Parasailing in the Keys

So this was a crazy fun good time... Loved this. We were actually surprised how peaceful and quiet it was once we were up high... It was amazing! This and the Hemingway House were the best part of Key West, along with the beautiful drive to get down there.

Happy Anniversary :)

So today was the 11th anniversary of our Kentucky wedding, which means in November we will be married 12 years. Ten years ago this weekend, we were moving into this house on Mimosa, and we had just found out that the child I was carrying was a boy. I already felt deep down that the baby I was expecting was a boy; and I had been struck at a particular moment in time (walking Maggie at sunset; at the apartment complex; sprinklers came on; weird prisms coming through the sunshine and the water; with Dave...) with the notion that not only was I having a boy but that I would name him Jonathan. I didn't share this with Dave at that moment, although Jonathan was one of the several names we were floating around for a first name for a boy. We always had our middle name down. Jonathan was often vetoed because Dave did not like John because of its reference to the toilet; and he was concerned that people would call Jonathan Jon and he didn't like this. SO... I was student teaching; 5 sections of 7th graders a day at a wonderful school. I was genuinely sad when my internship was up; and ten years later, I still have all of the notes and thank you cards and baby shower cards the students wrote me in a file. I was terrified my first day of student teaching, and every time I got up in front of the class I questioned WHY ON EARTH someone like me, who had been quiet and shy and deathly afraid of being up in front of crowds her entire life would CHOOSE a career path that required being up in front of a most judgmental group of teens every day. They were well prepared to be bored and to shut down, tune out and disrespect me as a source of anything valuable... But as soon as I found out I was expecting my son, I marched in there with a different attitude. I wasn't going to have my adrenaline racing all over the place. I had MORE IMPORTANT things to care about. I was going to be a mother. This was simply a three month stepping stone. Having a baby was forever and everything I did revolved around him. I would not be provoked or freak out; I would stay calm. And I felt some strange newfound sense of authority that years of being able to be married and drink and smoke and vote and drive and whatever else our society might deem as being "adult"--I was going to be a parent. And therefore, these kids could not scare me. And if I failed at student teaching, which I was not going to do, I realized that I had a scary sense of perspective; an overwhelming sense of responsibility towards this child that was still really only a chance; a possibility. But I felt certain he was a boy; and even though I went through months of the name game with Dave, even entering the hospital with the assumption he would be called Alexander, I just knew in my gut that his name was Jonathan. And I mean, I was right. Ask anyone. My son's name is Jonathan. ;) I do not know where I am leading with all this except that I am remembering ten years ago, Memorial Day Weekend, and I had just graduated from college, I was expecting our firstborn, I had just found out it was to be a boy, and we were moving, Dave, me, Maggie (our now deceased dog) and the two cats (still, miraculously on some accounts, alive) into our first house. We had NO CLUE what we were getting into. But I am happy to say, that while Jon may have just made it all look easy, parenting was not all that difficult. Home ownership? Well, THAT has been educational. I guess the thing is, with parenting, no matter what sort of children you are gifted with, even if they are challenging as all get out, you are immensely rewarded. Such as with our second child. Anna. Our beautiful, smart, fiercely independent and outrageously funny Anna. She would demand to be fed every 20 minutes around the clock and you would feel like you had spent your day wrestling an insanely strong 15 pound baby and you just  wanted to throw yourself on the ground and cry, but then she would turn her blue eyes on you and flash this crinkly nose, toothy grinned smile at you and you would just think, I am SO LUCKY!

