Greetings all who have lost hope in viewing words from this page ever again! I do miss writing, I do miss reading, especially my families’, but admittedly Twitter has filled in the instant gaps!

HERE WE ARE at the end of 2009! Most of the year included just trying to stay afloat amongst Sebastian the Sebo, full time jobs, all of our belongings, and finishing this fun little cabin in the Alaskan woods!

And here I have my year in review: quick detail style.

1.Sebastian is a curious sweet potatoe-faced boy, a wonderment daily and all I can think of is 4 more months of teaching till we get to be with him every day! We’ll let next school year decide for next school year.

At the age of one year he enjoys practicing different laughs in voice and body movement, practicing how to feed us (not himself), tackling a large Pooh with his sidekick(s) Tigger(s), using his hands to signal for more food, tickling our feet, pointing at and turning pages of books, giggling with the dogs and trying to rub his face in their fur, eating crayons, and carrying around bags and bins of items in transport across the living room.

2. 2009 Music: Ornaments, A Fine Frenzy (Bomb in a Birdcage and Christmas ep), Fantastic Mr. Fox Sdtrk, U2, Dolores O’Riordan, Regina Spektor, Mike’s Grumpy Dave’s Show (live cuts), Justin’s Bridging the Gap Sdtrk, Mates of State, Monkey Boy (Sebo’s album), a bit of Stellastarr’s Civilized, Neko Case’s Middle Cyclone, Munchausen By Proxy (Yes Man Sdtrk).

Last, but not least: Plumb’s “Blink” album has been A STRONGHOLD! AND: Phoenix’s “1901″ is my year in review theme song!

4. 2009 Movies: Did I see any (in theater)? FANTASTIC MR. FOX is all I recall, and all that should be recalled! Sebastian’s first movie! Wonderful, bewildered, hilarious, enchanting, and a top ten of all time for me.

Elsewhere: 500 Days of Summer was quality, lots of HGTV, and the rest of 2009 media is a blur!

5. 2009 Hobbies: Moving stuff from one part of the house to another, until it seemed to have a proper home, for at least a few days until it was moved again.

6. 2009 Visitors: It’s own category, YES!
January: Amanda (Sanford) Jarrett, blurry back to school, newborn times!
February: Mom Sanford, days were getting better!
March: Mom Edwards and Dad joined us! Sebo starts to play!
April: Alisa Cross, Alaska friend, “wha….happen?” this month….? finished working I presume.
May-August: Josh Andrews, to help us build, RELAXING! We got a porch!
August:Grandpa and Grandpa Edwards, fishing and fun!
August-October: Mom Sanford, Jessie, and a dog named Patches. Peaceful and enjoyable.
October-November: Mom Edwards and Dad joined us! Precious moments.
December: Alisa Cross, Alaska friend, the holidays!

We have had the house to ourselves in sprinkles of weekends! This Christmas break is the longest by ourselves to date! So peaceful, so wonderful! Thank you to all who have been helping take care of Sebo and our house!

Thus, on Christmas Eve, I say farewell to 2009 already, but perhaps there is a lingering thought to placehold this blog yet?

Sorry Dad wanted to honor your bday a bit longer, but feelin’ the quick nudge to write on the fair and Labor Day weekend!

We did a lot of relaxing, movie watching, resting, and house cleaning, but also went to the Alaska State Fair and threw ourselves a bonfire party tonight with marshmallows!

At the fair my favorite highlights were eating 2 elephant ears and still paying for it 3 days later… AND the rat race betting booth. They unveil a rat to go into a hole and if it’s your color you can win 5 for 1, 10 for 1, 15 for 1, etc. for the quarters you put down. I actually got 2 one dollar coins back from some random purchase during the day, and bet one one time on 5 for 1. I WON 5 BUCKS! Hahahhaha!

Other than that we saw the usual giant vegetables except this year they also had giant livestock. There was a 6 foot giant goat there climbing some rocks, and a very, very (almost Robo-coppish) pink pig. The cloning and biogenetics are getting out of hand I’d say.

We spent about 10 hours at the fair and Sebo had a great time taking in all the sights and sounds, and the smells of the 1 and 1/2 huge turkey legs that I ate! He took a good nap in the sling and was very happy the whole time!

As for the movies we took watched this weekend:
Twilight - was really good, but left you hanging. I feel like I am more of a complete “American Pop Culture” partaker after seeing it, yet still not sure if I want to be a part of it. It was also very choppy for my non-book reading viewing. B

Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist - eh, take it or leave it. Funny mannerisms of main girl character with some laugh out loud (and grimy gross) parts. C

Slumdog Millionaire - was way better (but intense) than I thought. Didn’t want to like it as much as I did just to get away from oscar nom. cliches. Touching true love. B+

Adventureland - “Lisa P. is back, Lisa P. is back, Lisa P. is back, hey Lisa P. is back”. Not that good, but ok, and I still keep thinking of funny lines from it, so I say it was good after the fact. B

Well I must hit the hay! I leave with a quote from Jessie, my sister-in-law:
“I can take or leave the (no) bowls, but bins for night stands is where I’ll take a stand.” She’s alright with this slander. Our house is not civilized yet to what most would call settled, but HEY! we’re gettin’ there people. Come up and see for yourself!

