Small annoyances

For the past year, Jon and I have been living with a leaky faucet and two kitchen drawers that were really sticky when we opened them! Finally we called the landlord to fix a few things around the house. It took a little while, but now we are astonished at how used to the broken things we were, and how nice it is to not have the constant dripping of a faucet, and the pitcher beneath to catch the water, and how much we were used to tugging at the drawers to get them open. It is so nice to have a kitchen that functions so well now.


It has made me think about what other small annoyances we have gotten used to in life, which we simply accommodate, while with a little effort and communication we may be able to get rid of! I think the gluten-free diet was me finally fed up with some digestive issues... such an easy thing to solve with simply eating healthier and avoiding foods.


I'm still pondering what else we might be missing- maybe it's stuff we keep around in case we need it, and it just clutters up our life, or maybe some habits that we have which, without them, we'd have more time for other life-fulfilling things.


We'll see what happens, however the whole experience has motivated me to not accommodate the small annoyances in life, and to actually take action to eradicate them!

Facebook

Maybe it's the lack of a social life, however I am becoming ever more acutely aware of how much time Facebook can suck up. Granted, it is an enormous blessing to be able to see pictures and hear how family and friends are doing. However precious minutes can quickly become hours, and before I know it, we've surfed our evening away! Now I'm not instating any mandatory requirements, however I did just install Time Tracker onto Chrome, and I think Jon will do the same thing. This will be helpful in determine how much time we are actually spending on Facebook, and how much time it just feels like we are spending. I'm hoping to find a plug-in that will actually tell you, before you proceed to certain websites, how much time you are spending on there. Let me know if you find any!

In other news, we are in the throes of planning our trip this weekend. I'm so tremendously excited! I love making plans and traveling with Jon - it's one of our utmost favorite things to do!

Mondays....

Mondays are rough, no matter how you look at them. Today was no exception, and I'm glad the week is tarrying along to Tuesday, which Wednesday, Thursday, and then FRIDAY soon follow!

This weekend is particularly exciting, as Jon's cousin Paul is marrying Allison! I got to meet them both in SC this year, and am so excited they are getting married. They are both deeply devoted to Jesus, and that is such a blessing to see.

Mom and Dad J will be coming through town, and that will be even more fun! Astonishing that even though they have moved to Chicago, we are still getting to see them often!

Thereafter Jon and I are trekking through Richmond and Roanoke, surveying places we may want to live some day. I'm looking forward to some dreaming about life, and getting away from home with the love of my life :o)

Tonight I enjoyed a little respite while Jon worked later than usual. My back has been particularly cramping (maybe an earthquake, followed by a long trip away from home, then greeted by emergency preparations for a hurricane, could have been a bit stressful?) so I laid down with a heat pad and watched "North & South" a BBC drama my sisters have me hooked on. It was blissful, and my back is feeling better!

Saturday after a C.r.a.z.y week!

Today has been very scattered! I think I caught something on the plane and/or ate something to gluteny that is sloooowly making it's way painfully through my system. So I've been down today, but here's a quick run down!


1. Slept in! Hurrah!

2. Went to a baby-gender "Reveal" party held by the associate pastor of our church and his wife. This is their third child, so they decided to have a little fun with revealing the gender of their baby - both to the public and to themselves! Apparently they had the doctor write the baby's gender on a piece of paper and sealed it in an envelope. Then they went to have a cake made, and gave the cake-maker the envelope, with the instructions to color the middle layer of the icing the baby's gender! (blue if a boy, pink if a girl) The cake-maker was surely surprised, but they went ahead and did it! So we all showed up to the party dressed in either pink or blue, as a vote, and then played some fun baby games. Then, the moment came, and they cut into the cake - discovering that they were going to have a girl in front of the whole crowd of their friends! It was really fun, and definitely different.

3. We got some lunch, and I took a loooong nap. I woke up feeling not much better than when I went to sleep, leading me to believe that I caught something :/

4. The rest of the evening has been spent listening to the local radio to the path of the hurricane, moving our cars away from a tilting tree, and planning for this upcoming weekend trip! Our cousin, Paul, is getting married to a wonderful woman, Allison, in Fredericksburg this weekend, and we're going to make a trip out of it, heading to the Richmond area and then Roanoke to get a feel for the area.

