November 2018

With the changing of seasons and the onset of the holidays, November has been an interesting month. Here's what we've been up to.

Running into People

We went out for Chipotle and then a college basketball game after work one night this month. At Chipotle, we ran into someone Becky knew from the library story times that has a boy Alex's age. Then at the basketball game, we ran into someone I knew from work. Later this month, I ran into someone I knew from church at Lowe's. This made me think about how running into people you know in a new place is as good of a sign as any that you are finally beginning to get settled there. After 12 years in Arizona, it wasn't unusual to run into people I knew at the grocery store or on campus. But after moving to a new place where no one knows me within a perimeter of two thousand miles, I sometimes have a similar feeling that I have had when backpacking by myself through a canyon: the feeling of knowing that no one on the planet has any idea where you are at the moment, but all the world around you is yours to explore. Not long after I moved to the Phoenix area, I was at a very large mall by myself one night and I ran into someone I knew from high school back in Utah (he was traveling for work). Similarly, on another occasion after hiking solo 10 miles out of canyon at Navajo National Monument in the four corners area, I ran into someone I knew from church in the visitors center after using the bathroom. Both experiences were so strange because they totally contradicted that feeling.

Game Night

At church, Becky teaches a Sunday School class for the singles in their late teens and twenties. Since our congregation is small, this is not usually a big group. But there are a few of them and they are a lot of fun. So we invited them over for a game night at our place the weekend after Thanksgiving. We had snacks and Christmas music and played a word puzzle trivia game that we made up on PowerPoint slides based on the NPR Sunday Puzzle, and we also played Dixit and a complicated game they brought called Betrayal. 

Ups and Downs of House Shopping

At the end of October, we put an offer on a house for the third time. This time, we made it further into the process than than previously. The seller accepted our offer after some back-and-forth, and we proceeded to inspections. Unfortunately, the inspector found a few things of significant concern, which may require tens of thousands of dollars to rectify. If it were just one thing, we would probably be willing to work it out. But ultimately we decided that buying this house would just leave us with too many big things and little things to repair, and the owner is probably not in a position to take care of those things or drop the price significantly. So the money spent on inspections was unfortunately for naught, but we learned a lot by walking through with the inspector.

Thanksgving

Being 2,000 miles away from relatives, our Thanksgiving holiday was fairly low-key. We just enjoyed having the time off, and eating out instead of slaving over a hot meal in the kitchen all day. So, where did we eat out? There were a few options around town. A few local places do full on Thanksgiving buffets that sound really nice, but are $35 a plate. There was also Cracker Barrel, which is a very popular and hence crowded place on the holiday. We considered the non-traditional route of hibachi at a couple Japanese restaurants in town that were open as well, but only two of us like Japanese food. So ultimately, we decided on IHOP because it wasn't crowded or expensive, and I could get Grinch minty-green hot cocoa there. Becky got a traditional turkey dinner, but I decided to go with steak instead. Aside from that, we took a trip to Walmart and the mall just to get a pie and get out of the house. Becky put up some Christmas decor around the house that we now won't be moving out of in December, while I worked on enveloping Christmas cards to send out. Alex took an early nap, which led to early bedtime and a quite evening with a movie for the two of us.

Christmas Cards

One of my odd enjoyments is designing a Christmas card and sending it out every year. This year I couldn't come up with any meaningful text to put on there, so it's mostly just photos that I've probably posted on here before. The front is a family photo that we took at Chenango Valley State Park in October specifically for the Christmas card, hence our green and red attire. And the back is an amalgamation of photos taken throughout the year with a reminder to those interested to check this family webpage for monthly updates. Since we live so far from family and friends, it's important to us to at least send a card to let people know we miss them in this digital age. And since we moved this year, I wanted to get cards out early in case people want our address (because we also love receiving Christmas cards too!). If we missed you on our Christmas card list, let us know and we'll be sure to add you for next year.

Turning Two

The day after Thanksgiving was Alex's second birthday, which means we no longer have to count his age by months. We went to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate, where we had pizza and played games with all the other families who were avoiding Black Friday sales. Later, we sang the obligatory song with a carrot cake muffin and two candles (a whole birthday cake is the last thing we need around the house right now). This last year has seen Alex go from crawling like a baby sea turtle to walking like a penguin, and now he runs and crashes on you like a puppy. He's still not much of a talker, at least not in our language anyway. But he is very conceptual and gets very focused on puzzles, gears, and lately, lining up cars and stacking things (see video below) -- including things that were once neatly organized in drawers and cupboards. He also likes to tilt his head and spin around, and he likes to feed us the foods we give him that he doesn't want to eat. We don't always understand his sense of humor, but it's definitely there. He'll invent games like running and flopping on pillows to crack himself up (see video below). His imagination lights up during playtime, and he is often running around the house with a car at eye-level and narrating an adventure unknown to us with an assortment of noises. He's the center of our little universe, and we look forward to the challenges and surprises his third year will bring us with hope that we'll be able to keep up with him.

To see more photos and videos of autumn leaves, opening birthday gifts, playing at Chuck E Cheese, enjoying a basketball game on campus and other activities this month,  see our album here.