Pineapple Ice Cream

One of the traditions in my family was to make pineapple ice cream.  Most people have never heard of it but I assure you it is delicious.  I'm pretty sure Leo thought it was.

The Big Decisions

Well, the big news here is that we're staying in VA.  At least for a little while.  We have been agonizing about what our next move should be.  Go back to Logan and the same company and all that we know? Stay in DC which is great but a mere 2,000 miles away from our families?  Take a complete shot in the darkness and pick somewhere new and a new company?

This is no small decision.   And it has not been easy.

So, we're staying for a bit longer.  Heber is moving divisions at his job and will be into something new.  A welcome change for him.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it all.  I like our life here.  I like being able to see new things.  I like the glass community and our friends.  It's just those moments when I think about how I grew up with my family all around that I'm sad that Leo doesn't get that same experience.  There are pros and cons either way. 

When we made the choice to move out here, we literally had 24 hours to make it.  It just felt right.  It leads me to question why some decisions are answered so easily and for others the resolution is hard to reach.  How do you make those big decisions?

To lighten the tone somewhat, we decorated for Easter today.  This little guy loved it.

North Carolina

This weekend I went down to North Carolina to visit my friend Janette.  I forgot how comfortable and fun it is to be with old friends.  I hate to have to settle for a phone call or email.   But alas, we are adults now with lives all across the country.  Why can't Idaho, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and North Carolina be closer together?  At least North Carolina is only a 4 hour drive away and I could get away this weekend.  I guess I can settle for that. 

The highlight of the weekend for me was our visit to Yoders.  Yes, you read that right.  It was a Mennonite breakfast/hardware/garden center/farm supply store.  It was quite the experience.  It reminded me of Smithfield Implement, with a breakfast place attached.  Oh, and Mennonites.

The food was delish though.  Good home cooking.  The store had a special room for Carhart and an array of beautiful handmade quilts.  It felt a bit like being home.  There's a lot more country inside of me then you know. 

We watched the Celtic Night video from last year.  Dancing was how Janette and I met.  We talked and laughed about all of the costumes and the dances.  Ask me in person some time for some good stories.  It made me miss dancing.
 
I got to see her as a mother for the first time.  Her 3 month old Hannah is so sweet.   And I love to watch our friends as parents.  She and her husband love that babe.

 

Heber was the champ of the weekend and stayed home with our boy.  I missed them both. 

The Michelangelo

Us with some Degas dancers

We went into the National Gallery of Art on Saturday. 

This is what Leo wanted to do the whole time.

It was a special trip to see a sculpture by Michaelangelo.  How often do you get to see a Michaelangelo in person?  Maybe once or twice in a lifetime.  How often is it in the US?  Well, almost never.  This particular sculpture had been in the U.S. once before, 60 years ago.  That's right, 60. 

The sculpture was smaller than expected.  I guess after seeing the David in Florence, that's what I expect all of his work to look like.  But, it was Heber's and Leo's first Michelangelo, so it was worth it.   
This work was unfinished and reminded me of one of his other works that I saw ages ago. They are called the "Slaves" and look as if the sculptures are trying to burst out of the rock.  One of Michelangelo's common practices was to leave works unfinished.  A lot of commentary has gone back and forth about finishing versus not.  I think if he had finished them, they would have not had the same impact.  It is in their incomplete state that makes me remember them.

I've read that Michelangelo believed that the rock knew what it wanted to be and that Michelangelo was merely removing the rock to release the sculpture. 

Perhaps there is a lesson here.  Could it be that there is beauty in incomplete things?  As a mom, I never seem to be able to complete anything as I'm distracted by the need to attend to something else.  I worry about all the things not finished.  Do I need to let go and embrace what the beauty in the incomplete?

Or maybe the lesson is that there is potential in all of us.  There is this perfect potential that we have to continually chip away at to release. 

I don't know.  But I do know that I want to be better.  I want to become more than I am.  The best works of art makes us think of that.   

Be My Valentine

I am a nerd.  It's been that way for a long time, maybe my whole life.  There wasn't a class I didn't like.

I married a nerd.  He loves math, how else can you explain that.

Together we love computers and each other.

This nerdness inspired my valentine for Heber this year.  I don't usually post stuff like this, but here you go.

It's a pocket protector valentine. 

The Blake's: Update

You read the post about the Blake's from last week, didn't you?  Well, there is some BIG news.  I am happy to report that just a few days after my post, they got the phone call that they were going to parents.

It was the blog, right?  No.  Ok.  But we're happy for them and congratulate them on their new addition, Veda Claire.

They now embark on one of the greatest adventures of their life.  The most challenging, joyful, messy, fun adventure.  Enjoy every moment.

The Last Minute

Heber and I are not really good planners.  I blame it on years of being students and having no idea when you're going to get done with homework.  We've been last minute people for years and tended to befriend last minute people too.  This is a bit more complicated with a baby and if friends have a baby.  Yet, we've managed to maintain our last-minutedness (not a word but totally works in this case).

This must sound crazy, coming from a person who planned events for a living for the past several years.  Somehow the planning never fully integrated into my personal life.

I realize that this is going to have to change someday but for the moment, it takes us on some pretty great adventures, and you know how I feel about adventure. The last minute is not about researching the absolute best restaurant or the neatest thing to see, oh no, it's all about the hole in the wall restaurant or neighborhood. It's about exploring and taking what you find.

We've had ample opportunity to explore.  When you move somewhere new, all you do is explore.  It's not such a bad thing (unless you accidently end up driving the opposite direction from where you want to go and turn up on a toll road with your GPS crapping out.  Awesome.). 

Last weekend, we were having one of those nights.  Wanted to get out but really didn't want to go to any of the old stand-bys.  So, we googled crepes (I love crepes) and into the car we went.  We drove to Clifton.  What?  You've never heard of it?  It's what I would classify as a tiny town amidst a big city.  It's out of the way and feels like there's not 2 million people a mere 3 miles away. 

I love pictures like this, mothering in action.

We went to the Clifton Cafe and were met with delicious hot chocolate and fresh crepes.  For me, always a dessert crepe and Heber had an entree crepe.  It's one of those places that becomes your place, it's so welcoming and cute.  We'll be back, I'm sure.  Probably at the last minute again.

Leo liked it too.

So, if you're a last minute person too, call us about 5:30 on Friday night, we probably don't have plans yet either.