My Take on Comparison and Joy

I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to write more about our paintings of "Lover's Lane in the Rain". In case you don't remember, mine is on the left. Anyway, I like looking at these paintings together. 

Sharing a Hobby

D came over Saturday. She brought Starbucks' lattes and lemon loaf and banana nut bread. What a good daughter! Here she is. Isn't she beautiful? 

I love when she comes over. She and I usually laugh so hard that I end up having to use my asthma inhaler. At one point yesterday, Jordan said, "Okay Danielle, stop being funny for a few minutes so your Mom can catch her breath". Which...only made me laugh more. 

Local Winter Storm {and advisory}

This pic is when we lived in the house right before my Dad built the "New House". That's me on the left. Sissy is beside me and Sis is in the blue coat. {Hey, Sis, if you are reading this, I didn't cut you out of the pic on the left. Whoever took the pic must have been distracted by Cindy.}

It Sure is Cold!

I thought I'd share another image of my NYC trip from last month. I was reading Inslee's post about NYC which made me nostalgic for my time there. That is until I read that the temperature is 10 degrees and with the windchill factor, it feels like 2 degrees. {2 degrees!!}  If you aren't familiar with Inslee you should totally check her out. She has amazing sketches!

My Childhood Home

This is my house. Well, not technically "my house". This is the house I grew up in. The house my Dad built.

It looked a little different when I lived there. I don't remember any shutters. And the siding was white (not blue). The front (top) of the house was a Tudor style (white stucco with brown wood accents.

The pic to the right shows what the front door looked like when I lived there. Can you see the white and the wood? 

Many times I would drive by "my" house when I was visiting from out of town {Seattle}. There's something about being able to drive to my childhood home that seems to call me back. 

Once, several years ago, my car was parked in front of the house for too long for the owner's comfort. I get that. I didn't mean to stare that long. The owner walked out down the driveway and asked: "Can I help you?" I didn't want to just drive off...that would be rude and maybe a little scary. So I simply said, "I grew up in this house."

I'll never forget how gracious this woman was. She said immediately, "Are you Kimberly?" This family is the one that bought the house from my Dad. They were the second all-time owners of this wonderful home. And because my Dad built the house, and a few neighbors still live on that road, this woman knew my name. 

She even invited me to see the inside of the house. It had been probably close to twenty years since I had been inside so I could not pass up this chance. 

Going into the house that had been mine was surreal. Some things were the same, for example, the storm door. But, most things looked completely different. Updated appliances, fixtures, paint and floor coverings made the house look fresh and current. It was inspirational to see that my "old" house was "new" again. 

That's my Dad {below}. This is what the kitchen looked like when I lived there. It had the modern Harvest Gold appliances with a yellow laminate counter. We would not have dreamed of white appliances when the house was built. That was "old school". We wanted modern. 

But now I see that white can be timeless. 

Above you can see my husband and mI in the eat-in portion of the kitchen. Notice the curtains? They had yellow/gold tones to go with the rest of the kitchen. The window was a window seat (boxed bay window). It was a very nice place to sit with morning coffee. 

The new owners converted the bay window to french doors leading out to a deck. When we lived there the only way out back was through the laundry/mud room. There was no deck. We spent our time on the driveway, which we sort of used as a patio.

It makes me happy to see that my home was taken care of. I have to believe it is loved.

You may want to check out the "Houzz Call" site to see others remember their childhood homes.

Houzz Call: Show Us the House You Grew Up In

Driving at Zero Dark Thirty

It's almost my bedtime so this will have to be short. 

So, you know I have to get up at Zero Dark Thirty now so that I can drive 25+ miles to work. {Yeah...the drive and wake up time are not my fav...but so far I'm enjoying the new job.} Yesterday morning, I drove out of the neighborhood and was driving on the hilly, curvy road on the way to the highway. I was maybe two miles from home...when I saw a person that had pulled their car off the road and he was moving something off the road. 

What I Did This Weekend

What I did this weekend was....VERY LITTLE. And I'm not sorry.

I'm still new at my job...which means I come home with a fatigued brain each night. Not to mention that I now drive over 25 miles to and from work. (!!) Yeah! Driving itself can be a little scary. It's several different highways that I have to merge onto and off of. I can manage that okay in the mornings...but at night? OMG it's tough. I don't know if it's my depth perception or the fact that I get blinded so easily by all the lights...but I absolutely hate driving on these highways after dark. So, when I get home it's all I can do to just sit and watch Jeopardy. Which, by the way, I'm getting so much better at!

Getting My Zen On

Remember I told you that Jordan and I went to the Butterfly House at the local Life/Science Museum?

One of my 2013 goals is to have more quality quiet time. And, if I can be in nature during that quiet time...then so much the better! The Butterfly House offered a sweet respite that served both my need to sit and listen and look as well as my husband's need to look and photograph. We both were able to enjoy nature in a truly up close and personal way. 