In other news, I finished watching "Cranford" - a period drama - and have been enjoying a good old romantic film. Just the medicine for an ailing stomach!

For Justin... Justin Case

Gathered: battery-powered radio, headlamps, candles & lighter.

Filtering: water

Charging: cell phone

Following: weather & news

Not expecting too much this far inland, but you know, one of the nice things about this area is that you'd never expect an earthquake...

Traveling Mercies!

Today I came home from a very quick work related trip to the west coast. I left on Wednesday and came back Friday! As exciting as this venture was, I was not looking forward to it. Why? Well, although I am a confident and reasonable human being, I do not like flying. No way, no how, it seems very unreasonable to me. Also, this time I was without Jon, whose hand I couldn't hold and who wouldn't be able to reassure me that turbulence does not translate into a plane crash.

Now, hopefully, I'll begin to write a bit more about my ongoing revelations about air travel, but first, God displayed His amazing love in two very surprising ways - which only He could do.

1) On the way there, a young girl sat next to me in the middle seat. Soon I heard her conversing with her family - in German - about how she wanted to be able to sit next to her family. So, being both helpful and a German speaker, I chimed in, a bit to their surprise, however they were very helpful, and soon we had found a seating arrangement that worked for everyone! Talking in German, and helping!! Two of my favorite things. What a great way to start a flight. (On a side note - the dad asked me if I was German or American. Feeling very confident about the language skills, I said I was an american. of course - he switched to english. I kept talking german because once you start in one language, its hard to stop. Ack, die Germans, never let others learn their language!)

2) On the way here today, I was remarkably able to get out on a MUCH earlier flight. It was very full, so I was naturally expecting to be in the middle seat in the back of the plane - which is the bumpiest part! But God in His amazing graciousness provided me an AISLE seat over the WING!!!! Ah! Even more so, the family across the aisle had a cute little baby who did not cry the whole time. I also recognized on their key chain this large red tag stating 'Remove before Flight" - my sister has that same tag on her key ring, it is apparently some sort of Navy/Military tag they put on planes, then take off, and then alot of wives/husbands/pilots use as key rings and other paraphenalia. So I could reasonably assume one of them was a pilot. Also I saw on the man's wrist a WWJD bracelet. So sitting on the aisle, on a wing, across from a Christian navy pilot family with a cute baby?! Wow. It was like God was saying "Sara - I've taken care of you in every possible way you can imagine. So now, all I need you to do is trust me. Seriously, that's it." I did much better on these flights than before to be sure!!! Will blog more later - now it's time to sleep!!

Recent lessons learned from Overlord Google

First the :-(

Google doesn't like it when several people share an account. Thus, it now categorically refuses to have our profile name on Google+ (yeah, we're giving it a try) be "Sara & Jonathan Jerdan" or the like, and it is now simply "Sara Jerdan" even though I use it too, although I do believe Sara is more active on it than I. Also, they don't like it when people change names too often, so say we decided to pretend, for usability's sake, we were one person with the combined first name Jonathan-Sara for example, or say we wanted to display the first name Sara and middle name Jonathan, well too bad, have to wait 30 days before we can change it away from Sara Jerdan.

Really Google? You made online maps so simple to play around with (anyone remember Mapquest? what a drag), you made email boxes simple to use and customize, document sharing is now a breeze. But you don't have the flexibility to accept the word "and" in a profile name? -1

Then the :-)

The hangout feature in Google+ is very nice. Video-chatting is quick and possible with multiple people at once. And where it exceeded my expectations is that it is possible for one account to join a hangout from two different computers at the same time! They do allow that. So if in spite of all the big G's efforts two people were to share an account, they can video-chat with each other when they're not in the same place. Pretty nifty! +1

What I'm good at

I recently decided go ahead get myself tested for my strengths. I took the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment. Now when Sara told me about her results and how she was so adept at learning, I was expected to find that one in my top five too. My first surprise was not seeing that, though it made more sense once I found out what "Input" meant. From what I gather, the difference between the two is that those who are strong in Learning are driven by the actual process of learning, to master new concepts, whereas as the Input folks have more of a drive to accumulate new information to continually shape their ideas. Yep, that's me.

