New Years Eve - Reflection

Tonight is New Years Eve, so I believe many of you may be wondering what will be happening to the "365 Blog" in the new year.

Well first, it is not finished. According to Jon I have 39 more blog posts to go to catch up, so the blog will continue on a nigh-daily basis until I have caught up on my promise.

After that - who knows? I aim to blog regularly, hopefully at least weekly, however can make no promises.

Because, if there's anything I have learned from this blog, it's "Aim High, and you'll get alot of practice jumping high, missing, and then jumping up again. You might not reach the goal, but you'll certainly gain strength, discipline, and frustration (at times) along the way."

Additionally, while I hoped to gain insight into the depth of my own thought, the sheer absence of deep thought on any given night was awakening. That said, I have learned the value of the simple thoughts and the day-to-day which begins to make up our life, and I have begun to appreciate that through this blog. Now however energy needs to go to reading and learning French, with regular blogs to update you all on how it is going.

So no promises for next year, however I believe it has become such a mental exercise that it will be impossible to stop.

So hope you are all having a nice New Year!

Super Plant!!!

We received this plant as a gift during our ESOL class, it was just a bulb then, and in fact another flower had begun to sprout out while in the pot. We followed the instructions, put it in the pot with water and are letting it grow.

It's only supposed to be 10" tall.... I don't know if it comes from being in the Jerdan house hold or what, but this young whipper snapper has surpassed 24"! Here is a picture:

We have to rotate it daily or else it would not grow straight up. I put a pencil in the bottom so you'd have some perspective. It's really cool! (It's also called an amaryllis)

Astigmatism Buddies!

My right eye has been bothering me for a few weeks, so I decided to go to the eye doctor to get them checked. I assumed I'd hear what I always hear when I go to any health care professional:

"You're fine. Just rest, eat healthy, and drink lots of water."

However at least that calms my fears and I go back to being a much more subdued hypochondriac than before.

Today, however, I discovered that I was NOT being a hypochondriac, however there is something amiss in my right eye.... I heard I have "a stigmatism" - which my dear husband just informed is one word. Why does he know this? He has them too! So now we're astigmatism buddies, and we are getting a good chortle about it.

The doctor said I have a "very very minor astigmatism" which has been causing the awkward feeling in my right eye, in addition to eye dryness which can partly be cured with .... drinking lots of water. (I knew I'd hear it!)

So now to decide whether to invest or glasses or not.... decisions decisions. I've never been so glad to hear something was wrong with my health!

What to expect when you ask for spelling help from a translator...

Me: Hey honey, do you know how to spell "peripheral"?
Jon: (oddly excited) Well, do you know how to spell periphery?
Me: (dumbfounded how that can be considered easier to spell) Ah, no.
Jon: Well then, it starts out with the sufficx "peri" ..
Me: How do you spell that?
Jon: Oh, p-e-r-i, which means "around" and then "phery"..
Me: How do you spell that?!
Jon: Ah, phery, which means "stuff."
Me: (impressed by his Greek) O.K.
Jon: Actually, I don't know what "phery" means...
Me: (now impressed by both his Greek and his ability to make a joke out of correct etymology). That's okay :)

"Oh no! She's a PC!!!"

I realized after posting the last blog, that many of my devoted readership may be concerned that I have converted to the "dark side" - aka the world of the PC and Microsoft products.

Please do not be concerned. I have perhaps become sympathetic to the other side, however loyalties still reside with the bitten Apple.

The reason behind the purchase of the netbook and then the peripheral was solely financial. For under $420 I was able to gather this whole set up - big screen, computer, keyboard, and mouse. To purchase a desk-top Mac started at around 1100 which is out of our budget for the moment.

The good news is the Mac mini - the $700 computer that someday we'll purchase and I'll just have to plug it into the current set up. So hope is on the horizon for me yet!

Merry Christmas to ME

First, many thanks to the anonymous Christmas donor (::cough:: thanks mom and dad ::cough, cough::) who made tonight's purchase possible.

Secondly, thank you to Staples for opening right down the road and having an incredible sale on a computer monitor, right within our price point. And for having an additional sale which allowed us to get 15% off the needed accessories.

