Holiday wishes!

What a year it has been. I suppose the holidays give us that opportunity to look back over our shoulder and marvel at how far we have come.

Becca Lyn

Becca packed up and headed out to live in the big world. She established a solid two-year employment history at her first job and then moved on to a management position at a new store in the mall. She stays busy with work, taking care of her hedgehog, hanging out with her friends, and more recently, "making Christmas explode all over my apartment!" She's becoming quite the cook and baker, doing Aunt Vernetta proud with her sweet rolls. It is not unusual for her to text me from the grocery store for recipes so that she can shop for the ingredients, from meatballs and lasagna to brownies and cornbread. she has a new boyfriend, Nate, who never has any complaints about her cooking.

Merissa Jayne

When Becca moved out, Rick and I were without children at home....for two whole days until Missy moved back in. Ha! Missy quit her retail management job, gave up her apartment, and moved home to regroup. She attended school for a quarter (loved it), turned down the (repeated) offers for new management jobs (same-old-same-old), did a ton of welding with Suri Iron, and was ready and available for a job at Michael Curry Design as a metal welder, working on the team that builds Transformers. As in, The Transformers, the movie. I think she loves it. When she's not welding or building art, Missy's cooking, hiking and snake hunting, and spending a lot of time with a boy coincidentally also named Nate.

Nichole

Nichole has had an eventful year herself. Her job in the mortgage industry ended mid-year, she moved into a new house in Oregon City with Michael and her little bird, Nugget, and a large dog and a couple of roommates. She's planning on starting school in January and keeps busy painting, going to music shows with Michael, and baking. One weekend while berries were in season, we had pie-making day, and I think she's got the hang of it! Lately, she's addicted to Pilates and her Kindle.

Ryan

Ryan has been busy with the ups and downs of life, keeping up the homefront for his son and girlfriend. He seems most happy working on his latest computer project, e-mail server, webserver, VoIP or PBX system. 




Rick

Rick is my darling love....same as always. This year, he had a few jobs on the road - Boston, Chicago, New York City, Long Island, Costa Mesa. He's also keeping busy at home, doing a lot of tiling and remodels of late. In between, he's done a bunch of climbing (even during forest fires, although in this photo, he looks rather like the source of something...) He has been my most constant support and biggest fan. Also my road dog as we've been back and forth to Seattle all
summer, to Salt Lake City, Washington D.C., Modesto, and then for Thanksgiving, Denver. He makes my lunch for me every day before work, indulges my obsession with football, baseball, basketball, etc, and keeps our little house ship-shape, even protecting us from that baby raccoon who got all stuck in the foundation vent by the front door.

Sherri

My year seems like one big headlong-rush: school, work, gym, and writing. On January 14, I will defend my thesis and present my final reading to complete my MFA in Writing from Pacific University. It has been life-changing. I've had a few pieces published this year and continue to work on the novel with high hopes. My writing mentors have been most amazing and supportive. This last term while writing my thesis, I also took all my GRE tests and wrote four sets of applications for PhD programs across the country, sending them out with hope to move to the next phase of development. I re-discovered how much I love baseball this year, and of course basketball and football. Yeah, I'll always be that nerdy sports fan.

What an amazing and unexpected life.

Thanks to you all for being in it with us.

Love,
Sherri and Rick

end of summer

Rick went to Boston to work for a bit. I sent in my thesis for review. And then it was fall.

Probably not as sudden as all that.

Last Saturday, we went to Seattle on a spontaneous whim. Rick got us Mariners - Angels tickets in The King's Court, which is a fan section dedicated to pitcher Felix Hernandez. They call him King Felix. Rick says he'd like to see Felix get together with LeBron James. We got King Felix t-shirts and "K" posters to hold up on every 2nd strike and call for a strikeout.

It made me nervous for poor Felix - an entire section of jeering fans calling "K! K! K!" Plus I never got to see the 3rd strike because of all the signs in my face. The Mariners lost, but it was fun, and we went away with our baseball fix for the day.

Road trip to Washington D.C. coming up. Going to see Jim and Steph and their new home. And....baseball! Got tickets to two Nationals games.

Next adventure....

Sherri

it's me and rick

Rick was gone for all of June. While he is often on the road working, every time he gets home, we are very happy to be together again.

As always, the future is not a clear shot. Rick's work is changing again. Which could mean more time at home...or more time away.

I am in the process of finishing my MFA and applying to PhD programs, none of which are local. Which means I may be away from home for long stretches of school.

Who knows what will happen next.

So to stay in the moment, I'm still working full-time, writing my thesis, studying for the GRE tests (general in August; subject in October). Rick is working in Boston sometime soon, and I will (hopefully) join him on the road. Never been to Boston before.

Minor setback with that pesky Achilles tendon tear in my right ankle that we thought had healed....apparently it is not. So I am also back in physical therapy for a bit. It is not as painful as it was back in February, and they did not slam me into a boot this time. Grateful for small favors. PT starts this Friday.

Next Monday: Mariners vs Yankees game in Seattle!

Life is good.



~ sherri

summer might be here

Warm enough to kick up the cooler in the house today for the first time. Sunset is well after 8:30pm and it's still light on the  horizon at 10pm. Rick always says summer doesn't start until after the 4th of July.

The final term of my MFA began in June with a 10-day residency on campus. Lots of work ahead to finish my thesis by November deadlines. Lots of reading. Also taking the GRE in August and getting some PhD apps out into the world. Who knows what will happen next.

Rick spent all of June on the road working: Chicago, Long Island, Costa Mesa. Missed a bunch of birthdays, two climbs, Father's Day, and a couple of baseball games. Plus I missed him every single day. Now he's home and catching up on some climbing, yard puttering, and lots and lots of snuggling.

Today, we saw Prometheus (a disappointment) at the HD theater in the 21+ Living Room that started out with pre-show accordion performance from the balcony. Decadence got nothing on Cinetopia.

Short and sweet. Just like summer in the PacNW.

~ sherri

to utah

Coming to you, Utah. There may be some Utes in the making...

the momgoose

glimmers

There's signs of spring, glimmers of the cycles turning once again. Robins in the yard. Red finches and black-headed juncoes. Even a few doves, although they were re-thinking their return when temperatures hit freezing last week.

Rick made the first climb of the season today on Dog Mountain. Pretty sure sign spring is near.

School is still my primary focus. My work this term is non-fiction, not my genre of choice. I find myself writing about the twin girls that I relinquished for adoption when they were just 10-days old. It's been 27 years this spring, and yet when I write about those days that followed losing them, it feels just like the present.

I told Rick that I couldn't have written this essay even ten years ago. It must be time. I don't get to pick what comes up for me in my writing. I only get to choose whether to meet it with courage or step away again. Perhaps I've stepped away enough.

The Hoffman house shifted again. Becca moved out with some friends nearby. Two days later, Missy moved back in. Everyone is on their own path, it seems. Sometimes that path leads back to the old homestead. If I pursue the next level of education next year, I may find myself on that path exactly. Wouldn't that be interesting?

Love to you all.

sherri

p.s. Check out Sam's new blog that tells the story of the Christensens in Hawaii. We sure miss them!! samssurfinsummer.blogspot.com