Olympic Magic?

The Olympics.
The historical games that originated in ancient Greece and since 1896 have turned into the modern games we all love and watch today.
The sporting event that I can officially say I look forward to for four years, much to the pleasure of the man I recently married.
The bringing together of athletes from over 200 countries to compete in sports, admittedly some of which I do not know they are played on a field, a court, or something else.
The Olympics.
What is it about these games that can make people so excited to cheer on a country that is torn politically but brought together by somewhere between 4 and over 400 athletes? Or even better, what makes 4 athletes so driven to compete for something they stand for they are competing as independent from any country, as Olympians? Why are Americans so passionate about these games that the thought of our athletes marching in the opening ceremony in American outfits that were made in China can unite anger against our new world rival?
These questions and hundreds more are brought up on the many ways I am connected to the world (radio, TV, Internet) and it has made me wonder. Why do I love the Olympics SO much I cry at the mention of opening ceremonies? I am already worried about how sad I will be when these games end, please tell me I am not the only one on that little embarrassing piece of information.
So the verdict. Initially I think that it is something I remember as a kid I looked forward to every 4 years and then when the winter Olympics switched to being on the other even numbered years it is something to celebrate every 2 years.

As I got older it got easier for me to remember the Olympic years (later summer Olympics) when I put together they are the same as presidential election years. It helps me remember numbers if I can think of them as applied to more than one thing and that fits right into my strange nerdy world.
Maybe I love the games because it is in my DNA. My Opa, as a young college student, made a trip to Germany with his mother to visit family.  As a side trip from visiting family he made his way to the 1936 Olympiad in Berlin. How amazing is it for my family to look through his photo album and see, tucked between athletes competing from KU, a signed photograph of Jesse Owens?
These reasons are great, but personally why am I so excited and emotional about the games? I think it has a lot to do with 2004. I was volunteering at Pax Lodge in London and living with young ladies from many different countries. I watched the BBC version of the games instead of NBC and I assure anyone who has never watched from another country the NBC broadcast is not only American centric as far as athletes, but the sports that are shown. I have never seen so much rowing, I didn't know who Steve Redgrave or Paula Radcliff were until after I became immersed in British sport, Olympic style! The truly unique part of this viewing has much more to do with who I watched these games with, the room always had at least one representative from Canada, Australia, South Africa, Sweden, and Britain and then the people who were in and out include Kenya and Mexico. It was a really international experience of these international games. We each cheered for our country when appropriate, and when there was not a representative we choose someone else. How enlightening?
This insight into how other countries view the Olympics broadened my complete understanding of the meaning of the games. These games are not just a chance for Michael Phelps to hear his name again (good gravy who is not already sick of that name) but this is an opportunity for representatives from all countries to share the glow of the international television audience. It is a chance to learn about each others strengths and weaknesses. It brings together groups of people to learn from each other based on those strengths and improve on our own weaknesses.
Which brings me to last night.
Women's gymnastics qualifying

Anyone who watched knows what I am going to say. Jordyn Wieber. I have to say the face she made when she knew that she had not qualified for the individual all around could have devastated even the most hard lined rule followers out there. For those of you who did not watch, and who have not heard the rule is that from each country's team only 2 gymnasts can qualify to compete as individuals in the all around competition. This meant that as the American girls were qualifying and 3 of the girls competed in every event, it became clear that the competition for who would qualify was very close and would come down to the final event. All of the girls had slip-ups in the floor, but Ali and Gabby in the end had the highest scores. Bella Karolyi clearly indicated that since the rule changed the competition for gold is not as strong. He almost hinted that it doesn't have as much meaning to make the medal stand with only 2 girls qualifying no matter the score. If you look at the numbers he is absolutely right. Jordyn got robbed. She scored in the top 5 overall and is not in the top 24, it really doesn't seem possible.
 

However this took me back to 2004, sitting in the Rose Room and watching with my friends. I remember the remarks about how wealthy nations can afford to send many more athletes to compete and how they obviously would win more medals as a result. It seems unfair that a qualified athlete, who wants to compete, does not get the chance. So here we are, in a bind. Jordan Wieber, the reigning world champion who by the numbers absolutely qualified for the Olympic all-around, but does not get to compete and that makes me really angry and sad for her. Instead of thinking about Jordyn, I am thinking about that athlete who came to London with the same dream as Wieber, who won't be on the gold medal favored team, and who is getting a shot at glory for her country. I know that is the harder of the attitudes to take about the competition but it is how I choose to feel after having experienced what spectators from other places in the world feel when their team wins one medal compared to the USA who expect to win the most medals.

