Goodbye and Goodnight, 2014.

Okay, I wasn’t going to do a last post of the year post, I really wasn’t.

Then I did something, I looked at the picture on my desk, from the first summer that Matt and I dated. The picture that he had printed for me. And I realized that that girl in the picture is not the same girl that sits here typing at the desk. Life has twisted and turned in various shades and shapes over the course of a couple summers. I decided to find the first pictures of Matt and I of this year to see if I “knew” that person. Ironically both pictures presented unique sides. I know both of these people… I feel like Father Time looking at Baby New Year. Both of these people had so much to learn over the course of a year. Both had things to discover, deal with, and dissect.

Although I write this post in the middle of the day versus the end of the day on the last day of the year, I can predict the end of 2014, which was like a giant roller coaster, I will be in sweatpants, with a belly filled with ribeye steak, watching TV with at least one cat in my lap. Maybe I'll be awake by midnight, but I have a feeling I won't. I'll get a kiss before I close my eyes, sealing away the last few minutes of 2014.

 Dear 2015, go easy on us. Love – The Remynses.

Christmas Comes Just Once a Year

The week of Christmas has come to a close. The only good that can come from that is we may get our Christmas snacking a bit under control. It was a wonderful week and we’ll slip into a bit of normalcy as we prep for the coming of 2015.

Christmas started at our house but the Dagman side was held not too far down the road at Grace’s. All 38 people…give or take depending on what age you start the counting. There are some big personalities and some loud personalities and the ages ranged from 10 days old to 85ish. No shortage of food or festivities.

The next morning, on Christmas Day, we headed out to the farm.
Matt helped Dad with chores while Mom and I caught up from the night before and we sat down to open presents. Funny thing about Christmas day, it seems that time doesn’t matter. I couldn’t tell you what time we started opening presents, stopped, started lunch, stopped, or whatnot. It’s a huge blur. It’s relaxing and slow paced and comfortable and wonderful. Matt got surprised face twice for sure. The first was his gift from Santa, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie, and then the Sausage stuffer that he got from Mom and Dad. Those made his top five along with a couple gifts from me and a gift from Alaina.

Lunch was my favorite, fondue. It is fun and different and slow paced and like organized snacking. After cleaning up, we played a little Whoonu, and headed home.

We celebrated our first Christmas in our house together with a few gifts. I had given Matt a briefcase, a couple butchering boards, a butchering kit, a few pullovers, and some seasonings – seemed to fit really well with his stuffer that he had gotten. He went overboard. He brought me into the 21st century with a smartphone, a couple of well appreciated cutting boards, and then a painting that I had had my eye on. I had sent him a picture in July from a gallery in Dickinson. He didn’t say much, asked if it was necessary. I agreed it wasn’t and I moved on. I was very surprised when I opened it up on Christmas evening.

The next day we headed out to Lansford for our final Christmas. We had another round of presents where I couldn’t believe our luck. Matt got his highly coveted chopsaw, which was also a present to me. But I became the lucky one. I had commented earlier in the year about these geese that I had seen at a street fair made out of rocks. I was surprised to open the box up and see Mama Goose in all her glory and Michele and Randy presented me with the rest of the family. This went along with what my parents got me as they gave me a spotbot cleaner, something that wasn’t on my list but that I had commented on wanting. And here I’ve complained that no one listens to me! It was wonderful to watch presents we gave opened at all the places and reminded me just how loved and fortunate that we are.

Best meal: WHAT TO PICK!!! I think it’s really a close tie between Christmas Fondue, which always makes top 5 for the year or Christmas Pizza! Randy can’t make a bad pizza, I’m sure of it.

Quotes....this was a tough one too. Not sure if it's my sister calling Matt the Brawny man or the quotes that came from the Cards Against Humanity game playing in Lansford with Michele, Randy, Brendan, and Claudia. I do think I'll settle with a safe, PG one....

Perry: Is that the Cowabunga-Dude Movie?
And another one that made me smile.....
Perry: Dear, what do you want cooked?? I'll start fondueing it for you.

