Do you see what I see?

I think its a tulip? Or maybe a hyacinth? Time will tell!

We've had a really mild winter here this year. I don't think we've had a true blizzard; never socked in, only used the snow blower once. I'm not sure what gives... which Nina is it?

Either way, it's March 8, and things are starting to move around here. It's supposed to hit 50 degrees today, and 59 by Sunday. Too bad I won't be around to enjoy it... I'll be in FLORIDA with my mom, before we meet my sister for a CARIBBEAN CRUISE! Yeah... I'm excited. Also: self conscious about how pasty pale I am.

Hard to find the words

Sometimes I fall off the blogging wagon and struggle to get back on.

There have been a lot of things going on lately, and yet... not much to write about. Or, not much I can adequately put to words. Maybe a good way to do it is go through the recent cell phone photos and tell you the stories behind them?

Lets start with this one: of my mom's birthday dinner at my grandparents house.

It's a blurry cell phone picture. If I could set up this picture again, I'd have a nice DSLR camera, with a timer on it. I'd put the camera on a shelf facing the dinner table, set the shutter on continuous mode, and the camera would capture images of the lit candles, the smile on my mom's face, and my grandparents singing "Happy Birthday" to her as she blew the candles out. Somehow the camera would capture the sound of my Grandma's light (alto? soprano?) and my Grandpa's deep baritone.

The camera would not remember the shit storm of an argument Gretchen and I walked in to that Sunday afternoon, as we came over to make a Sunday birthday dinner for my mom. I think all families have this argument at some point; failing health, elderly grandparents, working adult children, lack of in-home care in rural America, the difficult decisions that must be made. What we don't talk about is the fear of losing the ones we love, losing the traditions and memories and institutional family knowledge that comes with their impending death.

It is hard.

I was in eastern Washington that weekend, over Veteran's Day, to visit my sister for "Dad's weekend" at Washington State. Since dad was a little busy playing at Sacramento, I was the stand-in. We ended up down on the field before the game, due to Gretch's participation in a student booster group. My mom was in the area too, so we were able to snag tickets from a friend on the WSU coaching staff and all sit together for the game. In a snowstorm that looked like this:

Pretty epic. The best part was the come-from-behind victory.

And... less than a month later, 'Cougar football has reminded me why sometimes college football can be cruel. You see, the 'Cougs head coach used to work for my dad. He stayed on at Eastern Washington University when my dad left for MSU. After his first wife died of a brain tumor, he remarried and now has a son and a stepdaughter. In 2007 WSU fired their football coach (whose wife, ironically, had died of ovarian cancer the year before) and our friend was hired at his alma mater and where he played, WSU. Four years later, and about 3.5 weeks after this picture, Paul was fired from WSU.

I think I have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder when it comes to people we know being fired. Seriously, all last week I was weepy and had a chest ache every time I think about it. It makes me sick.

And so, it seems the only thing to do is come home and cuddle this furball, who never fails to make me laugh:

(Don't fear, she punished me for this indignity by eating one of the glass ball ornaments the next day). 

At least the doggie knows how to hang out and roll with the punches.

Pupeeeeee

Pupeeeee!!!!

That's how Gretchen always refers to our puppy Harlow. Pupeeeeee puppppeeeee puppeeee!

I think its fun to look at the (newest) photos of her, and wonder what her personality is like. I've decided she seems shy. A little reserved and timid maybe?

I just want to cuddle her and tell her it will be all right, we'll have fun together. There will be toys to chew, two people to play with, someone to go on long walks, a nice crate and a nice dog bed. And about a day after you come home with us, Gretchen will be here to roll around on the floor and take naps with you.

Gretchen is a champion nap-taker.

I mean, sheesh, look at those little paws! And the pointy ears! And the whiskers!

Is it Sunday yet?

Suiting DJ

A few weeks ago I was walking on Main Street and happened to notice the men’s suit shop was going out of business. In the last decade Bozeman’s Main Street evolved from a multi-aspect shopping location to a very boutique-y strip of high end shops. 2003 was all out with the western wear, in with the Vera Bradley shops to cater to the yuppie ski crowd.

Unfortunately, the yuppie ski crowd has less to spend in a recession. And the men’s suit shop seems to be a recession victim. Or rather, a victim of the recession and Bozeman’s laid-back attitude towards menswear. In my governmental office, it’s perfectly acceptable to wear Carharts and a Ducks Unlimited shirt. It’s just not a very formal place, which I love.

I am sad to see the suit shop go. It means one more vacant storefront on Main Street. And it’s where I wanted to buy DJ’s wedding suit. So shortly after seeing the “Going out of Business” and “50% off all inventory” signs, Gretchen and I dragged DJ into the store to see what we could find.

