Go With Your Gut

Sometimes you just have to go with your gut.

When I chose to go to Hamline University, I knew it was a good fit. When people asked why I chose it, I couldn't explain it. I just felt comfortable when I was on campus. I wanted to be a part of that community. Through the ups and downs of my experiences at Hamline, I remained confident that I had made the best choice.

When I chose to move across the country and work at a boarding school, I went with my first inclination. I wanted a job, but I had a feeling that this school would be a good place for me to go. And even though I didn't end up staying there, it was a great decision and most certainly led to the place I am now.

And now when I think back on my decision to marry Steve, I can say that I was confident in my choice, but I can't say that I completely understood what joy and happiness would follow.

I can't imagine my life without Steve.

I can't imagine my life without our sweet girls.

I have never made a better decision than the one that I made to walk down the aisle eight years ago.

Here's to gut feelings and the truly wonderful things that follow.

Thankful

I am thankful ... but a bit annoyed. I have some cute pictures of the kids with their cousins. Unfortunately, Blogger says that I have used all of my data space and now must pay to post pictures. So, until I figure out a solution (read: until I stop being so cheap and spend a few dollars a month) I will just say this:

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I certainly have a lot to be thankful for in all aspects of life: health, family, friends, employment, etc.

Now I must get back to three of my favorite activities which all intersect on this day: eating, drinking, and watching football with the family.

Hello Again

Basketball season has started for me and that has meant long hours in the gym coaching and long hours out of the gym preparing practice plans, deciding on offensive schemes, and agonizing over cuts. Hard to believe it's only been a week!

Add on top of that the (very wonderful) fact that Steve's team made it to the playoffs, and we have had probably the most busy, stressful, and babysitter-filled week of the year.

I took very few pictures, and very sadly I spent very little time with my kids each day. Not really a "Mother-of-the-Year" kind of week.

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped on Saturday morning before we headed to Steve's game. After such a crazy week, we were very happy to be total slugs. We drank juice (coffee for me), ate Cheerios, and watched a fair amount of Nick Jr. before finally hopping in the car.

The biggest slug of them all

While the ride there was long and eventful (for me anyway - I got a migraine) the girls were very happy to see Cookie and Grumps. I brought the camera but was unable to snap pictures as I was actually trying to sleep the migraine off in the car while Cookie and Grumps came to the rescue and kept the girls entertained.

So, a big thank you goes to Cookie and Grumps. And congratulations goes to all of Steve's team - coaches, players, parents, and fans. It was a great season!

Moms

I have written before on the blog about how much I love being a mom. I have also written about my feelings of failure that happen on a regular basis. I don't think I ever believed it would be easy, but I wish I would have read this article before I had my kids.

A Wild and Crazy Friday Night

By the time Friday rolls around, most people in our house are ready to collapse. (Except our dog, Boog, who seems unaffected by the hustle and bustle of his week.)

 The girls' schools close a little early on Friday, so we usually come home and play for a bit before I start getting dinner ready. While I am cooking, I let the girls watch a show. It was eerily quiet last night while I was cooking and when I looked over I found this:

Sorry the lighting is weird on this. I wanted
to snap some pics quickly before she woke up.

All day school with no nap has clearly caught up with Lucy. She was OUT. I woke her up for dinner but she never really seemed to come out of her nap-induced fog.

I went to basketball practice, Steve put the girls to bed early, and when I came home Steve went to bed. I was the wild party animal of the house ... who spent her Friday night writing comments and entering grades. My, how our Friday nights have changed. Twenty one year old Steve and Laura would probably be horrified.

Wow

Most of the time my blog posts revolve around Cheerios, trips to the playground, and meltdowns (In fact, sometimes my anecdotes go in that exact order).  Throw in a few soccer games and holidays and boatload of kid pictures, and that's what I am bringing to the table.

It is nothing profound.

Every once in a while I break away from the usual routine and write about something that is bugging me or is making me really happy. I wrote about the election yesterday and I didn't think much of the post. It began as a short post and became a stream of consciousness. I put it out there because I was frustrated with the negativity that I was getting in the aftermath of the election. I was happy to see that it was shared on facebook and that many people who had never visited the blog took the time to read the post.

More than anything, all of the positive responses that I read renewed my faith that most people are like me - doing the best they can everyday and trying to keep everything in perspective. It is the few (very vocal) negative people who stay in my memory and I need to remember that their anger and hatred are not worthy of any space in my brain. (There isn't much real estate left up there anyway.)

