2% milk makes the world go round

It appears the rain is finally coming after holding off all weekend. It’s my favorite kind of gloomy Monday morning. My husband is working from home, the dog is staying out of trouble, the windows are open, and I’m sitting at my dining room table with a delicious creamy cup of coffee, compliments of a little 2% with sugar. The house is clean and I feel delightful.

My family was in town for my cousin’s wedding this weekend and we had a fabulous time. My parents got to tour the latest house we’re thinking of buying, we had some of the best deep dish pizza in all of Chicago with our cousins, and we all seriously danced the night away at the Trettel-Sullivan wedding.

My parents, sister, future bro-in-law, and husband are hands down some of my favorite people to spend time with. There’s just nothing like having the whole Moore family together in one place. It’s going to be near impossible to wait for my sister’s wedding in September.

Our mini vacation came to an end yesterday afternoon and I’m thankful for Monday off to ease back into real Chicago life. The junior Manns have got a lot going on. Jeremy is finishing up the bulk of his teachers’ first year, I’m waiting to hear on a major scholarship that will determine how I begin school in September, and we’re trying to buy a house as the end of our lease is quickly approaching. It’s a bit unreal not knowing what our lives will look like just a couple months from now. It’s freaky, but mostly exciting. I take solace in telling myself that we’re still young and resilient.

On the greater Mann family front, I’m practically counting down the days until the big Mann Family Vacation in Door County, Wisconsin. The last time all of us were together was for Jason and Natalie’s wedding TWO YEARS ago! Our lives have all drastically changed in some way or another since that time in Stinson Beach, and it’s going to be incredible to spend an entire week together. Also Jeremy and I will finally get to meet our little nice, Mercy!

Life is very good, and I am continually amazed at where God has taken us in the past three years. Can’t wait to see what’s up ahead!

April

Well it’s finally April. The dead of winter is over and this year spring really feels like spring. Ok, well spring hasn’treally sprung just yet and I hear April is an especially wet month here in Chicago. But this year the changing of the seasons is uniquely coinciding with a whole lot of new and different in my life.

We’re coming up one one year in Chicago this July, which makes it feel like a legitimate home. I’ve felt settled in and connected here since pretty early on, but being able to count ten months between moving in and now is concrete proof to myself that we’ve actually been here a while. I like it here. The Midwest is my true home more than I ever could have guessed and Chicago is growing on me all the time. And I’m thoroughly enjoying that can’t-wait-for-summer feeling you can only get in a place that experiences the sub-zero temperatures of the Dead of Winter.

I’m finally beginning to hear back from graduate school programs. I didn’t get into UIC, but De Paul accepted me and I’ve got faculty interviews at Rush in a week. It’s incredibly exciting and a bit surreal to think of myself in NP school this fall.

Our lease will be up in July and Jeremy and I will move out of our neighborhood. We like our apartment and our landlord is wonderful, but we’re excited to leave Wicker Park in hopes to find a more diverse, lower income community we can be a part of. Lately we’re spending lots of time perusing pad mapper, analyzing all kinds of Chicago maps, and going on neighborhood reconnaissance treks with our friends. We’re also entertaining the idea of buying something. Our dream life includes us buying an old (late 1800′s-early 1900′s) stone three or four flat building to live in and rent to some of our friends as well as local neighborhood peeps.

In other very EXCITING news, my siblings-in-law Josh and Bex Mann have finally arrived to the states with their baby girl, Mercy! It’s funny. It’s not like we get to see them or even chat with them much while they’re in Oregon, but it feels so good to have them back in Salem! Maybe it’s just knowing they’re a quick, easy, good connection of a phone call away that feels so great. We got to chat with them on the phone the day after they got home and it was so refreshing to hear their voices. I don’t think I would have known before they took the step, but it feels so wonderful to have parents and a baby among this generation of Manns. I’m so thankful for their new little family, and I am so looking forward to taking notes as these two incredible people raise a daughter.

I could write about a handful of other wonderful things I’m looking forward to and excited about, but this should do for now. So thankful to be alive!

big Moore fam news

Being married is the best. Good and good for you. I really truly enjoy being married, and I’ve been married almost three years, so you have to take my words on marriage as credible. At the very least, you can’t discredit me for “being in the honeymoon phase.” Yes, it’s work–very hard work, sometimes. But it’s the best kind of work, and I’d wish marriage on just about everyone.

Last weekend was one of the greatest weekends of my life because my parents flew me to Minnesota with my husband to see my sister get ENGAGED.

