It's been brought to my attention by various means that I have been seriously neglectful of the blog.  Honestly, what can I say?  Starting blog because you are planning a yearlong RV trip and want to keep everyone informed and hopefully entertained is purposeful.  Continuing the same blog when the RV trip is done and you've bought a house just doesn't seem exciting.  Not enough alligators, breakdowns, lack of hot water and sewer hoses spewing over your spouse, I guess.

Not that I'm complaining about the sewer hose thing!

I suppose the purpose of this post is to play catch up once again.  I'll feel like a more responsible blogger to my (20???) followers if I tell you what we've been up to and post the photos my mom has been asking for.  I'm such a good girl!

So, for starters, I got a job.  A real live job where I wear a dress sometimes.  And heels.  Don't get shocked; it's just Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I'm doing bookkeeping and general reception for a tiny, old fashioned dental practice here in Salem.  Really old fashioned.  No fax, email or internet.  I actually print out the billing statements and seal and stamp them the way we did in the good old days.  Apparently the practice just graduated from an appointment book to a computer system in the last few years.

Shucks.  I would have loved pencilling in appointments!  There is just one dentist who does her own cleanings.  No hygienist.  There is an assistant who helps with the surgical stuff.  And me.  The job fell in my lap in an odd way.  I met the dentist through a mutual friend back in February; we spent about two hours together but didn't really hit it off.  For who knows what reason, when her bookkeeper resigned, she sent me an email asking if I wanted the job.  Truly bizarre.  When the email came, I didn't even remember who she was!  I asked her why me and she literally said, "I wanted someone I didn't know."

Okay.  Really weird but it is good to get out of the house and make a little money.  Don arranged his schedule to be home on those days so he is doing school with the boys.  That's also a big change because I'm learning that usually school doesn't get done the way I would do it, but it does actually get done.  I just have to take a big breath and let it go.

We were sports crazy this spring with weekly swimming and nightly soccer/basketball practices.  Back to back games on Saturdays but we really loved it.  We've reached a time of life where our Saturdays are devoted to whatever the boys have going on but actually enjoy it.  It must be my previous life as a cheerleader (how on earth did I ever do that?) but I absolutely cannot watch a game quietly.  I'm nice, not a crazy critical, screaming parent.  But I'm sure noisy!

Another new development is the discovery that with all the sports going on and having pre-teen boys, our food bill has skyrocketed.  There is just not enough food in the house, according to them.  It's astounding what they can put away and still be hungry.  Just another new phase of our lives!

A big change has been the acquisition of a class A motorhome.  Our 5th wheel has been on consignment since December and we got rid of our pickup shortly after.  The RV was generating zero interest so we decided if we have to owe money on something ridiculously useless, we may has well have something useful.   We were able to trade straight across for a 2000 Four Winds Infinity (35 foot).  We took her out this past week for her maiden voyage and had a great time discovering one of Oregon's state parks.  Having found out that as a disabled vet Donald can camp for free, we plan on getting familiar with as many state parks as we can until we can (please, God) sell this RV.

Maybe the last big news is that I've decided to write a book.  I'm a little hesitant to say that because it's one thing to do a blog.  A full blown novel is such an entirely different story (HA! -- get it?).  Many people have told me to write about the whole PTSD thing and I've tried.  Truly.  But it just gets depressing.  I think I need another decade or two for emotional cushioning.  However, in March an idea literally just wandered into my head and I started writing.  And writing.  And writing.  It's become a bit obsessive, actually.  I hear the characters in my head all the time and sometimes they say and do things on paper that I never imagined.  I have about 100 pages so far; I started chapter 9 this morning.  I find myself feeling impatient, the way I do with a book I'm reading and I want to know what happens but I don't want it to end.  It's a bit the same with writing.  I want to know what happens, because I don't have it all worked out yet but I know I'll be sad when the whole thing is finished because the characters are becoming real to me, having lived with them for several months now.  Sounds crazy, I know!  Feels crazy to say it!  Anyway, my brother-in-law encouraged me to use the blog as a platform for the book so maybe there will be excerpts along the way.

