Year in Review

2013 is coming to a close, but as always, I try to look back over the year and remember what we've accomplished. This year has felt very like a whirlwind to me. So many amazing things have happened, and we've had some really great times. Here are some highlights...

Gabe (age 15 and a sophomore) is very involved in his high school running team. We live and breathe and sleep cross country (XC) in the fall, and in the spring it all channels to track.  He is doing very well, running solidly in the top 12 on the XC squad this fall, lettering in XC, and even winning a JV race. He has a good shot at varsity next fall if he keeps training and pushing himself.  He is also still involved in band, is always coming up with creative things to pursue, and keeps his grades at top notch as well.  I'm not sure exactly when he has time to do all this, but we are very proud! 

Bethany (age 13 and 8th grade) is also excelling at school. This year she earned straight A's for the first time ever, and is enjoying singing in choir and being a part of the yearbook committee.  She ran track last spring and had a great season, but is not planning to run again this year.  She has also become very involved in a local youth group she attends with several friends (since we don't have one yet).  She has many friends who are very amused by her sweet, funny, and sometimes quirky personality. We often have a good laugh over things she says and does. She is sunshine in our lives and it is impossible to not smile when you are around her.

Micci (age 10 and 5th grade) has handled two school transitions in two years with grace and confidence.  She is coming to Holmes with me this year and is having a great year so far.  She loves her teacher and is at the top of her class in everything.  She has made some great new friends, and is involved with student government and a playground mediation group called Peacemakers. She also helps in a kindergarten class a few times a week and is dreaming of becoming a kindergarten teacher someday. She is really coming out of her shell and gaining confidence in being a leader to her friends.  She is also still very involved in Irish dance and is doing a great job!






As far as Jon and I go, we are also both doing well.  Jon is still doing Guitar Club and is also teaching privately and in a homeschool co-op. Our church is growing slowly but surely, and we are excited for the coming year.  We moved out of our living room at the end of February last year, and we are again finding ourselves feeling like we have outgrown our new space.  So we are praying and looking for the next step. 
We were able to buy a home in the spring, and spent a couple of months remodeling before we moved in at the end of July. We miss our neighbors, but we love our new place. Jon and I also ran our first Bloomsday races in May, and accomplished our first half marathons in October! Running has definitely become a way of life around here.
I am in my second year at Holmes and so far, this year is going very well.  My before school choir has grown from about 8 students last year (on a good day!!) to right around 35 this year!!  We were able to take two field trips in December to sing for local businesses that provide support for Holmes. 
Dolly is still our sweet, lovable dog.  She will be 4 in April, and has become very lazy in her "old" age.  She loves to lay on the couch, take naps, and keep the neighborhood watch out the front window.
We have many plans for the New Year, including continuing to work on little jobs around our home, more running (lots of it), and some travels as well.  We hope this year end review finds you well, and wish for blessings, peace and joy in the coming year.  2013 was grand, but here's to 2014!!

If you instagram, you can follow our adventures using  #mightymeeks.

{Merry Christmas}

This post was supposed to happen a few days ago...  We celebrated Christmas with our kiddos on Monday in Spokane before making the three hour trek to Missoula to celebrate with family.  I had planned to do this decorations post early this week, and time has gotten away from me, so here I am, posting on Christmas Day.  Merry Christmas to you and yours...  I hope you enjoy this glimpse of a few of my favorite (Christmas) things.

 This peacock was given to me by my grandma.  It is one of my favorite vintage pieces of Christmas decor.  It clips to the tree instead of hanging.  The peacock is the family bird of the Pfau family, which was my grandma's maiden name, so this piece is a little piece of heritage.

 These beautiful shoes are from Gabe's first Christmas.  They are so heavy that we have to make sure they go on a sturdy branch!  It always makes me smile to see them come out of Gabe's Christmas box.

 These little mice have been my Christmas friends for as long as I can remember.  I just adore them.  Aren't they so cute?  They have been missing from our tree for two years...First, I lost them, then I found them and didn't put them back with the Christmas stuff, so of course I couldn't find them when Christmas rolled around again.  I'm so happy they've rejoined us this year!!

 This is one of Micci's ornaments, and it is versatile because M can stand for Micci, or for Meek!  It is so pretty and winterish.  

 Another one from my childhood, this angel was given to me when I was three.  I always look forward to pulling her out and hanging her on the tree.

 Our tree!

