Missing Him

We may have just gone through the longest time without being together since getting married and after only a weekend we may be getting ready to do it again this week.

As best as we can remember this weekend, our longest time apart since marriage was probably last year for the ACL conference. I think I flew out to Boston on Monday and returned on Friday (5 days, 4 nights).

This last week, I flew out to Kansas on Saturday and he joined me in Kansas on Friday (7 days, 6 nights). He was here for my sister's wedding on Saturday and flew back to Virginia today (Sunday). After another week out here for the ACL conference at Evangel U, I'll fly back to Virginia on Saturday (another 7 days, 6 nights).

It was so good to see Jesse on Friday and to spend the weekend together! I really can't imagine how the spouses of those in the service make it through many months of separation with the added uncertainty of knowing their loved one is possibly being asked to give his or her life. My prayers for them are once again renewed as I am reminded how blessed I am to so consistently have my husband by my side.

Labor Day Weekend

Friday evening, we were able to relax some. We also did some laundry and packed for the weekend.

At 8:30 Saturday morning, we were on the way to meet the other cloggers to head up to the Shippensburg Corn Festival to perform. The performance went pretty well. The stage wasn't as stable as we would've liked, but no incidents. The weather was beautiful for the festival. We, of course, had corn on the cob for lunch.

From the festival, we headed up to see Jesse's sister and family. She had her second baby and first boy last week. He's very cute, healthy, and lively. He's also a bit fussy and isn't sleeping through the nights yet. She's hoping that changes soon!

We went on to Jesse's parents home for Saturday evening. We got in a bit late, but were greeted by his brother and mother and talked with them and grabbed showers before heading to bed.

Sunday morning, we went to church where Jesse and his family had gone for many years. None of his family are attending that particular church regularly now, but it was a great way to get to see a number of their friends. And it was good to be worshipping. Sunday afternoon, we had a pancake lunch, peaches for dessert, and naps. Oh yes, before falling asleep, we watch a documentary on Israel's rescue of the hostages from the Entebbe Airport. Sunday evening, we had corn on the cob for supper and played a game of Fictionary. Fictionary is perhaps a cross between balderdash and trivia. An individual player is given the real definition and an already written fake definition (from the Ficitonary dictionary) and has to pick the real definition. Some of the words were really easy--like zoom lens. Some of the words were a bit harder or surprising--like bolo.

Monday morning, everybody packed. Jesse and I packed to head back to Virginia. The rest of his family packed to leave for a major craft show in Ohio. We stopped back by his sister's house for the afternoon. We helped them re-assemble a carport that had blown down in a storm. We had a slightly later start home than we had originally planned, but still made it back to Virginia around 10:00.

It was a good weekend!

Trip to Kansas

Jesse has limited vacation time and even more limited visitation time with Jer, but he has wonderfully taken a week with Jer to visit my family in Kansas!

We are having a wonderful time. It is hard to believe that it is so close to over already.

Last Saturday, we were up early and caught a plane to Kansas. Our first flight was delayed, but we still made our connecting flight. A couple of my siblings and my mother met us at the airport. After a couple of more stops while we were in the "big city," we headed to my home. My whole family is home this week!!

For supper, my college roommate, Christina came for a visit with her husband and 7-week old daughter. It has been almost 8 years since we've seen each other!! I was so happy to see her and her family!

About 20 minutes before they arrived, I caused a couple of folding chairs to fall on the back of my leg. Instantly you could see the bulging veins and swelling. I spent most of the evening with ice on my leg and now have a very colorful bruise the size of a plum.

I also got to see SR's engagement ring in person for the first time on Saturday. The wedding is still 17 month away, so she isn't too far into planning or worrying about it yet--she has three semesters of college to finish first.

Sunday was church with fellowship breakfast, Sunday School and worship service. It was wonderful seeing old friends and meeting the new pastor and his family. They have kids that are just slightly older than Jer. We are scheduled to have supper with them tonight. Also at morning church, Pastor asked for one of the kids to pray; Jer volunteered and was picked. He did a great job. He also got to play with some of his step-second cousins that are close to his age. He seemed to enjoy playing with all the kids.

Sunday evening, D gave the church an update on her work and the ministry of GFA. I do enjoy hearing her talk about what God is doing!

Monday - My Great Aunt Marie came home from the hospital (they'd been adjusting medications for the past week or so). Very shortly after arriving home, she fell and had to be taken to the ER for some stitches over her right eye. She's back at home and we have instructions that we need to make it out to visit her yet before we leave. We did go out and visit with my Grandma this evening. It is always so good to visit with her! It is sometimes still hard to believe that she's the only living grandparent I still have.

There was a primary election on Tuesday for several important local offices. Grandma stopped by after voting. There was a storm in the evening. We only got a bit of rain and wind, but reports as close as half-mile away include pea-sized hail and tree damage. We made a visit down to the stucco house. That's where I lived for the first seven years of my life and my cousins are now remodeling the home. Tuesday was also my parents' anniversary! Other than all being home this week, we didn't really do anything for them, but we did wish them happy anniversary.

Wednesday was the beginning of the county fair. SC took Jer up to see the animals arriving and then took him to the drug store for a slushie and picked up a Kansas post card for Jer's collection. In the evening, we all went back up to the fair to see L model her outfit in the style revue and then do the narration for several of the girls as they modeled. The clothing and demonstrations were judged last week, so they announced the results--L got a Reserve Champion and Grand Champion for her outfit (one for modeling, the other for her sewing) and a Purple (top quality) on her demonstration. We also got to see a couple of surrounding events, including the crowning of the king and queen for the fair. Then we had homemade ice cream! Yum-Yum!!

