Carr State of the Union

(I thought I'd write a little Carr State of the Union- in honor of the real SOTU a few weeks ago that I didn't actually watch because I hate how mean the opposite parties behave during the speech. This seems to be an issue for me, regardless of the political affiliation of the President. It just makes me really uncomfortable. Is that what it's like when the two parties have to be in the same room? It's like the friggin Sharks and the Jets, but so much less dance-y. Anyway, on to my speech/blog. Also, know that I don't intend to proofread this. Thank you.)

 All of the sudden, we're in a New Year (or apparently 1/6 of the way though it already) and I thought I should update the blog. Despite my last post literally being about how I almost died in 2013, 2013 was still one of the very best years of our lives. We knew all year about Jeff's dream job offer, and the hopefulness and gratitude that accompanied that really flavored the rest of the year. We were able to spend a lot of the year with our families and we actually traveled a near-freakish amount (15 states in 6 months) and even knocked everything off our California bucket-list. Here's some of my favorite 2013 moments.

Exploring the Tetons with Jeff for our 5th anniversary and listeninng to Mindy Kaling's "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" was pretty much what happiness is.

This was the night that I got Appendicitis, but nonetheless, exploring the District at night was really lovely.

One day we just hopped in the car and went to Yellowstone with Cindy and Amy and it was just perfect. I loved it so much. I want to spend some legitimate time in Yellowstone.  I can't believe how many different and cool things are in one park.

Our trip to New York was the kind of trip that Adam still brings up frequently. He would not stop talking about it today, in fact. I asked him what he wanted to do in New York and he told me, "Watch TV. They have TVs there." 

The day we randomly drove to Annapolis was just a happy day- I love when we are spontaneous.

The time we went to Bear World and a deer bit Jeff and Adam.

Our spontaneous trip to Big Sur was one of my favorite days of my life. I feel like I've seen some cool things, but this remains the most beautiful. 

Our last trip to Santa Cruz was especially fine. 

The family trip to Vegas was wonderful. 

Jeff took me on a boat ride around the bay for my birthday and it was a blast.

Muir Woods was beautiful and also significant because it was the last thing on our California bucket-list. 

There are a ton more, but it takes me years to put pictures on the blog, so you'll have to take my word that we had some other nice moments last year.

I still feel sad when I think about saying goodbye to California (and the wonderful people there), but we're enjoying the DC area. Honestly, just seeing how happy Jeff is professionally makes it worth it. Also, I'm super pumped to explore the East Coast some more. I've got a bit of a Virginia bucket-list adding up and I'm getting anxious to make a dent in it. Winter has not been conducive to my travel plans or anything in general except making me miss California so terribly much.

2014 is strange so far. I feel like 2013 had so much momentum and I wish I knew how to continue that. I always have to feel like I'm moving towards something or I get depressed. I know I can't be alone in that. I guess I better nip my wee little quarter-life crisis in the bud. I'll let you know when I figure out how. Anyway, let us move on with the CSOTU.

JEFF:
Jeff is doing well. He finished some training that was closer to home and now his commute increases a fair bit. He listens to a lot of NPR on the commute, so he always comes home and says things like "I heard on NPR..." and I say things like: "Uggggggghhh." I get the merits of NPR. I acknowledge them. But what I need from the radio is the ability to not make me fall asleep while I am driving and a radio station that is dedicated to monotone voices just doesn't keep me awake. Jeff likes it, however and that was the original point of this now-pointless paragraph.

Jeff loves his job. He gets to do a lot of cool things, including some travel. An upcoming trip of his will be about 2 weeks and I am already going insane. He was away for a week and I nearly burst into tears when he came home. Apparently I DO need a man to make me happy. Sorry, Feminism. Sometimes I suck.

He also seems to be into the Olympics more than any other person alive, which is impressive. He also has been working on writing letters with Adam and they are just so adorable about it. He also keeps choosing to read really boring books and I enjoy watching him fall asleep reading- it's one of his most endearing habits. He also wrote me the most romantic letter ever for Valentine's Day and snuck out after a blizzard to buy me flowers. He does the dishes every night and is always down for whatever foreign television show I suggest we watch and spent 3 hours digging our cars out of the snow and he listens to me as I tell him about blind gossip items and the politics in Mexico and I listen to him as he tells me about politics in Russia and that Jimmy Fallon apparently did a good job on his first night of the Tonight Show. And the guy knows grammar better than anyone in world, but he doesn't care a jot that I just made a terribly long run-on sentence.

I predict that good things will come to Jeff this year because he is a good thing.

SARAH:

Sarah fell down the stairs today. She just keeps falling down the stairs because she keeps putting up festive garlands on the railing and apparently her desire to not mess up the 1.00 dollar heart garland is higher than her desire to survive, because, as I said, she keeps falling down the stairs. Her phone was broken in the fall, but covered by warranty which frankly, seems silly.