Wish Lists, 2014

Matt's List

*Sausage Stuffer

*Garage Organization Help

*Go-Pro Camera with accessories

*Chop Saw with slide and 12" blade

*Birdseed

*Goose Decoys

*Handheld GPS

*Extra Long Hockey Stick

*Beer making kit

*Ladder - 8 foot
*Drone with remote control and camera

Amanda's List

*Infinity Scarves

*Charger plates (12-Gold Set and Silver Set)

*Chairs for the kitchen island

*New hardware for the kitchen

*Picture Frames for house display (Hobby Lobby card)

*9-slot Organizational Cube - Cherry-Wood (Seen at Menards)

*7 foot long large wood ruler (for height measuring)

*Scrabble Yard Game

*Broom Ball Brooms and Ball

*Mini-Pie plates

*Nike Dri-fit Crewcut socks, black

Wishing You Peace, Joy, & Love

2014...

       The year we started new jobs at Dept of Commerce and the Bismarck Airport.

       The year we moved to Bismarck.

       The year we sold our house in Dickinson.

       The year we looked at 20 houses or so in Bismarck before Amanda could convince Matt to go back to the first one. 

       The year we squatted at my parents for the summer or 135 days. 

       The year we went back to St. Maarten but took Matt’s parents with us. 

       The year we celebrated our first anniversary.

       The year we sold the Intrigue and bought the Mazda.

       The year that the camper saw more than 2 trips out, but the golf clubs didn’t.

       The year we canned everything from Peach Purple Basil Jelly to Tomato Soup to Borscht to Award Winning Beet Syrup to various salsas and more. 

       The year that we packed up all of our life and put it in a 10x30 storage unit and various rooms of my parents’ house for 7 months. 

       The year my parents finally got a garage...just in time for us.

       The year that we separated the cats so that 2 could live with us while Nike summered in Lansford.

I think that about sums it up. There have been some big changes in 2014….maybe more than 2013 but equally as wonderful. We continue to feel blessed to have each other, some amazing friends, but most importantly to have family that supports and celebrates us. 

ALR: You know we are pretty lucky.

MJR: Why do you sound surprised by that?

And yes, I am aware that 2013's card was a million times better. Matt is still insistent that we can't do a wedding-day do-over just for fun. 

On the Twelfth Day

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….hope.

Dear Santa –

I think I’ve been a good girl this year. I’ve attempted to be patient but I will admit there was some pouting and some crying. My husband is very aware of the latter mentioned acts. I’ve gotten older and sometimes the holiday spirit ebbs and flows given the mood and happenings, but this doesn’t mean that I don’t have a Christmas wish. I’ve watched the “Storybook Lady,” “White Christmas,” “Mickey’s Christmas Carol,” and “Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus” enough to realize that the holiday power is something bigger than myself. My wishes have shifted in my years and wisdom. I honestly can’t imagine the list that I used to tell you on your knee each year. I remember a bike but I have a feeling that I didn’t ask you for that. My requests this year come from a spot of hope, with maybe even a tinge of desperation, a hope for happiness as I continue into 2015. You see as you get older you lose a grasp on those obtainable concrete items and things like peace and joy, which sounded so silly and unrealistic in my youth, suddenly becoming the shining wants of the holiday season. Don’t think for a moment I can’t get more specific but you see, that’s the thing, no matter what you bring for the holiday this year or don’t bring, I know that I still want the same outcome. I just think that I know what should be in your big giant bag and up your sleeve. Please keep my heart in mind this year. I’ll set some cookies out for you. Be aware that we’ve moved but I’ve been told by the home inspector that the chimney is clean.

Merry Christmas, Santa.

Love, ALR

Dear Santa –

I want food. And my own place. And those other cats gone. And a rabbit. And two doves. And a ground squirrel. And to go outside.  

Love, Nike

On the Eleventh Day

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....family.

Now since Matt and I have gotten married he's had to get used to a few things. I take 45 minutes to get ready, I don't like wet socks, I don't like any light when I'm sleeping, and I have at least 3 Christmases each year. We have the Moser Christmas with my Dad's side, the Dagman Christmas with my Mom's side, the Moser Christmas with just my small family at the farm, and then we add the Remynse Christmas in and that's if we don't count the Christmas for just the two of us. It's one of my favorite things and as I get older I cling a bit more to it each year. I grew up in a large family in terms of aunts, uncles, and cousins. My father was 1 of 6 kids, my mother 1 of 5. Each family had at least 2 kids, some 3 and it appears that cousins came in waves. I remember piles of presents under the tree, a amazing chaos of unwrapping, with huge tables of food and people. I remember hot rooms and cramped spaces and silly spats between cousins. I remember dresses and tights and family pictures. I remember getting sick because of all the excitement and I remember oyster corn...so 99% of the memories are nostalgically wonderful. But the best part is that I see these people and my cousins' children and realize how wonderful all these Christmases are. I don't get to see all these people all the time but even touching base and seeing their faces reminds me that I come from something greater than me and a tree of wonderfulness.