I think back to Memorial Day weekend, 2002. A year before we moved into the house. The weekend of our Kentucky wedding. Dave and I had already been married since November of 2001, so when I walked down the aisle with my Dad, it was kind of a sure thing. I had already been married and had been Mrs. David for six months. One of the things I remember about walking down the aisle was that it was nothing like I had imagined it. For one thing, my Dad was at my arm, and I was walking towards my brothers. I remember watching both of their faces. Honestly, I had NEVER thought my Dad would be there, in a rented tux, walking me down the aisle. I always assumed that probably I would have both of my brothers give me away, since they had filled the role of Dad in many ways, and at many times I was not sure what role my Dad would have in my life. And like, if I had a wedding, and I asked, would he show up? Well, he did. And I am glad I did it that way. Because he only has one daughter, and that was his one chance to do that, ever. And I only have one father, and he was alive and willing. So I am grateful for that memory. It was a little healing for me to have him there, standing up tall and having things be proper and normal. If I had had him at the wedding just as a guest, I would have just felt awkward and awful the whole time. I am also grateful that my now in heaven stepdad Ed is in my wedding pictures and was at the wedding with my Mom. See, you never know how anything will turn out. But Ed turned out to be a very important person in my life, and someone that I will forever be grateful for having had the privilege to have loved. And I am so beyond grateful that he was Poppa Ed to Jon and Anna. They remember a surprising amount about him; but I guess I should not say that, since he is someone that is impossible to forget. At the time, I was so upset that a certain wedding guest could not make it to the wedding due to a family crisis. I was just crying so much over this. Now, I am grateful. Because while I loved this person, they floated in and out of my life so easily that they didn't belong in those photos. My stepdad Ed did. My Dad did. Sometimes there are things in life that seem so sad at the time but looking back a tiny bit you realize, oh. THAT's why.

So, at the time we got married in Kentucky, I was very concerned with starting a family. We had some cause for concern and that's why we didn't have me work for a few years, then start a family around an appropriate age, such as 27 or whenever people are supposed to. I was SO worried things wouldn't work out. There has been a lot to worry about over the past eleven years! But here we are, with two amazing kids, one going into 4th, one going into 2nd, and we are getting ready to move next weekend. So much of what I have worried about has never been an issue; however, there have been many other things that I wasn't on guard for that have been pretty rough. But we are still here. And I think that is a very hopeful thought. I am fretting so much over my search for a teaching position... Maybe I will think back to this particular weekend in a few years and think, Oh, Jamie! If you had only known! You should have been worried about this instead; or look! how fantastic everything is... all I know, is that change will keep coming. The kids will go from this age and stage to teens and whoa before I know it we will be celebrating our twentieth and our tenth year in the house we are moving into next week. Or maybe not. Maybe we will be in a different house. Who knows!

