Visual learning is fun. (Speaking of, there are a great deal more pictures here, from my outbound trek and my Mer-cuddling time in Minneapolis.)

Still to come: The epic return and oh, the endless stories I have, about the endless gorgeous I saw, and the endless mosquitos that oh so enthusiastically and perpetually bit me, and my car that in a moment of swoony weakness for the Grand Tetons momentarily bit the dust.

[Updated to add, as of 3:45pm on June 12th: Theresa is officially sans water and in the hospital for the duration of her delivery. Which means: Sometime tonight, or maybe tomorrow (but hopefully tonight!), Baby Barkley will officially be here. You have no idea how much self-discipline it's taking to refrain from using excessive ALL CAPS and endless exclamation points right now.]

I was sitting in a grassy courtyard earlier tonight chatting with Cayly (you’ll probably call her Hans, just like I do) about everything and nothing, about how amusing life is, and how tired our respective feet are after hiking thirteen miles yesterday, and how amazing it was to see a doe with her two fawns standing a mere ten feet away from us on the trail, looking at us curiously before taking yet another step closer, when your dad called to tell me your mom was experiencing contractions four minutes apart, and even now I don’t really know what that means, except that she’d been having contractions long and strong enough to know you weren’t joking this time. You were ready. You are coming tonight. Right now.

Right now I’m sitting at my desk writing you this note after having readied everything for tomorrow like it’s an ordinary day. Iggy is fed and walked. My lunch is made. The weather’s been checked and suitable work attire has been somewhat haphazardly set aside on a hanger on the inside of my closet door. My workout gear is eagerly anticipating me wearing it.

A 5:30am run has been cemented in my early morning plans because (the sun is set to rise right about then, yes, and) it’s 12:00am now and I can barely sit still, and if I thought I could run in the pitch dark and not break one of my ankles I would be outside right now, imagining I could send my sister bursts of my own strength with each stride so she’ll be sure to have plenty extra for the long night ahead, even though she probably won’t need it because your mom is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met.

But a 5:30am run it is, because I know after a night of waiting to see your face for the first time I won’t be able to keep my legs from sprinting as fast as they can, as if I’m running toward you, but that’s too far to run in one day and so I’ll just run as far as I can and pray your mom is still feeling strong, resting when she needs to rest, and pushing when she needs to push, and that you’re feeling strong too, healthy and not too scared about entering this world, because while you’ll soon enough learn this place isn’t always as beautiful as we’d all like it to be, for you, and for everyone, there is so much adventure to be had, so much to touch and taste and see and do, and there are so many people so excited to meet you. So many people who have loved you from the moment you existed. (Did you even know that was possible? I didn’t, until Theresa told me you did.)

You’re entering a big family, Baby. Maybe bigger than you’ll initially appreciate (big families have a way of suffocating you with sentiment sometimes), but our family is filled with people who’ll know exactly how to hold you, and how to make the best tea and the best pancakes (they’re huckleberry, by the way), and how to run a ridiculously fast mile and swim a perfect side-stroke, and how to steer a canoe and make the best stew and how to read to you so you love reading, too, and how to tickle you so you’re laughing so hard you won’t be able to breathe for a second, and oh how quickly you’ll come to see what a glorious gift laughter is, and how you’ll be doing copious amounts of it as part of our family. Someday I’ll tell you all my favorite jokes, including the joke that makes me laugh harder than any other, and I can’t wait to see the look on your face when you hear it for the first time, and you love it as much as I do, and we’ll both laugh at how I never learned to master a passable Irish accent even though the joke clearly requires it.

You see, what I’m really trying to say is: Today is anything but ordinary.

You’re a game-changer, little one, and even as at this very moment you’re forever changing Theresa and Will’s lives, you’re also forever changing mine.

Love and huckleberry pancakes,
Your aunt Kerri, who is looking ever so forward to meeting you soon and very soon.

(Aside to the latter group: I know we don’t know each other, and some of you might even think Sarah Palin is totally awesome, but political insanity notwithstanding, I have a good feeling about you. Feel free to pull up an Internet ottoman and stay awhile.)

I just realized had I waited one more week to write and hit that cheery blue “Publish” button, I could have let an entire month pass before updating this here site, which I think would be a personal abandonment record for me. Alas, here I am, because I missed you all too much. (Awwwh.)

Oh, and I’m not having a baby, in case you thought you had missed some big important (immaculate conception-type) news.