We had Round 1 of Christmas yesterday with the Mosers. The wonderful part was that we hosted it at our house. What a great treat for us. We had never hosted a holiday before this year and we got the Remynse Thanksgiving and a Moser Christmas. Was nice to show off our home, with still a few boxes, but we hadn't had that opportunity in Dickinson. I really got the easy end of the deal. My mother carried the grunt of the food while I just had the decorated home. The cats weren't too sure of the crowd but they did come around a bit.
We have Round 2 on Christmas Eve.
Round 3 on Christmas Day.
Round 4 the weekend following Christmas.

ALR: Um, I'm not sure if we have enough forks. 

On the Tenth Day

On the 10th Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…..tradition.

There is a fine balance between doing things of your own and creating your own tradition. I think the blending of these items is what creates a harmony in your life while not making things stale. One tradition that I did this year was to watch “White Christmas” with my mother. I’ve seen it so many times I watch for certain things each time, the lapses between takes, the foot work during the “Mandy” song, the full skirts, the thoughts of Vermont. It’s the first musical that I can remember from my childhood and has impacted that feeling of the season. We had a night with us girls while the boys went out to the movies.

With that tradition coming from the past, I think Matt and I started one on Friday, with a little influence from our past. We went to Taco John’s for a Nachos Navidad, which I can remember my mother taking me out one day, it was just her and I, and I can’t tell you why but I remember it very special that we were out. Anyway, we went to Taco John’s, then drove around town looking at Christmas lights. We went through Seratoma park, another memory from my past, and then went around town looking for lights. We stopped by Chmielewski's Christmas Corner, which we did last year. You could see the family display from the sky, I’d guarantee it. But they take Christmas and creativity to a new level. After driving around, we headed home. It’s moments like this that make me realize that we’ll continue to build on old traditions and new ones, which make me take note of the season.

MJR: I can hear their electric meter going. 

On the Ninth Day

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me......holiday baking and cooking.

Now you'll notice that many of these things my true love did not give to me OR did not take part in. Don't get me wrong, he was super involved in the tree decorating and mantel...but who are you kidding if you believed that he wrapped more than 2 presents (mine don't count in this but he even pawned off wrapping some of mine on his office manager). He also didn't write the Christmas Card or decorate the front door or get involved in the holiday baking/cookie. We do make jerky around this time of the year, he did manage and execute this...so maybe he had a piece in the baking/making.

This year has been hard to motivate for cookie and baking. I had big plans for certain items and that's really gone by the wayside. I made a toffee bark, I screwed up caramels, I made chex mix, Matt processed jerk (pheasant and deer), and I thought about other things - even planned to make sugar cookies, pretty sure I can put those cutters away, Somethings still have to be made, like cheeseballs or appetizer dips, which some people do not consider holiday baking but I couldn't imagine a holiday season without a cheeseball.

The holiday started off with so much energy, I think it's wearing me down!

On the Eight Day

On the eight day of Christmas, my true love gave to me.....cards.

Little known fact about me, I love the Christmas cards that come. I love everything about this process. The picking pictures out and planning ours, the going through the lists, the sending, and my favorite, the receiving. To me they are the start and stop of the season and remind me that it's about the people and places in the season versus all that other stuff. I do read every letter, I do look at every card, I do hang every card and letter up so I can continue to review. I do get mad when ours are returned because of bad addresses or what not. I always have written a letter of some degree, but I know people stick to the pictures, so let's celebrate the good things. I'll probably change it up next year but you can bet that I still do one!

ALR: Our cards when out. Did you read what I wrote?
MJR: I don't need to, I lived it.
ALR: That's not the point, moron.

On the Seventh Day

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…a mantel to remember.

