So in the last blog I said "Fish" which meant "Stash". Jott is a fun program but I forget it doesn't know all my nicknames. It knows Stashia as "STAY-SHA" but doesn't know Stash. You may have been able to figure that out (thanks for picking that up Michelle) but I thought I would clarify.
Anyways, this has been a great vacation and we loved all of the Christmas cheer so far. We are really thankful for all of the things we have received, the fact that I haven't gotten hospital-sick from my cat allergy and of course for being able to spend time with almost everyone we have wanted to. We love you all and sometimes it gets jumbled together with all the chaos, but we really do appreciate the time we get to spend with friends and family we wouldn't see normally.
We have 5 more days to spend in Michigan and we will be living it to the fullest.
-Chris, "Fish" and Tryson
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Hi Everyone. Apparently the world of personal blogging is dead these days but I really wanted to write a message to anyone who comes across it. We are in the middle of our family Christmas and it is amazing! We started out last night we had some close friends over and we had a Christmas party. Then we opened up our gifts of pajamas to each other and put Tryson to sleep.
It started snowing really heavy at this point. What a miracle! The first snowfall (snow being fairly rare for the Seattle area) and it happened on our Christmas Eve. Here is a picture of a snowman I made for Tryson when he woke up:
Last night Stashia and I opened our gifts to each other and had fun laying out Tryson's presents for the morning.
Tryson was underwhelmed a bit by the morning (he's just learning) but VERY happy about his Little People Airport! He woke up and he noticed the snowman I built all on his own. Stashia woke me saying, "did you hear him? He's saying, 'Hi Snowman! Hi Snowman!'"
So here I sit writing a quick blog while Stashia is making breakfast. Tryson is playing with toys and occasionally talking to the snowman who is still sitting outside. Later we will go visit Santa (since the rest of the world is still open) and thank him for coming to visit. Then we will play in the snow, go to church and have Christmas dinner. We are really blessed to be able to do and say all of that. I can't wait to come home and be able to share the Christmas spirit with everyone back home. We are really excited!
It started snowing really heavy at this point. What a miracle! The first snowfall (snow being fairly rare for the Seattle area) and it happened on our Christmas Eve. Here is a picture of a snowman I made for Tryson when he woke up:
Last night Stashia and I opened our gifts to each other and had fun laying out Tryson's presents for the morning.
Tryson was underwhelmed a bit by the morning (he's just learning) but VERY happy about his Little People Airport! He woke up and he noticed the snowman I built all on his own. Stashia woke me saying, "did you hear him? He's saying, 'Hi Snowman! Hi Snowman!'"
So here I sit writing a quick blog while Stashia is making breakfast. Tryson is playing with toys and occasionally talking to the snowman who is still sitting outside. Later we will go visit Santa (since the rest of the world is still open) and thank him for coming to visit. Then we will play in the snow, go to church and have Christmas dinner. We are really blessed to be able to do and say all of that. I can't wait to come home and be able to share the Christmas spirit with everyone back home. We are really excited!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
"Pentathlon" (Triath + life)
Hi everyone, so I finished my triathlon today, here are some pictures:
This was coming out of the water after the 400m swim in September water (I am the one in the middle), my thoughts at this point were, "Wow...now I have to bike...it's going to be a long morning."
This is coming back from the 13 mile bike that was pretty tough hills...the 2 mile run was the last segment and that was the best part for me, I'm used to running. When I train for next year, I need to focus on getting my bike ready and my self ready for biking. It was a lot of fun though and I accomplished a few of my goals:
1. Finish
2. Not be last (I was in the middle of 200 people)
3. Not be last in my age group (Male 39 and under)
4. Don't stop swimming (hehe, that reminds me of Finding Nemo) once the time starts, biking once I get on my bike, running once I start running (sounds simple enough but so easy to want to just take a small break).
Other than my goals, I didn't do too well but you know what, it was my first triathlon and I'm only 26, the average age is 35 and it is a lot of biking so I just need to get that section down and I can be more competitive next time.
Anyways, that was the morning...the other 2 events in the pentathlon today were cleaning the car out of and vacuuming it for the first time in a year. Then helping Stashia pack up some of our stuff for out move while wrangling a sick Tryson. Yes, he is seemingly sick, poor little guy and we will both probably be coming down with it soon. I was very glad that I didn't get sick before today. Cold water is colder when you have a fever....brrrrrr. So yeah...it's nuts over here and tomorrow I am going to go to work because I couldn't yesterday. They made me a lead at work so I have responsibilities that go outside of the regular work hours most times and unfortunately I may have to work a Sunday every once in a while, as long as we can make it to a church service I won't complain. So after that Stashia and I are going to try to pick up a cheap vanity we found on craigslist for $30!!! Then we have more packing, call the new landlord to setup a time to pickup our keys on monday!!!....soooo exciting...it won't be exciting when we start moving boxes though, we just helped someone else move....hmmmmpf... Oh well, when we are in we will be happy. Take care, leave us some messages!!!