My sister is the (mighty adorable) one currently carrying her very own fun-size human, and while I heartily concur pregnancy is beautiful and life-changing and Merriam and Webster really didn’t provide me ample amounts of words to convey how extremely psyched I am to be an aunt, can I just tell you how surreal it is to see your little sister in her third trimester, because: Whoa amounts of surreal over here.

Theresa of course looks amazing, as you will very soon get to see for yourself because I (‘m a visual learner, yes! and) took five bazillion pictures over Memorial Day weekend as we showered her and my soon-to-be-onesie-wearing niece or nephew with myriad tiny and sweet and maybe-not-so-gender-neutral baby things.

The general guessing consensus is that Theresa and Will will be welcoming a bouncing baby boy on or around July 18th, which is a consensus based on pure conjecture and gut feelings which could end up being less “hunch” more “too much spicy Thai peanut sauce.” I will undoubtedly be all sorts of ecstatic to announce I have a niece OR a nephew, and will forever maintain the “Handsome” onesie I WAS TRICKED into buying–itself being the center onesie in a pack of an otherwise neutral set of three, and me thus assuming it to be white and only white–will only be all the more entertaining if worn by a little girl.

As you read this I will be lounging in a window seat at 30,000 feet, on my way to Minneapolis to spend nine! days with my one and only and aforementioned sister. I will also hopefully be napping as it’s become nearly impossible for me to sleep before an early morning flight, my brain preferring instead to waltz from one unrealistic flight-missing-scenario to another.

I would promise to update my site while I’m gone, but we all know I’d probably be lying. But hey, you never know; maybe Minneapolis comes complete with bonus blog posting mojo!

Until then, here’s a sampling of some of my favorite pictures from the most recent Baby Shower Extravaganza(s):

T & Momma:

Behold, the best guest book idea in the history of guest book ideas: The fingerprint tree!

Will and T’s newest niece:

On Saturday night T and I made what would be my favorite decorative addition to Sunday’s shower. Poms!

These three have been best friends since junior high, bridesmaids and maids of honor in each other’s weddings, and are now all moms, too:

Theresa, our great aunt Joy, and Grandma Ladish. Three of the loveliest souls you’ll ever meet:

The entire Flickr set is here. I named it Nobody Puts (My Sister’s) Baby In A Corner. (Guess which movie I watched recently.)

Catch you on the flip-side, kids!

Spokane, Washington, this time of year often doing business as The Season of the Truck.

Yes yes, very pretty. It’s just…well I suppose it’s beginning to be a well-known fact that I hate the snow. I moved to Portland to avoid it and make fun of it from a distance.

So when I say I’m so excited to go home for Christmas that I’ve been packed since Sunday night, rest assured it doesn’t have anything to do with the white stuff. (It may have something to do with The Right Stuff*, but that’s another story altogether.)

My excitement (is palpable, yes! and) does very much have to do with the fact that I get to see my sister! And Will! And everyone on my mom’s side of the family (Aunts and Uncles and Cousins, oh my!) is going to be together on Christmas Eve for the first time in…five years? Ten years? a really long time. I’m already anticipating the laughing, and the ridiculous picture-taking, and the re-gifted nonsense someone will keep just to re-gift next year.

Happy! Christmas, friends. I hope that wherever you find yourself this weekend it includes climates of your choosing, cozy fireplaces (or cozy air conditioning), and people you love to love.

*You’re welcome.

I love wearing jackets and sneakers, and watching football, and the way the loss of sunlight in the evenings makes me want to curl up in a blanket (Snuggies always welcome here) and read and write and wake up with the dawn.

Portland has one of the longest fall seasons I’ve ever seen, and while I’m waiting for the leaves on the large Maple outside my window to change from green to brilliant reds and oranges and yellows, I thought I’d share some of my favorite pictures from this summer I hadn’t yet posted, and more pictures from Maui, too.

Paia Beach, on the road to Hana in Maui.

Apparently falling coconuts are no laughing matter. Though of course I still did.

My sister after I took this shot: "Did you get my bicep?" "Totally."

T and Uncle Ken, retired Air Force colonel and starter of some of the best family shenanigans.

I know this is blurry, but I can't help but love it. That's Grandma Ladish walking hand-in-hand with Theresa at my cousin Derek's wedding in August.

"Talks with Hands" would probably be my sister's Indian name.

Geek in the pink.

T and Gramps.

Lense play. At dinner our first night in Maui.

This was my favorite of the self-take outtakes from Rhi and Bill's wedding.

At Deer Lake with Nelle, T, and Ezekiel.