It is hard to take me out of the mindset of an American, I was born in a country that affords so many advantages to its citizens we sometimes forget (of simply don't know) that this is not the way in the rest of the world.
Jordyn Wieber is a champion. And as my mom always said when something really crappy happened it is a character building experience. Jordyn will be a better person when this is done, medal or not.

Pictures of life

Since I don't have many pictures of the wedding yet I was looking thought things and found engagement party picture album. Here are some of my favorites!

We were waiting on the family picture that was coming. Justin and my dad had a great time sitting our with their coffee and just visiting. I guess I crashed their moment!

 This is one of about 50 shots of the family. I love that Ian's arm is in the air, this one is a balance thing however his arm was pumping regularly with excitement.

 Big time helping. The boys really helped us get everything ready and in the right spot and keeping sister safe.

 I am so glad that Kathy and Bill made the drive up. I hope the party lived up to the expectations.

Then some more of my favorite people, I am so happy they all come come out and visit.

 Who had the most s'mores?

 This girl loved her choco sucker, but could not resist her ba making the whole thing a chocolate mess. I bet that was delicious though!

 Pics with my 2 favorite men on the planet.

These pictures were the beginnning of me thinking I like myself better with glasses on rather than off. I just like the whole look better.
That was a fun jump back in time a bit, I can't wait to post wedding pics!

Married life

"I have honestly loved planning wedding stuff so far, it is really fun to think about the things I love most in life."
I said that, in my previous post actually. It is nice to look back and know that I really enjoyed putting together all the things I really love. I know that our wedding was not a typical "bridal" affair, and that caused some friction with many people's expectations of what a bride should do, but our wedding represented our relationship. It celebrated our marriage, not the business of having a wedding. I am so thankful for all the people who joined us from far away distances, next door, and who joined us in spirit.

It was perfect. Yellow shoes and all!
Wedding day aside I had a great moment last week. A co-worker was giving me the typical questions a person asks a newlywed acquaintence. "So, how is married life?" It occurred to me it is FAB! It is really great, I love the security it provides in me telling terrible jokes, it means I can cook a frozen pizza with the cardboard still attached to the bottom and just shrug when I realize my mistake... "It is strangely wonderful and far better than expected." I honestly mean that, it is really different than living with a person I really like. Now I live with my husband and I love it.

Here is the point of my ramblings, it took being married for me to understand. I will happily fan my hung over husband while he stands in the hot sun to take a picture on the steps of Parmentor Hall, a building that means nothing to him and is a constant figure in every year of my life.
I am sad that I don't have more pictures yet but just one more.

The expanding group of Hey cousins, we are plus 2 our original number in the picture and we are also minus 2. We missed Lori and Peter but so happy about little Rowan, a precious addition to the family!