Thirdly, thank you to my generous husband who trekked down to Staples with me right after work to snatch up what was left!

I can hear your thoughts right now dear reader "What is it?! What could make our blogging friend so incredibly happy, even after Christmas?" Well, let me show you!

Is it a light box?
No...

It is a glowing green techo instrument from the future?
No... but it sure does look like it!

Then what could it be?
It is ... a 23" COMPUTER MONITOR!!!! and WIRELESS KEYBOARD AND MOUSE!!!!!

I had been using a very slow Mac computer for awhile, and then we found the netbook. The netbook provided the speed needed for internet access, however the 10" screen has been very limiting. I've had a few projects come my way for which having a big screen was necessary, and the netbook has been increasingly limiting. So we have been researching computer monitors, and with the post-Christmas sales we knew we needed to act fast. Today we found the deal! I'm very happy.

We intended to get a wired mouse and keyboard, to save money, however Staples only sells wireless keyboards and, with their 15% off everything that fits-in-a-bag deal, that also fit our budget. The green reflecting is from our bankers lamp :o)

So there you have it! I am a very happy blogger today :o)

Christmas Crash

Christmas is such a joyous time with wonderful family and times of sharing and glee.

Today, however, I'm experiencing Christmas Crash. With bags to unpack, wonderful gifts to find new homes for, a pile of papers to go through, and work on top of it, another vacation would be wonderful! I think with all the hub-bub of people around I caught a cold of some sort. Drat.

We are beginning to gear up for an exciting 2012, with more trips around the country, fun projects with our church, and whatever else comes our way. Looking forward to ending 2011 with a great triple date with my siblings and a day off to hang around the house! Hurrah!

Merry Christmas!

3 years ago today I invited a young man over for Christmas, hoping he'd like my family enough to hang around. Little did I know by the end of today, he'd like me!


2 years ago today we were dating.

1 year ago today we had been married for a few months.

And today - we're still married :o)

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Christmas Eve

Today was a beautiful and wonderful Christmas Eve. Here is a quick run down before we go to sleep and wait for "Santa"!

1) LOVELY time with my cousin Emily for our last minute shopping excursion. This has been a regular event since about 2004-  I love it for so many reasons! We always have Chipotle and shop around. This year was different as she picked me up and drove us around! Crazy drivers license and being 17 years old! Let me tell you, I didn't miss driving through Christmas parking lots one little bit, and she did an amazing job driving.

2) INCREDIBLE time at my Aunt Debbies, with our cousins and their four kids. We celebrated Hanukkah and I have to say - it is a beautiful tradition. It was also an incredible time to get to know them all.

3) CHURCH - WONDERFUL. We actually lit the menorah there again and participated in such a lovely service commemorating Christ's arrival

4) FAMILY - We watched "The Nativity," chatted, and ate the "13- deserts" - a French/Jerdan tradition we are successfully importing into this Smith family. Love it!

I'm so very grateful for the family I was raised in and continue to be a part of, and the wonderful family I married into and the wonderful man who brought me into it! Much to be thankful for tonight :o)

Results: Fake Christmas morning

Here is our dear little tree with our advent wreath all lit up!

So, some have asked, what DID I end up getting Jon from the soccer store? Well, he did indeed get a soccer jersey he picked out, but what he didn't know was that I got one exactly like it! We now have matching jerseys and he loved this surprise, just like I thought he would.

It was a wonderful little morning, filled with running around the rest of the day to get things in order, and then again another wonderful time with family this evening! Yay for Christmas!

Fake Christmas morning!

So tonight is Jon & I's Christmas Eve - and tomorrow is fake Christmas morning! Our favorite!

Let me explain - we are going to Annapolis for the weekend, including Christmas day. This means we chose to give our gifts to each other tomorrow morning, hence titling the day "Fake Christmas Morning."

Last year we were nearly giddy with glee - even waking up BEFORE the alarm clock - and thoroughly enjoyed having our own tiny little Christmas together before heading to see the family, which we will do Friday afternoonish.

