Move-A-versary.

That’s right.

It’s been one year to the day when we pulled into Bismarck to begin our life here. And what a year it has been! Not sure if I would have signed up if I would have known all the crazy that ensued! But knowing the future is not how we were designed and therefore, we must trust. The doesn’t-want-to-battle part of me hopes this next year is a bit calmer but regardless, I hope the next year allows us to make Bismarck our own and call it home. Having our own place is a fantastic start, thank the Lord. 

We left these sweet folks.

We left our lives where friends were family, where we had no roots, where we were outsiders welcomed, where we tried make it our home despite our lack of southernness, where we experienced loss and life. It was our time to come back to NoDak but I’ll leave it at this, one year later: South Carolina left a sweet taste and we look back fondly.

One year ago we were welcomed by this land.  

It’ll always be easy to remember exactly when we arrived last year because the next day our sweet niece, Alexia Maelee, was born! Happy day-shy-of-One sweet girl! We love you!

-Heather

Sweet Peoples.

Our friends had a little going away party for us ten days ago. It was our last night in Columbia. We were definitely going great guns at that point trying to get everything accomplished before we left but it was nice to see so many one last time before we headed out. Today Eli finished my starting prayer of "thank you for all" by saying "the peoples". And I just know he meant to include these sweet peoples:

Thanks, friends, that came and those that were able to say good-bye at different times. It was hard yet good to have a full schedule of seeing dear ones the last weeks of our time in SC. We miss you already.

A few more fun shots from that evening:

Eli and Caleb. Friend hug. Just makes you want to cry.

Eli's BFF.

Wait, no she's mine!

The awesome music youth from church made a silly video saying goodbye to Greg (he's been helping them for the last year and has loved his time with this stellar group of high schoolers). They surprised us with it!

I think this is a great family photo of our dear friends... we plan to live in their house whenever we get too cold up here.

Eli is so going to miss his entourage of friends.

Another great family photo, another great family we'll miss!

I have more photos to share of our southern friends... soon!

-Heather

Our Morning.

This was us about 9am this morning. Greg left in the moving truck. Eli and I headed to Charlotte to fly out. We made it fine to MN and Greg is still trucking along in the Appalachians last I talked to him. Baby girl just kicked and Eli is banging on the piano at my sisters getting ready for a central time zone nap.

I can't say goodbye yet. Too hard. We are just going to say we are on vacation. 

-Heather

Shealy's.

On our SC bucket list was Shealy's. It a buffet-style restaurant in Batesburg-Leesville about 40 minutes from Cola. We were part of a church in BL for over a year (all during my pregnancy with Maelee and after) but we never got to go to Shealy's because, in sweet southern style it's closed on Sundays, the day we were usually there!

So went we did. And it was all southern (I had to have a friend explain some if the buffet offerings!) and all quite tasty. The best was the pulley bones. They don't have them on the buffet, you gotta know to ask for it (thus why you go with locals). Such good white meat fried chicken...I'm going to miss good chicken. I didn't love their BBQ because it's not tomato based so I would stick to chicken there. The place is huge and crazy well known. Totally worth a stop. Though to be fair to your waistline and arteries, I wouldn't frequent there often.

Also, don't bring a two-year old, feed him jello (and have someone else feed him more plus ice cream) and think you'll be able to have good conversation. It won't happen. He will just run around like a crazy child and you will wonder who he belongs to.

Some great folks here!

It looked much better before I had scarfed it all down but I forgot to take a before photo.

Pulley Bone. Bam.

Check!

-Heather

Red, Yellow, Green.

This is really happening. We are really moving. I don't think the reality of this has set and probably won't for a long while. Here's the latest if you want mundane details.

We bought the (insanely expensive) plane tickets for Eli and I. Greg has reserved the (decently priced) moving truck. We will all depart July 30, barring any difficulties. After consulting with my doctor, he said flying or driving would be fine but that I'd need to get out every hour or so and walk around. With a 32-hour drive plus a two-year old, driving didn't seem the ideal choice. So a short, direct Charlotte to MN flight will do and Greg will pick us up in MN for the last leg of the trip to our new hometown.