Reasons to love life

Since moving to North Carolina my fiance and I have had many life decisions and huge changes to shape our current situation. I mean one year ago did I ever think that right now I would be sitting at a table covered with guest lists for parties and wedding invitations? Heck no. One year ago I was resisting the common belief that we were going to have to get married because that is what people do. I had much more lofty expectations for my engagement (the time I am engaged, not the act of being asked) and when it would occur. I have to say Justin did a great job of letting me get to a happy place that was ready to get married and not feeling bullied into something because that is what someone told us we needed to do to justify our relationship. I will say that I really do feel that our engagement has been a really wonderful time for our relationship and I honestly can't wait for this to grow and take us to new places. (PS I worked with a man who gave me a hard time about not being married last year, he actually said to me if I wanted to stay in the South and teach I had to get married, it made me very opposed to the idea. I have never liked being told what to do)
I digress. This week I have been reminded a few different times that I am so thankful for where we are right now. I said where and that has multiple meanings first we will focus on geography.
Living in North Carolina after a few years south of here makes spring time more magical than before. I love spring! LOVE. There are so many reasons to love Spring; to begin it is when I was born. I mean if you can't love the season of your birth what can you love.
The azaleas are blooming in the backyard, sunsets are back to our side of the lake, and I can walk the dogs after I get home from work in the light. Who would rather it be dark when you wake up and when you get home from work? Who would rather everything be dead and dreary? I know there are some of you out there who love winter and I am sorry that I can't join you in that, but I must admit even though this was a pretend WNC winter it was enough to serve as a serious reminder of how much I LOVE spring. (it was nice to ease Justin into winter with snow only 2 times and only one snow day from school, no need to overwhelm)
Next, being in a purple state during a presidential election has really invigorated me intellectually. Although I am not working in a place that is stimulating in the same way as I was last year has not bothered me as much as it would if I were not challenged and always ready for discussion the way I am here. I was reminded of the joys of living in a truly politically diverse area this week a few times. First, and most emotional for me, I was downtown Asheville and in Pack Square were some people protesting for Trayvon Martin. I had to turn right past there and heard them saying we want justice for Trayvon. You know, no matter where you are on the case it is impossible to not agree with the statement that Trayvon was wrongfully killed. This is the same park I have seen many protests in, and for some reason each one of them make me emotional. It is just amazing to live in a country that allows each citizen a freedom of information and freedom to make their own decisions, but wait we do not stop there we actually allow citizens the right to protest and try to convince others of their point of view. At the bare minimum making others aware that someone cares about the issue is a freedom that has been taken for granted by so many of us, and living in a place where people freely express opinions is just fun.
Last weekend while we were running errands Justin mentioned that is it different living in a town where every Saturday there is a group of people protesting outside the Bank of America or the Wells Fargo in town with signs saying we are the 99% and other occupy ideals. I could not agree more and I take it a step further, it is downright fun to see people actually fulfilling the ideals of a republic.
Finally in our geography, I love the fact that people here are active, and outdoors, and try. Maybe it is the spring weather or the fact that we live on a lake, but it just makes me happy that there are people running, fishing, and boating constantly around here. The dogs and I have been watching the fish from the rocks and they have been barking away at all the people who are out and about just to destroy their perfect little lives by walking past our home. (BTW Zimmie looks so funny with her hair all cut except her face, it really looks like a photo shopped dog with a skinny body and a fat face)
Outside of our physical location and the things it offers is where we are in life. It is nice, I got a promotion at work, we are finally getting things back in order from the last few years, and planning a wedding all at the same time.
I have honestly loved planning wedding stuff so far, it is really fun to think about the things I love most in life.
It is also really fun to think about the actual event and all the friends/family who I will see in relation to this event. I actually get excited to see and hope that all my family will be able to join us for the big day in celebration, and I hope that we are able to meet all your wildest expectations for a wedding thrown by Emma and Justin. (read: not super bridal but wear a fantastic hat if you want to. I personally tried on a feather hat today, unfortunately it was a little small for my head otherwise this may be a challenge to all our female guests to present themselves in fab hats)
Justin and I have been through a lot since meeting, dating... and we are honestly in a place now that we have not previously found. We are both old enough to know what makes us happy, and with our experience of the last few years we are able to find things to do that cost nothing (or very little), generally together making both of us happy. It is just a great place of life we are in and I could not ask for more from life.

And last of all today in downtown we were prompted to enter a wine shop and she talked us into buying a $15 bottle of French champagne (thats right) so I have enjoyed my first bottle of real French champagne to date and it has proved fab! Love life!!

Fortune Cookies

Like many of you (I am guessing) when I get a fortune cookie the first thing I think is, I really don't want to eat this "cookie". Eventually I fall to cookie pressure, mostly because you have to break the thing open to get to the fun part. Also like many of you, I find fortunes to be fun, and usually funny after adding "in bed" to the end of the sentence. I don't know what the numbers on the back are supposed to be, Asian people are so weird about numbers I should pay more attention though that may be the secret to high achievement. (Take that Tiger Mom I said numbers on the back of fortunes, not preventing your kids from having sleepovers!)

Then this happened...

Justin and I had Chinese food late last year, sorry I am not Sheldon Cooper and can't give you the date, lets call it early December. There is always the question, which cookie do I want? You never want the fortune that doesn't make sense when you add in bed, and moving forward I need to know about those numbers, must create high achieving kids. Anyway, on this day we both read our fortunes and were shocked about what they said. (Context: Justin's dad passed away in November and the daily little reminders really were taking a toll. I was not helping matters with my constant engagement hints and wedding planning before ring, I was just trying to give us something to look forward to.)
Needless to say these fortunes have given us things to think about many times since. We placed them in the window above the kitchen sink along with the champagne cork we shared upon our official engagement! (and a few other champagne corks, I happen to be a Mimosa fan)
If you can't read them the fortune Justin got said: You will overcome difficult times. No matter how many times, or how many way I tried to be supportive of him in his difficult time sometimes random words from a cookie have more impact. Upon reading these words it almost clicked. While it was OK to be sad and grieving, and that void will never go away; he was going to overcome it! He has to right? the fortune said so. (And it has the key to our future children's take over of the world on the back, come on lucky numbers)
My fortune reads: A bold and dashing adventure is in your future. How right can two cookies be? Seriously the fake wedding planning is fun, the real stuff I could mostly do without, but I could describe wedding planning as a bold and dashing adventure.
I guess I am not your average girl when it comes to wedding. I didn't dream of this day as a girl. I didn't have a vision of a big fluffy dress and doting ladies at my side. I am uncomfortable with asking people to do things for me. Now don't read that and say, hey she has asked me to do something before. Sure I can say hey something needs to be done, do you mind doing that? What I mean is asking someone, Hey I want to spend a weekend trying on dresses and I want you to watch, you are going to have to fly, spend the night in a hotel, and eat out; see you there? Just typing that makes me feel anxiety about having asked people to do it. The worst part though is actually spending an entire day trying on dresses. Talk about exhaustion. I did have a great time with my great friends who insists they wanted to do this with me, and that they had fun. Thank you, both for showing up and lying to my face about wanting to do it!
One more thing that I have a hard time with in relation to wedding planning, related to the previous but a little different. I get offended when people tell me this is my day. The looks I get when I tell people it is not my day, it is a day to celebrate a relationship I have with Justin and we want to include our friends and family in that celebration, could confuse Sheldon Cooper... hmm bad comparison. They could confuse a person not easily confused. This is not "my day", I have no desire to have an entire day centered around me, music that only I like, food that only I like, the list could go on. I am doing my very best to think of my guests with every decision I make, and then I ask Justin if he thinks that works. If not, it is a no go. Those decisions, and they are plentiful, have been an adventure for sure. I am so thankful for all the help I have had in gathering information and I can't imagine feeling, truly feeling like all of these things were what I want only. Talk about pressure, I just hope that everyone likes the booze we provide and has fun dancing. Justin and I will remember the ceremony for the truly gigantic step it is everyone else just needs to have fun celebrating that with us!

