Adopting in Ashburn

2013 was a pretty big year for us. January.  We packed up what seemed like 90% of our stuff (but later we realized was only about 70%) and staged our house in Landsdowne to sell. Yeah, we have WAY too much stuff.   February.  Lorien and Steve got married in Hawaii! In addition to exploring Oahu we took a side-trip to the Big Island and visited Volcano National Park, thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Our house sold (for more than asking price!) and the builders broke ground on this house in Ashburn. Dinner cruise! We saw a whale and fireworks over Honolulu. Overlook on our first morning. Sunset on the Big Island. Who knows where? It's all a windblown paradise! Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. This was also pretty much everywhere. Plane ride home, very relaxed. March.  Spring break found us driving to south Florida to visit our grandparents; and then rushing back because my commitment to coaching club volleyball insanely involved most of our

For all of the holidays Richard and I have spent together, this past Thanksgiving (and now Christmas) have really seemed like the first.* I think a huge part of it is finally being in our own home and getting to prepare together. However, I think the larger part is that we are starting to make our own traditions. This year, I loved opening presents a little each week of advent and just saving Christmas day to relax and enjoy each others' company. I loved hosting neighbors for our prime rib feast on Christmas day, connecting with the family on video chat, and going to candlelight services on Christmas Eve. But most of all, I loved how Christmas felt  like Christmas again. In the hustle and bustle of moving or coordinating sharing a kitchen with roommates or making plans to split time between "mine" and "his" traditions, it stopped feeling like Christmas. That feeling in your heart like you want to laugh or cry - and maybe you do - because you are just so happ

As I sit here in my fabulously messy house, I can only think of how exorbitantly lucky I am to have it and all the random bits making the mess. The busted volleyball on the floor is evidence of a wonderful season with the Freedom Eagles and my utter fail at making a ball soft enough for our new dog, Raleigh, to play with. The volleyball bladder is in fact soft enough, but he wants nothing to do with any toys that don't have food in them. The random kitchen tools on the coffee table are from my recent trip to the store to get supplies for Thanksgiving. We're hosting our first real holiday and didn't really need a carving fork, potato masher or pie slicer (honestly, won't most of the stuff in my kitchen double in those roles?) but for some reason, it felt like this Thanksgiving needed appropriate tools for big jobs; like turkey, mashed potatoes, and pie! The fabric scraps on the kitchen table will soon be placemats and table runners and things to put under hot dishe