2017 Holiday Greetings from the Cronin Clan

December 3rd, 2017

Happy New Year!!

Today marks the first day of new year in the episcopal calendar, and the first day of advent. It's not a day that I've celebrated my whole life, but between the sunshine and gratitude I feel here at the Gemini super full moon, I feel gloriously happy and want to share and reflect about the past year with you, my friends and family.

This past year has been a tumultuous one for me personally, and for our family. Usually we start our family newsletter by sharing about the kiddos first, but in this new year, I want to turn everything upside down and continue to learn from the new perspective that a new vantage brings.

Blissful at Baked Alaska for our 15th wedding anniversary.

I started this new year feeling trapped and spiritually lost. In the year prior I had set about "finding myself" and what I discovered had brought me further and further away from Kevin. I had fallen divinely in love with myself and awakened to the fact that I had been giving him my power (plus, my sister, mother, and kids...). Add to that my sense that Kevin feared my desire to become spiritually enlightened. Add to that the feeling that I wasn't in a professional position to be able to fulfill my dharma, and felt isolated in my community. Kevin and I went through counseling, and despite a valiant effort, we both became further disillusioned, especially as I became happy through my work and poured my energy there. Without sharing my midlife memoir, I can now say that I understand why my favorite astrologer/guru calls this year "The end of Illusion." At the beginning of this new year, I feel grateful to have a loving husband and three amazing children, who are growing faster than I can fathom. I also am blessed to be working and serving our community. My official title is Juvenile Prevention Specialist for Clatsop County, but I'm really the coordinator for Northwest Parenting, and hope to be known as a "Family Education & Empowerment Specialist." The last exciting news that I would like to share is that I've become certified in Imagination Yoga, and I am thrilled to have a vision for bringing this playful practice to the children and families in our community, region, state and beyond... 

After Kevin's run and my sunrise stride across the mighty Columbia River.

I usually try not to speak for Kevin, but as he's out hiking on this beautiful day, I'll do my best to give a brief synopsis from my point of view. I know our marriage struggles took a grate deal of energy from both of us, but thankfully, since our celebrating our fifteenth wedding anniversary, we've been focused on sharing our love and rebuilding our foundation. Despite having his "dream job," the luster of serving as Community Development Director wore off, and in September Kevin chose to take a tremendous leap by leaving his salaried position. I am proud to share the new name of his business is West Coast Cronin Clan Co. and despite not even having a web presence yet, he just billed his first three clients and has some very exciting development projects he'll be working to help create. Kevin's new journey includes taking up running, meditation and yoga, on top prioritizing of lots of long walks and hikes. He was happy to compete in three races this year, check out his post entitled (Yes, after ten years of having a family blog, Kevin decided on his own volition to write a post...it goes to show that old dogs can learn new tricks! ;-) I selfishly hope that he'll be inspired to write more, as I know he enjoys creative writing... Kevin has also been fulfilled by serving as the President of the Lower Columbia Youth Soccer Association, and is excited to have his first paid coaching gig and is also planning to start refereeing, as part of his life/career transition. Needless to say, he's a different person than he was just a year ago, and I'm proud of his ongoing transformation.

Kieran giving Teagan a ride on our trip back East for Gram's 80th birthday.

This year has been a year of huge growth for Kieran as well, as he will likely be taller than me by his twelfth birthday, next month. Kieran was eager to enter middle school, and now enjoys the freedom of going to Friday night skate nights with one of his best friends, Noah, who he got to know by participating in the Columbia River Maritime Museum's first ROV Club. Their fifth grade team competed in the Seattle area, after five months of working together, and got Rookie of the Year. The competition included an oral defense, and even though he sweat bullets through it, Kieran was clearly the oratory leader. He also had the chance to serve as Treasurer, and good at ordering meals for the club. Lastly, Kieran enjoyed a great season of pitching, and looks forward to playing in the spring. He experienced his first soccer injury this summer, and sat out the fall, but is back to playing on a winter North Coast United team. 