The other surprise in my results was to see Harmony smack-dab in the middle. I know I don't like conflict and even have a tendency to avoid it, but I certainly didn't see myself as one of "those harmony people" to quote a recent conversation we were in. At least not as one of my top 5 strengths.

Anyway, without further ado, here is what I'm best at, and briefly what it means:

1. CONTEXT - Enjoy thinking about the past; the present is understood by its history.

2. RESPONSIBILITY - Taking ownership of what I commit to; stable values (honesty, etc.).

3. HARMONY - Consensus and agreement are sought.

4. INPUT - A craving to know more, collecting information about anything and everything.

5. ANALYTICAL - Search for reasons; think about the different causes that explain things.

When I read the descriptions, my strengths made a lot more sense. It was an interesting exercise and it's fascinating info to get, to better explain why I do some of the things I do.

what a day... what a day

Us, along with all the rest of humanity in the Washington DC area and beyond, felt our first major earthquake. Jon has bounced back in good form - I'm still a bit shaken up. It really rattles with what you determine to be "secure" in your life. Usually- the ground really is very secure! Weird to have it move. In the end, I know even more so how God is truly in control and how much our lives are preserved simply by His goodness and grace.

We also both discovered we are woefully unprepared for what to do in an earthquake. The University of Maryland sent this out, and I rather like it:

What to Do During an Earthquake  

Stay as safe as possible during an earthquake. Be aware that some earthquakes are actually foreshocks and a larger earthquake might occur. Minimize your movements to a few steps to a nearby safe place and if you are indoors, stay there until the shaking has stopped and you are sure exiting is safe.  

If indoors  
•DROP to the ground; take COVER by getting under a sturdy table or other piece of furniture; and HOLD ON until the shaking stops. If there isn’t a table or desk near you, cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.  
•Stay away from glass, windows, outside doors and walls, and anything that could fall, such as lighting fixtures or furniture.  
•Stay in bed if you are there when the earthquake strikes. Hold on and protect your head with a pillow, unless you are under a heavy light fixture that could fall. In that case, move to the nearest safe place.  
•Use a doorway for shelter only if it is in close proximity to you and if you know it is a strongly supported, loadbearing doorway.  
•Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to go outside. Research has shown that most injuries occur when people inside buildings attempt to move to a different location inside the building or try to leave.  
•Be aware that the electricity may go out or the sprinkler systems or fire alarms may turn on.  
•DO NOT use the elevators.  

If outdoors  
•Stay there.  
•Move away from buildings, streetlights, and utility wires.  
•Once in the open, stay there until the shaking stops. The greatest danger exists directly outside buildings, at exits and alongside exterior walls. Many of the 120 fatalities from the 1933 Long Beach earthquake occurred when people ran outside of buildings only to be killed by falling debris from collapsing walls. Ground movement during an earthquake is seldom the direct cause of death or injury. Most earthquake-related casualties result from collapsing walls, flying glass, and falling objects.  

If in a moving vehicle  
•Stop as quickly as safety permits and stay in the vehicle. Avoid stopping near or under buildings, trees, overpasses, and utility wires.  
•Proceed cautiously once the earthquake has stopped. Avoid roads, bridges, or ramps that might have been damaged by the earthquake.  

If trapped under debris  
•Do not light a match.  
•Do not move about or kick up dust.  
•Cover your mouth with a handkerchief or clothing.  
•Tap on a pipe or wall so rescuers can locate you. Use a whistle if one is available. Shout only as a last resort. Shouting can cause you to inhale dangerous amounts of dust.  

8-/

I just felt an earthquake! Never felt that before. The whole apartment was trembling. Can't remember how long it was. 30 seconds? I stood in the doorway for a while, then when it was over I quickly went outside.

It was kind of freaky! This is the kind of time I'm not a fan of being on the 3rd floor. No damage heard or detected so far.

Is it safe yet to go to the bathroom, or should I be ready to run out in case of follow-up tremors?

Monday v.3

Tonight I am feeling extraordinarily relaxed, which is absolutely wonderful, and tremendously disarming as well! Weird not to feel internal pressure to get things done, although I'm sure there are tons of things to do! It's nice to relax.