The moral of this story, I don't have any idea other than keep those fortunes and figure out what the numbers mean.

The Holiday Hangover is OVER!

Pfew! Worst holiday hangover of my life should be officially over. I have finally moved all of the boxed decorations to the basement and vacuumed under them. All of the boxes and trash has been sorted out and taken by the garbage truck. The new stuff has found a place and most importantly the wedding planning has started to get fun!
Thats right, if you missed the news, we are officially planning our wedding! Hooray. I have joked how does a guy surprise his girlfriend with a ring when she constantly suspects that he is up to something and going to ask at any moment? He asks while opening Christmas presents. The one time I should have actually been suspicious he managed to sneak it in on me and totally surprise me. I blame my dad. He came to visit the day after Christmas and I thought for sure that Justin would wait to talk to him before asking me, how dare me underestimate the usefulness of a phone.
With the official ring and excitement I set out to plan a wedding, and oh my how I underestimated the many moving parts that go into planning an event like this. If only I was just planning what I want and like it would be so much easier, but with all the expectations that come with a wedding I constantly find myself explaining why I am or am not doing any number of said traditions. In the end it is all going to be fun and filled with people we love and care about sharing a special day with us.
So why was this years holiday hangover any worse than a normal year? Well for starters this was the first time we celebrated Christmas alone together. Being so far away from our families really encouraged us to stay home and do things together this year. My work this year stayed open over the whole break, and I used that as an opportunity to get some extra hours. We cooked our dinner for 2 on Christmas and actually really enjoyed having that time together.

The magical foil gift. It contained the planner and address book that created the link to the ring. So thoughtful.

Our goofy dogs are so different
Zimmie literally terrified of her new toys sat on the stocking not moving for a good while.

Cricket tore into both of the stockings and choose which she liked better before Zimmie moved from her catatonic state.

The day after Christmas we had an Oklahoma caravan (well just one van) head our direction. My family minus mom and one brother all piled into a van and started the long trek east. We were so happy to have them here to see our place, the Biltmore, and just hang out. I know that we both enjoyed their trip and the effort that went into them coming this far with 3 kids.
And finally the last day they were here some friends of ours from Brimingham made the trip north to visit for NYE. We were also so excited to spend some time with them and listen to "the band". If only choosing a wedding band was as easy as sitting on the couch listening to friends play and have fun.

Maren really liked my cowboy boots. I had to take some pics of this cutie girl. I though I took pics of the boys, but clearly the evidence does not support that.

The Band, never mind that this is a terrible picture. We were being entertained.
Hooray for music participation time!

Another terrible picture, but I had to have some sparkles.
I should have taken a picture in my all sparkles outfit. If you know my mom you know I have an all sparkles outfit that goes head to toe with accessories included.

So between trying to find a venue for our reception, working every day, getting sick, and trying to catch up on sleep from the week of company I have just noticed that all of the boxes had not made an exit to the basement just yet. On my way back up I remembered that the sheets have not all been washed from the guests. I can happily say now that the last load with sheeps is in the dryer, soon to be folded and put in the closet ready for our next wave of company!
I also blame Cricket and Zimmie, getting new toys is so much fun that they have shredded everything in their path. The living room is thankfully back to "normal" and hopefully the new toys are all out of stuffing!