On Monday, SC had fixed up his old bike that he learned to ride on. Since then, we'd been working with Jer on riding a bike. This morning, I got some video of Jer riding with only a little help from his dad! I may have to see if I can convince my brother to bring the bike with him when he moves back out to Virginia next month.

We went back to the fair to enjoy our free lunch with our $2.00 button. During lunch, a police officer that SR knows was hanging out in the area, so she had him come over and visit with Jer. Jer was very impressed! Officer G invited him to come sit in his patrol car after lunch, which they did. While Jer was in the car, Officer G received a call! (That ended the visit.) Unfortunately, we missed getting pictures, as I didn't have my camera and D wasn't around to take pictures.

After lunch, we went to check out the results so far. SR got best in Breads and Baked Goods with her Pecan Twists. Mom and L both got blues on their entries (1st in their categories), except for some cookies of Mom's that only got a white (3rd in category). L then got a couple of food items judged in the 4-H division and got blues (better than average, but not top) on both of those items. While she was doing that, we visited the other animals and booths. Jer enjoyed the kiddie barn area. He wanted to take home a kitten (free), a dog ($50), a turtle (free), and the raccoon (not for sale). He also wanted to take home a rabbit when we visited that area of the fair.

In the evening, we walked (L rode her bike and Jer practiced riding) over to the Pastor's house to have dinner with his family. D, Jesse, and I got a sneak peak of a video the pastor put together commemorating the church's dedication--55 years ago this Sunday! That brought back memories!

Tomorrow is Friday--our last full day. We have so much we still want to do. Visit grandma. Visit Great Aunt Marie. Find a bell with a Kansas symbol. Maybe visit the thrift shop. Visit Dennis and Jeannie and Carmen. And celebrate D's birthday by having a bunch of the family over for dinner.

Happy Independence Day!!

Two down, Two to go.

The cloggers performed at Lovettsville on Thursday evening at 7:30. Joyce organized a potluck picnic with hamburgers and hot dogs. We ate while watching the fireworks.

Just before 1:00 on Friday morning, we were waken up by my cell phone ringing repeatedly. It was D. All she said was it was urgent for me to call home immediately. When I called, SR answered and announced that she was wearing a new pretty ring. She had just gotten engaged to her boyfriend, AK.

Friday morning (after the usual time to wake-up), JM and I headed over to Round Hill where we barely in time to catch the parade and ride the truck with WLCC. After the parade, the church was part of the fun in the town park by organizing sack races, water balloon tosses, and hoola-hoop contests.

Friday afternoon, we watched Unbreakable. It was a Netflix movie that JM had already seen and I was only somewhat interested in seeing. It was nice to watch it and know what people are talking about, but not on my favorite list.

Friday evening, in a light run, but under a tent, the cloggers performed at Franklin Park at 7:15. Joyce had organized a potluck picnic with pulled BBQ. It was very good! As we finished
eating, the fireworks started going off.

Today, we've run two loads of laundry to get our clogging performance clothes clean and will be leaving in just a few minutes to head to another clogging performance in Ashburn followed by a clogging performance in Hillsboro at 7:00.

I'm off to do my hair and get dressed!

Appreciate your freedom!

Winchester Apple Blossom Festival

Jesse's parents were in Winchester this past weekend as crafters at the Apple Blossom Festival. We went out and spent the weekend in Winchester with Jer. I'm not sure they really believe me when I tell them I enjoy helping at the shows, but I do--at least in nice weather like this past weekend!

The work is relatively straight-forward and easy--know the prices, explain the products (solar lights, pot stackers, and rust avoidance), and handle sales. It always brings back memories of working the concession stands for 4-H at football games or the fair. My weakest point is still the math, but without having to deal with tax, it's easy enough. I generally don't have any problems counting money to make change, but I admire those who can do the math in their head! (At one point Jesse was handling a sale and just turned around and asked, "can I get $31 for change?") Don't interrupt me while I'm counting change--I'm in the middle of using my math manipulatives!

Jer seemed to enjoy the weekend. With a tarp spread out on the ground, he spent some time playing with Legos and PlayDo. His good friend Gracie stopped by and played for a bit, as they don't get to see each other often. He also spent time walking around the craft grounds with Grandpa.

So glad to spend time with family!

Summer Plans

Summer is coming fast and with it summer plans!

Next weekend, we are hoping to catch Screwtape Letters on stage in DC.

The following weekend is graduation for PHC and Purcellville's Centennial Celebration.

The following weekend is Memorial Day weekend and Round Hill's Hometown Festival.

The last weekend of May is, I think, at the moment, unscheduled.

The first weekend of June I'll be teaching again.

The second week of June I'll be attending ACL conference.

The third weekend of June is West Virginia State Folk Festival.

The last week of June is a visit to Pennsylvania.

The first weekend of July is Independence Day weekend. (The 4th is on Friday).

The fourth weekend of July is a clogging competition.

The first week of August is a visit to Kansas.

The second week of August, new faculty arrive and have orientation on Thursday and Friday.

The third week of August, faculty have several days of workshop/retreat mixed with new students arriving and going through orientation and returning students arriving.

August 25, PHC resumes classes.

My summer will go quickly! I didn't even put in anything about hiring for the Library Assistant position, completing periodical renewals, completing database renewals, upgrading our circulation/cataloging software with customizing the web catalog, reviewing assessment goals to make changes for the coming year, and possibly hiring now student workers.

Lord, Don't let me lose sight of my priorities both at home and at work so that I can use my time efficiently and wisely!

Easter!

As Jesse already blogged, we had a wonderful time in Pennsylvania for Easter weekend. I just thought I'd add a few random pictures from the weekend.

My First Christmas

No, those are not the words on an infant's decoration or toy - those are to me!