Our house is officially on the market. We met with a realtor Wednesday and he was taking photos and putting it on MLS by Friday. Let's just say without the help of our friends on Thursday, that couldn't have happened! We will try keep the house in show-ready mode for the next weeks, but any prospective buyer will need to be warned we are in the process of moving. I hope our house sells quickly but the market here is far from great. It's much better than a few years ago but it's still not thriving. I think once it's sold, we will do a happy dance. It's a buyer's market here. Bismarck is definitely a seller's market. Guess we are opposite. Good thing we don't feel that life is all about piling up loads of money or having an extravagant house. And yay for some great in-laws!

Our spare room is the catch-all room, half full of furniture and boxes already. I'll also start one wall of our living room with completed boxes which will pile up slowly but surely. I will not lift more than Eli's weight, don't worry. Since we are moving into Greg's parents basement for the time being (hopefully just for a few months), packing is slightly complicated.  I have a three-part labeling system. I am packing for long-term storage, plus items we may need after baby arrives or in a few months (ie, winter clothes) plus the obvious items we'll need right away. Red, Yellow, Green (thanks for the color suggestion, Sidni!). Red for long-term storage (won't need until we get our new place), Yellow for in-between items to keep accessible, Green for needing now. Plus I added a little Green-Yellow category for baby items I for sure will need but not until we see this sweet girl.

Sidenote: the labeling part is by far my favorite. It feels so good to make labels and color code them and have all the boxes stacked up, labeled and organized by category. Happy sigh. It may be overkill but I'm convinced it'll help lessen the stress at some point.

All three of us have taken long naps yesterday and today, either the stress or the lack of sleep the week prior is hitting us. I have also started taking loads of photos for the "South Carolina" book I want to make soon. I know Eli is too young to get to remember much of his time here but I know if he has a book, he'll remember people and places better. 

Besides house and packing, we are going to try accomplish a few things on our bucket list. Yesterday we ate the best pimento cheese around (super yummy, thanks DiPrato's) and tried local grits (made in Columbia since 1902, but not super yummy). Hopefully we can check a few more things off our list in the next weeks as we try say good-bye. I caught Eli saying "uff-da" a few times last week. That about sums it up!

-Heather

Two Weeks' Notice.

Here's some seriously newsy news for you.

We are moving.

We are moving back to the land of open prairies, endless skies, loads of european-decented white people, oil booms, insanely cold weather, knoephla soup, and family.

We are leaving dear friends, humidity, oceans and mountains and cities, the best fried chicken, gorgeous arrays of scenery, fun shopping, ample adventures and entertainment, getting to be outside most everyday, delicious fruit, variety of people and culture, laid-back life, and that feeling of being an outsider.

It has been our big picture plan for awhile to move closer to family, to build relationships in the years left with them. We knew our roots were not to be planted forever in South Carolina. Reminding ourselves of that is important because we do love it here. We came here after two years of marriage knowing no one, we bought a house without jobs or a plan besides Greg going to school, we knew nothing about southern culture, we bonded as a couple, we formed deep friendships, learned a ton, and we had our children, the sorrows and the joys here. We built our lives. It is not going to be easy to leave.

It's especially going to be hard doing it in such a short time! Greg will start a senior writer position with Kat Communications in Bismarck, North Dakota on August 6. That gives us a few weeks to pack, say good-bye, sell our house, and move ourselves across the country. Greg is excited to be doing writing and editing and proofing and creative things for this ad agency.

Because this is all so sudden, we will be taking over Greg's parents' basement and putting our belongings in storage for a few months, until we find a place and get adjusted. I'm excited to have help with Eli during the end of this pregnancy and for the help when baby girl arrives! Moving mid-pregnancy is NOT ideal, of course. Sadly my doctor and his practice are not willing to move with us. We are thrilled that we'll be there for the birth of our niece and for the gift our girl will get to grow up with a cousin so close in age in the same town.

There will be much processing for us in these next weeks and months to come and I plan to continue on with this here blog as an outlet for those thoughts. And of course, to share our family to those we won't get to see as often.

We also plan to visit South Carolina. Every winter.

-Heather

'Merica.

Our good friends had quite the bash today in celebration of independence day. I had candied bacon. It was tasty! I also ate loads and loads of other good food. I love holidays.

Check out the cake someone brought to the party that they bought at Bi-Lo (local grocery store):

You must, must say this with a southern accent.