I am so happy for this new season of life in the Moore fam. Cheers! And congrats to Matt and Fain!!! Thank you, parents!!! It was so wonderful. My sister is the absolute best and I can’t think of anyone in the world I’d rather see engaged. And not only that; her fiancé is the FRICKIN BOMB. I couldn’t have dreamt up a better fit for her. I’m so very happy with my bro-in-law-to-be. Matt’s funny, caring, humble, interesting, talented, and seriously genuine. I love the guy, and it’s a relief to know my sister is marrying someone I both enjoy and trust to be a great husband to her.

holiday times in photogs

BOY did we have a great time in Minnesota for Christmas. The trip was short, but sweet. We made it home just in time for the big Moore Fam Christmas Eve, spent Christmas morning with both our fams, spent Christmas afternoon Yankee-swapping with the Trettels, ate a fancy Christmas dinner at the Manns, and had three days to spare for chill time with our fams. Just a few of the many highlights of our trip:

	Driving around Minnesota with the Jer. We made it to the Mann’s from Chicago in about 6.5 hours. The drive went surprisingly well considering we left after work on the 23rd. Also considering our dog’s tender constitution.

My sister’s boyfriend Mathematics (some people call him Matt) made it to Christmas Eve at Grannie and Grandpa’s. There’s Figs and him wearing the traditional tissue paper crowns we get inside our crackers.

Father Mann on Christmas morn’ in his Christmas head ware.

Christmas Dinner at the Mann’s. After dinner we sang Christmas Carols and gave each other tips we had to pass on from the year 2010.

On our last night we made a big dinner at the Moore’s. Jeremy, ma and I made this delicious (and impressive-looking) braided sweet bread. Yums.

Lovely things

I don’t think it’s great to begin every post apologizing for disappearing. On the other hand, it’s been far too long since I’ve taken the time to write here: I’m aware. Here’s me acknowledging my absence.

Well would you know it, I think we’re slipping into winter over here in the Midwest. Many leaves have fallen, most of the remaining ones are dead and brown (or might as well be), and the low for tonight is 31 degrees. I’m inside a coffee shop wearing a scarf and a down coat. ‘Nough said.

I spent a weekend in Minnesota at the beginning of the month. It was quite possibly the most delightful weekend I’ve ever spent visiting (the only downside was the absence of my husband). It was the first time in 7 years I had been back while autumn was happening. I couldn’t believe how much color was in the trees, and how much I took this for granted until I’d been away from it for so long. We enjoyed the season by going for chilly family walks and visiting an apple orchard. My grandpa turned 80 and my grandma threw him a big bash. It was so much fun spending time with all my grandparents’ neighbors and old friends. My grandpa is a really wonderful man, and it was so special to be able to actually celebrate him in person.

I think the best thing about this trip was how normal it was. We’re usually in Minnesota for the holidays or a lengthy, fun-filled summer vacation. Everyone is on vacation and there’s lots going on. Going home for a short weekend in the middle of fall was a totally different experience. Everyone was in the middle of living their normal lives. My mom and I bummed around town together. I met my friend Katie’s new baby twin girls in her home. We ran into a wonderful couple we know and love with all five of their kids at the apple orchard. My sister and I had coffee one morning before she worked. I was struck by how precious the normality of life felt. I love my family so much and I have always loved going home. But this trip made me long to live near them like never before. I came back to Chicago feeling disappointed at the complexity of life.

This trip made me want to move to Minneapolis and have kids, oddly enough. It made me want to be able to have my parents over for dinner without having to ask an entire weekend of them. It made me want to be able to call my sister up and meet her in uptown for coffee and walking. I can imagine such a wonderful life for us in Minnesota.

On the other hand, I’m 100% sure God wants us in Chicago now. He’s made it far too clear for me to think otherwise. And I like it. I’ve been so blessed by the people we’ve connected with here. My job has been so good for me. I’m excited about going to grad school. I love our church. I’m excited for Jeremy to start seminary. We’re experiencing another great city, and learning a lot along the way.

I guess for now the best I can do is pray that someday God brings us back to Minnesota for a time. And I can be thankful for the proximity he’s offered us to family in the meantime. We’ve got such great families. I’ve spent many days recently thinking about what a great life I have. I’m not sure how or why it turned out that way, but I’m beyond thankful.

tribute to my shmaps

This is my dad. Michael Moore. Hands down, no question, the absolute best father in the world. You will not find a better one. This man is so great, it makes me sad he has no sons to carry on his family name. That’s how great.

This tribute is not for no reason at all. Today, September 16th, is his birthday. And I couldn’t be more thankful this man was born. I’m not thankful because he made my existence possible. I truly think the world is a better place with Michael C. Moore in it.

Some things I love love love about my dad:

The fact that he’s an engineer. Engineering wasn’t always my dad’s dream job, but he’s really great at it, and I love how easily he can understand and explain complicated things. One time he told me all about how the air conditioner in the car works, just for fun.