So we acquired this picture in the purchase of our house on Hillside. He’s been hidden in a closet often and also been joked about being the perfect gag/white elephant gift when/if the opportunity arises. He was going to find a permanent home in the garage until Matthew got the great idea to give him a temporary homage in the house, on the mantel, mostly to get a rise out of his parents at our Thanksgiving – which didn’t really happen. So there “The Matador” stands, like a creepy Spanish Mona Lisa. No, he won’t be there forever but he’ll have a good run of holiday spirit.

We were sure to add the normal things to the mantel this year too, the stockings, the holiday scentsy,

And the flick of the fireplace switch has been a great add to the room.

MJR: I'm going to leave him up here to see what my parents think.
ALR: They won't say anything.
After Thanksgiving: MJR: They didn't say anything.
ALR: Told you so.
2 days later
Jess: What the hell is that on your mantel?
MJR: (very happy that it's been noticed) It's a portrait!
ALR: (eye roll)

On the Sixth Day

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….wrapping presents.

So here’s something you didn’t know about our house, we have a living room AND a Den. We had the same problem in Dickinson that we have in Bismarck. We have no furniture for the living room, because it all goes into the den. Famous words by a pretty cute kid, “What happened to your couch” upon seeing our living room. Wendy, my aunt, has suggested that she do what they did, use it for a putting green, if clubs and balls are cleaned and the putter is the only club that enters the room, I don’t have a problem with that. The problem is my husband doesn’t have control and then the putting becomes chipping and wedging and we have a whole in the wall and a very angry Amanda.

This is my father-in-laws present...I couldn't
reveal too much of the disaster that room has been.

So back to the opportunity at hand, no furniture in the living room. I’ve officially turned it into the “present staging area” because if it’s turned into the “wrapping room” I have a feeling someone is going to think he’s very funny coming into the room pretending to be Will Smith or Vanilla Ice or Macklemore. So it’s the present staging area where we…I mean, I box all the presents, wrap them, and then label them before going under the tree.

The cats have been just as much help as the husband, maybe less because they feel they need to be involved and climb into bags, boxes, and mangle the tissue paper and the wrapping paper. Despite the fact that we don’t do ribbon (Because TD eats it), it’s been a beautiful mess of Christmas chaos. I do have a system that I have put into play a few years ago, this helps with the multiple families and multiple Christmases, so its organizes Christmas chaos. I have found the floor, so that may mean that I’m finding the bottom of the wrapping!

Best meal this week: Simple Greek Chicken, Matt says it can be put into our “regular rotation” or go on our restaurant that we’ll open someday menu.

MJR: Oh, I have a big box!
ALR: That’s not your box, that’s for my aunt. That paper is used for the Dagman’s.
MJR: Oh, that is a big box, that must be for me. 
ALR: No, that paper is for my family. That’s my Dad.
MJR: Oh, look at....
ALR: That's your parent's paper. Not yours.
MJR: Which one is OUR paper then? 

On the Fifth Day

On the Fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….Scentsy!

This year, I celebrate my fourth Scentiversary, I would call myself a Scentsy hobbyist as I sell for myself just as much as I sell for someone else. But there are certain things around the holidays that I love about Scentsy.

1. The scents….whether it’s Eskimo kiss, Cedar Cider, Huckleberry Sage, or Silver Bells….the fall scents are my favorite. You can get stuck in the traditional scents with cinnamon or you can find those new holiday smells that remind you of Christmas in a new way. This year we’ve melted a ton of Very Snowy Spruce, which is what is on our Christmas Cards in scratch and sniff form, and Pumpkin Marshmallow, which is my go-to.
   
2. The Warmers….I love a good seasonal warmer because it’s an excuse to shake up the old and bring in the new. This year we have 2 new holiday warmers to display, Holiday lights and the cardinal. I love them both for different reasons but they fit perfectly in our home.
   

MJR: What’s that one?
ALR: Very Snowy Spruce.
MJR: I like it. 
ALR: It’s November’s scent of the month.
MJR: You can burn this one for a long time. 

On the Fourth Day...

On the Fourth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..cats!

  

Okay, so he didn’t give me cats. I had enough. But the three really do play a role in our holiday fun. Sometimes it’s welcome – like when they look serene by light of Christmas lights and sometimes it’s not….sitting on the paper while wrapping, terrorizing the tree, licking the bags, getting into the bags……ahhhhhh. Anyway, the cats are curious too with all the abnormalities that happen during the holiday.

