I Do!

On this day 10 years ago, Brandon and I exchanged vows before family and friends, beginning our new life as husband and wife. Happy Anniversary! Through good times and bad, richer and poorer, sickness and health, we're still going strong. We're even still wearing the same wedding bands that we bought for less than $200 (combined). Over these years, our 20's have faded into memories and, by the standards we had as kids, we're OLD now. Thankfully it doesn't feel like it. We've had many adventures and a lot of mundane, just-getting-by days. We've shared laughs, tears, anger, and joy. We've made good and bad decisions, living with each equally. Everything a marriage is supposed to be. And by a miracle, we've been blessed with another member to our family. Someone to fill in the piece we didn't even know we were missing.


For your viewing pleasure and amusement, courtesy of the scanner, it's off to the Way Back Machine...

Movie Night

We just made it back home after a night out at the movies. Well, not a traditional movie, but the only cultural event that Brandon and I can enjoy together. The Banff Mountain Film Festival is making it's annual world tour with several showings in the Seattle area. If you've never heard of it, the Banff Centre, located in the Canadian Rockies, sponsors a film festival dedicated to Mountain Culture. It's grown into an international competition, attracting submissions from all over the globe. The entries span the spectrum of film-making: from amusing shorts about ducks to feature length documentaries profiling unique native cultures. There is something for everyone. I have never left a showing without learning something new and being touched in some primal place that yearns for adventure. After the big festival at the end of October, a selection of films hits the road, traveling all over the U.S. and the world. We first saw the festival in Boone, sponsored by the Appalachian State Rec. Department. From the first frame, we fell in love with the event and look forward to a new edition every year. I'm very proud to say that this is the seventh year that Brandon and I have attended and, as always, it didn't fail to deliver. I confirmed two things this year: one, our world is full of beautiful, amazing people, places and things; and two, I never win anything! There is always a door prize drawing during intermission, with the festival sponsors supplying the gifts. Brandon won an awesome prize for the second year in a row! Last year it was a Patagonia jacket. This year he won a free pair of Dunham boots. He so sucks....

Day 28!

Whew! Only a couple more days and NaBloPoMo will be over! The feeling seems mutual among the participants that have made it this far. The pressure of coming up with an idea every day is exhausting! I have a much bigger respect for those bloggers that manage to do this everyday just because they enjoy it. But you know what, I did it. I stuck with something and feel like a much better person for it. It was actually very liberating to let my guard down a little, even if it was just to come up with new material. I still feel inspired, but I think I'll do better if I slow down the posts a bit.
Because I'm pretty much spent on writing for tonight, here's something from my other pseudo hobby that I want to get more involved in again.