Now, I'll get on to the photos.  We cut down every tree we had because they were hideous eyesores or one windstorm away from being an insurance liability.  I've been busy gardening and repainting my kitchen walls and floor.  Both turned out remarkably lovely, if I do say so myself.  Sadly, we forgot the camera at every sporting event we attended this spring, so none of #1 and #2 in action!  Aside from cutting down trees, we tore out the last of the carpet to discover some really beautiful wood that needs some professional refinishing and the boys and I ripped out three layers of linoleum in the kitchen in order to redo the floor myself.  What I thought would be a few hours project turned into four twelve hour days and some very, very sore muscles.  You decide if the finished floor is worth it!

There used to be six trees along this fence.  The stump of the huge maple was fashioned into a throne of sorts!  And yes, redoing the fence is this month's budgeted project.

My Craigslist find, a 10 x 10 gazebo-turned garage.
Too bad there is now a 35 foot motorhome in this spot!

The new wood in dire need of help but oh-so-much-better than the nasty carpet.

My friend had a surprise 40th in May and I did a half sheet cake. . .

. . .almost 100 fairy cakes. . . 

. . . and four dozen regular cupcakes.

That same weekend, while tied to the kitchen making and decorating cakes  . . .

I decided I may as well paint.  Crimson . . .

and Brown Bread.  Countertops are in the near future, too!

The boys' creation from leftover homemade fondant.

And then #2 woke up 3 weeks ago and wanted a David Beckham haircut!

Ripping out 3 layers of lino.

It took a whole day just to eliminate the green paper backing from the bottom layer.

Then there were all the tacks and nails to rip out!

First coat of Brown Bread.

The squares took another whole day of measuring, masking,  and painting.  My knees were killing me!

Less than $100 and I have a brand new floor!  Nice, right?

Happy Anniversary

One year ago today the Twist family rolled their slightly crippled RV (remember, we had bottomed out our black tank drain hose at Mount Shasta) into Salem.  We intended to be here for a two days and our friend Doug keeps joking that it has been the longest April Fool's Day ever.  Oddly enough, today is also Palm Sunday which is the one year anniversary of our arrival at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church.  Interesting that the one year marker for both events falls on the same day.  Someone at church today told me that our family is a great testimony to following God even when we don't know why.  I actually laughed out loud when she said it.  Personally, I feel like a great failure in my faith because I spend way too much time trying to figure out the "why," which totally gets in the way of just having faith.  Of just breathing rather than the gasping that it so second nature to me.

Living in Oregon is still such a surprise to me, having never set a toe over the state line before a year ago today.  I really think God has such a sense of humor.  We bottomed out our RV, thought we would be in Salem long enough to fix it and see old friends, and here we are, a year later.  Homeowners.  Jobholders.  Oregon driver's licenses.  Well, Don anyway.  I still have to take care of that little detail.  Taxpayers.  Upstanding citizens with great neighbors, friends,  and a wonderful church family.  I'm positive God chuckles at me a lot, especially when I think I have things figured out.

Speaking of figuring things out, I am trying to figure out gardening and landscaping.  For years I've held the conviction that somewhere inside me is a a gardener longing to be released.  All that was needed was some soil of her own.  I now have soil.  And grass.  And weeds.  And trees.  And a drainage problem.  And no real idea of how to proceed.  I also have a landscape consultant who, in a free consultation on Tuesday, will attempt to tell me what to do with all of the above.