This was coming out of the water after the 400m swim in September water (I am the one in the middle), my thoughts at this point were, "Wow...now I have to bike...it's going to be a long morning."
This is coming back from the 13 mile bike that was pretty tough hills...the 2 mile run was the last segment and that was the best part for me, I'm used to running. When I train for next year, I need to focus on getting my bike ready and my self ready for biking. It was a lot of fun though and I accomplished a few of my goals:
1. Finish
2. Not be last (I was in the middle of 200 people)
3. Not be last in my age group (Male 39 and under)
4. Don't stop swimming (hehe, that reminds me of Finding Nemo) once the time starts, biking once I get on my bike, running once I start running (sounds simple enough but so easy to want to just take a small break).
Other than my goals, I didn't do too well but you know what, it was my first triathlon and I'm only 26, the average age is 35 and it is a lot of biking so I just need to get that section down and I can be more competitive next time.
Anyways, that was the morning...the other 2 events in the pentathlon today were cleaning the car out of and vacuuming it for the first time in a year. Then helping Stashia pack up some of our stuff for out move while wrangling a sick Tryson. Yes, he is seemingly sick, poor little guy and we will both probably be coming down with it soon. I was very glad that I didn't get sick before today. Cold water is colder when you have a fever....brrrrrr. So yeah...it's nuts over here and tomorrow I am going to go to work because I couldn't yesterday. They made me a lead at work so I have responsibilities that go outside of the regular work hours most times and unfortunately I may have to work a Sunday every once in a while, as long as we can make it to a church service I won't complain. So after that Stashia and I are going to try to pick up a cheap vanity we found on craigslist for $30!!! Then we have more packing, call the new landlord to setup a time to pickup our keys on monday!!!....soooo exciting...it won't be exciting when we start moving boxes though, we just helped someone else move....hmmmmpf... Oh well, when we are in we will be happy. Take care, leave us some messages!!!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Thank you Aunt Cheryl
Hi everyone. Contrary to what we may have said before, we will be coming home!! We will still be quite strained but it is much better now. We WERE looking at $1500 tickets, $400 car rental, $1000 for a place to stay and food and that wouldn't even touch presents. We had pretty much decided that going home wasn't going to be an option. We want to thank Aunt Cheryl very much for her donation to the cause. She gave us a big boost PLUS tonight we found tickets for $1272 after taxes so we bought them and we will be flying into Detroit again, this time in December, the 17th. We will be home for 17 DAYS!!!! We do need some more help if it works for anyone...Aunt C has also been kind enough to offer us a place to stay but we would rather not have to be all over any one person's space for 17 days. If anyone has a cat free option that they think they could host us for. PLEASE let us know. Originally we were thinking of getting a furnished apartment (the majority of the $1000 mentioned above) but it seems a bit silly with so many friends any family places to stay right?!? Hahaha, we are excited and we are very great full and feel very loved to have someone give us help and to reaffirm that we have so much support back home in MI. We love you all!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
FIGHT BREAST CANCER!
Hi Everybody, please please please sponsor the Williams family. We're going to get up as a family at 5:30 am and go to Seattle to walk in the 2008 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. You can sponsor us here http://www.pugetsoundraceforthecure.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1110&px=1354702
Boeing is being generous and giving their support of $100 per registered employee (Chris) so he gets to wear a nice pink shirt with a Boeing logo on it. We appreciate everything you can do. Putting money towards this battle gives a voice to those who have died from this horrible disease which makes up about a third of all cancer patients. Thank you.
Boeing is being generous and giving their support of $100 per registered employee (Chris) so he gets to wear a nice pink shirt with a Boeing logo on it. We appreciate everything you can do. Putting money towards this battle gives a voice to those who have died from this horrible disease which makes up about a third of all cancer patients. Thank you.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Not one of those fly by night bloggers!!
I'm writing a blog because I don't want to be that person that forgets about their blog for a year and then just cancels it because no one goes back to visit. No, not me, not us. So anyways, what's going on? Stashia and Tryson are visiting people in Michigan and I miss them a lot, less than a week to go. I am sippin tea right now and trying to get a fire retardant fire log to burn. That's right a fire retardant fire log...if I brought wet sticks inside they would have caught fire faster. I spend two days and two whole news papers split between two sessions of burning to get this thing to a low burn that might go out anytime soon. I'm like that log sometimes...I procrastinate until the last bit of newspaper is gone and then I figure I better get going...hahaha.