Our wedding, like the town we live in, is going to be pretty informal. Since a number of guests will end up camping, we’re talking roll-out-of-your-tent-put-on-flip-flops kind of informal. Black tuxedos were out for. And we wanted to spend the money on a nice suit he’d have available for years to come. I was pushing for a charcoal grey. And a blue tie to match the whole wedding-color thing.

He ended up finding a lighter grey suit he really liked, after first finding a jacket that fit him correctly. My dear man has long arms (which is why his mom made him play the trombone in elementary school!). The shop owner found a viable jacket, and then the seamstress came out and clucked over DJ.

A suit jacket, with Carharts and tennis shoes. Might as well wear a Cabella's shirt underneath and go to work!

Then he tried on pants.

I love that you can see his backside in the reflection in the mirror!

And then added dress shoes with the pants, to see where the hem should go.

How's that for getting fussed over!

And then Gretchen and I were on a hunt to find him a shirt. I immediately picked a white, with grey stripes shirt. Gretch found another grey shirt, and DJ grabbed two blue shirts. After a back and forth of “What do you like” with the shirts (only to find we both liked different things) the shop owner settled it and voted for the grey stripes.

Then Gretchen and I hunted ties. In the end, it was the seamstress that found a patterned tie to go with the striped shirt.

So GQ, in your stocking feet!

All told, we spent under our budget on a very nice suit. One DJ will have for a long time, and one which I think he looks extremely handsome in!

Looking at my sister to his right. But so handsome!

I’m finding all sorts of recession-deals for wedding related stuff. And house decorating stuff. Are you finding any good deals on, well, anything? What do you think, suits or tuxes?

Christmas 2009 Part III

Hey there! We’re back from the Washington Parent Pilgrimage that was Christmas, and whooo boy was it fun! 1,775 miles of driving over the course of 10 days, what’s not to love!!!

Ok, perhaps my enthusiasm is unfounded. For the driving part at least. Our last stretch from Clarkston, a stop in Colton, and onto Bozeman included my sister Gretchen, who is spending the next 10 days with us in Bozeman. And while DJ’s ’02 Tundra is totally sufficient for the two of us, it’s totally cramped for three people over an eight hour drive. The kicker is that the roads were fine the whole way and we could have taken my more comfortable Nissan Altima. Oh well.

Because 1,775 miles doesn't seem like a ridiculous amount to drive in 10 days.

It’s tough wanting to split time between three families (mine, DJ’s mom’s, DJ’s dad’s), especially at the holidays. Since both sets live in Washington State, well, it feels like we might as well do both. If DJ’s family lived in Minnesota, we’d go to one or the other, not schlep our stuff around to see everyone. But once you’re to my parents, you’re “only” six hours to DJ’s parents. You might as well go the whole way, right?

The downside is that I don’t feel like we really got to spend enough time with everyone. I could have used two more days around my mom and dad, and I know DJ feels the same way. I’m not sure what we’ll do next year. We’ve kind of agreed to not make any decisions until after El Weddingo.

It’s especially hard for me to consider missing Christmas with my family when my grandparents are still alive and my extended family gets together. And if we hadn’t done the big roadtrip, we wouldn’t have gotten to stay in Harrison, and check out the restaurant that is the location for our wedding reception

The Landing Restaurant, Harrison, Idaho.

And peer through the windows to see that the bathrooms are ripped out and remodeling is, indeed, taking place.

It'll get done, right? RIGHT???

We couldn’t have gotten the last two cinnamon rolls from Harrison Traders, on Main Street in Harrison (YUM!).

Seriously, you WANT a cinnamon roll from HTC.

Or checked out the park in the middle of Harrison that overlooks the marina (somewhere in the fog) and the campground. We’ll host a Welcome BBQ here on the Friday before our wedding.

Foggy.

Or peeked into the One Shots building and giggled at how fun the after-party at One Shots will be.

Grandpa Bob and Grandma Joyce have been coming to One Shots since the mid 1940's.

And had we not gone to Castle Rock, we wouldn’t have gotten to see DJ’s brother get his year-long hair be cut, and donated to Locks of Love.

Locks of Love.

And had a fabulous dinner.

 Paul, Brian, Michelle and Christmas Dinner!

Or tried to take a nice family photo.

Look, a bird!

And had we not gone to Clarkston, we wouldn’t have gotten to open presents with my parents.

Opening gifts.

 Or tried to take another nice family photo.

Sandi, Mike, Gretchen, Courtney, Dusty.

Or sat through Christmas Mass in St. Boniface Church in Uniontown, Washington. Where although I wouldn’t say I’m a practicing Catholic, I do feel part of the community.