Sarah got new glasses. Her last pair was left on the counter by herself and then moved to the table by Jeffrey, who was cleaning the counter. Avery proceeded to climb atop the table and within seconds had pulled the glasses apart. Sarah's last pair of glasses suffered a similar fate when Adam was a baby. Heavens, Sarah's portion of the Carr State of the Union has been only focusing on things that kind of reflect badly on her (ie, the inability to keep glasses safe and the inability to not fall down the stairs).

Sarah lost of bunch of weight recently. She really shouldn't mention it, because it has been a completely random thing and doesn't really reflect well on her either. She now weighs as much as she did when she got married, but the weight loss has been really silly in that it has mostly been in non-flattering areas, like the chest and legs, but not the stomach. She fancies that she looks a bit like a Sneetch.

And thus ended the Sarah portion, she feels like she really needeth not linger on the parts on her, since she is the author of this blog and an incurable narcissist,  and is likely to throw bits about her in the other sections.

ADAM:

Adam is better than cheese whiz. As he has grown up, he has turned into such a happy, reasonable and bright little guy. He still loves geography and just a few days ago proclaimed that Japan was a state near China, which is incorrect, but still cool. He also has recently declared a desire to visit France, Russia, and Mozambique. He just loves traveling and general adventures and is such a good addition to the team.

He still doesn't eat, though. Oh my. It is such a struggle to get him to eat anything, even things he likes. Today it took him forever to eat some cereal and this is with me constantly reminding him to eat. He eventually ate about three bites and I got frustrated and then I apologized and he said "I'm sorry you lost your temper too," which he really seems to think is the right thing to say- he's so earnest when he says it. Feeding and his hyperactivity and him shouting at Avery and how much television we should watch are the only sore spots between us. It sounds like a long list, but we're usually pretty cool. Also, I don't like it when he does naughty things and blames it on Ducky. "I know that you control him!!"

Adam wrote his name all by himself yesterday and recognized the words "up" and "big" by sight today, which made me happy. He loves to sing and does a fine rendition of "Edelweiss" and "Just the Way You Are." He is excited for spring and for the snow to melt, even though he loves playing in it. Everyday when we walk outside, he declares the day to be something. "It's a nice day" or "It's a wacky day." He says the word "wacky" more than the average person because he is really fond of the obscure  Dr. Seuss book, Wacky Wednesday. It takes forever to read and there is a picture of a butt in it, if you were curious.

AVERY:

Avy continues to turn into a kid. I really like kids, but it squeezes your heart a little tight when your baby makes the leap. She has a pretty good grasp of talking, but is also teeny-tiny, so people sometimes freak out when they hear her. I don't mean to give the impression that she's a genius, but she speaks relatively well and is especially proficient at pleasantries. I've had a cold and whenever I sneeze or cough, regardless of where she is in the house, I hear this little voice say, "Bless you, Mommy." I always say, "Thank you, Avery" and she either responds with "Thank you, Mommy," or "You're Welcome, Mommy." Only one is correct, but both are adorable. She speaks in (short) sentences and randomly taught herself how to count and she's doing well at the ABC's too. She is a bright little thing and it is completely a reflection on her.

She is also a sensitive little thing. She still usually bursts into tears if I walk out of a room. She screams. A lot. All day long I hear her say "Hold yooouuuuuu! Hold meeeeeee!" If I shower during the day, I have to shower with her. She will not abide me doing that alone. I will try to turn on something really enticing on the TV and sneak up stairs and turn on the shower. I can hear her, 2 stories up, with the shower running, screaming. So I usually just put a non-slip mat in the shower and she sits and watches me shower. I know, it's awful. She always tries to turn the water colder and grab my razor and I think, "Is this truly living?"

I feel like I could tell you a host of stories about Avery that would make her sound pretty iffy, but the truth is, most everyone who meets Avery instantly adores her. She is frequently super pleasant and charming and always very cute. She has just so many people who thinks she is the bee's knees. The sad fact of the matter is that she saves most of her difficult behavior for me. So not only do I have to deal with it, nobody believes me. It's like the Twilight Zone episode where this guy sees a gremlin on the plane and people think he's certifiable. Avery is frequently a difficult child, but she is always beloved. She is kind and concerned and so curious about life and she brings me so many moments of heart-stopping joy. She just also brings me some moments of eardrum-piercing screams. C'est la vie with toddlers- I still kind of love it.

That's all you get tonight, folks. It is midnight and Jeff has been waiting to tell me something about our church calling (we're on the stake PR committee) all night and I've been like, "Uhhhh, wait till I'm done blogging." Sorry to Jeff and the fellow committee members. My stalling was pretty intentional.

Ok, so we let the kids try on my glasses. I KNOW that I just wrote about how the kids have broken my all of glasses, but it's KIDS in GLASSES. I cannot resist that.

KIDS IN GLASSES!