Tradition

My rings and my Babci's rings

My parents recently moved closer to us, so they are now two and a half hours away instead of six and a half! That definitely has its perks... especially since my grandparents are visiting. I haven't seen my Babci and Poppy since our last trip to New Jersey which was Memorial Day 2014 for my best friend's wedding. Too long. My Poppy is 93 and my Babci is now 90. I am so so blessed to have them around still and I hate that our visits are so infrequent. I call them every week at least. So my mom and dad recently decided to bring them down for an extended visit and I made sure the first weekend I did not have work we drove up there.

For years my Babci and I tried to plan a time for me to learn how to make pierogies from scratch, and this past weekend it finally happened! Ryan and I drove up Friday night. Saturday morning he and my dad went kayaking and fishing while three generations of women (and a Dup) took over the kitchen for pierogie making. My mom knows for the most part how to do it, so she was like our sous chef, while Babci taught me. There was no measuring cups or spoons... everything is done by eye and by feel. It may take me a few times on my own to get it right, but at least now I know. And I have this entry to coincide with this amazing memory.

First we started the mashed potatoes. I thought we'd have all these nice pictures, but my mom added her own touch. I know how to make mashed potatoes regularly, but instead of using milk for them we used sour cream. Next came the dough.

We started with about five cups or so of flour added an egg, then half a container of sour cream. It was worked by hand and feel. We also added milk and a bit more sour cream to make the feel just right. The dough then got worked and kneaded. My Babci showed me how with quick efficient movements that I then got to try. My forearms hurt after a few minutes but six or seven decades of doing this barely caused her to blink. I am a wimp!

After we worked the dough we let it rest for at least ten minutes under a glass bowl. This helps it rest and form and the bowl keeps the dough moist. It will stay under the dough the entire time, we cut pieces off to work it as we go.

While the dough rested we finished mashing the potatoes and added them to a separate bowl. This will be our filling. After the ten minutes or so were up we cut a small piece of the dough off the larger lump. A cutting board was floured to be our new work surface. At home my Babci has a giant wooden board that takes up basically the entire kitchen table that was once her mother's... you use what you have! Add some flour to the board to keep the dough from sticking and also on your hands. We then worked the dough in to a long snake and used a knife to cut smaller sections. Those small pieces were rolled into a ball in our hands then flattened onto the board. We then took a rolling pin and flattened the dough pieces. A few short rolls is all it takes, no vigorous quick back and forths, just make sure the dough is even all the way around. Then you pick it up in your hand and add a spoonful of mashed potatoes and make a sort of taco shape.

Using your fingers you mold and shape the dough around the potatoes so you can crimp the edges closed. This part was hard for me to get but by the end I was much better! Some of my pierogies were very stuffed, some not enough. Babci called one or two "hot dogs" and "pregnant". But she was a very good teacher! Much better than we she tried to show me how to knit/crochet and took one look at my work and said, "Oh honey, forget it. That is pretty awful. I'd just quit while you're ahead!"

But I got better! We made dozens and dozens of pierogies and by the end I was making them on my own. It is important to seal them well or when you boil the pierogies they can break open and give you potato soup. I used a fork to crimp the edges of my pierogies to ensure an extra seal. I am proud to say none of mine burst open! You put the pierogies in boiling water and once they float to the top they are ready. You can eat them then or do what we do... fry them in a pan with butter and onions! YUM. Dup Dup was on hand the entire time, keeping an eye on things. She may have been given a little bit of mashed potatoes for her effort. We placed our boiled pierogies in a long glass baking dish with saran wrap between the layers and fried them later in the evening. You can refrigerate them or even bag them up and freeze them for later (like we did to the three dozen or so I took home for a special occasion. So now I know. And I will make my own pierogies and hopefully pass that down to my own children someday.

I also learned how to make one of my favorite Babci recipes, string bean soup, which is pictured above... but I think I will keep that for a separate post. It is absolutely delicious!