Thumbs up before Makenna's big 10k walk/run. :-)

Makenna also happily transitioned schools, and is now at Lewis & Clark Elementary. She enjoys having lots of friends, and is quickly getting up to grade level with her reading. She's also loves playing soccer, and is quite the natural, according to Kevin. She still loves making art, and is banging away at the piano as I write. She's had fun in gymnastics and really wants to get back into swimming more. And here's a cute photo from her second walking race, the Great Columbia Crossing (she came in after her Dad, but in a few years, she'll surely be lapping him). Makenna's also more and more interested in "screens" and really wants an tablet like her friends who have started messaging me...she even coaxed her sister into asking Santa for an Apple watch yesterday...Teagan: "I want a talking unicorn, who can fly, and play and do anything I want! Oh, and an Apple watch!" ...I think he saw right through her. ;-) As a middle child, Makenna savors her rare alone time with Kevin and I, and most of all, loves being a Big Sis to Teagan. She dreams and talks a lot about growing up and living in Paris. Her dream of having a small white dog came true when we got a new puppy...

Our first hellos to Lulu, who is part sweet, part crazy dog. Lulu fits her. ;-)

Teagan's birthday wishes came true when we welcomed our four-legged family member, Lulu, a Schnoodle (mix between a miniature schnauzer and poodle). Lulu has tripled in size since she came home three months ago, and is getting closer to being "potty trained." Lulu adores Teagan, who loves her puppy kisses. Teagan also loves preschool, and according to Makenna, she is an "awesome artist." She certainly is proud of her expanding coloring and tracing skills. She remains a very emotionally sensitive and intuitive person who often seems ahead of her four years...precocious doesn't describe her entirely though, as she has a wicked sense of humor. New neighbors described her well after meeting once at the park..."Teagan. (thoughtful pause) She's a riot!!" She certainly has a riot of curls to match.


If all our personal lives weren't busy enough, we had a full year as a family. We finished turning our Theater into an Airbnb suite, and with the income from our first rentals, we  renovated the basement. We've had some fantastic short term renters who were all young professionals, and super kind and respectful (our first longer term renter had the sweetest dogs, Zeno and Maggie, who inspired us to get a puppy!) I was surprised to just check out stats to see that we'll have hosts over thirty sets of guests this year! I actually earned far more from our rental income than from my day job, and it's only because of our rental income that Kevin was able to make his career leap ahead of his intended schedule. Our historic home still remains a truly expensive labor of love, and it's great to be able to share it with guests from near and far (we had the sweetest young lady stay for a week with her infant son and mother, and our last longer term renter was from Maine :-)

OK, I know this is way longer than practically anyone actually reads these days, but the sums up the true highlights of 2017 for us. It feels so incredible to have made it through the darkness of the great eclipse, and to be gearing up for a truly beautiful new year. Today was simply amazing in so many ways, and blue skies in December didn't hurt. We've got so many fun advent plans, and are looking forward to making special memories with family and friends. 

Lastly, even though I've always enjoyed sending my love in the form of a holiday card to our loved ones, I used to feel awkward and apologetic for writing a "brag" newsletter. But this year it feels like we have so much to authentically brag about, and we are indeed so very grateful to have family and friends to care enough about us to share our lives virtually. As always, we would love to plan a visit or camping trip for the new year, and we hope that our paths will cross in person, rather than just online.

As Teagan is going to share as the Star in her preschool Christmas pageant: "For Mary and for Joseph, the would be a special night. For Jesus would be born, and bring the world hope, joy and light." No matter your beliefs, we wish you a season of beauty, wonder, and believing in magic.

Peace be with you,

Darcy and family

PS I don't want to post our personal info here, but feel free to reach out to Kevin or I by Facebook.

Family pic after our big walk/run in September. Kieran was still out of commission with his knee.

More first Lulu kisses!!

First day of school: 6th, 3rd and preschool.

Beautiful sunny fall day at McClure Park, where next year we'll be celebrating the new hillside slide...wahoo!!

Cronin Co-Housing

We haven't shared about it much with family/friends, but our family has been happily co-housing since the spring. We started off by building a Murphy bed in our Theater and turning it into a Private Theater Suite on #Airbnb, and we've been happy to host lots of weekend guests who love exploring Astoria.

