Winding Up 2015

As the year draws to a close, I realize there are many adventures from these past few months we have not yet shared with you all.  The photo above is of Ryan and me at our very first OU (Oklahoma University) football game. This was the beginning of November. Some friends of ours gave us their tickets one weekend since they couldn't go themselves and we made a night of it, driving down to OKC. We won! Go Sooners! Anthropologically speaking, football games are way more fun in person than on tv.

Pregnancy-wise, things really couldn't be going better; I haven't been sick since the first few weeks and I am now about half-way through! Also....big news....it's a boy! We found out at the end of October, and Ryan seriously could not be more excited, haha. :) Everything is going very well overall, and I feel good, just tired. I'm still subbing, and every day I work, I come home and take a nap. Last week for the first time, several students asked if I were pregnant. These were 7th graders, and it was really funny to see their reactions since most were super nervous about asking me such a question. My favorite was when students would immediately start suggesting their favorite names. They were just so excited to shout "Oh, oh, pick Gregory!" I'm more than 5 months along now, and the only "extreme" symptoms I have are mental ones. I think this comic perfectly illustrates me as a pregnant person and Ryan being his usual, enthusiastic self.

Ryan has been running races again! He has found a good group of friends from work and church who run as well. Several of them ran a 15k together on Halloween morning. They all did well, despite the cold rain that kept up all that weekend. Ryan didn't set any new PRs, but he's getting closer to his best pace from a few years ago. The plan is to qualify for the Boston marathon by next fall! They didn't dress up, but tons of other runners were in full costumes.

I really love Halloween. Like..... a lot. I'm sure most of you are well aware of this already, but this comic just perfectly sums up my enthusiasm about the entire, wonderful month of October. The best part is that Ryan is perfectly happy to celebrate with me! Oh, I love him! Although he was a little skeptical when I began planning our costumes back in August...hehe, this is funny because I'm not exaggerating. This baby boy may not have a name yet, but he definitely has his first three Halloweens already planned out.  I may not be as skilled a seamstress as my mother, but I think it safe to say that my painting, hot-gluing, and Goodwill-shopping skills are sufficient. Behold! The mighty Thor and mischievous Loki! Even Ry's epic pumpkin was Avengers-themed! Haha, I carved the little pumpkin all by myself...so it's a cat face, because that's all I can do.

Burdened with glorious props!

Basking in the glory of our winnings!
Best Couple's costume!

For my birthday we went to the State Fair again this year. We sampled Funnel-cake-on-a-stick, Pizza-on-a-stick, deep-fried Red Velvet Oreos, and a bacon-wrapped hot dog. We hope walking several miles counter-acted the "healthiness" of the food. It was all pretty tasty. Gotta get that true Oklahoma experience while we're here, after all. 

 For Labor Day weekend, we drove to Tennessee, and so did my parents! We met them in Nashville and checked off a bucket-list item. We visited the Parthenon. :) There's a life-size replica in the middle of Nashville, and both my inner classical nerd and Percy Jackson fan were thrilled to see it. Inside was the "lost" statue of Athena Parthenos. We also drove by the Nashville Temple, which is similar to the OKC one.

Ryan played on an Ultimate Frisbee league this summer. He and his team did an amazing job throughout the season and actually became the final tournament champions! Even though there were  players of all levels and most had never met before, they meshed well early on. It was so fun to watch their games. The league slogan on their jerseys said "Hot nights under the lights" and this was never more true than on the day of the tournament. The final game finished at 11 PM, when it was still 95 degrees outside. 

In August I flew out for a weekend to attend Elise and Adam's wedding! It was a perfectly sunny day and a wonderful wedding. It's crazy to think Elise and I met on our very first day at BYU; time sure does fly when you're having fun. All our love, from the OK Binghams.

We Have Some News...

We're going to have a baby next March! We don't know the gender yet, but we'll keep you guys posted. So far I have not been very sick all things considered. My morning sickness lasted about two weeks and was pretty mild, by which I mean that it was, in fact, only in the morning. For me it's mostly just scattered bouts of heartburn and a constant, irrepressible exhaustion. I have never slept so much in my life. And I know, I know, this will soon change forever, and once the baby comes I may never sleep again, so I should enjoy this while I can. Trust me, I am. :) Substituting is quite possibly the most flexible job known to man. While I am glad to be doing it again this school year, I'm very grateful that I can take a day or a whole week off whenever I'm not feeling too great, and no one minds.

