august and everything after

7.29.2008

7.20.2008

Since becoming a mom... I've noticed something about the general population, men and women, young and old, downtrodden and seemingly happy alike. As I've been out and about with Augustella, I've noticed that people can't help but light up as she passes by, or if they're lucky enough, as we pause in our coming and going. I hear excited comments from little kids who talk loudly with unashamed freedom and see smiles on the faces of businessmen standing in line at Starbucks... perhaps they're thinking about their own children who are at home and how they wish they could be there with them, playing the day away... but know that working to provide is their current lot in life.

I find myself in conversations with people like the airline worked who's pushing a woman in a wheelchair as we ride the elevator together. He asks how old my daughter is... I reply "three months." He lights up and shares that his is a month and a half. I can tell that he's thinking about his little one and giving thanks.

Just yesterday, Susy and I were in the grocery store with Augustella and her son Blaine. The woman behind the counter looked as if her day was brightened at the sight of these two and another customer paid August a sweet compliment. Susy whispered to me that she's been struck by how much people seem to be made happy by babies and I agreed... and I commented on how I think it would be a fascinating topic to write on... and so I did.

6.08.2008

My August and Everything After

August and Everything After... this Counting Crows album is one that holds memories of my freshman year on the Ashwaubenon High School track team- sitting on a yellow school bus bench, belting out the chorus to "Mr. Jones and Me" along with fellow female teammates.

Fast forward to my four years spent at Miami where these same Crows found their music laced throughout my Oxford days. Particularly joining me in cars that taxied me on High and Spring and the like and carried me to and from holiday breaks. It was in the later part of those four years that Bobby and I, moving more and more from just friends to love, that many a car ride out to Hueston Woods in the van or the Mazda would hold moments of singing along or just listening or giving our best guess analysis to just what Adam might have meant with the lyrics he penned. August and Everything After and the other albums in the Counting Crows repertoire were much a part of our story... both inspiring and warming us.

And so these Crows have flown with us West for our near seven years of Southern California living... their songs keeping us company on nights at home or out and about in daily life.

August and Everything After has taken on a very literal and real meaning within the past year... in early 2007, Bobby and I talked of starting to try to conceive in August. As we returned home from three weeks spent in Stellenbosch and Kayamandi, South Africa and throughout Southern England, we discovered on August 22 that our early attempts were successful and that the nine months following that August would be marked with much anticipation and change as new life formed and prepared to join us for the rest of our Augusts to come.

As our due date in mid-April 2008 came closer, we made the final touches on the name of our daughter as we chose Augustella Ryan Anderson for her. Sometime in March, it dawned on me that this Counting Crows album was once again, finding its way into my life as quite literally I'd be experiencing my very own interpretation of this beloved album title.

And so here we are... beginning on April 24, 2008 at 7:46 a.m., Augustella cried out "hello" to the world and commenced for Bobby and me what life of August and Everything After would hold.

So as I enter into the adventure of blogging and sharing my thoughts, musings, struggles, hopes, fears, prayers and the like- I'm borrowing the most fitting title for my little piece of the web. Welcome to August and Everything After... so far, it's a beautiful ever after.

The Crafting of a Name...

Augustella Ryan Anderson

Named after the great 2nd century Saint Augustine who still compels us to grace and repentance with urgency... also a month (August) where we (unknowingly 3 of us!) spent two weeks in South Africa, learning about the face of God in beauty and pain in a town called Stellenbosch, which is partly where Ella comes from, and the other part a family name on both sides. Ryan being the middle name of Jenna and the maiden name of Grandma Maureen. Anderson, the family name of her pops.

August- revered, exalted, venerated

Ella- she
Ryan- little king, young royalty

Augustella- The Feminine Revered One

April 24, 2008 . 7 pounds 19 inches of beauty