Sheila Day 1
Well . . . here we are again! Another year has passed seemingly in the blink of an eye. The first year that Sarah (a.k.a Rah) and I did this blog, we did not anticipate that it would be a repeat performance every year. We did it to help one another heal. We did it to refocus. We decided that if we could do for others, and write about the experiences, that maybe, just maybe we would feel the sparks and tingles of life in the places of our lives that had felt as though they died.
The song Do You Hear What I Hear kept resonating through our hearts, and for some reason, that became the focus of the blog. The first year used the words "do you see what I see" where we tried to really look and see what we could do for others, and in many ways, it cleared our minds and opened our broken hearts. We did what we could do for others that might make the holiday season somewhat brighter. The emotional words began to fill the pages, and I think I speak for both of us when I say, that blog changed us.
Year two . . . A MAJOR CHALLENGE! Rah and I knew that we were in trouble almost immediately! We decided to follow the lyrics of the song, and year two was "do you hear what I hear." Now, I do NOT know about Rah, but a lot of what I heard made me feel like the monkey above. I simply wanted to close my eyes, plug my ears, and scream LALALALALALALALALA at the top of my lungs. I heard some really AWFUL things and really found myself struggling to make sense of this mess of a world that we all live in. Where the first year gave to us through the spirit of giving, year two really had us searching like a quest to find Waldo in a circus of MESSED UP! We had to work to find the joy of the season!
I found myself challenged over and over and over and over again. Amazingly enough, both of us were again forever changed as a result of the experience. This year, as blog day got closer and closer, I found myself overwhelmed. I was not sure if I was again up for the challenge? After all, work is brutal, Rah is getting married in 57 days, and life is a crazy ride right now. I know this is going to be HARD! And the more I thought about this years theme of "Do you know what I know!" I kept thinking, I have NO clue what I am doing! Rah and I talked and decided to let our journey be the place of discovery and knowing . . . we really don't know what we will be writing about. So right now, we are in the same place, we all know nothing!
So, here we are again! Last night, Thanksgiving Eve, I spent with my kiddos, my daughter-in-law, my soon to be son-in-law who all now live in Fargo. Because their schedules are all kinds of messed up, we have to have time together when there is an opportunity. Family time COULD be a selfish time, after all, so much in their lives has changed! Maybe they would have just wanted to relish in something that was at least somewhat the same, but sometimes life throws curveballs! Okay, a lot of the time! Curveball! One of my best friends is going through a tough time. Her mama is incredibly ill and nobody knows what the future holds . . . she is very, very sick. Her mom has always welcomed me into her home when I was alone, and last night, my kiddos opened their homes and invited my friend to share the holiday eve. This could have been a difficult choice, this could have felt like just too much change, after all, the holidays are for family . . . aren't they? Or are they? The holidays are for welcoming people in, for helping people in pain, for paying attention for opportunities to help others. And welcome they did! The evening was quite lovely. It was full of laughter, food, and conversation! It was a blessing . . . and I KNOW I am incredibly proud of all of my kiddos!
I am sitting today, Thanksgiving Day, in the hospital. It is not a good day for my friends mom. She is in a lot of pain, she was sick when we got here, and there is no major holiday celebration. We are sitting around a hospital bed and today is tough. However, I am listening to a mama and her baby girl talk about life, silly things, and they are chatting about Alaska the Last Frontier which is on TV. They are talking about family, and times of the past, and amidst the pain, there are smiles and the room is filled with love. Last year we shared Thanksgiving in her mom's home around a table and this year we celebrate thanksgiving around a life filled with incredible love. I do not know what their journey will be like in the next days or weeks. I do not know what life will look like by next Thanksgiving. Actually, I know a whole lot less than I know; however, I do know this . . . the greatest of these IS love!
Sheila
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Sarah Day 1
Welcome back to our blog! I can hardly believe it has already been a year, but I must admit that I am so excited to be back at the blog again! Our theme this year is Do you know what I know, but Mom and I are unsure of what that is going to mean. We have spent a lot of time together chatting about where we could go with this theme, but in the end, we decided to just start writing and see what happens. I'm excited for this! I am usually very much of a planner and I don't typically just "go with the flow," it kind of freaks me out. But when it comes to our blog, nothing bad has ever come out of it, so this is the good kind of not knowing.
My brother and his wife moved to Fargo a few weeks ago, they live just across the street from Jesse and I, which has been great. But because of hectic work schedules, Jesse and I decided to host Thanksgiving at our apartment yesterday. Mom made the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Because I don't eat meat, I made a quinoa and chickpea salad, green bean casserole, bread and cranberries. And Jordan made a delicious cheesecake with raspberry toppings from scratch. Yummm!! We are all pretty good cooks if we try, but I must admit that cooking is not my favorite activity. Mom, Jordan, Sam, Jesse and I started the evening off, and then Mom's friend joined a little bit later. We shared a lot of great food, good wine, and laughs.
I have spent most of Thanksgiving day alone as Jesse is working until 7:00pm. Well, I shouldn't say alone. It has been me and our three cats, along with our one foster kitten. We have had a long, busy day of taking naps, watching Hallmark movies, and eating. But as I've been lounging around, I have had a lot of time to reflect on the last year and what I am thankful for. So I have decided to catch you up on a few of the good (and bad) things that have happened in my life since we wrapped up, Do you see what I see.
Do you know . . .
* Jesse and I got engaged shortly after the blog ended, on January 4th, 2014. We are planning a January 24th wedding, which is coming up very quickly! I can hardly wait to be Mrs. Castle!
* I started graduate school! I am working towards my M.A. in Humane Education. The good news is that I absolutely love my classes. The bad news is that my classes started as the campaign that I was working on was ending, so I have been a little behind. I'm lucky that my professors have been very understanding, as they know the campaign world very well.
* Speaking of campaign, North Dakotans for Clean Water, Wildlife and Parks fortunately made it on the November ballot, but unfortunately it did not pass. I was pretty devastated for a good week, but after that, I was able to accept the results and look at the experience more positively. The campaign raised the awareness that we needed it to, and it taught me more than anything has ever taught me before. Sorry Mom for all those gray hairs I gave you because of campaign meltdowns. :)
* I have fostered close to 50 cats in the last year. I normally foster short-term which means a month or less, because Jesse and I are still living in an apartment. We don't want to risk getting kicked out. We normally foster kittens, sometimes with a mom and sometimes without. It's very rewarding, although I cry almost every time I have to let them go. I recently shared one of my pictures of six kittens that I fostered on Jackson Galaxy's Facebook page . . . He is a cat behaviorist and the host of My Cat From Hell. He ended up seeing my picture and shared it. The picture is currently at almost 17,000 likes, 830 shares, and 500 comments. Pretty cool, right?!
Of course there are several other things that I am thankful for that I didn't mention above, like my family, my friends, my health, the roof over my head, and lots of food to eat. Thanksgiving is a day that should be spent celebrating life and all that we have, and I am very grateful to be full and warm and loved!
I hope you have had a very blessed Thanksgiving!
Sarah
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