For 20 years it's been Susan Branch

 Good Morning!  The sun is shining.....wait!  What?  The sun is shining and it isn't raining?  Holy Moses alert the media!  But they probably know already.  I can't believe it!  Last week roads were washed out and the crops are waterlogged.  I am so happy that the sun is out I am almost giddy!  **doing a little jig right now**

Anyway, for all of my women friends who read this, think back to when you were very first married and learning how to make your little two bedroom, sometimes one bedroom apartment, a home.  Think about looking at material to make a blanket or shower curtains that you thought were feminine yet manly enough that your new hubby wouldn't go "Yuk" at.  How learning to love this new person in your life and in your space was sometimes really hard to do.  

I got married 6 weeks after my husband returned from Desert Storm.  He was getting out of the Air Force and then going to college the fall of 1991.  We moved to Brookings South Dakota the end of August into a small two room...not two bedrooms, two room...apartment and I worked at a bank.  He went to school and I paid the bills.  I will never forget the first time he washed and DRIED my beautiful cashmere plum colored sweater!  It would have fit an American Girl Doll now.  I was crushed and so, so angry.  For about 3 days I barely spoke to him.  I couldn't believe he could do that, he just ruined it.  What I didn't realize is how bad he felt.  Probably because he didn't say anything either.  See, neither of us were the worlds best communicators at that point.  I am an only child and didn't really ever have to explain myself or share anything and he is the 4th child out of 6.  Yes... middle child.  Rather than talk about anything, he would get on a horse and go ride around.  

So here we were, two stubborn young yahoo's that didn't know how to talk to each other.  How does this have to do with Susan Branch you ask?  Well...after we left Brookings Jerry transfered to Utah State University in Logan.  I got a job cutting hair in the little barber shop in the Student Center.  Right across the hall way was the Aggie Bookstore.  On my breaks I would walk over there and look at the many books and calendars that they had.  In the fall of 1992 I found a Susan Branch Calendar and fell in love with her art work, quotes, recipes and the beautiful colors she uses in her books and calendars.  She gives little thoughts about making your table look welcoming and how to make your day a little happier. She quotes everyone from Mark Twain to Gandhi.  I bought a calendar that fall and ever since then I have  had a Susan Branch calendar in my kitchen.  I have also bought many of her books that have taught me to love my home and surroundings where ever I am.  And also she has helped me to understand that it is the little things in life matter and that is how she lives her life which she then passes that knowledge on through a calendar.  

20 years later Jerry and I are still stubborn and not the world's best communicators, but we have learned a thing or two along the way about talking and about love.  The biggest lesson we have learned I think is that marriage is work and compromise.  If I ever meet her, I want to thank Susan Branch for helping me to learn the value of being a wife and taking pride in my home.  She helped a really young woman see the importance of patience and listening in my environment.  Her words have been powerful and made a big difference in my life.  Thanks Susan!

Saying Goodbye.....

Anyone who has ever moved knows the feeling of excitement and sadness that surround you in the months and days preceding a move.  It is hard to wrap your brain around the fact that the house, friends and sometimes family that you will be leaving will be gone.  Sometimes you leave a house that you never, ever thought you would miss.  Sometimes you leave a community that you have grown to love and friends that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt will still be only a phone call away.  Then....you move.  

And that house that you hated everything about becomes the house that Sam grew 2 ft. in and gained a love for basketball.  The house that Grace started school in and lost a tooth on the bus ride home one day.  The house that Katey started high school, began dating and started driving in.  The house where tears have been shed, laughter has expounded from and new memories have been created to last a lifetime.  

My children have moved alot.  This house was not by any stretch their first house.  We have lived in 6 states and Sam and Katey have been to 7 schools.  But this house was the first were we lived out away from town by ourselves.  We have had room to roam and the freedom to grow as big of a garden as we chose.  We have had chickens that we were able to have eggs from and a doggy that loved chasing the wild cats around.  Not to mention the pheasants, deer  and raccoons that we have named because they are in our yard on an almost daily basis.  With this distance from town and the amount of traveling Jerry has done, has come a need for the kid's and I to get ourselves out of some sticky situations.  This last winter Katey thought her car could go through 4ft. drifts of snow and she managed to get it high centered.  But we used the skid loader, lifted up the front end a little and backed it out.  WE did it!  All the experiences we have gained from living here have helped me and my children to be more self reliant and more patient with one another.  We have also had to depend on each other. And for those lessons I will always hold a special place in my heart for this house.  


There have been some great learning moments too for Jerry and experiences that he has gleaned from living here.  Remodeling a kitchen that refused to be remodeled! Outdoor fun with the kids on the trampoline and 4-wheeler and pheasant hunting with Sam.  Our family room became a place to hang, play on the Wii and to just be quiet.  When our barn burnt down last year it was scary.  But we were so grateful that there wasn't any more damage done to other buildings.  We learned a lesson from that and know that we really liked having chickens.  I think we will have to get some more when we move :)


So, as I spend my time going from room to room sorting and packing, I stay just a little longer in each space.  Trying to make mental pictures to refer back on when I want to recall a memory of an instance when something was said or a laugh was shared.   I will miss this old house, as I know the rest of my family will also.  We have grown both independently and together here, which is all anyone can ask of a home.


"Having someplace to go is a home, having someone to love is a family, having both is a blessing."


I have been blessed.