Welcoming the new year, Wyoming style

If you live in Wyoming, it's pretty much a given that you eat beef, that you play outside no matter how cold it is, and that you shoot stuff. Since I'm a bit of a pacifist, it's rare to find me with a gun in my hands, but I do enjoy shooting stuff in the sense of sighting through my camera lens and pulling the old shutter trigger. And I do like to play outside...

Thus, as I welcomed 2012 a few weeks ago, I did it Wyoming style: I pitched a tent on our deck in 9-degree weather on New Year's Eve and went to a sporting clays shooting party with a bunch of church folk on New Year's Day. I think 2012 is going to be a great year! How can it not be when it was welcomed marveling at the moon and shooting stuff?

 

Welcoming the New Year the way I'd like to spend most of it: outside!

 

The pastor's son, my dad, and our drummer take aim.

 

Husband and wife. She made it look so easy.

 

My pastor, on the left, and my third cousin on the right. Both were straight shooters.

 

Pull!

 

Go, Daddy-o!

 

It's his deck and his yard, so he gets the sweet silhouetted shot.

 

Passing this Wyoming New Year's tradition down from father to son.

Seeing the beautiful

I posed a question to my facebook friends the other day and was so impressed by the answers I received that I thought I'd post them to my blog since that's what I do with most things that make an impression on me. (Beware doing anything cool with me, or getting robbed with me, or writing me a letter that makes me cry!)

The question, posted at 8:03 a.m. Tuesday, January 10: What's the most beautiful thing you've seen this morning?

The answers, silly, profound, beautiful in their simplicity:

My heating pad. ~Rachel, 8:13 a.m.
The sunrise was gorgeous! ~Sandy, 8:13 a.m.
My wife! ~Ben, 8:20 a.m.
Light snow outside, family still asleep. ~Mark, 8:25 a.m.
My students! ~Eric, 8:26 a.m.
My house coming into sight at the end of my walk. ~Linda, 8:27 a.m.
My coffee. ~Joanna, 8:28 a.m.
Sun streaming in my window, flooding the living room where my two boys are playing... :). ~Sarah, 9:22 a.m.
My new puppy going to the bathroom outside! ~Nick, 9:34 a.m.
Prairie sunrise. Students laughing at my bad jokes the first day of class. ~Patrick, 10:02 a.m.
The cat laying on my chest and purring away. ~Charlynn, 10:03 a.m.
The moon with clouds passing by this morning. ~Chris, 10:10 a.m.
The sunrise. It was one of the best I've seen in a while. So beautiful! ~Sarah, 10:12 a.m.
Fresh snow! ~Kimberly, 10:40 a.m.
Jeremiah's smile and giggle. ~Deborah, 10:50 a.m.
My fiancee. ~David, 11 a.m.
A little grey kitty snuggling with me. ~Elizabeth, 11:36 a.m.
This morning, my answer was the Big Horn Mountains veiled in sun-streaked clouds. ~Hannah, 4:54 p.m.
This afternoon, my answer is the names and faces of so many friends who took a moment to stop and appreciate the beauty right in front of them. This is an incredible list! ~Hannah, 4:56 p.m.
One of my patients smiling. ~Quinn, 10:38 p.m.

This list, these acts of seeing the beautiful in a moment, in a day, is so encouraging to me. Granted, I know the people and stories behind the statements. I was at Ben's wedding this summer; I love his beautiful wife. I know that Patrick recently moved to North Dakota to begin his first college teaching gig. Quinn is one of the youngest, most compassionate doctors I know, and I know he means it when he says he sees beauty in a patient's smile.

But even if you don't know the faces and stories behind these names, I think their list echoes the list each of us could make every day. There is beauty in God's creation, beauty in our loved ones, beauty in comfort, beauty in a job well done, beauty in humanity. Do you see it?

Happy Birthday to a Good Outlaw!

George Orwell's novel, "Nineteen Eighty-Four," has forever put a negative spin on the phrase, "Big Brother is watching you." But, as little sister to a truly great big brother, I must admit there are many times in my life I was mighty glad my big bro was watching.

There was the time I went hiking as a young girl with my brother and fell into one of Wyoming's car-sized piles of cactus (not really...I'm exaggerating...but only a little). Andy helped me walk all the way home, even though I was bawling like a little girl, and even though I'm sure he would have preferred to keep hiking with his buddy.

There was the time just last year that my car was vandalized and Andy helped me scrub it off even though he was crazy busy with work.

And then there was the time, when I was about six, that Andy saved me from a bully on the bus. This big ol' mean kid was making fun of me, and Andy, a not-so-big pretty nice kid, heard him from a few rows down. He walked up the aisle, looked that kid straight in the eyes, told him to never, ever make fun of his little sister again, and promptly picked the kid up by his neck and bonked his head into the window frame. Then he took my hand and big brothered me all the way into school.

Biblical thou shalt nots aside, Andy's act of childhood heroism encapsulates what makes him such a good big brother--and man. He loves God and humankind and will do what is necessary to protect his loved ones and honor his beliefs about right and wrong, even if it bends the law just a bit.

Andy is what my Grampa would term a "Good Outlaw." Andy is the best big brother a girl could have. And I will love him and fight for him all my days.