We've got a lot to learn and plan, so advice is always welcome. Name suggestions are always appreciated too. So far the most unique has probably been Athena Grimelda Bingham, haha. Ryan and I do have some favorites, but we feel that we just want to see his/her face first before we're really decided. After all, what if the baby just doesn't look like a Gunter or a Grimelda? ;)

The first big step for us is to....ding ding ding! You guessed it: rearrange furniture. I know, that's just sooo exciting to read about. But really, its going to take a lot of work and a good amount of ingenious storing to turn our junk storage room into, you know, a half-storage, half-baby room. 

Best "Pregnant" Story so far: 

A couple weeks ago, Ryan discovered that I had never seen the Sixth Sense. This seemed like too much a cultural classic for me to have missed, so he promptly rented it. I knew it was a thriller, which isn't my favorite genre, so I mentally prepped to be scared at the tiniest things throughout the movie. Neither of us could have ever prepared for my insanely hormonal-driven reaction at the ending. I balled. Honestly! I cried like a baby at the "sad" ending, and I can't even explain why. I was beside myself for a long time afterward, and Ryan was so confused. A pregnant lady crying about a puppy adoption commercial makes some kind of sense, but this just didn't. 

As we start preparing for this important and serious change in our lives, there are a lot of little details that have been very surprising to learn, and I just can't figure out why no one ever told me. For instance, I'm not showing much of a bump yet, but it is simply impossible to be comfortable in jeans, or really anything that isn't sweatpants. Why didn't anyone warn me that there will be this strange adjustment period when regular clothes are too small and maternity clothes are too big?  The good thing about subbing is that I rarely go to the same school twice in one week so....mwhahaha no one will ever know if I just wear the same three outfits everywhere now. Another surprise has been the hunger. My gosh, it is so intense. One minute I'm feeling normal, the next minute I feel like I have been fasting for two days straight and I'll have to eat a pre-lunch sandwich while I wait for that mac-n-cheese to cook. On a more serious and real note, the best little surprises were the first time Ryan and I saw the ultrasound, and we could see the heart flutter. That was just beyond amazing. The next time we got to actually hear the heartbeat and it was so fast and so loud! Those are the moments when it all feels so real and so sacred. 

All our love, from the hungry but excited Binghams

Summer Fun

Summer is well under way, and we started ours off with lots of little adventures! These photos are from a hike we did one day back in June. The view is from near the top of Turkey Mountain, looking over town. Seeing these again, I keep comparing the different landscapes Ryan and I have lived in. I realize that my time spent on the Wasatch front taught me that this is really a hill and not a mountain, but living in the foothills of Virginia taught me to let things, like small hills, dream big. Ryan would add that while he misses the Rockies, he's loving being engulfed by the greenery Oklahoma has to offer. So I guess Oklahoma is reminding us both to appreciate all types of beauty and to love where you live. And there, my friends, is your Pocahontas-style lesson for the day.
On a huge tangent, this all reminds me of a Hugh Grant movie "The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain". Am I the only one who has seen it? That's highly possible. Well, its a quirky one, and the title kinda gives the ending away.



On a another weekend we decided to really explore Oklahoma City, tourist-style. We spent most of a day wandering "Bricktown", which is a pretty and new-ish section of the city that is full of food, shops, murals, and little nooks all along a sunken canal. It reminds me a lot of Carytown in Richmond, just without the toy shop....and with a canal running right through it.

 For lunch that day we had Cajun! (See photo of Ryan) Shrimp has never tasted so good. :) For dinner we discovered a hole-in-the-wall pizza place.(See photo of me). It was easily the best and most creative pizza I've ever had. They were so packed inside that we were seated in giant, fancy tent outside the actual building. We took it as a good sign.

Our neighbor had recommended we visit the 45th Infantry Division Museum on the outskirts of OKC. We did, and it was possibly our favorite part of the entire weekend. It was such a surprising place. I have been to a lot of museums, especially ones with WWII connections; it's a natural side effect of learning German. I was still very impressed with this place. It's all privately done, not connected to the Smithsonian, or any national organization, but Ryan and I couldn't get enough. There was a huge field outside of tanks, planes, helicopters, etc that were from various wars, not just replicas. We learned that the Oklahoma 45th Infantry Division was the group that liberated the inmates at Dachau at the end of WWII. I was so stunned, because Dachau was the prison camp I visited in Germany. Small world, huh?