For a multitude of reasons, my family has never celebrated Christmas much. The most we've done is attend the occasional Christmas Eve service or participate in my dad's family's gift exchange. I think those two events might have even happened on the same year! My reasons have never been particularly profound - mainly the typical "It's commercialized and nobody is paying attention to Christ's birth, so I'm not about to join in," sort of reasons.

One of the great things about being married is that there's another point of view and a different thought process that is with you every day - questioning and prodding one's own viewpoints.

If nobody is celebrating Christmas the "right" way, how should it be celebrated?
Why don't I celebrate it the "right" way regardless of others?
Are all the gift-giving, trees, and lights bad ideas, or is being distracted by them the problem?

After being bumped from my standard rut of being something of a Scrooge about Christmas, I've partly resettled. Not particularly far from where I was, but certainly far enough that I gladly enjoyed and joined with the in-law portion of my family for my first Christmas! We even had a very white Christmas!

StG was good enough to give us a ride out to the airport at 4:00 in the morning. I think that I, for the first time, saw Charlessa grumpy that morning! The poor alarm clock is supposed to be making a really annoying sound! :^)

But in spite of getting up at an ungodly hour, we had a great trip out to KS and arrived around noon. We were even in good spirits after we each grabbed naps on the flights!

Early morning basketball games, going out to feed the cattle, hauling hay bales, playing with Magnetix, spending lots of lazy days sipping "friendship tea", watching the snow pour and drift, shoveling LOTS of snow, building a snowman, playing with Magnetix, reading the Bible, visiting with family and extended in-family, going caroling, more basketball games, singing hymns and carols around the piano, discussing the Church and Bible, sharing presents with each other, playing with Magnetix, and teasing LG - it was a GOOD Christmas!

Certainly nothing very exciting, but very, VERY nice!

While I still haven't congealed my thoughts on Christmas celebration, this was a pretty good way to go about it! :^)

A Very Belated Post on Thanksgiving

Though we haven't said anything on our blogs, we did indeed celebrate Thanksgiving. Jesse picked up Jer from school around noon on Wednesday, picked me up from work, and by 3:30, we were headed out of of the area for PA. Along the way, we stopped for some Taco Bell supper and later an ice cream treat. As we got with-in a couple of hours of our destination, it began to rain. The trip went smoothly and we made it to Jesse parents' home around 9:00. We were greeted by his parents, David, and Margaret.

We'd barely gotten our bags in the door when David and Jesse were ready to compare martial arts moves from David's aikido class. In the living room, periodic "face-offs" continued through out the weekend as David showed Jesse the throws and rolls he has been learning and they practiced them on each other.

Jer was in heaven each night as his grandpa and his dad would each tell him a story before bedtime. Jesse's stories were recorded, so now we have a cassette tape of stories Jesse has told to Jer. Even David got in on the fun and told a story or two of his own.

Thanksgiving dinner was around 5:30 on Thursday evening. Jesse and I had been asked to contribute to the dessert. I'd found a recipe that was called pumpkin pudding. (When I described it to my sister, she called it pumpkin pie cake.) It did look a lot more like a cake. The canned pumpkin was mixed up with condensed milk, sugar, and spices (much like pie filling), then poured into a 9 X 13" dish. On top of the pumpkin mix, we sprinkled dry cake mix and drizzled that with melted butter. Bake. I forgot to watch the time, so the cake came out a bit burnt around the edges, but there was still plenty of it that was very edible and good. Jesse also mixed up some mashed potatoes with a variety of herbs in them. He'd tried the recipe for a work party the week before. Delicious.

Katie, Ryan, and Christina came over after they had Thanksgiving with Ryan's family. They brought a smaller turkey with them, as Katie's turkey the previous year had a been a big success and Katie wanted to make it again. Jesse's aunt, uncle, and cousins also came over bringing turkey and stuffing. We had a great meal and conversation and catch-up.

It drizzled most of the day. In the early afternoon, there started to occasionally see some snow mixed in with the rain. Throughout the next day, there continued to be very light flurries off and on. By the time we left, there had been enough snow to accumulate about .25" on the raised porch. Everywhere else it was little more than a dusting.

Friday morning, Butler had its Christmas parade. As Little Miss Smile, Christina had her own car in the parade. We all made it out to see Christina in the parade--very cute and smiley! :) Afterwards, we had lunch at Pizza Hut, Ryan had to head off for a rodeo (I think), some of the remaining family headed out to get pictures of Thanksgiving and the parade developed, the rest of us headed home to relax and work on some computer problems. Jer spent some time playing outside driving around his green truck.

Saturday morning, Katie and Christina headed home at the same time David headed for the airport to fly back to Florida.

Saturday morning, Jer and I went out to play in the snow again. He really wanted me to teach him how to make snowballs and make snow angels with him. But the snow was a little dry for making snowballs and it was hard to gather enough up to even really try. I was afraid that we'd end up with more dirt than snow on our clothes if we tried to make snow angels. We ended up playing a version of fox and goose (but he was pretending to chase the bad guy--me) in the tracks he'd made in the snow with his truck the previous afternoon.

Sunday morning, Jesse made pancakes for breakfast. Saturday evening, we had decided to try to leave around 11:00AM to head back to Virginia. When we were sitting down to a pancake breakfast after 10:00 and hadn't gotten serious about packing, there wasn't any way we were going to be leaving at 11:00. I felt like we actually did pretty well when we were on the road before 12:15. The trip back had 2-4 serious slowdowns at various points, but we made it back without any real problems. After dropping off Jer, we stopped by Jesse's aunt and uncle's home to wish her a happy birthday. We were very sorry to find that she was sick.

During the weekend, the family had played a game of "Imagine if..." one evening and had a lot of fun. Jesse's parents tied and it took several rounds for them to break the tie--they knew everyone so well! We also watched a couple of episodes from the sitcom Reba and another video or two. Of course, there were lots of conversations, naps, reading, and computer time.