St. Boniface in Uniontown.

Especially when I walk out of church and grab my sister, grandmother and girl cousins for a quick Kramer Girl photo.

Hannah, Grandma Jan, Jessica, Whitney, Gretchen, me, Mollie

And then go out to my aunt and uncle’s, and watch my 76 year old grandmother talk to my cousin over Skype.

Joyce, Skypeing with my cousin Taylor.

And spend Christmas Day out at my Grandma Jan’s, with my extended, extensive family.

Kramer family on the farm.

Where I have a ton of girl cousins, who are all growing to be beautiful, accomplished young women.

Gretchen, Jessica, Mollie.

Whom DJ gets to meet.

Christmas Dinner: round FIVE.

And after dinner we all end up playing trivia games.

Who DID win the NCAA national title in 1987?

That sometimes get very heated.

Sports trivia questions. DJ only stayed around through the baseball round.

Because if we didn’t spend nearly 24 hours driving, when else would we get a chance to gather with family and celebrate just being together?

Kramer Cousins: Kyle, Zach, me, Tyler, Ryan, Whitney, Gretchen, Mollie, Jessica, Hannah

December 15 Ten on Tuesday

1. I was talking to Jen last night driving home from an AOII meeting, and pulled a little too far forward in the garage. I bumped a potted plant and broke it.

2. I now believe that talking on your phone and driving is akin to driving drunk.

3. I still have a lingering cough. I've been sucking on cough drops at work, in meetings, at the gym, and as I fall asleep. DJ is hot for kissing a menthol flavored fiancee.

4. The correct usage of the F word (which DJ doesn't like), is fiance with one e for men, fiancee with two eé s for women. Learn something new every day.

5. We're embarking on the Washington holiday pilgrimage over Christmas. Another road trip!

6. Gretchen is coming back from Washington to stay with us until January 7th. She's suggested that I can make her my "bridal bitch". While she's here. She'll be addressing envelopes to send the Save the Date Pamphlets (at the printers now!)

7. I struggle with the lack of access to exercise when we visit family. I'm a gym goer, and when I don't get a chance to work up a good sweat daily I get grumpy. I'm taking my running shoes and hoping to sneak out and get my fix!

8. The high tomorrow is 40 degrees. It's been over a month since it’s been that warm!

9. The new grants person whom I report to for work is a firmer auditor... Talk about detail oriented. Which I, by rule, am not. It’s causing conflict.

10. I need to figure out how to print labels so that we can use them as a return address. I don't want t write out a return address for 130 invitations! I’m picking up the envelopes in “Lake Blue” today!

Stamp it out

I love personal snail mail. I love sending it and I love receiving it. As a historian, I often wonder how future historians will write biographies without personal correspondence to provide insight into how people’s lives. Totally nerding out, huh?

For some reason I always notice the stamp someone uses as postage. Given that we’re working on getting our Save the Date Pamphlets ready for printing by early December, I started thinking about how would mail the pamphlets. I think we’ll end up with a 5.5” wide by 4.5” tall envelope, about the dimensions the pamphlet folds down to. Once we get the first one printed I’ll run down to the post office and weigh them in the envelope; hopefully they come in at the postage rate of a first class, 44 cent stamp. Because I’d hate to spend tons of moolah mailing this!

One of my sister’s many talents is her very nice handwriting. Mine is chicken scratch, and DJ’s is worse. Gretchen has agreed to spend a portion of her Christmas Break addressing our StD Pamphlet envelopes. If things don’t get to harried, I might run the envelopes through the printer first in order to put our return address on the upper left corner. Or do I want to put the return address on a sticker and put it on the back envelope flap? Hmm.. thoughts.

While I was at the post office this morning I noticed all of the different stamps available. Of course, it’s the holidays, so there’s a dearth of Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza and general holiday stamps out there. Since our Pamphlets will go out right after Christmas, I’d like the stamp to be non-Christmas-y. I asked the Post Office dude what stamps they have available, and he recommended I check out the online options.

So off to the United States Postal Service website I went. And look what I found:

There is of course, the classic 44 cent American Flag stamp. Maybe appropriate given our July 10th date's proximity to the Fourth of July.

Then there are more wedding and love themed stamps...

This one, waaaaayyyy to cheesy to even show DJ. Although it'd be a good inside joke. Early on we agreed that we didn't want any (in our mines) hokey posed ring shots. And when I had breakfast with our photographer, one of the first things she said was that she doesn't do the photo of the two hands, with rings, sitting on the bible... HAHAHAHAH... thank god. Because that's totally not us.

But I digress...

This one isn't bad. Again, the rings hanging off of the L. But it doesn't really flip my skirt up, you know?