We have our presents wrapped and under the tree, random guesses at what they are, and great anticipate at what will come in the morning! [in fact, Jon just scurried out of here with a bag and shut the door behind him. I think this is my clue I'm supposed to stay in here until I hear otherwise... which reminds me, I need to figure out when to put the stuff in his stocking...]

We'll be sure to take pictures and post them here! Can't wait!!

Christmas Cards...

There are many things boggling my mind this Christmas (I'm realizing I've spent the past few years either in finals or deeply in love - either way, little time for reflection!) One of these is the persistent habit of Christmas cards.

Now if you are a Christmas card sender, I do not mean to offend. Rather I am in absolute awe. Christmas Cards are something Jon and I have agreed never to do. The sheer feet of addressing all the cards, in addition to the expense of buying the cards and postage, seems absolutely insurmountable to me right now. I'm impressed by all those who can do it.

I understand in the past that Christmas cards were the time you caught up with everyone. You probably hadn't heard from these people since the last time you received a Christmas card from them, and so this was the world's opportunity to catch up with each other. This is absolutely lovely.

However now we have blogs, email, and facebook, and I feel that all those with whom I want to keep in touch with, I do. Or the news gets around much quicker do to the family emails, facebook updates, etc. I've received a few cards which wish us a merry christmas/happy holidays with their picture on them - and that's it - and its a lovely gesture. However I just saw their picture posted on facebook last week - this is the same news. I'd almost rather everyone spend their time with family and friends, rather than addressing and creating all the cards.

That said, it is lovely to have our refridgerator decorated with everyone's lovely visages, and I certainly appreciate that!

Not sure if this post makes me a Grinch or simply a very reflective individual, but there you have it.

Wednesday - again

So interesting anecdotes from recently:

• We're getting to the age where you have to calculate from your birth-year to this year to remember how old you are.
• Jon's car is getting to the point we'll have to think about major repairs or selling. We'll see how this rolls. 
• I'm wondering how-in-the-world women work, stay on top of their home, AND prepare for Christmas at the same time. Even doing the latter would be a Christmas miracle in and of itself. 
• I'm looking forward to spending some good quality time with the family this Christmas!

Funny thing heard at a party

We were recently at a party, full of new parents, talking about their recent births. We were part of a conversation that went something like this:

A wife: "Yeah, we went with a midwife"
Me: "Huh. What was it like with a midwife?"
The husband: "Our baby was delivered by hippies."

It was hysterical. Or maybe you just needed to be there.

Regardless, they were very happy with the experience. Even were told to drink a glass of wine as the contractions got harder! That sounds like it would make it all go much easier...

The Help and Redbox

We watched "The Help" last night. It took two tries on Apple TV, which failed miserably. (If anyone has luck renting movies from Apple, please let us know!) We then were able to track down a redbox which had the film - at the third grocery store we visited, and after registering for a redbox account on our smart phones while driving (the passenger actually did that) and reserving the movie!

It was worth it. I had read the Help before so knew what to expect. It was interesting to see how quickly in a film they have to reveal plot lines that took hundreds of pages to develop. Regardless, it was worth watching and I would certainly recommend.

Additionally, I think we'll take redbox options more seriously they days, incredibly convenient. During this experience however I realized the children born in this generation won't know what it's like to wander through Blockbuster looking at the movie titles and trying to decide which ones to rent. Life is crazy convenient.

Christmas Shopping made easier!

Yesterday we had to stop for an errand in an unfamilar place. When we parked, we looked up and saw there was a soccer store nearby. Being the oh-so-kindly wife, I told Jon he could go browse in there while I did my errand. "Seriously?" he responded in the child-like glee which usually accompanies anything soccer related. "Seriously," I responded favorably, "maybe you'll find your Christmas present!" I wasn't completely serious...

I was still in the store contemplating my next purchase, when I look up and see my husband with the hugest grin on his face nearly skipping down the aisle toward me.

