thankful 2014: yesterday and today.

9. community group. these people are some of my favorites. blessed to share life together with them. thankful for shared experiences and knowing that i am not alone: "i really thought i would be where i wanted to be by now, because i've been doing everything right. but i have to trust that God knows what He's doing." universally applicable and so true.

10. ice cream. so i'm supposed to be doing a no-sugar challenge through work right now, but there are cheat days built in for a reason. i'm thinking 'kahlua and cream' is one of them. thankful for treats.

11. nice fall evenings. probably one of the last evenings of the year that it will be possible to comfortably sit outside and chat over ice cream. thankful for being able to take full advantage of it.

12. foggy days when you're stuck at work anyway. easier to focus that way, instead of wishing you were outside instead. thankful for the extra concentration boost.

awesomely easy party decorations.

*hard emphasis on the AWESOME*

over the weekend we celebrated my friend Ed's 27th birthday. over the past few years, his party has become THE event of the summer, if only because there is not much better than hanging out with good friends from near and far on a warm evening in June. there is afternoon basketball for the boys, evening wiffleball for everyone, and late night mario kart for anyone still awake. the food is always delicious, and the company cannot be beat.

the decorations have generally been low-key: a quick dollar store run the day of the party pretty much covers it. there was a pinata once, and last year we strung some white balloonss in the tree. but this year, we stepped it up one notch: we put glowsticks IN the balloons!

yes, it is totally pinteresty, but this is the kind of pinterest thing that is actually attainable, and actually as simple as the caption promises. "put glowsticks in balloons." bam. intant party ambiance.

 

 also, those magic color packets for the fire. just because.

 

 

 

 

 



astronauts, birdseed, and moose.

as the title might suggest, there is no real rhyme, reason, or cohesive thought that holds this post together. it is what it is. because remember that one time i mentioned that July was kind of crazy-awesome-busy? take that, extend it by a few weeks, pack just a little bit more into each weekend, and that's kind of what my August felt like too. and honestly-it kind of wrecked me.

action camp ran straight into a beach vacation dumped us back into craziness at work interrupted by weekends of bonfires and a wedding and then sisters weekend with a quick turnaround into more big work meetings all capped off with a western week of camping and family fun.

ugh. i'm exhausted just reading all that.

each and every day had its own something special, and i kind of just want to wrap myself up in the memories and never leave...so, here's some pictures of august? with maybe a little bit of commentary but maybe not a whole lot? here goes.

action camp was space-themed this year, because when we LOOK UP to the heavens, we should be AMAZED BY GOD. i tried my best to convey God's grace, glory, and might to my young charges as much as i could, but i think i spent most of my time saying "please sit down, i'm so glad you have a dog, put your shirt back on, don't climb on that, come back here, who needs a bathroom break, simon says put your hands in the air! now is not the time for turbo speed, where are your shoes?"

i was the group leader for the green team, which was obviously the best team. here are some of us pretending to be big gorillas while we waited between stations. the rest of the team is either a) confused, b) oblivious, or c) totally pretending not to know these weirdos.

 



mmm... beach.  

 

 

 

 

we were only at the beach with Mark's family for a long weekend, but we did dinner out one night at a restaurant called Sedona. it was a bit more fancy than we were anticipating, but oh my word that food was one of the most delicious, delightful, dareisay thrilling things i've ever eaten.

 

(ps have i mentioned how delightful this fish tasted? let me just tell you one more time. DELIGHTFUL)



 

mark and i have not always agreed on what constitutes proper dress code for certain events: church, cookouts, funerals, weddings, etc. so i was mentally preparing myself for the inevitable "will you please just wear a tie this time?" fight, when Mark surprised me by saying "i think i'll wear a suit."

 

 

 

most tame, un-messy cake cutting ever. these guys are adorable. also: fantastic dancers.

 

 

 the newlyweds stopped by our house to change before they left for their honeymoon, since we live approximately 0.2 miles from the reception venue. mark took it upon himself to clean the extraneous birdseed off their car so that "massive bird attack" was not any part of their wedding story.

 

out of the three days we spent at my sister's house, i only have pictures of one part of one day. i documented the part where we hiked 3 miles to see the fire tower in Cook Forest. i did not document the float down the Clarion River, or the bonfire dinner, or the midnight toilet paper Walmart run, or church in the morning, or the tour of what may or may not be stasi's new house. so many exciting things!

