Karwoski Life

Our house is approaching 2 years old now, which apparently means that little things, like light bulbs, are reaching the end of their life expectancy. It’s actually quite funny (funny/annoying not funny/ha ha) that 3 of the 5 in our dining room light fixture have one by one blown up over the past few weeks. It’s been on my to-do list…go to Lowe’s for light bulbs. Now normally, I may not go to Lowe’s for things like this because we have a Home Depot and Menards right there in Ankeny…but all of the light bulbs we put in the new house came from Lowe’s and I’m sure they are special bulbs that you can only get at Lowe’s (I know this because I make a lot of assumptions), and I’d hate to go to Menard’s for our special bulbs only to have to find they don’t have them and THEN go to Lowe’s. Of course, every night it has been cold and snowy or we’ve had something to do or someplace to go and each evening we sit and eat over our dimly lit dining room table. And then Monday night another little oo...

I feel like a blog slacker these days…I keep meaning to sit down and post something, and then the time just gets away from me. Truthfully, we’ve been pretty busy and in the down moments I guess I don’t feel much like sitting down at a computer. When I was a kid, and longed to be a writer, I would tell myself that if I only had a typewriter I could write and write and write. But here I am, with computers at my disposal and I just can’t seem to find the time. Sometimes I struggle with what to write. Wondering who is reading this, why they are reading it, what I want to say. I think I’m going to challenge myself to try and post more regularly, about whatever trips my trigger. We’ll see. In the meantime, here’s a recap of recent goings on. George turned 60 this month and Lissa, Matt, and I put our heads together and planned (and pulled off) a fun surprise party for him. We invited a bunch of his friends and family and met at a local restaurant in Boone where the Karwoski’s are known to fre...

So I turned thirty four last week. A week ago today. Thirty four. Sounds weird. Seems weird…and yet, not really that big of a deal. It’s weird to say that it’s been almost 16 years since I graduated from high school, and over 11 years since we got married, and almost 2 years since we moved into our new house. Time marches on and the years keep sweeping by…and yet, I feel mostly the same. Is it true that you’re only as old as you feel? Cuz I’m not sure 34 feels any differently to me. I’m officially in my mid-thirties now, there’s no denying that…but I think 34 feels ok. I’m ok with 34. I look back at the changes in our lives the past few years and how dark some of those days were at the end of my 20’s and beginning of my 30’s. I think about the happy early days when we were first married and smile. Just a couple of kids. Our road has been bumpy, surely bumpier than most people our age…but it has been good. I guess I feel right now, that we are in a good place. I like my 30’s. They’ve be...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about great love stories. I think it probably has a little to do with the fact that I recently started reading, became consumed with, and feverishly completed the Twilight books. Reading about that kind of love will do that to you…or at least, it does to me I should say. We’ve watched our share of romantic comedies lately too…and together I think they’ve all just got me thinking about love. New love. Exciting, thrilling, all consuming love. Can’t stop thinking about each other…talking about each other…every little thing takes your mind back to that person. It’s annoying, really. I remember when Hope was so infatuated with Chad as a teenager. She snuck away during our family vacation to call him from a pay phone because she couldn’t stand not to talk to him for like 6 whole days. Every topic of conversation would somehow in someway twist its way back to Chad, like the Kevin Bacon game…we’d be talking about the fish we just caught and she’d remember one ti...

Onward and Onward It’s officially a new year…and my attitude has been officially adjusted. After a few weeks absent from church, we were finally able to make it yesterday, and oh, it was good for me. I felt physically lifted, as did my sprit, as I stood there singing. In all my anxiety, frustrations, and fears…I am often reminded that I am not alone in my struggles. It was good to be reminded yet again. We had a great New Year’s with friends and family, we’d spent a lot of time cozied up watching football, I’d gotten caught up on house projects, and joy of joy I didn’t have to use the snow blower for several days…all seemed right with our little corner of the world again. Reflecting back on our Christmas season, I can’t help but be reminded yet again of all the love that surrounds us all the time. We are blessed. Immeasurably loved and blessed. I look at the smiling faces in all the Christmas pictures and feel their warm embraces, hear their hearty laughs, and am reminded. Humbled.

Well, Christmas has come and gone and we’re staring down the end of another year. I have mixed emotions about the New Year, for some reason. I think I’ve been sort of in a reflective mood lately – they come and go from time to time. It’s just so very hard to believe that it has been over 4 years…FOUR YEARS since our lives took this unexpected turn. Incredible. Impossible. Just so hard to believe. Matt had just turned 30…I was still in my 20’s…now we’re both approaching our MID thirties. Incredible. Impossible. And yet, here we are. Sometimes, like Christmas morning when we woke up to ice on top of snow and I was forced to dig us out on my own, I find myself completely consumed with self pity, sadness, and the overwhelming feeling of unimaginable loss. I hate to admit how pitiful I can be, especially to Matt. He had no idea how I struggled with the snow and ice as he showered and readied himself for the day. I pouted, whined, and fumed in the driveway…the snow blower no help against the...

So, Amy and I completed our first 5K without incident last Saturday. It was a cold, cold morning…but we pulled through! I woke up early Saturday morning and felt a little bit excited about the run…wondering what it would be like, how we would do, how many people would be there…so many questions. Amy and I got our packets of info and readied ourselves for the race inside West Des Moines City Hall. Looking around at the variety of runners, I felt much more at ease. There were clearly some serious runners…one guy was even wearing SHORTS, but there were also groups of walkers, and friends dressed up in their holiday gear…it was very laid back and the atmosphere was upbeat and relaxed. The parks and rec guy made a few announcements…’Runners….blah, blah, blah’ Runners. I giggled…he said runners. Me…in a group of …runners. Where am I? Who am I? Finally we lined up and started the race…one of the local TV stations captured it on camera and we have video evidence of the running captured on ou...