see things we've planted doing well. It's also a little surprising to see everything doing so well, since neither of us had any idea what the heck we were doing out there. Again, sometimes you just have to go for it.
9. A whirlwind visit from a beloved friend. Sarah stopped by for a one day visit (actually, it was 20 hours, since we picked her up at the airport at 1:30 pm on a Saturday, and dropped her off the next morning at 8 am, but who was counting?), and it was so good for my soul to see her. You know those friends that it hurts to be away from for too long? The kind of friend who knows the absolute truest part of you? The friend who you would never be afraid to be yourself around? The friend who brings you back to you when you most need it? Sarah is one of those friends. We laugh so hard when we're together. It's the best kind of therapy.
10. Feeling a little more at peace with myself, my life, my decisions, even my indecisions. No, things haven't magically all figured themselves out, all the answers haven't suddenly been presented to me by a good-natured and wise unicorn with a desire to make all my problems go away (isn't that how you picture life's answers being handed to you?). I haven't yet lost 20 pounds, or taken up yoga again, rejoined my writer's group, been running on a regular basis, or cooked a fresh healthy meal every night. I also haven't taken the dog out for a walk every single day (gasp!), or written letters to my grandparents, called my dear friends as much as I've wanted to, or learned to stop impulse shopping at Target. I haven't suddenly learned to let go of all my "I should haves," and I haven't been nice to my husband every single moment of every single day. I haven't checked every item off every to-do list I've made (if you know me, you know this would be impossible anyway since I make about 10 to-do lists a day, and some consist of only a single cryptic line --- I once found a Post-it note in my pocket on which I'd scribbled "Peter?" - what it meant I had no idea), and I haven't yet accepted that making to-do lists is sometimes just another way of putting off actually doing. What I have accomplished this year, so far, is that I've started to let it seep in that measuring my worth as a woman by how many of those things I actually manage to accomplish in my life, is not always a healthy thing. The thing is, I think we are all made up of the things we are good at doing, the things we wish we were good at doing, the things we actually get around to doing, and the things we wish we would, or could, get around to doing. I am always striving, planning, busy feeling wander-lusty, and sometimes I lose sight of what's going right, of what I am accomplishing, and I start to miss out on my own life. I think the quest for self-awareness, for self-improvement, for purposeful living is a worthy quest, and I think making plans for the future can be a great thing --- but, I also think I need to balance my striving, my plan-making, with a bit more appreciation of the moment I am living in, a little more acting on intuition, and a little more trusting of the decisions I finally make. Phew. Does this make any sense? I guess this is all to say that I am learning that life, as weird as it can get, can be basically boiled down to a few cliches:
1. Take it one day at a time.
2. Life goes on. Really, it does.
3. Things have a way of working themselves out. I know, I, too, have a hard time with this one. I mean, sometimes the "working themselves out" part seems to require quite a bit of work on my part, or the acceptance of some brutal fact or another, or some type of sacrifice or obnoxious compromise, or just waiting out some really crappy times. However, for the most part, things do eventually seem to fall into place in a way that makes pretty good sense. I don't know if this one will stand the test of time, but for now it's been helping me adopt a more zen-like attitude about potentially stressful events in my life.
4. Grass doesn't grow on a busy street. Okay, just kidding about this last one. I actually don't even know what it means. I found it here, by Googling "popular cliches."
Also, I'm going to be 30 soon. In 2 years and 5 months, but, really, that's kind of soon. That means I don't have any more time to waste on self-loathing. I can't be bothered with it anymore. If more self-acceptance is what I can expect in my thirties, then I look forward to those years. I've spent a pretty ridiculous amount of time in my 20's (and a STUPIDLY ridiculous amount of time in my teens - oh, good grief, so much wasted time) second-guessing my decisions, my hair, my clothes, my weight, the things I say at dinner parties, my taste in music, my intelligence, my hobbies, my teeth (seriously), my choice of majors, whether or not people really like me, and countless other things. Enough already. Right? Right! You know what? I think I should start getting up in the mornings and practice saying some self-affirmations with the same unadulterated conviction, and just plain enthusiasm, of this little girl:
I can do anything good! I can do anything good! I love cheese!
I could really get used to this sort of enthusiastic living.
Howdy! Yes, contrary to what my lack of blog posts for most of 2009, and now the entire first month of 2010, would suggest, I am here, I am alive, I am kicking, and I am ready to catch you all up. Just, not right now.
You see, I start a new job tomorrow (at the Capitol - Minnesota's, not the United States'), and, as has been my modus operandi over the past few months, I am getting to bed much much too late on the eve of a rather big day. So, 11:27, and off to bed I go. I promise to try and produce a real, honest-to-goodness, dizzyingly long, deliciously detailed, and completely picture-laden post by the end of this week. There will be pictures, stories of holiday feasts, tales of travels to Texas, adventures with Lola the wonder-dog, and more than a few pictures of things I've eaten over the past few months (it's my new thing, documenting the food I eat). So, for now, sit tight, get a good night's sleep, and wish me luck on my first day of a cool new job.
