Comforting

Mmm I love thunderstorms, especially when I am inside and warm and toasty and dry. To quote Dan, it's like a monsoon out there. I love it. It's even better when one has skylights in her roof. And by "one" I mean "me."

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Shabby Apple Dare to Design Lawn Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!


So I somehow stumbled across this and am mildly obsessed. Or maybe very much obsessed. I've never done this blog link thing before, so hopefully it works, because, as mentioned, I am obsessed.

x2

Bring it home, Phils.

Um, hi

So, uh, yeah. It's been a while since we've blogged. And we haven't written one teensy little post about our summer adventures, despite the (very kind) requests to do so. I'm sorry. Things have just been a little nutty around the Harbuck (lack of) household for the last month. As I'm now in business school, I feel compelled to do everything in bullets.*

I'm in business school! At Georgetown University. And I love it. A few highlights and lowlights:

• The PEOPLE! Are fabulous. For the most part. There are, of course, a few self-serving and -centered ones, but for the most part, they are spectacular. Their interests and backgrounds are wonderfully diverse, and they are kind and caring and want to change the world.
• The professors are equally spectacular. Wow, they are so personal and willing (almost anxious) to help. They are brilliant and know their stuff. There is one blatant exception. I will not name names.
• The facilities. We have a brand new building. That has natural light. Tons of it.
• I'm almost sad to admit this, but I like Accounting now. And am good at it. What is happening with the world?
• I also love Organizational Behavior and Management Communication (separate classes). Less surprising.
  
• Low point: 3 weeks ago, we had 2 midterms, 2 group papers, and one individual paper due. 'Nuff said.

Other happenings:

• Dan's job is awesome and is giving him great training.
• We went to Mobile, AL this past weekend for a wedding. It was oh so lovely.
• I'm going to Minneapolis this weekend for a career conference.
• I'm going to Philadelphia/NYC at the end of the month for another career thing. And may need to go to Anaheim. October = travel, apparently.

What else? About what do you want us to write? I feel so out of the blogosphere, and so out of events. I don't know where to start, so if you want to hear from us (not a given), requests are welcomed. :)


*Who am I kidding? I totally wrote/spoke/ate/breathed bullets well before business school.

63 Days

We're back. :)

End of the Beginning

Today is the official day of our move from Philadelphia. Paired with Dan's brother's wedding in Utah last week, his graduation and his other brother's first baby arriving the week before, our one-year anniversary, and me finishing up work, the last couple of weeks have kind of left me gasping for air. But this morning, as I drove my last drive to work along my beautiful routes, I was just calm, and felt a sweet peace. With slightly wet eyes, I drove past City Hall, the Masonic Temple, St. Peter's cathedral, the Free Library, the Franklin Institute, Logan Circle, the Rodin Museum, the PMA, up Kelly Drive beside Boathouse Row, and so many other lovely, lovely places all shining in the beautiful Philadelphia morning. We ADORE this city, and I love that just about each day, I stumble across something new, something beautifully new, a wonderful gem. I can't wait to come back and go to all the places that I still haven't been able to visit in almost seven years, just because there are too many.

Moving is just absolutely loathsome. Really, truly dreadful. But I have been grateful over the past few days for the many perfect angels and the sweet experiences we've had because of it. Three friends decided to just come over on Friday and help us pack up our (surprisingly enormous amount of) stuff. It was truly incredible to me how much we had in our not-that-big apartment, especially our kitchen. We'll just call it a testament to my organizational skills. In any case, we were so blessed by these people who helped pack, load, unload, keep sane, etc., without whom it would never have gotten done. I am also so very grateful for our wonderful South Philadelphia branch. We (unfortunately) haven't talked about it much on this blog, but words don't totally express how much we love our branch. The people there are such treasures, so sincere, so kind, so loving, so familial.

Yesterday felt like a perfect sendoff largely because of how wonderful church was, and that we got to have a special experience by speaking and sharing our love for them. It was topped off by spending the afternoon with one of our favorite branch families, followed by dinner with Dan's incredible mission president and his wife who are blessedly in our stake, and then a second dessert with our wonderful, wonderful landlords. I am so glad Philly is getting a temple because she and her people deserve it.

