It Was the Best of Times . . .

Grant and I pointed out over the weekend that we have so much to celebrate right now, and yet there are also some major frustrations in our life at the same time.

I don’t want to dwell on the frustrations. They mostly have to do with Grant’s work. It seems to me like every time Grant has a great leader who actually encourages him and becomes a mentor, they don’t last long in that department with all of its drama and backstabbing. We just said goodbye to another good one.

On the brighter side, Grant is graduating from his MPA program this June (he completed the courses by the end of December, but he’s going to walk in June). He has been asked to speak at the hooding ceremony for the Public Administration department, and right after that ceremony, he will receive a special honor for having a GPA above 3.9. Last Thursday, we found out that Grant was accepted into the OSU Community College Leadership PhD program. I knew he would get in all along, but it was nice to have that confirmed. I’m happy for him now; I’m hoping that happiness will last these next few years while he attends the classes. But at least (when that’s over) he’ll finally be done.

I think I’ll put my foot down and tell him he can’t get any more degrees for a while after that .

I might be crazy, but I registered for the triathlon put on by our stake Relief Society this year. I’m hoping to participate in all 3 events, but we’ll see how much training I’ll be able to do. So far, I’m working on running. I’ve been able to go running after the kids are in bed a few times a week, and I’m slowly increasing my distance. I’m borrowing a bike. We’ve been trying to figure out what would be the best fit for me, and of course, the size I need is between the two sizes I have available to borrow. I’ll probably end up using my mom’s bike, which is a little big, but it should work. Then I have to figure out if it’s easier to get a gym membership or to pay once a visit to go swim somewhere, and I have to figure out when I can do it since not many places are open after my kids are in bed. Whew! So that’s what I have ahead of me, but it feels good to be working toward a goal.

Grant and I just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. The time has gone by so quickly, and every day I am grateful that I married my best friend. We did several things to celebrate. Our getaway as a family to the beach a couple weeks ago was anniversary inspired. The kids and I also tagged along on a work trip Grant took to Bend during the week last week.

Last Friday (the actual day of our anniversary), Eleanor was so excited about celebrating our special day. In the morning, she told me, “Mommy, you just rest right there on the couch today, and I’ll take care of everything. I’ll even make us lunch. And Daddy, when you get home from work, you just relax in that chair.” When I picked up Eleanor from school, her teacher even told me happy anniversary.

Eleanor was so excited to make lunch for us, so I let her, even though she doesn’t have a lot of sandwich making experience. I even let Phae get in on the fun by making her own sandwich, with just a little help. Eleanor made her “special anniversary recipe” peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She was so excited about them that she made a half sandwich for Daddy when he came home to go with his dinner:

Her recipe calls for a little dab of peanut butter on top (she had wanted to spread the whole top with peanut butter when she made mine, but I had seen how much peanut butter went inside it and insisted that not much was needed on top).

Grant came home from work with these (so much for not getting each other anything):The kids were pretty excited about the flowers, too.

Grant and I put the kids to bed that night and took some sleeping bags (and a baby monitor) out to the backyard so we could lay and watch the stars and talk about our lives. We have fond memories of spending time talking and looking at the stars during our courtship and even pre-courtship, if you could call our “just friends” time pre-courtship. Those times don’t really seem that long ago, and yet so much has happened in between.

I’m amazed to have been married 10 years to Grant and not to have had more bumps along the way. I think I always looked at my parents’ marriage (which ended in divorce), with all the struggles they had, and I thought all marriages would be like that. In fact, the first few fights we had as newlyweds, I thought we were doomed and already on the pathway to divorce (because healthy couples never fight, right?). Everyone always says marriage is hard work. I can see the perspective, but for me, my marriage has been a vacation from the hard work of life. If there is any challenge or struggle that I have faced, I have been blessed to have a loving, supportive partner to help me through it. Sure, we’ve had disagreements along the way, but I guess I never thought I would make it through 10 years of marriage without scars or dents, if you will, in our relationship. I am so grateful that Grant and I have always been able to tell each other anything, and we can always talk through things. We may have bruises here and there, but I don’t feel like anything remains unhealed. I think we have only gotten better with time as we have learned how each other tick. I will happily spend another 10, 20, 50, 100+ years with my sweetie!

On Saturday, my mom came over to watch the kids so Grant and I could go out for a little day date. Grant and I had tossed around all sorts of ideas about what we should do for our anniversary, and we decided we just wanted to wander around downtown, unencumbered and spontaneous. We wandered into some bike shops and checked out bikes for me or him. We happened upon the one running store in Salem, which I wouldn’t have known about if it hadn’t been for the fact that someone from that store gave a seminar (which I missed) on running for the triathlon. So we wandered in to find out what kind of shoes were best for me. The sales guy spent a ton of time with me, explaining everything and finding just the right fit. When we were done, I expected us to say, “Thank you,” and leave, but Grant told him to box up the shoes we determined were best for me.

So I got new running shoes .

We went to lunch at The Wild Pear and then headed home to grab our kids so we could say goodbye to Grant’s boss who was packing up to leave.

I went running in my new shoes Saturday evening. It felt great! I had been using some old cross trainers (made for walking and running) with a set of 11ish-year-old orthotics inside. I never realized how heavy they were until I was using those running shoes! It was almost like I had been resistance training, and when I ran with my new shoes, I was lighter than air. I ran 2 and 3/4 miles that night, so I’m getting closer to the 3.1 I’ll do at the triathlon. Then I just need to train for biking and swimming while maintaining my running. Ha! No problem, right? We’ll see!