Part of the reason I may be feeling so relaxed, is my recent (and somewhat unfortunate) indulgence in clips from "So You Think You Can Dance" - particularly from the winner, Melanie. We watched a bit on accident while at Grammy Ona's in Charlevoix, and I kinda got hooked. Badly. Now, I personally wouldn't want to watch the show during the season, as some of the dances can be - to put it somewhat lightly - rather seductive, to a point of uncomfortableness for me personally. But watching clips makes it easy to watch only the routines I want :o)

So I was beginning to wonder why I enjoyed watching this young dancer so much. I soon realized that she never did salsa, or any of the other "wiggely" dances there are for women to do (as far as I know). She's just an incredible contemporary dancer, and I think that either the choice, or the inability, to be so seductive helped her win in the end. Her powerful dancing relates to the average woman, whom I'm sure senses her inner capabilities to be powerful when the going gets tough. Not all women can relate to a overt sex-symbol - I think all women can relate to the inner beauty and power that is within us, which I think - which in some small way - Melanie can embody.

That said, in the course of writing this blog I got hooked on watching some more, and Jon just leans over and says "you're so funny." So glad I married a patient man!

Relaxing Sunday

Yesterday was absolutely full of beautiful conversations with beautiful people. Today we took the command to "rest" very literally and have done so. We went to church, heard a good challenging message (never quite sure how I feel leaving those... glad to be challenged, uncomfortable to be convicted), and came home for some lunch and rest. We revisited a movie "Breach" and then challenged ourselves to get the home tidied up (okay, not quite Sabbath activity, but it did need to get done), before watching the special features! Wonderful. I also managed to make dinner and we watched some more shows. As much as I know TV isn't the best for my brain, it is a nice to way to help it chill out a little bit.

On actual mental notes, I'm realizing more and more that as soon as I think I "got" our faith, I learn how much more I need to learn. I've probably been a devout Christian for over 15 years, and sometimes I can get cocky, thinking of how much I've learned, grown, shared, and developed in my faith. Sometimes I get discouraged, not seeing the "progress" that I think I should have "achieved" at this point - potentially mixing up our Western standards for success with the child-like trust and faith that is ours. And I realize this happens most the less I read of God's Word, which is the constant comfort and challenge we have to speak to our daily lives.

So I'm still pondering how to fit "honest inquiry" reading of God's Word into my daily habits, work, and chores. Ideas are welcome.

New game!

So tonight we bring you a new game my dad found! It is called Anomia, and we laughed our full heads off! The game is hard to explain on a blog, however very very easy to learn quickly. It is a game where each individual is competing with every other individual (so no teams). The pace is steady, but it can quickly become very fast, so there is a constant sense of anticipation. We played with the Smithlings, and I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard! Wouldn't say I played very well, but I would play again in a heartbeat. Definitely one we'll have to purchase down the road. Thanks dad!

Friday v. 2

Alas, it is Friday, we have relaxed all evening, and now I'm barely awake enough to type.

We saw a good movie tonight with friends, "House of Flying Daggers." Absolutely beautiful, and quite enjoyable to watch, although the ending was a bit obscure.

Tomorrow is looking to be a fun day back in Naptown for a little while!

Thoughtless Thursday v.16

We have a "Table Topics" set of cards on our dinner table that we use sometimes. Tonight's question:

"What would you do if your boss showed up to work drunk?"

Jon's response:
"I'd be drunk."

Made me laugh.

Wednesday v.4

In today's news  - we both worked hard at our jobs! Hardly unusual, but it does account for the lack of thoughts I'm currently having.

I made soup with home-made chicken broth tonight, and it was pretty yummy! Very proud of myself. In fact, I'm so proud of myself, that I'll post it on facebook.

I also am very tired, it being Wednesday, and have succeeded in stumbling around the house like a near fool. Jon laughs and laughs, and I'm glad I'm at least amusing in my befuddled state. (he concurs)

Already a little leering about Thoughtless Thursday, when it appears it is already beginning!

Jon's Funny.