But we also quickly got inquiries for more long term rentals from people who have temporary jobs here on the North Coast and who need a temporary furnished space to call home. So we renovated the basement into a monthly rental, and we'll soon be wishing our second renter farewell. We've also had two guests in the Theater who have stayed for over a month, and we've been so happy that we are ready to start officially advertising our "Cronin Co-Housing."

Maybe it's because I spent my early years living on my parents' hippie commune, but I've always had a fascination with co-housing. I even did a qualitative research project in graduate school interviewing people living in co-housing. As a kid, I remember touring by mansions in Southern California and thinking to myself that I would only want to live in them if I could live there with lots of friends and family. So, now that I'm living in my own "mini-mansion," it felt natural for me to want to share our home.

So far we've given our guests space to explore Astoria, but we also enjoy hosting dinner parties and the kids actually love getting to know guests. So, as we've rethought what we want to offer and attract, that we really do want the opportunity to get to know our guests. We've decided to include two family meals per week for guests who are living with us. It could be dinner, lunch or breakfasts, depending on our schedules. For us co-housing doesn't mean that we'll talk with or even see our guests every day, but that a few times a week we'll have a chance to connect and share our lives along with food and drink. We hope that by welcoming guests into our family that it will give a unique opportunity to experience Astoria.

Here's our first flyer that we just posted around Astoria, and here's more photos:

Private entrance, south facing.

New mini-fridge, dining table and La-Z-Boy.

Extra twin bed for any guests.

Comfy Queen bed, open shelf dresser, plus two closets (one big enough for a bike/gear).

Another view, the bathroom door is hiding behind the pillar.

One more view of dining/living area.

Private bathroom with new toilet and handheld shower head, plus plenty of storage.

Shared laundry room with new high capacity machines. Feel free to use our eco-friendly detergent and cleaning supplies.

McClure Park is across the street (soon the 30 ft hillside slide will be done!!) 

Lastly, a little more about our family:

• Kevin - East Coaster at heart. Starting up a private consulting planning/development business. Loves running and yoga. Coaches youth soccer and serves as President of the local soccer club.
• Darcy - Oregonian at heart. Has the world's best commute, walking just two blocks downhill to work for Clatsop County coordinating Northwest Parenting. Blogger and community volunteer.
• Kieran - Tween who soon will be going to his first dance. He loves talking about sports, history and world politics (socialist in the making). Learning to play the french horn.
• Makenna - Loves making art, playing with friends, her puppy and little sister.
• Teagan - Preschooler who loves her new puppy, and playing outside and dancing/signing.

As we mention on our Airbnb listing, and which has worked well for our guests so far, we are up early on the weekdays. We have breakfast on school/work days at 7, and are usually out of the house by 7:45. Kevin works from home and Darcy usually walks home for lunch. We tend to have dinner on the earlier side, around 6...if we don't have sports or a community meeting.

We look forward to meeting with prospective co-housing guests soon...we would love to welcome you to Astoria and share our little piece of paradise.

Peace,
Darcy

Running for My Life

Cold, wet, beautiful run in Vancouver B.C.

I love hiking. I enjoy mountain biking and long rides on country roads. I do not like running...or at least not up until last year. I decided on a whim to run my first 5K in May 2016 as part of the Astoria Parks & Recreation Foundation’s “Run on the River” event. I thought this was a great way to get involved in the community by volunteering and why not run a 5K for the heck of if while I’m at it. I didn’t train whatsoever. Mistake, right? Darcy thought I went bonkers. I just showed up at the start line on the 6th Street Pier in my most presentable pair of soccer shorts and Adidas running shoes I had stashed in the bedroom closet and just went for it. How hard could it be to run 3.2 miles along flat terrain with a fantastic view of the Big River? As it turned out, very hard, but a lot of fun too!