Paia Beach, Maui. Some of the bluest water I've ever seen in my life.

]]> http://kerrianne.org/2010/09/waiting-for-leaves-to-change-me/feed/ 19 http://kerrianne.org/2010/06/good-things-cinematic-ecstatic-edition/ http://kerrianne.org/2010/06/good-things-cinematic-ecstatic-edition/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:28:15 +0000 Kerri Anne http://kerrianne.org/?p=5743 Good Thing, The First: Fresh Ink

On Sunday, after pedicures with Rhi, wherein she was put in pedicure timeout, we suspect for refusing nail art, I decided it was time to get my fifth tattoo. I’d been mulling over myriad ideas for various tattoos and placements, but ultimately decided on one for my inner left wrist.

It’s “I love you” in Korean, in my sister’s handwriting, from a note she sent me from South Korea as part of my birthday package this year. It’s pretty much my favorite thing ever. (Pretend the semi-circles are closed, because they should be, and they will be by the end of today.)

I went to Icon in Portland, which is by far the cutest tattoo shop I’ve ever seen. My tattoo artist is also pretty much the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. (Hi! Silje.)

The shop (and all the artists therein) came highly recommended from a friend and coworker who recently got sprigs of lavender done on her back/rib-cage area. (My friend Zanny’s awesome tattoo is also from there.) It’s woman-owned (which yes, I love), and has such an artistic, welcoming feel. It’s also devoid of pictures of skulls and bleeding dragons and Other Disturbingly Dead Things on the walls, which, I have to say, is something I find completely off-putting about most tattoo shops. That, and the giant poster-sized flip books of completely unoriginal artwork for the person who has everything. Or who can’t decide on anything. (And hi, very much not judging; my first tattoo was chosen from within one of those poster-sized flip books. But, seriously, NEVER AGAIN. There is just too much beautiful (and unique!) art out there to ever need one of those boards.)

Good Thing, The Second: IMAX-Sized Edward vs. Jacob: The Showdown*

*d.b.a. Twilight: Eclipse.

Am I going to try to sell you on the literary merit of any of these books (beyond a love story that is undeniably engaging)? Heck no. Am I beyond excited to see this movie tomorrow with Kali? You bet your sweet werewolf I am.

Good Thing, The Third: Sweet Cinematic Suspense

By now I’m sure any loyal Harry Potter fans have seen these trailers for Parts I and II of The Deathly Hallows (the last of the Potter series), but just in cases:**

Trailer 1: The one released last December that I somehow missed until yesterday.

Trailer 2: The one released just yesterday (June 28) that gave me ACTUAL GOOSEBUMPS while I watched it.

KERRI ALL CAPS PSYCHED OUT OF HER MIND: Not pictured.

But if it WERE pictured, it would probably look something like this:

Instead of Nicolas Cage riding Falkor with that muppet-like expression of sheer! glee! on his face, you’re picturing me, right? OK, good.

For the skeptics in the group: The books? Really are amazing. And the films? Minus a few minor (see also: HUGE) deviations from the books, are fantastically done. The special effects are incredible, the characters: memorable, and I end up laughing and crying throughout most of them (see also: ALL of them). (Shut your face. They are GOOD, I’m telling you. You aren’t allowed to hate unless you’ve at least read the first book, or watched a movie or two.)

**Whenever I type “just in cases” with that extra “s” you guys know I’m referencing Love Actually, right? Because if you don’t you (must think I’m grammatically challenged, yes, and) should go rent and watch that movie right this second. You know, after you watch all of the previews herein embedded for your enjoyment.

You could even wish her a happy! birthday. You know, if you aren’t a birthday curmudgeon want to. No pressure.

Happy! birthday, Theresa. Love love love you.

1: Raw Ginseng root eaten after being offered by a kindly man with wrinkles showcasing his eyes at the Yangyang market. Also the number of photos I was asked to be in with total strangers (at the Forbidden City in Beijing).

6: Times I was asked to take pictures for total strangers.

2: Cups of mineral water I drank directly from a spring in the ground (in Osaek).

3: Flights (out of 5) wherein I had two (or more!) seats to myself. (Comfortable air travel is happy air travel.)

5: Times (out of 5) I sat by the window on the aforementioned flights. Also the number of Buddhist temples I visited.

11: Pictures I attempted to self-take with little compositional success, that I still very much love.

4: The most unlucky number in South Korea, and thus the one missing from all numbering and building planning. The floors in Will and T’s apartment building (and all other apartment buildings) were numbered 1, 2, 3…5, 6, 7 and on and on, with no fourth floors ever to be found.