 

 

i took this picture one day at work. on this particular day, i started my day in the Maryland office, attended a meeting in Delaware, hiked several miles of overgrown trail, and then drove to the York office for my fantasy football draft. 1 company, 3 offices, 3 states, 1 day. that was a good day.

 

two days later, i was on a plane. i took 23 pictures out of the plane window as we made our descent into Salt Lake City. the landscape just kept changing so drastically, and i was amazed by it.

 

we saw a moose while we were out west. this was the first picture i took of it, when i thought that this was the best shot i was going to be able to get.

i thought it was just going to quickly retreat back into the woodline, but instead she wandered down closer to the lake.

MUCH closer, in fact. and then, she just wandered her way along the path around the lake. after mom and dad brought the tandem kayak back in, mark and i took a spin and caught up with the moose at the far end of the lake, where we sat and watched that awesomely giant animal just chill by the lake until she wandered back up into the woods. so cool.

i'm thinking about just running away to the mountains. living off the grid. cooking all my food over a fire and sleeping in a tent. as long as said mountains are within walking distance of a bathroom and i have occasional access to a grocery store, i could totally do it. want to come with me?

 

my mom would come with me. she loves me, and she loves the mountain, and she feels the same way about the necessity of bathrooms and a grocery store. we would be unstoppable.

 

i'm not allowed to say much about this photo, or post any of the other ones i took of my mom's super secret project. but keep an eye on her blog for the next few days/weeks/months for the reveal, because you're not going to want to miss this one.

this was the worst part. getting back on the plane to head home. i briefly contemplated initiating a one-woman sit-in in the backseat of my mom's car so i wouldnt have to leave. although getting to board the plane from the tarmac did have kind of a rockstar-esque feeling to it, which was pretty fun i guess.

like i said, i am really wishing i could keep August around a little longer, but its probably better that i actually try to move on a little bit because september? (no WAY can it already be september!!) is starting to look like its just going to be more of the same: crazy. awesome. i can't wait!

(g)name this gnome.

since yardsale season is starting to wind down, my yardsailing buddy Nadine and I decided that we needed to find an alternate activity for girl time, because the thought of not having our weekly-ish hangouts was kind of depressing... so we're thinking crafts might be just the thing to fill the impending yardsailing void.

we held our inaugural craft-time over the weekend: while the boys were being sporty and watching weird kung-fu movies, we were painting a couple tiny garden gnomes.

(their faces and hands came pre-painted)

i think mine looks kind of like a Frans, what do you think?

yardsale finds: volume 4.

it's really kind of a shame that My 2 Aunts were on a plane on Saturday heading to Florida. let me be clear: it was not a shame that they were heading to Florida because hello! Florida has beaches and sunshine! but since they didnt stick around Maryland a little longer, they missed out on the chance to meet Nadine and yardsale with us. it was one of our shorter excursions, (only about half the morning) but we still managed to pack Sophie full of our fun finds. check it out:

(items listed clockwise-ish from left)

two beach chairs, fun picture frame, floor lamp, skirt for my niece, board game (i've never heard of it, but should be at least a dollars worth of fun), three books, the complete tales of beatrix potter, 6 waterford champagne flutes to gift (etched with bride, groom, maid of honor, best man, forever, and good luck), ribbon cake stand, cool glass container, book plate rubber stamp, and a cute spring decoration. (not pictured: 1 cup of lemonade)   Total Spent: $24.50

other things that we fit in the car included a pirate-y looking trunk (we half expected to find treasure inside) and a little dresser that both went home with Nadine. so in hindsight, its probably a good thing the Aunts couldnt come along this time since the backseat was pretty full even after just the first sale of the day. maybe it'll happen the next time they come visit... are there still yardsales in September?

a month down memory lane.

we're over three weeks into July, (practically at the end already!) and i have spent the entire month in a great big nostalgia cycle cyclone. i've been digging up memories and driving through old hometowns and hugging people i haven't seen in at least four years or more. my thoughts have been spinning wildly in an attempt to process everything into intelligible words, which has been a pretty daunting task - kind of like trying to build a house of cards in the middle of a windstorm, or herding cats when it's literally raining cats and dogs.

 

now that the third straight weekend of july's nostalgia-fest is over and my brain isn't quite as cluttered with to-do's and packing lists and nerves, i've finally been able to organize at least most of my thoughts, and this is what i think best sums up what i've been learning in my month of july:

 

everything changes. nothing changes.

 

it all started over the 4th of july weekend, when my BFITW came to visit, and we spent an afternoon with a couple of our good friends from college who just so happened to be in the same country/state/area that weekend. it had been years since we had all been together, but the conversation was effortless and fun, and we joked and laughed like nothing had changed since freshman year.

