2 by 2

Two years ago today it all changed for me.   Even though I had/have an amazing network of supportive family and friends, two years ago, it was just Dusty and me against the world...again with the support of loved ones.  Dusty and I were on the cusp of my finishing my time in NC and not sure what was coming next or where I was going upon graduation.  Two years ago from this very date, I was teaching a class and drafting my final two chapters of my dissertation along with other research I was involved with at the time.  In fact, I was working on a 3MT (three minute speech) in which I discussed points from my dissertation in 3 minutes or less for a competition.  I was beginning to think about needing to start packing up my things from my brother's house bit by bit in NC and putting job applications together to send out far and wide all over the United States with one particular school in Ohio that happened to be very close to the PA border being at the top of that stack of papers and having already been sent to Human Resources via snail mail.  I had also just returned from a fabulous trip to Nashville, TN where I had met up with my little brother for our first time there.  The leaves were just beginning to change in NC (fall happens later there than at home) and change was all around me in the air on 10/21/13.  Then, it happened.  Around lunchtime, after a morning of playing catch up from the days away in Nashville, I checked my email and hopped onto my CatholicMatch profile to see that I had been matched up with someone who had a neat outdoors photo featured on his page.

Looking back at our first introduction, three little words started it all:

Meg:  Beautiful scenery photos!
Adam:  Thanks.  That's a nice vertical leap you've got in yours.  ;)

He was replying to this photo (ironically from California which is where he lived at the time).

From the point of initial contact on that late October day, it wasn't long before we became a team of two talking about anything and everything that was happening in our lives.   So much so that we made the decision for me to come to Ohio five months later when I got the call that they wanted to hire me while standing in the parking lot of a restaurant in CA all the way to the time he got a call in a parking lot this past summer as we crossed from Indiana back into Ohio and stopped for a meal at another restaurant and he said yes to a job promotion.  From helping each other with everyday tasks to laughing uncontrollably to moving, planning a wedding, and now expecting a new little one, I'm so glad that our little team of two grew to four (with the two loveable pups) to now five come St. Patrick's Day!

It's amazing what can happen in two short years!  As I watched the sun come up over the trees this morning, I couldn't help but reflect over all that has happened and all that is to come.  What an amazing author our God is at this story of life we're all living!!! On Monday, at work, a colleague responded with surprise when I mentioned that Wednesday would be two years since Adam and I met online and he exclaimed, "Only two years and you're already hitched?!"  Hehe...what can I say, when God has a plan all we can do is get out of the way and let Him do the work!

I look forward to what tomorrow will bring but also relish today (and yesterday).  In fact, yesterday when I came home from work, I was surprised to see these beautiful autumn flowers from Adam in a most unique vase!  How thoughtful!!  The pups, baby, and I are so blessed and lucky to have such a wonderful man in our lives!

These are the first gifts for the baby:  cute Froggie slippers from Adam's sister and family in CA and a CatholicMatch baby onesie from CM...how fun!

 

Aunt Maureen mailed us this terrific book from Boston, MA.  Can't wait to read it to the little one!

For those who may have missed our exciting announcement, here is how we spread the news earlier this week!  :)

Meals as a Mrs. ~ Chicken Cacciatore in the Slow Cooker

  A couple months ago, we followed this recipe to try our hand at creating chicken cacciatore using the crock pot.  A lot of ingredients were needed but once they were all in the crock pot, the hard work was done and the house started to smell delicious as the aromas wafted through the air over the next eight hours.  We didn't have chicken thighs as the image suggested but the recipe did say we could use breasts instead so we opted to use chicken breasts for this particular recipe.

We served the finished chicken cacciatore with a side of rice for a satisfying and good meal.  I especially liked the mushrooms within this dish.  Enjoy!

I read this tonight and liked the sentiment behind it:

An intelligent man will open your mind, a handsome man will open your eyes, and a gentleman will open your heart (and not break it).  The same can be said for women to men.