"So did you find something?" I asked knowingly.
In his usual sheepish way when he would like something but doesn't want to press me into anything he noted "well, they have a lot of jerseys at full price, however there is a whole rack of jerseys which are 50% off and.... (dramatic pause)... some of them are from FRANCE!" He went on to explain they were from the years and styles he likes (apparently they change every year) and, of course, once we finished my purchase, we visited the the soccer store.

Now, normally jerseys are pretty expensive, however the discount rack puts them in our price range. He tried on the jerseys he liked - they all fit - and then we even located some shin guards for $10 that he needs.  So he showed me all of my options, then scurried out of the store to let me make my purchase secretly.

Now here, dear readers, is where I must leave you in suspense. You see, I may have bought one of the jerseys, or maybe even both of them, or potentially none of them and opted for a jersey from my favorite team, or even just purchased a bunch of socks to throw him off! Needless to say, Christmas morning will have a surprise!

(and, it's also one last errand I have to run)

The mall

Today I went to the mall to see if I could procure a Christmas present.

Then I remembered why I shop online.

To Kohl's tomorrow I go! They always have exactly what I need.

marriage

I am reflecting on marriage tonight and wrote this.

Seeing you ever more for all you are, and revealed ever more for who I am, we witness the shame unveiled and stare in pain at our own shame exposed. Wanting to run in fear, we turn towards each other for forgiveness, we turn to God for strength to give it, and through his Power -  in each other we see the shame transformed into beautiful trust and gorgeous love.

Gratefulness

Today there was a shooting in a nearby neighborhood. Family - no worries for our safety - it appears to be domestic/gang related and there is no threat to the community, although they are still looking for those who shot the man.

Jon and I had briefly looked at apartments in that community, however no one was in the office at the time so we passed it by. We walk through the neighborhood on the way to the park and I see loads of kids getting into the bus from that neighborhood nearly every day.

It's sobering to both realize how close violence can be and at the same time how far away it is 99.9% of the time. Once I heard I called Jon immediately, to hear his voice and know he's okay, and also grateful that the chance of him being killed outside our home is nigh near impossible.

I'm grateful tonight to know we sleep every night to the sound of our fan blowing and cars driving by, never gun shots or screams. That I can walk out to my car safely and soundly, that we lock our doors more out of habit than actual need, and that the policemen are only a phone call away. Our country has an amazing infrastructure, and I'm grateful for that.

Tonight we'll be praying for families and the policemen who will certainly still be busy once we go asleep.

Sundays, Sundays

highlights from this past weekend:

*Spending good quality time with family on Friday and Saturday
*Hanging out with my old Bible study on Friday night and running into friends at Chevy's!
*Getting back in time on Saturday to spend a marvelous afternoon drinking tea with a friend and mentor
*Met some fascinating people at a Christmas part on Saturday night
*Did the Advent reading at church this morning and didn't burn anything down! Hurrah.
*Had meetings at small group this afternoon
*Spent a wonderful evening relaxing, watched a somehwat uplifting and depressing european movie (per usual) and now getting ready to hit the week!

Much fun to be had by all :o)

Danville: a pearl in the wilderness

Let me share this hidden gem before our blog's readership gets too big and the secret gets spoiled. As we were driving through Kentucky, we decided to poke into Danville because it was apparently a wonderful small town to live in, and we wanted to see what the fuss was all about.

Skepticism grew in my heart as we got closer through the central Kentucky plains and pleasant yet unexciting rolling farmlands south of Lexington, with more and more characterless single-story homes around the road leading into town. What's so great about this little secluded community, thought I?

Well it's biggest claim to fame is that it was ranked 4th best place to retire nationwide by Money Magazine. That's gotta mean: 1) affordable, and 2) good healthcare (indeed as we were walking in the center, we came across almost an entire bloc along Main St of different types of health providers and services; there's also a big hospital there). But also, it's home to Centre College, a reputable college.

As we drove down the main drag, things started looking more interesting. The town was starting to show more (maintained) history in its architecture and infrastructure until we parked at the visitors' center which is located on the edge of a city-block park with old colonial buildings and plaques describing the place's history. Among the "firsts" that Danville proudly claims are the 1st courthouse in Kentucky and the 1st post office west of the Alleghany Mtns.

