the groces

A few days away, going nowhere, and, actually, diving into it all..

2011-04-04T13:31:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was really great. It seemed like a microcosm of what our life is really like. Or, rather, what we like our life to be like. It's been awhile since we've been able to really live it all out - usually our days are: wake up, coffee, farm/greenhouse, scramble to get stuff done, kiss cheeks, have Luke rush me to work, Luke farming/working until I call him after 10pm, saying, 'hi, can you come get me?' and then spend the last few minutes before bed reading/talking/crying/drinking an old fashioned.

We both took off of our non-farming jobs this weekend to participate in wedding festivities, of which my husband had certain groomsmen duties. That meant we enjoyed a great rehearsal dinner at a fancy-shmancy place downtown and two fun nights thereafter, with plenty of celebratory food and drink to fill our bellies, great reminders of our duties as husband/wife, and praise to God, the Father, for his Gospel. This is the thing you must know about us: we love good food and drink. We especially love when said food and drink are FREE. It's like the best, most special gift we can think of (but, that just goes to show you how unimaginative we are).

More than anything, it was great to be together. We farmed a bit, Luke planted peas while I washed 10 dozen eggs in the sunshine. I did some cleaning in the house and crying in the bedroom. My husband has been amazing during this time of mourning and grief. He has held me, listened to me, corrected me, encouraged me, and pointed me to my Heavenly Father, my Anchor. He's reminded me of stories about my dad, lamented my regrets with me, and has never said, "It's going to be alright". He has always said, "Come, Lord, Jesus" in some form that says in chorus with my heart, "This is not the way it's supposed to be." It will only be alright when Jesus comes, and not a moment before.

All that said, I realized I had not cried by myself in awhile - just letting the tears come without punctuation or words. It's not the way I want to live my life forever, but it is the way my life is right now. And I know it is a luxury to be able to stop. and. cry. To mourn with simplicity.

One thing the Holy Spirit reminded me of early in this process is that God is good. And because of that, he is leading me through this time of mourning. My Father knew before I did that my dad was going to take his own life. He knew the heartache I and my family were about to endure. And He led us all into it. I have nothing but his path before me. I trust He is leading. And that His leadership is good. How can I know these things? You might ask. That is faith, friends. There are certain truths and certainties that come with having faith and they can neither be explained nor given evidence unless you daily endeavor to know who God is. My lack of explanation isn't a tool for de-bunking Christianity, it is an affirmation of the tension we live in as Christians: God is mysterious - cannot be completely understood - and yet He has given us the ability to know Him and understand His ways through His Word, His Holy Spirit, and His Creation.
Here is a rudimentary example to explain what I mean: Before working a lengthy Algebra problem for the first time, one can't cite a line from the middle of the solution until you work it - step by step. You may even know the answer (x=2, for example). But how do you arrive there? How many steps does it take? Faith is the same. Know there is an answer at the end, follow Christ to the Father and know He will give you everything you need along the way, guarding your heart and mind to trust Him.

Last night, after a day of church and a lunch picnic with the family, we had friends over on our back porch, sitting under twinkly lights and eating yummy food and drinking yummy wine. We laughed and felt the breeze chill our shoulders as afternoon gave way to evening. We told stories about vomiting and crying. The fellas danced in the living room in the dark - doing strange pirouettes to Bonnie Prince Billy. I think we all went to our beds feeling like we had done a great thing to take advantage of such a nice evening and fellowship.

Luke and I awoke at 3-something this morning, our open eyes silently meeting each other. My head was filled with thoughts, and Luke's head met mine with strangely, equally well-formed responses. I went downstairs for a glass of water and realized that our dog was so sick. We spent the next hour cleaning up her mess and her, then sitting bleary-eyed on the couch at 5am, talking about our marriage. I guess, sometimes, when you're that tired, things become more clear. Because we were finally able to get to the heart of some issues that had been troubling us for some time. We finally went back to sleep and woke later to realize the day had started without us.

Now here we are, another storm front moving through. Damaging winds and cold promised. Let's see what happens.