I'm a brave girl and I love to have a good project so last week, armed with a rusty pruning saw, managed to take out 8 of 10 trees in the yard.  I'm feeling reams of guilt because my friend Cassy made me promise not to get rid of the trees in the front yard for one year but when the landscaping guy, on his first visit, agreed that the trees were way too large for my yard and were probably wreaking havoc on my main water pipe, and subsequently whipped out his chainsaw, my promise crumbled in the presence of such temptation.  I will humbly beg her forgiveness when I see her but man, does my lawn look better!  In three and a half minutes he had both trees down, after Donald and I have been moaning about them for three and half months!  Inspired, I went crazy on the trees in the backyard, all by myself.  I issued handsaws to the boys, promised financial remuneration, and we spent the next three days cutting limbs into serviceable, S'more worthy, fire pit wood.  I got to some crazy heights and actually fell out of one tree, escaping with only a large bruise.  I'm pretty sure I made my next door neighbor, Saul, pretty nervous.  And the guy across the street actually yelled to me, "Old Steve is rolling in his grave."

Steve is the deceased husband of the previous owner who not only took great pride in having the nicest lawn in a 10 block radius but also spent copious amounts of time actually watering his trees.  Call me crazy but this is Oregon.  There are only two months of the year when water doesn't pour down in great torrents from the sky on a daily basis.  We discovered quickly that cutting down trees brings the people out.  This is the great treehugger state and neighbors who have been hibernating all winter came out to see what we were doing.  Cutting down trees is not The Done Thing in Oregon.  We do plan on replacing some of them with fruit trees and other edible vegetation so maybe that will make up for our seemingly wanton destruction.  And if they get too terribly angry, I know where to find sharp tools!

Here's to another year in Salem!

Snow Day

Tuesday morning found me studying trees.  A good portion of the trees here have just the slightest fuzz of green, just enough beginning buds to really spark the heart into believing that spring must certainly, after a dark and dismal winter, be right around the corner.  I have grape hyacinth in my front yard.  The sprightly heads of daffodils are dancing everywhere in Salem.  I am busy sketching and planning my garden.  And then I wake up this morning to this:

Poor old girl, she's practically shivering!

You have to understand something.  We don't get much snow in Salem.  My first Oregon snow occurred in January and it was fat, thick and very wet flakes that collapsed wearily on the green grass and disappeared immediately.  A week or two ago it happened again.  It was pouring rain at two this morning so the temperature clearly dropped sometime before dawn and this paltry amount is the most we've had in the almost year I've lived here.

This "accumulation" has led to an official, school closing, snow day.  

Yes, please.  Digest that statement, all of you who live anywhere else.  I lived five long, blizzardy, frigid years in the tundra of Minnesota and only twice was school ever cancelled.  Once, for a freak 24 hour storm that dumped more than two feet of snow and left five hundred college kids to cavort madly in its wake, celebrating the joy of being childish again.  The second was when the temperature dropped, with the wind chill factored in, to 80 below.  And yes, that was my scheduled moving day and doggone it, we wrapped long johns around our faces and moved!  It was warmer in my freezer.

The sun is shining here today, something of a rare and welcome sight.  The houses across the street have direct sunshine right now and their snow is already melted, at 9:30 am.  This adds to my bemusement regarding the snow day.  Shakespeare has been oddly calm this morning because there are no kids walking to school for him bark his "you're too close to my house, back off" routine.  Really, you couldn't even begin a snowball, let alone a snowman out there.

Well, that pretty much covers any big news for me.  I have to go scrape my car (I'll have to use a broom because I don't even own a scraper!) and run some errands.  Should be quiet out there!

This photo looks east so yes, that is the sun coming up!

Home Tour

circa 1930
Two large Japanese maples on the front lawn.

This is post is mostly for my mom, my AJ and my friend Tegan, who have all, in various ways, hounded me for photographic evidence of my house.  Here you go girls!

Welcome!

Living room, to the right of the door.  

Dining room, to the left of the door.
Yes, it came apple green and yes, we are leaving it for now.

Wise words, given to me years ago by a good friend.

Looking into my Pumpkin Toast kitchen.

Looking out of the kitchen into the dining area.
Love the arch?