He inspires, encourages, and enthuses his coworkers, his admirers, his family, and me his daughter!

Bruce Edwards, Jr. is the innovator of the birthday blog and none can compare, but the pale in comparison should be and must be attempted!

This birthday guy loves robots, rt.66, Brian Wilson, Green Lantern, Swenson’s, Defenders, baseball, music, media, macs, he loves Jesus, he loves his beautiful adventuring side-kick wife Joan Lungstrum, his kids - that’s one of me - I got to be his daughter, he loves his grandchildren!

How cool can a guy be? Extreme intelligence, down to earth, bountiful grace and communication, the encourager of all encouragers. Friend to all!

My favorite memory is when we were little he would get on the floor and crawl around like a monster, mostly with us on his back! He played records of the Star Wars soundtrack and Amy Grant and tapes of Suzanne Vega and Rich Mullins. He took us on adventures across the country and across the world. My Dad taught us how to play wiffle ball and how to use a pitchback. He’s amazing!

Akron to Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Bowling Green, Australia, D.C., Africa, California, and Alaska! He has shared the Lord through vast venues of the far corners of the world. Inspiring and multifaceted! He’s a super hero, like Him! But in Him and for Him!

Have a happy, happy, birthday from us in Alaska! Thanks for being our Dad!

Life was wonderful for summer! Then school happened a couple weeks ago! It’s going well enough, but we’d rather be with Sebo.

That good guy is doing well! Climbing, standing, leaning, speed crawling, and getting into everything! He’s a piggie too at 10 months and I think he wants a leggo train set for his birthday! HAHAHAHA! Or…his parents…..okay….his mom does! Can’t you just picture it going around the Christmas tree?

This summer we got a lot done and had some fun too! The wrap around decks, pine ceilings inside, lots of drywall, yard cleanup, garden, and more littles here and there.

In sad news, our dog Grizzly got hit by a car two weeks ago and passed away. He was an adventurous, loyal, and protecting dog. Sebastian and I found him still alive while walking down our long driveway, and I thought maybe a porcupine or bear were the culprit so I went inside with Sebo. Upon returning by myself ten minutes later, he was gone.

Ironically here he is with Scout running behind him, and they are right by the highway.

In other news, later in the summer Dad and Grampa flew in, fished for a week, and hung out with Sebo and us! Gramps caught some nice silver salmon!

Much of the summer was Sebo and I while Casey and Josh (cousin) worked on the house!

And lastly, Casey’s mom and sister Jessie are currently here for 2 months taking care of Sebo and it’s been very nice. They are helping us get our house in order and have been taking in a lot of movies (our dvds).

Here’s their new album cover with Mckinley in the background!

They also brought their dog Patches who is getting along quiet well with our dogs.

This fall we are looking forward to my mom visiting for a month, hopefully with dad for a bit too!

Welp, it’s a school night so I’m outta here! Maybe I’ll be back here more often. I’m feeling the writing itch and I’m looking to get something out there more officially! SO I SAY!??! Can I get paid for something though?! Bye bye for now all!

Hope you are all doing well! We’ll end with a great pic of a wonderful grampa!

p.s. happy bday Shelby and Sebo is an Indians fan! Dad your bday next week!

Sebo got a laptop!

So this May date happening on Friday is epic in my attempt to slough out school for good! 16 days of school left and much of it is fluffy pointlessness.

For instance, today: I had to go (50 miles round trip) to a very long school district meeting analyzing “novels to teach”. Nevermind, this complaint, that I am not the English Dept. head and my admins. are too afraid to even ask the head of the dept. to go….politics asside….

I got a great breakfast, smoothie, and lunch at Alaska Bagels and had a great oasis of peaceful (hyperactivity cheesy photography) in the 67 degree sun over in Palmer. Matanuska River!

In other comprehensive thoughts, Sebastian is in quite a growing fest of super activity and alertness and chunky legs and eating, eating, eating. He is into rice cereal now and I guess SWEET POTATOES! (Grandpa S. served him some for a late afternoon snack!).

Right now, this second, I am looking forward to greeting Sebastian after his early evening nap he’s been taking lately - and we wonder why he doesn’t sleep through the night……hmm…..and he’ll eat dinner (at 10 pm?) and take a bath.

Still nice to have a break while I’m awake this evening to communicate with you all at least. And also right this second, not that last second, now this second I am looking forward to - BELIEVE IT OR NOT - going outside with my P.E. class tomorrow. It is suppose to be gorgeous again and for the rest of the week.

Still another second of thought, I am looking forward to complete health in conjunction with a trip home for a wonderful wedding!

