Texas and Back

We spent the Christmas holiday in Texas. It was so nice to spend time with Martin's family. I love sitting around hearing Martin and his family interact since I really haven't had too many opportunities to watch him around his family. It's fun to see how they all relate to each other. And it's fun to be a part of it too.

Martin's sister Melanie has two completely lovely girls with a third to be born any day now. We were hoping she'd go into labor a little early so we could meet Kratky girl #3 (as far as I know, they haven't decided on a name yet. Martin was pushing for Martina but I don't think they were going for it)

And after getting back for a couple days, my best friend jess came to spend new years with us. It was her first visit to our new place here so it was fun to actually have a guest room for her to stay in. Although, can you believe she actually said that she kind of missed the little place we had before. I told her she was crazy. Here are photos from Martin's mom and Jess of the holidays.

Jessica always does a great job of documenting our times together. She got a really funny video of me trying to dis-prove the idea that it's impossible to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon. Hopefully, I'll be able to share it soon.

Biggest Little Christmas Photo Booth

Christmastime means Christmas Parties

Kelly, Julie, and Me.

I'm kind of the designated Picture Taker. I did a bit of this.

Me and Martin. He looks great with his mustache shaved. He doesn't like it as much but does it for me. Aw.

This is the Hall. Very cozy for a very cold night. I think the high temperature that day was 18 degrees.

Had my work Christmas party. It's always a good idea to try to have a time with co-workers where you relax. And Castle Farms in Charlevoix was a great place to be. It's an old mansion that has been turned into a banquet hall type place. They had a table with bowls of candy and scoops where you could make your own little gift bag of candy. I was all over that. I made Martin go up there with me to get an extra bag. They also had a photo booth where you could go up there all night and get pictures taken. That was fun. You get more creative as the night goes on. They are going to post all the shots online. I keep checking it to see if they're up yet. http://www.shutterbooth.com/ So far, they haven't showed up yet but I got a kick out of looking at the other party's photos. And then I was thinking "we should've done THAT". Next time.

A Culture of Cold

Mitchell Street downtown Petoskey

Martin, Cheyenne, Craig, and Josh giving their tough-guy faces. Josh just can't look mean no matter what.

Martin dragging our tree back to the car.

Danielle and I. People call us D&D. She's my neighbor and great friend. I love having such a good friend living so close. We wave at each other from our kitchen windows. It's quite fun. The other day I hung something on the wall in the kithchen and she told me it was throwing her off everytime she looked over at our place. Guess I should've warned her first. :)

So, winter is here. Technically, winter isn't until December 21st, but that means nothing up here. I'm a northerner. So, naturally there are a lot of things about the north that seem to be a part of me and that I like. I like sweaters, hot drinks, mittins, snowflakes the size of silver dollars. But at the same time, I'm kind of over it. I've done the whole 2am walks where it's almost as light as day, I've seen the northern lights several times. And I've also scraped ice off my car 25 million times, and stock-piled more lotion than any one household should have in their house on any day. Cold air = cracking skin.

I don't hate winter collectively. There will always be things about the cold season that are cozy and fun. But I've put my time in. I'd like to at some point live with sunshine and hot weather. And contrary to what people up here think, 75 degrees is not hot. It's warm, not hot.

A Nice Break

Tex playing in the back yard he wishes he had.

Martin using the remote.

Me being....me.

Cade

Brandy with her 5 plates of food. Really, it's just all her kids left over plates.

It's time to get ready for work. And I can't seem to get myself going. I think it's classic long weekend blues. I have a friend who texts me every sunday telling me that she's so depressed that it's sunday night and on monday morning as we're headed out to our separate jobs, she sends me another one that says"here's to better jobs someday". Little things like that are dear to me.

After getting back into town yesterday, Martin and I decided we really probably should get curtains for our place. Yeah, I'm serious. Not a single one in the living, dining or kitchen until now. We now have privacy; kinda important for a place that gets dark at 4:30 this time of year. In some ways, we're still so immature. But I guess maybe we're kind of holding on to that a little. Or a lot.