I was full of piss and vinegar at the start running on sheer excitement and adrenaline. At the turnaround near Smith Point, I briefly stopped and doused myself with water and then pushed on drafting behind a woman who looked like she was in much better shape than I was and coasted until I turned on the jets for a final kick. As I crossed the finish line I let out a cathartic yell, but didn’t have a clue how I finished the race. I picked up some water, a snack, gently bowed to receive a medal from my daughter Makenna (who was volunteering with Darcy) and waited patiently at the runner’s tent to collect my race time. I couldn’t believe it...I did a double take at the printout...I finished first in my age group (45-49) and placed 8th overall with time of 28 minutes! In addition to a cool t-shirt that I still love and wear religiously, a glass blown medal from Fernhill Glass Studios, and a tasty free pint of cream ale from Buoy Beer, I received a fancy water bottle for my placement and a lot of pats on the back. The best part was my confidence level skyrocketed and seemed to be floating on a cloud for the rest of the week, knowing that I could accomplish anything. A priceless feeling that was worth the registration a couple times over.

Although the runner's high of my first race was undeniable, I didn’t run another race until I entered the same event in May 2017. This time I actually warmed up with a few runs on the Riverwalk in April, and a handful of long hikes to crosstrain, and finished with a time of 24 minutes! I didn’t win my age group and placed 15th overall, but I felt great about shaving 4 minutes off and setting a new personal best...a PB in the running world. Faced with the results, I knew something good was happening and decided to sign up for my first 10K in Vancouver, BC for October.

Throughout the summer, I had Vancouver on my mind keeping me motivated and focused. I filled my summer weeks with more hikes than runs, but I followed up with another race in August at the Lower Hospice's "Race to the Bar" at Fort Stevens State Park with a 5K run on the beach. This was an excruciating experience because the weather was terrible and the wind was brutal. After the turnaround, it felt like ten people pushing against me as I methodically jogged back to the finish line in a meditative state. As it turns out, I placed 2nd in my age group falling to the overall winner with a time of 25 minutes which was pretty good considering the cruddy conditions.

With continued training in September and October I signed up for a 10K at the Great Columbia Crossing, knowing this could be a trial run for the following weekend at the James Cunningham Seawall Race in Stanley Park. Talk about two amazing views in the Pacific Northwest! The Columbia Crossing event developed into a beautiful fall day and had to be one of the coolest things I've ever done; running across the Astoria Megler Bridge from Dismal Nitch on the Washington side to the Red Building Loft underneath the bridge with stunning scenery. Thankfully, Dave Feeney, a local Coastie, ended up being a great, impromptu running partner which I never had even with all of my training runs. It was a great strategy to have someone set the pace and chit chat along the way and before I knew it I was on the down slope of the bridge heading for the final stretch. Dave took off as we quickly approached the bridgehead, but I used a final leg kick to cross the finish line in 50 minutes! I didn’t purchase the extra chip timer, but I did the check the race results online and found out I would’ve placed in the top 10 of my age group among a group of 500+ runners.

I honestly can’t tell you why I wanted to run at age 47 or what I’m running to or from in life. I can tell you that I’m in the best shape of my life, doing daily yoga and meditation, in addition to my running and hiking schedule. Darcy has noticed the positive changes from my new physique, new attitude toward life, goal setting and results, and putting myself out there to meet new people and experience life on my terms.

This last year has been my most challenging year in life. Darcy and I struggled as a couple up until my transformation in August and then I left my job in early October. Running has been more than a diversion from the daily grind, it’s been a great tool to clear my head, think more clearly, live in the present, and demonstrate to myself and the family that I’m still kicking ass! I don’t know if I’ll ever figure my life out, but I do know that running has been a great way to help with the process of sorting out the next steps.

Where am I running next?

I haven’t scheduled any race events for 2018. If you have any suggestions or ideas I’d love to hear them. Everywhere I turn there is another 5/10K race on the calendar. In years past the family has done the Shamrock 5K Walk in downtown Portland so I may have to do the 10K Race. Trail running really appeals to me as well and Silver Falls State Park has got to be up there. There are so many other beautiful places that beckon my inner calling to keep searching and running for my life until I find what it is I’m looking for. I’ll let you know when I find it.

Cheers,
Kevin