So, what's in the news, Obama finally won the nomination but all they can talk about is Clinton and how much power she has....wow...even when you win you lose I guess. I gave Obama $25 but he's not getting my tea or my firelog cause I worked hard for those things. Ah yes, and I'm doing a cancer walk on the 21st, if you want to sponsor me, I'll post a link in a week or so when I grab it from my work account (see procrastination rises again). But really, what's going on in my life when Stashia and Tryson aren't here? I'm sure no one want to know this but it's a lot of Law and Order, web surfing and sandwiches. I've finally adjusted to coming home and finding no one home and the quiet.
Another insight as if anyone cares, right now I'm working a lot and dealing with it quite well. I am looking to further my education and start the prep for that soon although I'm not sure in what direction for sure. Something should be decided soon though, if I want to do some fall classes I need to make them available to me in the next month.
Insight numero dos, I really miss coming home and surprising Tryson...you never know what you are going to get, sometimes it's "HI DADDY!" or "HI COOKIE" or just a fast, "HIII!!!" but in either case, it makes me feel at home, along with Stashia giving me the update on the day and the plan for the evening. Well right now the plan for the evening is cleaning to prepare for their arrival on Saturday and some tea sipping and log tending too. Auf Wiedersehen!
So, what's in the news, Obama finally won the nomination but all they can talk about is Clinton and how much power she has....wow...even when you win you lose I guess. I gave Obama $25 but he's not getting my tea or my firelog cause I worked hard for those things. Ah yes, and I'm doing a cancer walk on the 21st, if you want to sponsor me, I'll post a link in a week or so when I grab it from my work account (see procrastination rises again). But really, what's going on in my life when Stashia and Tryson aren't here? I'm sure no one want to know this but it's a lot of Law and Order, web surfing and sandwiches. I've finally adjusted to coming home and finding no one home and the quiet.
Another insight as if anyone cares, right now I'm working a lot and dealing with it quite well. I am looking to further my education and start the prep for that soon although I'm not sure in what direction for sure. Something should be decided soon though, if I want to do some fall classes I need to make them available to me in the next month.
Insight numero dos, I really miss coming home and surprising Tryson...you never know what you are going to get, sometimes it's "HI DADDY!" or "HI COOKIE" or just a fast, "HIII!!!" but in either case, it makes me feel at home, along with Stashia giving me the update on the day and the plan for the evening. Well right now the plan for the evening is cleaning to prepare for their arrival on Saturday and some tea sipping and log tending too. Auf Wiedersehen!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Sunday Morning,Ferry, Saturday SNOW!
It's another Sunday, Stashia is sleeping in, Tryson woke me up being cute. He will usually say, "HI! HI!" until someone gets him. This morning he decided to say, "HI DADDY HI!" I, of course, had to move faster. Other than that, I'm watching Meet the Press. Tryson had breakfast with his two monkey stuffed animals. He fed them both in their, "Moooooouuuuuuu". He can now say "nose" and "eye" but he can't say the TH in mouth.
In general things are working. Nothing too interesting lately. We are slowly starting to go back to our old tricks of inviting people over for dinner parties. Just like back home, we never have enough room for all these people, but we like it just the same. Both Stash and I are very happy that we have a few friends out here now (not as many and not nearly as close as back home though :-( ). I'm still doing good things at work and remain very busy, I've always worked harder when I multitask. I'm going to have to work more overtime in the next couple months. I took the last couple Saturday's off and I think that's all they will let me.
Speaking of Saturday's it SNOWED Friday and Saturday. Take a look for yourself. By the way, yes even with the time change, it's still past mid April here, enjoy your 70 degree weather Michigan:
Oh and we went on a ferry to a great Island, it reminded me of Mackinaw in the summer except it is very livable, not just a place to visit that takes all your money. Here is a shot from our ferry to the next:
I have more picture on Stashia's camera, pretty soon I'm going to create an account on a picture server and give everyone the line. In the meantime, we miss you guys, give us comments!
In general things are working. Nothing too interesting lately. We are slowly starting to go back to our old tricks of inviting people over for dinner parties. Just like back home, we never have enough room for all these people, but we like it just the same. Both Stash and I are very happy that we have a few friends out here now (not as many and not nearly as close as back home though :-( ). I'm still doing good things at work and remain very busy, I've always worked harder when I multitask. I'm going to have to work more overtime in the next couple months. I took the last couple Saturday's off and I think that's all they will let me.
Speaking of Saturday's it SNOWED Friday and Saturday. Take a look for yourself. By the way, yes even with the time change, it's still past mid April here, enjoy your 70 degree weather Michigan:
Oh and we went on a ferry to a great Island, it reminded me of Mackinaw in the summer except it is very livable, not just a place to visit that takes all your money. Here is a shot from our ferry to the next:
I have more picture on Stashia's camera, pretty soon I'm going to create an account on a picture server and give everyone the line. In the meantime, we miss you guys, give us comments!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Monthly Update, HAPPY EASTER!