2011-02-15T16:09:00.002-05:00

I've come here to write thoughts down many times recently. The truth is, I just haven't been able to make it happen. I don't know what to tell you. I can't find the words to build a bridge from where I was to where I've found myself now. To be honest, only a very few have come with me across that great divide. They found their way with me. We all traveled unknowingly, but we walked that darkness together. What an amazing comfort.

Let me be plain. This is what it means to grieve with someone: To plant your feet firmly with theirs, to boldly brush off the haunting words "awkward," "appropriate," or "silence" and just be. There is no one who is leading the hurting or their companions, but Christ. And he knows no awkwardness and never did anything appropriate and the only silence is the mystery of himself. He will show you what to do.

I can't write pages for you about the misery and horror and sorrow that entered my life the moment I found out that my Daddy died, seemingly, at his own hand. I relive that moment often enough, but the hours and necessary days and now nearly months that have followed are all chronicled somewhere else that I can't reach. I can't come back for you and walk you through them all again.

And so it's strange for me to write here with so much going unsaid. I lost my Daddy. Every day I lose him all over again, it seems. I grieve, I miss, I hurt, I weep, I regret, I long for, I remember. This is my life: joy and sorrow always together. I'm sorry if the words I chose were not the right ones for this first post.

It's not the way it's supposed to be.

Come and heal us, Lord Jesus. Come and make it all new.

one point five

2010-09-21T11:31:00.000-04:00

Today we're celebrating 1.5 years of marriage. Luke woke me up initially by telling me he re-set the alarm for me, and then when I turned off that alarm and went back to sleep, he woke me a third time with this great spread of our favorite breakfast foods. Can't beat grapefruit juice in the morning. Can't beat a husband who loves cookin' me eggs.

And if you think it's silly/adorable/absurd that we're celebrating the 1.5 marker, I should tell you that during our first year of matrimony we celebrated a little something we liked to call monthiversaries.

date cards

2010-09-19T23:40:00.000-04:00

On a recent date night, Luke decided to present me with some options via these date cards. On the outside of these notes are visual representations of the dates described within. Can you guess what each one is? (at one point, I thought luke was going to buy me a puppy. that was not true.)

Also, today we took a tour of Woodland Farms (owned by Steve Wilson of 21c and Proof) in Goshen and met sweet Stephanie who runs the garden there. It's a sight to behold and you can only come by invitation. We were also lucky enough to watch some of my co-workers try to cross the pond via zip-line and not even come close to making it. Then, 1 of the 3 said co-workers hung upside down like a monkey and shimmied himself across the zip-line to untangle it, only to have it tangle again when he dropped back into the water. Maybe it's one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I'll tell you, there was a lot of laughing happening. And maybe some snarky jokes.

labor day weekend: a little less labor, a lot of frisbeer and babes

2010-09-08T18:34:00.000-04:00

______________________

sunday

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a sassy barista making sassy drinks.

a sunlit window and 2 chairs just for us.

groce family lunch. sweet zinny with luke; loula and proud papa simon.

_____________________

monday

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ending work early. buying cheese and beer. loading up the "picnic backpack". the new favorite game, frisbeer/beer pole/bottle topple, and it's fierce (and I mean fierce) competitors. ladies loungin' on the blanket with the small ones who need us. boys climbin' trees and making us laugh. shorts too short and hats just right. what else is new?

____________________________

husband

---------------------------------------------

weekday dates

2010-09-05T21:59:00.000-04:00

After a long weekend full of work and work and working and doing some more work, Lukey and I had a nice Monday date. We bought a loaf of bread, some gouda and swiss, and opened a bottle of Trader Joe's Malbec for the occasion. It really was a pretty divine evening, as you can tell from the photo above. But not without a near disaster. Bear with me.

I think there is a temptation in blogging - probably the very reason why blogging is so popular - to put your best face forward. To create an image of yourself and your life that is both palatable and desirable by others. The great freedom of blogging is that it can be as brazen or as glossy as you want . My thoughts on this have kind of stemmed from my increasing boredom in looking at blogs that are predictable and formulaic - sweet and light like baby's breath, to dark and strung out like a hipster's hair-do. But, also, and maybe especially, from my own blogging. It's easy to post pretty pictures of the farm, sweet stories about what we're eating and doing, or dates we've had. And, in a way, that's all I want to show you, because that's what I want to remember most.