4 & 9: The days most Korean cities host local markets; that is, any day boasting either a 4 or 9 in the date. Apparently the number 4 isn’t so unlucky when it comes to shopping.

20+: Times I put something in my mouth for the first time ever, something I probably had no idea even existed a few minutes prior to eating it.

5(pm) 2.5.10: The moment I realized I was eating squid as it was meant to be prepared. (Fresh from salt water, grilled and stuffed with rice and veggies and other mouth-watering goodness.)

13: Pounds I lost while in Asia. Also the number of days I awoke to bright sunshine and clear (albeit meat-locker-cold) days in both Beijing and South Korea.

5: Days Snowmageddon decided to visit South Korea. (The last five days, as it were.)

50 lbs: Worth of journals/notebooks/day planners I ogled, coveted, laughed at and nearly bought while in South Korea.

14: Paper somethings with which I actually absconded. (Lest you think I’ve successfully plunged off The Paper Deep End (It exists; I checked), a large percentage of that 14 were purchased as gifts, and you can’t prove otherwise.)

10: Postcards I intended to mail while abroad, which will actually be mailed from a more exiting, exotic location that looks remarkably like my apartment.

20: Minutes a day spent laughing while trying to understand Korean television programming with Will and T.

3.21: Kilometers I hiked up The Great Wall.

120: Seconds it took to be whisked down off The Great Wall via gondolas located at one of the original lookout stations.

30: Minutes spent riding around the hutongs in Beijing on a rickshaw.

18: Days I journaled while abroad (See also: every day).

32: Degrees outside when Theresa and I decided to take a snowy, nighttime bike ride to Rolly Espresso and back. (Despite The Freezing, it’s one of my favorite memories from the trip. Especially because I know we looked Crazy walking in for a cup of espresso with our pants and hats, hands and red noses dripping wet.)

1 Million: A rough estimate of how many times I thought to myself, “I am so thrilled to be here.”

843: The number of pictures I took while on the trip.

Speaking of (ridiculous amounts of) pictures, I uploaded some more; the entire set from the trip is here.

Here are some of my notes I made about said incredible trip, scrawled messily during the eleven-hour flight home from Japan to PDX yesterday/today/I have no idea when. There are also pictures. Because I think I took five million. The Flickr set from China and Korea is here, and will no doubt be growing exponentially in upcoming days/weeks.

——————————–

I read both books I brought on the trip with me (Treasure Island & How We Are Hungry), and another book I had no idea even existed until this weekend (Bryson’s Notes From A Small Island). This was a first for me, as I typically pack enough books to start my own book mobile in whatever city I’m visiting, and typically never crack the spine of any of them. All three books were first-time reads for me, and I really enjoyed the old-fashioned and yet playful sea-faring feel of Treasure Island, and the punch-you-in-the-face with honesty and melancholy set of short stories courtesy of Eggers. Bryson’s book (my first ever full read of one of his) has only added endless fuel to the already raging fire that is my desire to visit England. He’s hilarious and witty and I’m now resolved to actually read A Walk in the Woods, A Short History of Nearly Everything and Made In America, all of which I currently own.

(The view from Mt. Seorak, South Korea.)

Fruit leather makes a great addition to your carry-on, especially when you feel peckish when faced with a ballooning breakfast buffet at 7am and so only eat three pieces of pineapple and two pieces of watermelon (and a glass of orange juice), before embarking on twenty-four hours of straight travel.

People will create the most creative, contorted ways to sleep aboard airplanes, buses and in airport terminals. It’s fascinating to me.

I found my favorite notebook/miscellaneous (lovely!) ephemera shop in the Insadong District in Seoul. It’s called I Think So.

(Will & T on a bus with ocean views.)

People who have the option of reclining in a seat near an open window and directly in front of your selected window seat, but instead choose to recline in the aisle seat not directly in front of your selected window seat make me want to hug them.

Hiking The (Ridiculously Steep, Ridiculously Beautiful) Great Wall reminded me that no matter how tired I am, and how much my legs are screaming at me to stop, I can always keep going farther, and most likely (and especially where The Great Wall of China is concerned)? It will be worth it.

Will (my brother-in-law) has an uncanny ability to lift people’s spirits by just being present and being himself. During one particularly cold and windy (I have never felt real wind until visiting Yangyang, South Korea) walk home, he tirelessly and cheerfully kept me talking, to distract both my sister and I from the fact that we were both freezing and annoyed and quite possibly about to scream unmentionable things at an element that is probably more than a tad indifferent to how freezing and annoying it is.