 

 

the very next weekend, i drove home to my highschool hometown. i was there to celebrate one of my good friends - the most precious mom-to-be i've ever known. she's one of the first of my wide circle of close friends to have a baby, and i am beyond excited for her!

 

we spent the afternoon chatting like the old friends that we are, catching up on everything that has changed in our lives and around town since high school, (Scoopers is a dry cleaners!? sadface) and being amazed at how easily our friendships picked back up after so many years.

then just this past weekend, Mark and i headed home to Gram's house in Ebensburg to celebrate my Pap's 80th birthday. while we were in the area, and since it just so happened to be the right weekend, we spent Sunday afternoon at Mahaffey Camp with family and friends.

 

Mahaffey Camp has always been one of those places that feels like home, and i think by now we all know that i have some pretty complicated thoughts about that whole concept. and for as much as my thoughts like to swirl and change, i keep coming back to that baseball analogy when i think about coming home; where home can be any number of places, and the bases are the parts of life that get you from one to the other and back again. 

 

it wasn't until we were on our way home on Sunday night that my thoughts started to come together into anything vaguely coherent. but as we were approaching the state line, getting close to our current home, i was struck by a feeling that i was safe - that i was beyond the reach of whatever was behind me, everything i was running from. it was almost a comforting feeling, to be safe at home, but it was also a bit disconcerting considering all of the good feelings i had about the past three weekends.

i did not like the notion that for the past few years, i had been running away from the people (both friends and family) and places in my past - running away from home - but wasn't that exactly what i had done? i had avoided going back to places like Mars and Mahaffey - places that in the past i would have counted as being among my many 'homes' without hesitation. but i made excuses: it was just too far or too much hassle or i just didn't have enough time. in reality, i felt like too much had changed, and i wasnt sure how to deal with that.

so to stick with the same analogy - what is the end goal of this baseball game? because right now it feels like i'm stuck in an endless loop of base-running: circling the diamond in pursuit of home, arriving safe at home, but immediately taking off for first again towards another home, a different home. there are people i love and memories i cherish in each home, and i want to be fully present in each and every one all at the same time, but i just can't. so which one is the real home? the one where i'm really truly safe and can stop running between childhood home, highschool home, college home, my parent's home, my current home, and all of the precious people, places, and memories associated with each one?

and of course the answer just hit me - my one true home where the people who love me and the people i love most can all coexist in the same place does exist, but i am not going to find it in this lifetime or on this earth. instead, this never ending baseball game is just a holding pattern, a waiting game in anticipation of the main event, when Jesus will take His family home to heaven.

and if the past three weekends are even the teeniest glimpe into what that final homecoming is going to be like, then i can't wait to be a part of it.

meal plan monday: july 8.

there are not enough words to describe all of the awesomeness that was crammed into the long holiday weekend.

 

 
but unfortunately, there are not enough hours in the upcoming week to contain all of the ongoing summertime excitement around here. so basically, we're not eating this week.

Monday: Mark plays softball. our lodger arrives with his cousin.
Tuesday: Mark plays softball. Amanda Jazzercises.
Wednesday: community group. the lodger's cousin leaves.
Thursday: Mark plays softball. Amanda Jazzercises.
Friday: birthday party for Aunt Denise.
Saturday: Amanda leaves town. Mark goes to the O's game.
Sunday: Amanda drives home. Mark starves.

yardsale finds: volume 3.

(clockwise-ish, from the left)

worst-case scenario survival game, 2-drawer filing cabinet, the softest giraffe you will ever meet, long silver necklace, big blanket basket, miniature ladybug tea set, curious george christmas ornament, potted succulent candle, kid-sized Jets jersey, nalgene water bottle, collection of pixar animated shorts, assorted paper punches, vintage painted bottle, big adorable mug, moonshine jug.  Total Spent: $24.50

Nadine's sister Courtney got to come 'sailing with us on this trip, which was great fun. some of their treasures of the day included a couple vintage cameras, new running shoes, cat earrings, cute new clothes, and even some plants. we each ended up with some fun things as well as some practical things, (even some FREE things!) and only had to endure one deprecating comment from a passing woman on a bicycle. a successful day indeed! the only thing that could have made it better would have been if the ice cream place would have actually been open when we stopped in at 10am... maybe next time...

photodump: sunset on the beach.



 

 

 

photodump: on the boardwalk.

 

61 mph, in case you were wondering.