On our last long drive back home from Iowa, everyone in the car was asleep except for me, as I was the one driving. I had my ipod playing and headphones in, and listening to my playlist entitled "favorites."
Songs have a way of conjuring up old hidden memories, don't they? Sometimes I will hear a song and get totally lost in it, overcome by thoughts and emotions tied to a particular person or event.
Every now and then I go through my playlists, with good intentions to delete some songs, and find that I just can't do it. The songs bring a smile to my face or make my tears well up with tears as I belt out songs off-key, behind the comfort of my headphones.
Some songs may very well be forever part of my "favorites" playlist. Songs like "Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show, which takes me back to the campfire I stumbled upon in California at an outdoor education retreat where hippies were sitting around singing that song - exactly how I imagined it in my head.
And then there's "Canción para la Navidad" by José Luis Peralta, which I love playing every Christmas (and sometimes other times of the year), because it takes me back to the campfire with our neighbors in Costa Rica where we sat around sitting Spanish Christmas songs.
The song "China Roses" by Enya instantly takes me back to high school, when I would listen to that song on repeat doing homework in my room.
The "Elephant Love Medley" from Moulin Rouge takes me back to my coaching days at Iowa Christian Academy and driving some of my players to practice after school.
"Love Generation" by Bob Sinclair reminds me of all the movie commercials in Costa Rica.
Walking on Sunshine takes me back to basketball games in college.
"Scarborough Fair" by Simon and Garfunkel takes me back to elementary school, when I first started loving their songs and haven't stopped since.
"Smashing Pumpkins'" 1979 brings back high school memories when I would belt that song on my really cool Discman.
I can still quote every other word of the chorus to "Breakfast at Tiffany's", knowing my sister is somewhere far away quoting the opposite words.
"When I Look Into Your Eyes" takes me back to awkward dancing at middle school dances.
"You Don't Treat Me Good No More" by Sonia Dada takes me back to 8th grade.
And the entire album of Ace of Base instantly brings me back to 5th grade, hanging out at Courtney Strutt-Todd's house in the pool.
There are many, many more. And yes, all are on my "favorites" playlist.
I'm pretty sure that years down the road, many "Frozen" songs will be a part of my playlist and tears will fill my wrinkled eyes as I remember this time in life that my kids were so young and I would sit in their room at night, waiting for them to fall asleep while each randomly sang along (half-asleep) with Anna and Elsa. Which is exactly the scene right now as I type this blog entry.
I am always adding new playlists...but my "favorites", that's where the memories are. :)
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
The last of the Gosselinks
The Gosselink sisters are no more. Well, we're still sisters. But we are no longer Gosselinks. The last of us got hitched a few weeks ago and that was that!
Katie and Shawn celebrated a beautiful and simple wedding outside with immediate family only, where she officially became Katie Johnson.
Following the wedding was a larger reception with LOTS of Katie's handprint all over it - being a very crafty person, she truly made almost everything at the reception. I'm not sure I've ever been to a more creative wedding before - from invitations to centerpieces to wall decor, it was awesome.
Because of our busy spring schedule, David and myself and the kids drove up to Iowa on Thursday to get there just in time for the bachelorette party, and left Sunday morning in time for David to finalize preparations to defend his thesis for his Master's on Monday morning.
It was a fun whirlwind of a 2 1/2 day visit to Iowa and not many minutes to sit still. Beginning with the par-tay Thursday night, continuing on to pedicures and helping finish crafty details on Friday, a rehearsal dinner Friday night, decorating and hair done Saturday morning, wedding and pictures Saturday afternoon, and finishing with the reception and clean up Saturday evening/night - we were relying upon lots of coffee to make it back to Oklahoma on Sunday. :)
Here are a few pictures from the quick trip.
Heading out for the bachelorette party!
Lovely ceremony shot.
The sister bridesmaids and the bride!
The married couple and the cute kids.
Hard to believe it's been almost 10 years since our wedding!
The beautiful couple - Mr. and Ms. Shawn and Katie Johnson!
One of the really cool centerpieces - books wrapped up, paper flowers made from books, cut out paper hearts from books, literary couples, etc. Awesome!
David's best friend Matt Chitwood happened to be in the U.S. for a short visit (he lives in China) so he came to the wedding and hung out with us too!