Tonight is TV-less Tuesday, so we decided to hash out our budget. Each month it gets easier and easier, however eventually it comes to two completely different views on where money is going, how we are understanding it, and the best way to manage it in our spread sheet. It's not a perfect system, but we are certainly getting there!

After figuring things out, I was definitely in the mood for.... a television show. However, it's TV less Tuesday!! So Jon began a series of jokes to make me laugh, and the below joke takes the cake!

Jon:  Why do ducks have flat webbed feat?
Me:  Why?
Jon:  To put out fires!

Jon: Why do elephants have big flat feet?
Me: (quizzically) Why?
Jon: To put out burning ducks!!!
Me: (rolling over laughing!)

Reader's remorse

Last night, before heading to bed, I made the mistake of picking up Jon's "Christianity Today" and catching an article about the evangelical's theology - or lack thereof - on the body. For one who has done a fair share of thinking and discussing about this, I was riveted, and before I knew it - midnight was well on it's way.

Of course it didn't feel like midnight then. Nor was I truly tired, fully energized by new thoughts and ideas to this very important topic.

I didn't feel like I needed to go to bed then. But once I woke up..... boy, did I feel like I need to go back to bed now!


This is what I call "readers remorse" - when you wake up in the morning with the painful realization that the stories and ideas that kept you so captivated all night long, will not be captivating you all day, and the sleep that would have been yours has long since vanished. You spend the day in a hazy fog, wishing simultaneously both to go back to bed, and to get once last look at the article you barely had time to finish before reason slowly crept in (or your spouse kindly reminded you that you had to work the next day). You regret reading past your bedtime, you wish you didn't find such stories so interesting, and you also know - without a doubt- given the same situation again, you'll probably doing the same thing. Because you love to learn, you can't help yourself, and given any opportunity to do more learning, sleep simply won't take priority.

That said, tonight's goal is to finish this blog post, read a little more, trouble shoot some computer challenges (both Mac and PC, sad), and then go to bed, putting all reading material out of sight or - at least- out of my hands!

Vermicomposting

Today Jon and I bravely "harvested" our vermicomposter. Usually typical vermicomposters have several layers to them, so you can easily harvest the good compost from the composter as the worms go through the layers. You just take the bottom layer off, which has the rich stuff, and meanwhile the worms have already moved up to the next layer and are continuing their wonderful work.

Unfortunately all our worms live in one layer - a kitty litter box, now full of former-food, soil, and newspaper. They are very happily working away at all our scraps, however it was beginning to get full. To harvest the good compost in this situation, you have to dump all the contents of the composter onto a tarp! Yes, worm dirt, worms, rotting food, and all. Now it had been awhile since we had put new scraps in the vermicomposter, so we didn't see too many food scraps (excepting some eggs shells we put back there MONTHS ago. Worms don't like them, but they sure filled them with compost too!). We did however see lots of worms! They are busy in there. Once we got it all dumped onto the tarp (took awhile as it was pretty packed in), the worms seemed in a bit of a state of shock. Soon they were climbing away from the light into their dark heap of moisty dirtiness, and then we removed the rich compost from the sides of the mound. This took quite awhile.

I was surprised how fun it was. Now, we certainly looked odd, bent over a tarp of dirty and worms on our cement balcony in the suburbs, with our head-lamps on our head to shed more light on the mound to get the worms to move inward. However, it felt so much like childhood, playing the dirty, moving squilly worms around, working on a project.... it was just fun and a new experience.

We removed a huge bowl full of fresh compost, dropped the worms and their former work back into their bin, and put a heaping load more of our scraps into the worm bin. I'm excited to see their work again - it's always fascinating how quickly they move through so much food - and hoping the compost will help our plants grow a little bit. However if you are in our area- we have enough good compost to go around!

Our first "soiree" [with an acute accent over the first e....]

Tonight we were invited to a gathering of thoughtful Christian people via  friend we met at Austin and Teresa's wedding. It was such a refreshing time of tremendous conversation and people, from all professions, who all enjoy Christine (who hosted) and good conversation. I know I am feeling tremendously blessed, and fun to have something that we come home late from!

I am also learning that being "certified" in MBTI... people begin to have alot of questions! It's actually rather fun, and gives me something concrete to talk about at public gatherings. It's awesome.

