2021 New Years Resolutions

 Here are my resolutions for 2021!

1) Weekly Prayer Journal 

I was much better about journaling in high school and college but have fallen out of the habit. I found this past year that prompts help me (I've been doing a maternity journal) and so I ordered this one from Amazon to try out: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08J5HLXRD

2) Baltimore Half Marathon

Since the pandemic isn't going anywhere, I think pools will keep being hard to access, so I'm pivoting from the triathlons for a year to try and gain endurance in my running. 2021 is the 20 year anniversary of the Baltimore Running Festival (would have been 2020 but it was cancelled) and so that's my target (it's in September, we'll see if it happens in person or not).

3) "Completing" a Cookbook

Julie & Julia style, I want to "finish" one of the many cookbooks in my collection by trying every recipe in the book. I have not decided which book to do yet - that is going to be based on reviewing the recipes and gives me flexibility to switch to an "easier" cookbook part way through the year if needed, but I've gotten many cookbooks as gifts and want to branch out from my basic staples. The goal is less pasta, more adventure.

4) The 2021 Reading Women Challenge

I have alternated between the Modern Mrs. Darcy challenge and the Reading Women challenge the past couple of years, but I love the goals that stretch what I read and get me out of my genre comfort zones!

5) Try out online "scrapbooking"

I usually aim for 10 resolutions but have slimmed down to 5 this year because having a baby is going to be a big change for us. I want to experiment with documentation techniques (a co-worker recommended the Qeepsake app) for this change. We intend to keep our kiddo off of social media, so I want to try recording the same memories I might reach for my phone to share online, but in a more tangible, long-lasting format.

2020 Resolutions Wrap-Up

I think it's safe to say that 2020 was not what any of us thought it would be, but I did still manage to make some progress towards my resolutions. Here's this year's update, as requested by my "fans" ;)

1) Get a will - Done, 1 pt
Ryan and I did this right after we found out we were expecting a baby - we had already planned to do it and with a business and a baby we really needed to get everything laid out.

2) Remodel our Master Bathroom - Done, 1 pt

Oh boy, this one was an adventure. We interviewed contractors and had literally just signed with one guy the week before the state shutdown...We waited 3 months before he was allowed to re-open his business and come to our house to do the work. And even then, so many things were delayed in arriving. But both our upstairs bathrooms have been redone now, and we have a great relationship with our contractor for future jobs.

3) See a comedy show live - COVID cancelled, 0 pts

I had planned to see the Iliza Shleschinger show at the Casino in Arundel Mills...no idea when I'll get to do this in the future, sadly, but I've listened to Iliza's podcast all year instead.

4) Sew my own clothing - Do masks count? 0.5 pts

I fully intended to do this but then in march was making masks like the rest of the world, and then I was pregnant and my measurements were all out of whack for making the skirt I have planned. I did do more sewing this year (masks, curtains, pillowcases) so I'm giving myself this half point for meeting the intent of the resolution (better understand my sewing machine/gain sewing confidence) if not the actual letter of the resolution. Also, masks are clothing items now. :)

5) Add backing to my two quilt tops - Did one of the two quilts! 0.5 pts

I did finish a lovely baby quilt for my cousin's new baby, and then ran out of quilt filling for the larger one, which is quite expensive. I have made some quilted pot holders and learned a lot on this crib quilt - this is a hobby I hope to be able to hold on to after baby is born :)

6) Complete an Olympic distance triathlon - COVID cancelled, but I did a duathlon of the same distance, 0.5 pts
I was all registered and training for a race in May that obviously did not happen! I did push myself to do duathlons this spring (run-bike-run instead of swim-bike-run) but the loss of the YMCA and loss of my weekly swim trainings is something I really missed this year.

7) Make a grilled cheese from scratch - Nope. 0 pts

I made pita bread and flatbread but yeast was VERY hard to find (thanks, pandemic shortages!).

8) Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge with Stephanie - Done! books below, 1 pt

I read a total of 50 books in 2020, according to my Libby and Goodreads shelves, with a focus on trying to read books by women - so the "challenge books" are listed below:

1. A book published the decade you were born - Wild Swans, by Jung Chang

2. A debut novel - Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng

3. A book recommended by a source you trust - Homegoing, by Yaa Gyaasi

4. A book by a local author - A spool of blue thread, by Anne Tyler

5. A book outside your (genre) comfort zone - The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende

6. A book in translation - The Littlest BookShop in Paris, by Noel George

7. A book nominated for an award in 2020 - The Glass Hotel, by Emily St. Mandel (2020 National Book Award Finalist)

8. A re-read - The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet, by Kate Rorick

9. A classic you didn’t read in school- I know why the caged bird sings, by Maya Angelou

10. Three books by the same author -  Christmas Shopaholic, Surprise Me, Undomestic Goddess, by Sophie Kinsella

9) My Utmost for His Highest daily devos (also with Stephanie) - Did well into March...but failed. 0 pts
OK, I find Oswald Chambers to be...not that inspiring. I tried but I think I need something more self-driven. I also tried an advent devotional this year, but just reading a little message doesn't do much for me. Next year I'm trying a weekly instead of daily and a journal instead of just readings...we'll see how it goes.

10) Finish "While True: learn" game, TIS-100 game, and Human Resource Machine Game - Done! 1 pt

I wrote a little article for a journal at work reviewing video games that introduce you to coding concepts that covered these games. While True: learn is my least favorite - it's fun to play but doesn't teach the concepts well. Human Resource Machine is my favorite, and most recommended for learning computer concepts. TIS-100 is too much like actual programming work (I needed Ryan's help to finish it).

Score: 5.5/10 (2 were made hard by COVID-19 restrictions, so we could say out of 8)

Thanksgiving Gratitude Poems

 It's Thanksgiving, in this year of 2020 where things are...different...than anyone expected them to be. Instead of being with my large family, I made dinner for just me and my husband (left photo collage). Macy's still held the parade, but no spectators and a bunch of masked volunteer participants (right photo collage).

This post started as a tweet:

Six-words of gratitude, inspired by the @nytimes newsletter (all about my spouse):

He holds me when I cry Tells me I can do anything Washes all the dirty dishes daily Driven by his sense of duty Sees things through to the finish Apologizes always, and grows with me.

but then I decided to expand it as I thought more about things I'm grateful for this year.

 Here are seven more six-line, six-word-each poems of gratitude (it would have been more poetic to only write six more but I lost count and then didn't want to delete one - better to have more blessings to be thankful for anyways).

-- Baby Bear --

one June day, blue plus sign

gel on my belly, flickering heartbeat

later, visible head, hands and feet

butterflies turn into punches and kicks

yellow paint, a crib, and diapers

next year holds such frightening wonders

-- Mom --

"What grandma name would you want"

when expecting myself, suddenly things change

I see mom with fresh eyes

memories of always tired, rarely angry

now taking my calls with grace

gently, firmly, pointing me towards Christ

-- Discord --

Notification from an app I had ignored

someone called Sophie remembered my name

an online birthday for sweet Jane

suddenly I have many new friends

in this year of weird loneliness

we are united with magical technology

-- Pioneer Girls --

March: the school year abruptly ends

no more church activities this spring

spend summer building new fall plans

return to activities, outside with masks

"I  really missed you, Mrs. Brown"

nothing like being loved by kids

-- Andrew --

"can you see how we fit"

she asked anxiously, "yes" I say

and honestly he has melted in

their wedding day seems long ago

my new brother from this year

much celebrated before the pandemic hit

-- Zoom --

maintaining regular monthly tag up dinners

online work meetings are now effortless

enabling coast-to-coast online parties

celebrations of loved ones without airplanes

full of security flaws; for sure,

but in an unusual year, suddenly usual

-- Long Reach --

Long bike paths around ponds and lakes

places to run when gyms closed

gardening advice, puzzles and baby toys

all within Buy Nothing walking distance

when suddenly told to stay put

one realizes this is a nice home

Prayers of the People

This morning I got to lead prayer for our church live stream during a regular segment, "Prayers of the People". I wrote out the prayer so that I'd be eloquent and not say um too much, and I want to share it with you all out there in the blog-universe.

