Anniversary Vacation Day One

I believe that sometime before I left for our Anniversary Vacation I mentioned that I had compiled a huge list of things we could do. Here is that list:

1. Hike at Turkey Run
2. Have lunch at George's Cafe
3. Go antiquing somewhere new
4. Go to Clay City Pottery
5. Go to Cataract Falls
6. Go to Shakamak State Park
7. Go to Bloomfield
8. Go to a minor league baseball game
9. Watch a movie
10. Ride our bikes
11. House project
12. Yard project
13. Go to Brown County State Park
14. Go to McCormick's Creek State Park
15. Go to Ikea (wherever the closest one is)
16. Go to Nashville, IN
17. Go to Home Depot in Crawfordsville
18. Go to dinner at Bobe's in Sullivan
19. Go to the Mall of America
20. Cook/grill something new
21. Try the new BBQ place in town
22. Go to Vincennes
23. Complete all my training workouts

I think it might be obvious that I like lists & that I don't like sitting still for too long!

So...what all did we get done? A whole lot more than I thought we would!

DAY ONE

We started out the day at a leisurely pace; our first stop was a gas station so I could get a cup of coffee. Right across the street we noticed an antique shop we had never been in before. We headed right over. It was a gem of a find. This particular shop had an abundance of furniture & it was all labeled as to what style it was. And the shop owner had a love of opera. We browsed while listening to Puccini. It was interesting & educational :-)

Then we went to George's Cafe for lunch. It's a wonderful Lebanese restaurant that I will have to blog about in more detail later. We ran into Mike's mom, sister, aunt & cousin who were also there for lunch. It's a family favorite. I tried falafel for the first time & it was delish!

After lunch we set out to find a couple of antique stores in a nearby town. We were just driving along & not paying too much attention so we didn't actually find them - lol! So we just took a turn south & headed to Bloomfield by way of Clay City Pottery.

Mike & I have a terrible weakness for pottery. Especially pottery that is made locally. On our way home from our honeymoon we stopped at Clay City Pottery so we decided to make it a bit of an anniversary tradition. We found a couple new pieces to add to our collection & I found an excellent birthday present for my dad. Very profitable shopping!

Then on to Bloomfield...Mike's dad is a lay pastor in a Wesleyan church. When Mike was growing up his dad was assigned to a church in Bloomfield. That's where they lived every weekend for many years. Mike has a lot of fond memories of the place so a couple of times we have driven down there so that he can show me some of his old haunts. On this particular day we drove out in the country to find the nearby covered bridge.

When Mike was a kid they had closed it & wouldn't allow any car traffic. Evidently it has been restored & is now open.

It might come from being raised in this part of Indiana, but I love covered bridges. They seem so full of history...

We probably looked like total nerds taking our pic by the bridge, but I had to have at least one shot!

After our Bloomfield tour we headed home. We stopped & rented a couple of movies. We decided that it would be a great idea to pop in a movie & eat BBQ from the new restaurant while relaxing on the couch. Turned out to be an excellent idea! We watched "When In Rome," had a couple of laughs & some great food.

Much later that night we weren't really sleepy so we headed out for a drive in the country. We took some crazy winding roads & it got really foggy but it was fun. That's what I love about being on vacation - if you get a crazy idea late at night you can run with it & not worry about getting up in the morning - ahhh...true relaxation!

Yeehaw! In the first day we knocked SIX items off of our list! And it was so much fun!

Stay tuned for Day Two...

I'm Back!

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden...The consciousness of loving & being loved brings a warmth & richness to life that nothing else can bring.

~ Oscar Wilde

We had such a lovely, relaxing anniversary weekend (with a bit of hilarity & what next?) thrown in! Hopefully I can upload some pics tonight & get a post up very soon to let you know what all we were able to mark off on our list.

It's back to the real world today & I thank God for a soft slide into reality.

He's good to us like that.

More to come soon...

Countin' It Down!

In just a little less than two hours, I will be clocking out & starting my FOUR DAY WEEKEND!

I'm just a little bit happy about it.

Mike & I will be celebrating our one year anniversary this Sunday & we thought it would be a super great idea to take a little extra time off from work & find some fun things to do.

I made a list yesterday. It has 25 possibilities on it. I went a little crazy.

I will try to take some pics & then fill you all in with the weekend's festivities when return to the real world.

Until then...happy weekend to you all! just a little early...

Almost Complete Photo Failure

A couple of weekends ago Mike & I were asked to accompany the youth group on a camping & hiking trip. We decided it would be a great way to spend our weekend. Mike declined the camping part because of his work schedule & because he could not be convinced that it was fun to work eight hours in the sweltering heat & then camp out & sleep in the sweltering heat that night. What a wimp. (heehee) He joined us the next day for hiking in the sweltering heat.

