good times

i am having a blast here in chicago. laura and i are having a great time hanging out together, and it’s fun to find out more and more things that we have in common. for instance, we just polished off a pint of chocolate haagen-dazs ice cream, agreeing that the only thing that would make it better was almonds! we are in our hotel room for the night; she’s working on more projects to display yet this weekend. last night was a late night, as i started my honeymoon scrapbook and laura made a beautiful christmas wall hanging with clear acrylic ornaments. i’m really tired, so i think i’ll spend some time catching up on emails and then i’ll start another book i’m curled up in my comfy bed with four pillows propped up behind me!! i have the cubs/astros game on tv. i’m feeling quite spoiled at the moment, actually!

the show officially started today. yesterday was a day for companies to set up their booths, and there were a lot of classes offered. i took one in the late morning. i made a mini-album called summer days, with acrylic pages. it was a lot of fun, and it was the first time i’ve worked with acrylic. i really liked it, and i see myself using it in the future.

today was sensory overload. i loved it! rows and rows and rows of companies displaying their new product lines. there are some amazing scrapbooking companies out there! i’m excited to see the new stuff. i’ll have to wait til it’s in stores to purchase it. or i’ll tell laura which companies have things i would like, and when she orders things for her own business she could grab a few things for me too! one of the fun things about wandering around the show is that many companies have “make and takes”. you get to sit at their booth and make a project. some of them are more involved. i made a couple of small mini-albums with chipboard and fun papers. i only made it through 1/4 of the show today, and i know some of my favorite companies i haven’t even located yet!!

early tomorrow morning i’ll help laura set up her designer showcase, and then we’re off to check out more places. i got some good info on where some really cool “make and takes” are located. so, that will be my goal tomorrow! lol! also, late tomorrow afternoon i will be taking a class on hybrid scrapbooking. i’m interested to learn a little more about digital scrapbooking, since it’s something that i’ve been so hesitant to do. i’m too much of a sensory person to want to switch to all digital, so this will be interesting to learn more about combining traditional scrapping with digital.

well, it’s time for me to get some sleep! laura will be up late fixing up her designs; some of them were damaged in the flight if you want to see some pictures of our day, you can check her blog (a kiss on the chic on my blogroll). she has a great post about the exciting things that are happening for her, and she posted a couple pics of us.

off to chicago

so, i’m heading out in a few hours to hang out in chicago with ty’s sisiter laura for a few days.  she is a designer for a scrapbooking company called clear scraps.  the cha (crafts & hobbies association) trade show is in chicago, and laura is going.  it’s really for businesses, and since she has her own business and is a designer for a company, she gets to go!  she asked me to come along and hang out with her.  she will be able to meet and greet a lot of people in the scrap world, and she even will have a lot of her work on display in the designer showcase on saturday.  i get to help her set up her work for the display   so, she will have a great opportunity for more companies, magazines, editors, etc… to see her work.  she already heard earlier this week that basic grey saw one of her projects created with their papers and embellishments, and has asked to use her work in their next publication!  so, this is exciting for her!

i’m looking forward to meeting a few of my favorite artists and designers this weekend.  it’s a show for retailers, designers, companies, etc…so i won’t be able to purchase anything.  probably a good thing! lol!  laura will be able to place orders, however!  i’m excited to see what’s new in the crafting world, as well as very unsure of what to expect.  i’m signed up to take a class on thursday, and hopefully will take another one friday.  i’ve packed a small suitcase of scrapbooking stuff for myself :)  laura and i are hoping to scrap in the evenings.  i hope this weekend to complete an album about our honeymoon –only 2 years ago!  i’m slowly getting caught up!

i should probably go pack.  as per usual, i finished my laundry late last night and still need to pack today.   but, i don’t leave everything for last minute…my srapbooking stuff has been organized and ready to go for a couple days!!  lol!!  i’m taking my laptop so i’ll be able to check email and stuff.  hopefully ty will enjoy a little time alone while i am gone and be able to get some of his paper written.  maybe he’ll even go kayaking and fishing too

in the good ol’ summertime

i’m so very blessed; it’s the good ol’ summertime!