Ryan ran with one of his co-workers

  For Independence day Ryan ran a 5k. This is the first of many to come and he really did an awesome job training for this one. He finished first in his age group! And though he's not yet back to his personal best, he's on the way and this time there were no injuries. (Success!) His final sprint totally surprised me, and while watching him finish strong, I missed him in the photo I took. All that I got was his foot, haha. He was just too quick for me. All our love, from these dreamy Oklahoma hills.

Book Review: Villette

Villette by Charlotte Brontë
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Man, this woman could write! I’ve loved Jane Eyre for years, but now there is another Charlotte Bronte masterpiece to recommend. Let me explain…no there is too much. Let me sum up: *SPOILER ALERT* Villette is the story of a young woman named Lucy Snowe. It is written autobiographically form her perspective. After losing most of her family, she moves to France from England and becomes a school teacher in a small village (Villette). At first she is in love with a young Englishman. He befriends her but marries another. Ultimately she falls in love with a professor who befriends her, cares for her, and falls in love with her as well. Throughout the story she analyzes everyone that she meets, especially the women. She is generally very reserved, but occasionally explodes in a rage of passion. The professor, Paul,  is a truly wonderful character (very comparable to a younger Uncle Iroh from the Avatar series actually). In the end, literally on the last page, Lucy fails to say precisely whether or not the love of her life dies in a shipwreck right before they were going to get married. The end. (AAAAHH!!)

It took me a month to read this sucker; even though it's not really long enough to merit that time, it certainly is sufficiently deep, thoughtful, and infuriating to merit it. Despite how the protagonist, Lucy Snowe, might have actually felt about it, I felt that Villette was indeed a book "to be thoroughly read, marked, learned, [and] inwardly digested" (pg.403). There are so many details I want to comment on, but let me first talk about the three biggest strengths of this book for me.

1. The Sentence Structure. Oh, I could geek out about this on every single page! Charlotte Brontë was an unequivocal master of the English sentence. Her writing makes my inner grammarian squeal and dance with pure delight. "Who has words at the right moment?" you wonder, dearest Miss Brontë; you do! (pg. 299) This was especially appreciated after reading the entire Maze Runner series by James Dashner this spring. Short sentences (aka incomplete thoughts, phrases, and clauses) are clearly in vogue. In fact, in most modern literature the popular opinion seems to be “the shorter the better”. Brevity can be powerful. Striking, even. Bold. But it can also be painfully overused and misused (please read the last two installments of the Maze Runner for an example). This is not to say that Bronte only composes lengthy, poly-clausal constructions. She masterfully fears no sentence length. In fact, her characters’ dialogue has the most modern feel of any other Victorian author I’ve ever read.

2. The protagonist’s loneliness and depression. Going into the novel, I knew it was acclaimed for its “insightful study of a woman’s consciousness” (From the back cover of my copy). It certainly was that, but it was neither prosaic nor unrealistic. Rather it was truly remarkable and eye-opening to experience how others perceived Lucy. She suffered  from intense bouts of depression, triggered by isolation. The handful of people who even knew about her pain were unable to help or understand due to their misconceptions. This excerpt is probably my favorite conversation in the entire novel. Lucy has confided in her friend about her recent “illness”, and though her best friend so far and a doctor, he is incapable of understanding her situation:

"I think it a case… following on and resulting from long-continued mental conflict” he said.
"Oh, Doctor John--I shudder at the thought…Is there no cure?--no preventive?" I asked.
"Happiness is the cure--a cheerful mind the preventive: cultivate both."
No mockery in this world ever sounds to me so hollow as that of being told to cultivate happiness. What does such advice mean? Happiness is not a potato, to be planted in mould, and tilled with manure. Happiness is a glory shining far down upon us out of Heaven. She is a divine dew which the soul, on certain of its summer mornings, feels dropping upon it from the amaranth bloom and golden fruitage of Paradise.
"Cultivate happiness!" I said briefly to the doctor: "do you cultivate happiness? How do you manage?"
"I am a cheerful fellow by nature: and then ill-luck has never dogged me. Adversity gave me and my mother one passing scowl and brush, but we defied her, or rather laughed at her, and she went by.".
"There is no cultivation in all this." I remarked.
"I do not give way to melancholy." (240)

Clearly at this time depression was unfathomable to those who had never experienced it. The doctor has no concept of what Lucy is going through. This seems like a highly valuable lesson to anyone in today's society where depression is only just beginning to be more widely understood. Also, I just love that "happiness is not a potato!"