Jeremy bought these for Eli. He didn't really keep them on, but how cute!

He did really like the sparklers and thankfully, no incidents!

I made safer "sparklers" treats.

It turned out to be quite the 4th of July! Though we decided against letting our kid stay awake for the fun fireworks and put him to bed with a noise machine on instead. Lame.

-Heather

Conflicted.

My revelation tonight: I live linguistically conflicted.

These maps are awesome (they describe so much of why it took me a few years to be acclimated 'round here). I feel I have a story for every single one. Even the bubbler (my old boss was from Wisconsin).

Kudos to that statistics student and linguistic prof. Check it out and have a laugh as you realize your regional biases.

-Heather

Lake Beaches.

Lake beaches are far better than ocean beaches.

I just heard someone gasp. I know I heard someone say "Amen." And if I had to guess/stereotype, the first is a southerner and the latter, a northerner. Well, a northerner that says Amen out load, if those exist.

I grew up a flat-lander and about as far from the ocean as you can get in the US. It makes sense that I enjoy what I am used to.

Saltwater isn't enjoyable for me. And the majority of that is because 1. I'm short and 2. I'm not a great swimmer. Translate: the water always gets into my eyes/contacts and it stings plus it gets into my mouth and it's gross.

Lake water is much nicer because there is no saltiness. Sometimes there is gross algaeness though so you pick your lakes wisely.

Now up in ND/MN, the lakes are nice and cold. Down here, the first time we went to one it felt like bath water. Not refreshing. We went in the heat of summer, however, so we gave it another try when we went sailing two years ago. Much better.

And today Eli and I went to Lake Murray public beach. It's not even 20 minutes from our house. Water was great. Eli loved it, up until he got so tired he didn't know up from down. We were only there maybe two hours and I can tell my back in sunburned. I applied sunscreen on Eli three times (once before we left the house because you are supposed to apply sunscreen 30 minutes before being in the sun... things us red-heads need to know). I hope he doesn't have his first sunburn. I'd like to delay that inevitable as long as possible.

Ball at beach.

Yes, this happened.

Too bad Daddy is at work.

I go back and forth... sometimes this get-up is cute, other times dorky. Both?

Really, a great way to spend a Friday.

We had to have fun today because the last few weeks and upcoming few weeks are hard not being in North Dakota with family. My whole family was together over my dad's birthday. They went fishing in Canada and farming with my uncle. And today Greg's whole family are together for the first time in almost three years with the China crew's arrival. This weekend they are celebrating Marian and Lilliana's birthdays. Our sweet nieces are FIVE (M on the 26th, Lilli today!). Ya'll, it is hard to not get to watch your nieces and nephews grow in person.

Be expecting more beach photos, this mama enjoyed our lake beach and plans to visit more often!

-Heather

Chicken.

Chicken is to the South what beef is to the Midwest.

This was my epiphany today. As a resident of South Carolina for five years, I can say with confidence that they know what they are doing with a chicken. I don't think they have anything on the cows of the Midwest but they sure got good chick'un. They have loads of chicken farms around so I guess chickens like it hot and humid. I am sure glad, however, that we live in the city and not in a rural area downwind from a chicken farm.

From our house in less than one measly mile you can find FOUR fast food places dedicated solely to chicken: Bojangles, KFC, Church's and Chick-fil-A. This doesn't account for the three other places that may not be only chicken places but you can still get yourself some fried chicken. That's a lot of chicken in a very close proximity. Growing up, all I ever knew of fried chicken was KFC. I didn't know there were other chicken chains... I had so much to learn.

Everyone's got their favorites, I suppose, but if we are heading out for a fast food chicken meal (which isn't too often) we would choose either Chick-fil-A or Zaxby's. If you aren't from around here and find yourself in the South needing a quick meal, choose one of these.

Chick-fil-A is the best fast-food place ever. It really is the best. Now KFC is alright, but they didn't invent the chicken sandwich. Their waffle fries just make me happy (my love of fries deserves it's own post).

And a little over a mile from our house in different directions are two Zaxby's restaurants (they are a little nicer chicken place). It is one of Greg's favorite restaurants, complete with their own unique dipping sauce that I didn't like at first but now can't eat there without. Definitely worth trying out if you have never been.


I just typed this and not surprisingly, I am in the mood for chicken.