I loved being able to see my Babci and my Poppy. Poppy is a lot weaker now. He needs a walker to go anywhere and spends most of his time on the couch. He watches a lot of tv, sneaks candy when no one is looking, and has his good days and his bad days. Most of our visit was great for him, I think having Ryan and I, then later on my brother Stefan and his friend Kenan, made a huge difference. When more people are around he does better. I was nervous about the Dup with Babci and Poppy, I didn't want her knocking them down! She hadn't seen them since she was six months old or so, Easter of 2012, which is the left picture above. The right picture is this weekend and you can see not much has changed. She was Poppy's buddy and loved to sit with him and get pet. Same with Babci. As excitable as she can be she did so well and it was never once an issue. I am proud of my little Duppy! We got Poppy to eat at the table with us all the meals and he even left the house to go to church with us.

My parents' house is surrounded by cotton fields and they harvested while we were there. It was pretty neat to see the giant machines going by and making huge rectangular pallets on the sides of the road.

Ryan and I also took Dup Dup on long walks through the neighborhood and saw some gorgeous sunsets over the river. Nights were getting cooler and sweaters were worn under borrowed jackets, but it was worth it.

This... this though was the most important thing. Time with my family. Time with my Babci and my Poppy. This was the first time in years and years my husband, brother, parents and grandparents were all together. The last few visits were either just Ryan and I, or my mom and I... but we all got some time together this weekend.

I hate saying goodbye to them. I always cry when I do... I have every time since I went to college basically. I know I am getting older and by default, so are they. But these moments are ones I cherish so so much. I am so blessed my family is close enough for me to visit and that we can make things like this happen.

My dad hates pictures and is rarely ever in them, but he was there too. Over in the office reading a new history book of some sort as soon as the cameras and phones came out... but we were all there.

Pierogies and family. You cannot get much better than that.

28

Sometimes life takes a sharp, unexpected turn to a place you never expect. It punches you simultaneously in the face and the gut and it is heart wrenching and awful... especially since you really cannot talk about it (or especially blog about).

 

But regardless of such things, life does continue moving forward. Birthdays happen even in the hardest of times and sometimes you just have to put on a sombrero and smile with whipped cream on your nose.

 

I was super fortunate to spend the weekend with my parents in their new house only a few hours away (2 and a half as opposed to the 7 it used to be). I got my nails done with my mom, and went out for Mexican food, and had home made birthday cake. So when you have all that, you really cannot complain.

 

Especially when you realize the restaurant your parents take you too habitually shove that pile of whipped cream in your face on your birthday and you learn sitting inside a booth is the only thing that saved you from that fate... a bit on your nose is totally ok.

 

And it is even better when your Dad agrees to wear the sombrero for a bit.

 

 

We spent time in the pool (salt water!) and the Dup absolutely loved it. If we were in, she had to be in as well, regardless of how tired she was.

 

Sunday I went to church for the first time since before my miscarriage. It helped. It seemed like the priest knew I was there and his homily was so direct to my heart and situation. There are no coincidences was part of the message. He also talked about Stephen Colbert (of all things, as well as JRR Tolkein) who lost his two brothers and father in a plane crash when he was eight years old, which I did not know. Colbert was quoted in an article saying "What she [his mother] taught me is that the deliverance God offers you from pain is not no pain—it’s that the pain is actually a gift." 

 

Pain is a gift. What a powerful message. Thank you.

 

Sunday night we had cake and presents before having to head back home since Ryan had work Monday.

But today I am 28 officially. I am at work, grateful for coworkers who come in on their day off to bring you Dunkin Donuts (thank you Lauren!) and for friends and family blowing up my phone and Facebook to wish me a Happy Birthday.

 

Life will keep moving forward.... just send some good thoughts/prayers my way if you can spare them please. And thank you Lord for another trip around the sun.