3. Lucy hates her readers. Or at least she seems to for most of the book. She may be writing her life story, but she feels no need to actually tell you anything. I have never in my life experienced such a thing. It was insanely infuriating yet so beautifully done that I had to keep reading despite my resentment. There was zero concept of the increasingly popular “gotta keep the fans happy” approach many modern authors take. In the moment, this would make me want to punch Lucy in the face, but later I marveled at the novelty of finally not knowing what the author was going to do next. There was no trust between reader and author. It was kinda invigorating. It felt like reading Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; despite disliking the plot, my emotions were masterfully manipulated by the author. I cannot deny the skill behind it. The best example of what I mean would be that Lucy neglects to explain her suspicions about one of the other characters. For the first 400 pages or so we are told that Mme Beck is a friend, or at least an ally/“good” character. However, she is the primary antagonist to Lucy’s true love story, which Lucy confesses she knew all along but didn’t feel like mentioning it to us until she confronts her:

"I forbid it. Let me alone. Keep your hand off me, and my life, and my troubles. Oh, Madame! in your hand there is both chill and poison. You envenom and you paralyze." I said
"What have I done, Meess? You must not marry Paul. He cannot marry."
"Dog in the manger!" I said: for I knew she secretly wanted him, and had always wanted him. She called him "insupportable:" she railed at him for a "dévot:" she did not love, but she wanted to marry, that she might bind him to her interest. Deep into some of Madame's secrets I had entered--I know not how: by an intuition or an inspiration which came to me--I know not whence. In the course of living with her too, I had slowly learned, that, unless with an inferior, she must ever be a rival. She was my rival, heart and soul, though secretly, under the smoothest bearing, and utterly unknown to all save her and myself.” (429)

Oooooh, how's that for a scolding? And that last line is more true than you'd normally think; it was truely unknown to all except her and Lucy, because didn't tell us readers till after the fact!

I should probably cut this short before I go on forever. There is also a fabulous commentary of Protestant/Catholic relations throughout the book, as well as countless discussions on intellect vs beauty, love vs selfishness, and fate vs luck. Everyone should read this, though I know many never will, especially after my spoilers.

Other fabulous quotations from the secret sass-master:

“To a feather-brained school-girl nothing is sacred.” (pg. 208)

"I had great pleasure in reading a few books, but not many: preferring always those on whose style or sentiment the writer's individual nature was plainly stamped; flagging inevitably over characterless books, however clever and meritorious:"

"Do you doubt yourself? Do you consider yourself the inferior of Colonel de Hamal?" I said.
"I love Miss Fanshawe far more than de Hamal loves any human being, and would care for and guard her better than he. Respecting de Hamal, I fear she is under an illusion; the man's character is known to me, all his antecedents, all his scrapes. He is not worthy of your beautiful young friend." said Dr. John.
"My 'beautiful young friend' ought to know that, and to know or feel who is worthy of her," said I. "If her beauty or her brains will not serve her so far, she merits the sharp lesson of experience."
"Are you not a little severe?" he asked.
"I am excessively severe--more severe than I choose to show you. You should hear the strictures with which I favour my 'beautiful young friend,' only that you would be unutterably shocked at my want of tender considerateness for her delicate nature." (pg. 143)


View all my reviews

BonBook Hobbies Explained

This is the part where you run away. At least you do if you don't feel like reading about my latest crochet project or book review. I'm still exploring Blogger, so bear with me as I figure out how to make this work like I want it to. So far the "Home" page is all posts no matter what. The "Bing Life" page is the ones just about the Bingham Family adventures and the "BonBook" is about my latest obsessions. I'm sure the internet needed this. 

Craftin' It Up

I know it's been over a year since I finished BYU, but somedays I still marvel at how much free time I have without homework. I'm sure many of your are rolling your eyes at this, and would like to tell me to stop whining. I'm not trying to complain or to boast, just explain. And I'm sure future me will roll my eyes at all that too. 

