One Down... Three to Go!

Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Doane has left Kentucky!

Our first wave of goodbyes came last night as we were so thrilled to have so many friends visit Sean at a little going-away gathering for him.  We've definitely made some great friends who feel like family here, and you all better come visit us!

I didn't think it would be hard to see him leave, but I was really surprised at how sad I was last night!  This is the place we met, where we bought our first house, where we've learned how to be a family with Ryiah, where we've laughed and loved and fought and everything in between. It's so strange to know he will not be back in this house with me!

And I'm angry about that, too.  Because he didn't quite finish his honey-do list and I have a LOT of packing left to do.

We are so blessed and fortunate to have met so many wonderful people during our time in Kentucky, and we will miss you all very, very much.

But Cassie, Stella and I are not leaving just yet... so who wants to bring some boxes over and help me pack?

Sean and his "son" Justin. 

Telling Stella she'd be a show girl in a couple of weeks!

Last time leaving our home :(

Big Changes

Well kids... we are Las Vegas bound!

We had been contemplating a move to Vegas sometime in 2013.  But, in one week's time Sean and I both received amazing job offers and so, away we go in just a few days!

I will be starting a job doing business development for a company called HCA Healthcare, which manages several hospitals in Las Vegas and California.  I'm SO excited... it's a new field and a new career direction for me, and it's going to be a great challenge.

Everything has somehow fallen into place very easily so far.  Sean found a townhouse for us that met all of my requirements, including:

1) Grass (don't laugh; it's rare in the desert)
2) A tree (ditto)
3) A community pool
4) A fenced in backyard
5) A park
6) Nearby shopping

Yes, I'm high-maintenance. But I'm moving to the desert. It's going to take a few things to make me happy.

So now begins the process of packing up the house, selling what we can't pack, renting the house, and driving to Vegas.

I didn't think I'd be packing up all my books AGAIN.  YUCK.  And we are having massive yard sale in the very near future.  How did I collect all this crap in just one year?

My friend Hollis is making the drive with me, Cassie and Stella.  I'm so grateful to her and I know it's going to be a big, marathon adventure! But how many times do you have good reason to drive across the U.S.?  We're planning to take the southern route, so if anyone knows any quirky stops around Arkansas, Texas, or Arizona...let me know!

Sean has told Ryiah and she is excited but a little confused.  She was sad that she wouldn't see Cassie and Stella anymore. She thought they were stuck in Kentucky!  Hopefully it will be a fun surprise for her to see them arrive--and stay--in Las Vegas.

It's going to be a wild few weeks... and then a wild new adventure as life begins in a new place!

But first things first... anyone need to rent a house in Lexington?

Opportunity Today, Prosperity Tomorrow

During the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, Julian Castro ignited passions and opinions about a number of significant and urgent items on the minds of the American public. 

The line that stuck with me most as a first-time educator was "you cannot be pro-business without being pro-education."

Opportunity today.  Prosperity tomorrow.

As a girl growing up in a small town in Kentucky, with a father who owned his own business, I was lucky when it came to my education.  I worked hard, and I earned scholarships and grants to cover my tuition to a private liberal arts institution.  I attended graduate school and assume responsibility for the debts I will owe for the next decade in exchange for that education.

I could not have attended any college without those funds.

But what if I had worked hard, and yet struggled to get those grades to earn that scholarship? Is that American dream allowed for those who can earn it through academic talent or write a check for the cost?

I am surrounded daily by students who know that their college education is a chance to be more.  That their diploma is a step up, a step out, a step forward.

My classes are filled with single moms who are attending college because a program helped them enroll, apply for financial aid and in some cases pay for their studies; with adults returning to college to earn their way to better-paying, more fulfilling and more stable careers; with students who are the first in their families to attend college; who are taking on students loans on their own and working to graduate early in order to minimize that amount of debt.

I have seen students in my classes, bright and eager, participating in discussion during the first week, explaining the very specific career goals they have in mind.  They want jobs; they want stability; they want a path to independence and success.

Those same students would come by my office to read from my books because their financial aid hadn't come through yet, and they couldn't afford their textbooks without it. 

Those same students dropped from my class rosters last week.  Their financial aid applications were not approved, and they had no way to pay for their education.

I don't know where those students went, or what will happen to them.  Will they try again next semester? Will they go home, defeated? Do they have anyone to guide them or help them?  What will become of those career goals they shared with me?