And I think I need to wrap this up with a good recap of Casey’s bday from last weekend! It was fun picking his dad up at the airport and hitting Costco for some fridge bulking up (ha,ha,bulk….get it). We had tacos and then key lime pie before his fun presents of a mini-boss chainsaw, a Swiss Army watch, and some Alaska books and wall art!

Farewell to Arms (the novel that made it on the 9th grade curriculum option)! I mean to say, FAREWELL TO YOU!

Showed M. Night’s Village this morning in cinema class and just can’t get over the scene I always think of for days and weeks after viewing:

Lucious grabs Ivy’s hand during the first monster invasion of the movie. Superb music during the slow motion. To me, it has unbelievable spiritual depth and unexplainable Reverence enveloped! And never fail, every year, I make these 17 year olds watch it and it is mesmerizingly silent before, during, and after the scene.

Watch just that scene sometime and tell me you don’t see Him too!

And so this Monday of only 4 Monday’s left as of 1:45 p.m. today, we (the Alaskan family) are battling the winter sickness(es). Ongoing, odd, mysterious, perterbing, and getting old.

Refreshed today, though. Trusting, letting go, determined, focused.

You could say set like flint.

Besides my dear brother Mike’s wonderous song lyrics like such of his many wonderous songs, there is even a simplistic website on that flint theme? www.setlikeflint.com

Borrow a quote from it even? Sure

Nothing is more natural and beautiful and blessed than to become nothing, that God may be all. ~Andrew Murray

Thanks Andrew Murray, whoever you are!

And just for blog entry title namesake, I shall remember 11 years of age at 1040 Village after being baptized and refreshedly unstoppable in spirit, trust, and force. Ahhh, old age, it gets you in downtroddeness perhaps….

Here are four (and a .5) random songs on my mind and in my head this morning:
PFR’s You Lord
Sunnyday Real Estate’s Faces in Disguise
Covenant Church congregation of Bowling Green, Ohio, For the Lord is Good
Michael Edwards’ Glory to the Lord
Coldplay’s Life in Technicolor

So today, thank you to the One. Farewell for now all! Have a nice week and happy Easter! HOORAY! He has risen!

p.s. the little dude

Reading this entry title…..so I thought I’d put Sebo in a snow suit! HA!

Let’s see, here’s a quick update on life lately:

School has been a snail.
Got strep throat in my elbow, not my throat! Freak!
Sebo had his first cold and some other issues all last month. Doing great now!
Sunshine and warmth is teasing our minds out of focus.
House is messy pretty much all the time (construction you know), but got great floors and almost the kitchen settled.
Puppies play outside all day while their parents are leashed.
Not enough time for some hobbies, but really enjoying Sebastian time.

CAN’T WAIT TO GO HOME FOR A FEW WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Justin’s NYC exhilaration coupled with 2 weeks of hardcore life lesson learning have brought me to a Friday of peace…sort of.

We’ve (mom, dad, sebo and I) have been content to just be and rest in our wonderful master bedroom overlooking our Alaska wilderness backyard today! We’ve caught a few NCAA games, played Wii bowling and watched Sebo go crazy trying to tackle Tigger the hanging mini toy.

Casey and Josh had a long day in town getting some doors and the main floor flooring. Busy, busy, bless their hearts!

Haven’t posted in a while and for that I wish it was different. We’re on spring break though and have a good weekend ahead for more fun and relaxing - pics to post soon.

Looking forward to hearing from Just and watching our house get more and more done! More to come….

Been dressing Sebo in fun outfits now that he is growing into them!

He’s 4 months today! WOOWOW! And we took him to parent conferences Monday this week where he played, slept good, and did A LOT of listening to so many people talk. I think that’s his favorite thing to do: listen to people’s conversations. Apparently got that good listening from Casey, b/c I’m certainly too spazzy for such a skill.

He’s been doing a lot of rolling over, left and right, back to stomach, and stomach to back. Plus, he loves drooling and patty cake.

Work has been flowing and flying, but more excitedly our house finishing is getting really fun!

I have pics to post, but not with me today at school - writing this at school!?!? - taboo.

But in short, we have the upstairs master suite almost done! It’s apartment like b/c we will have a fridge up there We have chosen a fun, deep orange color for the bedroom and a nice rich chocolate for the bathroom. WHAT?! BGSU colors…ha! It should look good though! Not sure yet b/c the brown is going up today - recently changed out from a light peach we did have it. Just not enough pizzazz in the peach.

Happy Friday! Hope to write more soon!

We ran up north an hour to Talkeetna yesterday and it was a fun simpleton outing with about only one gift shop open. Still fun and good to go out for a drive! We went ahead and extended it with a jog to Wasilla; Lowe’s of course, Target, and then Pe King for chinese food.

Fun Saturday!

In Sebo news, he’s all about naps on his stomach! WOOHOO!! We’re headed into the work week with high expectations of fun in Grandma Sanford flying in with second cousin Josh who will help us finish more of the house! WOO! That’s on Friday and we may take the day off and catch the Embassy Suites in tradition.

Getting bigger and bigger, Sebastian now fits in his professor sweater #2 from Grandma Edwards!