So, in the last month we've had a visit from our friend Laura. She was a lot of fun and I think she had a great vacation over here even though it was kinda cloudy and she didn't get to see some of the amazing views of the mountains or anything like that. We did manage to get a great view up in the space needle and the Seattle underground tour where we found an original Crapper:
(THIS PICTURE IS SOOO AUTHENTIC, SEE THE 19th CENTURY ELECTRICAL WORK WITH THE PLASTIC OUTLET?...HAHAHA)
Laura and Stashia have some pictures posted on Facebook I think, so I'm not going to put more up here. I will however post some pictures of Tryson being the happiest boy in the world. He has a natural ability to chase ducks while yelling "Daaaa-keeee!" (The ducks did not share his enthusiasm):
So, what else is going on? Well I'm busy with work and with my class. My class is amazing, the Dale Carnegie class (in short) gives you some great practice in principles of building relationships, being a leader, reducing stress and overall improving yourself by living a more intentional life. I wish I had taken this class when I was a teenager. I think the class would be a great high school graduation gift (even though the average age for my class is probably 35, my instructor took the class when he was 8 years old). Oh and I am on the table of contents page of the Boeing Annual report, it's really cool. They took a picture of me while everyone else was paying attention to what I was saying. It looks like I'm talking about some complex engineering concept but I'm actually talking about how much I love playing with Tryson now that he can walk, anyways, you can see it here (page right after the cover:
Me in Annual Report!!
So, that's all that's up in my little area.
Stashia is enjoying Mom-ing it up. During a typical week she goes to a few play dates so she and Tryson can do some healthy socializing. She also is keeping up with MOPS, infact she won a $100 gift cert. to a really nice spa, which she used when Laura came out. Stashia is also building up some clientele out here for hair, which I am really happy about. Not only does it provide a couple extra bucks here and there but she has found these people through cafemom.com, so they are all moms with children who can play with Tryson while she does their hair or they are older moms and love to see a younger bright eyed child again. Yay, all salons should have a Tryson to entertain....something about child labor laws, does it count if he volunteers?
Speaking of Tryson, we are on to the light of our lives. Tryson says some 2 word phrases now and some of them actually make sense like "momma go", "my ball" and I swear this morning he said "good toy, my ball" but it could have just been a coincidence. He also went up to a 19 month old's face and said "HI COOKIE!!". His love of music grows and when we are at a place like Best Buy, he runs to a stereo and dances until we have to pull him away. I see some music or dancing lessons in his future. Well, I guess I will end with that for now. Have a Happy Easter everyone, thank you for reading. We miss you so much on holidays!
(THIS PICTURE IS SOOO AUTHENTIC, SEE THE 19th CENTURY ELECTRICAL WORK WITH THE PLASTIC OUTLET?...HAHAHA)Laura and Stashia have some pictures posted on Facebook I think, so I'm not going to put more up here. I will however post some pictures of Tryson being the happiest boy in the world. He has a natural ability to chase ducks while yelling "Daaaa-keeee!" (The ducks did not share his enthusiasm):
So, what else is going on? Well I'm busy with work and with my class. My class is amazing, the Dale Carnegie class (in short) gives you some great practice in principles of building relationships, being a leader, reducing stress and overall improving yourself by living a more intentional life. I wish I had taken this class when I was a teenager. I think the class would be a great high school graduation gift (even though the average age for my class is probably 35, my instructor took the class when he was 8 years old). Oh and I am on the table of contents page of the Boeing Annual report, it's really cool. They took a picture of me while everyone else was paying attention to what I was saying. It looks like I'm talking about some complex engineering concept but I'm actually talking about how much I love playing with Tryson now that he can walk, anyways, you can see it here (page right after the cover:
Me in Annual Report!!
So, that's all that's up in my little area.
Stashia is enjoying Mom-ing it up. During a typical week she goes to a few play dates so she and Tryson can do some healthy socializing. She also is keeping up with MOPS, infact she won a $100 gift cert. to a really nice spa, which she used when Laura came out. Stashia is also building up some clientele out here for hair, which I am really happy about. Not only does it provide a couple extra bucks here and there but she has found these people through cafemom.com, so they are all moms with children who can play with Tryson while she does their hair or they are older moms and love to see a younger bright eyed child again. Yay, all salons should have a Tryson to entertain....something about child labor laws, does it count if he volunteers?