More snow

After being dry and cold in Seattle today, it's snowing again this evening. Not much, maybe another half an inch, but enough to be absolutely beautiful piling up on grass and blowing through the air. The big, white flakes are glistening under the street lights and occasionally the dog will bark as one hits the window.
Sitting here on the couch, watching the snow fall against the living room windows, I can't help but feel a little homesick for Boone. A small town in the northwest mountains of North Carolina, it was home to Brandon and me for the first four years of our marriage. We moved there to finish college and to start a new life on our own. It will always be one of my favorite places. It's an isolated little town (or at least it used to be)in the Appalachian Mountains. It's home to limitless outdoor beauty, Appalachian State University, and a whole community of the most friendly, sincere people you'll ever meet. We left because we knew that this place did not hold the keys to our future, but it will always hold a place in our hearts.
Back to the snow...Growing up in eastern North Carolina, snow was a big deal. It only came once a year, maybe twice if we were lucky, and was usually gone within a day or two. In Boone, you could easily expect to see snow a few times a month from mid-Fall well into the Spring. Most of the time it was just the right amount, enough to remind you that it was winter, but not enough to cause any problems. I remember those times fondly, but it's some of the bigger storms that stand out in my memories.
The first place we lived in Boone was a nice apartment at the top of the hill above the University. If not for the trees, we easily could have seen football stadium. We moved in at the beginning of January before Spring semester. During that first week, a huge snow storm swooped in, dropping about a foot of snow. We bundled up and headed out to play. We met some other students out doing the same. Soon we were sledding and having snowball fights like we were 10 years old again. Being veterans of the area, they took us to a nearby hill to sled. It was huge. I'd never been so frightened and exhilarated at the same time before. I loved it.
The next big storm I remember was one year later. For some bizarre reason, we decided to rent a small house about 30 minutes out of town. It was literally in a holler right on the Tennessee border. It was a great place to live, but I still wonder what we were thinking sometimes. We planned on moving the week before school started. We made all the plans, picked a day, and rented a truck. How were we to know that a massive snow storm was slated for that day? Being young and naive, we decided to carry on with the move. I'll tell you there are not many things scarier than driving a moving van full of all your belongings, in frigid weather, near white out conditions, along windy mountain roads, with at least six inches of snow on the ground. The highlight of the move was not settling into our new home, but meeting some of our new neighbors. In attempting to back the truck into the driveway, the tires slipped on the snowy incline and one wheel fell into the ditch alongside it. While we stood there trying to figure out what to do, a pickup truck came down the dirt mountain road toward us. It had to stop because we were blocking their passage. An older man got out and asked if we need any help. (Not the sharpest stick, huh?) Mind you it's still pouring down snow. After assessing the situation, he generously offers the use of his sons to help us unload the truck and then try to pull it out. Yeah! We might make it out of this after all. While talking to us, he turned to his pre-teen son and said "Boy, go git me my beer out of the truck." Which he promptly did. (It was an open beer too. You just can't make this stuff up.) Eventually, it all turned out OK. Well, maybe except for the bumper of the man's truck that didn't fair so well when he tied the chain to it instead of the frame when trying to yank our moving van from the ditch.
I could go on with the snow stories and others, and maybe another day I will. However, the point I wanted to make is that there are places and times that will always be special in some bizarre way even if you didn't realize it at the time.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The cold, rainy weather we've been having has finally paid off. It's snowing! It started with flurries mixed with rain about 3 o'clock this afternoon. By 4:30, it had totally changed over and the flakes just kept getting bigger. Right now there's a good half an inch on the ground and the road in front of the house is lightly covered. I think we lucked out living at a slightly higher elevation than most of Seattle. It'll probably be gone by morning, but it was really fun tonight.
I took Abigael out into our parking lot to show her the falling snow and she loved it! I finally managed to get her back to our patio, but she refused to come inside. We ended up playing outside for at least another hour. The only times she came inside was to either get the dog or stick her hands under some warm water. We caught snow flakes on our tongues and threw snowballs for Zak to catch in his mouth. She had a blast. I think we'll definitely have to take her up to the mountains this winter for some real snow.







(You can see a few more photos here.)

Traveling

How ironic that a few days ago I posted a picture of my visit to Westminster Abbey in London. I just found out that one of my cousins, Melissa, has relocated this month to London for a job. That is so awesome. I'm really happy for her. What a great adventure. But as Brandon read some of the posts on her blog aloud, I couldn't help feeling a little (or a lot) jealous. She's at the beginning of a beautiful new journey. My trip was a big check mark on my life list of "things to do." I feel so fortunate that Brandon was so supportive and encouraging of my solo venture. But there's got to be still more, you know?
When we got married I told myself (and Brandon) that we would offer our children views of the world that we never had. Not to mention a good excuse for me to finally visit those places. How cool would that be to walk with your children along the Great Wall of China or thru the jungles of Costa Rica. To climb the pyramids in Egypt and the stairs of the Eiffel Tower. Let's face it, everyday people spend thousands of dollars to take their kids on trips to Disneyland. Do we have to do that? Why not take that same money and turn it into something unique and, yes, maybe even a little educational? The more time that goes by, the more I wonder if we'll be able to do those things. Of course, Abigael is still pretty young, but life has a way of passing by much too quickly. Well, I'm determined not to let that happen. I guess it's time to break out the maps and Google searches to plan for that trip in a few years.

