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Wayyy overdue

I kind of forgot about the blog for a while :) I thought I'd try to post something of an update.

James had his BFA show in Ceramics in December, and his Sculpture show is on April 30, in about two weeks. He's been in the studio almost every night, working on his bronze pieces.

James and I have been spending all our free time remodeling Beyani's room. Is so cute - finally how we wanted it - and now we're going to put the house up for sale! Hopefully all the work will pay off, either in a sale or a rental of the house. To date we've gutted and remodeled two of the three bedrooms (the other was fine as it was) and both bathrooms, had the roof and water heater replaced, painted the rest of the interior, refinished the kitchen cabinets, replaced the kitchen appliances with stainless steel, and replaced stock door handles, heater vents, electrical plates, etc with higher quality. Of course, after the realtor came and said we should do a short sale, losing our down payment and everything we've put into the house, we felt kind of foolish doing all this work. If the right person doesn't come along we will rent it out for a few years.

James will be starting an MFA program at the California College of the Arts in Oakland/San Francisco in the Fall. We're dreading the move but excited to be coming back to California. We never felt at home in Flagstaff, so are happy to be making the change. It will be really good to be close to friends and family again.

We adopted a rescue Turkish Van cat around August of last year. I renamed her Kisou. She's had a rocky relationship with Beyani, and doesn't love her like Shiro did, but she does love me and is a good lap cat.

Well, that's all the big stuff. I'll try to update more often now.

In memorium, Shiro Coquia, 2006-2009

James, Beyani and I mourn the loss of our dearest baby, Shiro. Shiro seemed a little depressed on Sunday and Monday, and after he refused dinner on Monday night I decided to take him to the vet. I took him in on Tuesday, and they said he had a fever, and gave him antibiotics and ran some blood tests. We took him home, but he wasn't interested in eating or drinking and became more lethargic. I took him back to the vet on Wednesday and they said that the blood tests were negative for all the viruses they test for, and they kept him for the day, giving him fluids by iv and more antibiotics. By that night he seemed really weak and sick and was showing all the signs of liver failure. James and I took turns staying up with him all night, giving him love. He returned to the hospital Thursday, but passed away at noon. They don't know what caused the liver failure, but that is what took him from us.

Shiro would have been three years old on May 5. He was the most fun and unique kitty I've ever had. Shiro was a Turkish Van, and characteristic for the breed, he loved to play in water (even snow!), and hang out in the sink. He would follow us when we went on walks in the woods behind our house, and come running when we called. He purred louder and sweeter than any cat I've ever heard. He was the only one of our cats that didn't mind when Beyani pulled his tail or poked at him. We got to watch as Shiro was born in our house, and he got to spend his whole life with his momma, Marley. Shiro's full name was Shiro Oni Kompaku, which is Japanese for white demon ghost. He was beautiful, and precious to us. Please join us in sending your love and warmest thoughts to our Shiro, to aid him in his next experience.

Happy Holidays!

Well, it's been a hectic and crazy year! Beyani is almost one! She's been walking for about 2 months - about one month all by herself. She still has no sign of teeth, but she's becoming an expert gummer. She seems to have inherited all of me and James's stubbornness and is quite precocious. She is starting to "play" read books, and imitates our actions and words. Her grandparents Parsley have been out to visit her many times, and we took a trip to California to visit them and her aunts, uncles and cousins over memorial day. Her auntie Kim and family came to visit over the summer, and then we got to go out to Colorado and meet her new cousin Violet and see auntie Sarah and uncle Mike in November. We flew to the bay area to celebrate Jackie's graduation in June, and Beyani enjoyed meeting her grandma and grandpa Coquia, uncle Jon and auntie Jackie.

James has been really busy with school and watching Beyani half-time; he has recently finished his third semester at NAU. He still managed to apply to several shows and scholarships, and has been amply rewarded - he won scholarships from the Arizona Artist's Guild, National Sculpture Society, and Northern Arizona University, and he was accepted into shows at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Regional Student Juried Exhibition, National Cup Show, Clay Cubed, and back to back shows at the Coconino Center for the Arts. He plans to finish school next fall (2 more semesters), and is applying for a MFA at schools in California and Colorado.

I am still working part-time as a web designer at NAU, and working on a certificate in systems administration at NAU and a certificate in web technologies online (my work is paying for both :) Beyani and I are part of a mommy/baby group that meets for lunch once a month, and she is enjoying playing with her friends Ruby (born on the same day!), Jesper, Malia, and others. Beyani and I took lots of walks around here before it got too cold, and the three of us did some fun drives and hikes locally. I'm hoping to get back to doing yoga (there is a local mommy and me class I'd like to do with Beyani).

It's snowing right now, making it feel Christmas-y. I hope everyone is doing well, and we'd love to hear from you! Love, Krista, James, Beyani, Bella, Moko, Marley, Shiro and Enoki

Halloween and our visit to Violet

It's already November, and we just got back from a fun visit to meet Sarah and Mike's little daughter Violet, born October 17. Beyani did good on the flight, but she's walking now so she was a little antsy to get out and practice her new skill.

It's getting cold here in Flagstaff - they had the first snow while we were in Denver. We didn't go out Halloween night, but we went to a party at my work during the day. Beyani was a caterpillar, I was Alice, and James was a mushroom (Alice in Wonderland).

We're all doing well. The semester has been busy and we are looking forward to going to San Diego for Christmas and Beyani's first birthday.

Check out Beyani's Flickr site for lots of cute new pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coquia/

Monsoon Summer

It's already mid-August; things have been busy and I'm getting behind on the blog. Summer school is over for James - he finished his wood-fire class a few weeks ago, and we celebrated by taking a family vacation down to Phoenix for a few days. Beyani got to swim in the pool for the first time! My parents came for a visit recently; we went down to Sedona for a day, and my dad and I started building a bench - my first woodworking project since the baby was born. Our trip to the Bay Area was busy but fun. It was just too bad we couldn't stay a little longer.

We're in the rainy season here in Flagstaff, but we still get out for walks almost every day. The woods run up to our backyard, so we walk amongst the trees, and Beyani loves it. School starts in a week - James has a full course load, and I'm taking two classes - one for a certificate in Systems Administration and Security and one for a web design certificate. James and I are still going to be able to take turns with Beyani, so she won't have to go to daycare (we just won't see each other much :( ).

That's it for now! We hope everyone is doing great, and wish you happy summer days.

It's summer!

Well, things have finally warmed up here in Flagstaff. We've had our first weekend without freezing temperatures at night, and are starting to plant outdoors. Summer school has just started for James - on top of working in the ceramics studio he's taking Jewelry-making and Geology. We're showing his ceramics at the Farmer's Market on Sundays through the summer. I'm working on renovating the house, and still working part-time at the College. I just took a quick trip back to California to see family, which was really fun. We're going to the Bay Area to see James' family next week - it will be Beyani's first flight!