Looking forward to being back in Pennsylvania for the new year!

Weekend to Remember

Jesse and I went to Mars this past weekend--Mars, PA that is. That's near Pittsburgh and less than an hour from both his parents and Katie & Ryan.

We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton and enjoyed Family Life's Weekend to Remember. Our registration for the weekend was provided by my cousins who had attended the conference and found it to be very valuable. (Thanks Eric & Sunny!!) We also found the conference to have a lot of valuable advice.

As we'd gone through a good pre-marital counseling series less than a year earlier and had some read some excellent books recommended to us, we found much of the information was not new or profound. On the other hand, it was great to get a better grasp on some of the ideas through the stories and examples shared with the speakers. It also encouraged us to renew our intentions to seek God and build up each other.

Friday evening, the conference began by identifying five types of problems that cause barriers to the oneness that is desired in the marriage relationship. This was a great place to start. Things have gone very well for us and we are still very happily married, but it gave us a way to identify potential problems and more concrete situations that we could think about for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning, we actually made it up in time to have breakfast at Bob Evans before we went to the morning session beginning at 8:30.

Saturday morning, the conference talked about the purpose and plan for oneness, including defining oneness as when both the husband and the wife are pursuing God's will together. This is where they talked about some of the basic differences between the way men and women receive and process information. (Cordless antenna vs. USS Enterprise sensor array). The morning also included a presentation of the gospel message and a challenge to renew and maintain a relationship with Christ.

One of the morning breaks was an hour and Jesse was feeling a bit hungry, so we headed back over to Bob Evans to get a bite while we worked on our assigned project. When it was time for the lunch break of 1.5 hours, we were more tired than hungry. We talked about a 20 minute nap and then lunch. We ended up setting the alarm for a 35 minute nap. After a couple of hits at the snooze button, our nap ended up being an hour long and we skipped lunch.

Saturday afternoon, they began on a series of sessions on communication, starting with basic communication techniques, such as active listening. The afternoon ended with a session on sexual intimacy, suggesting that this area of a couple's relationship is entirely dependent on every other area of their relationship; not an area that can be improved independent of how the rest of the relationship is going.

Saturday evening was set aside as a date night. Jesse took me out to Shakespeare's for a very good dinner and a relaxing evening chatting and discussing what we were learning!

Sunday morning, we didn't get up quite as early, but still had time for the breakfast buffet at the Eat 'n' Park before the morning session. For the Sunday morning sessions, men and women were split. Each had a session focused on their role as husband/wife in working on oneness in the marriage relationship and on their role as a father/mother.

The conference allowed for a long lunch again on Sunday. We finished packing up and checking out. CiCi's Pizza was for lunch, with plenty of time again to discuss the assignments we were completing and what we were learning in the sessions or thinking about.

Sunday afternoon, the final sessions looked at setting rules for conflict so that it could be done in love and resolved; working to prevent conflicts by avoiding the tooth-for-a-tooth attitude and being blessing to your spouse; and finally the result of modeled oneness becoming a legacy to children and a witness to other families.

With the conference finished, we headed over to Katie & Ryan's. Jesse's parents and Margaret met us there for supper and visiting before we all had to head back to our own homes. Jesse and I drove for a couple of hours Sunday night, stopped to spend the night along the way, and then drove on back to Virginia on Monday morning.

It was truly a Weekend to Remember!

Yankee Peddler

Jesse's dad is a blacksmith who designs useful and decorative items for planters and yards, such as a garden hose holder, flower pot holders and stackers, and more. The family sells the items at craft shows. Jesse's favorite show (and probably the whole family's favorite show) is Yankee Peddler in Ohio. So, when we had the opportunity to go up and help out at the show this past weekend, I was excited to be able to experience what I'd heard so much about.

Heading up to Ohio on Friday night, Jesse had a head cold and I was pretty sure I was coming down with one. That made the 6.5 hour drive feel a bit longer, but we met up with his parents at the motel about 11:00.

Saturday was mostly overcast. Except for a short shower in the morning, the weather was perfect for shoppers. Unfortunately, it was actually raining in Akron (just north of the show)--a major supplier of shoppers--so there weren't a lot of people there. We had time to walk around the show a bit. I got to meet some of the crafters that return every year and with whom Jesse and his family have made friends. At the end of the day, we very much enjoyed sitting down and having a good meal at Bob Evans before heading make to the motel, showering, counting the take for the day, and sleeping.

Sunday was very rainy until about 2:00. We even had a "lake" (about 15'X20' area and up to ankle-deep) in front of the booth until Jesse and a couple of other guys used some shovels to drain it into the nearby creek. There were still some hearty shoppers out buying in the middle of the rain, but definitely not very many. We had thought about leaving by about 4:00, but then Katie and Ryan decided to bring Christina out, so we hung around long enough to greet them.

By the time we left, I was really feeling my head cold. After short stops for food, gas, etc, we headed home. About 8:30, I decided to try to sleep so that I might be able to forget about my congested head. Jesse got us home before midnight.

Some highlights from the weekend:
- Watching/listening to Ray and Jesse demonstrate blacksmithing. They tended to make leaves, when they had nothing better to make, but also made some stocking hangers and a rolling pin holder that were requested.
- Dressing up "colonial" style. (Thanks, Katie, for the loan of clothes!) Maybe I'll get a picture of us posted someday.
- Food: apple fritters, corn on the cob, and creamed chicken over biscuit.
- "Have you thought of something to say yet?" (OK, it was probably only me that thought that it was so funny and it was one of those things that probably doesn't tell well.)
- Discussion of information and changes in technology with their friends in the booth across the way selling sheep skin items.
- Music: Wandering minstrel, bagpipes, and the folk band (Irish drum, hammered dulcimer, etc) near the booth.
- And of course, spending time with family!!