Lola managed to figure out how to jump on top of the wall. Nike managed to eat some of the little decoration trees. TonyDanza gets very concerned with things in the fridge. They have all seemed a bit more cuddly at times lately, not sure if it’s them getting settled into the house with each other or they have a bit of the Christmas spirit.

Two cats fly through the living room in pursuit of each other. It is yet to be determined if it’s real fighting or attempting to play. 
ALR: It’s Christmas, we fight nice!
They fly back through the room to the den.
ALR: The tree is not a battleground.
More flying.
ALR: AHHHH, if I have to pick that snowman up one more time........

400

We’ve reached a major milestone with the blog. 400 posts. This is where Uncle Kevin would make some comment about 100 of them being wedding. And I would tell him that he’s wrong, it’s really only 22.5 that are about the wedding. And if he thinks that that number is big, he’s been mentioned in the blog in 38 posts.

The blog has come a long way from the first post on a New Year’s Day in 2009. Some things have been added on a regular basis, the best meal, the conversations from our home, pet shaming and letters from Nike, and travel excursions that highlight each day.

Since creating the blog, I’ve lived in 7 houses – I only counted the farm once even though I’ve been there for 2 summers at different times. This means that the blog has had 7 different titles reflecting our current address. The name 236 in the web address is a tribute to the first house that I bought in Dickinson.

A couple of things on the blogging, no, I don’t blog about making things or recipes or crafts or ways to train our cats (I get this “what do you blog about question” often). I blog about our life and the simple daily activities that happen. The blog is merely a snapshot of our progression of life. It has settled arguments, it has reminded us of memories, meals, and more and the pictures provide visual representation of where we are at in life – no matter what address we are at.

I’m fully aware that we are not jet setters and have a glamorous life. Heck, it’s going to be a big blog when Matt shaves his face…talk about excitement at its finest. But the blog is a little peek behind our front door narrated by my stream of consciousness – I think it’s a decent read.

I’ll close with some visual stats.

Most popular posts. Bob, is Matt's Grandfather. I've placed his obit here for us to reread at anytime. Matt's Trip Down Memory Lane is a weekend "staycation" in Grand Forks.

Labels are tagged to each blog post, stating what it's about. The top blog label used to be "weekend". It's only recently shifted. The "Matt" label probably isn't accurate as he makes almost all the blogs.

This is a picture overview of the entire blog. You'll see the traffic, the page views, the global view. I know a lot of this is "ad" reviews so I don't think I'm an international sensation. But you'll see the major spike is the wedding as we put a link from our RSVP to the blog and we always put the link in our Christmas card. 

ALR: Do you see this, this couple has a notebook and they both write in it. It's like their marriage diary. Isn't that nice. 

MJR: That's why we have the blog.
ALR: You don't write in it.
MJR: You always do a nice job.
ALR: That's a cop-out compliment, but I guess I'll take it. 

On the Third Day

ON the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…..decorations!

There’s something to be said for decorating for the holidays. It changes the way the house feels, it brings out things that make me reminiscent of the past and also puts the holiday season right in your face. The tree is an obvious decoration, that went up first but we have others, the wreaths around the house (I have multiples, I like them….quit judging), the stockings/mantel décor (see future post), the pillows, the garland, the ornaments, the glass figurines, and the lights. I’ve collected so many of my things over the years in random places and from different people. I love that I can grab the Welcome sign that Janice got me or the ceramic deer that my mother gave me when I was younger and it takes me back. I have poinsettias as I think of the one my mother has had for years. It was a welcome feeling to bring the holiday boxes out of the basement and feel that rush of home and nostalgia at the same time.

(looking at the stair decorations, ornaments hanging from ribbons)
MJR: The cats are going to play with those. It's going to be irritating.

ALR: No they aren't.... Scrooge. 

5 minutes later.

ALR: Damn it, Lola, quit making his point.

On the Second Day....

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….. beautiful front door decor.

Yes, I know this one has nothing to do with two turtle doves, but I don’t care. While at the nursery picking out our tree, I wanted to get a wreath. It’s so pretty. I added it to our front door with our lantern, the sled, a small sign, and a little tree.

Our front doors have always been a bit questionable. Park Avenue’s had to be kept clear because otherwise you couldn’t open the door because it was underground. Hillside’s was better but the air conditioning unit was unsightly. Even my condo on Shelbourne wasn’t ideal because it was inside and you had to get through a security setting. This setup was made to be decorated.