Adele REALLY wanted her hair done like the big girls, and I simply couldn't refuse. She looked adorable and so grown up! Here she is dancing with good friend James (son of my best friend Theresa)
Thursday, May 8, 2014
So Henry turned 2...
This spring has been a whirlwind of activity. I vaguely remember January and February, griping about winter blues and feeling overall grumpy with weather and monotony of life.
Then March hit.
Since our Costa Rica visit in March, we have been swamped with the busyness of life. And I mean swamped. Big things, too. Not just normal cleaning and errands and kid-busyness and regularly-scheduled activities. We're talking the kinds of activities that have forced David and I to stay up very very late every single night, just to be able to accomplish what was necessary for the following day.
Somewhere toward the beginning of this ridiculously busy season (March 26th to be exact), Henry turned 2.
Since I'm having a hard time remembering a lot of past details these days due to lack of sleep and having to think about future to-do lists, I figured I need to blog so that I can look back and see what Henry was like as a 2-year old.
Plus, it's fun to dote on my kids. As a proud mama, shouldn't that be a purpose of a blog??
Henry is...tremendo, as a dear friend would say in Spanish. He is busy, fearless, and loves to be the center of attention. He tests limits and has gotten more swats on the hand and leg, and more flicks to the mouth than Adele as a 4 1/2 year old. (Granted, it doesn't take much more than a stern talking to for that girl to feel bad and change her attitude. Usually.) He loves to try to get away with jumping off furniture, sitting on the kitchen table, tackling his sister, and making play-doh balls and throwing them around the kitchen.
Henry is into making faces, just to make us laugh. He is particularly interested in working on touching his tongue to his nose, and he has made a lot of progress thus far. If there is ever a pause in conversation or lull in activity, it will be Henry who looks around and does something funny like falling over or doing somersaults just to break the ice.
Among Henry's few favorite things are Frosty the Snowman and dinosaurs. Sometimes one or both "visit" our house, and Henry will randomly point to the door and address them or tell them goodnight. Henry is not nearly as articulate as Adele was at this age, but he talks just as much or more - and it is quite common that he will somehow manage to work Frosty and dinosaurs into any given conversation.
Henry also loves cars, buses, airplanes, and trains. Often he will run through the house pushing his trains or buses, or flying his airplanes. Outside, he is able to hear any airplane that passes overhead, and yells "choo choo" every time we cross train tracks.
Besides the fact that Henry is a LOT of fun, he is also super cuddly and loving. He gives great hugs and kisses, and snuggles in really well to watch something on TV (at least for a few minutes).
We love you Henry!
Then March hit.
Since our Costa Rica visit in March, we have been swamped with the busyness of life. And I mean swamped. Big things, too. Not just normal cleaning and errands and kid-busyness and regularly-scheduled activities. We're talking the kinds of activities that have forced David and I to stay up very very late every single night, just to be able to accomplish what was necessary for the following day.
Somewhere toward the beginning of this ridiculously busy season (March 26th to be exact), Henry turned 2.
Since I'm having a hard time remembering a lot of past details these days due to lack of sleep and having to think about future to-do lists, I figured I need to blog so that I can look back and see what Henry was like as a 2-year old.
Plus, it's fun to dote on my kids. As a proud mama, shouldn't that be a purpose of a blog??
Henry is...tremendo, as a dear friend would say in Spanish. He is busy, fearless, and loves to be the center of attention. He tests limits and has gotten more swats on the hand and leg, and more flicks to the mouth than Adele as a 4 1/2 year old. (Granted, it doesn't take much more than a stern talking to for that girl to feel bad and change her attitude. Usually.) He loves to try to get away with jumping off furniture, sitting on the kitchen table, tackling his sister, and making play-doh balls and throwing them around the kitchen.
Henry is into making faces, just to make us laugh. He is particularly interested in working on touching his tongue to his nose, and he has made a lot of progress thus far. If there is ever a pause in conversation or lull in activity, it will be Henry who looks around and does something funny like falling over or doing somersaults just to break the ice.
Among Henry's few favorite things are Frosty the Snowman and dinosaurs. Sometimes one or both "visit" our house, and Henry will randomly point to the door and address them or tell them goodnight. Henry is not nearly as articulate as Adele was at this age, but he talks just as much or more - and it is quite common that he will somehow manage to work Frosty and dinosaurs into any given conversation.