 Dave and I ventured way down south to Key West. This is a place where we don't belong. We are both too shy, too reserved, and too quiet to get into the uh, atmosphere of the place. And I am not referring to the gay population in any way. That was not an issue. Also, the drag queens were the most well dressed and classiest gals around, honestly... I guess it was the other tourists and maybe just the tension between everyone? The homeless haggling and harassing the tourists? The drunken men leering and screaming at every woman and basically just anything that walked by? Men screaming at other men for who knows why? Incessant and overbearing use of laughably quiet and weak scooter horns, that, when used in great numbers, added up to a loud and large amount of super annoying? The heat? The screaming? The complete lack of courtesy, decency, attention to sanitary regulations? I guess my inner princess just came out... I was not the happiest. But, Dave, let's be honest... We had some great moments, some good laughs, but we will never go back there. Amelia Island is our place. I am glad we went because I have never seen any part of southern Florida. It was a whole other state down there. Also, I got pretty sick the day before we left and was really sick by the end of the two days... My chin, jaw and neck were swelling from the bad tonsillitis I had. Plus, I had laryngitis and there was no way Dave could hear me over the masses of jackasses and morons assembled on packs of scooters that they not only did not know how to operate, they either chose, or were simply too drunk to follow the rules of the road. Our beaches are way, way more beautiful here. Give me our 72 miles of beaches anyway. I thought parasailing would be just slightly terrifying, but in a good way? No. It was beautiful and serene. I was like, how much would it cost for them to just drive around to let us take a catnap? Because this far above the Gulf of Mexico? ONLY quiet place in Key West. Certainly got no rest at the Bed and Breakfast, which had lovely staff, but apparently was booked solid by a randy group of elderlies that spent the first night cavorting in the hall and on the balcony, drunk and LOUD after a family wedding, and the next night, LOUD again, but this time some couple must have gotten into Viagra or something even better, or worse, depends on whose angle you're looking from!! I had to listen for FORTY minutes to some ridiculous circus performance. I mean, I thought by the time you were that old you might be secure enough not to have to try to disassemble the walls of an old mansion in a quest to prove you've still got it. And the only thing I could think, is maybe they both suffer from hearing loss, so they just don't realize how embarrassed they should be.
AND THEN THERE WERE THE BIRDS. Now, I have a puzzling bird phobia. I love birds; I think they are beautiful. Jon and I have discussed joining a bird watching group together. I have two pet finches in a cage in my house-- I love them. One of my tattoos is of birds. However, sometimes, if a feather enters my presence, I may flip out. Or if a seagull, or a blackbird, or a flock of either comes around, I might just completely lose the ability to compose myself like a normal person. I HATE feather pillows; goose down comforters-- I am allergic; get a little wheezy, but also I think I mostly get a little crazy and become convinced that my throat has tiny down feathers stuck in it and I CAN'T BREATHE! So yeah, Jamie's crazy. But in Key West... these ROOSTERS roam everywhere. And I hate roosters because in my experience they are usually combative and there was a reason my Uncle Jim had to carry a stick with him to beat off potential rooster attacks when we went on walks! He was not an irrational or a violent man. But the worst part of it was the horrid pigeons everywhere. Everywhere you try and eat it is outside; it is a bar; and likely there are freaking birds running around everywhere. At one restaurant where the food was excellent, I ruined everyone's fun by having a small panic attack and the manager had to come out and say, "Come on, ABBY. Let's go INSIDE." And the freaking rooster follows him inside. ?? Uh, this is not normal. Inside is the kitchen. Why is the rooster answering to her name and going inside to the kitchen? ALSO! PEOPLE! I was freaking out because of the PIGEONS! The rooster was obviously being occupied by all the morons that were feeding it and talking to it like it was a dog. Speaking of which, I met a dog named Luna at a normal place the night before.

 This is Luna. She is a Boston terrier. I think I want one of her someday. She had a lot of character and was very calm. She used her eyes and her ears to manipulate me. I gave her most of my bacon... If she had wanted my wallet, I would have given it to her. I think I am going to paint a picture of this beautiful girl. She was such a good, good doggy.

 The thing that made me laugh the most was this tiny dog with the Big Girls Give Good Luvin' sign. I mean there is a lot going on around that tiny dog, with its costume, etc...

 Here is another street dog. Dave took this from the pedicab.

 At the Hemingway House. I loved the gardens and the grounds surrounding the house the most; and of course all of the cats. Liz Taylor jumped in my lap! I was so happy. You aren't allowed to pick any of the cats up but she jumped in my lap so it was okay.

Well, there are a lot more pics to upload... not just from this trip but from uh... the whole past year??? And a lot to catch up on. We move in nine days... craziness. Only a few miles down the street and it is definitely a positive move for us. I am happy. Mimosa has been good to us; or at least, she hasn't been terrible to us :) well, she has certainly taught us a lot!!! But after ten years in one spot, it is time to move on. I am kind of looking forward to just the change in space and layout and getting rid of stuff; and I like when the move is happening: right after school got out. So HOPEFULLY I will be starting a teaching job in AUGUST and the move will be well behind me.

Thanksgiving Day 2012

 Anna, almost 7 years old!

 Bobby, Anna and Jon with the pine cones they gathered.

 Jon shooting hoops.

Anna... summoning something?

Me Figuring Out How to Use My Mac

Okay, so I got an iPod and a MacBook and I have been taking pictures and haven't been able to figure out (or maybe just haven't had the time) to get my pictures on and up here).
Anna and I went to Sea World while Dave and Jonathan went to MegaCon comic book convention.
Over Christmas break, we went to Build a Bear...
And here was my test upload. Of Mutton. For some reason. :)

Happy Birthday, Papa Larry!

It was my Dad's 67th birthday yesterday. We had pizza and cake. Here are two pictures of the kids looking calm. The rest of the time they were acting like monkeys under the influence of something potent and illegal. Justine excluded, of course. :) It was a very nice birthday get-together.