 Gabe's manger scene, another gift from my grandma.  I used to play with this scene as a child and I would reenact the Nativity story with the different pieces and characters.  When Gabe was old enough, he did the same thing (although he may have added in a few Lego characters, too).  When Grandma got a new set, she gifted this one to Gabe, so it is always set up at Christmas now.

 A new addition this year, I spent some time making garland from old sheet music.  It was a fun, quick project that added a nice touch to our decor.

 Our very small Christmas village consists of a school and a firehouse.  They make a nice addition atop the piano since we no longer have a mantle.

 And speaking of no mantle, I had a hard time deciding where to put our stockings this year, but this spot in the dining room works perfectly!  I added a few Christmas-y touches to our stocking holders...My last three Santa mugs, and a couple of candles, the Joy, Peace and Hope ornaments, and of course the stockings themselves.  I made these ones three years ago from some burlap and vintage lace and satin I had around.  I just love them.

My centerpiece for the coffee table in the living room includes some pine cones, a snow globe and my big jar.  Normally the jar is filled with sand dollars, but for Christmas, I emptied it and added some beaded garland, a string of battery powered lights, and my set of Lighted Ice vintage Christmas bulbs.  These are from a set that my other grandma had, and only two of them still work, but I love them so much that I had to display them.  So I popped them into the jar and they are beautiful!  I also scattered pine cones throughout my living room and dining room to add some wintery touches.  

Well, there you have it.  A quick view of some special Christmas decor that always makes our season bright.  Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!  Watch for our New Year's letter coming soon!

Merry Christmas!!!

So I ran a half marathon yesterday... {10/13/13}

** Disclaimer:  This post was actually started on October 14th.  My life has been crazy busy for two months and I'm just now getting around to posting.  

For those of you who know the hubs and I in real life, the fact that we've been training for a half marathon is no big shocker.  We've been talking about it like crazy for several weeks.  Weeks of bemoaning long runs, whining about soreness, worrying over what to do when sickness hit and long runs didn't happen...  Yep, you were with us every step of the way.  I'm sure you're glad that you don't have to listen to much more of it anymore!

Yesterday, we completed our first half marathon!  It was so exciting to be there!  The Spokane half isn't a big race, but it is beautiful.  The course takes you through some of the historic areas of Spokane, then out into the wilderness of Riverside State Park and the Centennial Trail.  It's a hilly course, but that didn't stop us!  The hubs flew through his race, finishing in place 102 and number 7 in his age bracket!  I was super impressed, especially because he mostly trained with me, and I run SLOW!  (My motto:  Slow is the new fast.)

***December 11, 2013:  Wow, I'm finally coming back to this post.  In the weeks that have followed our half marathon, life has sped up remarkably.  The first two-three weeks afterward, my IT band was very, very grumpy with me.  So much so that I have not actually completed a run since the Half (as it has come to be known), and I am still slightly scared to try.  IT band issues are not, not, not, NOT fun.  I have been resting it and attempting to strengthen it.  Some days (ok, most days) I've been lucky to even have time to get a workout in.  It's a season of life, and it's a busy one.

Anyway, back to the Half.  It was a great experience, and besides the IT pain afterward, I would totally train for another one.  Do I now feel motivated to do a full?  Absotively, posolutely NOT!  I will stick to 13.1 or less.  Do I love running yet?  Some days.  Other days are still tough.  But do I still consider myself a runner, even after two months of resting?  Absolutely.

{Menu: Week of October 6, 2013}

Wow, I haven't done a menu post in awhile...

True confessions of a full-time music teacher, pastor's wife, and mom? Well, if you must know, I haven't actually been following a menu PLAN super well for the last couple of months either.  My pocket book is noticing so its high time to reign it back in and enjoy some good old-fashioned home cooking!

So here are the tasty dishes I have planned for this week:

Monday: Meatloaf, bachelor buttons and baked potatoes

Tuesday: Homemade chicken noodle soup

Wednesday: Stew (I love my crock pot!)

Thursday: Tilapia and rice

Friday: Pizza

Saturday: Leftover day

Sunday: Paninis!

Yum! I'm excited for the coming week!

{Basement Remodel: Before and Demo}

As many of you know, we purchased a new (to us) home in May of this year.  The home was built in 1909, but had been updated over the years and is really in good condition.  The previous owners had begun a remodel project in the basement prior to getting the word that they would need to move, and move quickly.  Due to the circumstances surrounding the previous owners' need to move, Jon and I were able to get an amazing deal on the house.  One catch would be that we would have to finish the remodel project, but we figured we could handle that, since we had built out Bethany's room in our basement back in Missoula.  Once we got into the project, we realized that we needed to almost gut the basement again, though, in order to really make the space functional for our family.

