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The Year in Review

The other day I was going back over the events of the year and was actually shocked by how MUCH has happened in such a short span of time. I thought I’d give you a sneak peak here. I have been so blessed by family this year and by an overwhelming sense of calm and peace that even with all that we managed to pack into 12 months, I really haven’t felt rushed or crazy (well ok, there were moments, but you know what I mean)

January: We moved into a downtown apartment in Portland over New Years and hastily unpacked ourselves. It was pretty surreal to go from a 1200 square foot house to half that size on the seventh floor of a highrise.

 

  February: Lots of guests visit our new digs and plenty of hours working. It was blissful to be within walking distance of pretty much everything. Also, Bryan prepared the first real dinner meal in our new place (yes, it took us 6 weeks of living there before we did that).

 

  March: GeGe comes to visit, K-Bear stays with us for a week and we make a trip to NYC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April: The best birthday surprise party was thrown by GeGe’s sister Aunt Marcie and we were all there to celebrate.

 

May: Bryan and I successfully planned another surprise visit to Sue for Mother’s Day. We also spent a weekend celebrating GeGe’s actual birthday with her in Seattle. It was during the Mother’s Day trip that we decided to move back to Spokane by the end of June. Was that a crazy idea or what?!!

 

June: Consumed mostly with packing, moving and all the stresses of changing cities. I can hardly believe that we had just moved six months ago and were already doing it again.We also announced the exciting news to our family that we were expecting our first baby!

 

July: Most of this month was spent settling in and enjoying quality family time. Bryan and I made a trip back to Portland for a Timbers game and to catch up with some good friends.

 

 

 

August: My little sister, L, came to live with us and the month was filled with street fairs, trips to the lake and summer revelry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September: My birthday came and was properly celebrated ( I LOVE birthdays) and I reunited with a few friends from college years.

 

 

 

October: Isaiah’s 8th birthday was celebrated with a circus, per his request, and what a party that was!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November: For the first time in years, all of my siblings came together for a holiday. It was one of the most precious moments for me to see them all together again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

December: Christmas is my favorite holiday and for the first time in my adult life, I was going to be in my own home so we went all out on the traditions and festivities. We took a family trip up to Greenbluff and cut down a tree, we made gingerbread houses from scratch and decorated sugar cookies. The newest addition to the Neel family arrived, Blake Andrew, on December 16th. He is the cutest baby possible. GeGe came for a week and there was more laughing, game-playing and merry-making than I would have thought possible. Plus, for Lysbeth’s birthday, we took a trip to Seattle to top it all off.

 

And lets not forget that during all of this, little Emma Jane was busy growing inside her Mum’s tummy and now we only have a month to go before we get to meet her in person! What a beautiful, adventure-filled and memorable year this has been. What a wonderful year it has been. I feel as though I’ve treasured every moment as fully as possible and worked especially hard to live deeply in the present. I am confident that 2012 will be lived into in much the same way and look forward to the changes ahead.

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A window into preggo-land

Warning: I’m about to share the nitty-gritty, day-to-day happenings in my world. It ain’t all pretty. Just sayin’.

6am: Wake up to pee, even though I hate rising early. Crawl back into bed and curl around my body pillow. I seriously can’t live without that pillow these days.

7am: Shower…which is getting to be a tricky business since reaching below the knees has become a challenge. But yes, I can still touch my toes, in case you were wondering. (I hear this gets harder further down the road) Select something comfy to wear from my limited wardrobe. This is the part that sucks. I love my clothes…I want to fit back into them. Luckily fun earrings and bright lip gloss seem to dress up even the most mundane of outfits.

8am: Enjoy a scone and cafe au lait with my dear hubby and relish the feel of our little girl elbowing me. Today’s going to be a great day.

9am: Another day of work commences. I mostly manage to keep all my tasks straight…mostly.

3:30pm: Slip away for a cat nap because I’m experiencing bouts of blurred vision which make starring at a computer screen doubly difficult. (pun intended)

5pm: Nearly burst into tears in the produce aisle for no (apparent) reason. I manage to make it home before the torrential downpour is unleashed.Dear, sweet B brings out his guitar to serenade me, I keep bawling, Chief and LB join us and we make a funny family all sprawled out on our big bed.

6pm: We have an evening engagement at LB’s school where I manage to meet all of her teachers without any more tearful episodes.

8pm: Finish the evening off with a good book, a stack of fruit popsicles (no exaggeration) and there you have it, the comical adventures of a pregnant lady. Yes, I do usually fall asleep by 9:30. It’s exhausting work growing this little bean sprout. Something tells me my late nights out listening to music and sipping beer might be over for awhile.  Every day brings new delights and unexpected challenges. And we’re only in for more of the same in the coming months (and years).

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Moving Forward….Looking Back

We’ve now been relocated in Spokane for 10 weeks and in light of recent personal developments, it seems about time to do some actual “settling in”. This weekend marked the final unpacking and now all that is left are a few empty boxes in our dining room and some un-hung pictures. Also left is an ache in my heart for the home I left in Oregon. Moving forward can be so difficult and bittersweet.

By  nature I do not make friends quickly. It takes time spent getting to know one another and sharing life together. After five years in Portland, I had dug deep and found rich and beautiful friendships that nurtured my soul. Losing the close contact with that community hurts. Grieving about it sometimes feels a little forbidden. When we moved, both B and I decided that we needed to let go and turn our faces eastward with anticipation and joy. After all, we have lots of family in eastern Washington and we knew that God was calling us to Spokane. In fact, we had zero doubts about this transition. It crashed in on us over Mother’s day weekend and six weeks later we found ourselves back in B’s hometown. It was fast, there were mistakes made along the way and relationships strained because of it but still, to this day, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that right now we are supposed to be here. Knowing that has made it doubly difficult to feel permission to grieve about what was left behind. But this is not my home. I left my home only two and a half short months ago and it’s ok to cry about that, to feel the ache inside and wish with all my heart that I could sit across from dear friends and share face-to-face instead of having to pick up the phone or type an email.

I have also learned as I’ve gotten older that one can be in two places at the same time. I am still heartbroken over leaving Portland. I think about people there on a daily basis. I dream about the lush green landscape and my gorgeous seventh story high-rise apartment. I miss the activities were able to invest our time in. In the same breathe I love our new home. I love being surrounded by family and seeing my niece and nephews on a weekly basis. I love the fact that I’m not missing out on the important milestones in their young lives…moments that you can never get back once missed. The sunshine here is delectable. It leaves my spirit buoyant and free. There is a blessing of peace in this place. It is a peace that I know exists, in part, because we followed where we were led.

Just like that first encounter with lake water when I stand on the edge for an eternity before getting up the courage to dip a toe in and finally find myself floating out in the cool water, I feel like it’s time to take the plunge here in Spokane. It’s time to open our door (and our hearts) to friends both old and new and to move forward. I don’t know how long we will be here but that doesn’t worry me. Some day we will head back to Stumptown because we have roots there and always will.

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Wall Street House

There is something very special about returning to a place that has seen a lot of personal sweat and tears. Seven or eight years ago B and a host of our friends and family undertook several major renovation projects at the Wall Street house. B lived there very temporarily (when it was still in it’s unfinished, practically unlivable state) and then began renting it out. This is the only house we own that we’ve never lived in together (except for one that we basically flipped). In anticipation of a house tour coming in the near future where we will browse room-by-room right here on the blog I thought it would be fun to post a few pictures of the pre-remodel Wall Street. This place needed a lot of love. Good thing B is so handy.

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