I was scheduled to work at 3 a.m. that morning & I figured it would be an excellent way to wear myself out enough so that I could actually sleep on the camping adventure. That didn't exactly work out according to plan & since the teens went to sleep late & then decided to get up about 5 o'clock the next morning, the sleeplessness was putting some major hurt on me by Saturday night. I'm sure that's why I didn't really get very many good pics of our trip.

Ethan is trying his best to duck the camera while Matt just plays it cool by ignoring me altogether. Pam in the background was my tent buddy & we had a great time chatting by flashlight.

Renee was one of the early risers & bless her heart, she made good use of her time! She made pancakes & washed dishes & put out the fire. Bruce & Chad helped too but I didn't get pics of them so do we really know that they actually helped? There's no proof...although I did get the last cup of the coffee Chad brewed & I needed it EVER SO MUCH!

Here's Abel, frolicking through the poison ivy. He had endured some major dental work the day before & he was on some pain meds. I think he might have had more fun than anybody else *grin*

And here is Anna & Amelia. Anna had an LED light that would blind you for a year. Amelia was my corn hole buddy.

And here is a glimpse of our campsite. We had a walk in spot that was just great. I'm not a big fan of parking lot style camping. Seems a little weird to have your tent open up to a stranger's tent door, you know?

And sadly, that all the pics I got. I have no shots of the marathon smores making session or the late night flashlight tag or hiking the next day. You'll just have to take my word for it that there were lots of teens there, we all had fun, & Bruce flipped some of the best whole grain pancakes I've ever tasted.

I'm ready to go again *grin*

A Little Slice of My Style

Used to be, I never left the house without a watch on. And by some standards, a lot of jewelry. Now I'm lucky to remember to put my shoes on before I go screaming out the door.

What has happened to me???

Anyway, I was looking for a watch to wear the other day & it occurred to me that I don't wear a watch very often anymore for several very good reasons. This is what I found in my 'watch box'.

This is my simply elegant Movado bangle. I bought it back in the day when I was working at a jewelry store. Back then I had extra cash to throw at silly purchases like an expensive Swiss watch. It totally helped that my discount made it possible to purchase it under cost. I used to wear this one almost every day. It's mirrored face came in handy when I needed to apply lipstick or do a teeth check.

I love dual purpose jewelry.

But this is what it looks like now. I am missing one of the pins that attaches the bracelet. I would get it fixed, but that involves sending it in for repair which is probably an automatic $50. Not happening anytime soon.

This little watch was another jewelry store purchase. It's also missing a pin for the band. Do you sense a trend here? Not an expensive fix, but it does require me remembering to take it to get it fixed. Gotta work on that memory thing.
Incidentally, it has a matching Gent's watch that I sold to both my uncle & my pastor while I was a jewelry sales girl. They have impeccable taste in watches *grin*

Then we have this little beauty. I purchased this Fossil watch with one of my first paychecks after I graduated from college many years ago *sigh* It has a dead battery. Once again an easy fix, but I just gotta get it done. Until then, it sits in the watch box.

This is my Baby G. It has a light that lights up red, green, & yellow while a dolphin swims along the bottom of the watch face. It's cool.

I bought it in Waikiki after my first Baby G got stolen on the beach. The first Baby G had a dancing man instead of a dolphin. The dolphin is fitting for Hawaii, don't you think?

Anyway, I love this watch but I don't wear it much because it has been worn on too many runs & on too many race days. It's a little, how should we say it, sweaty. Not stinky, but sweaty. Which we all know is one step away from stinky & I'm just trying not to go there.

So, this is all that's left in my watch box, & incidentally it's the watch I wear the most. Not real feminine, I know. It's actually one of Mike's watches. He was wearing it one day when we were dating & I mentioned that I really liked the red & black face. The next day when I saw him he had sized it down to fit me so that I could wear it.

So I do. I like wearing his watch.

That is totally high school of me, isn't it? If he had a letter jacket or a class ring you'd better believe I'd be wearing them right now!

A Recent Conversation

Recently I had a conversation with my dear Mike that went something like this:

Me: Baby, is there a reason why you haven't been taking your apples to work in your lunch this week?

Mike: No, baby. Why do you ask?

*I feel I must apologize to anyone who may EVER read this post. Yes, we do call each other "baby" all the time. It's very unoriginal & makes us sound like one of those bickering couples from "The Amazing Race" but we just can't help ourselves. Please forgive.

Me: Well, they are just sitting here in the fruit bowl getting ready to rot. It just seems like an awful waste to me.

Mike (with wide eyes & an innocent look): How 'bout you make some Apple Bread, baby?

Me (with a stern look): Are you letting your apples get overripe so that I will make Apple Bread?

Mike (quickly turning away to leave the room): I don't know what you are talking about.