Week of Vacation

It's been a week of "vacation" for us, though maybe not all of it as relaxing as other parts.

A week ago (Friday), Jesse picked up Jer for a week of vacation time. Friday evening, Jesse and Jer trimmed our hedges--which were VERY much in need of trimming. I'd borrowed the bush trimmer from our neighbor Miss K and we needed to get it back to her before we left town.

Saturday was the first clogging competition for the Orange County Cloggers to host and the first ever for BRTC to participate. We did quite well, especially if you ignore the fact that we were the only team in our age division. The team's age division is determined by averaging the ages of all the dancers in the routine. Most of the teams there were solidly teenaged and younger with maybe a couple 20-somethings dancing as leaders in the group. On Thursday at the rodeo, there had been talk of Jesse participating in a round of Cowboy Poker on Saturday at the rodeo. But by the time we headed home from the competition, it was too late for that and I was ready to head straight home and finish packing.

Sunday morning, we headed to church with the car packed for our trip to PA. After church, we grabbed lunch, made a couple of other quick stops, picked up a dog and headed north. Our first stop north of Pittsburgh was to say "hi" to Jesse's sister Margaret at work. We met the entire family--Linda, Ray, Margaret, Katie, Ryan, Christy (minus Dave--We missed you!)--at a mexican restaurant. Margaret was able to get off work a few minutes early so we wouldn't have to wait so late for supper. It was SO good to catch up with everyone!

It was the first time I had been up to Jesse's home since we got married. He'd made two previous trips, but I hadn't been able to join him for either of those.

Sunday evening, we all stayed at the house, so we got to visit more that evening and the next morning. Katie, Ryan, and Christy had to head back home on Monday afternoon. Ryan had injured his ankle some time back and had been unable to work. Just a couple days before, his doctor had released him for "light duty," but his employer didn't have any work for him that qualified as light duty. They were still figuring out their options following that news. They had also recently signed a contract with an agency to represent Christy for possible ad work. We'll see where that goes. Maybe someday, I'll be an aunt to someone famous. :-)

Monday through Thursday involved a lot of sleeping in, relaxing, helping with the family business, visiting, and having fun with Jer.

Jer and I spent one afternoon learning how to play Uno. He had found a game of Attack Uno in the game closet and wanted to play. So we played several games. The first round we didn't use the attack machine and we mostly just concentrated on matching colors or numbers and saying "Uno" when he got down to one card (he won!). With each successive round (and using the attack machine), we talked about some of the different special cards. Of course, his favorite part was hitting the attack button and having the cards spray out at him. Then he had to spread the cards out all over the floor to be able to see them, since he had so many. For the last round, he was starting to complain about never winning. So, we talked about the goal of the game being to get rid of all the cards and I insisted he only push the attack button when he was required to. That round he only had one card left when I finally went out. He would still need some tolerate co-players to play much, but he is definitely understanding most of the concepts!

I was especially pleased that Margaret was able to take off a couple days and spend time with us while we were there! I'm still far from fluent in my signing, but I'm picking up more of conversations and can even contribute a bit of my own. While Margaret has always been Jer's favorite aunt, I think this was one of the first visit's that he really had to try to understand that Margaret is deaf. Previously, there relationship was largely physical teasing and rough housing type activities. This time, Jer was trying to carry on more conversations with Margaret--ask her to play games with him, etc. We kept having to remind him that she was deaf and that she wouldn't hear or understand his requests unless she was looking at him. It was very cute when he wanted her to go outside with him to listen to the evening noises. When we reminded him that she was deaf, he mimed his request to her--please, go-outside, listen?

Other highlights of the week:
Monday was our 7-month anniversary. Ok, we didn't do anything really out of the ordinary, but I always enjoy having a reason to remind him that I'm glad I married him! :)

Wednesday, Jesse had a chance to meet with his sensei and another karate student to have a workout, even though there was none scheduled for the week. After the workout, we made a stop by Grove City College where he attended college. We got to walk around the campus and see in a few of the buildings. The library was closed (shorter summer hours) by the time we visited campus.

Thursday, we headed back to Virginia. We stopped at clogging on our way home. We got to hear a bit more about the results of the clogging competition. Jesse also heard a rumor that he'd been assigned some new responsibilities at work while he was gone. He made sure to head to work on Friday morning to find out more about that!

In his heading to work before I did Friday morning, I forgot to pick up my keys from his car, so I was left stranded at home for the day. I've been relaxing, working on unpacking, checking work e-mail, and reading a couple books--one fun and one for work.

We've got another weekend ahead of us! Life is grand!

Not to be mushy or anything

Well, ok, it's mushy.

I'm heading up to PA this weekend to see my folks, for Jeremiah to visit, and to get a new vehicle, but Charlessa isn't able to make it due to last minute work stuff. Grrr!

The alarm went off at 7:00 this morning, and the first coherent thought I put together was "I'm not going to be able to see Charlessa again until Sunday evening! Awwwww!" At which point I got out, set the alarm for 20 minutes later and went back for a hug. I'm sure this is horribly boring to everyone, but I'm already missing her and it's only three hours since we saw each other! This is our first time apart and, of course, this is the end of the world! How will we ever survive being apart for 60 hours straight!?!

On the flip side, the situation has avoided something. Possibly we're alone in this, but probably not. Did any other married people out there feel weird the first time you went to visit your in-laws or parents, and realized you'll be in the same room and bed this time? All the other times we've visited my parents, I've either taken the couch or a bed in another room while Charlessa gets my old room or sometimes Katie and Margaret's room. Well, I guess it's not going to come up this trip, but it only puts it off a bit. Next weekend we're heading out to Kansas.