Too bad there isn't an event going on that we have to go to... because there is always fried chicken at events. I love our church's get-togethers because I'm always guaranteed a good piece of chicken.

-Heather

PS - I did not talk about sit-down chicken places because I have not frequented them enough to have an opinion. I am certain, however, that you can find the best fried chicken in the world somewhere down here. And it just may be in my neighbor's mother's aunt's house. I can almost taste it.

Diapers, Cereal.

For all you diaper buying people out there: If you aren't using those little codes on all your Huggies or Pampers packages, send them my way. Or start using them. But don't throw them away. That's bad.

We are a Pampers family. I've heard it said and I can say it's true for us "Huggies are for girls, Pampers are for boys." Overall, Pampers have won. I had a ton of Huggies saved up for Maelee and we used or gave away most all of them. And yesterday I decided to input all those codes because I want to get Eli something "from" his sister (well, her diapers). That's not weird, is it?

Not sure how to transition here. So I'll post a photo of Greg washing the cars last Saturday and the pool of pollen that accumulated. It makes sense that I thought someone paint-balled our steps the first spring we were here, eh? Yes, I thought that. I called Greg and said "some kid paint-balled our steps, they are yellow" because it rained shortly after the first wave of pollen. Now, now I know.

Now onto our favorite food:

For all you cereal eating people out there: They have Box Tops for Education on most all General Mills cereals (and a host of other products as well). We consume a lot of cereal (maybe an actual ton in our lifetime). We rip them off and put them in a baggie in the junk drawer. Read: you should do this too. It's free money for schools and takes ten seconds.

BUT since Eli isn't school age yet, we don't have one school we are giving them to... so if your school is big on box tops, let me know. I may just give your kid a computer. Or a chair. Or a pizza party. Didn't you just LOVE pizza party days in school?

-Heather

Out for Some Sky.

I had a "meh" feeling all last weekend. Just didn't feel great or motivated and maybe feeling a little stuck. For me some of the best medicine is a nice drive. I'm certain this stems from growing up in flat land... plus the fact there is really wasn't a whole lot to do back home so for entertainment we would drive around. And around. And around. I know a large chunk of my high school days were spent in Jillmarie's car on some gravel road around Williston or sadly, dragging main. Yes, driving around was the thing to do.

Thus my itch to get out once in awhile and see some sky through the passenger window. Thankfully last Saturday, Greg took Eli and I on a drive to a small town and we had an early supper (only ones in the sub shop) and a little walk around. Then we came home. We were probably gone three hours but it was exactly what I needed.


Pretty cool clock on the Newberry Opera House plus brick road:

He is a South Carolina boy after all! (this is the SC flag for you non-southerners):

Also, the funny moment of the day was when we decided to get some ice cream for dessert. The man was explaining the different flavors: "Sherbet, Chocolate, and here's a seasonal one" as he pointed to the pink one with the sign "Peppermint Candy Cane." That really should have been our first clue. We preceded to buy some Butter Pecan. I had one bite and knew that stuff had probably been in the case for a few too many months. Old sugar = so not tasty. We should have realized it's mid-March and their seasonal ice cream did not involve St.Patricks Day or Easter. They obviously don't go through a lot of ice cream. Lesson learned.


Yesterday Eli and I joined some friends at our local zoo. I had to share this photo of how CUTE he looks in these short overalls. And his "these flamingos smell funny" look:

I did learn that Eli is so much like his Dad (and me)  in that he is NOT a fan of the sun and being hot. He was just crabby in the stroller as we walked around the different animal exhibits. However when we took a break in the cool shade, he was happy as can be. Then mad again when we went back in the sun. And yes, he had a hat and sunscreen on. 

I told Greg over the phone "I forsee many family vacations to cold destinations, not the beach" and he replied "We can go to the beach, we'll just spend all our time in the hotel room."  Ah, yes, the perfect vacation for a family of red-heads.

-Heather

PS- Welcome to South Carolina, Sprummer. I know that it's Spring because there is a nasty yellow dust on everything, my car especially. And my nose is so congested. But I know that it's Summer because it's crazy hot and I'm dreaming of a pool. So I guess I'll just say Sprummer is here in full force. 

Pollen Attack.