Got to spend some time with my best friend. We had a good time as always. Drank a lot of coffee, ate a lot of food. Played a lot of card games. I like card games. And took some pics.

Thanksgiving!

Hi, my name is Brandy. I’m Dominique’s sister. She has bravely given me permission to write on her blog. It will be a bit lengthy. But if you are a reader of her blog you will agree that the following is true, because you have your own story of how Dominique has taught you how to love.
I have often pondered your title, Learning to Love. First, I think how I need to learn to love in a more biblical way. But mostly, I think how you have been one of the greatest examples of love in my life. You have been a direct answer to my prayers, on more than one occasion. The first and greatest example happened a couple years ago. I was very discouraged in my life. I prayed that God would have somebody give me something that showed that they loved me. That sentence sounds simple, maybe even selfish, but my thoughts were very involved. I was feeling very empty and broken in spirit. I was asking God to show me that there was someone in my life who loved me deeply and that the love would be evidenced in a powerful way. (I know I have many people in my life that love me. The prayer was came from my circumstances.) Later, I think that same day, you pulled me aside to give me a gift of money. I was completely overwhelmed. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was money. But it was a very generous gift. For that I felt guilty of my prayer. I wanted you to keep it, the thought was enough. The only thing I saw was the great love in your heart. The money had been given to you as a gift, and you were giving it to me. You freely and sacrificially, and willing gave to me. I received you gift with tears in my eyes as I realized my Savior loved me by hearing my cry and answering me so quickly. And that I had a dear sister and friend that loved me deeply. I needed you gift of love more than you will ever know. I’m getting choked up even as I write this because of the depth of the meaning that was to me.
Another time God used you to speak into my life was last year. When we left Ford we left money, insurance, and extras. We now had to trust Christ completely. Since He is faithful I decided to ask only Him for the things I needed. My glasses were broken, and I was on my last pair of contacts. I prayed that God give me another pair of glasses. This was a little tough because I really hate wearing glasses. But, I knew I didn’t NEED contacts. Shortly after that you gave me Two pair of glasses, with cases, and some contacts. What an Amazing God we serve! Again, fighting the tears I received your over an abundant gift of love. I only did He give me what I needed, He used you to show great love by blessing me with what I really wanted. When you love, you love completely. I thank God for you and the ways He has used you to teach me how to love!

Happy 80th Grams

No my grams does not read this blog. I wasn't able to make it down for her party today so I needed some way to express my celebration of her. I've talked about my grams before. I think I'm more like her than anyone I'm related to. We love so many of the same things: tea, coffee, Van Gogh (probably our biggest "in common" love), books, music, people...I just really feel like we are soulmates in a way. I get her. When I sit down with her and listen to the way she thinks and speaks, I am so right there with her.

She shares a birthday with Mickey Mouse. She has 9 children. She is Jewish. She was divorced. She lives in the smallest apartment I've ever been in. She was a tutor (and still might be) for prisoners on parole. She works at an elementary school as a teacher's aid for the children with learning disabilities.

And she sends me a birthday card every year on my birthday.

In other {D} news:

My friend Katie Kolb left me for her husband and Pittsburgh last week. I'm going to miss her so much.

I bought a pair of pants at the goodwill today. I should probably be over this phase of my life. Speaking of good buys at goodwill; I bought six nickel finish Pottery Barn hooks for the entryway that were still in the package, never been used. I think they look great. I'll have to take a pic to show them off.

Pics: An HDR of Cloud Gate, or as it's more commonly known as "The Bean" in Chicago. It's on my flickr page as well as a couple more from the same trip. The next two photos are me revealing a little more of my domestic side (I can't do it all at once, come on, you know me better than that...) I like to cook/bake. But let me clarify and say that I only like to do it when I'm not rushed, or when I feel like it. Otherwise, it's just a chore. One photo is a blueberry cobbler that I made with wild Michigan blueberries our friends picked from a bog near here and gave to us. Martin really liked the cobbler. And the other is cappuccino crinkle cookies I baked that I liked and Martin didn't.