All I want for Christmas is unfrozen pipes

Sorry for not blogging in awhile....apparently not much has been happening to us until this week so here I am again to share all the details. 

Let me start this post by saying this was definitely NOT how I pictured our first Christmas as a married couple going. Here was how I thought it would go: day off from work on Christmas eve day, sleeping in, Rob making pancakes for breakfast, hanging out all day, going to church on Christmas Eve, waking up Christmas morning to presents and yummy cinnamon rolls before heading off to Pennsylvania. 

Ha. What a dream. 

Here's how our first Christmas is really going. 

We came home late Sunday night from a great weekend in Cincinnati with Rob's family celebrating Christmas with them. When we left on Friday morning Rob and I discussed leaving our faucets dripping because it was supposed to get pretty cold over the weekend. We ended up leaving just the kitchen sink dripping, and because we're trying to save money we turned the heat down pretty low. Bad idea. We came home to a cold house and no water anywhere except some cold in the kitchen. Frozen pipes. Remember, we live in a very old house too with strange vents on the ceiling that doesn't heat very well. 

What we should have done to all our faucets...

Here's what we tried first -- the handy hairdryer. Yea right.

I worked from home on Monday so the plumber could come over, but he didn't end up coming until 8 pm Monday night. We opened the door to a 71-year-old, stooped over man named Richard. Little did we know we were in for a very interesting night. 

First words out of his mouth: "I hear you got some frozen pipes." Oh yes, we do. Richard proceeded to put his very large kerosene heater down into our crawl space (note: we didn't even know we had a crawl space until Monday. Creepy.) Richard, Rob, and I sat at the table for about an hour drinking coffee and eating cookies while listening to Richard talk about everything from the economy, to the Big Three and their unions, to Obama, to Richard's druggy stepsons, to his two failed marriages....etc., etc. Most of the time he just looked to us for agreement on most things, ending his sentences with, "Huh, you know, huh?" We nodded, even though half the time we couldn't understand what he was saying. 

Richard poking around under our sink fixing a separate leak

Finally, around 11 pm (note again: this is a work night and as most of you know I am NOT a late night person, but anything for the pipes right?) Richard called it a night and said he'd come back in the morning. Still no water. Rob and I showered at a friend's house Tuesday morning and headed off to work. By the time we left for work we finally had hot and cold water flowing in the bathroom sink, but still no shower water. We rejoiced a lot. :) 

Around 1:15 our landlord called us and when I answered the phone he said, "I have terrible news. The pipe to your shower burst and we'll have to dig under the house to fix it. We had to shut off all water to your house because it was flowing into the crawl space." Yea, that's not good news. 

We talked about driving to PA early, but didn't want to leave our landlord to deal with everything. We decided with no water in our house we had to leave, so we spent the night in a hotel in Gas City. Rough life right? It was a fun treat, but still not our own bed. 

So here we are to this morning as I type right now. Currently, the floor in our laundry room and part of the kitchen floor is pulled up for a man who is digging under our house. I kid you not. I do not know this man, I probably won't even recognize him as a man when he comes out because he will be so wet and muddy. Richard and Rob are hauling buckets of mud out from the hole into the backyard while the man digs. Hopefully, he will be able to dig enough around the burst pipe for Richard to go in there and fix it. It's very strange hearing this man's voice coming up through the kitchen floor. Frankly, this man is my new hero because there is NO way I would ever want to crawl down there and dig out someone else's pipes. 

Richard getting a bucket of mud from underneath our house from the man in the hole

Richard is still going full steam (I hope I'm as in good shape as he is at 71) talking a blue streak too. Here's the most recent conversation I heard: 

Man in hole to Rob: "So you from PA?"

Rob: "No, I'm from Cincinnati."

Man in hole: "You must be a Reds fan."

Rob: "Not really, I don't follow baseball anymore."

Man in hole: "Yea me either."

Richard: "I tell you what, baseball, basketball, doesn't matter, it's all big money, drugs, and scandals. Look at OJ Simpson. They finally got him. You got enough money you can buy yourself out of murder."

Oh my. 

So here's what I've come to learn through all this. It's not worth stressing about, although it has been a stressful situation. I've kept saying this whole time I'm grateful we still had heat, power, and each other because water isn't as important as those three in my opinion. I'm sure someday we will look back and really laugh at our first married Christmas together. These are the kind of stories your kids think are funny I suppose. "Remember that time our pipes froze at Christmas Rob?" I'll say. I'm also so grateful for people like Richard, and the man in the hole, and Troy, our landlord. We would haven't even known where to start without them. And I suppose this is all part of being an adult. Learning lessons the hard way sometimes. Perhaps it's a good reminder too that sometimes in America we're spoiled by the things we take for granted so often. I was thinking yesterday of women around the world who walk for miles for dirty water and I have clean water coming out of my faucets at an instant whenever I want it. I know, this is America after all and we don't have things like outhouses as alternative options, but how did I get to be so lucky? I will definitely try to remember this in the future when I'm tempted to take water for granted. 

(PS. the man is coming out of the hole and here's what Rob just said, "The monster is coming out from the deep.") And he does look like a man, not a monster although he is quite muddy. 

Whew. Looks like we're on our way to having unfrozen pipes, unburst pipes, and running water again. After all, it is Christmas. I know bigger miracles have happened, but for us, getting everything back to normal will be a miracle in itself. I'll keep you posted....

Christmas Cometh

This past Thanksgiving weekend I joined in a Bedinghaus family tradition - Christmas tree cutting the day after Thanksgiving. I have very fond memories of cutting down a Christmas tree as a child with my family too. Going to the same far every year, talking to the ancient people who owned the farm, tromping all over the place looking for that perfect tree, and counting the rings to tell how old the tree was after my dad cut it down. Usually our tree ended up being the fat and scruffy kind, but we didn't care, it was ours. 