Moving to a place different from where you grew up lends itself to being a continual learning experience. You will always be finding out new things, questioning what you see or hear, and absorbing your surroundings. This is good. Learning will prevent you from being an idiot in the future.

Our first spring in SC I remember going out to my car one morning when it had rained a bit the night before. As I stepped from our porch, I saw a big pile of yellow paint (so I thought). My first reaction: some delinquent kids had used our house as a paintball target. Humph.

Since I knew paintball paint could be washed away easily I didn't get too upset. Then as I moved to my car I thought how awfully weird it was that they really only hit the bottom of our steps and the concrete. And then it got me thinking that maybe it really wasn't paintball paint. But what in the world could accumulate into a pee yellow sludge on the bottom of my steps?

I was in a hurry (not a morning person) so I just left and didn't think too much about it. And thankfully I wasn't convinced about the paintball thing enough to mention it to anybody at work. It wasn't until much later that I learned the real identity of this weird substance: pollen.

Basically all the pine trees and every other beautiful budding thing causes pollen to coat the whole south for a few weeks every spring. Once things are in full bloom, the pollen lessens and there is no more yellow muck on everything.

So our first spring here, I apparently didn't see that everything was coated in a nice yellow mist. It wasn't until the rain had come and washed it together that I even noticed it. Now our fourth spring here I wonder how I didn't see it... or maybe 2008 was a "good" pollen year.

To give you non-southerners a picture of what I'm talking about, here's our bottom step. Click the photo to open bigger to get a better idea. The yellow stuff is the pollen. This is just a few days worth. Sidenote: I haven't killed our azalea bush yet! You can see one white bloom! Victory!


If you look closely, you can see the pollen film over the porch. It literally covers everything. It's pretty nasty.


And I was going to title this "pullen" because that's how I think southerners say "pollen." I really miss me some good North Dakotan o's sometimes.

Oh and if you are wondering if there are any negative effects of the pollen attack, the answer is YES. Just ask my nose when I'm trying to sleep at night!

-Heather

Ginormous.

Greg texted me this morning a funny memory he had that caused me to laugh out loud (which I rarely do so shortly after waking up) and I just thought I'd share about it.

Back in June of 2007 we had a little over two days to buy a house here in Columbia. We were totally at the mercy of our realtor (who turned out to be great, thankfully). Greg's parents were with us the day we looked at 15+ houses in a city we knew nothing about.

I wish today-Heather could go back and help then-Heather process what she was experiencing! I had NO idea, really no clue, about so, so many things. It really is by the grace of God our house buying experience turned out so well. Because culturally and geographically, we were clueless!

After we had signed our life away a thousand times and we were back in ND, I remember calling up our mortgage company (Palmetto Mortgage) but not knowing how to correctly pronounce "palmetto" so I said "or however you say it" after I most likely pronounced it incorrectly to the lady. There was an awkward pause.

Looking back, this lady had to of thought I was a complete idiot. SOUTH CAROLINA IS THE PALMETTO STATE. I saw palm, but didn't really know what to do with the etto. Seriously. There are palmetto tree depictions on most everything around here. If you want to name a business just add "Palmetto" before the trade and you've got a name. I'm not sure when I realized what a palmetto tree was, but I'm sure there was a lightbulb over my head at that moment.

Many of the phone calls I made while in ND ended up frustrating for both parties. Most conversations had a lot of the following: "I'm sorry, what was that?" "excuse me?" "huh?" "what did you say" and "can you repeat that?". Because they couldn't understand me in my northern accent and I definitely struggled with deciphering their southern drawl. I remember one conversation I just started laughing because our termite inspector was talking but I had NO idea what he was saying. This was also probably the first time I ever heard "bye" as a three syllable word. Oh then-Heather, this was only the beginning.

I've gotten away from the original make-me-laugh-before-9am story.

One of the 15+ houses we looked at in our marathon day can best be described as the "Ginormous Furniture House". Oh what I wouldn't do for a photo!

This house was so hilariously unique. Someone still lived it in so all their stuff was still in the house. And as we walked from room to room, we were all struck with one thought: the furniture was HUGE. It was a small house, too, but think of the biggest furniture you could by at Rooms To Go smooshed into a three-bedroom 1000 square foot house.

It felt a bit like the scene in Willy Wonka where the room gets really small. Or Goldilocks finding a nap spot. Or a weird space continuum. It felt like the furniture was made for a giant but the house was just a regular house.