Cool new backsplash.  My handiwork, thank you!

At the end of the kitchen, another arch, facing the back door and the pantry.
And since we are facing the back door. . . 

To the Right of the back door.  Large concrete patio area and storage shed.

Right of the back yard

Left of the back yard and garage.  See the three raised beds, Tegan?!
I can't explain the tire.  I blame it on Thomas!

The school room is in the heated, insulated garage!
Look at those boys, hard at work!
Behind Thomas is a row of built in cupboards and drawers.
The wall behind William is also lined with book cases
and the washer/dryer is in this room as well.


Let's get back inside because this is Oregon and I'm getting wet!

                

Entry into the bath and the vanity.  No, I didn't choose the asparagus green and yes, I will be repainting to something less vile!




The master bedroom is to the right of the bathroom and stairs to the left.

Have a peer into my bedroom!

Yes, that's my street sign from Portsmouth!
It's ancient and it came down in a Nor'easter.
I "rescued" it!

The color is Tate Olive, same as in William's room.

Shall we go upstairs?
The stairs and the second floor had horrible blue carpet which we tore out to find lovely hardwood painted in brown.
We will be refinishing floors, hopefully when the weather is nicer.  The carpet in the LR will also come out because those floors are hardwood as well.  And UNpainted!  Whew!

Landing to the L and the R.

See the built in cupboard?

William's room.
 Look at that built in cupboard and window seat!

The other half, and another built in cupboard.
It's behind the huge Triceratops that, believe it or not, was
in the RV with us.  It's a leftover from VBS that he won't be parted with!

Thomas' built ins in his Columbia Blue bedroom.  His choice.

His unmade beds as well!
I promised photos, not a perfectly tidy house!

There you go!  Inside and out, bottom to top.  1,008 square feet, cozy as can be.  We love it!

In Memoriam

I remember the first time I met Aunt Linda; it was at a family reunion and I wasn't even part of the family yet.  It's fairly nerve wracking to meet a boyfriend's family en masse, especially when you aren't even engaged.  I felt like such an outsider.  Aunt Linda pulled me aside, sat down with me in a quiet corner and asked me lots of questions.  When our conversation was over I really felt that she wanted to know me as a person, not just as potential family.  Since that day, I have loved her for nearly twenty years.

Today my heart is heavy because yesterday, Aunt Linda ended her decades long, in-and-out of remission, battle with cancer and is now at perfect peace, even more beautiful, with a full head of hair and a completely healthy body.  I just know that her eyes, always so sparkly and interested, are even more aglow.

Aunt Linda was an avid horsewoman, North Dakota born and a farm girl at heart.  She traveled the world alongside her husband, Uncle Delbert.  How my soul grieves for him at the loss of a fifty year plus best friend, lover, and soul mate.  Together they raised a son and daughter and cherished their grandchildren, making efforts of time and travel to be with them.

Aunt Linda was a supporter.  She, with my future mother-in-law, bought me seven cookbooks the Christmas that Donald and I were engaged.  I think she was a little worried for her nephew!  She flew from Washington to Minnesota for our wedding.  She wrote letters of encouragement when we had miscarriages.  She wrote personal notes to us in her Christmas letter.  When we were stationed in Washington state we were fortunate enough to share our Thanksgivings with her.  Aunt Linda's most valuable support, to me, is something I only recently found out.

Donald's grandma, Aunt Linda's mother, prayed for her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and each of their families every single day.  By name.  Having been privy to Grandma's morning devotions many times on the farm, I can attest that this was a lengthy exercise.  When Grandma died in 2009 I felt a great sense of sorrow at the loss of this tremendous gift of love because I didn't know anyone else, besides my mother,  so faithful and devout to pray for me, by name, Every.  Single.  Day.

