Fun Days in Saco

Here's an update on how/what we are doing.

A few weeks ago we attended an event called "Saco Fun Days." It's a thing guys. It is an event where nearly every single person in the town and the surrounding areas shows up to participate in silly events and have a good time.

The events started off with a parade down the main street. If there is going to be a parade then by golly the students at the school better march in it! I got almost every middle and high schooler to march in the parade, (which wasn't very many kids,) but we sounded pretty good. I got Josey to play the sousaphone so that we could have more low brass sound. We didn't march and play at the same time though, we marched and then stopped the parade to play part of a pep band tune. Yes, we "held up" the parade. But, it made the parade last longer! (In fact, we did the whole parade route twice!)

The other events that were part of Saco Fun days were fun, but the parade was the best part. The kids sounded good, and the community really appreciated that we were there. The "Minnow Races," highly entertaining, with an auction for minnows to race against each other. The auction raised money for the Chamber of Commerce, and each minnow sold for over $50. After all 32 minnows were auctioned off, it was double elimination to find the winning minnow. The winner took home a chunk of money too - it was intense, and hilarious. The minnows raced down gutters, whoever got to the other end first was the winner. You can't help the minnows out by touching them, but you can blow the water... the competition was pretty fierce.

Josey and I decided to just be spectators this year. Maybe next year we'll join in the fun.

There have actually been quite a few events that we have been invited to in Saco and in Hinsdale. This past weekend there was a big picnic/event out at a lake that we didn't make it to, but we will definitely have to go next year. Sounds like we missed out on a lot of music! We've gone to going-away parties, birthday shin-digs, staff events, and other planned and unplanned activities. Josey and I helped build a greenhouse, and we are going to possibly put some time into the church basement here, which was flooded last year.

Speaking of the church, we are happy with our new parish in Saco. The community is nice and we have two different priests who travel the hi-line each Sunday to do mass. The church is quaint but really nice. There is an older piano in the back that works just fine, and room for a couple of musicians.

The first week at mass we didn't know what to expect. There wasn't any music, although the priest chanted a fair bit.  The second week, we met a gentleman who led music on guitar. Phew! There WAS music at the church. By the third week we were playing with him, me on the piano, and Josey on the violin. We practice for a short time beforehand and then play the opening song, communion, and closing. We don't do anything else, but that's alright. The congregation (of about 17 people) is happy to have us, and we are so happy to be able to continue what we love to do, play music in church.

In my last post, I talked about how I was going crazy without planned activities. I wanted more things scheduled. What I have realized since then is that even when you have more scheduled things, you don't have to have EVERYTHING be a scheduled thing. If your days have free time in them, that isn't a bad thing. There are so many things you can do with that free time.

The free time we have now gives us the opportunity to say "Yes." When we get a spur of the moment invitation, we don't have to say no. We don't have to say yes either, but it's a whole lot easier to say yes when you know you don't have anything else you have to do, anywhere else we need to go.

In college I was SO used to saying "no, sorry I can't make it, I've got track practice." "Sorry, I've got a meeting." "I wish I could, but I already promised __________ that I would do _______."

We were so busy in Bozeman that we didn't make it to a lot of things. Our free time was filled with homework and job applications, and heaven forbid that we actually took the time to relax and watch Netflix! We were busy. And the crazy thing was, I was proud of it. I took pride in the fact that I was so busy.

I think that is why we felt so down with our not-so-busy-lives here.

But I have decided that the opposite of busy is not lazy. The opposite of busy is not boring. The opposite of busy does not have to be a negative thing.

The opposite of busy is relaxed.

And in this relaxed state, I can listen better. I'm not so wrapped up in my own crap that I'm not really listening. I actually want to know how you are, what you are doing, what is important to you. I feel like I am able to better show that I am genuinely interested in your life, and that I care about you. (The "you" I am talking about is you. Anyone! Family, new friends, old friends, neighbors, my students, anyone.) I have the time and energy to write thank you cards, text friends, and facebook message people. The best of all is that when someone needs help, we are able to say yes.

Being able to help other people and meet and talk to folks makes me really happy. I've also started teaching private voice and piano lessons, which brings me WAY more happiness than I anticipated. I feel like I get to be my crazy excited self in private lessons, and I get to work one on one with students who are passionate about music. I currently have 11 students, and I might be getting 3 more. I teach after school three days a week, and the time flies by with those kids. Then I get to go home to Josey, who has cooked dinner, and we still have the entire evening together. It is wonderful!

Josey has started helping with the youth group once a week, and is working on getting more involved in Scouts. He is thinking about teaching private lessons too, although there is a huge demand for piano lessons and not so much for brass and other lessons since they get that sort of stuff while they are at school.

Our biggest involvement is definitely in the schools. We get to see every single kid in the school (almost), and prepare concerts and events and all sorts of fun stuff. So far we have made it to a couple of home volleyball games, and we will be at a ton of games come basketball season. My school, Josey's school, and one other school are combined for sports, so we also get to combine our pep band for basketball. The fact that Josey and I are married will make this pretty fun and easy. We are looking forward to it for sure.

Outside of school, we have gone on a few "adventures" of our own. We've gone out kayaking a few times, and some evenings we go shoot hoops on the playground. Bike rides are really nice now that the mosquitoes are mostly gone, and the sun shines pretty much every day. We chase the sunsets too, and even watched a movie on our neighbor's lawn one night! I am so thankful that we've made friends here in Saco and in Hinsdale.

We've only gone camping once so far, but it was gorgeous. Two weekends ago we left our kitty at home and took out our kayaks and camping gear to the dredge cuts of Fort Peck reservoir. It was a beautifully sunny day, and our first camping trip together. The camp ground was amazing - it even had a designated fishing pond stocked with fish. We brought our water proof camera to capture some of our kayaking adventures in the lake. We also brought the real camera to capture strange long exposures of Josey, and sweet shots of our new tent. (THANK YOU WEDDING GIFT GIVERS, YOUR AMAZON GIFT CARDS WENT TOWARDS OUR TENT!)

This is when he heard there was a bear. Just kidding. There aren't any bears around here.

Our current lifestyle includes very few weekends with "obligations." This means that these night owls, Josey and I, finally actually get to actually sleep in. Married life is pretty awesome like that. We get to cook breakfast together, and we get to snuggle our kitty together. We've started a "dream" list of things we would like to save our money for, and we've worked hard to plan out a loan payment plan that will get rid of his student loans in 1-2 years. We've planned and started projects, and we're planning our future. Not all things can be planned of course, but that "daydreamy" state when you are in love with a person and want to plan your life with them just keeps getting stronger.

Anywho, all sappiness aside, we made plans to come to Bozeman this weekend! We are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning (no sleeping in THIS weekend,) and will be in town by early after noon. Bring on the homecoming parade, football game, Josey's scouting Fall Fellowship, a haircut for me, and some much needed retail therapy. See ya'll in Target. I mean in Bozeman. ;)

With Love,
Chelsea