We are talking overstuffed couches and end tables, so much so that the front door entrance was blocked because you otherwise couldn't fit in the living room. And a spare room with just a huge couch and a BIG screen TV, the old-school not-flat kind. And the mirrors! They must have weighed a ton because they covered whole walls. The frames were probably 20 inches thick.

But the best was the bedroom. It had one of those four-post canopy beds. But the posts! Oh the posts! Trying to put your arms around one post was like hugging a redwood tree at Yosemite. And I would have needed a 6 ft ladder to actually get into the bed.

Every piece of furniture in every room was overstated and extreme. You could barely walk around because you would hit a piece of something massive. And I recall seeing a few clothes that were normal size so the whole "maybe a really large person lived there" theory was out. Even our realtor was amazed and beyond words.

My MIL had to use the bathroom while there because she was about to pee her pants, it was that funny. In fact, I hope you've gone recently, Mary, as you read this account of our experience!

It was a good memory. I only wish I had photos to prove how outrageous it was. This pales in comparison:

Aren't you glad we didn't buy that house with furniture included? I am. Thus ends the funny story as I have run out of ways to say huge.

-Heather

Good Things.

I don't know if we can say it enough: thank you for sharing in our lives. I know it's hard sharing in our suffering and missing Maelee with us. I know it was hard to read the former post about our scare. I know it's easier to just share in our joy but I wanted to say thanks for sharing in the tough stuff with us, too. Many thanks. So here's some solidly good things from my day and week: Today I got out of the house and had lunch with two dear friends. Living in community, sharing our lives together is a treasure. I often get all secluded in my own little no-job, no-kid world that I forget that there are some seriously great people that I could be spending my time with. And lunch dates make both me and baby very happy! Amanda and I headed to the Fresh Market after and that was another pure warms-my-heart moment. I never go to that side of town so I've only been there a couple times... but man, this place... this place is what I would like to be like if people were described as grocery stores. (Actually it would be Kowalski's but we don't have that here). We couldn't afford to shop/eat there without going broke, but such delights exist there! As in the following treats I bought today: One loaf of delicious Italian bread that will pair oh-so-well with the homemade chicken noodle soup that is currently simmering to near perfection (I hope) in my hand-me-down big 'ol Le Creuset (thanks mom!). Two Heath Bar Crunch Cookies that surprisingly made it in the photo (I began tasting the bread so that's why they survived to be dessert). One loaf of Pumpkin Nut bread and one loaf of Zucchini Nut bread... they were BOGO and haven't been sampled... yet. And one container of spendy vegetable chips (dried sweet potatoes, beans, zucchini, etc.) that I had a long time ago and have searched for ever since ... and yes, I opened them on the drive home and yes, it was worth the wait. You are hungry now, eh? You want some starches, dontcha? Another most blessed thing that I mentioned before was that it snowed this week. It snowed a lot. Greg stayed home Monday. And looking out from our porch Monday, we saw a whole lot of glorious snow: It did get a little frustrating, being cooped up all week. Normally I wouldn't have thought much about driving in this weather but I did not (and do not) trust these southern drivers on ice. Case in point: a visitor to our neighbors across the street took 10 minutes to leave their house because his car was sliding on the ice and he thought if he just kept pushing the gas pedal harder, he would go. We had a great time watching him spin his wheels. Not very neighborly of us however. The snow was sort of captured by some ice Monday night which is the real reason for all the cancellations and closings (yes, they didn't have school all week). We've had snow before (this is our fourth winter here) but it never lasts. I took this shot this afternoon of the house (and Gramps, the car): It's still here! It's melting fast but both Greg and I are overjoyed to have seen snow all week as we are out and about. There is just something therapeutic about seeing snow on the trees, on the side of the road, even when it gets all brown and nasty. It's like a little slice of our life growing up in ND brought down to the armpit of the south, just for us. It's going to go away soon as the forecast is 50s and 60s next week. But I am one happy camper for the week of it! I've been hanging different outfits of Maelee's in her room... just a few special things that she would be wearing if she were here. It's hard to see them on her dresser or door... but it makes me smile. This is what is hanging on her door now, my mom got it for her last year to wear at Christmas. It's soo girly! So since most of big sister's things are indeed all girl, we are needing to boy things up. We aren't ready for the room change (that will come sometime in February when my parents come). But I am making steps. The first one was a little retail therapy. Greg's brother got the baby a $50 gift card to amazon for Christmas (to buy boy stuff) but I spent it on a tea pot and a book (for us). So I went out to Once Upon A Child and bought $50 worth of clothes. The best part? They were having a sale so certain items were on sale for $1. I bought 50 items of clothes for $50. Some are brand new! Some were three piece sets for $1! And if he ends up not wearing something, oh well, it cost $1. I did buy sizes from 0-4T so don't worry, I was wise in my choosing. Here's the loot: I did realize one thing. I still love brown. And not a huge fan of baby blue and neither is Greg. Also, since I'm not ready to take Maelee's stuff out yet, there is no place for boy's stuff so it's just going to stay there for awhile. That's okay. But I did start some "nesting" and bought a bunch of storage bins. That's another step. I love organizing. I love organizational supplies. Do you want me to come to your house and organize your closets? I would. I could totally work at The Container Store. And finally, on my list of solidly good things. Here's our boy from our appointment in December when we learned he was a he. In the cute frame that the Simons sent, too! Also, a random list of other things I am thankful for at 5:45pm this Friday:

• Greg coming home from work, ready for a meal and a movie together!
• My eyesight. The human body is so crazy but the eyes, especially, are a completely creative miracle of God. I think seeing is the best sense and I'm so grateful for having it. Also, modern medicine to fix my nearsightedness.
• Our library. You can reserve things online, they show up at our library down the street, easy peasy.
• Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday. Sadly I'm probably more thankful for a day off for Greg than the man himself... but I am grateful for him and his work, too.
• JT, our mail man, who comes back to our house in the afternoon if he misses me in the morning to deliver my Norwex packages. That, my friends, is service!
• The Bears play on Sunday. And I am excited to watch the game. Seriously.
• The fact both our colds are hopefully going away. After over two weeks of sickness for me, I finally woke up and could breathe at one point last night. To me, that means the end of this is near.
• Tea. Because of aforementioned colds, we've consumed a crazy amount of decaffeinated tea in the last weeks. And it really is quite soothing. Try some.

I hope that you have many solidly good things in your lives as well, my friends. -Heather

Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas to you! We are in Minnesota enjoying looking out on a serious winter wonderland. During a very brief walk, I heard Greg say "I don't think I'm a North Dakotan anymore." Have we already lost our 25+ years of cold weather stamina? Yikes. We are doing okay our first Christmas without Maelee and our first Christmas with her brother. It's not easy. Certain moments feel like a slap in the face. But Christmas is a huge milestone and part of me is glad for it to be over... and part of me wants to scream and pout. We received our first outfit for the baby boy this morning... which is good since he's only going to get to wear a couple outfits of Maelee's! We were definitely ready for a baby girl. So much pink! And now we must gear up for a whole different world of colors. Whoa. -Heather

We miss you more than we can say today, baby girl.

Black Friday.

I forgot to post about this when writing my Thanksgiving post. Greg got sick a week ago with a nasty sinus infection/cold and who knows what else. He doesn't get sick too often and it's hard to get him to take medicine. I usually end up forcing it down his throat. So when he asks for medicine, I know it must be bad. It got so bad that on Thursday he couldn't eat the Thanksgiving meal without chewing with his mouth open because he couldn't breathe otherwise. It made for some funny and slightly gross moments. That night he slept for just a few hours and spent two just laying there wishing he could breathe. Finally he got so fed up with it that he decided he was going to go out and buy some pseudoephedrine (the stuff they make meth out of that is often the ONLY thing that works to clear a stuffed nose). Now I have seen Greg sick but I have never seen him get up in the middle of the night to go get medicine. I knew it was bad. Which is why this is so ironically sad. The one day a year that you cannot go to Wal-Mart at 4am to buy medicine is Black Friday. And what day does Greg go? Yep, that's right. He pulled up to a completely full parking lot and decided it wasn't worth it. Thankfully his nose cleared up during the drive so he was able to come home and sleep for a few hours without the meds. We did go get him some pseudoephedrine later on that day, however. Poor guy! And we didn't even get a TV out of his 4am Wal-Mart trip! The moral of the story: make sure your medicine cabinet is well stocked ahead of the holidays. -Heather

A Taste of the South.