Just last night, after attending a talk on campus with Adam and hearing his thoughts about the particular issue at hand, I thanked him for sharing the information with me and helping me to think about things in different light.  There are some areas where it can be overwhelming to hear his point of view or think about an issue in a drastically different way than I am used to and I'm grateful for his perspective to help me view things in another light.  This quote reminded me of that and of course it's no secret, I think he's a cutie pie.  ;)   We're coming up on the two year anniversary of when we first started talking via email and Skype.  I jokingly said the other day that I wish we had recorded our first Skype conversation when we spoke for the first time online using Skype as a phone and not using the webcam feature.  I can't believe that it all started just two years ago.  In some ways so many things have changed and life is so different (in a good way) but in others, time f-l-e-w and I can't believe it has been two years!  Here is to so many more!!
 

Christmas Craft 2016!

This past weekend I honed in on what I will create as this year's Christmas craft for my family!  This is a tradition that started in December 2002 in which I create a home-made gift for each of my family members and once I had a paying job, also provided purchased Christmas gifts with said craft.  The craft that started it all was a candy jar I saw during my student teaching placement that one of the teacher assistants had created.  I can still recall the excitement of buying the supplies, painting the pots, and then filling each candy bowl with each family member's favorite snack (Skittles, Reese Pieces, and M&Ms were the popular favorite then).  I wish that each year I had thought to take a photo of the completed craft but this was before we lived in such a picture-happy society and took photos of everything.



Another year, with the help of a boyfriend at the time, I built from scratch picture frames (minus the glass)!  I then decorated each frame by holiday or season and gave one to each family member with a favorite photo inserted in it.  I kept a set for myself and am now rotating two frames out throughout the year in the new house.

Early on within this tradition, I had leftover foam board from my Big Book I made as an undergraduate and used the extra pieces to create an inspiration saying and picture board.  To this day, when I go see Monika from college, she still has it hanging up in her bedroom with the lyrics to Bryan Adam's song, "Star", printed on it too!  I wonder if she still has it and if so, I'll have to show Adam when we go to visit her in a few short weeks!

Another favorite was when I was inspired by a magnet set I purchased when in Montana in summer of 2000.  I used those magnets as a guide to create personalized magnets for family members and a few close friends who also receive the annual Christmas craft that were so cute!  I think one of the reasons I enjoy those magnets was because they were one of my favorite ways of packaging them when giving them as gifts.


In recent years, when in NC, money was super tight with being a poor PhD student at the time so bookmarks, a mason jar with inspirational daily quotes in them, and last year's craft which was undoubtedly the worst one yet was comprised of a pencil holder made from toilet paper rolls and decorated in the favorite sports teams' colors of each person (or favorite color).  Ah, how low my beloved Christmas craft sunk last year.  Fortunately, this year's craft will hopefully resurrect this tradition and I'm excited to try my hand at this particular project.  This was also the first year that I physically looked up ideas online.  It's crazy to think when this idea came to fruition so long ago it was before the Internet is what it is now and there was no Pinterest and DIY blogs weren't as popular as they are now.  Nowadays, one can easily be "inspired" to create something from scratch or hand by googling it.  I still prefer trying to be creative solo and only turning to the Internet for suggestions when drawing a complete blank.  Anyhow, if I decide to end this yearly routine during next year's holiday season, that will mean I've (sometimes more successfully in other years) created a craft for the last 15 Christmases for loved ones.  Maybe that will be a good number to end at or maybe it will continue....what do you suggest?!

Validation in Unexpected Places

What a day today's Marathon Monday was!

It was such a long day that I feel like tomorrow is going to be Thursday already.  This morning got off to a rough start with feeling thoroughly frustrated in my first class due to lack of involvement and reaching my breaking point in terms of yet another homework assignment not completed by over half of the class.

This has been a bit of a pattern with the majority of this particular class even though I had several of the students in previous classes.  I don't know if it's due to Fall Break being around the corner, hitting the mid-semester slump, or just honest forgetfulness on their ends but after another late night of prepping for the course and feeling as if I've exhausted all ways and means possible to help them out via alternative assignments, extra credit opportunities, and tailoring/modifying instruction, I was SO frustrated with the lack of those who had completed the homework assignment let alone the assigned reading over the weekend.




I then carried on with class and hopefully ended on a positive note as we moved forward with the material.