Here are a few of Jordan's lovely shots.

Often when we go out together we both have our cameras. We have different approaches to what we photograph, so it's really cool when we get home and look at each other's shots. Jordan continues to help me learn to be a better photographer.

Pondering "LUCK"

I've been pondering the concept of "luck" and had some sort of epiphany that I'm was dying to share. It came to me during a stream of consciousness conversation I was having with my husband. ~And by "conversation" I mean I was talking and he was nearby. {I'm pretty sure he was listening. :) }

Looking Back to Move Forward

While much of 2012 was good and happy for me. It was also quite hard.

I didn't really write about the painful things. I was focused on just getting through and I didn't want to give power to the things that caused me heartache. For instance, in March I didn't say I was recovering from someone blindsiding me. Their actions were vindictive and mean-spirited. It happened several times and escalated each time. And each time I was surprised and felt unguarded and confused.

My mother taught me a rhyme when I was little. I bet almost every mother taught it: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me".  I'm here to tell you that words can definitely hurt. Their effects are not containable. As well as hurting hearts, they can damage reputations. If left unchecked, they can also damage peripheral (often far-reaching) relationships.

So, yeah. That happened.

Over the course of the year, while I did not go into details, I did share my heartache. Below are a few snippets:

My heartache has eased and I feel I'm leaving a lot of that negative energy behind me. I feel stronger now. I'm always surprised when these types of things happen. I mean...who couldn't love me? I'm FUN.



My health has offered obstacles too. My knee(s) are STILL a problem. Asthma and fatigue have been like background noise all year. Not to mention that I needed surgery in June. Yeah, I only mentioned that once. I had a polyp that was causing a problem, including significant blood loss for six months. The good news is that the polyp was benign. The other good news is that the surgery took care of the problem and I've felt better. Certainly six months of blood loss could have been a contributing factor to the fatigue.

We've also been trying to identify if there's anything else contributing to my fatigue. My doctor(s) want me to {consistently} get 8 hours of sleep. Evidently, that is really important. So, I'm really, really working on that. Fatigue has plagued me all year. Anyhoo, last week I received blood work results and I have a serious B12 deficiency. That, in addition to my asthma (and everything else), could certainly be contributing to my fatigue. The good news? It's totally treatable. I've got to make another Dr. appt to begin a treatment plan which could be as simple as a vitamin regimen. Though, more likely there will be some shots to get us started. I am SOOOOOO hopeful that we will be able to kick out the fatigue and I can be more energetic.

I'm actually quite excited about the good things that will be coming my way in '13.

I will leave you with something I wrote in September. I still believe these things. And, I like looking back at this...it helps me stay grounded.

Photo by Jordan Montgomery

Happiness is the first weekend of the year.

New Beginnings

I feel like I have so much to talk about that I don't know where to begin. Some people {most?} would simply say: "Start at the beginning." But, I'm never able to figure out what event was actually the beginning of the story I'm about to tell. Actually, in this case, this story IS the beginning.

I'm so excited about things that are happening for me. Several things are new and fresh. You may remember that I mentioned I was working some things out. Well, things are working out in beautiful ways.

Today, {1/2/13}, I begin a new job. I'm writing this before I actually arrive at my new employer's office to begin my first day. Just telling you about it here gives me huge butterflies. {Butterflies in a good way!} I'm super excited about this opportunity. I decided to wait until everything was firmed up before "going public" with my change.

I've shared before that my "profession" is banking. I rarely talk about real work because who would think banking is interesting? --Other bankers...that's who. But my blog is really not where I want to focus on my day job. Instead, it's where I want to explore other aspects of my life that make me interesting. 

All of that said, the fact is work/job/employment often takes up a huge amount of my waking hours and takes up a huge number of brain cells. So, it is a huge part of my life...and one that I wanted to share with you here.

I absolutely loved working at my prior job. I had a seriously cool boss. She is smart, fun and a great advocate. She is a huge part of what makes the entire team such a fun group of people. 

The fact that I enjoyed my job {and was good at it...really, really good at it} and that I enjoyed my team members, as well as my boss, made the decision to make a change a difficult one.

But, the new position has the opportunity for me to get back to a part of banking that I truly love. And, the person I will be working for will be an amazing mentor. I'm looking forward to the type of work I will be doing. 

So, last week I said "Goodbye" to people and a job that I enjoyed and where I felt at home. Today, I will be saying "Hello" to people I do not know {yet}. I will be saying "Hello" to a company I have not gotten to know yet and a role that is new to me. All of this is wonderfully exciting {and just a teeny bit scary.}

Wish me well.

UPDATE:  It was a GREAT day.

Happy New Year!! And Blogiversary!

Happy New Year! Happy Time for New Beginnings!

This is my second Blogiversary. You may recall that my very first post was on New Year’s. {I guess since I said this is my Blogiversary...that may have been obvious.}