Lack of Posts

What?! We went a whole month without posting anything on here?! One would think that with less than 2 months to the wedding, we'd be doing SOMETHING as a couple that would be worth posting. Well, I can't say that either of us was much better about posting on our personal blogs.

Why the lack of posts? I won't try to analyze and answer that.

We did spend many hours addressing wedding invitations. I'd say we spend that time together, but I had an aching tooth that weekend. Jesse did most of the addressing while sitting at my kitchen table and I lounged on my couch. Jesse getting that done was a real blessing for me!

As a huge surprise, Jesse picked my sister up at the Baltimore airport and brought her into town to walk into the house when I was least expecting it! He also drove on the trip back up to the airport.

Jesse took the lead in getting our vows written. We'd found pieces of 2-3 different vows that we'd liked. He took the pieces and put them together for us. We then spent the next day or so proof reading the vows. The vows we'd ended up using as the base were off the internet and VERY poorly written. They had great sentiment, if you read them as intended rather than as they were written. For example, they included the phrase "until death do we part." I think if one diagrammed that phrase, you'd find that "we" are parting death, instead of death parting "us"--until death do us part.

One Saturday, we attended the Walk Through the New Testament seminar. (Along the same lines an the Walk Through the Old Testament seminar we attended in August.) Now we have sign/word cues to help us remember the major events of the old and new testaments in chronological order and enough geography to help place most of those events.

We spent Thanksgiving with Jesse's family. A very relaxing and enjoyable time. I'm very thankful that his family is so welcoming of me!

We finally signed the lease to rent a townhouse in Leesburg! We should be able to pick up the key today! Jesse's parents just got into town and are planning on helping me move this weekend. Then we'll move as much of Jesse's stuff as possible over the next month. His parents will move his final pieces after the wedding, before they leave town.

On finding a house, it got to the point where one just had to laugh or despair. We tried to put in applications on 3 or 4 different places, only to be told that we were too late--someone else had put in an application ahead of us or they weren't willing to negotiate on the price. Once the application for this place was in process, we got calls from two of the earlier places--for one place, the first applicant didn't have good credit history, so they were now willing to look at our application and the owner was now ready to negotiate on the price for the second place. But we didn't like either of those places enough better to back out on the lease process on the Leesburg townhouse. Though if they'd been willing to negotiate on the price earlier, it would've been very tempting--a house (not a townhouse) in Purcellville.

The final event of November--exactly a month before the wedding--Jesse was my driver after I got my lower wisdom teeth and the other problem tooth extracted. Thursday morning, Jesse picked me up. We stopped in Purcellville to pick up my prescriptions, a few groceries (soft foods), and the tags we'd had printed for the favors. My mother had mailed me (on the previous Friday) something for my recovery, but unfortunately it didn't arrive until today. We made it to the oral surgeons in plenty of time. They took my money and made me a follow-up appointment for next week, before I went in for the extraction. I'd met the doctor previously, but Jesse got the chance to meet him, ask questions, and hear all the instructions for after the surgery. He was also good about distracting me by talking about the heart monitor, controlling heart rate, and how much he'd like the chance to go under general anesthesia.

I had no problems with the anesthesia. They poked me, put on the oxygen mask, and the next thing I knew I was waking up and Jesse was coming back in the room. It was only about 40 minutes later. He helped me out to the car. I was definitely wobbly, though I've felt worse some regular mornings waking up. We made a couple of short stops on the way home--I was fighting falling asleep all that time I wasn't actually asleep.

Jesse helped me get settled on the couch with some ice chips on my jaw/cheeks. I was out for about an hour or so when I woke up to cold water running down the front of my shirt. I changed out the ice bag with the hole and fell back asleep. It was about 5:00 when I woke up more completely. Jesse had gone into work for half a day, as he had some pressing deadlines. He did stop by again between work and clogging. And brought me some food I was craving after clogging.

It's now about 28 hours after the procedure. My mouth and jaw are a bit swollen, but haven't had any real pain. Hopefully it will continue this way and I'll be able to enjoy the bridal shower the church is throwing for us tomorrow morning!

Labor Day Weekend

I got to spend the weekend with my "sweetie" (as SS puts it--and I agree)...and his family!

We headed up in the rain Friday after work. We headed first for Katie (his sister) and Ryan's home. We hadn't seen them since the wedding. Her due date is Aug 30, so we were hoping we'd get to see their little one this trip....it was not to be. We did get to spend the evening with them...and a good bit of Saturday, before heading on up to Jesse's parents'.

Saturday evening through Monday afternoon, we spent time with his parents, brother, and sister. It was relaxing. We visited, watch a few shows, sang hymns, went to church, helped them prepare for their next big craft show, and other pieces of things. We heard from Katie several times through the weekend, but never the call saying the baby was really on its way.

It was Monday evening when we made it back into the area, still hoping to hear from Katie about the baby.

Since Kansas

Sorry, there hasn't been much blogging since we returned from Kansas. I'll try to keep this short, but there have definitely been lots of activities! (I didn't say we were busy! :-)

When we returned from Kansas, Jesse's mom and sister were in the area. A bit of time with them was much enjoyed and they were able to sell two of their puppies.

On Sunday (the day after we returned from Kansas), there was a clogging performance at the Clarke County Fair. Other than one song skipping out in the middle, it went fairly well--the normal missteps and forgotten sections (especially when one hasn't been clogging in the past week).

The clogging was followed immediately by a farewell dessert reception for JohnV. He's been in the area since 1987 (except for '88 or '89). He's been very active in HSLDA, BRBC, Awana, PHC, and has MANY friends. He will be missed as he goes off to law school this year.