However, this day was brightened when I graded the mid-term exams from the last class tonight.  The short answer question at the end of the test asks students to make connections between activities we've completed thus far in the semester and the course material.  Below are some of my favorites that show that you can, in fact, find validation in the most unexpected of places, such as on an exam.  I'm looking forward to continued improvement as a teacher and on the part of my students as we all grow from these learning experiences we encounter every day!!
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* This class has introduced me to many creative and fun teaching tactics during the semester thus far.  This class has truly been work disguised as play!

*  I am going to step out of the box a little and involve the zone of proximal development which we have learned about in this class.  For me, I had never thought about teaching songs in my class, but with your help I learned a song that is still stuck in my head!  Being pushed a little to try something in the future that maybe doesn't sound possible today is a great thing to accomplish.  Now, I think it would be fun to teach my future students the chickadee song along with others (with sign language of course!).

* A simple activity like the "art snacks" shows that everything has a purpose.  Learning does not have to be a formal activity.  A snack offers a learning experience.  It is a way to engage the children while they are learning and meeting cross curriculum standards.

* The chapter writing activities have helped me reflect on my professional development as a facilitator of children's creativity and shown me ways to improve.

*  Another activity was when each of us brought in a children's book and chose a graphic organizer to then display the information.  This related to class because we learned about how important it is to provide different instructional practices because each student is so different and learns in his/her own way so there must be accommodations for all of them.  The fact that there were several different options of graphic organizers to choose from was good because each student could pick one that would be best for them personally.

Yes, yes, yes!!  I'm going to latch on to this statement:  Being pushed a little to try something in the future that maybe doesn't sound possible today is a great thing to accomplish.  It is SO true.  These growing pains as a professor within the first couple years of this new calling or profession can be trying and downright brutal at times when thinking about the demands, expectations, and highs and lows that come with each day.  However, I hope to never tire of reflecting and trying to improve or better my craft.  I might as well considering I've been focusing so much on the teaching over research and service at this point.  I want to continue trying to reach out to each and every student in any way I can.  They deserve the best of me even if I might not necessarily get that in return.  That is not why a teacher signs up for this gig.  It can be a tiring, never ending, low paying, and tough job but someone has got to do it.  If just one student, child or adult learner, can feel that you care and is able to grow as a learner and a person as a result of your instruction then it is all worth it!  So bring on the late nights of prepping, the endless hours of grading and providing feedback, and the thankless job sometimes of searching for activities and other hands-on approaches to conveying the material.  But also bring on the smiles, the light bulb moments or "aha" moments when it all clicks, and the satisfaction of knowing at least one person learned a concept because of your presence in that classroom.  Ah, teaching, there is nothing quite like it!!

We sure got around last year!

I didn't realize how much traveling we did last year into the summer until Adam excitedly and quite incredulously exclaimed toward the end of the summer, "We don't have any trips lined up this month!"  I just took for granted that one travels to go places and explore...even the background on this blog is of an open highway waiting to be traveled.

Hearing that comment from Adam though stopped me in my tracks for with each turn of the calendar page, I had my sights set on what there was to look forward to that month with nary a glance at where we had been as I was turned toward the future.  But Adam was right.  Ever since driving cross country last December, just in time for New Year's Eve with some of my niece and nephews at my parents' home, we had traveled to a new state each month (for Adam and some for me) ever since December all the way through to August.  All traveling halted when August arrived due to the return of school/work for me probably much to my husband's relief!

Counting the cross country trip from California to Pennsylvania (literally from Adam's parents' home to my parents' house), through the start of the 2015-2016 school year, we sure got around and covered a lot of ground!!  Our first stop in late December as we drove east was Albuquerque, NM followed by Oklahoma City and Arcadia in Olkahoma, then we continued on to Memphis, Tennessee.  New Year's Eve in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania was Adam's second time at home for he had already been there the previous October (in addition to York, Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Gettysburg:  we'll call that his southcentral and northeaster PA tour for the Engaged Encounter Weekend..haha!).