But, really, there's more. And farming isn't easy. And being a farmer's wife isn't easy. And dealing with sin is amplified when you're too busy or too apathetic or too exhausted to care.

_________________________

So, that's our life - there's a lot of beauty in it to be thankful for. And, certainly, my husband is a man above the rest - and I wonder at God's mercy in giving him to me - but there are times when we choose not to love each other well. When a long day at work, or a day's worth of failed expectations, or poor communication mars our beautiful, sun-glowing image of a couple in love - a couple who believes that there is no condemnation for us; a couple who recited at their wedding "I will forgive you as I have been forgiven".

For example, the aforementioned Monday date. We planned the date because it would be our last evening together that week before I left town for the weekend. We planned to skip out on the farm that afternoon and drive to the quarry, have a picnic and good conversation. One errand led to another, one task ran into the next, and before we knew it, two o'clock had become five and five became seven. I was disappointed and inconsolable, Luke was discouraged by his unloving wife. After multiple attempts to challenge me (which turned into urging and then to begging) to choose to be happy about the date we landed on, I finally, reluctantly, came round.

Sometimes there's just something so comfortable about sitting waist-deep in the muck of your sinful choices. I've always loved rebellion - it's my comfort zone, you might say. So it's still a hard thing for me to remember that Christ has made for a different script when it comes to those situations: I don't have to choose this anger anymore, I can and should be gracious with my husband, I don't have to be prideful or angry that I didn't choose it sooner, I am NOT condemned for being an unloving wife, Luke will forgive me when I apologize, we can reconcile and forget and enjoy the last rays of golden sunlight tonight.
______________________

Luke and I on a Sunday date. It's the second Sunday I've had off work since May and the first time we've had the whole day together since then. It was really glorious. And I mean that - with all the highs and lows and in-betweens - we had it all. We want it all.

taking care of things

2010-08-29T09:05:00.000-04:00

From Thursday to today, Luke was out of town in Atlanta with his bros. I say "bros," because it seems the best word to use for a group of 12 college friends who have spent the entire year planning said weekend around any leisure sport they can come up with. Note the word leisure in that last sentence.

So, I, for the first time, was home taking care of things. And I really enjoyed it. I spent the week prior to his departure concocting surprises for him upon his return. Volunteers came out to the farm to help me pick for the market - and we weeded, hoed, planted, and picked til I didn't think I could move anymore. That night, I found myself asleep at 6 o'clock, drooling (yes, literally) on my pillow. So, I cleaned myself up and went to Proof on Main for a treat (it helps when you work there. They give you special surprises in the form of Pappy Van Winkle 15 year....). I missed Luke's company. Before we dated, I would often go out to bars or restaurants by myself and truly enjoyed it - the freedom of singleness, I suppose. But, as I sat there, drinking my bourbon and watching the bar televisions with no sound (and no captions), I thought, I don't really miss this at all. The conversation that Luke and I have is so good. The way we enjoy food is so mutual. His company is really the best part of going out to fancy places like that.

The next morning I rose early to prepare for the market. It took me several hours and I was very, very tired. This may have been the only part of the weekend that I didn't enjoy. Contrary to what you might think about me, my least favorite part of farming is the farmer's market. I'm not sure if it's because we haven't generated a following yet or if folks' critical comments about our hard-earned produce pricks my anger...but I usually gladly let Luke take this area over. Noel and Tyler and Royal came to the rescue around 11 and brought me some coffee and company.

The last surprise of the weekend was to fix the greenhouse and mow our front and back yard. I wish I had a 'before' picture of this for those of you who aren't familiar with the disaster that was our yard. Every time I looked at the combination of our trash-filled, overgrown yard and our greenhouse-turned-junkyard, I thought about how we're supposed to be combating the ghetto, not contributing to it.

So, two friends from community group came over and, boy, did we do it. Jennifer picked out all the volunteer tomato plants, random bricks and trash, and extension chords from amidst the weeds while Steve and I started to tackle the greenhouse. His mathematical mind and compulsion to finish tasks completely, came in real handy. It was hot. Much hotter than I thought it would be. And we were right in the sun the whole time. When Steve took a break for water, you would wonder how he had time to down a 16oz glass before he was back out in the heat. BUT we got it finished. And I mowed the lawn and weeded after they left, dripping with sweat and sticky with salt and dirt.