MJR upon seeing that I had bought the sled: You know we can’t use that. We are too big.
ALR: It’s not going to be used! It’s a pretty.
MJR: And the rails wouldn’t go fast, they need to be sharpened.
ALR: It’s not going to be used! It’s a pretty.
MJR: I’m just saying.

On the First Day....

My husband has a love of the Christmas classic: The twelve days of Christmas. The cats and I, even Nike, are sick of hearing about gooses goosing and milking maids and piping drummers. I actually told him I can’t listen to any more versions last night as he’s ruining the song for me. But I will honor his love of this song by doing the Remynse 12 days of Christmas highlighting the days up to the holiday.

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…A Christmas Tree.

This is a big deal in our house….I like the artificial while Matt wants the real. I want to put up shortly after Thanksgiving, he feels that decorating should wait until Christmas Eve. We have worked out a compromise. We get a real tree every other year. Matt lives for these years and has officially measured the height we can get in the house based off the ceilings that we have. The max will be 11 feet. The house on hillside could have 19 feet.

Here’s the issues of a real tree, actually there’s only 1: Nike. She eats the branches, she hides in/under the tree, and she thinks the water is her own personal fountain.

 This year, we decided on a few more compromises. We got a tree skirt that we both like and we got a star that we both agreed on. We also put up a few LEDs.

We didn’t have as a much help as we anticipated. Lola was highly interested but TonyDanza couldn’t have cared less and Nike laid under it the entire time. There was some old classics to see and some new favorites that we put on the tree. 

The big difference this year from past years is that we had to decorate it 360 degrees because of our location in the house!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like......

December. Christmas. It’s here.

There’s something about Christmas this year that feels wonderful. I’m probably way behind the 8-ball on this year but it almost feels like I don’t care. It’s just wonderful. First weekend of December and we are in full holiday swing. 

We made a trip back to Dickinson to help out with a Scentsy booth with my director, we’d done this at my birthday and it worked really well so we replicated it again for the holiday show. There was good attendance and we did a good amount of sales. Was fun to be with a few friends as Jo and I hung out all day at the show but we also visited Kay, Jess, and the kids and we stayed with Rick and Shantelle. Matt went out bird hunting a bit and brought back some to make pheasant jerky.

We also went and picked up our Christmas tree. We were very happy with the customer service that we got at Cashman’s Nursery. We brought it into the house that night and set it up for its final fall. I know Matt loves the real tree, when he brought it in the door he keyed up “Oh, Christmas Tree” for the grand entrance. I also picked up a wreath that looks beautiful on our front door. 

Best meal: this is a tough one, we haven’t been good meal planners lately. I threw in a crockpot chicken dinner that had Matt a bit worried (Hawaiian Chicken) but I was very happy with how it turned out. I’d probably have to say that Dad stopping over last week, while Mom was in Vegas, and I picked up chicken was a great meal too. Nice to have him over. 

Little known Matt fact: Matt usually takes 1 line out of a song and sings that line over and over to the point that murder is threatened, 2 lines if I’m lucky. However, it has been proven to me over and over again that he knows the whole Twelve Days of Christmas song. In entirety. Not. Joking.

MJR: This version if very hard to sing to. Four calling birds, three French hens…..

ALR: This version?

MJR: Yes.

ALR: It’s the muppets. They are even singing the real version.

MJR: I don’t know, it’s just very difficult to sing with them.

ALR: Because of the 5 Golden Rings?

MJR: Yes.

ALR: So you are saying you are upset with Miss Piggy?

MJR: YES! 

Dear Grandma and Grandpa -
I'm writing you from this place you left me. I thought when you visited at Thanksgiving you were going to rescue me. You misled me. You could have at the very least removed those other two from this place. I had great plans to sneak into your car so we could go back. I promise I won't puke in the car this time. The only good thing that has happened recently is they brought a large tree into the house. I'm using it for my ambush point. Amanda isn't impressed. She is dead to me and has no authority anyway. Matt is wonderful, but you already knew that. Visit soon. I'm working on my escape plan to return as they are starving me here. I'm protesting by only eating one brand of food. I think it's winning because it irritates Amanda.
Nike
P.s. Tell Dexter to get off my window seat.