That was how I felt this year too going with Rob's family to get a tree. It was time for us to start our own Christmas tree cutting tradition and get our own tree. 

It didn't take us long to find it -- just the right size for our little house, just for us.

Our first Christmas tree!

Rob, the master wood cutter, chops down our tree

Ever since my brothers and I were born my mom has given us an ornament every Christmas. The deal was when you got married you got to take your box of ornaments with you. Since we weren't in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving my mom sent my ornaments along with my brother Luke and Rob and I decorated our tree on Sunday afternoon. It was a fun time for us, hanging ornaments on our little tree. The tree itself still has some bare spots (guess you better keep giving us ornaments mom!) and no topper yet, but it looks pretty and is so cheerful to look at. 

Now that we have our tree, the Christmas season can officially begin. This is a special time of year and aside from all the commercialism of it and the rage to "buy, buy, spend, spend" it's a good time to reflect on the year gone by and make new traditions with friends and Rob. So early Merry Christmas to you! Enjoy this season. 

P.S. I forgot to mention the other part about Bedinghaus Christmas tree day. They are always joined by their aunt Julie, Uncle Doug, cousins Ross and Melissa, and this year, six dogs! This is a big deal for the dogs and they love their annual outing. Check out those fancy sweaters the little ones got to wear! They are definitely trend setting dogs. 

(I am rather reluctantly holding Cocoa Beans, a mini-poodle of some sort. Dogs aren't my favorite, but these are ok. Ross obviously did not get a dog and someone decided he was old enough to carry saws....:) 

Pop

We found out last week that Rob's beloved grandfather, Pop, has a brain tumor. We've been praying for some time now that it was not a tumor, but maybe something less scary like mini-strokes. (Not that we would wish Pop was having mini-strokes instead, rather it seemed like the lesser of two evils I suppose.) But after Pop had an MRI we found out for sure it is a tumor.

I met Pop almost 3 years ago when Rob and I first started dating. Rob had talked constantly about his grandparents and how large of a role they have played in his life since birth. I was curious because I grew up without grandparents really, my mom's mom had passed away before I was born and I only knew my grandfather a little bit as he started deteriorating from stokes when I was quite young. My dad's parents have always lived in Arizona and due to many factors were never actively involved in our lives. Thankfully I've had people throughout my life who have filled the "grandparent" role, but it was never quite the same as having the "real" ones around.

But as soon as I met Nan & Pop for the first time I was completely hooked on grandparents. They welcomed me with open arms as if I'd always been their grandchild. I know this is true because Pop is the only one who can call me "Katie" without me getting mad. :) (He actually calls me "Katy-did" like the bug I guess, but it's so endearing I couldn't ever be upset). They have gone above and beyond to show me their love and have supported Rob and I from day one of our relationship.

Rob always says that he sees Pop as invincible. That makes this news even harder to swallow. The thing you have to understand about Pop is that he's not invincible, but he tries to act like he is. He's in his mid-80s, has had cancer twice, (including in his mouth which makes it hard for him to eat), he has diabetes, and is legally blind. Whew. I'd be one cranky girl if that was my life. But not Pop. He is the most joyful, full of life, outgoing, funny person to be around. He has more stories than anyone I know and more friends than I do for sure. He has been married to Nan for 62 years and swears he loves her more today than ever. He truly is an inspiration.

Honestly, I've never been very good with sickness and death and things like this. I get all tongue-tied and don't know what to say. Rob and I have been praying a lot about how to handle this sort of news and its implications for ourselves and for his extended family. Knowing the holidays are coming up is reassuring since we know we'll get to see him and Nan a lot. But it will be hard to see Pop more quiet and withdrawn, more sick.

We fully believe the Lord can heal Pop if he chooses and we hope that he does. There are great-grandchildren to celebrate in a few years! The Lord has brought him this far in life and Pop knows that. Pop loves Jesus and wants to be with him, another very reassuring thing to all of us. When we talked with Pop on the phone last week he said, "I told the Lord, Lord, if you're ready, I'm ready." May it be when it's my time to go I would have such a ready heart. Ilove you Nan & Pop!

Here we are with Nan & Pop at Rob's cousin Maria's wedding in August

Rob's graduation in May

Bread Celebrations

Yesterday I was so glad we don't have kids yet. I honestly don't know how moms (and dads) do what they do and ever find time to relax. Moms are definitely my biggest heroes, but they always remind me how not ready I am to have children! 

This weekend was the first we've been home for the past three or so. The weekends away were fun (family in Cincy for Rob's birthday and Illinois with friends), but it is so nice to be home. I had a long list of things to get done, most of which by now on Sunday is finished thank goodness. I cleaned and cooked and took a nap and read my newest issue of Real Simple magazine while Rob worked on grad school stuff. 

In the evening after all the chores were done we baked bread from scratch together, one of our favorite things to do. I picked out an Italian Parmesan bread that took hours to rise, but it was ok, we had the time in between watching a movie. We each got to braid a loaf and watch it come out of the oven much larger than it went it! We definitely made more than we were expecting, but it gave us an excuse to invite friends over to share. 

Here we are with our finished product! Yum. 

I was reminded of our bread making this morning during church as our pastor preached out of Matthew 14, the passages where the woman pours the expensive perfume on Jesus and where Jesus celebrates the Passover with his disciples before his crucifixion. Our pastor was very detailed in explaining the significance of the Passover for the Jewish community and even more so, the significance of the breaking of bread together. Even though Rob and I aren't Jewish, we celebrate communion and the breaking of bread with others in many ways. Yes, formally at church, but also in shared meals with friends, shared working together on projects with others, celebrating holidays, and traditions. 

At the end of the service our pastor asked us to specifically celebrate something this week. Celebrate our salvation in Christ, celebrate shared meals and fellowship, celebrate the coming of holidays, etc. My question to you in closing is: How will you celebrate this season, this month, this week? What are some specifics we as believers should celebrate? 