Now, Luke is on his way home and I am having coffee on the front porch, resting from the weekend's work. I had a great time taking care of things. I keep saying that; it seems the best way to describe the simplicity and the work of this weekend. I've loved anticipating Luke's reactions to the work, but also I've just enjoyed doing the work: being the farmer, tending to the home, and enjoying the pleasure of seeing it all completed.

Today is Sunday and I am resting (for the first Sunday since May, actually). The only thing I didn't finish on my list of surprises was to learn stick shift (I know, lame that I don't already know). But I'm okay with that. I might see if I can clean out his truck for him before he gets home...

update: I did clean out the truck. I had to bust out the shop-vac to pick up years worth of dirt and debris. Oh, man, I'm so excited for him to see it!

the beasts

2010-08-23T12:06:00.000-04:00

for this one moment there was quiet.

p.s. coming soon: stories of picnics, cabins, and bears - no lie.

p.s.

2010-08-07T15:57:00.001-04:00

have y'all met our housemates?

Well, here they are.

Everyone, meet the Jenningseses!

I never know how to pluralize their name.

Also, they are great.

the power might go out

2010-08-04T19:39:00.000-04:00

It's raining again (!) - I promise I don't just post when it rains, but there is a strange coincidence in it all that I might need to explore. Rue is in her house freaking out because of the thunder and I feel badly for her.

Tonight is my first dinner shift at Proof. I'm wearing a dress and I did my makeup. I'm silly excited/nervous. Last night we stayed up very late (11p) and played in a friend's pool and drank sangria (IN the pool!). Luke went down the slide frontwards-feet-first, frontwards-face-first, and backwards-face-first; the latter being the one that hurt the worst, he says. It did make a pretty loud clapping noise when his back hit the water. There were several other injuries that night, but we won't go into that.

All of that happened at the end of the hottest day of the year. The heat index was 115. We got out to the farm at 7am and worked until we got the work done/were too dizzy from the heat. It was lovely to be out as the sun was coming up (this is how Luke usually does it, but I am always already at work on those mornings). And I took some pictures, so you can see for yourself what a day might look like on the farm.

And a special congratulations to this sweet couple on their recent engagement!

july, july

2010-07-13T16:11:00.000-04:00

"this barren July,
we both wake up so dry,
that no more tears can leave us.
and all we've found
are roads we can't go down,
eyes on the day we can't see.
I hope it comes, I hope that water comes,
and drenches us in our clothes.
the world that night had seen the greatest light,
too much light to deny..."

Last night I woke to lightening and heavy rain. Oh, Lord, thank you. My husband watches the weather every second when there is a chance of rain. And every time he clicks the "future radar" button online, he says, "not that this is ever accurate..." and watches, holding his breath, as the fuzzy pixels move in punctuated bursts across our area.
But, today, it happened. That 60% chance skyrocketed and our hearts became 100% full as we worked - past the point of our clothes being wet - and until our bodies could not even take in any more water. how happy we are.

"July, July
the man I love and I, will lift our heads together
July, July, I have seen the greatest light -
too much light to deny."
July, by The Innocence Mission

hi(gh) heat!

2010-06-18T12:23:00.000-04:00

We've been out of commission with the interweb since about a month ago, so there is a lot to update you all about:

------- I have left my post as manager at the coffee shop and now am working for a great restaurant/hotel in the city (Proof)serving breakfast and lunch. It's been a seamless and enjoyable transition for both myself and Luke. He drops me off at work around 6a, heads out to the farm, picks me up when my shift is done, we have lunch, and then head out to the farm again. We love routine! AND we've even been able to sell some of our produce to the restaurant!

------- Luke has been full time at the farm since April and is loving it. He does a wonderful job caring for the crops, knowing what they need and when, and creating innovative ways to irrigate/till/etc when the normal means falls through. Every day we are learning and constantly journaling in our "farm journal" about what we want to do differently next year or expand upon. We look forward to each week, as it means something different at the farm - one crop finishes, another is in full swing, another needs weeding, another is ready to be planted. Our land is filling up fast!