We've had so many miracles in the last few days, mostly delivered by other people, but just to recount one of the many, many stories of help we've received, I called our landlady before putting out desk on craigslist to ask if she maybe just wanted it. She told me not to worry about having to do anything with it and that I could just leave it. She asked if we wanted it again after our long trip this summer*, and that they could hang onto it until then if we wanted. I told her not to worry about it. BUT if and only if she had space that they were not using at all and if it was no hassle, we had a TV that could use a storage spot for the summer, because it might not fit in our last car load. She said no worries at all, and that we could just leave it there and they'd store it in their basement. I told her that we could bring it out there (especially since we were planning on dropping by that night, anyway), but she said really to not worry about it and that we had enough to do. She said that they were going to do a bit of renovation on the apartment, anyway, and that we could just leave anything we wanted to keep but for which we didn't have room, leave a note with our names, and that they'd have someone bring it up to their basement for the summer. WHAT?? This is our LANDLADY, people. As in, the person with whom most people have monthly spats and who usually refuses to fix apartmental problems and who, if you're my friend's landlady, complains when her final month's check is just a couple of days late because she was in finals and graduating and just totally forgot, and was immediately sent when she realized it and still charged a late fee even though for the previous months, she paid a lump sum four months in advance (at which point the landlady said that made it more difficult for her...ridiculous). This is that person that usually gets mad at you for forgetting something in your emptied apartment. She actually told us we could just LEAVE our extra stuff and not have to move it anywhere, that they would take care of and store it for us, and that we could retrieve it anytime we wanted. At this point I basically started jumping up and down in ecstasy and called my mom and almost fainted from relief.

In any case, the point of this is that a) we love Philadelphia and its people, b) we're so very, very grateful for their kindness to us, and c) we're gonna miss this place. Dearly. We love you, Philly.

*Oh, uh, yeah. We're going to Europe, India, and South America this summer as a sort of last hurrah-this-may-be-the-last-pre-children-large-chunk-of-time-in-which-neither-of-us-is-working-or-in-school. And the recession is making plane tickets uber-cheap.

If I were to marry a voice...

Whew. Friday. I'm sad to say that this week has been completely overwhelming. It's not terribly often that I feel that way, and even less frequently does my pride let me admit it. But hoo boy, this week totally kicked my trash. Don't get me wrong - it's been awesome. We got to host one dear friend from out of town, spend time with another, had a couple of awesome swim workouts at the gym, got to some awesome parts in Harry Potter, may have found a place to live, and got to eat at 3 (!!) fabulous restaurants (really, it's unusual for us to even eat out once for dinner during the week). I was productive at work and got to play my violin and came back with probably over $150 worth of awesome specialty food from a work food show I attended.

And I am totally pooped.

Dan jokes that whenever I am stressed, I read through my planner before bed. Much as this seems completely oxymoronic, doing so actually helps ease the stress. Instead of reminding me of all I have to do, it lets me organize what I need to do and plan a time for it, and it releases me from worrying about remembering it because I know it's already been recorded in my trusty planner. Call it The Crazy.

In any case, on my (very lengthy) drive home yesterday, I totally relaxed for a moment when a gorgeous voice came on my iPod. And thus, I bring you:

Voices I Would Marry!

In no particular order,

1. Michael Buble. His gorgeous, dusky, rich voice definitely makes the cut. The aforementioned song was him singing "My Grownup Christmas List." Now, let me make clear that I'm usually adamantly opposed to listening to Christmas music outside of the Thanksgiving-New Year's window, but I consider this an exception because that's not really the point of the song anyway, and because his voice is such that, to quote Randy, he could sing the phonebook and it would be awesome. Despite the fact that he was singing about wanting to cure the world's ills, well, Sa-WOON!
2. Gary LeVox. Lead singer of Rascal Flatts. My goodness, he has one of the clearest and most controlled voices I've ever heard. It is just gorgeous. His runs are seriously spectacular. I love the uncut versions of their songs because even then his voice is pretty near flawless. And seriously, how could you not love a voice that sings about a grandma?
3. David Archuleta. Okay, okay, bring on the mockery. I can take it. Seriously, though, go youtube his performance of "Imagine" or "When You Believe." That kid has some serious pipes. And his pitch is well, just wow. He is spot on .
4. James Taylor. 'Nuff said.

Who owns your voices of glory?