Category: Home

Patterns and Predictability

~ Crystle ~ 61 Comments

Growing up in Bakersfield, CA means I’m well conditioned to brutally hot summers and cool foggy winters: those are pretty much the only two seasons we saw down there, and they were painfully redundant.

Two hour fog delays were common anytime visibility dropped in the valley from the phenomena, which made it a welcome happenstance for city kids, and probably a nuisance for adults who didn’t get to share in the weather delay. This was our weather ‘thing’ and we were all used to it.

Nowadays, I realize that I can no longer be comfortable in weather patterns like I was in California. And gone are the days where I could mark the passage of time by distinct periods of fall, winter, spring and summer like I did while living in Oklahoma.

My one surety is knowing I’ll be nomadic for the foreseeable future while my husband serves our country. Did I mention we’re heading to Alaska next October?  We are, and that assignment has me both excited and terrified at the prospect of extreme Alaskan weather patterns as we build a life for our young family on the Last Frontier.

Those thoughts have been heavy on my mind lately, so to be greeted by that old familiar Bakersfield-type fog over our new neighborhood was comforting. After filling out my absentee ballot and handing it off to my diligent husband to fax off, I took a stroll on the William B. Ives trail just a few hundred yards from our front door.

I wanted to walk in the foggy woods because I wasn’t sure when I’d have the chance to do so again. Bakersfield fog hangs around awhile, but Puget Sound Fog? I have no idea. During my stroll, low fog hugged the tall evergreens as I walked slowly below. I caught glimpses of mushroom clusters and thick hanging moss that made me wonder what life will bring in Alaska, and beyond.

No matter what, one more year in Washington means I’ll have plenty of time to travel to the nooks and crannies that I’ve yet to visit around here, and I’ll have ample time to plan and dream about our future three year stint in Alaska with our upcoming bundle of joy, Margot.

Settling Into the 360

~ Crystle ~ 11 Comments

Happy Halloween, Friends and Family!

This post is coming to you from our new house in the suburbs of Olympia, WA. We closed on our house Friday, and absolutely couldn’t wait to move. We picked up the keys and a moving truck in the same afternoon and got to work.

Let me tell you, this is the first time during this pregnancy I’ve felt rather useless. At five and a half months, I wasn’t really in a position to pick up heavy boxes or help lift large furniture. The combination of a shifting spine and a large belly limited my activities to packing and unpacking only. Somehow, it worked out.

Unpacking in a home with ample storage and a two car garage was absolute paradise. It may be something most people are used to, but trust me, we’re in luxury mode here.

Our kitchen is huge in comparison to our previous kitchens, and our oven HAS A WINDOW! That means I don’t have to open the oven to check the status of our meals! We’ve only been here a few days, and I’ve already broken the oven in with a tasty lasagna.

It’s also really nice having a half bath downstairs so guests don’t have to use our personal bathroom. Lord knows we have so many guests around here. Sarcasm.

But really, hint hint. Family and friends, it’s time to come visit again and baby Margot will be the perfect excuse next Spring.

Home Decor

What I most love about moving is re-decorating. I use the same items to decorate every place I live in, but  there are always variations in paint color and flooring which require a bit of creativity. Our house now has the same sterile, builder beige throughout, which I was not very excited about. I was hell bent on painting, but after that move I couldn’t ask my husband to do that (since again, I wouldn’t be able to assist). So, as a compromise, we bought a new duvet cover for the bedroom, and new bathroom linens to add more color and character to each respective room. It worked out really well.

Our yard is tiny, but with parks and a labyrinth of running trails in the immediate area, we won’t miss it.  And thankfully, a small yard means less maintenance.

Now that we’re almost entirely settled in to our new place, the next project is taking on the baby room.

So far we’ve accumulated a bit of clothing, and a crib. We’re hoping our generous friends and family back home will have fun kicking in for baby Margot as well.

I’d really love to see her book collection grow, but we also need a lot of those baby essentials like a first aide kit, bath, receiving blankets etc. Who knew babies required so many things?

Wish us luck on that new venture, because as first time parents, we’ll need it.

Confronting (Grown Up) Uncertainty

~ Crystle ~ 18 Comments

Hello, Friends!

I know I haven’t been reading or writing much lately, and I really have no good excuse. For me, October has been marked by long naps, Netflix marathons, and mini-feasts of Halloween candy. Shameful, I know, but my mind is heavy with thoughts of the now and the future.

You guys know how prone to hyperbole I am, so let me tell you that bringing a child into the world is the most monumental feat I’ve faced in life. With parenthood comes a ton of responsibility, the mere prospect of which has ushered Isaac and I down the path to confront uncertainty. My lazy and laconic October aside, progress (months in the making) has been made.

Allow me to elaborate:

First and foremost, we found out we’re having a girl. This literally took no skill or effort, but it’s just nice to have that uncertainty behind us. I was reluctant to share the name until she arrived for fear of copycatting, nitpicking or naysaying. I got over that pretty quick. Critics, and copycats: in March of 2013, baby Margot Bryn will be joining us. We like the name, and hope she does too, and that’s all that truly matters.

Hopefully she settles into our new house near Olympia, Washington nicely. We’re in the process of moving now, which prompts frustration when something you need is already packed up. Where is my hot glue gun?! 

Oh, I guess I forgot to mention we are now homeowners! Gone are the days of wasting money on rent, and upon us is a future of equity building. For months we’ve been searching high and low in a variety of neighborhoods and towns for the right home. Ultimately, we decided upon a two-story, new construction in the suburbs of Olympia.

I know what you’re thinking: the suburbs? Crystle, why are you eating all the words from your twenty-something lifestyle-manifesto? Do they even taste good? The answer is yes. They taste rich, like a European candy you need only try once, which is exactly how I now regard my idealist ‘me-against-the-world-Neon Bible‘ days. I’m trading that up for a more analytical and inquisitive ‘Helplessness Blues‘ era. For the sake of this post, I hope you’re familiar with those albums.

“Early Onset Parenthood” (as I refer to it) is bringing on a renewed perception of the world. It’s great.

So a final thought on the suburbs: I just wanted a crime-free neighborhood for our new addition, which was hard to come by in Tacoma Proper. We also need to be able to rent the place out when the Army whisks away to the next duty station. Moving from place to place in the US and around the world will be a certainty for us.

As evidence of our nomadic lifestyle, in a year’s time we’ll be residents of Fairbanks, Alaska! Be excited for us, it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. Most people never even visit the Last Frontier, let alone live there for an extended period of time. Six months of bitter winter weather (think -60°F on a bad night) giving way to warm summer hikes in Denali and brilliant shows of Aurora Borealis is a dream for a Bakersfield girl like me. I cannot wait to experience the extreme weather and immense beauty in our nation’s largest state.

Color me happy.