His creativity. My dad is quite possibly the most creative, inventive person I’ve ever known. When we were young, in the days long before digital video and editing, my dad got all the neighbor kids, my sister and myself together to make a silent film about a family of zucchinis, set to music.

His sense of humor. All you people out there who think I’m funny, this man is largely to blame. He’s the source. When we were young, he told my sister and I we were not aloud to tell others to “shut up.” He said instead we could just tell people to SYFFT (pronounced sift), which stood for “shut your fat flapping trap.” It’s difficult to explain in written words how he is the best kind of hilarious you can find. I just love being around him.

His humility. My dad is so low profile. He has all the reason in the world to be prideful, and yet he is the most humble, unassuming person you’ll come across. He’s kind and generous and never draws attention to himself.

His love for my mom. All our lives, my dad set the bar high for my sister and my future husbands. He has always treated my mom like he really enjoys her. In a world where marriages were constantly struggling and falling apart, my sister and I always had a healthy one to look up to. I’m so thankful for his faithfulness and love to her.

His trust in the Lord. My dad has a strong relationship with God, and has set an incredible example to be content in our circumstances and to expect that God is able to do great things. He lives his life in a way that is sensitive to the Holy Spirit, and he’s taught me to seek to do the same.

I could talk about my dad for hours. I just really truly think he’s the best. He inspires me to be a far better person than I am. I admire and love him so much, and hope I can be just like him someday.

I’m so blessed to be the daughter of this man! HERE’S TO MY SHMAPS ON HIS BIRTHDAY!!!

Figs for August 9th

No, no. Not these kind of figs:

Gross. Come on. THIS is the Figs I’m talking about:

Her “real” name is Lauren. But I call her by many names (such as Figs, Figgy, Figgy-wouldn’t-would-she, Figgers, Figgin, Feign-an-illness, Fain, Fernain, LeurFain, etc.–and the list truly does go on). The reason this blog post is entitled “Figs for August 9th” is because this one and only Figs was born on that day 25 years ago. And since we are already two days past the momentous occasion (also known in our family as “the best day of the year”), a tribute to this exceptional human being is overdue.

This is my big sister. And you should know right off the bat that I’m sure there’s never been a better sister. Not even probably a sister who came anywhere close to the great sister that she is.

It goes without saying that she’s absolutely gorgeous. People know it just by looking at her once, so I don’t need to go into vast detail to try and convince you of this.

Looks aside, she’s one of the best people you can know. She’s got an incredible sense of humor, which makes being her sister a real hoot. There is hands down no one I laugh harder and more frequently with than Fain. She’s a major part of why I have so many great memories of growing up in the Moore family.

She’s also kind and considerate. I admire her quickness to give others the benefit of the doubt, and she’s careful to really love others well. She’s the most loyal friend I know and consistently proves to be the person I can call to feel like someone really knows me even when I feel like life is throwing me around.

She’s incredibly smart and thoughtful. I love talking with Fain because conversations with her never fail to turn into conversations about the things that really matter most in life. She’s strong, generous, an amazing singer, good at reading interesting books, cares about the right things, loves her family and loves the Lord.

She has pretty much all the qualities I wish I had more of. Here’s to Fain! A woman who is easy to love, and inspires us to become better human beings for the purpose of glorifying the good God who made her!

missing manns

Here’s me with seven of my favorite people in the world. We all share a last name. As for first names, it goes like this: Jason, Natalie, Josh, Becca, Erin, Jeremy, Rick, and Cheri.

Well. One of the best weeks of my summer has come to an end. July 4th has come and gone, and so has my time with the Manns. For those of you who don’t know, Jeremy and I got to spend one week–Sunday to Sunday–in Stinson Beach with the Manns for a Mann family vaca and the marrying off of the last Mann bro. We stayed in an octagonal beach house on Stinson Beach Bay.

We slept in, drank coffee in the mornings, explored the bay by various forms of seacraft, spent time in San Fransisco, met new friends, saw new places, hung out with extended fam, and partied down at a BOMB wedding. The views were beautiful, the food was good, the weather was nice, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium was worth writing home about. But by far the worst thing about driving away was leaving the Manns.

Here’s the thing. I love my in-laws. Who loves their in-laws? Ok ok, I think there are probably lots of other people in the world who love their in-laws. At least I hope so. But do they enjoy them so much that they really want to hang out with them for greatly extended periods of time? Because let me tell you, when I left Stinson Beach, I had not had enough Mann time.