• i am scrapbooking to my hearts content.  well, i didn’t have time in june, so i’m loving july!
• i actually have made a few dinners for my husband.
• we went to a double header church softball game last night, followed by tasty ice cream at captain sundae.
• i get to watch/listen to all kinds of baseball games during the day (tigers just lost in extra innings).
• i get to stay up late!
• i feel so relaxed; a key sign — i haven’t bitten my fingernails in a few weeks!  lol!
• i have almost finished another book!
• we’ve had time to have friends over for dinner and a fire –i love s’mores!
• i’ve had time to play with my new computer

on my list yet for the summer:

• riding bikes
• holland farmer’s market
• sunsets
• more scrapbooking
• organizing paperwork upstairs
• SELLING THE HOUSE! (i really hope so!)
• catching up with my girlfriends
• more camping
• start posting pictures on my blog

hope you are all enjoying your summer as well!

what was i thinking?

so, we arrived home friday night from our trip.  it was a long day of driving. i drove for the last few hours while ty played on the computer

in the morning, we made two more stops; two more french and indian war sites–battle of bushy run and fort ligonier.  both stops were very interesting.  i took lots of pictures which i hope to incorporate into my power points for school.  both of these were unplanned stops.  we discovered these places at the same time as fort bedford which we stopped at on thursday evening.

it was a great trip, as i’ve said before.  we did a tremendous amount of walking, which i am not used to.  i’m in terrible shape.  so, it was good for me, but a bit difficult on this old body of mine.  i certainly am not 25 anymore :(  but, what really did me in was working on saturday.

this is the third summer that i have helped a friend of mine with catering.  she is in charge of all the catering events at via maria, an italian restaurant here in holland.  they have amazing food, by the way!  anyways, when i work at an event, it’s generally as a server.  overall i really enjoy it.  i liked waitressing, and this is on the same lines.  but, i can choose when to work.  i typically am able to work four saturdays during the summer.  they don’t do weddings every weekend, and we are often busy on the weekends.  but, when i can i like to earn a little “mad money”.  this summer, my extra cash is going toward my new computer which i purchased for myself!  i needed/wanted a good computer to use at home, especially for pictures.

anyways…the point of this entry…i worked on saturday from 8:30 am to 12:30 am!  of course, this is all on my feet!  i was so stinkin’ sore by the end of the night, i could hardly walk.  i looked like an 80 year old woman as i walked to my car.  i was in so much pain.  i think i my body was screaming at me…”what were you thinking?”!!!  i know i need to take better care of myself, and it was painfully obvious on sunday.  i felt like i was run over by a train. lol!  it was terrible.  but, the paycheck will be nice!  that’s what i was thinking!

on our way home…

we are on our way home from an absolutely amazing trip.  a brief overview…with more information and reflection to come in the later days:

• monday late-morning we arrived at caledonia state park in pennsylvania, set up our campsite, and headed straight to gettysburg.  we spent monday afternoon and evening exploring gettysburg– the battlefield and downtown.
• tuesday morning and afternoon found us in harper’s ferry, west virginia, and late afternoon and early evening we visited the antietam battlefield and museum.  a 13-14 hour day
• wednesday morning we got up early, and by 8:15 we were with our personal guide on our way for a three hour tour of the gettysburg battlefield.  we spent 13 hours in gettysburg on wednesday!!
• we didn’t see enough of it, so this morning we went back and spent a little more time there.  early afternoon was spent packing up the campsite, and then we headed out.  we made a spur of the moment stop at fort bedford, pennsylvania (french & indian war) on our way this evening.  we are in a hotel tonight, and we’ll be home again tomorrow.

we’ve had a great time together and have really enjoyed our time at these historical sites.

on the road

so, i used to mock modern technology, but i must admit that technology has played a significant role in my life over the past few years. nothing like falling in love through instant messaging and email! lol!

well, right now we are traveling down the highway on our way to gettysburg, pa. ty and i are taking a little camping trip–one full of civil war history (gettysburg, harper’s ferry, antietam). and of course, being the computer nerds that we are (ty always has been, i’ve become one!), we have the laptop with us. so, here is a little post from the road!

the summer of the mosquitos

is this going to be the summer of mosquitos?  i really hope not.  i am terribly allergic to bug bites, mosquitos and fleas especially.  i swell up quickly and they never stop itching.  it’s so bad that i keep a tube of hydrocortisone cream in my purse.

i’ve already lost count of how often i’ve been bitten by the nasty “skeeters” this season.   i don’t remember this being a problem so early in the summer.  if this is the way it’s going to be this summer, i will be wearing a new perfume…it’s called insect repellent!  it’s really a lovely smell

i’m crabbing about this at the moment because we were bringing stuff from the house into the garage, and in that short time a skeeter flew in and bit my knee.  i felt him and quickly smashed in, but alas, it was too late.  i now have a big red protrusion on the side of my knee.  camping this summer should be fun, huh?