In January we got Adam settled in the new house in Steubenville, Ohio and also spent time in Pittsburgh, PA.  Our February trip allowed us to explore freezing cold St. Louis, MO just before Valentine's Day and the following month's trip put us in sunny humid New Orleans, Louisiana in March.  In April, to finish up our Pre-Cana counseling with our priest, we flew up to Boston, Massachusetts and even squeezed in some time at Cape Cod (a place I hadn't been to since right after high school)!  May found us back in northeastern PA as well as York for the wedding followed by a surprise honeymoon trip to Williamsburg and Virginia Beach, Virginia.  In June, we enjoyed a day trip to Cleveland, Ohio and our last trip of the summer occurred in July when we spontaneously traveled to Chicago and Naperville, Illinois with a quick dinner stop in South Bend, Indiana down the road from Notre Dame.  Whew!!!

Considering I don't have any conferences lined up for early 2016, I doubt we will travel much in the winter months so it will be nice to stay a bit more local and learn more about where we currently are through quick day trips I hope.  We are also very much looking forward to our Christmas trip to California as it has been far too long since we saw our family out there!!  Soon it will be five months since we all celebrated together at the wedding.  I suppose family has been on my mind a lot lately as I've had dreams in which both halves of the family are always present in the dreams.  They have been so vivid the last few months that I wake up confused as to what was real and what was a dream.  In fact, on Friday morning, I was thoroughly confused when I awoke from a particular dream.  In it, Adam and I were happily mingling and talking with our family members, immediate and extended alike.  I remember as he and I rotated and socialized, we would catch each other's eye from wherever we were in the room.  All of a sudden, the function we were at must have ended, for folks started saying goodbye to one another and parting ways.  Toward the end of the dream, I recall turning around and being surprised when Adam was there with his arms open for a big bear hug.  I gave him one and then turned to go, reaching for his hand.  He pulled back and began saying goodbye.  This confused me as I thought we were leaving together.  He gently reminded me that we would see each other soon and that all would be okay.  With a sinking feeling, I realized that he was saying goodbye as were other family members because we were not departing together.  He was still residing in California and I was still living in North Carolina in my dream!  I remember exclaiming, "Wait, we don't have to say goodbye to each other anymore!  We say goodbye to others now" and glancing down at my left hand to see just the engagement ring was on my ring finger rather than the wedding band I was accustomed to wearing.  In my dream, we weren't married yet, we were still living long distance, and were not going to travel home together as I had expected.  It was then that I awoke and felt such a profound sense of sadness at the thought of not being with Adam.  Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I rolled over, and saw my husband sound asleep next to me which caused a flood of relief and happiness to pour over me.  Ah, it was all just a dream!!!  We really are each other's travel partners, best friends, and partners for life....thank God!

Speaking of which, I mentioned to Adam just now, "Compared to all the traveling from last year,
2016 is going to pale in comparison" to which he couldn't say fast enough, "I hope so!"  Ah, yes, we're still working on finding that happy medium that will satisfy my eager to see new things/go new places ways and his let's stay home and relax nature.  ; )

Meals as a Mrs. ~ Peanut Butter Fudge Cake

Right before school started back up this past semester, on the night before classes started actually, I had a lot of nervous excitement and energy that was pent up and itching to be released.  So what did I do?  I made a cake at 10pm when I should have gone to bed "early" for the first day.  Hah!  It was SOOOO good that I couldn't help but mention it in two of my classes on that first day.  The description of this yummy chocolate peanut butter goodness must have been drool-worthy considering a student's request to "please make that cake for us!!"  So, here we are halfway through the semester and I'm just now getting around to blogging about this dessert.  Following the recipe caused me to use a sifter for the first time in a long while.  Sifting the powdered sugar took me right back to when I used to help my mom as a child by sifting the flour when assisting with baking cookies...ah the memories!  Here is the recipe followed by some pictures from when I made it in mid-August.  Following this recipe for a cake made from scratch, as well as the icing, took some time but I found it therapeutic and it helped to calm my back to school jitters.  Plus, it was nice having the snack of a slice waiting for me after school each day that week.  ; )

Homemade buttermilk

The smell as this cake was baking was divine!

Obviously I was too impatient to allow the cake to cool entirely before sampling a slice.  Oh my word, this was melt in your mouth yummy goodness!  In fact, I think I will make this cake again for my night class on Monday as they take their mid-terms!  Ah, the perks of having a smaller class of only 14 students....!  There will be enough slices for all.  ; )  P.S. - As you eat this cake, I find that it tastes extra good after warming it in the microwave for about 20 seconds as it makes the peanut butter gooey and the chocolate icing tastes more like fudge that way...YUM!