And maybe, while you're celebrating, you should make some homemade bread. It's a celebration for your mouth, your friends, and your belly. :)    

Election Day

Well, it's finally here. Election Day 2008. The day that has been coming for a very long time. I am so glad it is here and we can hopefully move on from all the hype after today.

Rob and I decided to vote right at 6 am this morning in Upland thinking the lines would be short and knowing it would probably be our only time to vote during the day since we work further away. We pulled in the church parking lot and it looked like church was in session there were so many cars there! The line was well out the door. We took our turn, quietly standing in line with our neighbors, participating in a weird sort of communal ritual, all with the same end goal. The worker told us he'd never seen the lines this long.

Forty five minutes later I was pushing little buttons and casting my vote. Doing my part for democracy.

I did end up voting for McCain/Palin just so you know. Don't hate all you who've been telling me why I should vote for Obama. I trust we can remain friends and respect each other within the body of Christ. To be frank, it was a very hard decision, but ultimately it came down to policy issues, certainly not personality. I heard McCain's voice on the radio yesterday and literally cringed at the thought of voting for him. And many of you know I think Palin is, to quote my father, "a twit." (Which actually a twit is a pregnant goldfish so it doesn't make much sense, but it seems a fitting word for her.)

As much as I desperately wanted to vote for Obama (and I do think he will win this whole thing) I couldn't push the button for him with a clear conscience.

Rob and I have been wrestling with this decision for weeks. Going back and forth, researching, praying, thinking, talking with others, examing the issues. For me what I had to keep coming back to was Obama's contridictions on wanting to help "the least of these" but consistently voting against the born alive act and where he stands on abortion. I know, I'm probably sounding like one of those "one-issue" people, but across the board, no matter the age, sancity of life is so important. There are other reasons I voted for McCain in the end, mostly having to do with the economy and thinking about how Obama's plan has potential to hurt small businesses, something close to my heart. I also don't like the idea of bigger government that Obama proposes. (There's lots more I could say here and if you want more of my thoughts just ask)

Perhaps some will criticize me for not standing up for social justice issues that Obama supports. Those are really the things I like the most about him and the reasons I honestly considered voting for him for so long. I respect him and think he will be an excellent leader should he win today. I think he could bring new things to this country. I'm tired of some of the Republican tactics and wanted to break free of them in this election. Part of me wanted to be rebellious and rub it in that I went against the grain of everything I knew growing up and voted for Obama. I know in my heart though that I must be accountable to myself, my country, and my Lord for where I cast my vote and that had to be where my priority was.

I think this is a very historic day and I'm anxious to see how it all plays out. I'm praying for a clear decision (no hanging chads please!) and a new focused vision for this country.

The Good Kind of Pride

Usually when I think of the word "pride" it has bad connotations. The opposite of humility obviously. Today I felt a different sense of pride, "the good kind of pride." 

Today was the culmination of a lot of hard work for my company. To give you a short background, my company works to bring new businesses and economic growth to our community by creating and retaining jobs. I know, it's something I'm still figuring out too. My boss has been with our company for over 20 years so he really knows what's up and that's great for our community. I've learned a lot from him. We also have an excellent relationship with the state of Indiana economic development people and our local elected officials which allows us to offer a lot of incentives to attract new companies we might not otherwise be able to offer. 

So back to today. A few months ago we brought a company to town to look at an empty building, a symbolic building in our community that closed in 2004 ending nearly 1,000 good paying jobs. Since then there has been a lot of bitterness in our community because of those lost jobs and the fact that they never came back. Some people made the best of it and went back to school or started their own companies. Some people didn't and have held onto their bitterness. 

Anyways, this company, a plastics manufacturer who makes containers for everything from automotive to food packaging, came from Wisconsin because this specific building had high ceilings, big enough for their equipment. Go figure that something like high ceilings would come into play here. They aren't just for mansions anymore apparently. The company also liked our low cost of utilities since it takes a lot of heat for them to melt and mold the plastics they use. 

Finally, after weeks of pins and needles working on the lease and waiting for the company president to make his decision, the final call to move their entire operation from Wisconsin to our community was made yesterday which set off a flurry of activity around our office and the city today. We needed a podium and a stage and a big banner. We needed to send out announcements to the media and public to attend the event. We needed to arrange for Indiana's Governor Mitch Daniels to fly his helicopter in. (Incidentally I was named the state trooper liaison which really only meant showing the guy around the building to make sure it was safe for the governor, but everyone joked that I should get my own badge). Luckily the old adage "many hands make light work" proved true and we pulled off a great event today. 

Over 500 people showed up which made the representative from the company get a little choked up when he made his remarks. He honestly was so overcome by the outpouring of support and gratitude the community gave him. It made me really proud of the people who showed up and supported him and his company. The governor was there of course, being his usual down to earth self stopping to hear people's stories and meet them. He is so genuine. I also finally got to meet him for the first time and upon finding out I was a Taylor grad he expressed high praise for Taylor students, some of whom he has hired. 

But aside from all the hype and the tv cameras and the governor, here's the thing that really got me about today. First, this company will most likely bring close to 400 jobs to our community. I can't even begin to explain to you how important that is. They will be spread out over several years, but even so, the fact that they picked us to create those jobs in the first place is outstanding. And these are good paying jobs with a starting wage around $16/hour. Heck, that's more than I make! 

The other personally fulfilling thing for me was that I finally saw a bigger picture of what I work for day in and day out. I saw real people this company will help. I got to feel the energy in the room as people celebrated this company breathing new life into an old, "dinosaur" building. I saw the hope of fulfilling work for someone else. I am able to help them get there. 