Thank you Ancient Ireland

Last weekend, we finished the book How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill, which we had been reading to each other while on the road. 2 out of 2 Restonians enjoyed and recommend it.

In brief, it talks about how the Roman Empire crumbled (for a lot of reasons, including the fact that it was no longer in touch with its real position in the world and its society had become complacent), and one man named Patrick felt called to evangelize the wild hordes that populated the island of Ireland at the time (one of the first missionaries we have records for who went outside the "civilized" Romanized world), bringing along literacy as well. He thus transformed the local culture, starting a long-term fascination for both Christianity and copying literature from the continent, without which Latin culture would most likely have disappeared, along with large portions of Greek culture and some Hebrew culture too. And this people's love of their new religion spread like wildfire and brought many people to leave their beloved homeland and re-evangelize lots of Europe, and even humbly reach out and care for the needy when the established church, who had risen in power in the security of the last centuries of the Roman Empire, preferred staying close to political power rather than meet people's needs.

It's a fascinating story!

In the conclusion, the author made the point, which has been sticking in my head, that ultimately history is not changed by those who represent power on the world's terms, by the big names of each age. History is rather shaped stealthily by nobodies in remote corners of the world who die to themselves and live out what absolute love looks like to those who are least loved by the world. To quote the end of the book, "if we are to be saved, it will not be by [the rich and powerful] but by saints."

That gives me great hope.

Thoughtless Thursday v.15

Morning conversations with a linguist:

Me: (commenting on the shorts he gets to wear to work) Wow, so nice you get to wear shorts to work!
Jon: It comes from having an infinitesimal organigram.
Me: (blurrily and completely confused) Hm?!?!
Jon: I mean, a miniscule hierarchy.
Me: (astonished and even more confused) You just used two big words to explain two even larger words!
[I later learned what he was expressing, is that due to his very very tiny organizational chart - aka, he works by himself with no hierarchy - he can wear what he wants]

impressive, no? And that is what he's like when he's still very very sleepy. Keeps me on my toes!!!

Wednesday v.3

The relaxation of vacation is slowly wearing off, and I'm remembering the challenge of working full-time while keeping up with the groceries, laundry, cleaning, budgeting, emailing, and general life-ing. And trying to relax. And think about things greater than myself.  Quite the challenge, and I'm already looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

On another note: anyone out there either have a family plan with Sprint or want to join them? Jon and I will need to combine our cell phone plans in the near future (both on family plans with either our parents or siblings), and Spring is the cheapest, with good smart phones. However, family plans make everything cheaper! Let us know...

Big home-management win for the information organizer....

Jon and I are very good about grocery shopping with a list and sticking to it. Unfortunately we are not quite at good at writing down what we need on the list as soon as we run out of it; it has not been uncommon to go grocery shopping, return home, and find that we needed one or two more things we forgot to put on the list.

I also began to note we basically shop for the same things very often! So I thought to myself, why not put all of these in one list, print it off, and then check things off that we need, as we need them?

Ladies and Gentlemen - I introduce you to:
The List.

I'm quite proud of it, and we're using it effectively. It also gives me a very good view of what we are putting into our bodies, to be sure we are eating healthy things, in addition to everything else.

The list I link to here is for you all to edit! Anything you would like to add? Subtract? Comment on? Do it all in the document :o) I look forward to your edits!

Monday back from vacation

Yesterday we settled into the home, getting things packed away, and I'm so glad we did. It's nice coming home to a clean house AGAIN! (we had scoured it prior to leaving).

Today I'm grateful for skin that heals. My conscience is stricken a bit for not taking better care of my lower legs during a kayaking expedition (the first one, the second one I wore pants!). I forgot what sun-burnt skin feels like and how easy it is to get. I certainly re-learned! After bottles of aloe vera lotion, my skin is healing and pealing away. It is a remarkable organ, and my dedication to sun-screen and appreciating my skin has been re-instated.

In other news - I'm now looking at conquering how to make a soup, as it's fairly easy to make gluten free, it's simply fairly easy to make, and seems to be a good way to use meat and vegetables. If you have any receipes or ideas, let me know! I'm following the guidance of "How to Cook Without a Book," which basically states to add chicken broth, a meat, a starch, and some vegetables to a pot, with some seasoning, and let it simmer for 20 minutes. So nice!