Friday Night

It's getting late and I still need to make my daily post. Unfortunately, my eyes are very, very heavy and the synapsis in my poor brain are just refusing to fire. The movie "Titanic" is on TV right now. I had forgotten what a good movie this is. In all the overkill in the media when it was popular, it's easy to forget that it was so romantic, dramatic, mesmerizing. Even ten years later, how can you not fall in love with both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet while you watch the story unfold?
Wow...I'm really reaching here. Oh well, we can't be charming and entertaining all the time, can we?
I almost forgot, my friend, Rob, now has a part-time gig as a morning radio host in Boone, NC. His show is now streaming on the web, but that is waaayy to early for me. I may have to wait until I'm back on the East Coast for Christmas. So if you get a chance, check him out and let me know how his show is.

Happy Turkey Day!

It's a quiet Thanksgiving Day in the Lockwood home (except, of course, for the cranky two year old.) All of our family is out of town and our local friends are with their's. That's OK, we've been looking forward to a nice, easy day for a while now. The weather is perfect for being lazy (rain, wind and cold), so there's no guilt about sitting in front of the TV all day, watching football. I wasn't going to go through the work of making a big, traditional meal for just the three of us, but things got a little out of control at the grocery store last night. Needless to say there's now a 7 1/2 pound turkey breast in the oven and a bag of my folks' North Carolina pecans waiting to be turned into a pie.

In the spirit of the Holiday, a few things that I am thankful for (or at least are pretty cool):
-Brandon. My husband, my best friend, my PIA, my motivator, the love of my life.
-Abigael. The best thing that every happened to me.
-The continued reasonably good health of all of us. Despite the hardships of this past year with Brandon's leg, it could have easily been much, much worse.
-Both of our parents. You couldn't ask for more loving, giving people. People who are there through good and bad, always there with a helping hand, an encouraging word, or a just a hug.
-Our home. Although we are still living in an apartment, it's a roof over our head that we pay for ourselves. It's not the lap of luxury, but it's warm, dry and full of love.
-The ability to have the little things in life. Those amenities in life, that while aren't necessary, definitely make our day-to-day life easier, more entertaining, and sometimes more complicated.
-The USA. It may sound corny, but living in a country where all of the above things are possible and attainable. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it's a lot better than some of the alternatives out there.
-The Future. It's never too late to make changes, learn new things, or reach for new goals.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Hug someone you love!


***LATE EDIT***

MMMMMMM...Thanksgiving Dinner!

Wow!

Holy crap! I was sitting here listening to the late news when the sports segment came on. I happened to look up in time to see that Gonzaga had just beaten my beloved Tar Heels in the NIT Season Tip-Off Tournament. What is this world coming to...? I'm not sure whether to be upset for Carolina or happy for the underdog. (Between you and me, I think I'm leaning toward the little guy.)

Contraband

I'm borrowing the idea for today's post from Rob. He wrote about having the instinct to take advantage of those opportunities that don't come along everyday. Even for those of us that are adamant about following the rules, sometimes you just gotta break 'em. It may not sound like much to some, but taking a picture in a "forbidden" place can be pretty exciting.
Rob issued a challenge to own up if we had ever taken any pictures in the Biltmore house . Well, unfortunately I was never able to make it there, but I'll up you one. Here's my entry:
In the spring of 2003, I traveled to London to fulfill a lifelong dream of visiting Europe. While there, I visited Westminster Abbey. Walking under the great cathedral ceiling and among effigies of those long dead, where kings and queens had been crowned, was like a dream come true for me. Against all the rules, I snapped a few pictures on the sly. A great memento to remind me of that place in time.

#103

"Oh man!"

In my haste to keep up with the daily posting for NaBloPoMo, I totally missed the big milestone: Post #100! I was going to celebrate. Or at least make a post to commemorate the occasion. Oh, well...at least the post I did make on that day was a pretty good one. (That last picture makes me smile every time.)
So, yeah Lockwoods! Way to stick with something for longer than three months! At first, I thought 100 posts over a year and half may not seem like much. But then to put it into perspective, it takes the typical TV show four or five years to reach that milestone. Not too shabby.
When I started this blog, I really didn't know what would become of it and it's still an ongoing journey. I wanted to use it to help both of our families stay a little more involved with our daily lives. Since I'm horrible at keeping a scrapbook, one day I'll print all of this out and put it away for Abigael.
For more selfish reasons, I also wanted to join the "blog club." Maybe even become some kind of a writer. I think the exercise of writing everyday this month is really helping in this arena. As each day comes to a close, I start to panic a little for an idea to write about and somehow I've been able to come up with something every time. I'm starting to really enjoy the challenge. Hopefully, I can maintain that excitement on December 1st.
But, for right now I'm proud with what I've done. Here's to 103 more!