Speaking of Tryson, we are on to the light of our lives. Tryson says some 2 word phrases now and some of them actually make sense like "momma go", "my ball" and I swear this morning he said "good toy, my ball" but it could have just been a coincidence. He also went up to a 19 month old's face and said "HI COOKIE!!". His love of music grows and when we are at a place like Best Buy, he runs to a stereo and dances until we have to pull him away. I see some music or dancing lessons in his future. Well, I guess I will end with that for now. Have a Happy Easter everyone, thank you for reading. We miss you so much on holidays!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Catching up on sleep, a park, more responsibility
So, this weekend has been great. Usually I go to work early on Saturdays. This is the second weekend in a row I have decided not to, and I think I needed it. One day off isn't enough to really relax, collect your thoughts and do things you have been waiting to do. So I took the weekend off, slept late both days and we went to this amazing park on Saturday. When it gets warmer there are pony rides and a petting zoo, a water park and a big playground with everything you would want for any age. Anyways, it was a beautiful sunny 55 degree day (sorry Michigan people, I must admit I never liked the cold, just the snow) and we spent the day out and about. Here are some pictures of the mountains on the way to the park:
*CLICK PICTURES TO SEE FULL SIZE*
In other news, I wouldn't say I got a promotion, I guess the best way to say it is that I have a higher level of job security. I am a focal (Boeing term for "the person who is responsible for a specific area of the company") it is for a process that I am really passionate about and I guess it is natural that they saw the passion (sorry, I have to speak in general terms as to not release any proprietary info). Anyways, it gives me some real accountability which is exciting. Gotta keep proving myself, maybe someday we can buy a house out here ;-) Oh yeah, by the way, come visit us. Plane tickets are reasonable right now. Come out and see the city. We will take you up to the space needle and do some wine tasting and you can watch Tryson be cute:
*CLICK PICTURES TO SEE FULL SIZE*
In other news, I wouldn't say I got a promotion, I guess the best way to say it is that I have a higher level of job security. I am a focal (Boeing term for "the person who is responsible for a specific area of the company") it is for a process that I am really passionate about and I guess it is natural that they saw the passion (sorry, I have to speak in general terms as to not release any proprietary info). Anyways, it gives me some real accountability which is exciting. Gotta keep proving myself, maybe someday we can buy a house out here ;-) Oh yeah, by the way, come visit us. Plane tickets are reasonable right now. Come out and see the city. We will take you up to the space needle and do some wine tasting and you can watch Tryson be cute:
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Food Poisoning, Swimming,& COOK-GIE
Well I have to say it has been a pretty good month & a 1/2 since we have been back. How about I start with a look back on our trip home. Our flight had to be one of the worst flights we have ever had and ever want to have. Out of our two flights since moving to WA they have been pretty accommodating. Tryson has always had a seat weather it was paid for or not. I have always had help, whether it be from Chris, a flight a attendant, or a really nice Samaritan. This flight was a polar opposite from those accommodating flights. First, all three of us were sick and sleep deprived. The whole time we were flying there was no room and we had TWO seats. Not to mention Tryson was a BEAR to get to sleep while flying. Had no problem falling asleep the moment we landed and sleep for almost the whole layover. AHHHHH!!!! Making an even longer story short we had no luggage and got home super late. Chris had to work the same day... as a matter a fact it was in about 3 hours. Poor Chris. Tryson and I spent most of the day sleeping due to sickness and lack of good sleep. Chris got back into the swing of things pretty quickly. As for Tryson and me it took about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks to feel 95% better. Not to mention this whole time Tryson was sick he was getting a tooth was coming in. Skipping to the present Chris is taking a class every Tuesday night. He seems to be enjoying it and a times we have talked about his class and I have to say I am kind of interested as well. We are trying to plan our trips for coming home this year. Tryson and I will be coming in June for 2 weeks. The dates are pretty set in stone (May 29th - June 13th) I am just waiting to book my ticket in hopes the price will go down a little bit. In July we all will be coming back for Vance and Chrystal’s wedding. Chris is in their wedding so it is kind of a must. We will be coming in around the July 23rd to the 30th. Dates are not set in stone seeing Chris has to put in for vacation and depending on how much time he can take. Then in December!!!!! We will hopefully and most likely be coming home for 2 weeks!!!! Chris is thinking the 17th though the 3rd of January. Given that he can get the time off and how much vacation he has.
In other news... not so good news. Chris got food poisoning a couple of days ago. He got it from eating a salad at work. He said after a couple of hours he didn't feel so good. I picked him up from work at 4:30 p.m. and he said his stomach felt horrible. We had dinner plans with friends that night at 5 p.m. He said he would just go home and take some Pepto -Bismol. He did that and we went to dinner. Sparing the details, Chris wasn't himself at dinner and we ended up leaving pretty quickly. We got home and things got worse for him. :( He said this was by far the WORSE food poisoning he has ever had ( got in college a couple of times). He is better now and was just today able to eat normal.
I was introduced to this really great recreational center we don't live to far from. It has a really great big pool there. Tryson and I were invited by friends. They have an area just for babies / toddlers his size where you can let them play in the water by them self’s (supervised of course). The water is super warm (88 degrees). We have been there a couple of times now and are going to sign Tryson up for swimming classes. This place also has times where you can rent part of the pool and a room for parties. We are considering doing something like that for this 2nd birthday party. It actually is the same amount of money we spent on his first party and that was at Chuck E Chesses. So if anyone wants to come out around his birthday you are more than welcome to. Just let us know in advance so we can make arrangements. We would love to have you!!! :) The party will most likely be the Saturday before his birthday (11/01/08) or the Saturday after (11/08/08).