Quick job details: I will be the committee page for two Minnesota Senate committees, working for two DFL (Democratic Farmer Labor Party) senators. The job will last the entire legislative session (February 3rd through May 17th), and will, hopefully, lead to the opportunity to apply for a full-time position at the end of the session. More details to come later.
For now, I leave you with a picture of what I will most likely be having for breakfast tomorrow (it's been my breakfast of choice this entire month). Plain yogurt + berries + flax seed = deliciousness.
It's time to talk of many things. For example, let's talk about the fact that since, oh, about the end of early spring I have been almost completely absent from this blog. Now there is a mountain of posts in my mind, and I am reeling at the thought of how much I need to catch everyone up on. It's been a busy April/May/June/July/August/September, and it would be a little impractical of me to try and relate every single thing that we've partaken in over the past four months, so I think I'll just stick to some general highlights/points of personal interest. So, as they say, lets get this show on the road, ey?
I went to wine club. People are always asking me what we "do" there. We get together once a month and we drink wine and eat fancy cheese, what else?
I went for a lovely spring walk around Lake of the Isles with my friend, Jesse, and her dog, Caffrey, the wonder-hound.
We saw a group of hipstery postal workers enjoying a shoe-free lunch in the sunshine. They looked sort of annoyed that we were photographing them. Maybe they were worried we were the postal worker police there to document their too-long lunch?
We hosted a small bbq before the Twins game - the only bbq we ever had while living in that apartment.
I can't remember if the Twins won or lost, or even who they played, but I do remember it was a good time - as evidenced by these pictures:
We went to the craziest, hippiest, amazingest, most enormous puppets-laden May Day parade I have ever been to (actually, the only May Day parade I have ever been to), and to which Jesse wore the most amazing hat, and, at which she hugged an atheist (per his request).
Kevin took up softball. He was invited to join the team "Organized Chaos" by our good friend, Matt (husband of the intrepid, and aforementioned, Jesse), and he liked it so much the he ended up playing in the spring, summer, and fall leagues. Good times for me too, as I got to spend plenty of time on Monday nights with Clare and Jesse while we watched our men play ball.
I got new glasses (to replace the ones I lost in NYC last September).
As soon as it was in stock in the grocery store, I began my yearly warm weather watermelon binge. I love watermelon, and can (and often do) eat a half of one all by myself. I mean, I just looooove it.
I crafted. With the baby boom that's been happening (and continues) in our circle of friends, I've had to get creative with the baby gifts. Embroidered onesies are super easy and inexpensive to make, and they're a big hit at the baby showers.
I admired the warm weather beauty of the Twin Cities. I took these pictures while driving one particularly gorgeous day. (Should I not admit that I took these while driving? Sounds so reckless.)
I took advantage of nature's seasonal bounty (in the form of lovely fresh produce at the co-op), and whipped up some tasty meals for the two of us. It's a good thing I took advantage of any semblance of normalcy that the late spring/early summer may have held for us because once we moved to the new house all organizational/schedular hell broke loose, and cooking became a very low priority in the Shevlin household.
I crafted some more - this time it was invitations for my sister's June bridal shower. I had a lot of fun designing and creating these, and, despite the fact that embroidering cardstock turned out to be much more challenging and time-consuming than I thought it would be, I was pretty pleased with the outcome (as was the lovely bride).
We began the process of packing up our Emerson Ave. apartment, in preparation for the early June move to the new house (wooo!).
In the midst of preparing to move stuff out of our apartment, I started bringing in some new-to-us (scored on Craigslist!) furniture for the new house. I bought 8 awesome dining room chairs, a faux-bamboo coffee table, a dining room table, and, we bought a couch (alas, not from Craigslist but scored at the Room and Board outlet for a fraction of it's original price).
We enjoyed our monthly 3M Dinner Club meetings. About a year ago Kevin, our friend Doug (also on the Post-it team at 3M), and I had the the idea to start a group that would get together for homemade dinners once a month. The group has expanded to include three other 3M couples, and we take turns hosting, and have a different theme, every month. The pictures below are from an amazing South American dinner that Doug (who spent two years in Peru during his time in the Peace Corps), and Adrianna (who is from Bolivia, and whose husband Barry works at 3M), whipped up for us.
Pisco Sour, Señorita?
I ran a 10-mile race! I ran this at the end of May as part of my training for the half-marathon I ran in Duluth in June (more on that later). At the time, this 10-miler was the longest distance I had ever run, and it felt like such an accomplishment. I had a great race (1 hour and 34 minutes, I think) - perfect weather, great crowd support (including my wonderful husband), and 5 other friends that ran the race too - and was on a runner's high for about a week after that event.
And that brings us to the end of May. I think this post is getting a little long, and, since the next part of our catch-up journey brings us to that crazy week in June in which we made the big transition from apartment to new house, and, since there is some Constitutional Law reading calling my name, for now I leave you with what I've just recounted. I promise to be back soon for part 2 of the great spring/summer 2009 catch-up. Enjoy the weekend!