Throughout the time we've been bringing this company here I've gotten to know four guys who basically oversee the empty building, clean it, run security, that sort of thing. Paul, Larry, Jim, and Dave are not the cleanest, most well kept sorts of guys you've ever met. They're rough and have missing teeth and smoke inside the building, but they're funny and friendly and I genuinely like them. As I've talked with them they've all shared how they each worked at the former company, some upwards of 40 years. Imagine being in your 50s and losing the only job you've probably ever known since high school. Larry shared with me how his wife went through lung cancer while he was laid off and it made him crazy and brought them closer. Jim warned me to wear my long underwear when I came to the plant today because it was so cold in there. These four guys represent a hard working spirit that doesn't want to give up. Interacting with them put a face to the people we try to help when we recruit companies to come here. I want to remember them when my days are long and my tasks are tedious. There's a bigger goal out there than just me and it was good to be reminded of that today. 

I genuinely swelled with good pride today to see my community come together and celebrate the rebirth of this symbolic building. I hope it's a pride that spreads across our community and even beyond Indiana. 

Tastes of Fall

We turned on our furnace today so I suppose that means fall is really here. It's not that I'm in denial, I actually enjoy fall time, but it's suddenly more upon me than I realized. 

Other things that signify fall has arrived:

• A closet full of "new" clothes (more like I forgot I had those sweaters from last year)
• Having to wear a coat outside
• A box of scarves, hats, and gloves beside the door
• Gorgeous changing leaves
• A need for warm tea during the day
• Frost on my car windshield in the early mornings going to work 
• A sudden longing for stews and soups 
• Store shelves stocked with Halloween candy and yes, Christmas decorations already
• Prolonged thinking about the cycles of life and nature -- how things die and lie dormant through the winter only to be greeted again by new life in the springtime 

Going along with some of those things, here are a few favorite fall photos. 

Beautiful changing leaves on Crooked Lake in Angola

Good friends are always in season. Taylor girls weekend away in Angola

My first stew of the season -- a new recipe called Hearty Butternut Squash Stew made with apples, butternut squash, and leftover pork. It was really good and hearty

My VERY happy husband eating his new favorite butternut squash stew. He loved it. Gosh it's nice to have a husband who loves my cooking! I know there's a lot more to a marriage, but that definitely helps. :) 

Our friendly front door pumpkin from Victory Acres Farm

The yummy apples on our front yard tree

The Chicago Marathon

We went to Chicago this weekend to cheer on my cousin Kendall in his first ever marathon. 26.2 miles. Wow. It was intense! He did great though and finished under his goal time of 5 hours. We were all really proud of him. 

Here are a few pics of the weekend....

Rob and I about to board the El. We stayed with our friends Luke and Sarah in their very cool downtown condo Saturday night. 

We're waiting for Kendall to come by around mile 5. I was trying to get a picture from the front of us but there were so many people running it was impossible!

A random picture of people running around mile 9. 

Mattias with his pom-pom and peanut butter sandwich cheering daddy on

Kendall on a pit stop getting advil from Heather around mile 9

Marco being so patient in Chinatown! The boys held up so well even with being trucked all over the city. The piggybacks probably helped... :) 

More pom-poms! Waiting for daddy to go by at mile 22 in Chinatown

At the end of the race! Finally all reunited

Over 44,000 people ran the race this weekend, a sight I will not soon forget. The amazing thing was there were so many different kinds of people -- racially, gender, age, body types, different countries, you name it. Some people were running for a cause -- World Vision, leukemia, diabetes, breast cancer, again, you name it. Everyone running had a story. It was very cool to see so many people coming together for a reason and pushing themselves so hard. It definitely didn't make me ever want to run a marathon, but it was inspiring. 

Top 10 on Summer

Now that fall is officially here, I wanted to take a minute and reflect on the best parts of this past summer. So here we go, David Letterman style. 

Number 10: Ice cream. Nothing says summer like ice cream. Ok, really, Ivanhoes can be eaten at any time of the year (the pumpkin shake is my new fav right now) but summer is obviously the best time. 

Number 9: Festivals and garage sales. They were everywhere this summer! We particularly enjoyed First Fridays in downtown Marion, the Upland Strawberry Festival, Van Buren Popcorn Festival, and Octoberfest this past weekend, also in Marion. I know we missed a bunch, but the tenderloins and sweet tea we had at all those were plenty to last all summer. Plus, we made some money and saw some great sights at our own Labor Day weekend garage sale. Can't beat the garage sales in mid-summer Indiana!

Number 8: Morning walks with Miriam and Lisa. Yes, they were early, but the sunrises and the great conversations were beautiful. Upland in the middle of summer is so peaceful, particularly in the early mornings and it was always a great way to start off the day. Now that it's getting colder...well, needless to say it's a bit harder to get out of bed.....

Number 7: Being warm. I am writing this blog under a blanket right now because our house is COLD! I love those summer days when you can walk outside and the temperature is just right. I also like those days that are really, really hot. (I know not everyone will agree with me there) But I just like to be warm. Period.

Number 6: Decorating our little house. What a treat to finally have a home to decorate! Thanks in huge part to my mom coming for four days in July our house finally has some furniture and wall decorations. I love it. I love finding new pieces to add to the whole look. I know our material possessions do not define us on earth and we can't take them with us, but it's so nice to have a home that feels like us and is so nicely decorated. 

Number 5: Our flowers. I had both the joy and discouragement this summer of plantings. First, to my sheer delight the morning glory seeds I planted grew strong and tall against our arbor. We were also blessed by the plantings of black eyed susans, purple cone flowers, and lilies by our landlords last spring. What a wonderful treat to have those flowers greeting us every morning! I loved it. My discouragement was in my herb pots. Not so much luck there and hopefully better luck next year. 

Number 4: The knowledge of a HOME. Last year not having a permanent home was a real struggle for me. I know it's nothing compared to being homeless, but not having a place to call your own while waiting to get married and make a home with that person was really hard for me. Finally, this summer I felt like I had a home with Rob. What an incredible feeling. To come HOME everyday, to a place that is safe and ours (by paying the rent every month of course) is such a good feeling. Also making that home with him and making it a place we want to come home to and hang out in is really great. 