New Year's

Since we spent Christmas at home on our own we decided to spend New Year's with my family at their house in the mountains. I was really looking forward to a few days off and spending time with my family, so naturally five hours into the six and a half hour drive I get hit with a vicious gallbladder attack. I was instantly horribly nauseous and for the first time in some serious pain all across my back and stomach. I was worried I wasn't even going to make it to my parents' house without being sick so I was taking my zofran and trying to close my eyes and hope I made it. The thing with my gallbladder attacks has always been if I actually throw up it continues in that vein for days and days, so I was really hoping to avoid that. We eventually made it to the mountains and less than a mile from my parents' house it started to snow. It was gorgeous even in the dark. We made it and I sat up with my mom a bit (who plied me with more stomach medicines she had) before we went to sleep. The next day, New Year's Eve, we woke up to a beautiful dusting of snow.

 

And I still felt awful.

I laid on the couch (mistake 1) to nap on and off. My mom and Ryan went to the Cherokee Casino to do some gambling and have lunch and I knew I was in trouble when even that didn't want to entice me to get off the couch. I took a bath in the amazing bath tub at the house and still felt awful. We planned to go out to a fancy dinner that evening and as I sat up to get ready the pain that shot through my stomach and back was enough to make me sob like a five year old. So no dinner for me. We had reservations, and I felt terrible messing everything up, and was trying to get everyone to go. Ryan insisted on staying home with me and my parents and brother went for the dinner. Since they had made reservations and it was price fixed people had to go or pay anyway. It turned out the dinner wasn't that great and they got some BBQ for Ryan and came home with that later on.

 

I sat up on the couch and dozed all evening. Laying down apparently is a big no no during an attack (at least for me now) and my mom said she had the same problems. We all watched the ball drop at midnight and I went to bed drugged up and sick. New Year's Day I sat up on the couch all day barely moving. We watched football and I napped on and off before going to bed early.

 

Happy New Year, right?

 

Friday I was finally feeling better, I managed to eat a bit and shower and my mom and I even ventured out of the house. She took me to get my nails done and the color was a bit darker than I normally get but I love it. It is the shellac (no tips, my natural nails but the gel over it) so my nails still look great a week later.

 

 

I also discovered my eighteen year old brother can do hair better than I can. He did an elaborate braid for me one day when I was feeling a little better and it was way nicer than anything I can do! Apparently his girl friends all taught him how.

 

 

The rest of the weekend I wasn't up for much but I was up and moving. Stefan and Ryan got some guy time too. Mainly to watch football and talk Marine Corps stuff and working out... things like that. My family also celebrated a late Christmas together and we exchanged gifts one afternoon. My parents got us some much needed lotions and perfume/colognes, ornaments, candy, and some things from my grandparents like a knitted hat from my Babci.

Frick and Frack watching football

Ryan and my dad hiked a lot and took the Dup with them. I think out of any of us the Dup had the absolute best time. I swear my dog is part billy goat, she can climb straight up the side of a mountain like it is nothing! My dad took her to the ski slope one morning and she happily dragged him over the ice in excitement.

One of the days when I felt better Ryan insisted I go with him and the Dup on an easy walk. I wanted to get out of the house so I went, and it started raining naturally. We were all bundled up and under my parents' large umbrella but we had a wonderful time. The Dup climbed straight up and down the sides of the mountain and even jumped into the freezing mountain stream regardless of the fact it  was absolutely freezing!

 

Rylie was more concerned that we stopped than anything.

On a rock after hiking with Ryan and my dad.

Part mountain goat, part Dup.

Ryan managed to take some gorgeous pictures of their hikes and the scenery too since I wasn't exactly up and able to most of the time.

 

The creek that goes through my parents' back yard.

 

Part of a very difficult hike I did not go on! Ryan, my dad, and the Dup did

 

Yes, she climbed all the way up (and down) there by herself and absolutely loved it!