------- We've taken on roommates! Darren and Brittany Jennings (just married this week!) will move in with us on Saturday when they return from their honeymoon. We are so excited to share our home with them and watch our home become a collective "ours". We've been humbled and impressed with their maturity and faith. We anticipate this next season of our lives to be one of encouragement, fun, and challenging growth.

me and luke posing in our "new" hats that were mysteriously set on top of our trash can a couple of weeks ago. not pictured are all the silk flowers and lace we tore off of them.

Tuesday Jennings, the other newest addition to our home (Rue is freaking out).

me and Luke being farmers at the phoenix hill market. Don't worry, I turn the scary-face off for the customers.

Erin and I on her back porch after a lovely Memorial Day brunch...sooo lovely.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (aka Luke Groce cleaning out our basement and finding his fifteen year old glasses)

CHECK IT OUT

2010-05-01T15:23:00.001-04:00

our farm website:

grocesgrow.wordpress.com

where you'll find more goodies like this!

friend and neighbor, Jared, helping us "process" some chickens.

365

2010-03-31T09:39:00.000-04:00

A year ago I walked toward Luke with a lump in my throat. I was laughing, but not; crying, but not; biting my bottom lip so that nothing crazy would come out of my mouth. My father was helping me walk toward Luke's beaming face. He seemed sturdy and constant and I wanted to burst to pieces.

5 months before that, Luke walked me through the woods, collecting leaves and proclaiming the beauty of that last autumn day. He had a burning lump in the pocket of his jeans, a ring, waiting for his future wife. As we stood by a pond in the fading sunlight, he put it on my finger, shaking and grinning and crying.

just a happy day at the farm

2010-03-13T19:14:00.000-05:00

things i still like about my job

2010-03-06T09:18:00.001-05:00

i never work nights
there is usually some kind of excitement happening
i work with three other ladies who are unique and happy people
the owners of the establishment are gregarious, kind, and intelligent people
i'm the boss and people do what i say
i'm the boss and if i mess up no one can touch me!
i'm the boss.
phone conversations with another Java manager, Chuck, that comprise mostly of laughing and terrible jokes
i can bike to work
i get to watch the world and weather go by through our windowed walls
and, probably most recently, my favorite thing has been opening the shop and making myself an 8oz latte every morning:

moving slow and humming

2010-03-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

this past saturday was sleepy and dimly lit and warm and full. i didn't leave the house once. i ate two meals with my best friends and three with my best-friend-husband. i made bread and rue only ate 1/4 of the dough. noel and i planted all the pac choi and broccoli and rudbeckia in trays and read books and had tea and fresh bread. we ate three delicous, handcrafted, wowzer pizzas around the coffee table while tyler and linsey talked about old-school video games. a lot.

luke told me to caption this: "My name is Olga and I make many delicous breads."
this is how I would caption this: " I am baking bread in my favorite apron and I am also cold."

Here is a current debate in our house:
If Luke and I had a wrestling match, who would win? Me, because I am little and aggressive and rascally (and Luke says too willing to inflict pain) or Luke, because he has more muscles and weight to him and also knowledge in the ways of wrestling moves?
Let us know what you think.

love
the groces

2010-01-11T12:53:00.000-05:00

sunrise at Groce Family Farm

We're making headway with the farm - we have a name, as you can see, and we already have five households signed up to receive CSA shares from us. We've bought seeds, we have a list of volunteers (yes, if you have said that you'd like to come and "check it out," you're on the list), and we're dreaming at night of chilly spring mornings and long, hot summer days. And sometimes we don't even wait until the night to dream: yesterday in church, despite a captivating sermon, I found myself dreaming of work-pants covered in mud up to the knees, sore, sunburned backs from harvesting radishes, and the satisfying soul-filling exhaustion of a hard day's work.

Come on, Spring, come on.

we considered a field and bought it!

