Neither Here Nor There

Sometimes I don’t really do anything interesting with my week but still like to share photos. The following will be an example of such a time. I need to find beauty in the mundane, because occasionally I have to make my own excitement when life seems tedious and “the same.” That last sentance was not meant to rhyme, but we’ll go with it.

I’m in this weird phase where I either really want to have a baby or buy a puppy, but since we’re too poor to have a kid/really don’t want to give up every spare minute of our lives just yet, and our landlord does not allow pets, my husband bought me a houseplant. Next best thing, right?! I’m calling it a trial run as far as “nurturing” goes. So far I have proceeded to over water it, but despite my fears that I may have already killed it by the first day, it seems to be thriving…or at least still green. Thankfully, I’m told that jade is a relatively easy plant to care for, but the experts don’t know just how green my thumb is NOT. I thought about giving the plant a name, but I just don’t get it when people name inanimate objects. I never have. More power to you if you like to refer to your toaster as “Larry.”

Anyway, the point of all this is to say that I am fulfilling some sort of bioligical urge to be a mother by taking care of a plant. Is that weird? So far all I have really done with it is occasionally call it pretty and otherwise neglect it. I hope that’s not reflective of my future parenting.

Currently, I am sipping iced coffee and eating a donut from Anchorage’s own Golden Donuts—a 24-hr, drive thru donut shop within one mile of our apartment. I mean, come on…no matter what else is going on in my life, I consider myself extremely blessed because A) a 24-hr, drive thru donut shop exists and B) it is within walking distance from my home. Hello. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. this morning in order to go get donuts with Seth before he took the car to work, so I feel like my priorities are definitely in order. I could have gone for a run, but as I said…priorities.

Adding to my coffee/donut bliss this morning is the ambient sound coming from our other new addition to the family: the Audio Technica AT-LP 120.

I have wanted a turn table/record player of my own for awhile now—possibly ever since my childhood, during which I spent many hours passionately dancing “ballet” with my sisters to my dad’s old, classical records.

Well, the dream has now been realized; whether it stemmed from childhood nostalgia or the need to jump on the ” everybody’s doing it” bandwagon, I’m not sure. Seth got everything all hooked up to our speakers last night, and now we just sit and listen to Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” and say pretentious things to each other: “why did we even bother listening to music before owning our record player?” and “MP3’s…what a joke. Remember CD’s?!”

the small start to a one day glorious vinyl collection

We are really thrilled, and want to invite everyone we know over to talk about things like sound quality and MP3 conversion software…or whatever. I’m an audiophile in training. 😉

Other than oo-ing and ah-ing over the new record player, I have been continuing to spruce up our living space. I am pleased as punch to finally have the matching loveseat to our couch. It really cozies up the room, I think!

 

Sorry the coffee table’s a mess; it’s a bit of a catch-all these days!

favourite little corner right now 🙂

What’s everyone else up to this weekend? We’re doing a bit of socializing and then attacking this stack of library movie rentals.

Cheers til next time,

Onrush of Scenery

“I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. I thought, ‘This is what it is to be happy.’” ― Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar

Yesterday we laced up our hiking boots and headed to the Upper O’Malley Trailhead in Chugach State Park for our first hike here in Anchorage (aside from the nature walk we went on through Kincaid Park…haha). It was muddy to the point of almost losing a shoe due to misplaced steps, but the views were worth it! I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves, but I’m coming to the conclusion that I like Alaska quite a bit. Also, the fact that we basically live next door to REI could become a financial problem.

bear spray at the ready after spotting several bear paw prints along the trail… thankfully, no encounters 🙂

Mom’s Day

With Mother’s Day approaching, I’ve got a few things on my mind: parenting, kids, mom, the ridiculous shipping costs here in Alaska, dinner, money, donuts, coffee—just to name a few. Not all of those things have anything specifically to do with Mother’s Day, but I thought I would be candid with my thoughts.

I’ve been watching the show Parenthood somewhat religiously, and by that I mean that’s all I have done this last week because, you know, Netflix, introvertism, and unemployment are natural companions it seems. I mean, who works on job applications when hours of television can be streamed constantly with no break?  …

Annnnyyywaaayy. If you’re familiar with the show you know that it is basically a series of ups and downs between a list of characters and their character children. Pretty basic sit-com/dramedy situation, and yet even as a somewhat cynical twenty-something with no kids, each episode somehow manages to tug at my heart strings and make me laugh-cry. It’s possible that the reason the show resonates so much with me is that I have finally grown up to the point where I really appreciate my parents. If my teenager self could see me now.

Now that I’m married and experiencing this weird pressure to start a family and be a supermom and pin handmade baby outfits and throw unecessarily over the top birthday parties for a child who will not remember them or appreicate how much money or DIY crafting went into the planning, I find myself really tipping my hat to the people who raised me—particularly, my mom. Parenting just seems…hard. It is a really daunting thought, being responsible for a tiny human being who depends on you completely. I can barely manage to make myself coffee in the morning, and it’s a pretty great day when I manage to eat a balanced breakfast or even three square meals. So it’s more than apparent that I am nowhere ready for a kid, but I do find myself thinking about how my mom managed all these years. I liked to think of myself as the perfect child, but I will admit I maybe was not entirely as shining and without reproach as I made myself out to be.

There were more than a few times growing up when I called my mom a crazy person because at the time I did not realize just how difficult it might be to not kill or totally screw up a child when you’re just trying your best and don’t have everything figured out yourself yet.

So here’s to you, Mom. You don’t believe in the internet, so you might never see this, but I just wanted to say that I appreciate you. You did a pretty good job raising me; I’ve been told that I’ve turned out okay, and a lot of that is probably to your credit. Happy Mother’s Day early.

 

 

[photo taken by Ann Oettel Photography]