I don't know what it was about Sunday evening. Despite all that was against it--just getting back from Kansas, tired from clogging, and feeling a bit sicky--it was still a GREAT evening, fellowshipping with friends and just being with Jesse.

Sunday afternoon, I decided that I'd picked up a cold somewhere between Kansas and the flight back to Virginia. I wasn't feeling bad, just drained (generally physically and congestion). Monday afternoon, I left work early to go home and spend some time resting and recuperating. Jesse surprised me (and made my day much better!) by showing up with a single rose and a get-well gift. We ended up watching the latest VeggieTales movie, LarryBoy and the Bad Apple. It was "homework" for the church event Friday evening and there wasn't going to be any other chance to do it.

Tuesday and Wednesday were routine activities--work, clogging on Tuesday, youth group on Wednesday. Jesse was presenting the lesson on Wednesday, so he had to do some extra prep for that. It was a typical turn-out for the summer--very small group--but I thought Jesse did a great job with the lesson. The youth group is just getting started on a study about Christian ethics. One of the questions Jesse posed on Wednesday night: When Abraham and Sarah entered Egypt, they lied about their relationship and God punished the pharoah and made it VERY clear to Abraham that in lying, he had been wrong. On the other hand Rahab lied to hide the Isrealite spies and was very well rewarded (given her life) for doing so. What made Abraham's lie so wrong, but Rahab's lie to be rewarded? Answer to be discussed in later meetings. They are also looking forward to discussing such topics as abortion, drugs, killing, and choosing friends.

New students were arriving on-campus at PHC during the week. By Thursday evening, they'd been through a day of orientation and we and other faculty and staff and families joined them for a cook-out. After the meal, the RA's presented a series of skits about college life--dorm roommates being chosen based on e-mail addresses, getting advice from your RA, signing up for every extracurricular activity immediately, etc. Very well done!

We still made it to clogging after that without any problem.

Friday was a big day at work for me. In the morning, I interviewed a person for a part-time library position. In the afternoon, I conducted 3 sessions of library orientation for our 85+ new students on campus.

Friday after work was the WLCC Family Fun Night. The church had an evening of coloring, games, and snacks wrapped up with a showing of the latest VeggieTales movie. They were even able to get LarryBoy to show up and direct the games. (I'd love Jesse even if he were purple and green.)

Saturday was an all day (9-4) Walk Through the Old Testament Seminar. It was very enjoyable. At the end of the day, we had 77 hand signs with keywords to remind us of all the major events and people (and geography) in the Old Testament. Ask us if we still remember it and you may have to tolerate us demonstrating the whole thing! :)

In the evening, we headed back over to PHC for a Luau--food, games, and fellowship with new and returning students, faculty, staff, and families. Based on questions I got at the Luau and since, one rumor that went around among students was that I got married over the summer. Hmmm....do they think I'm that impulsive or that private and hard to know?

Sunday was very relaxing--just spending the day together with nothing particular to do. We watched a movie, did a load of laundry, took a walk, visited with Mark & Megan and family, and I don't remember what all else.

Monday was the start of PHC classes. I had an extra long day working 8:30-8:30. But I got quite a bit accomplished. The new president, Dr. Walker, spoke in the convocation chapel. I was pleased with how much ground was covered in a 1-hour library student assistant training meeting. There was also an HSLDA/PHC mixer in the afternoon. By the time 8:30 arrived, I was ready to get away from PHC for a bit. Just minutes before I leave, Jesse shows up to make sure I end my day on a good note!

Week at Home Summary

If you want more details, you can enjoy Jesse's perspective or wade through my full account of wedding shopping.

I enjoyed 10 days at home (Aug 3-12), but especially enjoyed having Jesse and Jer come out for the last 6 days (Aug 7-12).

Highlights of the trip included:

• Wedding shopping. My gown, the bridesmaid dresses, and the wedding rings are ready for the wedding. Also picked up a wedding book, cake topper, disposable table clothes, announcement paper, some silk flowers, and various other decorative detail items. Worked on colors for mints, veil, and brainstorming ideas for the ceremony and reception.
• Fun at the fair. Including attending the style review (Great job, L!) and royalty crowning. Seeing lots of exhibits--food, photo, clothing, and much more. Visiting the animals for the competition (cows, pigs, sheep) and in the petting area (ducks, kittens, donkey, turtle). Eating free food! Visiting with lots of family, friends, and acquaintances.
• Fun at home. Playing with the ducks, watching the storms, shooting the paintball gun, playing games.
• Visiting family and friends, including Grandma, Great-aunt Marie, and Everett.
• A double date with my parents for sharing of experiences and advice. OK, I really enjoyed it. Jesse said he enjoyed it, but maybe he was just saying that to be polite. Advice from future in-laws isn't necessarily "enjoyable" even when it is all phrased positively and constructively. It might be more accurate from his perspective to say it went well and wasn't unpleasant.
• Flying home together on Saturday. There were some doubts as to whether that would happen, as all three tickets were purchased separately. The computer bumped Jer to an earlier connection for the second leg of the trip. Of course, he can't fly by himself! It took Jesse an hour and talking to at least 5 different people to get his ticket changed to be on the same flight as Jer's. (Under some unexplained airline reasoning, Jer's ticket could not be changed back to the later flight, even though there were seats on the flight.) Then I was able to get onto the earlier flight flying standby. It was very nice to be arriving in Dulles at the same time we were originally scheduled to still be laying over in Chicago!

The Story: Going On?

Big Grin!

Yeah, yeah. And she doesn't mention anything that she does for me, like cards and meals and movies and cheering me up! Some cards, bouquets or petals are the least I can do. It makes my day so much more enjoyable too when I can stop by. It's a monochrome, 2D day when I don't see her!