As a couple of midwesterners living in the South, we have experienced our fair share of culture shock. I could go on and on about the not-so-lovely aspects of living here but I'm trying to be more positive, dangnabbit, so here are some things I like:

1. How everyone young and old adds "Miss" or "Mr." to people's first names when addressing them. Example: "Go tell Mr. Greg his sweet tea is ready." It is pretty adorable especially with little kids who can barely talk. I think this may be manners, but I'm not sure.
   
2. You can talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime for any reason. You feel like talkin' to a complete stranger while fillin' your buggy? Go ahead. No one is a stranger here.
   
3. They call carts buggies. Not a big fan of that, honestly, but I figured you should know.
   
4. While working out this morning, the weather map was on TV. Bismarck high today is 53. Columbia 93. Now, this could be a negative point for the South (hello, today is supposed to be the last day of summer!) but at least for today I'm glad I don't have to wear a coat.
5. My porch looks like a greenhouse. And I did not inherit a green thumb. Most plants just love this heat and humidity. My mom planted a ton of things in April and they are still growing (and sort of taking over our porch). Long growing cycles = ample flowers and plants. Take that.
6. I love Publix. Best Grocery Store Ever. They don't have Publix in the midwest.
   
7. I can take walks year round. Granted sometimes the walk is only to my car.
   
8. We can travel 2 hours and be in the mountains. We can travel 2 hours (the other way) and be at the beach. Drive a short ways in the South and you can be someplace very different and exciting. Every family goes to the beach for vacation. This makes driving two hours to Minot to the mall seem quite lame.
   
9. I never knew mac-n-cheese was a staple side item... didn't know there are more ways to make it than just opening the blue and yellow box. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a vegetable... but I would say I've had some tasty mac-n-cheese down here.
   
10. Ya'll is a good word. "You guys" doesn't flow as nicely. It encompasses a lot for just one word. It's a keeper.

-Miss Heather

Heat.

If you can't take the heat... get out of South Carolina.

There is a HEAT ADVISORY right now. Yes, it's dangerously hot. Like a heat index of 111 or something crazy like that. According to the National Weather Service:

"A HEAT ADVISORY MEANS THE COMBINATION OF HOT TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITIES WILL CREATE A SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES MAY OCCUR. DRINK PLENTY OF FLUIDS... STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM... STAY OUT OF THE SUN... AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS."

Basically, hole yourself up inside and say good-bye to any plans for green grass.

It's only the middle of June and the start-sweating-as-soon-as-you-step-out-the-door heat is already here. This is August weather folks!

I can't believe we moved to a city with the slogan "famously hot." Granted, North Dakota in January is completely miserable, too...proving the grass is not always greener on the other side.

I just hope the air conditioner doesn't go out. If it does, I guarantee that combined with the grief will cause a meltdown (no pun intended).

-Heather

Rant.

45 Miles. That's how many miles I drove today getting Gramps (our new-to-us car) registered (using our old car's plate and registration), title transferred (from ND) and vehicle tax paid. This involved: 1. Filling out and printing a form online and calling the DMV to verify what to do with it (Answer given: "go to any DMV office, turn in form, pay $10"... easy peasy, right?). 2. Drove to the DMV office surprisingly close to our house. Told I can't do title transfer there. Must drive to full service DMV office in Ballentine. 3. Drove to Ballentine. Short wait time. Gave title, paid $25. Told I have to pay the vehicle tax at the county Treasurer's Office, get receipt and bring it back to any DMV. 4. Drove to downtown Columbia to Treasurer's Office. Had to park far away in metered spot. Walked to office, read sign directing me to the Auditor. Got tax due bill there. Walked to Treasurer's Office, paid $252.65 vehicle tax, got the "golden ticket" receipt. 5. Drove back to first DMV office near us. Waited a looong time to give them receipt. Paid $24. Received new decal. New title will be mailed to us. 45 miles, 2+ hours, 8 government employees, and $301.65 later I can finally check this off our list of things to do (a HUGE accomplishment for me who has spent most of the last 6 weeks on the couch). Seriously South Carolina - does this really need to be so difficult and inefficient? -Heather (thanks for letting me rant)