So, guess what I did? I made some Apple Bread *grin*

YUM.

Here's the recipe, if you are interested. WARNING: Even though it contains fruit, it is not good for you. And if you accidentally leave out the baking soda & salt it will not taste good. Don't ask me how I know.

Apple Bread

1 cup oil

2 cups peeled & diced apples

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

3 eggs

2 cups sugar (feel free to reduce this amount; I usually put in two underfilled cups & it always tastes wonderful)

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

3. Pour batter into two ungreased loaf pans.

4. Bake for 60 minutes.

It's super good warm right out of the oven. Enjoy!

Another Way Of Looking At Things...

Exactly a week ago this was the facial expression I was using on a young boy & his brother. A couple of little boys that I had never met before were making me more angry than I have been in a very long while.

It was about 8 p.m. & I was at the local middle school track. It's a place I love to go to get my miles in. It's nicely maintained & usually there are quite a few people around walking, running, playing tennis or basketball; it feels safe. The evening was just like countless others that I have spent at the track. It was a little hot & humid but the sun was lowering just enough to make it bearable. There were two men walking together, another girl running by herself, a man running by himself, & a couple walking together. I felt like it was a busy night at the track but that doesn't bother me at all. I got my warm up laps in, stretched a little & settled into my pace for a two mile run.

As I came up to the top of lap three I noticed two boys, probably about 11 or 12 years old, ride into the track fence on their bikes. I don't know why, but immediately I wondered if there was going to be trouble. They ditched their bikes in the corner & flopped down on the grass. I rounded the top of the track & headed back down the straightaway. Several seconds later I felt a hard *thwack* on my backside. I yelped in surprise & stopped in my tracks. Sure enough there was one of those little guys on his bike zooming away from me, the other right behind him. I kind of laughed & commented, "You guys are funny!" & thought that was the end of that. Until on my next lap I felt another *thwack*. At this point I am no longer laughing. I fixed the boy with a hard stare & told him to STOP TOUCHING ME. He laughed, mocked, & started cursing at me. At this point, I am shaking with anger, frustration, embarrassment, a whole host of awful feelings. I turned my ipod off & removed my ear buds. I was determined that he wasn't going to be able to sneak up on me & hit me again. So we played the dodge 'em game for four more running laps & two walking laps. This whole time he mocked & cursed at me & threatened to knock me over & kick my head in. Mostly I ignored him. I just was flabbergasted. I had no idea what to do. Quite literally I kept praying, "Jesus, if You were here what would You DO?" I thought about going to my car, getting my cell phone & calling the police. But I knew they would ride away before the police got there. I wondered why my distress wasn't igniting any kind of response from the other people there at the track. Not one person offered any kind of help or intervention. There were four men there who totally ignored my plight. That made me very sad. The whole thing made me feel like I was back in fifth grade again, getting made fun of for being a chub-a-lump. I didn't do anything as a child; as an adult I was doing nothing again.

I was quite determined to stay at the track for my whole run. I managed to get my miles in & then I headed home. As I drove my anger dissolved into tears. I just felt helpless & intimidated. Somehow I had the illusion that being an adult insulated you from experiencing that same old playground bullying junk. Obviously not.

Maybe I overreacted, but the whole scenario played through my mind quite a bit in the following days. What should I have done? How could I have handled it better? I went around asking family, friends, & coworkers what they would have done. Ultimately, I asked the Lord why He allowed it & what was I supposed to learn from it?

I'm not sure I have many answers for all of my inquiries. The main consensus from the family, friends, & coworkers was to have my phone with me at all times & call the police immediately. Several of the guys said I should have knocked him off his bike. I wish I could have done it (isn't that awful of me?). But I'm no fighter. I tend to roll up like a potato bug at the first sign of trouble. Try to be invisible is my motto.

I know the Lord allows things in our lives for very specific reasons. I think maybe part of the reason for this happening in my life is to remind me of how rotten we all can be. Part of our sin nature is to be mean, ugly, & to bully. These boys are no worse than I am. They deserve the compassion & love of Christ just as much as I do. I just kept thinking how could they not know better than to act like that? how do they get the nerve to harass a stranger like that? And the only answer I feel sure of is that no matter what their behavior, the Lord loves them. And maybe they don't know that. So I guess the lesson I've learned is that I will pray for those boys this summer. I will pray that they come to know the love of Christ & accept Him as their Savior.

And learn not to be big mean bullies.

And I will also pray that I won't run into them again (although I have already seen one of them again - yikes!). I'm afraid they live in my neighborhood.

Which means I'm learning another lesson - I HAVE to trust God. I have to trust Him to take care of me in whatever situation He may allow. He's more than capable for the job. I can't sit at home afraid to go run because I don't know what might happen.

I just hope He gives me super powers to run fast if those boys show up on their bikes!