(I really appreciate how both my dad and Jon are representing UCF in these pics. I wonder who bought them those shirts?)

Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients:
1 onion
4 carrots
olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can vegetable broth
1.5 cups red lentils
2 cups water
1 bag baby spinach
Saute 1 chopped onion and 4 chopped carrots in olive oil in a large saucepan. Stir in 1 tsp. ground cumin and 1 tsp. ground cinnamon when the carrots and onions are cooked and lightly browned. Add 1.5 cups red lentils, 1 can diced tomatoes, undrained, 1 can vegetable broth, 2 cups water, salt and pepper, cover and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to low, simmer, covered, about 10 minutes until lentils are tender. Stir in bag of baby spinach. I serve this over steamed jasmine rice. I love it with sour cream or plain yogurt on top. I also serve crushed red pepper on the side for heat.

Abe Visits Florida

All the Smith cousins together! We tried to get them to line up in order of age in this photo, but Abe got very sad when Justine set him down by Anna. So here they are: Justine, 8th grade, Abraham, 18 months, Jonathan, 2nd grade, Trystan, 1st grade, and Anna, Kindergarten.
This one is cute! Jon, Justine, Abe, Trystan and Anna.
Trystan and Abe. Abe was trying to learn to dribble like Trystan. It was so funny. Abe can actually kick a soccer ball with one foot. He can also talk an incredible amount for a child his age. I had not seen him since July and I was amazed.

Aunt Jamie (me) and Abe.
Trystan and Abe.
Anna, Justine and Abe in the toy room at Nona's. Abe got attached to this little Elmo and when he would lose it, he would say, Where'd Elmo go? And we would have to go find it.
Justine with Anna.

Harris Christmas Party 2011

Anna and Jonathan on the train ride.

Jonathan on the pony. (He has ridden much bigger horses than this before, by himself. I wonder if that's what he was thinking?)
Anna riding the pony.
Anna and Jonathan at Daddy's company Christmas party.

Bethlehem Walk 2011

Every year we go to Bethlehem Walk in Satellite Beach. They recreate Bethlehem on the Eve of Jesus' birth and retell the story. There are different booths to visit. When you first enter, the Roman guards have you sign the census. This year we took Trystan with us. He was VERY impressed with the Roman guards.
Me, Anna and Trystan on our way into Bethlehem Walk.
Trystan, Anna, and Jonathan in one of the booths playing with a driedel.
Trystan and Jonathan.
Anna, Trystan and Jonathan learning about how oil lamps work.

Jon signing the census.
Anna and Trystan signing the census.

EVERYONE has to sign the census. :)
When we heard the shepherds tell the good news, and after we visited with the donkey, the lambs, the cebu, and the goats, we saw Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. Bethlehem Walk is one of our favorite Christmas traditions.

Anna's 6th Birthday Party

We had Anna's 6th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese, at her request. We had it early, since her actual birthday is 3 days before Christmas and she wanted to invite her class. Anna had to wear her pink boots with her birthday dress. :) Here she is playing a dance game.
The birthday girl with her cake. It was a Muppets cake (we just saw the movie last weekend) from Publix.
Getting ready to go play some games with her cup of tokens.

Anna with Chuck E. Cheese himself. Wow.
Love it! Anna with her cousins, Trystan and Justine.
Above, she is with her Daddy in the Ticket Blaster. Only birthday guests are allowed to go in this wind tunnel of tickets. Her crown and safety goggles caught most of the tickets for her. Jonathan later on told us some sort of strategy he would have used. :) She is smiling at Herbie, one of the students from her class that came to her party.
Wow... Justine is turning 14 this year! I can remember when she was Anna's age so well. They remind me of each other so much. Justine is a wonderful young lady and I adore her.
Anna smashed her birthday crown down over Justine's face. Awww...
Jonathan had to show Anna that there was slots for tokens all the way around the crown. Anna had a great birthday party and loved all of the crazy antics involved in a Chuck E. Cheese party.