Hero

We just finished watching Heroes. I know I've said it before, but I really like this show. It doesn't have the deep, emotional storyline of something like Battlestar Galactica. But you know what, it shouldn't. It's meant to mimic a comic, and I think it does a pretty good job. The hour passes way too fast and leaves you wanting just a little bit more. I think it's the simplicity that makes it strike a chord of its own. No one's life is as complicated as the dramas that we think are so great. We're all just plodding along in our normal lives, wishing for just a little more. A little something to make us different. Who didn't wish they had some super power when they were growing up? It's the lucky ones that haven't had given up on these dreams, their wishful thinking hasn't been completely beat out of them by the trials and hardships of real life.
There's always been one thing that bugged me about super heroes though. They're a bunch of babies! All you ever hear is: "Poor me" "I'm such a freak." "How could anyone ever love someone that crawls up walls or flies or shoots lasers out of their eyes or can change shapes" Waaahhh. Hello! You've got a frakin' super power! How cool would that be! I don't know if I could even pick one, is there a bad super power? OK, it might suck if you had to be green and angry or blue and furry, but most of the others would be pretty cool. What do you think?

Need a change

OK. That does it. I was just flipping thru the NaBloPoMo Randomizer (which you should absolutely do if you have a few minutes to just surf around) and was so impressed with all the creativity out there. Everyone has such wonderful themes, names and ideas. I'm so jealous. If it's one thing that I'm really bad at, it's coming up with names or titles. My pets' names are Zak and Matt, for goodness sake, and I didn't even think of those myself.
I'm not disappointed with the content of our blog, actually I'm pretty happy with it so far. But, we totally need a new name and/or tag line. Something catchy and tells you a little about us before you dig into reading. So, it's time for a change. I'm setting a goal and I'm enlisting your help. By the end of the year, if not sooner, I'd like to update the site with a new name and look. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. Friends, family, strangers, send me your thoughts. I need all the help I can get.

Picture Post continued...

It's time for the comparison to this picture. What do you think?



While in California, we dressed the kids up for a homemade attempt at a holiday photo shoot. Considering we were trying to wrangle three toddlers, I think we did pretty well and even managed to get a few good shots. Here are a couple of my favorites of Abigael.

Heading Home

Although it's been a little stressful at times and I'm not looking forward to the flight home, I'm so glad that I brought Abigael down to California with me. The visit with her grandparents, aunt and uncle, and cousins has been so good for her. Right now I'm looking at her passed out on the couch taking a nap (over an hour now) and I know she's had a great time too. She and Emma seem to get along wonderfully, it's such a shame that they don't get to see each other more often. I'm not too worried though, the entire family is very committed to making sure the cousins feel close even though they live so far apart.
Today was another fun one. Emma spent the night with us at Grandma and Popi's house. The girls woke up with bright, shiny faces and started the day with a big breakfast. Mid-morning, Kathie (Grandma) and I walked with the girls up to the neighborhood park. As soon as we hit the grass, Emma took off for the swingset and Abigael made a beeline for the jungle gym to fling herself down a slide.




...Oh well, I was interrupted and now it's time to head off for the airport. It's been a wonderful visit but I think we're ready to head home.