Heavenly Father - We come to you this Palm Sunday as a remotely gathered body,
learning new ways to connect with each other, and grateful that we continue to
have prayer as a way of directly connecting with you. And as the weather turns
to spring, we’re reminded of your attention to every detail of creation, how you
care for the lilies of the field, and how much more you care for us. We know your
ability to hear each of our individual anxieties, and thank you for the grace we are
extended by being allowed to approach your throne in prayer.

We pray that you’ll continue to show us your power and grace and peace as we
face the global pandemic. We lift up our local and national leaders - Dr. Ball and
the Howard County General first responders, Governor Hogan and his task force,
the president and his task force, and ask that you give them wisdom and compassion
in this time of economic and public health crisis. We pray for churches around the
world, remembering that we are a part of a larger body. We ask that you help us to
demonstrate love for our neighbor, that you would remind our hearts that fear of
this virus cannot translate to fear of our fellow humans. We ask that you continue
to lead our elders, deacons and pastors in identifying and caring for the needs
of the church.

We pray for our missionaries, many of whom are facing this global crisis separated
from families in other countries. We lift up our local crisis centers, such as the
Grassroots shelter and the Saalam center, as they seek to serve those in our
community who struggle with homelessness, or have escaped as refugees
and are not equipped for social isolation in a new country.

We pray for the parents in our church - those who are managing remote schooling
for teens and tweens, or caring for young, active and bored toddlers, or parents
of adult children, who are distanced from their families for the safety of all - we
pray that you’d give these parents the strength to continue on. We particularly
pray for the D Family, as they seek to protect their son as he’s treated for cancer,
and for S&O, who have only just become parents this week. 

We pray for the marriages in our church, as those with spouses can find comfort
in the presence of a partner during this crisis, but also confess that we are sinners,
and that often the stress of this situation is sinfully spent in frustration towards our spouse. 

We pray that you’d comfort those in our body who are dealing with anxiety from illness,
unemployment, loneliness, or any other unspoken need. Lord, we crave your presence
and protection. It’s in Jesus name we pray, Amen

My Toast to My Sister

Today my sister got married. This is the text of the toast that I gave. My vocal inflections altered it slightly, and I added a few extra bits to reference the best man's toast, but this is the content.

Hi, everyone, I’m Emily, the matron of honor and Abigail’s only older sister

(though we have many younger ones). But Abigail never felt like a little sister.

In fact, I remember one time when I was very young, our Uncle Mike said

something about my little sister Abigail and I said, confused, “Abigail’s not my little sister!”,

So then Uncle Mike asked, “Well what is she?” and I said, “I dunno, She’s just my sister!”.

Just my sister. Just the person I’ve fought, cried, laughed, and played with, for all but the

first 18 months of my life.

When I got married, Abigail stood up as my maid of honor with a speech she had written

at 2 AM the night before. By contrast, I wrote this speech the day she and Andrew got engaged.

This story is one of many that demonstrates how different we are. I am a planner, and she is

spontaneous. I'm mostly an indoors girl, while she loves camping and hikes and will sometimes

lay on the grass just because it’s outside. I am expressive and emotional when she is mostly

logical - which made falling in love a bit confusing for her! Abigail had been out with a couple

of different guys, and evaluated the pros and cons of them, very logically. But with Andrew,

she couldn’t do that - she just liked him. Logic went out the window because of how much

she enjoyed spending time with him. Up until Andrew, Abigail had made fun of anything

cute or romantic that Ryan (that’s my husband) or Derek (our brother in law) did.

She wasn’t emotional, she didn’t do cutesy - until Andrew. And boy, was that confusing.

Eventually it was clear that Abigail had fallen for Andrew, hard. And this is when I began

to really like Andrew, because in these moments, Andrew looked out for my sister’s heart. 