Number 3: Our CSA farm, Victory Acres. I cannot say enough good about being part of a CSA farm. Wow, where do I even start? For just over $200 we got (and are still receiving!) 20 weeks of fresh, organic, local produce of all varieties. There were some weeks this summer we couldn't eat it fast enough. What an incredible blessing to be so close to such an amazing farm and be living and eating in a way that pleases the Lord. I think now that fall is here I'm going to have to learn how to cook all over again without all my fresh veggies! We definitely ate like kings and queens this summer. 

Number 2: As always, being with our family and friends. Particularly right before we were married, during our wedding weekend, and then right after the wedding (our weekend in Chicago with Ash and Noel in particular) and several times at family weddings since then. We were so blessed by how many people came all the way out to PA for our wedding. They truly made our day so special. 

Number 1: How could I say anything else but our wedding and honeymoon?! I couldn't. We had such a special day on June 29th and I couldn't have asked for anything more. Since that day we've been experiencing the incredible joy and intimacy of marriage and it is so sweet. I am beyond blessed to get to spend each day with my best friend. I know there will be many more summers to come that are even sweeter. 

Don't get me wrong, I love fall. I think the richness of Indiana's landscape this time of year is so magnificent. Every day on our drive to and from work I wish I had a camera to attempt to capture the beauty of the weeds, flowers, fields, sky, and trees. I am not so much a fan of the cold setting in, but I know it is all part of this cycle of life we live in and it is still good. 

So as my husband would say, "adios verano" and hello fall. Welcome to a new season. 

Indiana = Landlocked

Last time I checked Indiana was still a landlocked state. Ok, granted, we do have the lovely Mississnewa River, but definitely no oceans. 

So you can imagine how I found so much humor in a billboard in downtown Marion today. I wish I had a camera to take a picture of it, but this logo will have to do. 

Yup, there's Ariel, the beautiful red headed Disney mermaid princess (wearing a very scandalous bathing suit if I do say so myself) telling Marion, Indiana (still landlocked) to keep our oceans clean from a very large billboard that last week had a picture of a McDonalds breakfast burrito on it. Oceans? Seriously? My guess is that a very, very large part of our community has never even seen an ocean. 

I don't know why I found this billboard so humorous today. And I will admit I did go visit their website, but only because I knew I wanted to blog about this absurdity. It was just so out of place and so funny! 

I understand their message is to tell people to keep our streams and rivers clean because they eventually flow to the ocean, but that ocean is still really far away! 

Thanks Ariel. Keep up the good work in Marion.   

Terms of Endearment

The cashier at Wendy's today called me "kiddo" twice. "Here's your water kiddo." 

Wow. I can usually handle "sweetie" or "hon" but "kiddo"? Do I really look that young?  Nothing against her -- I'm pretty sure she did not mean to offend me and really, she didn't. Not very much anyways. Hey, maybe it's a compliment the week before I turn 24. I am after all getting older and perhaps one day I will appreciate being called "kiddo". 

Eh -- I guess it's kinda an Indiana thing for people who don't know each other to use terms of endearment like that. I suppose. Oh well. It was funny and it was a good story to tell Rob later. He was quick to remind me though that when he calls me "baby" it's a much younger term of endearment.....

HOT. HOT. HOT. Peppers that don't mess around with HOT

Getting married pretty makes anyone become domestic. It's kinda inevitable, especially in the cooking department for people like Rob and I who a.) live in the middle of nowhere where take-out/delivery is limited to Kuang's Chinese (and I am not a fan of Chinese food) and b.) would rather spend our money and our calories otherwise. 

So I cook. Actually Rob and I cook a lot together. Except for yesterday when we were having an impromptu picnic with friends and I decided to make homemade veggie pizza. Rob was gone, so I didn't know that the little, friendly looking peppers (pictured here looking so innocent) had actually been in a box at our CSA farm labeled "HOT, HOT, HOT". 

Rob, being the half Mexican he is (and yes, his friend from Mexico actually says that so I'm not being racist or anything) grabbed a handful. So picture me at my little Ikea island chopping these peppers up for pizza and eating wheat thins at the same time. My first clue that these peppers were dangerous impostors in pretty skins was when I brushed, (emphasis on brushed) my finger across my lip and my lip exploded in red hot burning pain. (A note here: I have very low pain tolerance. As Rob can attest, paper cuts severely hurt me and often "gush" blood. But the pain I describe through this post was pain like I've never known. Like someone was holding my body parts over an open flame kind of pain.) 

So while I'm drinking milk like it's my job, I dare Rob to eat one seed and he quickly joins me in the milk drinking. Meanwhile my nose starts running so I wipe it on a kitchen towel which unbeknownst to me had pepper juice in that one spot. So now, not only is my lip burning, I want to pull my nose off my face it hurts so bad. Rob thinks this is hilarious, hence this photo of me with an ice cube up my nose. (Actually, it was really funny and I thought so too). 

We scrapped the peppers obviously (we did not want to poison our friends with hot pepper pizza) and had a great dinner with them outside picnic style. Later, our friend Kyle came over to watch The Kite Runner (p.s. the book is definitely better, but the movie does a pretty good job of being accurate) and it was during the movie the tips of my left hand fingers started burning and tingling. I put them in ice first, but after Kyle left and we were getting ready to go to bed was when the horrible burning pain started. 

Rob started googling solutions for pepper burns so the first thing we did was a bowl of milk for me to soak my hand in. I felt like a cat except I wasn't drinking it. That worked while my hand was in the bowl, but as soon as I took it out the burning started again. Next we tried pain ointment. No luck -- that was worse. Next we tried cider vinegar. Again, it felt good while my hand was in it, but then more burning. Then Rob found that honey can be a good cure. So my genius husband got out some trusty bandaids and put a drop of honey on each pad and wrapped the bandaid around my burning fingertip. We thought we were pretty smart actually. 