While I was in the process of forgetting to be a good blogger and get some good "before" pictures of the space, Jon was in the process of being a very good demolition man.  Here's what I do have:

The first space and major project to tackle was the space that would eventually become Gabe's bedroom.  For some reason, there was a big space built out behind that stud wall that we decided was wasted space.  This wall was removed and replaced with a working closet and desk area for Gabe.

The next space to encounter major work was this space, which would eventually become Bethany's room.  As you can see, the washer/dryer hookups were also in this space, so we had to work out a new solution as to where to put these essentials.  We decided to move the wall that abuts to the bathroom, and put the washer and dryer in the bathroom, where we can hide them behind some accordion doors if we want to.

All through this process of demo and remodel, we found some "interesting" things along the way.  Here is just one example.  As we tore out the wall that housed the washer and dryer hookups, we realized that this flex tubing was running behind the wall to the out door vent.  Not only is this a HUGE code violation and scary, scary fire hazard, but you can see that the tubing was ripped, and therefore, all that hot, moist dryer air was venting...You guessed it...directly behind the wall.  Fortunately, we found no evidence of mold, so we let the area dry for a few days and then rocked it back in.  

This space was our last big change up.  The furnace room.  When we started, it was a full room, with wasted space that *could* have been used for storage, but really just created a huge closet in the middle of the basement.  We decided to take out a couple of walls, and turn this big, cumbersome space into a smaller, more manageable space.  You'll see final pics of how we made it work in a future post.

So there you have it.  The beginning stages of our basement remodel.  You'll see some great pictures of the process coming up soon, including some lovely ones of my amazing hubby covered in sheetrock dust.  :-) 

Stay tuned.

{Going Coastal: Part 3}

On Saturday, we had the chance to hang out with our wonderful friends Warren and Kim Stroup.  Warren leads The River Center in Lebanon, Oregon.  Any time we get with the Stroups and their great kids is a wonderful blessing.  They took us to the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.  It was a fabulous time!  Jon loves airplanes (who doesn't?) so it was especially exciting for him.  This place was amazing!  So many fun things to do, and they even have a waterpark!  The kids had a great time swimming after they looked at all the cool airplanes.

On Sunday, Jon preached at The River Center and then we had a relaxing evening with the family we were staying with, the Jeffers.  Such a blessing to have wonderful friends around the world!

Monday arrived and it was time to head home. We made a quick stop at Multnomah Falls, which was gorgeous, as always.

We are thankful to have enjoyed such a great vacation!  It was great to come home and get back to all of our friends and projects that we have going on.  Hopefully I'll be posting some remodel pics soon...we are getting close!

{Going Coastal: Part 2}

Behind on my posting, but here are pics from days 2 and 3 of our vacation!


Crepes for breakfast at Cannon Beach

 My view for most of the day... 

Which explains why my legs ended up sunburnt and I took very few pictures.

We drove to Seaside for dinner and caught the final NBA game, completely by accident.  

Enjoyed people watching those who actually knew about the game and came to watch it.

 

Friday, we traveled to Silver Falls State Park before heading to Lebanon to meet our friends. 

We saw 8 waterfalls in about 5 miles... A gorgeous and easy hike.

Behind the waterfall

{Going Coastal}

Our recent vacation to Oregon was very fun!  We had a great time, took lots of pictures, saw some beautiful scenery and enjoyed amazing weather.  It was a needed getaway to just spend time as a family.  Here is a recap of Day 1:

First Stop:  The Tillamook Cheese Factory

Next:  The Beach

 I just love this one.

 If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I use the hashtag #mightymeeks for anything I instagram (yes, it's a verb) that has to do with our family.  I even created one specifically for this trip, but it was too long to write in the sand.  :)

 This one is another of my favorites from the trip.

 And this one is cool, too.

As you can tell, we had a little bit of fun.  The girls hadn't been to the ocean before, so our stops at Rockaway Beach and Cannon Beach were their first tastes of the awesomeness that is the Pacific. 





 Michaela accidentally fell in.

 Evening beach time.

After all our beach adventures, we finally found a place to camp at Nahalem Bay State Park.  That place is a.maz.ing.  Flush toilets, showers, the beach just over the dunes...  Wow.  We were quite impressed and would definitely go back.  And, we were lucky enough to NOT get rained on while at the Oregon Coast!







Tomorrow's post will be dedicated to Day 2!