So maybe no one in that new group will come back and it will still just be my mom and mother-in-law reading my posts (Hi Nana and Cookie!). That's okay. A positive message was put out there and it made me feel like I made a connection with my fellow Americans. And that's what it's all about, isn't it?

Maybe It's Just Me ...

Let me start this post with something you may want to see  - pics of the Soden fam:

Now I have to talk about something that most of you probably don't want to hear about: the election. I'm not going to talk Romney vs. Obama - mainly because:

a) No one wants to hear it anymore.

b) I am not well versed enough in foreign policy, fiscal plans, etc. to speak in a coherent manner about which person is (or was supposed to be) the man for the job.

Every election season I become more disillusioned with American politics, and not because of the American politicians - but because of the American voters.

Politics make me think a lot about what is most important to me and what kind of world I want my kids to grow up in.

Something I hope that my girls understand is that people are what make a life good. Your friends, your family, your coworkers, your neighbors, etc. It is these relationships that will get you through the hard times and help you celebrate the good times. Even the people that you don't agree with or maybe even don't know - these people should mean something to you and you should want them to be happy and healthy just as you would want that for yourself, your mother, your friend.

My biggest goal for my girls is that they are kind and generous adults. I don't care about success, money, academic or athletic accomplishments. None of it. (Although if those things make them happy then I am certainly not going to complain.) What I want is for them to be kind to other people, to surround themselves with other kind and supportive people, and to give to others whenever and however they can.

I was on facebook this morning (a very dangerous place to be in the hours after the election) and I saw several statuses that said something to this effect:

You sadden me, America. You will get what you deserve.

What we deserve? What does that even mean? Whether you voted for Obama or you think he is the devil, it shouldn't matter. Either way, you should be hoping that the next four years are amazing. If you voted for him, I hope that he is everything you wish him to be. If you didn't vote for him, then I hope you are pleasantly surprised and that your life is still good and enjoyable. Why do you want the country to "get what it deserves"? Do you want everyone to suffer just so that you can be "right" and say that Romney would have done a better job?

Instead of focusing on a man that you will probably never meet, take that energy and put it toward meaningful things. Take care of yourself, your family, and the people around you. Give to others when it is possible and think positively.

Because whether you like it or not, the election has happened. And what you do with your life and how happy you are has nothing to do with who is in office. Your happiness starts with the people around you, the relationships you have, and the positive energy you bring.

I will now get off of my soapbox and return to normal posts with these three wackadoos:

And Here's How You Know ...

And here's how you know you have the best family and friends ever:

We are without power and so we showed up at Cookie and Grumps' house with very little warning. They took us in and have basically let us turn their lives and routines upside down.

Because of the hurricane, Lucy and Caroline missed Halloween. The town we live in rescheduled trick or treating for next week, and Lucy will have a school celebration when she gets back. It's not the end of the world, and luckily our kids are too young to really get that they missed anything big. (Side note: this totally allowed me to procrastinate big time when making the girls' costumes.)

Anyway, before we left Cookie mentioned that she had checked with several neighbors and they agreed to let the girls dress in their costumes and go trick or treating tonight (two days after Halloween).

The neighbors were so sweet and made such a big deal about Lucy and Caroline's costumes. It made me happy and the girls were thrilled with all of the attention. (Another side note: we got a ridiculous amount of candy for visiting a small number of houses)

So while we are annoyed that we don't have power and heat, we know that it is just that: an annoyance. Our house is still standing, we have food, and we are uninjured. We are feeling incredibly lucky and grateful that we have these things and that we have family and friends who made this night possible. Just look at those smiles.

Super Lucy!

Super Lucy and Super Caroline!

First stop: Caroline was a little unclear on the concept

The last stop was a Lucy and Caroline favorite: Mr. and Mrs. Cook's house

Checking out her loot

Still striking her super hero pose

Radio Silence

I have been away from the blog for a while because of Hurricane Sandy. While we were very lucky and our house sustained no damage, we have not had electricity since Monday evening.  The girls were fantastic through it all and complained very little. Steve and I both had the entire week off of work because of all of the damage to the area. We feel very fortunate that the only hardship we have experienced is the inconvenience of not having power.

That being said, we could not take another day (and very chilly night) of not having power and heat so we hightailed it out of there and headed to Cookie and Grumps' house. I will have some pictures to post later I am sure but for now we are just enjoying heat, light, and endless amounts of Nick Jr.  :-)