2009-11-23T14:00:00.000-05:00

that's the text message that Luke sent me as he handed over the check to the former owner of 2 acres of land in New Albany, IN.

we are land owners.

we are (almost) farmers. we're on the cusp of a lot of changes - who knows what life will be like for us? we've never started our own business, we've never farmed 2 acres of land before (though we have gardened every square inch of green earth we could get our hands on), and neither of us have ever had a job that quits with the onset of winter. but we've also never felt so ready and certainly didn't believe that we would start living the dream so quickly.

we went out to the farm on Sunday to do a little planning and took a few pictures. I'm excited to share the changes in our life with you and am eager to show you how this plot of land will change as we get our hands in the dirt!

the Les and Alison Groces

2009-11-12T13:47:00.000-05:00

As their time back in the States rapidly comes to a close, here is a post dedicated to them: Les, Alison, Marea, Joshua, Hannes, and Titus. We've enjoyed lots of sweet time with them since they arrived in August. For me, meeting them was a huge step in becoming a Groce, and I am even more in love with my husband's family for having them a part of it. These photos were taken one autumn afternoon when i nipped over for some play time and later found ourselves still there for dinner and bedtime stories...

Joshua, Alison, and Hannes.

Marea wrastlin' with Rue. I think Rue was actually exhausted at the end of our play time.

Titus chasing Alison around with a huge stick.

Dad's home!

Hannes decided that I should sit in his lap for the rest of our story time. And, boy, is he an animated story-teller:

Bed-time hugs.

We'll miss our family. All the kids will be so big the next time we see them! We might even have kids! Luke and I have really savored this season with Les, Alison, and Co. They've stepped in with the rest of the family in helping us make big decisions, dream about the future, and find contentment where we are right now. We've listened to great stories, read countless books, feasted on glorious gourmet meals (courtesy of Chef Les and Chef Luke - though some credit should go to the Ebelskiver for being an amazing addition to any home), and stayed out until 2 am laughing and talking.

Thanksgiving with the Groces is next and you know there's bound to be some killer food and photos. Until then,
kvg

the obligatory autumn post

2009-10-28T13:12:00.000-04:00

I love it. Last wednesday I had a day off from work and started it off, thanks to my sweet Luke, with breakfast in bed. After he ate (in 2 minutes) and rushed out the door to work, I took Rue on a walk in our beautiful backyard park. I think it's safe to say that we are both proud to be a part of this neighborhood. It can be a hard neighborhood for many folks, including us, but there is a lot to savor in this place. I've learned to look for what it has to offer: what is beautiful and what is ugly rubbing shoulders; the darkness grappling with the light.

I realized recently that Luke and I are not really in any position to argue with Louisville right now. We have a house that we're doing some real grown-up repairs on, a couple of acres across the river we want to buy, and neighbors that we're coming to know. I walk the streets of this neighborhood every day - and I imagine the day when it's us who have lived in this neighborhood for 15 years, when it's not new and unfamiliar anymore. Then maybe we will see, from our kitchen window in the Winter or front porch in the Spring, the changes that happen subtly over time. That's why we're here. It's hard to imagine the things that can come and almost even harder to remember to look for it.

Perhaps, in the future, the shouts and the traffic and the sirens will become normal to us. Perhaps this neighborhood will swell with love. Perhaps the young men will play football in the Fall and hold good jobs and have good manners and love the women they're with.

It's my first Fall in this house, with my husband and our new life. My pots and pans shudder with each weight-bearing truck that passes us on Oak Street. The branches of the tree in our neighbor's backyard shakes it's leaves like golden snow from a burdened winter cloud. The men in this neighborhood, black and white, do their work with cigarettes still in their mouths. Such a man came over to me today, toothless and serene, his eyes as dark as his face, as I tried to lift the front end of my car over a 5 gallon bucket wedged underneath. He walked purposefully toward the tire and lifted. I noticed he had on a gold wedding ring, a plastic Stop 'n Go bag in his hand, and a dark blue worker's uniform with a name tag I couldn't read. I snatched the bucket and it was over instantly. I thanked him twice and he walked away, my neighbor for a moment.