Onion Breath

It was a fun day today. After a quick bit of work, I checked out of my hotel and headed over to Gabbie's house for a day with the family. Grandma met us there with Abigael. I had hoped for a huge, heartfelt greeting as I hadn't seen her in two days. She was so wrapped up in her play though, it seemed like it took a good twenty seconds for her to even recognize me. That's ok (sniff, sniff), I know she missed me.
For an outing today, we took the kids to the bowling alley a couple of blocks away. Emma had tried it once before, but it was a first for Abigael. It was so cute to watch her lug her bowling ball up to the line and push it down the lane.
She had fun, but it was short-lived. We waited a little too long to go out and the kids were anxious for lunch. (I think Abigael has eaten more in the past three days than the last three weeks.)
We finished our game and headed next door to the adjoining diner. Abigael ate about a quarter of her grilled cheese sandwich, a few french fries, and some of the bacon off of my cheesburger. She seemed to loose interest in eating so I started giving her extras off of my plate. First a dill pickle chip, which she ate fairly quickly. She reached over and grabbed another one. No problem, anything I can get her to eat, halfway healthy, is fine with me. Then she did the unthinkable. Her small hand crept over to my plate again and poked at the raw onion that had been served on the side of my cheeseburger. She wrapped her chubby finger around a piece of it and pulled it up to her mouth. Almost in slow motion, I watched her mouth open and then her teeth crunch into it. NOOOOOO! It was too late, she had taken a bite. I watched in horror as she did it again. She had crossed over to the dark side. Anyone who's been around me while I'm eating, knows that I detest onions, especially raw ones. The smell alone assaults my senses and almost makes me gag. I get alot of teasing about this, but I don't care, it's just the way it is. So, you can imagine my disapointment as I watched my sweet, innocent daughter munch happily away. I tried to console myself that "at least she's eating." But even that backfired a little later when I gave her kisses before naptime and all I could smell was that awful onion breath.

Picture Post

My mom sent me this picture today. It's a photo of me at three years old. My first thought when I saw this was "Oh goody! It's time for another post about how much Abigael looks like her mommy." My second thought was "Wow. I sure had a big head." Finally, I took a longer look and noticed the scar above the right side of my mouth. The part of me that changed when I became a mother felt a sharp jab in the heart. My thoughts flew to the image I see in the mirror today and I couldn't believe the difference. This scar is hardly noticeable to me now. But on the little girl in this picture, it looks huge.
It was an accident. The story goes that I was running through the house, tripped and fell into one of the living room coffee tables. I have a memory of sitting on the center armrest in the front seat of my dad's car, holding a towel to my face. I'm pretty sure he ran the red light right in front of the hospital. I could be wrong, but I'm also fairly confident that I remember being strapped down to a board in the emergency room so the doctors could stitch me up. This isn't a particularly traumatic memory for me and the scar on my face has just always been a part of who I am (Actually, I don't even notice it.) However, it does make me wonder about the persistence of memories. Abigael is two and a half. Will she have memories of being this age too? Will those memories be good or triggered by some traumatic event?
On a more selfish note, I'm so thankful that Brandon and I haven't had to face anything like this yet. My heart breaks a little when I look at the little girl in the picture above with an objective point of view. All I can think is "How brave my parents were." Just a year after this photo, they were challenged again with another life changing event. I had to have open heart surgery for a small defect which was causing a heart murmur. Everything went fine and I've gone on to live a full, active life. But what was it like for my parents? I think about my darling daughter and my eyes tear up at the thought of something like that happening to her. The Lord willing, we will never have to face a similar challenge. But with the example of my parents to follow, I'm sure I would be able to rise to the occasion.

Home Alone

Hello all! So this week as Christie has said I am home all alone... Just me and the animals (yes they need a break from the terrible 2 1/2 yo too!). Last night I was actually able to pick up the house, clean the dinning room table, do the dishes, vaccum, and do some homework all without wlking back into the living room to find an even bigger mess than before!! But it was very lonely without my girls... Without Abigael constantly asking for juice and to watch Dora. Or without the rythmic snores of my sweet wife in bed (love ya hon!). I will ride to school today for BOTH morning and evening classes!!! It is actually a very beautiful day out the sun is shining and IT'S NOT rainning. There is supposed to be a huge storm coming in tomorrow morning AGAIN so I'll take what riding I can get!! The Chocholak's will be here today!! I can't wait to see Julian's eyes when he sees the bike I he commisioned me to build-up for him!!

OH and by the way I haven't totally abandoned Christie and this Lockwoods site for Track Daddy I just figured most few people that read this don't want to hear about bike this and bike that.... >>>