Charlevoix: Day 6

This was our last full day in Charlevoix, and was absolutely brilliant!!!

Day begin: Driving to Boyne City to have a fare-well lunch with auntie, uncle todd, and uncle tim. It was delicious, at a semi-european restaraunt. A good breakfast with good people is always a great way to start the day!

Mid-morning: "Exhausted" from the early rise, drive, and delicious food, we napped all morning :o) I love vacation.

Noonish: Arising slowly from a blissful nap, we meandered our way down-stairs, grabbed some snacks, and hopped on the kayak! It was the most wonderful trip! We made a map of it, where you can see where we went and what we did. (obviously, click on the blue line to see it)...

   Starting out: Paddled our way into round lake, passing through a sailing school and having to dodge young sailors! We padded our way around a small island, which was most peaceful and a fun place to take a kayak, as boats cannot go through there (it's too shallow).

 Next we went under the Charlevoix Bridge, and out to lake michigan! This was my first time being on, what feels like, open waters, and it was a wonderful freeing feeling. We eventually padded our boat onto the beach,  pulled it up onto shore, and ate some snacks. It was a fun adventurous feeling!

 When we left, the current and wind were in our favor, and we made it back to round lake in good time. We stopped by the pontoon boat that serves food in the summer, called "A Girl, and Guy, and a Grill" - now run by a brother and sister who use it as their summer job! Very impressive, and so much fun! We bought smoothies, which although they were over-priced, tasted wonderful after such a long paddle. We went back to the island, meandered very slowly (think "lazy river") around the island, sipping our smoothies, and then popped back out onto Lake Charlevoix. By this time we were quite tired, and went directly back to the home.

It was the most delightful trip, and was definitely worth hauling the kayak up here!

Evening: We went to the Dairy Grille, a mandatory pilgrimage for all who vacation in Charlevoix. We grabbed some DELICIOUS olive burgers (they even made mine without a bun!), and brought it back home to the grandparents, and ate dinner with them. (Don't worry, we brought them food too!) The day ended with some cleaning and rummaging around for our kayak car carrier. We got to bed on time, satisfied with a wonderful vacation in beautiful Charlevoix.

Charlevoix: Day 5

We slept in! Always one of the best features for a vacation - sleeping in on a Saturday. We putzed around the cabin for a little while, and then went "down-stairs" (aka. to my grand-parents cabin) to check up on some things on the internet. Grandma had an errand to do to the library, so we did it for her! Aw shucks, I (Sara) had to go to one of the most wonderful libraries in the United States. Shucks. While there, we played in the children's garden (pictures on facebook), marveled at the children's section, and just enjoyed the building. We took ourselves out to lunch, which unfortunately wasn't that good - alas. Blessedly, our grandparents took us all out for dinner, which was absolutely scrumptious! I had whitefish, Jon and steak, and they had gluten-free chocolate cake on the menu - YUMMY!  That night we kayaked more out into the lake, getting close to the bigger houses and reading the names of the boats. It was fun, and I'm grateful we do not have a house that large to manage!

Oh no! I'm one of THOSE people!!

You remember when you were a kid, and there were people (normally friends of your parents or relatives you didn't get to see that often) who would see you and then not see you for some time, and then when they'd see you again, they'd go on and on about how big you've become, how much you've grown, and on and on? And you're thinking "Well, duh, I'm a growing boy. Seriously, what were you expecting, that I'd look like an 8 year old for the rest of my life?" Remember those silly people?

At age 26, I've become one of them.

The Kepley family was a blessing to Calvin's Mu Kappa chapter. They always opened their home to us for meals, retreats and a variety of other activities. Especially us leaders spent a lot of time getting to know them. After I graduated, I stayed somewhat involved with Mu Kappa and also got into a mentorship relationship with Mr. Kepley. Thus, from 2002 to 2008, I got to know the Kepleys, including their daughters, VERY well. By the time I left Grand Rapids, those two fun, sweet, little girls who always had fun with all the college MK's who kept coming to their home, were (I think) 11 and 9. And that was the last time I saw them for over three years.