Now let me write about my most favorite subject some more. Tryson! He has become the biggest joy in my life as Chris' as well. Words can't describe him but I will do my best. He is walking so much more now and hardly ever crawls. Now we are in the beginning stages of RUNNING! Pray for us and I am being serious. He is also talking more as well. He knows and understand most or all for that matter what he is saying. He knows (as most of you know this) what “Hi" and "Bye" are. He knows what ball is and can even point it out in books. His new ones are "Go", "What", "Why", and his most famous "COOK-GIE". He says it with that much excitement too. Now don't go off thinking we give him cookies all the time. A cookie can be any number of this. It could be a saltine cracker, a graham cracker, a piece of freeze dried fruit, or a actual animal cookie. The funny thing is all of the sudden we will hear, "COOK-GIE, COOK-GIE, COOK-GIE" and he will go to "his" drawer where all of his cookies, other snacks, meal things are. If we give into this adorable thing he does a little dance till he gets the two cookies. It is so cute and funny. Tryson and I have much fun together. We usually have about 2 - 3 play dates a week and maybe get together with one or two friends on the side. We have met some really great people here. We continue to expand our group of friends every week or two and it is really great for me because more friends equals more people to do hair for. :)
So all in all we are having a great time starting our life here in WA. We have met so really great people here. The church we attend has been really wonderful in welcoming us. I feel my connection with God, my husband and child have gotten so much stronger. There is nothing more I could ever ask for. Thank you to all of our family and friends back home that continue to love and supports us. We wouldn't be here or sain without.
Love, Stashia, (Chris and Tryson)
In other news... not so good news. Chris got food poisoning a couple of days ago. He got it from eating a salad at work. He said after a couple of hours he didn't feel so good. I picked him up from work at 4:30 p.m. and he said his stomach felt horrible. We had dinner plans with friends that night at 5 p.m. He said he would just go home and take some Pepto -Bismol. He did that and we went to dinner. Sparing the details, Chris wasn't himself at dinner and we ended up leaving pretty quickly. We got home and things got worse for him. :( He said this was by far the WORSE food poisoning he has ever had ( got in college a couple of times). He is better now and was just today able to eat normal.
I was introduced to this really great recreational center we don't live to far from. It has a really great big pool there. Tryson and I were invited by friends. They have an area just for babies / toddlers his size where you can let them play in the water by them self’s (supervised of course). The water is super warm (88 degrees). We have been there a couple of times now and are going to sign Tryson up for swimming classes. This place also has times where you can rent part of the pool and a room for parties. We are considering doing something like that for this 2nd birthday party. It actually is the same amount of money we spent on his first party and that was at Chuck E Chesses. So if anyone wants to come out around his birthday you are more than welcome to. Just let us know in advance so we can make arrangements. We would love to have you!!! :) The party will most likely be the Saturday before his birthday (11/01/08) or the Saturday after (11/08/08).
Now let me write about my most favorite subject some more. Tryson! He has become the biggest joy in my life as Chris' as well. Words can't describe him but I will do my best. He is walking so much more now and hardly ever crawls. Now we are in the beginning stages of RUNNING! Pray for us and I am being serious. He is also talking more as well. He knows and understand most or all for that matter what he is saying. He knows (as most of you know this) what “Hi" and "Bye" are. He knows what ball is and can even point it out in books. His new ones are "Go", "What", "Why", and his most famous "COOK-GIE". He says it with that much excitement too. Now don't go off thinking we give him cookies all the time. A cookie can be any number of this. It could be a saltine cracker, a graham cracker, a piece of freeze dried fruit, or a actual animal cookie. The funny thing is all of the sudden we will hear, "COOK-GIE, COOK-GIE, COOK-GIE" and he will go to "his" drawer where all of his cookies, other snacks, meal things are. If we give into this adorable thing he does a little dance till he gets the two cookies. It is so cute and funny. Tryson and I have much fun together. We usually have about 2 - 3 play dates a week and maybe get together with one or two friends on the side. We have met some really great people here. We continue to expand our group of friends every week or two and it is really great for me because more friends equals more people to do hair for. :)
So all in all we are having a great time starting our life here in WA. We have met so really great people here. The church we attend has been really wonderful in welcoming us. I feel my connection with God, my husband and child have gotten so much stronger. There is nothing more I could ever ask for. Thank you to all of our family and friends back home that continue to love and supports us. We wouldn't be here or sain without.
Love, Stashia, (Chris and Tryson)
Sunday, January 6, 2008
A year and a half ago: Read prior post first
I wanted to write this in a second post because it is somewhat of a tangent on what I was saying, and this is a blog, not a novel. Anyways, lets imagine me in the summer of 2006.