Liam's Lion, before/after haircut

Substituting has been a great job; for the final two months of school I was working every single day and could plan my work out a week in advance! It was wonderful, fulfilling, and I'm stoked to get back to it in the fall.  However even while subbing I had lots of free time, some days I think they just paid me to sit in a room and read a book. Now that school's out for the summer, the job hunt is underway again. While we wait to see what pans out, it's craft time! I've mentioned crocheting like a fiend and learning to sew before. So I figured it was time to show you guys a few of the projects I've finished this year. 

Baby blanket
 for my friend Mary

Impromptu baby blanket
(I promise the colors match)

Toothless the dragon
amigurumi. Just practice.

Sewing circle scarves,
and painful selfies

Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles for my nephews

Baby blanket for my friend Jane

You may have noticed the near lack of sewing things compared to crocheted ones, clearly I should dive into sewing a bit more. But I just have so much yarn to use up!

Yay for painting and...is arranging photos a craft?

May Showers and the Tigernado

I know it's now June, but I really need to tell you all about this past May. It was one of those months when it didn't feel particularly eventful until I tried to describe it. Hindsight really is 20/20. Ryan and I are growing quite fond of Oklahoma; it is starting to feel like "home" whenever we come back to our apartment after travelling for a bit. That really is a wonderful feeling! But that warm and fuzzy feeling is inevitably mixed with a beautiful kind of dangerous humor as the weather and the universe laugh at us. Us: "Yay! Oklahoma is so nice; the weather's not so crazy" Universe: "Challenge Accepted." I feel that these images perfectly describe how the weather was this May:
 

Seriously. This all happened. I highly recommend that you all follow this link and read a full article on the events of May 6, 2015. But I'll sum it up too. Obviously, it rained a lot this month. But in one single day there were 51 tornadoes between Texas and Nebraska. That was May 6th. That same night, the weather made it impossible for the OKC zoo to account for all their tigers. After a few hours they found them all, and both animals and humans were ok, but the news had had to advise people to watch out for loose tigers in addition to the flooding and tornadoes. The rest of May was a continuation of tornadoes, thunderstorms, and flash flooding. Local lakes were an average 12 feet above normal.

So that's the latest weather update! That Tigernado picture was just too special not to share with you all. More importantly I think it captures how sometimes warm, fuzzy feelings of contentment can be tested by unpredictable reality. All in all, our growing love for our new home was strong enough to survive one messy month. We feel lucky to be here.

On a less meterological note, Ryan and I got to fly to our friend's wedding in May. Micah and Gerilyn got married at the Salt Lake City temple, and were so happy together you'd never have known it actually rained during their photos! It was fun to be there that weekend and visit again.

Umbrella holding:
Groomsman duty #1

Shoe-Shining/Drying:
Groomsman Duty #2

 

Micah and Gerilyn

Ryan and I have officially made it through our first year of marriage! Going to these weddings has reminded us how lucky we were on our own wedding day. We were surrounded by so many friends and family, many of whom had had to travel across the country to be there and plan for that time off far in advance. We're so grateful for everyone who came, and especially for all those in the background who made sure food, decorations, etc. were ready and taken care of. I know it was a year ago, but I just still feel so grateful. So thanks again.

We went to a little German restaurant for our anniversary dinner. It was a fun new place that Ryan discovered and even had a store attached where we could buy German chocolate, cookies, curry ketchup, etc! You know, the normal stuff. :)


Some new friends of ours invited us up to their lakehouse for Memorial Day weekend. We hadn't been outside the city much since moving here, so it was wonderful to drive through all the farmland by the lake. With all the rain, the lake was fabulously full of water, but not crowded. We had a blast tubing and water-skiing. I should probably clarify that we both tubed, but Ryan skiied, and he even did slalom! When it rained we just played games with everyone for hours. They were all so kind, it felt like a typical family vacation.

It's been great these past few months to visit so many of you, but each trip reminds us of those we don't get to see. While we are learning to love all the aspects of the "Oklahoma experience", and have felt welcomed by so many people here, we do love and miss you all. So here's to seeing all you again on some future adventure! All our love, from the state of Tigernadoes.

Remember how the riverbed was almost empty? Now it's full!