Seis in a New Place

¡Feliz Navidad 2019! My all time favorite hymn is "For the Beauty of the Earth". We had it as a congregational hymn in our wedding. I have sung the John Rutter arrangement at Concordia and at Camp Metigoshe. I sing it when I'm on a walk and am overwhelmed with the beauty of nature or my cup is overflowing. I cannot sing or hear it without tears in my eyes. It starts like this: For the beauty of the earth For the beauty of the skies For the love which from our birth Over and around us lies Lord of all, to thee we raise This our joyful hymn of praise Here's a link if you'd like to listen:  For the Beauty of the Earth We have been surrounded by the beauty of the earth as we have traveled this year. We have also been surrounded by love from friends and family, old and new on this journey. We have experienced so many ups and downs, it has been quite the roller coaster but we are riding the twists and turns and we are grateful for the lessons we...

Before I start, I want you to know this is Greta. When my parents said the plan to go live in Mexico for a year was official, my first emotion was sadness. I was really hoping that we didn't have to go. I was in tears because I didn't want to leave my friends, family and NMS. What I wasn't looking at was the bright side. Mexico has been an awesome experience so far. But I do want to point out is that some things are not so great as they sound... The beaches are really fun, the ocean is beautiful. But sand in the swimsuit and saltwater stinging your eyes is not so fun. The hot weather is a relief... but it gets old. Over here, as the months pass by, nothing happens. It is always the same, hot, hot, hot. I have never missed the Minnesota snow as much as I have now. I miss the season changes, the snow days, sledding, and the new year skiing fun. Pros and cons listed above. The new school here is a lot different. You have a group of classmates for your grade that you have e...

"Mom", "Mom", "Mom", "Mom", "mom mom mom mom mom!!!!!" If you are a mom, you know....you know! Kevin and I and our four kids were at the airport last March waiting at the gate to get on a flight to DC, (which we paid $86 round trip per ticket, thank you very much) for spring break. Everyone was in a good mood (how did that happen). No one was fighting (a small, but significant miracle). We were just getting our water bottles filled, making sure devices were charged, going to the bathroom, passing out gum, etc. When our section was called, we stood up to head to the back of the line and a man, probably in his mid-forties, dressed business casual with a laptop on his lap, tapped my arm. His eyes were wide and he said, "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom! How do you stand it?" Through my laughter I answered, "Oh my gosh, I don't even notice it anymore." I mean, that's what we do, right? That's our daily grind. We are...

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) came out w/ a new television series in 2007 called ‘Traveler.’  My second favorite network TV Series of ALL TIME, ‘LOST,” – ranking only behind “Twin Peaks” – was winding down and had already become a bit wonky, so I was ready for something new.   Lucky me, I found ‘Traveler.’ Three graduate students are up to some shenanigans in a NYC museum and a bomb goes off.   You soon come to find that it appears as though one friend set-up the other two to take the blame for the supposed terrorist attack.   Riveting, right? YES! Will Traveler goes missing and the other two are on the run.   I couldn’t wait for the next episode every week.   But then the show was cancelled.   Lasted one season. I wonder what the story arc was supposed to be for Will Traveler? I wonder what our story arc will be, too.   It looks a lot more positive and interesting since the management of my health issues has seen some improvement ...

“There can be no life without change, and to be afraid of what is different or unfamiliar is to be afraid of life.” Theodore Roosevelt FYI, writing a blog is really a challenge. I can't believe how long it takes me to put some thoughts together and then write it down. Do people really want to read this? How much do I say? How often do I post? Do I leave that detail in? Am I painting an accurate picture? Oh well, I guess I just need to push the publish button and let it go... Here we are, one month (and a week) into this adventure. August 8th seems so long ago.  Starting our lives over in a new country and a new culture has been more exhausting both physically and emotionally than we had anticipated. One day at a time. As I have said before, we have highs and lows each day. The highs of the day keep us excited for the next. We problem solve the lows and work together. We remind ourselves that in Minnesota we had highs and lows everyday too, we just don't have the comf...

In August of 2007, I headed to St. Olaf to play some noon ball. My turn on the court came – the shirts/skins determination was made. I was shirts. Awesome. I wasn’t going to play if I were skins. Just ‘cause. One of my teammates gave me my assignment. “That mountain there is Will Healy. That’s your guy. Good luck.” I whisper under my breath, “yeah, good luck.” “What was that?” “Nothin’. Let’s go.” I was w/o question the weak link on my team. Didn’t make a shot, including 3 from point-blank range. Didn’t grab a board either; failed to box out even. Will was schooling me. Man, I was frustrated. This guy was making me look stupid. Then came a loose ball. I left my feet and made myself into a bowling ball. I took Will out – right at the shins – and that pin fell with a mighty crash. I quickly got up, looked back towards him briefly, but not to see if he was okay. I then bolted off the court, got in my car and left. Didn’t say a word to anyone, but many had words for me. I...

I wasn't planning to write a post for awhile but you all have been so kind and caring about how school went for the kids, I thought it was worth writing about.  So, after I dropped the kids off yesterday, this is what I wrote: Oh my. Here I am, sitting in our condo....by myself. I don't really know what to do, or how to feel. These last few weeks have been such a roller coaster. Up until now, it seemed like we were on a vacation (I can't speak for Kevin because he is starting his third week of working remotely - so not so much a vacation). But today, driving the kids to school and dropping them off at a place that felt so unfamiliar...so foreign made it feel real. This is it. Here we are. Now what...? Then I just left it there.... I tried to keep busy all day, running around town trying to find the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, doing some laundry, etc but I had a nervous feeling all day long...What have we just done? We dumped these kids off in a place that...

If your adolescent years spanned the ‘80s, you may have a certain power ballad in your head right now.  Go with it.  Nostalgia.  Mmm, so good. How about some ‘Warrant?’  “Kheaven isn’t too far away-ay-ay.” Clapton? “Would you know my na-a-ame? Cleve Chris-toph-er-son, Kevin? ß [insert cracking, falsetto voice here.]” I don’t speak Spanish.  My wife is a guru—a Spanish/El.Ed double major in college; Spanish Immersion School teacher; seasoned traveler.  And my kids have all spent their school years in Spanish partial immersion classrooms with some of the most gifted teachers I’ve ever seen.  But not me.  I struggle with language acquisition mightily.  I don’t even do English so well.  I don’t read much, my grammar is horrendous and I’ve always had a jingle-linguistic way of communicating verbally – heavy on words/phrases that I make up, puns and tangents that often derail efforts to deliver points of original intention altogether. A...