i’m not always lazy…

so, i thought i’d better update my blog to let ya’ll know that my lazy day has not turned into days. well, mostly not! i’m still not busy — at least nothing at all like life during the school year. one of the things that i enjoy about summer is that i have time to do things that i don’t usually have time for. so, here are some of the mundane things i’ve accomplished over the past few days:

• baked an angel food cake (it was a tasty treat tonight with the strawberries we bought at the grocery store last night)
• tried my hand at dried apples (not bad for the first time…the dried pineapple didn’t turn out so well, tho)
• ty’s laundry (i’m blessed with a husband who does most of the laundry in our house during the school year. i try to step up in the summer!)
• checked out nine new books from the library (of course, i’m well into the first one!)
• started organizing camping stuff for our upcoming camping trip (so, our mudroom is still cluttered)
• started sorting through my huge pile of “recipes to try” (it’s time to actually try some out this summer! ty is much better about cooking dinner. i should practice more this summer, i think!)
• my favorite activity of the last two days was babysitting. this morning i had the privilege of watching our friends’ 7 week old baby girl. ever since i was little i’ve loved babies. (in high school i worked at a daycare center after school for one spring, and i worked in the infant and toddler room. when i had babysitting jobs in high school, i preferred the babies over the older kids.) so, it was great to watch this little one this morning. she slept a lot, but i still didn’t get much done while she was here ’cause i kept checking on her! lol!

i’m so blessed to have this time off.  time to recharge is great, and i love the freedom to do things i don’t have time for on a regular basis.  like, staying up this late!

lazy me

i’ve done nothing today but play on my laptop.  the house is clean, but completely trashed! how can two people make such a mess in such a short time?  ty and i were so tired last night that we brought stuff in and dropped it in the mudroom.  it’s all still there, slightly unpacked, dirty clothes pile growing, as well as the mail piled high and unsorted…need i say more?  lol!  my head is telling me, “don’t be lazy; there’s work to do”, but my body is saying, “stay on the couch”

my list of things to do is growing exponentially as i sit here and think.  so, maybe i should sit here and not think! :)  i’m going to finish my lazy day.  then when ty gets home from work, he can have the couch to crash on, and i’ll take care of a few things around the house.

yep.  sounds good to me!

what a week!

we had a great week with a great team of adults and students, and the weekend together was another opportunity for the team to deepen the bond. as good as the week was, it sure feels good to be home again! i’m ready for my own bed and not a sleeping bag and air mattress. spending time in roseland and coming back home is a good reminder for me of how blessed we really are.

while on the roseland service project trips, ty has been able to bring the groups to munster crc for housing for the week. the old parsonage is their youth “room”, and their youth pastor has her office there. they allow groups to stay in their building. it is such a blessing to be in this home. there is plenty of room for all of us, we can walk to the grocery store, ice cream store, and the kids can play outside. then, we drive in to chicago everyday. so, saturday morning was spent picking up and cleaning the house.

saturday afternoon we headed into downtown chicago. we wandered around michigan avenue and surrounding blocks, before enjoying a tasty dinner at giordano’s pizza. this is probably my favorite pizza — chicago deep dish! it’s amazing! we were privileged to have dave and laura join us for dinner. this couple lives right behind roseland crc, and they coordinate all the volunteer groups who come to work. we enjoyed time talking with them and getting to know them better. they have a big calling on their life as they live and work in the roseland neighborhood.

this morning (sunday) we served breakfast in the church basement; roseland crc provides breakfast every sunday morning to whomever would like to come. they typically have 30 to 40 people. today was a smaller crowd than normal, but it was great to see our kids at work once again, as well as talking with the community people. we stayed for church…an almost 2 hour long service! there was a lot of dancing in church today! carolyn, a church member and an integral part of the women and children’s shelter at the ministry center, led the children who live in the shelter in a program today. the kids sang and danced all around the church, literally!

this morning it was good to see and talk with the leaders in the roseland community who know ty so well. they genuinely love him, and they are so appreciative of the relationship he has developed with them over the years. i know that we will be back throughout the year. it’s a powerful thing to really get to know people and make one’s self available to God’s call.