 

Dup on a log

The days I spent feeling better went by too fast. We went out for sushi one night all together and had a really great time. Lots of football was watched, Frozen was watched (since my mom had never seen it and got it for Christmas) and all too soon it was time to go home.

 

Such a gorgeous view from their driveway

I managed to drive a good portion of the way home before my stomach decided to roil a bit again and Ryan finished up the drive. Sunday we got home semi late and rushed to unpack and get ready for the week ahead.... which is now over and I am already behind blogging! Ryan picks up his first class this week as a Combat Instructor and our "new normal" for the next three years will begin. Wish us luck! And I hope you all had a Happy New Year.

 

PS - Gallbladder removal in T-17 days!

Thanksgiving 2014

Our Thanksgiving this year was spent at my inlaws in South Carolina and to make it an even bigger family celebration, my parents and brother drove down and spent it with us! So we had all of our parents with us for Thanksgiving this year. Perfection. I love being able to spend the holidays with family and having our complete family together is a luxury that I know many do not have. Very thankful indeed. Especially with our Christmas plans so up in the air it is nice to know we saw all of our parents for Thanksgiving.

Ryan and I with my parents and brother... and the Dup Dup

Selfie style later on with my mother in law and sister in law

We ate so much! I tried to be careful with my gallbladder on the fritz but man I could not resist trying a little bit of everything.

 

Plus there was pie... about four of them. Two apple, two pumpkin plus my mom made pecan pie bars that were so amazing they didn't survive the weekend.

 

As you can imagine we were too full to function much beyond watching football. Naturally my brother insisted on some selfies and I think I broke a top teen rule by taking a screenshot of a snapchat (an app I still don't really understand but have because I have maybe four friends who use it and insist I do too). I don't care though, I love the picture of me and my "baby" brother, who turned 18 years old on the first. Where has the time gone!? We gave him a Casio G-Shock watch that will hopefully last him forever... Ryan has had one since bootcamp and it got him through two deployments and various other crazy situations, so it is a good watch indeed. We also drove to Ryan's grandmother's house and his sister's dad's house to visit that evening.

 

Friday I don't think we got out of our pajamas. We watched a lot of movies, Home Alone, How to Train Your Dragon, The Wizard of Oz, and Love Actually. It was officially after Thanksgiving so I was all about the Christmas movies!

 

Saturday we became productive members of society again and actually got up early to head down to the street fair/market in Downtown Columbia. I love stuff like this! It was chilly bur not freezing and I had some delicious hot cocoa to boot.

I also found pierogies. In South Carolina! Epic, epic win in my book!

 

 

We got some pretty cool things there including home made ravioli (bacon, mozerella and sundried tomato), an art print of Molecular Chemistry that has wine bottles and the chemical breakdown of wine (LOVE), boiled peanuts, hot sauce and some other snacks. Then Ryan realized he never actually showed me Columbia properly in the, you know, seven years we've been together... so I got a tour. We went by the state house and some other really neat buildings and the campus of USC.

Christmas tree near the State House

State House all decorated for Christmas

 

Family selfie in front of the tree

After that we went back to the house with wings (well salad for me) to watch the USC/Clemson rivalry game... and that did not turn out well for us. After winning the last five years in a row Clemson beat the Gamecocks this year. Sad. Well, I guess they can have this one! Saturday night we watched more movies and slept in a bit Sunday before battling traffic to get home again. It took us an hour and a half longer than normal (thanks 95!) but we made it.

Overall it was a wonderful weekend with family and I am so thankful we had it!

I'm back!

I didn't intend to take a blogging hiatus, but I ended up doing so! Thanks for all of you who stuck with me (and commented/emailed asking if I was ok!), I really appreciate it. So, where have I been? Well if you follow me on instagram (imyewneek) or on facebook you saw I went to visit my parents and my brother and Western North Carolina for a week. Ryan was in the field and I have yet to find a job, so off the pup and I went on a road trip!