When I met Andrew, I thought, he’s fine. He was like the guys I worked with, slightly nerdy,

into board games (REALLY into them, like the four hour kinds). He played frisbee, but not

like me where we casually throw it around, but ultimate, with rules and teams and a league.

He takes things seriously - and that is what I like most about Andrew. He considers things

carefully, and as I got to know him better, I saw more and more that this made him a good

partner for Abigail. He cared deeply about what was best for her. In the beginning, when

she was out to meet people, he respected that she might choose someone other than him.

When she did choose to date him, he was careful to make sure that she still spent time

with her other friends and he still spent time with his. When she was anxious to get married,

he prayed about it, and considered what it would mean, and (most notably for me) listened

to my opinions (which I had lots of, even though I wasn’t really entitled to them). Andrew and

I went to lunch once, and out for coffee another time, where I shared what I thought about

marriage, and my sister’s idiosyncrasies, and grilled him to see if he’d thought about these

things. Through these two private chats, I saw Andrew’s true appreciation for Abigail’s

independent spirit, and realized that he did love her and was just not vocalizing those

thoughts. A bit like Mr. Darcy, who says “if I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more”.

On that theme, and since Abigail quoted from Little Women in her speech, let me quote from

another set of my favorite literary sisters. This is from the moment right after Elizabeth Bennet

confides in her sister that she is going to marry Fitzwilliam Darcy. Once eldest sister Jane has

gotten over her astonishment, she says, “Now I am quite happy...for you will be as happy as

myself...Were it for nothing but his love of you, I must always have esteemed him; but now,

as your husband, there can be only Bingley (Ryan here instead) and yourself more dear to

me.” I ask you all to join me in raising your glasses to my dearest little sister and her

Darcy-like man - as you embark on this crazy, emotional, fantastic adventure called

marriage, we couldn’t be happier for you.

2020 Resolutions

Happy New Year! And here they are, here are the things I've resolved to try and do this year to stretch and improve myself in various ways, as I have shared annually for...a decade! Welcome to the new decade (everyone who says the new decade doesn't start until next year is wrong, because you start indexing at zero, folks). Anyways, let's get to that list:

1) Get a will
This is one Ryan and I have resolved together. With his new business, things are a bit more complicated and we've been advised to get legal protections setup - so we will, before the year is out.

2) Remodel our Master Bathroom
We've been talking about this with friends for a while, but I'm newly resolved to actually make progress and be finished by the end of 2020. I've called two designers to make appointments!

3) See a comedy show live
Ryan and I have enjoyed Netflix's comedy specials, and so we want to go see one live this year. It will likely involve some East Coast travel to do so, but we're committed to making it happen this year.

4) Sew my own clothing
I wanted to sew my own clothes last year but chickened out, so I've pulled the resolution into the new year. I have the fabric, I just need to be brave enough to cut it and own my mistakes.

5) Add backing to my two quilt tops
I've made two tops, but I need to finish borders and backing to really call them quilts - so that's the resolution this year.

6) Complete an Olympic distance triathlon
Tris were so good for me last year, I'm stretching myself into a longer one this summer. I did a lot of racing last year, and I hope to keep that drive going!

7) Make a grilled cheese from scratch
This is my cooking one for the year - I want to make homemade cheese, and homemade foccacia, and maybe even homemade butter, and turn it all into a single amazing sandwich. If I actually do this, I'll be sure to blog document each step!

8) Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge with Stephanie
My sister Stephanie wants to try the MMD reading challenge again, and I've agreed to do it with her.

9) My Utmost for His Highest daily devos (also with Stephanie)
I have my Dad's highlighted copy of this daily devotional, and Stephanie has a copy as well. She'd like to read it before she gives it away, so we're going to read it together.

10) Finish "While True: learn" game, TIS-100 game, and Human Resource Machine Game
About a week ago I purchased the "while true: learn" video game, which is a fun little game with real machine learning concepts built in. I'd like to finish this and the two other block programming coding games in my game library, so I can concretely recommend games that teach programming concepts to parents who ask me for advice!