On the way back from Charlevoix on Friday, we stopped in Grand Rapids to have lunch with the Kepleys. They were excited to meet this girl I met in Maryland and eventually married. But I just couldn't imagine what Rachael and Emilee would look like as teen and preteen. They'd always been little girls! So when we got to that familiar house of so many fun memories, I was shocked to be greeted by two smiling, big girls. They're starting to become women!

I believe part of that has to do with the nomadic lifestyle I've led. I've never spent more than 4 years in a row in the same home. Life moves on, and families move to different horizons (especially ours, maybe), and with time contacts get lost. My longest friendships I still maintain somewhat frequent contact for date back to college, and all those people are around my age, so our lives have been developing in similar stages. I'm not used to having people know me for most of their lives.

So it suddenly struck me as weird that, when I got up to get seconds and Sara commented, "He eats a lot," the 14 year old replied with a smile, "Yeah, we know him." Obviously, I've been in this teenager's life pretty much as long as she can remember! How odd!

But that's a good kind of weird. Familiarity with good friends is nice.

Addendum

As a PS to Sara's post, I have to say that it was quite a blessing that the one rainy day came when we had to recover from sunburns! Today, as Sara is still recovering some, has been mostly cloudy (hence not conducive to spending tons of time on the lake), with the Sun breaking through every once in a while. Good transition, Lord. Thank you!

Charlevoix: Day 4

Yesterday we had a very unique day. We drove down to Traverse City, and then up the Leelanau Peninsula to visit some wonderful wineries! We went to Mawby and Black Star, and enjoyed it very very much. At Mawby we were able to sequester a little table away from the crowd and overlooking the vineyard to enjoy some sparkling wine and goat cheese. At Black Star we got caught in the rain, however were able to enjoy a delectable little lunch in their cafe, and then of course the wine tasting. They make really nice wines up here!

We came back "home," ate some pizza with the family, and then took a nap :o) The evening was spent chilling, rubbing moisturizer on the sun burn, and watching "Dan in Real Life" - the perfect movie to watch when on vacation with the family.

Charlevoix: Day 3

Today was also wonderful, as are most days in Charlevoix. Upon rising, we ate breakfast and chatted a little bit. Next step was to kayak over to Oyster Bay and look at the ship wreck- and old ship that had been sunk. I thought it would be a lot of fun, until we paddled closer, and I realized how creepy old ship wrecks are! We paddled slowly around for awhile and then ate a snack we had packed.

As we were leaving Oyster Bay, guess who we ran into on the water? Josh and Jess (the Smithlings), who were sailing the sunfish around the lake. We had a great time chatting with them, and continued on into the lake, enjoying the choppy water and swells left by motor boaters. We ran into them several more times, and even shared a snack together way out on the lake! How much fun :o) The down-side of this whole trip is the sunburnt legs. Totally worth it though.

The afternoon was spent hanging out up at my parents cottage, and then playing some more in the water. We invented a game involving a volley ball, and two boogie boards anchored at the bottom of the lake as goal posts, and one team had to hit the boogie board with the volleyball, and visa versa. It was loads of fun and used up a lot of energy.

After dinner, which was wonderfully prepared by Aunt Cindy (yummy!) most of us headed to the great big sand dunes along Lake Michigan. The Sun had already gone down by the time we got there, but the colors in the sky were still quite bright and beautiful. We played around in the sand, jumping and running down the dunes, until we got back to the house for a round of sundaes as we crashed on the couches.

Bliss.

Charlevoix: Day 2

You know it's a good day when you go to bed sunburnt :o) Today we heard a good sermon, I (Sara) had a wonderful lunch out with the ladies, and then it was to the boat! Quite a few of us hopped in the motorboat and anchored out in lake michigan a little ways out from the shore. We did cannon balls from the boat, dived in then again, and floated around with not a care in the world. It was bliss.

The day ended with a scrumptious dinner, general shennanigans in Boyne City, and ending the day with another Matt Damon film.

There are days where you wish there are words to capture the deep clear blue of the lake, the serene joy of being with family you love, and the tremendous gratitude in your heart to share all of this with the love of your life. Tonight, however, I am at loss for words and, instead of seeking for them, will go to sleep next to my love :o)