My parents moved to Western North Carolina last August. Even though we are living in the same state again they pretty much could not live any further from us, about seven hours. Luckily it is a straight drive but man is that a long time to be in the car by yourself. Twice in one week. I packed up the Rylie Girl and made my way to the mountains. Man was it gorgeous..

The view from upstairs



The stream in the backyard

The house

Rylie girl had to see what I was doing...

Down the street... aka mountain

House again

Pups lounging on the deck



Rylie meeting Buddy, my brother's bunny. She was cute for a few minutes then got overly curious and barked so we put him away.



She also bugged the crap out of Dippy. See the tongue sticking out!? Blatant!

 So just being in the house was great. The last time we were there was on our honeymoon. My parents had gotten the house and mostly furnished it, but they weren't moving down until my brother graduated from middle school. Ryan and I drove there and spent our honeymoon in the mountains, it was glorious. Needless to say it was strange being there without him, but I did love the time with my family. My mom and I went shopping (I got more Coca Cola stuff for our bathroom and other important things like... you know... shoes) and out to lunch a bit. We had family dinners and went hiking. One cool place we went was called Max Patch. It is part of the Appalachian Trail, so even though we were up there with a picnic there were some hardcore hikers moving through!

Max Patch

Pup and I at the bottom

Rylie had to be in front. Always.

Stefan and the Pup

First view

A little further to go

Stefan and Rylie near the top with super hikers

Looking back

Picnic time!

Love this picture of her! SO cute.

Dad wasn't thrilled with her cute begging skills, but he gave her strawberry tops anyway

Rylie, me, Mom and Stefan

Going back down



Hikers at the top

 After that we drove down into the Catloochee Valley to go into Pisgah National Forrest. We had a very important thing to see.... ELK! I was kind of overly excited. There was a chance of not seeing any, but luckily it is baby season, so there were tons! Plus... a baby! My brother's eagle eyes found it in the grass.

Shhh, he is sleeping!

He woke up!

Elk Kisses!

I zoomed in for these shots. You cannot get close (and HELLO, WILD animals!) without a major fine. Or getting attacked.

Baby Elk! Their mom's leave them in the tall grass but are never too far away.

See?

That is a lot of antlerage.

We also drove into Asheville a few times as it wasn't too far. Stefan took me on his ATV through the mountains (terrifying going 45 on a bumpy trail with a 15 year old driving) and I am convinced one of the meth trailers shot at us. We were WAY up there! There was lots of eating out, video games, more shopping and exploring and good family bonding time. One of my favorite dinners was my last night with my family. We drove up to the Blue Ridge Parkway (man are you high up!) and went to one of the two restaurants actually ON the Parkway, the Pisgah Inn.

Entrance to the Parkway

At the restaurant

The road we drove on to get to it!

As you can see the clouds rolled in. Most of dinner we had a great view and then BOOM. Inside a cloud.

In the cloud

In the cloud and not looking so ghostly.

All in all it was a great trip. There is a ton to do out where my parents live and I hope Ryan and I can go visit together soon. I was so done being in the car by the time I got back to Jacksonville! It was great to see Ryan and spend the next 72 hours with him (yay post field time off). Of course I had to ruin it and get a vicious stomach bug the night before his leave. Poor guy was holding my hair back until two am and up for work at five. Needless to say Friday was a low key day for me.

The weekend was spent getting our house situated (furniture arrived!) and finally moving in to our master bedroom. We also saw Snow White and the Hunstman (hated the ending, so blah), got some more furniture, and finished How I Met Your Mother on Netflix.We NEED season seven! Ugh! Can't find it anywhere (actually think it is still airing or just finished). We definitely need a new show to watch! I have been to the doctor, the dentist and all over the place so I am glad this is finally written. I will write soon with picture updates on the house and everything.

Thanks for sticking with me!

And Happy Birthday Mom (: Love ya!