Me being the practical one I am, I didn't want to get honey on our clean sheets so we put a spa sock over my hand. This entire time we're laughing hysterically, but I'm in so much pain it's almost not funny. But it really was funny. 

Well, that worked for about 10 minutes and by now it was about 11:00 and I'm getting stressed. As some of you know, I don't do so well without sleep and I was already thinking about work the next day. Rob, being the wonderful husband he is, got up and drove to Handy Andy for some Maalox because we'd read on our Google search that an antacid would neutralize the pain. 

Unfortunately, our Handy Andy is not a pharmacy (it's a gas station actually) so he came home with a $4.50 mini bottle of Pepto Bismal and this is how we spent the next half hour -- me soaking my hand in bubble gum pink Pepto. 

It actually worked. I'm serious -- the burning was soothed. We hopped into bed and I tried to fall asleep as quickly as I could before the burning started again. That lasted about 10 minutes and I was in agony again. 

It was my genius idea to create my Pepto cast. We poured the bottle of Pepto into a giant ziplock bag, sealed it to my wrist, wrapped the excess around my wrist, secured it with a rubberband, and put the spa sock back on it (for leak protection of course. No Pepto on my new sheets!) Ta Da! 

Ahhh....sweet relief. I did actually sleep then with my weird cast. For a few hours anyways. Later in the night it became mind over matter and I tried not to let the burning control me when I woke up, but it was still there. 

At 6 am this morning when the alarm went off and I removed the bag this is what my hand looked like.... 

It was so sick. Like something from a High School Musical alien -- bright, bubbly girl pink. The rubberband had actually cut off some of my circulation (should have used duct tape!) so my hand was swollen about twice its size, plus it was very wrinkly like I'd been in the bath tub for hours. To make matters worse, my skin and nails were literally stained pink. Bright Pepto pink. 

Some scrubbing in the shower took most of it off my skin and eventually the swelling went down so I could put my rings on, but the pink on my nails remained. In fact, as I write this, one hand has pink nails, the other normal. I've tried everything to get it off my nails and it has barely budged. And believe me it looks weird. My boss even commented that it looked like I'd missed a hand. (As an aside for you office fans, Rob suggested I go into work with my hand wrapped in bubble wrap like when Michael grilled his foot in the forman grill.) My boss would have loved that -- he's an Office fan. Unfortunately the rest of our board at the meeting this morning are not as avid fans and would have thought I'd lost it. 

Anyways, the moral of this story? 1. Wear gloves when cutting peppers. 2. Ask your husband how HOT the HOT HOT HOT is before even getting the peppers. And 3. Pepto Bismal WILL stain for possibly a long time. I'll let you know when I get my normal nails back. 

Labor Day Weekend in Small Town America

I've spent Labor Day in this town before, but never experienced it to the extent I did this Labor Day weekend. Bottom line: our town goes all out.

We started off the weekend Saturday morning by participating in the all town rummage sale. I grew up on the east coast where garage sales were the norm on Saturday morning and I remember my mom dragging me out of bed at the crack of dawn to go and see what we could find. The "thrill of the hunt" was ingrained in me at a young age. Now apparently I'm forcing my husband to join the same club by making him get out of bed at 6:30 on a Saturday morning so we could go and put some stuff out at our friend's house. He was a good sport and we got to see this gorgeous sunrise.

By the time we got to where we were putting our stuff out, crowds of people were already there. It was seriously insane. All day it was like our town doubled in size by the amount of people coming to buy other people's junk. Rob wondered out loud how much of the stuff stays in town but changes houses. By the end of the day we ended up making $50 which we were very pleased with.

As a huge bonus we got to see every make and model of golf cart, ATV, scooter, and yes, even, homemade scooter known to man. I'm not kidding. Our two favorites by far were the homemade scooter complete with side car made from a plastic milk box. And yes, there was a woman perched precariously on it buzzing around town. Our second favorite we managed to get a picture of...

Yes, the golf cart on the right does have a huge plastic bass fish attached to the top of it. No joke. We laughed so hard.

Here are a few more photos from the adventures in rummage sales:

This was our landlord's beloved college chair which his wife told us to "send where all old chairs go." So we determined that to mean a guys floor at Taylor. We're pleased to report this chair is now living happily on Sammy 2.

All the stuff! Most of it was our friends trying to get rid of baby stuff. (Obviously not ours!) Everyone was pleased that a lot of things sold.

While at the rummage sale our friend told us we had to check out the Labor Day parade in downtown on Monday. In her words, "You will see everything ever made with a siren and even things that were not meant to have sirens, i.e. random cars. It's classic." Sure enough, Monday morning we heard sirens going off around 10:00 so we headed to downtown and experienced all that she said and more.

Here are some things we saw:

The Shriners on their little scooters. Rob really really wants one of these. We were a bit weirded out by the Islam symbols they have on their hats. Not sure exactly who the Shriners are anyways.

These watermelon were sweet! Somehow they are cool enough to make it into the parade on the back of a truck.

My photo of Congressman Dan Burton's truck isn't uploading properly, but we saw that too. And all all manner of political people and their interesting vehicles. I was beginning to think I was back in middle school where candy really DOES buy you votes. Everyone was throwing candy!

Unfortunately throughout the course of the weekend we missed the various gospel bands, the pancake breakfast at the Lions Club, the ice cream social, the cookout, and the Tuff Truck pull but I guess there is always next year!

"To the extent one of us is diminished, we are all diminished"

I can't claim the title of my blog as an original thought; it is actually the tagline of our local family services organization. I had the privilege of attending a fundraiser lunch for their organization this week and was reminded of their tagline again. 

