harmonicas

remember when i said i wanted a harmonica?? well i got one -- actually two -- for christmas. here's the story.

kyle's mom and dad put one in my stocking. just a toy one, for funsies. i promptly tore open the box and read the included notes. i learned to play "row, row, row your boat" during a 10 minute drive home. then my dad said he had a real one. then my sister said she had several in her guitar case. so all of a sudden here are all these harmonicas that were right under my nose for months. my dad's came from the grand ole opry, but all the notes didn't work, sadly. so i started using one of my sister's. because there were multiple harmonicas now, my siblings and i learned to play "jingle bells" for christmas. we made videos of ourselves, which turned out to be really hilarious and slightly embarrassing, but a fun memory for us nonetheless. and now that i'm living away from home, they serve as a nice laugh when i long for their hugs.

anyway, the point of this -- i have a harmonica now. i real one. and it now serves as a true stress reliever. if you've read "extremely loud and incredibly close" (which i would like to dedicate a whole blog post to), it's sort of the same thing as with oskar in that book, except he plays a tamborine (which i also want) while he's walking down the street when he's feeling heavy boots. and he's nine. i am definitely not nine, and as fictional as he may be, his pain was very real and i would not venture to say my pain is the same. because it is not. but somehow, this small instrument serves the same purpose as his.

leading up to my leaving home, i would play for a few minutes before bed. packing up your life can be emotionally exhausting, so somehow, this helped. granted i can only play a couple of songs while looking at the notes on my computer, and i don't play very well at all. but who's really listening if i'm playing in my room before bed? the dogs? probably. i also played while driving on the way to georgia. unsafe? probably. but if i would get really sleepy, i'd just play "oh susanna" real quick, and poof! i was awake. it probably has something to do with the quick ins and outs of breath required to play the harmonica, but i like to think it's the magical healing power produced by music. or hearing music. or anything musical.

so here i am. newly in love with the sounds i can make with my harmonica, despite how unpleasant they might be, and i plan to continue my practice while living down south. hopefully the neighbors like harmonicas.

love&music.

krq.

mornings

there's something about spending the morning hours with the one you love. the sun is streaming through the windows, you hug in the kitchen while the coffee brews. you eat breakfast, drink coffee and juice, read the paper or a book or something online, you watch the news and food network -- ever so often glancing up at each other for a quick exchange of smiles across the room. you understand you don't have to talk yet because you've only just awaken, and whenever you're both ready to start actually doing something for the day, you will.

i am so incredibly thankful for kyle and for these moments.

love.

krq.

belated christmas festivities

everyone loves a clearance aisle, right? what's better than that? i'll tell you -- a CHRISTMAS clearance aisle.

on our 2959247 trip to target, kyle and i bought some seriously marked down christmas items, even though we were there for more important things, like that ugly bookshelf.

kyle picked out a gingerbread house kit ($2.50), multi-colored christmas lights (??), and a showerhead that lights up according to the water temperature ($2) -- blue for cold, red for hot. not really sure why that was on the christmas clearance, but whatever.

here's what we created. :)

we had fun, for sure. hope you enjoy our silliness. :)

fun&love.

krq.

getting settled

we have most of our things put in their proper places, aside from a few loose ends -- like where to put all of my sewing stuff -- but i think everything is coming along nicely. we bought a really ugly bookshelf for $16 at target, and a few organizational things to help give everything a place.

here's a look at our place.

it's basically your standard place, but i do love all the natural light we have. and hardwood floors! :) i told kyle we have to get curtains, too...seriously.

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it's still weird not living in the house i have lived in for the past 20 years, but at the same time it's nice to be able to spread out my things into different places, rather than hoarding them up in one small room.

things that make me sure about this move:

- not having to miss kyle because he's 600 miles away

- the awesome movie theaters

- we're 20 minutes from a beach

- being able to buy a bookshelf (even if it is ugly and $16) and not have to worry about whether there will be room

- the feeling of accomplishment and love when i make kyle breakfast without burning the house down

- kyle's unwavering understanding when i want to spend an hour on the phone with my dad, then another hour on video chat with my siblings and mom

things that make me miss home:

- my west virginia necklace

- watching the news here and not seeing familiar faces

- the boxes i packed my stuff in that still have address labels on them that say "2526 5th Street Road"

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i don't care what anyone says, moving away is hard. but we're happy and i'm excited for what's ahead.

loveeeeee.

krq.

moving

well, i did it. i moved out of my childhood home.

i don't know that i have enough real energy to type out my rollercoaster of emotions about this, but in a nutshell -- i'm way excited and way sad all at the same time. it's the weirdest thing having to pack up your entire life into boxes and get in your car and drive away. but at the same time, how exciting is it that i took this step AND get to live with the one and only kjd??

we won't be here for long, but it is a big transitional space for us. when he is finished with school, we will be going somewhere new. where? who knows?! and that's kind of exciting, too. slash scary. and i miss everyone back home, too -- my brother and sister most of all.

i'm still getting used to this new place of mine, but really enjoying it. i've never been happier unpacking my things and listening to the beatles on the record player. wish us luck and send up a prayer.

love&hopefulness

krq.