I guess since we don’t get to see each other terribly often, these short vacations make for compacted times of quality connection. It’s like we have one week to live out six months we don’t normally get to be together. The time we have is precious and short, so little of it is wasted. Every moment feels to me like a unique opportunity to dive into each others’ lives, get to know one another, and soak up all the QT we can. It’s great. But it always leaves me wishing we didn’t all live in such different universes so far from one another.

It didn’t quite hit me until the last day how neat it was to be a real completed Mann clan. The bride and groom called us just in time for lunch before we headed out of town on Sunday, so we got to hang out one last time: Rick and Cheri with the boys and their wives. We were it. This was the fam I’d have on this side for the rest of my life. And what a fam it is.

time for another tribute

This is a tribute to my sister-in-law Becca Mann. She’s great, and I was inspired to tribute her today for two reasons:

1. Right now, she is at home, while her husband is in Burkina-Faso, Africa for three weeks! What a great example of a loving, supportive wife who knows a thing or two about perseverance.

2. She’s one person I can always count on to watch my flip videos and read my blog. I know there are others of you out there, but Becca really has a knack for this. Her and her husband are the ones who inspired me to do all this techno-communication in the first place.

Ok. So, here goes the tribute:

Let’s get a picture on here just to get things started. Here’s one of Becca with her hubs, one of my bro-fo-in-laws, from who knows when:

Aside from being my most fashion-savvy family member, Becca is all of these things (and more):

1. Smart and ambitious. Becca works at a church, is married to a youth pastor, invests in many of the lives of younger people at her church, takes really good care of their awesome house in Salem, Oregon, spends time with friends, reads a lot of Real Simple, AND goes to school!

2. Hi.larious. I love spending time with her because she makes me laugh a lot. It’s fun being with her and her husband too because they tend to elevate each others’ levels of funny when they’re in the same room.

3. Really great to talk to. Becca is really good at investing in people’s lives. She knows how to have a good conversation and obviously cares about doing so. I always appreciate her desire to share herself with others in honest and humbling ways.

4. Interesting and helpful. I always love heading to her blog, because she’s usually got something worth reading or seeing. Whether it be some good wisdom on life’s circumstances, a recent find, or some great practical tips, I’m always glad I visited.

5. Great at reflecting. Becca is great at sharing her thoughts about life. She’s sensitive to what God may be doing in her life and always seems to be working toward meaningful growth. I’m reminded by the way she lives her life how important it is to constantly be making progress on becoming the people God wants us to be.

Well, kids. I hope you feel honored to have read about this great great tributed individual. Cheers for Becca!

grandparent’s day

In case you were unaware, today, January 28th, was Grandparents’ Day. I probably should have alerted more people to this fact earlier on in the day, but here I am. Better late than never. You should know that I am one of those lucky folks who still has both sets of grandparents. Even more than that, I have two more sets of grandparents as a result of marrying my husband. That leaves me with FOUR-count ‘em-four sets of grandparents in the world today. Here are some neat things about my grandparents (original and in-law):

Clement “Grandfather” Moore (my pap’s pap): This grandpa is incredibly handy. He once made a car. MADE. Currently, he’s making an antique-style secretary desk for Jeremy and I as a wedding gift.

Veronica “Granny” Moore (my pap’s ma): This grandma’s got lots up her sleeves. She can make a mean Chicken Washington and watches the Bachelor. She can also make just about anything on her sewing machine.

Otto “Grandpa” Trettel (ma’s pa): This grandpa is big on telling jokes and does it well. He once taught me a song entitled “Combination Underware,” about a person who got stuck in his combination underware because he lost the combination.

Nancy “Grandma” Trettel (ma’s ma): This grandma knows every card game in the book, and has taught me the majority of the ones I know. She keeps her husband in line and has an incredible laugh when she really gets going.

Richard “Papa” Potter (pa-in-law’s pa): This grandpa is a national bridge champion and really fun to converse with. He loves to fish and has great stories.

Betty “Grandma” Potter (pa-in-law’s ma): This grandma is a saint, if only for putting up my with pa-in-law in the early years. She likes to travel and allows her grandkids to stay at her beach house. (Thanks!)

Kenneth “Grandpa” Wynkoop (ma-in-law’s pa): This grandpa really knows how to throw a  regular family get-together. He also gives speeches. As of yet, he has not given any of these speeches during a regular family get-together, but one can hope.

Jean “Grandma” Wynkoop (ma-in-law’s ma): This grandma collects nut crackers and could beat most young men in bowling, golf, and probably other things. She is known to her enemies as “JAWS,” but she’s really a softie.

So there you have it. Eight whole grandparents, each very different and unbelievably wonderful. This small tribute to them demonstrates the tiniest sliver of my affections for them. Love you, grandparents! I’m so thankful for you all. Happy Grandparents’ Day!!!