MY STUDENTS HAVE THE RIGHT TO LEARN.  My students have the right to an education.  I'm not saying that it should be free, but they should NOT be limited by their raw talent or ability to write a check. 

As Michelle Obama said last night, "When you walk through the door of opportunity, you do no slam it shut behind you."

MY STUDENTS are the engines of tomorrow's economy.  But they have to be trained, and they have a right to have the tools in place to help them find the path to be prepared.  They don't all have parents or mentors or raw talent and raw skill to find their way.  They need people and programs to show them that higher education is attainable, it is manageable, it IS WITHIN THEIR AMERICAN DREAM.

Opportunity Today. Prosperity Tomorrow.

Meet Stella!

A bundle of joy has arrived at our house in the form of a wild puppy.  We adopted Stella from Barktown Rescue in Bardstown, Kentucky.  (Aside on Barktown:  they are fabulous! They adopt animals from other shelters to keep them from being put down, and every animal is put into a volunteer foster home until a forever family is found. AMAZING dedication from everyone there.)  

Stella is a mix of we don't know what...a little lab... maybe a little collie... maybe a little rottweiler? But whatever she is, she's a whole lot of cute.

My mothering skills have been tested as Stella woke me up every night around 2 a.m. during her first week with us to go potty.  And of course that happened while Sean was in Canada.  She has already grown leaps and bounds and by the size of her paws she's going to be a monster.  Cassie is enjoying the company... most of the time.  :)  

Long Overdue Updates... My Christmas in Vegas/Cali and More

I went to Vegas for Christmas and all I got was this:

If you read The Bloggess at all, you're also thinking, "Knock, Knock ****** ******!!"(See my recommended blogs, to the right.)

Vegas was... interesting. Definitely not like any other place I've ever been.  A strange mix of the Great Gatsby and well... brown. 

Things like:

Surrounded by:

Sean did take me to Freemont Street to see the light display and all of the "unique" people, but all in all, Vegas was just a weird place.  All the lights, the hotels... it's just trying SO hard.  And it's surrounded by... nothing!!!

After a day in Vegas, we piled in a teeny rental car with Sean's daughter Ryiah, and made the seven-hour trek to his parents home in  Fresno.  Through the desert.  For seven hours.  I was really glad to start seeing farmland!

Ryiah was SO good the whole time, until about 6 1/2 hours in, when she pulled at her car seat and said, "DAAAAAD, I just can't STAND it anymore!" He told her that we couldn't either and that this trip was stinky.   And he was right... a barrage of pig and cow farms in the last hour of the trip really stunk up the drive.

We spent Christmas in Fresno, which was nice and quiet, even without snow.  We didn't make it to Yosemite, but I'm hopeful that I'll get to cross that off my list next time! 

After another quick day in Vegas, we came home to Kentucky with Ryiah in tow.  We had so much fun with her for the better part of three weeks!  She is a daddy's girl for sure, but she and I had some fun too, especially when it came to girly and crafty things:

Mad Potter kept Ry entertained for almost three hours.  A welcome break for her dad!

Yes, that's HOMEMADE playdough.  In four colors. I'm awesome.

Glow sticks in the bath.  This was FASCINATING to her! We had to pull her out of the tub!



And thanks to Pinterest, I'm already full of fun ideas for her next visit! 

We stayed on the go with trips to Monkey Joes, Newport Aquarium, and more, but by far the funniest and my favorite was taking her to ice skate in downtown Lexington.  She was immediately determined to do it BY. HER. SELF. and didn't want Sean or me to touch her AT ALL.  One terrifying hour later she felt like she had accomplished something and Sean and I were exhausted, but proud!

Daddy and his Boo Boo outside of Newport Aquarium, saying hello to Cincinnati.

Ryiah also had a big time with our dog Cassie, better known as "Dumb Old Passie."  Passie seemed terrified, but kept coming back for more.

"Passie is pretty!"

Ten pound dog.  Twenty-eight pound kid.
You do the math.

All in all, it was a crazy and wonderfully fun holiday.  Now, before the end of January, I will finally buy some curtains and new lamps.  And spend a lot of time in the sauna that we FINALLY have working.  And sleep. Alot.

Where the Streets Have No Name

I just saw the trailer for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.  First, what rock have I been under that I missed this novel?  Second, I cannot wait to see how this story unfolds. 