(Friends, coworkers, tour guides.)

Watching the sun set from 37,000 feet in the air, the way it turns the west-most clouds hues of faint pinks, oranges and purples, is undeniably beautiful. It also made me wish the Care Bears were real, so I could borrow one of their cloud cars to get a front-row view.

Realizing that the “foreign” section of a bookstore is the only place you’re going to find books in South Korea you can read is both startling and amusing.

(Will at Mt. Seorak.)

Spending nearly a full two weeks without seeing another Caucasian person beyond my sister or my own face in the mirror is also both startling (for the first few days, after which time you quickly become accustomed to being the subject of much staring) and amusing. I resolved to smile at every Chinese or Korean person I noticed staring at me while I was abroad, and in turn was the recipient of more smiles than ever before, and admittedly some puzzled, not-so-friendly looks as well.

(Twilight at Daepoe Harbor, South Korea.)

I’m pretty sure eating the amount and quality (think: amazing) of Asian food I did in Asia has ruined me for ever being able to eat (non-home-cooked) Asian food in the U.S. ever again. I was literally blown away by the style and taste of the food I ate while I was in both China and South Korea. There was very little I didn’t like, and very little that wasn’t fresh and/or cooked right in front of me.

Every flight needs at least one little kid enthusiastically peering over the back of his seat like a fearless explorer.

(Will & T at the Sokcho Lighthouse.)

The sister relationship is one as complex and dynamic as it is incredible. I’m so thankful that Theresa is my sister, and my friend. I’m thankful too for openness and grace and forgiveness, and the ability to laugh and cry and talk for hours about everything and nothing.

This trip was beyond blessed, and I felt so provided for and looked after, and it was delightful! (And, yes, I totally just used “delightful” in a sentence non-ironically) to get to spend so much quality time with people I love so much. It was also fun to share the trip with you guys as I went along, and to get hosed in Scrabble from another continent.

(Theresa, winter sunbathing.)

I loved Beijing. From the huge buildings to my generous and hilarious coworkers, to the way the city seems to dance with an electric energy at night, to The Great Wall and the endless walking, and the way taxi drivers can bob and weave in and out of traffic the way I’ve only seen in (Russia, and) action movies starring Nicolas Cage. I was smitten 100% of the time I was there, and while I had no idea where we were going half of the time, or what we might do next, I’m pretty sure I never stopped smiling for less than a few minutes at a time. My Chinese co-worker (and tireless guide) looked at me at one point, she herself smiling and said, “You smile a lot. You are very happy?”

Yes. I really am.

To recap: I’m here visiting Theresa (a.k.a. “babycarrot sister”) and Will until February 13th, after spending 4 days in Beijing, China visiting work offices and coworkers there, and generally just being a Super Ecstatic Tourist (SET).

I’ve been posting updates on Twitter and Facebook, and uploading pictures I’ve taken with my iPhone to Flickr, but I thought it might be nice for me to update here as well (to say hello! and) for posterity’s sake. I have 1,001 pictures and stories from China to show you, and I’m super excited to do that, but for now I thought I’d share some of my favorite shots from South Korea I’ve taken thus far.

Will & T’s super awesome (super Korean) apartment:

Panda Head! (I saw kids and adults alike wearing these all over Beijing and so I bought one for Theres while I was there. Apparently they have them everywhere in South Korea, too.)

On Tuesday we walked to the Naksan Temple and wandered around for an hour or so. It was the first time any of us had been there, Will and T having saved the trip themselves until I was here. It was so bright and beautiful. This is (Theresa! and) the view before actually entering the temple grounds:

Will & T, being awesome. This is one of my all-time favorite pictures of them, ever:

Love these trees:

Temple Guardian. He takes his job very seriously:

Naksan Beach:

Visiting the famous Rolly Espresso in Naksan:

On Wednesday we took a bus to Sokcho, a nearby coastal town, and wandered around their local marketplace:

Tag!

The food here is amazing. The company isn’t too shabby either:

From a trip to the Yangyang Market today (Thursday, the 4th):

Korean treats! (Koreans don’t like their sweets very sweet at all. I’ve found my people.)

You see these masks everywhere (in both Beijing and South Korea), and while they serve to keep germs at bay in crowded, enclosed spaces, they also serve to keep your face warm while you’re outside wandering around in Pretty Frigid Temperatures. Also: we are ninjas.