I've never seen it, but I know one quote from Vanilla Sky thanks to Jason, "Because without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet." And a good quote is only good with a justification. A bitter to sweet or vice versa experience grounds you. It has the ability to make your life solid. You appreciate the sweet richly and take the bitter as what must be, to welcome life's challenge.
In this Summer of 06 I hit my bottom. I felt as if everyone was disgusted with me, I could not find a job, no money, a very unsure and scary future, the anxiety was killing me on the inside and it was just getting worse making me unable to cope with many things and shunning almost all responsibilty, it was among other things depression. Looking back, only two things I did that summer were good. One thing was that I started going to church again occasionally, it was a renewed sense of structure and something to really digest weekly. The other was my trip to a beautiful fountain on the University of Michigan campus:
I started my journey to the fountain as a "penny walk with two friend" you flip a coin to decide where you turn until you find yourself back at home...well the three of us, me, a housemate and our friend decided to end up in a fountain that no one knew meant so much to me. The fountain is inbetween the main campus and the Grad Student building. When I was an incoming freshmen, my group walked towards the main campus and were told that when we graduated we should walk through it towards the Grad Building in an obvious metaphor. This fountain was special to me.
Now, not everyone is religious or superstitious, but it really doesn't matter, it should still make some sense to anyone. When I go to a fountain, I treat pennies as prayers. I don't ask for money, or a job, or more love...I ask for things that make my soul feel warm. That night, unknown to my fellow travelers, I needed to be alone with my thoughts and every once-in-a-while I would throw in one of a few pennies. As always, I prayed for the well-being of those I was there with. I then prayed that Tryson have the most beautiful life, the same for Stashia, another for everyone who still believed in me, and at least two or three for the strength to do what I needed to do to end my depression to finish school and to help others. It was a great night and walking back I felt stronger having set somethings straight in my mind.
Writting this now brings tears to my eye, all of my prayers have been answered and many that I did not even have hope for came along with them to help. Since then my favorite prayer for my self or for anyone has been the strength and ability to understand find their own joy. As I said in the other post, joy is different than happiness. If I had prayed for money and gotten it, I would have been happy on the outside. Happiness unfortunately doesn't last. Joy is what comes from the enjoyment of doing work you love, helping those you love and similar things. Ever since I had started to attain this joy from the inside it has snowballed and nothing external can disrupt it. I pray you all find your joy, for when the bitter is at it's very worst, you may keep your sweet center always.
I've never seen it, but I know one quote from Vanilla Sky thanks to Jason, "Because without the bitter, baby, the sweet ain't as sweet." And a good quote is only good with a justification. A bitter to sweet or vice versa experience grounds you. It has the ability to make your life solid. You appreciate the sweet richly and take the bitter as what must be, to welcome life's challenge.
In this Summer of 06 I hit my bottom. I felt as if everyone was disgusted with me, I could not find a job, no money, a very unsure and scary future, the anxiety was killing me on the inside and it was just getting worse making me unable to cope with many things and shunning almost all responsibilty, it was among other things depression. Looking back, only two things I did that summer were good. One thing was that I started going to church again occasionally, it was a renewed sense of structure and something to really digest weekly. The other was my trip to a beautiful fountain on the University of Michigan campus:
I started my journey to the fountain as a "penny walk with two friend" you flip a coin to decide where you turn until you find yourself back at home...well the three of us, me, a housemate and our friend decided to end up in a fountain that no one knew meant so much to me. The fountain is inbetween the main campus and the Grad Student building. When I was an incoming freshmen, my group walked towards the main campus and were told that when we graduated we should walk through it towards the Grad Building in an obvious metaphor. This fountain was special to me.
Now, not everyone is religious or superstitious, but it really doesn't matter, it should still make some sense to anyone. When I go to a fountain, I treat pennies as prayers. I don't ask for money, or a job, or more love...I ask for things that make my soul feel warm. That night, unknown to my fellow travelers, I needed to be alone with my thoughts and every once-in-a-while I would throw in one of a few pennies. As always, I prayed for the well-being of those I was there with. I then prayed that Tryson have the most beautiful life, the same for Stashia, another for everyone who still believed in me, and at least two or three for the strength to do what I needed to do to end my depression to finish school and to help others. It was a great night and walking back I felt stronger having set somethings straight in my mind.
Writting this now brings tears to my eye, all of my prayers have been answered and many that I did not even have hope for came along with them to help. Since then my favorite prayer for my self or for anyone has been the strength and ability to understand find their own joy. As I said in the other post, joy is different than happiness. If I had prayed for money and gotten it, I would have been happy on the outside. Happiness unfortunately doesn't last. Joy is what comes from the enjoyment of doing work you love, helping those you love and similar things. Ever since I had started to attain this joy from the inside it has snowballed and nothing external can disrupt it. I pray you all find your joy, for when the bitter is at it's very worst, you may keep your sweet center always.