So we went in and talked with the young lady who was on duty in the visitors' center. She loved the place (always a good sign; we've visited some places where locals tended to say something to the effect of: "Uh, yeah, it's nice here... look, there's these interesting places/things to do within a 2-hour drive from here..."); she grew up in Danville and recently came back upon graduating from college. She enjoys the relaxed and friendly nature of the people as well as the safety (like jogging at night, not locking her home...).

She also showed us a list of the annual events that fill up the calendar. It was quite a bit more active than what I expected for this laid back, away from the mains roads little town. There's something every month: wine tasting festival, outdoor film festival, car show, Christmas parade, the state's barbecue festival, music festival, horse show... Also the college welcomes quite a few renowned exhibits and performances.

Having such a small, liberal arts, private college seems to mean: the community has fun & affordable (for college students) activities and attracts culture. In fact, next year it will host its second vice-presidential debate in 12 years. Not being a public university, it is not a "party school"; one of the locals we talked with described the students as "smart, they study hard." Also, the college guarantees to the students who make it in that they will have an internship and an opportunity to study abroad and graduate in four years. So that's bound to bring some interesting culture awareness and bright minds.

By the time we walked out, several other staff members had shown up, including one who had previously lived in Virginia (almost everyone else who lives in Kentucky apparently grew up near their current hometown and just never found a better place to settle), and it was nice to see that they were not full of themselves. They love Danville, but they told us about other small towns in the greater Lexington area that they also find awesome.

We stopped for lunch at a family-owned restaurant that makes excellent pizzas then kept walking down Main Street before stopping into Karamel Kreations where Beth, who runs the place, gave us some samples of her chocolate-caramel concoction and told us all about the area and why she set up her fun little shop in Danville even though she lives in Lexington, a good 45-minute drive away.

By the time we left the little town, we were surprised by how much we loved it there. There's even a river and a lake nearby, so kayaking looks feasible. I'm not sure how far good skiing and hiking are, but there were some hairpin turns on the road up to Lexington, along the Kentucky River, where the driving reminded me of going up some parts of the Cévennes mountains more than anything else.

The biggest downside for us of living in such a place seems to be that it is about as far from either of our parents as we could get within the part of the country we think we'd enjoy being. So that doesn't sound ideal if a baby is in the picture (no, this is NOT an announcement, we occasionally happen to think ahead).

My first sewing project

So tonight we were setting up our home for Christmas, and I found a piece of cloth that would work nicely as a runner. So I cut it into a solid rectangle, sewed hems on the ends, and now it is lovingly adorning our TV stand! Yay!

It just adds a nice touch of Christmas to the house :)

Antietam

Tonight we went to see the lights of Antietam. For those of you who are unfamiliar, Antietam was a civil war battle and the bloodiest day in American history on American soil, with 23110 causalities (dead, wounded, and missing). Every December they commemorate the battle by placing 23110 luminaries on the battlefield.

We drove, with some friends, 1.5 hours to get there, waited 3 hours in line (in our car!), then it took about a hour to drive through the battlefield, plus another 1.5 hours to return. We had a good time jabbering in the car and were grateful for fun friends to join us on this journey!

It was worth it. It was by far the most poignant display of the value and loss of human life that I have experience and seen. It is one thing to be told 23110 lives were forever altered or destroyed that day, it is a different thing to be surrounded by lights and get an idea of the vastness of such a figure. It was incredibly powerful, both in the telling of the story of that one day in history, and of all other catastrophes in which so many loose their lives.

Here are some of the poor pictures I was able to get on my phone - please google it yourself to see it!


(here we finally made it! You can see what the luminaries basically look like)

 Rows upon rows of lights...

Saturday - Birthdays!!

Saturday was BIRTHDAYS! Seriously - we celebrated everyone's birthdays since March. Everyone got a song, some in English and some in French, and got to blow out the candles. The kids were very excited. Gifts were exchanged to all and it felt very much like a pre-Christmas. Tremendously fun to all be together.