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. I like cake. Who wouldn't like cake on an invitation? however you'll notice that this is a 61 cent stamp... which adds 17 cents per envelope to the mailing costs. It's good to keep in mind in case our pamphlets and envloeps are overweight.

I kept clicking around and stumbled across an idea that I like. The USPS seells National Park stamps! What if we got a collection of them, from National Parks we'd each visited, and used them as postage to send out National Park Pamphlet-esque Save the Dates? This idea has merit... (are you reading DJ?)

The last idea I stumbled across was the 50's Fins and Chrome stamp collection. Since my dress is from the '50's... weell... maybe not, but they're cool!

Overall, I didn't see anything that was a decider, but we'll keep looking. Do you think I'm totally nerdy for even paying attention to this?

Dressing Gretchen

Let me introduce you to my Maid of Honor, and only “attendant”:

Senior Picture in the fall of 2007. Photo by Kelly of Kelly Kuntz Photography.

Name: Gretchen Heitstuman Kramer

Age: 20 years old

Occupation: Sophomore at Washington State University- Go ‘Cougs!

Major: Journalism (?? this might be changing)

Interests: Music, men, college athletics, all things 'Cougs, her friends and sorority

Surfing over Spring Break, 2006, in my grad school apartment in Lexington, Kentucky.

It’s hard for me to begin to explain Gretchen. And I mean that in a good way; her outstanding personality and unique characteristics make it hard her up quickly. But once you know her, Gretchen can only be my sister Gretchen. And isn't she gorgeous!?

See those long legs of hers? I'm jealous.

She’s my only sibling, and one I waited six and a half years for. The large age difference between us definitely put us at odds for a long time. When I was 14 she was 7, and we were into totally different things. But as we’ve gotten older, we’ve gotten closer.

For me, she’s the only person I can turn to sometimes who knows exactly how I feel, and what the story is behind it. We lived in the same house, with the same parents and many of the same outside influences, and that shared experience makes her as close of friend as I have.

Why rent a hotel room when you can sleep on an airmattress in Courtney's apartment?

We’re also very different. I’m 5’ 5” tall with brown eyes and hair; she’s 5’11.5” inches tall with blue eyes and blonde hair. I’m into “Old Shit” and she’s more pop culture. She’s friendlier and more outgoing than I am, but I might be a little more self-assured than she is right now (but I was totally insecure at 20 years old too). She’s better at hair and makeup, and actually taught me the little I know about putting myself together. She’s a better friend to me than I am to her sometimes.

Wow! Our noses look alike in this photo!

Originally, DJ thought that three attendants apiece was the ideal number of people in a “wedding party”. He named his three quickly, but for me it went from Gretchen to twelve people in the blink of an eye. And I’m not a twelve attendant kind of girl. So I suggested demanded that we keep it to just our siblings. His brother and my sister. Simple, easy to coordinate, and with the added bonus of being super awkward! (Imagine Lucille Ball next to say… a punk rock Bill Gates).

Photo again of Kelly Kuntz Photography

In writing this right now, I just realized that I never formally asked Gretchen to by my Maid of Honor; it was always just an understanding between us. And there’s no one else I’d want to be around for the day. She’ll make me laugh, divert stress, and might even do my makeup, like any good littebig sister should!

See why I call her my LittleBig sister? We're standing on the same step... she's taller than me. She calls me her BigLittle sister.

Right after getting engaged in August I started looking for dresses for Gretchen. Weird, right? I mean, usually people choose the bride’s dress first. Well, I was hoping to score a sweet summery dress for cheap at the end of the season. And I knew I wanted to use some version of blue as a color. Preferably a deep, dark, rich sapphire-ish blue.

I started with JCrew, and had marked these two dresses earlier in the summer:

JCrew "Delores" Dress in a silk taffeta (?).

JCrew "Loreli" dress in the same material (maybe it's watered silk?)

But by the time I went to buy them, I couldn’t find them on the internet. And we were headed towards Eastern Washington over Labor Day, which is when I wanted GK to have a chance to try something on. So I kept looking.

I stumbled onto Nordstrom’s website, expecting to not find anything I could afford. Or that a girl like me would fit into. Suffice to say, after searching by color I was pleasantly surprised! Check out Gretchen’s dress, which she looks fantastic in, by the way!

A-Line skirt is flattering, strapless, and dark blue!

It hits Gretch in all of the right places!

We haven’t figured out what she’ll do for shoes or accessories yet. Maybe a strappy silver heel? Or is that played out? Frankly, I don’t really care; as long as she’s comfortable and confident in it! And able to dance.

Who’s with me on the “less is more” theory of wedding parties? Is the silver strappy shoe played out?