It's been rolling around in my head this week, particularly because I've been reading 1 Corinthians 12 where Paul talks about how there is one body, but many parts. I always find Paul's writing on this topic so frank and easy to understand. We all know how the body works. We all know as he says, "If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be?" We all know the body could not function as perfectly as it does if it were just one part. 

Isn't that so true about the body of Christ too? I love how Paul goes on to talk about the spiritual gifts and how many different ones there are. Those are part of the body too. We could not all be teachers or miracle workers. We do not all have the gift of healing. But how good it is that some of our members do! 

I know that our family services organization is not a "Christian" organization. I do know that their executive director is and she is wonderful. So whether their tagline stems from a Christian worldview I don't know, but I do know that often in the secular world we run into things that do stem from the Word even if they aren't specifically meant to. I know that family services does so much good in our community for those who may otherwise fall through the cracks, get lost, and be abused. They are a vital part of the body. 

I am finding more and more that I must confront the pride that creeps into the body (and I'm speaking here of my own body, but also the larger body of Christ). This passage speaks so clearly to that thought: 

"But God combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it." 

Wow. 

There is so much room for pride to come in there. There is so much room for us as humans to pull ahead and clutch our successes to our chests and not take part in the honoring or the suffering of others. 

We know in a perfect world the above passage would work. This would run so smoothly and the body would perform like Michael Phelps'. Perfectly. We would feel the sting of rejection when a child is left fatherless. We would feel the suffering of a young mother who has nowhere to turn and nothing left to hold. We would rejoice when someone graduates from college or gets married or whatever. 

But we don't live in a perfect world and no one else does either. And that's where I get stuck. How do we join in the suffering of the entire body? That seems so daunting when we consider how much suffering goes on. How do we understand better the suffering that Jesus endured and become more like him? 

I know these are questions I will wrestle with for life. I know my own pride of somehow thinking I am better than others will be something I will wrestle with for life. I also know that I do have an opportunity to make sure those around me and those I come in contact with are not diminished. I know I couldn't live without my fingers, toes, eyes, ears............. 

Neighboring

Two specific instances have gotten me thinking about being a neighbor.

About a month ago we bought some new furniture and so returned the couch our landlords were letting us use to it's original owner -- another family across town. We took the couch back, and the wife of the family, Suzie, was so kind and friendly and asked us all kinds of questions about our wedding, life together, etc. She knows our landlords pretty well and started asking us about our neighbors and if we'd met them yet. We said we had, or at least a few right around us.

The amazing thing was Suzie went on to talk about most of them, particularly the family who lives right next to us, like she knew them. She asked about their children and if the mother was feeling better after being very sick. She kept telling us she was soo glad we lived out there and could "do ministry" to those people right where we were living.

I went away from that conversation feeling a bit guilty (I know Suzie did not intend this with her words) and thinking that we had not been very intentional with getting to know our neighbors and reach out to them. After a little while I brushed it off as being busy and getting married (no small feat!) and being gone on weekends and evenings so often.

But then there was the second instance that got me thinking even more. Last weekend our good friends Ashley and Noel stopped by to see us on their whirlwind fundraising tour. Noel is going into full time ministry so they were going around Indiana visiting people to talk about their ministry and they came to our home for lunch. They shared with us that the story of the Good Samaritan (or " Good Neighbor" as some people say) had been impacting them greatly as they talked and thought about the concept of neighboring. I liked how they used "neighboring" as a verb, not just a noun as in "to be a neighbor" which implies action, not just passivity as in "I am a neighbor."

It really got me thinking even more about our neighbors and how I wanted to reach out to them in some way. I knew the Lord was putting that more on my heart and I'd really been thinking about it and praying about it this week.

In my mind neighboring is being proactive and intentional. Putting ourselves out there and taking a risk with people sometimes to be a person of love and Jesus to them. I don't have many "deep" thoughts on this, but it's a learning process I suppose.

So then last night I felt like the Lord answered some prayers through a little black and white dog.

Our neighbors, the ones I mentioned before, adopted this little puppy that tends to roam the neighborhood. I'd noticed earlier that the mom (the one who was very sick) was outside with the puppy and her three year old son. We've met the rest of the family (dad and three kids) but never the mom. It is obvious by looking at her that she has gone through some sort of cancer, but that she is hopefully on the upswing. By this I mean she has a very tired, gaunt sort of look with very short cropped hair like it is just growing back in. She looks much older than a woman her age should.

Rob and I are still sorting through wedding photos so I suggested we take the computer outside and sit on the steps to enjoy the evening and look at our photos.

Well, as little puppies are apt to do, it quickly found us and soon behind it did the mom, Leanne, and Jacob, her little son. It's amazing how a small animal who has no idea you're even talking about it will open doors of conversation. We chatted with Leanne for about half an hour mostly about the dog (it chews), her kids (the two older ones like Jacob but not each other), our apple tree (they're real, not crab apples!) and with Jacob who seriously needs Leanne to interpret for him because she is the only one who understands him. He's absolutely precious though and has the funniest little laugh. It's very clear Leanne loves him and he is such a good little boy.

Eventually the dog came back and they drifted away to their yard, but it was obvious to us that Leanne was interested in conversation and we felt good about that. It was like a small foot was wedged in a door that needs just a small amount of pushing open.

As we went into the house I said to Rob how good it was to see the faithfulness of the Lord opening that door. My next step I think will be to make some bread (we have lots of zucchinis for zucchini bread!) and share with our neighbors. Seems like a small act, but I think neighboring starts small and that's good.

A domestic god and goddess

As part of our weekly share in our local CSA farm (more about that in another post but check out their website at www.victoryacres.org if you're interested in a local CSA farm) Rob and I received a head of cabbage.

Being the domestic goddess that I am, I obviously had no idea what to make with a head of cabbage. But determined not to waste such a pretty vegetable, I looked up cabbage in one of my cookbooks and found a recipe for shredded cabbage with old fashioned dressing. Right... whatever that means.