When I began this blog it was under a time of massive sadness and upheaval.  Aunt Linda turned out to be one of my most avid readers, evidenced by the frequent comments she left for me.  One day she simply mentioned that she had been praying for Donald, and me, and the boys, every day and would continue to do so.  I was beyond moved to know that evidently she picked up right where Grandma left off.  I do not, for one minute, doubt her sincerity or honesty.  To my soul, I know that she prayed for us daily.  By name.  With all her heart.

What a powerful legacy.

I hadn't seen Aunt Linda since 2007.  I never took the time to thank her for befriending a young girl considering marriage into her huge family.  I never took the time to verbally appreciate her steadfast love, affection, and devotion.  I do so, now.  Aunt Linda, thank you for being such an exemplary woman who loved Jesus, the great outdoors and her family.  Thank you for being my friend, and my Aunt, and for being so faithful over so many years when we never even saw each other.  I will miss you here on earth and know that our reunion in heaven will be unimaginably sweet.

Homeowner Highs and Lows

I love having my own house.  I love knowing that I won't have to pay for nail holes or damage inflicted by my children.  No, they haven't yet but it's only a matter of time!  I love that I can paint my walls Olive Green, Pumpkin Toast, and Columbia Blue.  I love looking at my backyard and imagining fresh produce for a summer evening al fresco meal and gorgeous flowers on a spring morning.  I love talking about the renovations we'd like to do over the next twenty years.  A second bathroom rates highly by everyone!

What I do not love is when the heat exchangers on my furnace crack in half two weeks after closing and I don't have a landlord to call.  Or when my dishwasher suddenly refuses to drain and I find myself bailing slimy, murky water by hand at five in the morning.  Then there is my toilet which, all the sudden, is intermittently making asthmatic sucking and gasping noises.  Very disconcerting when actually sitting on it!

The good news is that our seller purchased a home warranty and all of these things are covered, minus service fees and installation.  More good news is that we know for sure our home is extremely well insulated because it took two weeks for the brand new furnace to arrive and be installed.  Two weeks without heat, in January!  We ran two tiny space heaters (RV leftovers) and stayed reasonably toasty.  We won't get a whole new dishwasher and it will take two weeks (must be a standard!) to get the parts but it will be good as new.  As for the toilet, we'd love any suggestions from anyone who has even a thimbleful of plumbing knowledge.

We have several small issues with both our plumbing and our decrepit electrical system; we realize these will be major areas of renovation.  Is it horrible to find myself half-heartedly hoping they will both go kaput before the warranty runs out?

Tomorrow marks our one month anniversary in the house and the honeymoon has not worn off yet.  Each of us agrees that it is even better than the "perfect" house we were in last summer and even though we'd love to spend time on a sandy beach somewhere south during these grey, Salem days, we are all quite content to be putting down roots!

Happy New Year!

Moving into your own home is one heck of an adventure!  We didn't get the keys (for one bureaucratic reason or another) until the evening of the 15th.  I spent some seriously long hours painting and cleaning; the refrigerator had taken on a fuzzy green life of its own, unfortunately.  We had an amazing crew of friends help us move; as one group was hauling in boxes and furniture, another group was tearing out the upstairs carpet.  By Christmas Eve afternoon I was hanging the last pictures and having a celebratory Scotch.  Then I had a nap in preparation for midnight mass, which is where, no matter what is going on, my Christmas always comes together.

To make the season even more interesting we've had four trips to Urgent Care/ER, two cases of strep throat, an actual Staph infection, a broken furnace and a partridge in a pear tree.

Just kidding about the partridge.

Our first house guests arrived the day after Christmas - Donald's parents.  His mom, Bev, will be staying with us for a few weeks while his dad takes an extended hunting trip in Arizona.  We thought we would kick off the New Year by having our rector do a house blessing followed by an open house.  If you're in the neighborhood, swing by.  Bev and I have been baking for two days so I promise you won't leave hungry!

If you can't make the open house, we would love to see you whenever you are passing through.  I hope that our paths will cross during this New Year!  Until then, may your year be bright with promise and brimming with hope.