The below information is taken from some materials we received one year ago this weekend when completing our Engaged Encounter Weekend.  One of my personal goals this semester is to draw closer to the Lord; to not get so caught up in the busy-ness of day to day to-do lists, and hopefully that Adam and I can try to strengthen our individual and couple prayer lives by following this advice we learned last fall.

Jesus said in Mark 10:7, "A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.  So they are no longer two, but one flesh".  Jesus, quoting the book of Genesis, uses the sexual image to symbolize the unity of the marital community.  Praying together is one very beautiful way of not only expressing this unity, but growing in it.  The following are suggestions to help pray together as a married couple using the Bible that I have paraphrased as some of the recommendations are a bit wordy:

* While sitting together or lying in bed together, feeling each other's closeness, take time in silence to be aware of the Lord's presence.

*  Listen together to a short passage.  One of the two of you reads the passage aloud slowly while the other listens.  Take turns doing this.  After, let there be a peirod of silence to let the word sink into our heads and hearts.

*  Next, each can share what each reflected on from the passage.

*  Read the passage a second time, if desired, and reflect some more.

*  If passage is read a third time, follow up by praying prayers from each of you speaking out to the Lord your faith and hope and love, your longings, desires, gratitude, joy and praise and adoration, your hurts and disappointments, and whatever moods and feelings are yours.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." - Matthew 18:20

Seeing through the rain

After talking to a friend at work today about my old job and time spent in York and teaching the other day using a children's book I was given as a parting gift before leaving DE from when I worked nights at a toy store after teaching during the day when I lived at the beach, this past week has had me looking backwards a lot and missing my old haunts as I reminisce about the "good ol' days".  Even though it's been five years since I taught with LIU and over a decade since I lived in Lewes, DE, and I love my job now, I still miss those days from time to time.  I was just starting my teaching career as a college graduate when I lived in Delaware and was terribly homesick for PA and my college friends and friends from home.  I remember talking to my mom on the phone at the time and saying how cut off from the world I felt when I first moved there.  Of course this was before it was common to have internet everywhere and at your fingertips, I had just acquired a cell phone for the first time, and it was also long before social media was what it is now.

Nowadays when a move to a different state happens, you still feel that sense of connection to an extent thanks to the technology we have out there.  Just this afternoon, while waiting to meet my friend, I received the most adorable picture text message from my sister-in-law out in California of our new niece.  She was sleeping with a cute little smile on her face and one of her eyebrows looked like it was arch.  Such innocence.  Such peace.  Perhaps that is some of what I'm missing from thinking back on days from the past....back when everything was still new, you took it for granted your loved ones would always be there, and the future was unknown.  Nowadays, things are new in a completely different way today and the future is still unknown.  I can't help but think how new things are now for my friend, Jayme, who's dad passed away the other night.  I met Jayme in college through my former roommate, Ashley.  Jayme, the fun loving gal from college, was responsible for our Cedar Point road trips, showing us around when we visited her in Detroit and saw Kenny Chesney at Ford Field, fun beach trips, and helped Ash, Ash's mom, and me to paint Ash's new townhouse when she first bought it.  Jayme is also the only girl in her family with three brothers, like me, and all of her siblings have names that start with the letter, J, which is cool!  Anyhow, it was quite the shock that her dad was diagnosed with cancer a mere six months ago and has gone too soon being only one year younger than my Dad.  I can't imagine what this new life for Jayme and her family will look like and my heart aches for them.  All I can offer are my tears and prayers and if you would be so kind to do the same, please offer up a prayer.

So here's to being grateful for and appreciating those in our lives now while we still can and looking ahead while also remembering and cherishing our pasts.  I know I'm certainly looking forward to being home for the weekend after this past week of feeling a bit melancholy and homesick.  I also can't wait to see my parents in light of my dad's recent sickness that took over the last part of the summer.  We'll have a lovely time I hope even if it is going to rain all weekend (bah humbug!).  We haven't been home since before the wedding so it will be nice to be back home.  We were supposed  to attend a fall foliage festival in a quaint mountain town so hopefully the rain won't put a damper on it.  If anything, perhaps the glistening water will make the colorful mountain leaves sparkle all the more!