The Holiday Spirit: Read First
The holidays are always a good time for us to connect with our friends and family, to eat like we never eat and be thankful for such opportunities. In general, this was true although some of the specifics may not point in that direction.
So the holiday season started for me when I met up with Stashia, Stephen and Caitlin at the GR airport after having a horrible flight experience with 5 delays adding up to 2 hours. Unfortunately my luggage decided not to join us. By the way, American Airlines is horrible with their communication on lost luggage to make a long story short.
The next day was the 23rd, where I decided to surround myself with 7 cats. Which would be fine if cats didn't constitute 90% of all my allergy problems. So the 24th, yes Christmas Eve, I went to the Urgent Care Center. By this point with my lungs so very weak, on recovery meds and still without my luggage the Christashiatryson contingency went to my family's side of Christmas. It was at Memouse's house which although she has two of these 7 cats, I thought risking my life was worth experiencing Christmas the way it was when I was little. Being surrounded by all the family again and getting to watch Tryson go through it as well was an experience worth the physical suffering. At one point in the night it just got to me and I found sanity in the insanity. My luggage could be lost forever and flights are always going to be late...and of course cats will always bring me to my knees, but I have had the best year of my life and this moment seals it forever in my memory.
As presents were being passed and all the chatter I thought about all I've been given this year and every bit of it priceless, completely priceless. Just this year alone, I was able to watch Tryson go through so many firsts and bond with him so much so that I know I'm someone he really wants to see in the morning and the last before bed. I finally realized what I had denied before, that Stashia loves me more than I can understand and that I love her more than I can explain. I finally graduated and after years of having other people fight to get me there, this last year I did it all on my own not taking no for an answer and taking all the responsibility, I grew up a lot and it feels good. I experienced a wealth of people coming out over and over again for our birthdays, grad parties, shower and wedding. I knew we had a lot friends and support but I did not know so many people loved us so deeply, thank you so much! I got a job that I love and I feel great about going to work every day, that feels amazing and they appreciate me. (I want to write more about this in a separate blog) Needless to say, I was overcome with joy. Not happiness, joy. Magically on Christmas day, my luggage came in and several other great things with it. I was able to spend a bit of time with 5 of my sisters that I hardly ever see, great times with friends and the opportunity to get stuck in snow on I-96...ah Michigan I miss you.
We're back in Washington now and I'm still a little sick, Stashia and Tryson are as well. We are happy to be back and settled down, but I think we are all in agreement that we all enjoyed our trip. So in summary, thank you!
-Chris
So the holiday season started for me when I met up with Stashia, Stephen and Caitlin at the GR airport after having a horrible flight experience with 5 delays adding up to 2 hours. Unfortunately my luggage decided not to join us. By the way, American Airlines is horrible with their communication on lost luggage to make a long story short.
The next day was the 23rd, where I decided to surround myself with 7 cats. Which would be fine if cats didn't constitute 90% of all my allergy problems. So the 24th, yes Christmas Eve, I went to the Urgent Care Center. By this point with my lungs so very weak, on recovery meds and still without my luggage the Christashiatryson contingency went to my family's side of Christmas. It was at Memouse's house which although she has two of these 7 cats, I thought risking my life was worth experiencing Christmas the way it was when I was little. Being surrounded by all the family again and getting to watch Tryson go through it as well was an experience worth the physical suffering. At one point in the night it just got to me and I found sanity in the insanity. My luggage could be lost forever and flights are always going to be late...and of course cats will always bring me to my knees, but I have had the best year of my life and this moment seals it forever in my memory.
As presents were being passed and all the chatter I thought about all I've been given this year and every bit of it priceless, completely priceless. Just this year alone, I was able to watch Tryson go through so many firsts and bond with him so much so that I know I'm someone he really wants to see in the morning and the last before bed. I finally realized what I had denied before, that Stashia loves me more than I can understand and that I love her more than I can explain. I finally graduated and after years of having other people fight to get me there, this last year I did it all on my own not taking no for an answer and taking all the responsibility, I grew up a lot and it feels good. I experienced a wealth of people coming out over and over again for our birthdays, grad parties, shower and wedding. I knew we had a lot friends and support but I did not know so many people loved us so deeply, thank you so much! I got a job that I love and I feel great about going to work every day, that feels amazing and they appreciate me. (I want to write more about this in a separate blog) Needless to say, I was overcome with joy. Not happiness, joy. Magically on Christmas day, my luggage came in and several other great things with it. I was able to spend a bit of time with 5 of my sisters that I hardly ever see, great times with friends and the opportunity to get stuck in snow on I-96...ah Michigan I miss you.
We're back in Washington now and I'm still a little sick, Stashia and Tryson are as well. We are happy to be back and settled down, but I think we are all in agreement that we all enjoyed our trip. So in summary, thank you!
-Chris
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