In other random news, here are the things we have been talking about recently:
-Dental Insurance, to buy or not to buy. We think at the end of the day, at our age, cheaper to hunt for a dentist with good prices.
- Christmas crafts. I have a few others I'm going to attempt to work on and will let you all know how they turn out!
- Groceries - we had the pantry well stocked for when we came home, and now the supplies are getting lower and lower. We still have a chicken to cook, and that itself could last us still for days!

Friday - Thanksgiving Continued!

This day was tremendously relaxed. We hung out with family, Sara went to brunch with the ladies while the guys took the kids to the park! Once the kids got to bed we had a relaxing afternoon, and shortly after the kids woke up we set up the Christmas tree in preparation for Christmas... in two days. Sara had the responsibility of delegating all the branches to the plethora of nieces and nephews (okay, to the four nephews and one niece), and Jon utilized his height to get the branches up high! (not that there was a lack of tall people in this family to help out with that....)

The evening was spent in pleasant conversation, while Jon and I watched all his siblings put their kids to bed :o) Jon's older brother Ben arrived that day, and then the family was complete!

Thanksgiving - Road Trip!

Thanksgiving Day we headed out to Chicago - quite a long drive! Our spirits were high though and we were eager to make good time.

Boy did we ever! Thanksgiving is a great day to travel... everyone is cooking :o) We noticed a strong contingent of DC license plates on the PA turnpike - clearly the smart individuals beating the Thanksgiving-Eve DC traffic.

Jon let me sleep for quite awhile before I had my shift, and we regularly switched on and off in about 3 hour shifts from then on. Boy were we grateful for all the rest stops that were open, even on Thanksgiving! I hope all the hard workers got a good meal once they got home.

My favorite memory: Having our own dance party at a gas station in Indiana, when the station was blaring pop music, we were utterly restless, and there was no one around :o) Got the jitters out, and we were ready for the last leg of a long trip!

All my other favorite memories: The ones I didn't make because I was sound asleep while Jon was driving. Easy way to make a 12 hour car ride feel more like 7 hours.

Churchhill Downs

Hi all!

We had a marvelous Thanksgiving/Vacation and I'll be updating the blog with posts for the rest of the week! But first, the easiest blog of our most photographed experience!

Here are are at america's longest running game's stadium - Churchill Downs!

And this horse, Barbaro won in 2007 (I believe), however shortly thereafter broke his legs. He is apparently cremated and his remains are here, along with a quote from Eric Liddel on the back. Curious and interesting.

Here are on the walking tour! Here are the betting stands and our tour guide who was utterly impressive in his knowledge of all things Kentucky Derby:

This horse won in 1915, a girl-horse (filly?) - whose owner named her regret upon her birth. I also think it is interesting this is near the betting stands....

This is the paddock next to the stands, with rubber bricks to protect the horses feet!

Ah yes, War Admiral, a Triple Crown winner - and of course a foe of Seabiscuit. Regardless, he apparently was a wonderful horse. 

The Steeples! A big deal apparently.

Here is the paddock, where horses are walked around ONCE before the Derby. Based upon that walk around, many place their bets. 

This is the greatest and fastest winningest horse of them all. I now need to see the movie. 

Here we are walking out to the track!

Being weighted on the same scale the jockies are weighed on! Smiling because of the experience.... not because of the news. [Funny thing, the scale in the museum was about 10 lbs lighter... hm...]

Jon is enjoying the experience as well :o)

I just thought this was interesting, particularly thinking the message it brings to so many jockies!

The racetrack! Pretty cool...

So, to get six chairs in one of these boxes, will cost you 3,000 on race day. And they are metal chairs!

Here you can see them all lined up. The stands up further are entitled "Millionaire's Row" for obvious reasons. 

Track! Winners circle is behind me.

I doubt anywhere else in the world you can see a sign like this.

Jon crossing the finish line! (it is the old finish line they keep on display)

This is the name of the miniature horse they keep in the stables next to the big horse, who came in second a few years ago.

Here he is! And the back side of the big horse. So cute! (the little horse, not the back side!) Parks and Recreation fans anyone?

There is the information on the big horse if you are actually interested...

It was such a neat experience, and so utterly unique to Kentucky. More about the museum next!