panoramarama

2009-10-13T12:35:00.000-04:00

luke recently acquired a new phone. it's similar to those iphones and smartphones and whatnot - which he loves, but i have no great jealousy over. EXCEPT that he has a panoramic feature on his phone. we used this quite a bit in chicago and have begun "panoramic picture sunday" with his family over lunch. here are a few of the results (consequently, you'll get a peek at what we've been up to...):

oh the fun!
more to come.
with love,
katherine

beirut by the lake

2009-09-05T13:34:00.000-04:00

After some recent job transitions for Luke and stepping back into the busy-ness of Fall for both of us, we decided we'd kick off this new season with...a vacation.
we woke up this morning, fed the chickens and the dog, locked the doors and started the dishwasher and drove straight up North to Chicago. We skirted the city on Lake Shore Drive, taking in all the runners and bikers and fog-hugged towers to pull in to Metropolis Coffee, where there was, wonderfully, a cozy couch waiting for us.
Here's to a weekend full of relaxation, refreshment, enjoying one another, and blowing a month's worth of budgeted coffee and fun money in one weekend.

here are some things

2009-06-05T17:50:00.000-04:00

we fell in love.

we got married.

we went away with each other.

we came back.

we have a pup

we have chickens

he works on a farm, where I sometimes come and work alongside him (and toss rotten strawberries at his back). and sometimes our sweet nephews come and help.

we cook for one another

and that's pretty much what's going on. :)

mornings with the pup

2009-01-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

christmas miracles (heart-warming stories from that yule-tide time)

2008-12-04T18:06:00.000-05:00

one christmas as a young girl i walked into my parents' shoe closet to behold a large, milky-white plastic play kitchen - complete with stove, overhead microwave, fold-out bar and mini-refrigerator. For the next two weeks, i was drunk with the possibilities of the gift that i, the older and more culinarily experienced sibling was about to receive.
when christmas morning came, i saw my kitchen-shaped present next to the tree - glowing at me in recognition. as i stepped over all the other, lesser presents toward my glorious gift, wrapped in paper plaid print, something terrible stopped me mid-climb. A scrawl of words glared at me from the scotch-taped Christmas tag:

to: Mariah; from: Mrs. Cooking Claus!

I watched in a daze of dissapointment while my parents helped her tear the paper away from the miniature manufactured homemaker’s dream. She stepped away from her present, her mouth already chapped and covered with christmas chocolate, and exclaimed,
“what is it?!”

And, so, that year, it was a christmas miracle i didn't kill her.

- katherine valentine

i used to get up in the middle of the night when i was real little and use a blade to peel the scotch tape from the wrapping paper so i could open my gifts and see what they were, then rewrap them with fresh tape.... that's not really a miracle i guess, but that's how i did it.

- jason irvine

Two years ago I returned home from my mom's house on Christmas day to find that my house had been robbed and all my stuff was gone. I was a wreck, and I had to leave in two days to go out of town for a little over two weeks. I got the cops over there, filled out a report, etc. Then flew out west two days later.

I went to Phoenix first off to visit my cousin. We hung around there for a couple of days and then we went up north to see the grand canyon. While we were sneaking into the park we came across a forest fire on the side of the road outside Tusayan, AZ. It was small, but it was creeping along the ground headed for a group of dead trees. We got out of the truck and got to work putting out the fire. We didn't get it all the way out, but we pushed it back away from the trees enough that they didn't go up. I got my cousin's GPS and called 911 to give them lat. and long. coordinates so they could locate us and send a fire truck. By the time they showed up the fire was just politely burning in the middle of a large black patch of former shrubs and pine needles. The fire crew sprayed some foam on the remnant of the fire and thanked us for our work. We never got caught sneaking into the park. Maybe the miracle is that he and I were fated, Owen Meany style, to save the state of Arizona from a fiery death on a cold January morning. If I had let the robbery bother me too much I'd have canceled my trip and that would have meant an empty gravel road in Arizona and a forest fire that was allowed to grow up.

True story (even if it's a bit grandiose).

- nick o'brien

when i was younger and still visited my father i made it clear that i needed a pony. seriously, i needed a real pony. probably the coolest thing my dad ever did was buy me a 5 foot purple horse with a feathering white mane. I loved that thing and 10 minutes later set it aflame with a radiator heater. smelled like complete shit. moral of story: most things i really want end up smelling like shit. hah.

- mickie winters

do you have any christmas miracle stories you'd like to share? send an email to learntoletgo@gmail.com with the subject "christmas miracle," and you, too, could share your story with all the attentive/badgering readers involved in the interweb!

"camera phone" or "an abbreviated catalogue of summer"

2008-09-21T11:06:00.000-04:00