Happy Birthday, big brother! I'm so glad you've been watching me all these years. And I'm glad I've been able to watch you become a successful filmmaker and a loving husband and father. Cheers!

 

Andy with mom and dad. Cute kid, eh?

 

See, I told you he was a superhero.

Andy wasn't a total saint. I had to kick him around a little.

 

Me, 4, as Alvin the Chipmunk and Andy, 6, as a pirate on Halloween.

He's always got my back. What this photo doesn't show is that we're standing pretty close to a pretty sheer cliff face in Glacier National Park.

 

At the premier of Andy's feature family film, "The Wylds." That same film will be releasing as "The Adventures of Chris Fable" in Wal-Mart on January 10. Go buy a copy and support a good outlaw!

 

Andy becomes a daddy. (Photo by Marianne Wiest).

We love you, Andy!

Top Ten of Twenty Eleven

I must admit that I am an absolute sucker for top ten lists. Or top five lists. Or top whatever-number lists. They encapsulate many things I like: listing, categorizing, prioritizing, remembering.

Top five things I want to do before I die? Own a coffee shop, live in a foreign country, publish a book, scuba dive with manta rays, play in a rock band.

Top three favorite ways to consume caffeine? Coffee with cream, plain latte, Earl Grey tea with steamed milk.

Top ten best moments of 2011? Well, since you asked...

10. Riding a roller coaster in Wildwood, New Jersey, after more than 15 years of swearing I'd never again ride one. It was definitely a breakthrough. And I even liked it. A nod to Jer for his smooth trickery to get me on board.

 

9. Making a fancy Easter dinner and enjoying it with my pastor's family. My mom and I decided to go big for this meal. We made a crown roast, which is essentially a rack of ribs rolled into a crown. We stuffed it with apricot stuffing. We made apricot candied carrots and a fancy-schmancy salad. For dessert, I made Oreo cookie salad and a frozen dark chocolate mocha mouse cake. It was a meal we were proud of, but more than that, it was a chance to go crazy in the kitchen out of love for others. Is there anything better than cooking for those you love? It is such a joy.

 

8. Urban kayaking in Pittsburgh. My friend and I paddled upstream on the Allegheny River from the 5th Street bridge, circled Washington Island, then headed downstream to Point State Park. We rounded the park into the Monongahela River and tagged the Ohio River on our way back. I truly enjoyed paddling in three rivers within two hours and seeing the striking Pittsburgh skyline from our yellow tandem kayak.  

 

7. Jumping on a king-size hotel bed with my best friend as part of her 29 Birthday Wahoos! celebration. We filled an entire weekend with wild and wacky activities--balloons, silly hats, silly string, riding bikes in Wal-Mart--but I must admit I truly, truly enjoyed jumping on the bed. It was one of those beautifully unencumbered moments where you do something for the sheer fun of fun, for the sheer delight of crumpling onto the floor in a heap of laughter with a person you love more than you can express. 

 

 

6. Fourth of July in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After experiencing a pretty intense situation in the wee morning hours of July 4, I found the beauty, food, coffee, and new friend in this charming city to be a soothing balm for my frazzled emotions. There's something about being alive when you could be dead that makes food and drink taste mighty fine. Thanks to Joel for the restaurant recommendation and the healing conversation. 

5. Dinner on the deck with two of my best friends on Labor Day weekend. Sarah and Becky are the kind of friends who fill you with joy by simply being who they are. I say their names and smile because their names are synonymous with grand adventures, uplifting conversations, and sorrows and joys shared. They came to visit me in early September, and we spent our time hiking, coffee-ing, eating ice cream, sauntering through parks, looking forward to the birth of their baby boys (both were in their third trimester), and barbecuing pizza to enjoy on the deck under a starlit Wyoming sky.

 

4. Coming in at a tie...riding B-Cycles around Denver and eating at Snooze for my 30th birthday in October. I figured turning 30 was something to celebrate in style, so I gathered some of my most favorite people in the world for a weekend of fun in D-town. It was one of my most favorite birthday celebrations ever! 

 

3. Walks and coffee with my mom. I have enjoyed being able to spend so much time with my folks this last year. I have appreciated the many moments of counsel and laughter we've shared. My mom is faithful and practical and loving, and I always enjoy being with her. 

 

2. Climbing Bighorn Peak with my dad. Ever since my first backpacking trip in Alaska, I've been itching to get some gear of my own and head into the hills. My dad joined me in this endeavor, and we enjoyed a couple great trips into the nearby Big Horn Mountains. Thanks for the adventures, Dad!  

1. Maria Alana Wiest! I became Aunt Hannah on April 3 when my brother and sister-in-law welcomed their daughter into the world. She is beautiful and sweet-spirited and oh-so-happy. I love her dearly, and I look forward to watching her grow into a woman after God's own heart. 

 

In all honesty, it was difficult to list only ten top moments for 2011. When I think about all the small wonders that fill a day--drinking coffee, chatting with a friend, praying for a missionary, sitting by the fire, gazing upon a starry sky--I feel like I should be able to write a Top 100 list for each and every day. I breathe. I laugh. I move. Even when a day is filled with loss and ache, I am held in the hand of God and can give thanks for His provision of grace. 

I hope you can say the same for your 2011. And I wish you a grand new year filled with delights, strength in trials, and an ever-deepening relationship with Jesus. Here's to 2012!