But Rob and I persevered and after staining my hands purple shredding the cabbage and Rob getting a good laugh that his dressing was turning into an omelette at the bottom of the saucepan, we produced a semblance of a coleslaw salad that was actually pretty good. It grew on us as we ate it with the rest of our dinner.

Simple Flowers and Joys

Last summer our landlords, James and Susan Allen, spent many hours in the flowerbeds surrounding our little home. What a treat to see so many friendly black eyed susans' coming up this summer! 

I also tried my hand at planting some seeds and was pleasantly surprised when my morning glories came up, twining themselves around the little arbor we have out front. Every morning I step out my front door to see how they are blooming. By the time we come home from work they are shriveled and hiding back inside themselves away from the heat of the day. They truly bear their name well.

It's funny how much joy I've gotten from my little flowers and plants this summer. Bright orange lilies, big pink cone flowers, and of course the aforementioned flowers. We even had a bright pink and purple honeysuckle plant! I didn't even know honeysuckles came in those colors. They all brightened my day and wished me well in the morning when I left my house and when I came home again in the afternoon. 

It's the simple joys in life I'm enjoying these days. And those joys are very good. 

A Spanish Chicago Weekend

This past weekend Rob and I left home yet again to go to Chicago. Rob had been looking forward to this trip for a while, even before we were married because two of his Spanish friends, Kike and Jose Pepe, he met during his study abroad in Spain were visiting the US and specifically wanted to meet up with Rob. 

Rob and Kike

Jose Pepe, Rob, and Kike playing with "willies" in a Chicago gift shop

So after some miscommunication about where to meet up Rob finally got to see them and talk in Spanish to his hearts' content. His friends were pretty excited to be in the US for the first time, marveling at the huge cars Americans drive, the food at Rainforest Cafe they claimed was too spicy, and everything and anything having to do with the White Sox. They thought America was pretty cool. Rob tried to tell them that we lived in a very different place than Chicago; a place with lots of cornfields and spread out land, but we don't think they quite got the picture. Rob promised the next time they came to visit they could come and stay with us provided we're still living in Indiana. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet Kike and Jose Pepe which probably was a good thing considering I don't speak any Spanish. I guess we'll just have to go visit them in Sevilla sometime. :) 

Overall a good weekend visiting with those guys and staying with Ash and Noel. I had my first Argo Tea experience too which was definitely a highlight minus the neighborhood frat party that was going on. It's always good to be with friends, but it's even better to come home again. 

The Main Event

It's amazing how quickly time goes. It's been over a month since I last blogged and while I know there aren't many people who are avid readers of my blog, for those of you who are, welcome to the main event. 

Marriage. There it is in black and white. 

Wow, I don't even know where to begin. What an amazing time of celebration! June 29th almost feels like a dream, and yet there are certain memories that are sharp in my mind. Putting on my gorgeous dress for the first time, praying with my bridesmaids before the wedding, coming down the aisle with my dad to Rob and his tear streaked face, the deep spirituality of our wedding ceremony (with just a dash of Kate and Rob quirkyness thrown in :), dancing at the reception, seeing so many people I hadn't seen in a long time, my dad telling me while we were dancing how the storm turned, stopping to look at our gorgeous tent glowing at the end of the evening, and so much more. Feeling the overwhelming love of all those people and my overwhelming love for Rob, my husband. 

It's true what people say -- that you experience such a wide range of emotions on your wedding day. I know I did anyway. And how can you not? It's a million things wrapped into one day and there is no possible way to ever describe what you're feeling every moment. For me, my wedding day was a culmination of many, many dreams. Dreams I've held since childhood. Dreams of coming down the aisle to my husband in a beautiful, pure white dress. Dreams of a perfect summer evening. Dreams of all those people there for us. Dreams of knowing my husband intimately for the first time. Beautiful dreams that did come true.

Reality has kicked in again now that we've been home for two weeks or so. Reality of jobs and bills and friends and hot summer days in our non-air conditioned house. Reality of this is what I signed up for and wanted. And I do want it. I love my husband and my marriage and am so happy to be home with him. 

(Home -- there's a topic for a different post -- a place I've longed for for many months now has finally become my reality and I love it) 

It's funny though to be on the other side of the wedding day. Gratefully, Rob and I did spend a lot of time during our engagement preparing for marriage and not just our wedding day. The wedding day is just that, a day, this marriage is for a lifetime. A lifetime of sharing a bed and a bathroom. A lifetime of doing dishes and making meals and having conflict and debt and all that sort of stuff. And I am so glad we talked through things as much as we did. It has made the coming together much easier. 

It surprises me sometimes how normal this all seems. Like we've been married for a long time. And then non-normal-something-different-than-when-we-were-not-married things will sneak in and I'll say, "oh, this is so much better now that we're married!" For example, we were out with friends at a baseball game very late last weekend, but it was such a delight to drive home and go to bed together and not have to say goodbye.  

That's not to say it's not an adjustment, because it certainly is. I feel overwhelmed a bit by all the "normal" stuff that needs to get done and how little time there seems to be to do it. We're still working on finding the balance of personal time and time together and how me, the introvert of the pair, can recharge myself and find time alone. 

I'm not worried -- I know those things will work themselves out in time. The wonderful thing is that I know I've married a man who understands many things about me, sometimes even more than I understand about myself, and who desires to serve and care for me so deeply and genuinely. He is a gift to me and I see him as such. I don't deserve to have him, but I do, and if that's something to be overwhelmed by, well then, I'm overwhelmed. 

So anyway, I'm sure I'll keep you posted along this journey. It's a good journey and I'm so glad for all the parts of it. 

Here's a few more pics if you weren't there, plus some from our honeymoon in St. John, US Virgin Islands. Amazing. You should all go there for sure.