Henry also loves cars, buses, airplanes, and trains. Often he will run through the house pushing his trains or buses, or flying his airplanes. Outside, he is able to hear any airplane that passes overhead, and yells "choo choo" every time we cross train tracks.
Besides the fact that Henry is a LOT of fun, he is also super cuddly and loving. He gives great hugs and kisses, and snuggles in really well to watch something on TV (at least for a few minutes).
We love you Henry!
Pushing his trains around the house
Dress up with sister...a scene I like to call "80s workout session"
So much more fun to brush your teeth in a tiara and high heels
The glasses totally fit Mom!
I wish I could say Adele forced Henry to do this...but it was his idea.
Best mask ever! After a family night at the University of Oklahoma featuring dinosaurs.
Always fun playing outside!
Trying to convince me they could go to sleep together at night - it didn't work.
Birthday boy!
Monday, May 5, 2014
Spring?
So it's springtime...I guess. It was supposed to be 98 degrees today and tomorrow, so I might even call it summer. And where did spring go?? Not cool, weather. (Both figuratively and literally speaking, of course.)
Of course, along with spring comes my new set of vocabulary I picked up on when we moved to Oklahoma. Words like tornadic, or wall cloud, or supercells or dryline or rain-wrapped. They become part of our normal conversation as we sit around and analyze the clouds, or when there is the potential of severe weather in the weekly forecast. I'll admit, it gives us a bit of an adrenaline rush as we wait in anticipation of what might become of the forecasted storms. And a bit of excitement as we rush outside and watch the unbelievably beautiful clouds take shape and travel and rotate off in the distance. And yet, with it comes a bit of terror as we sit glued to the TV, wondering when we need to put into action our safety plan.
Now that it's May, we wonder what will become of this weather.
Interestingly enough, every since we've moved to Oklahoma, we've experienced a number of records or unusual weather patterns. The summer we moved here, Oklahoma was going seeing an unusually HOT summer. Something like 50+ days in triple digits. I most definitely wondered what in the world we were doing here!
Late fall of that same year, my sister Katie was visiting and we experienced an unusually large earthquake that even shook our house.
When the following spring rolled around, there was an unspotted rain-wrapped tornado that hopscotched halfway across Norman before the sirens even went off - after it passed by our backyard, knocking over our swingset and doing some damage to our fence (while my sister-in-law and I watched out the window with 4 kids under the age of 4).
The next spring brought the well-known Moore tornado, and the record-breaking massive El Reno tornado - both relatively close to where we live.
This "spring" we have already seen record-breaking high temperatures, making it feel more like mid-July rather than beginning of May.
So what is next? Apparently Oklahoma weather is unpredictable, so I'm not going to even take a guess.
But if it were up to me, I'd vote for the "coolest summer in history." :)
Of course, along with spring comes my new set of vocabulary I picked up on when we moved to Oklahoma. Words like tornadic, or wall cloud, or supercells or dryline or rain-wrapped. They become part of our normal conversation as we sit around and analyze the clouds, or when there is the potential of severe weather in the weekly forecast. I'll admit, it gives us a bit of an adrenaline rush as we wait in anticipation of what might become of the forecasted storms. And a bit of excitement as we rush outside and watch the unbelievably beautiful clouds take shape and travel and rotate off in the distance. And yet, with it comes a bit of terror as we sit glued to the TV, wondering when we need to put into action our safety plan.
Now that it's May, we wonder what will become of this weather.
Interestingly enough, every since we've moved to Oklahoma, we've experienced a number of records or unusual weather patterns. The summer we moved here, Oklahoma was going seeing an unusually HOT summer. Something like 50+ days in triple digits. I most definitely wondered what in the world we were doing here!
Late fall of that same year, my sister Katie was visiting and we experienced an unusually large earthquake that even shook our house.
When the following spring rolled around, there was an unspotted rain-wrapped tornado that hopscotched halfway across Norman before the sirens even went off - after it passed by our backyard, knocking over our swingset and doing some damage to our fence (while my sister-in-law and I watched out the window with 4 kids under the age of 4).
The next spring brought the well-known Moore tornado, and the record-breaking massive El Reno tornado - both relatively close to where we live.
This "spring" we have already seen record-breaking high temperatures, making it feel more like mid-July rather than beginning of May.
So what is next? Apparently Oklahoma weather is unpredictable, so I'm not going to even take a guess.
But if it were up to me, I'd vote for the "coolest summer in history." :)
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