A lot of things are making me think about my papa lately, and this movie definitely did.  It's just starting to really sink in that he's not going to be there the next time I go home for a visit, and that I won't be able to call him after Big Blue Madness to talk about the new freshman class of Cats.  But my goodness, didn't we have a full life of love with him? When so many people have their time with loved ones cut short, I certainly have nothing to complain about. 

I'm wishing that I knew more about papa, that I knew more about what he thought about the world around him. It's hard to imagine how much the world changed over the course of his life, but I'm not sure I ever  really knew his perception of it all.  Of course, that was also just papa.  Nothing truly got to him, bothered him, got him riled up or upset.  Couldn't we all use a dose of his temperment and peacefulness! 

I'm so grateful that his cancer was not long-suffering.  I'm trying to forget the difficult memories of his sickness, and cling to the last good day I had with him. 

I left work a little early to take a quick evening trip to Somerset to visit.  It was a few days after his brain surgery and he was doing really good.  When I arrived, everyone was out of his room and the curtains were closed.  I was worried... but he was just getting ready to go for his evening lap around the hospital floor.  That's right--this man who had just had brain surgery days before was up and walking around!

His cheeks were pink and his face was warm with his usual smile when he came out of his room with the nurse.  "Well Amos, what are you doing here?" he asked.  "I'll be back in a minute," he said.

A second nurse came to grab his arm, but my mom suggested that I walk with him.

"Come on papa, let's go to the prom," I said, hooking my elbow with his. 

"Now, it's been a while since I've done any dancing," he replied.

We started the lap around the hospital floor and he took off like he was walking for real exercise and not just for post-op therapy! 

"My Amos is teaching at Georgetown," he told the nurse.  Well, he told her twice actually... but that was just the brain tumor.  Nothing was going to stop how proud he was of his girls and nothing made me happier to hear him say.

He flirted with all the nurses as we walked by, and told me several times how wonderful they all were. I wish he could have stayed on that floor the whole time he was sick.  He felt safe there and they were SO good to him.  I think they liked being around him even more than he liked them!

After our little walk, I hung out in his room while he took a nap--or faked taking a nap, that is.  Mom whispered that the whole day, he would NOT shut up.  He'd close his eyes, and we'd go on talking, only to catch him smiling or chuckling at something we said.  Sometimes he'd scare the daylights out of us by suddenly chiming into a conversation when we thought he was long asleep.  I left that day when he was finally dosing off, but that smile was still on his face.  I don't know if he was really asleep or not.

He was wearing that same smile the day we buried him.

It's a tough time of year because this is when papa would normally started getting fired up for basketball season.  It's been really hard on my mom, but I'm trying really hard to imagine the questions papa has already peppered Adolf Rupp, Bill Keightley, and Cawood Ledford with up in heaven.  Something tells me him and Whiter have front row season tickets to all the games this year. 

And while papaw was the most humble Christian man I will ever know, I certainly hope the Good Lord cheers for the Cats.  Papa would certainly hate to cheer against God if he's Tennessee fan...

Homework...

I'm long overdue on an update with the new house!

Lots of work has been going on... mostly in the paint department.  Here's some quick before and afters:

The upstairs bathroom is beautiful... and all white.  So, a little coat of paint brightened things up. Hard to tell because the photos are a little dar but you get the general idea. (P.S.--painting the bathroom was NOT fun!)

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the den (or as Sean would have it, the man cave).  We had no furniture, but needed to create a TV room and office area, so a few purchases were made!  The room was also a bit dingy as the walls, tirm, and ceiling were various shades of very deep, yellowish cream.  It made the room very dark.

So, first things first, I painted the ceiling (again, NOT fun!) and all the trim a crisp white. It really changed the whole atmosphere of the room!

You can also see the fresh, bright trim in this picture of our new couch and ottoman!  Sean wasa determined to get a set of crazy red leather furniture, but I won that fight  (without pitching a fit in the store. Same cannot be said for the day we tried to buy curtains). 

I also bought a new desk... sort of.  It came in about 7,000 pieces.

It was so complicated that Sean actually read through the directions!

After three hours... the finished product:

Last but not least: the kitchen.  I lived with the baby blue kitchen for a month, but this weekend I decided that enough was enough. The color is just not me, and it's driving me crazy.  So begins the process of painting the kitchen an Eddie Bauer paint shade called "pine needles."

So far so good, but there's a long way to go!

The list of projects is SO long, but I'm enjoying every second of making this house home!