We've had a great time in PA for Thanksgiving. It was a meet-the-relatives time for her and she pulled it of so very well! Heck that's too tame - she was the picture of poise, grace and charm the whole time! None of the movie stuff from Meet the Parents! Charlessa already met and knew my mom and siblings, though she had never met my dad until shortly before Thanksgiving. It's always nerve-wracking to meet his/her parents for the first time, or going to their house for the holidays, but this went off without a hitch. Better than that, it was wonderful!

Now, lemme see, where were we? *rummages around through past posts* Aha! There we go.

From January on through the beginning of July nothing much happened that outside people would see, or at least I don't think much was showing through. Though I certainly had plenty spinning around through my head. Not to set Charlessa up on a pedestal (ok, well maybe a little bit!), but I had always loved the grace and wisdom with which she had always spoken. I tend to be too quickly harsh and it was always a blessing to me when I would get emails or talk with her. I'd be inspired by her ideas and reminded to extend Grace regardless of what I think of others.

So by the time I moved back down to Virginia in January I already had her on a pedestal of sorts. It quickly grew taller.

For six months I made up excuses to see or talk with Charlessa - clogging, helping in the library, plays, church, books, movies, Bible studies. You name it, I used it. But I still made every effort to appear casual and wouldn't say that I was attracted to Charlessa in that way.

We were just good friends.
I thought really highly of her.
I enjoyed her company.
We had lots of similarities and similar interests.
Nothing more!
(SU-U-U-URE!)

After a couple months those were sounding pretty thin, even to myself. My mom asked me about Charlessa a few times and I even had some friends ask me if something was happening. And so, around June (at karate camp to be precise) I finally caved. I couldn't go on in good conscience anyway. I'm only mildly telepathic, and so couldn't quite tell what Charlessa was thinking. :^) I hated to possibly be putting Charlessa into an unsure limbo. "Is Jesse looking toward something more serious than friends here or not? He spends a lot of time, but nothing definite?"

Shortly after July 4th, after a couple weeks of prayer and getting any input dad and mom had to offer, I jumped in!

I just didn't mention it to Charlessa.

( the big chicken that I am! )

Continue: The Story: June

Thanksgiving Trip

Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays for being able to relax, spend time with family, and appreciate what I have. Since I moved to VA five years ago, I haven't made it home for Thanksgiving. I have never lacked friends with whom I can share a traditional meal and the afternoon for each of the past five years. Each of those Thanksgiving holidays was very enjoyable and helped me to appreciate blessings, but it has never felt the same as going home.

I won't go so far as to say that Thanksgiving with Jesse's family was just like going home. I still missed my family--parents, sisters, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. (I heard there were at least a total of 23 gathered for this year's Thanksgiving meal.) But spending Thanksgiving "weekend" in PA was closer to the family Thanksgiving I grew up knowing than what I've been able to experience for the last few years. I got so far away that I wasn't able to end up spending part of the day or weekend working in the library. I had time to relax, play family games, and appreciate the blessings of life.

Picking up Jeremiah around 9:15, we made it to his parents' home near 3:00. Shortly, we headed off from there to have the Thanksgiving meal with one other family, his aunt's. Jesse had made up a apple crisp to contribute to dessert. In some ways, I felt like a bum--arriving without any food and not part of the family, but no one made me feel like an outsider.

In the evening, four of us (Jesse, David, their dad, and myself) sat down to a game of Boggle and later three of us (their dad headed to bed) played their version of Scrabble. It had been a while since I've played Boggle, I discovered I've picked up the tendency to write down questionable letter combinations--those that might be words, but don't even know for sure myself. I tried to keep this rather annoying (at least for other players) tendency to a minimum, but will have to work on that some more. Scrabble has never been a game that I've been particularly fond of, but I think I could like it better if I played it a bit more. The way they play the game was very different from the way I've ever played it, but in some ways, I found it more fun. By the last round or two, I was beginning to really get into the game and even won a round.

Friday morning was, for me, very relaxing. Margaret was sleeping after having worked her night shift. The guys were all outside splitting wood. Jeremiah, Jesse's mom, and myself hung around the house, doing a little clean-up, and talking. Jeremiah did go out for a few minutes to hang out with the guys and ride the "tractor" (riding lawn mower pulling a wagon) which he decided was too loud.

The afternoon seemed even shorter, as we watched a movie and Jesse and I made a trip to visit with one of his website clients in the area. The evening arrived and Margaret was able to join us for a game of SolarQuest. Somewhat similar to Monopoly, which I've never liked exceedingly well. I was very soundly beaten.

Saturday morning went quickly too as we packed, visited for the final time, and prepared to leave. Stop at the library and the bank where Jesse used to work were made on the way out of town. Traffic slowed us down a bit on the return south, so that we were later than intended in getting Jeremiah home. We did end up staying for a bit for a meal of Thanksgiving leftovers that was good.

Of course, there is so much that happens that doesn't fit well into a stark recitation of events--the teasing, tickling, and playing between Jeremiah and his aunt, uncle, and dad; the conversations and discussions that take place casually and continually; the work-outs and work; petting and playing with the dogs; learning "magic" tricks; and just experiencing family life.

How can I thank the McConnell's for making me a part of their family life, even if just for a couple of days?

Family Meeting

Sunday evening, my parents, my brother SC and my sister L were able to meet Jesse, his mom, and his sister Margaret. They all came over to my place after Awana. There was hot tea, visiting, Uno, ice cream, and chili. It was the first time parents had met.

I found it interesting that, despite being 1,000+ miles apart, it happened without any real planning with that goal in mind. My parents had a wedding in KY on Saturday and decided they'd come on out to see me. They told me that they'd arrive Sunday or Monday. This was the weekend Margaret could get some time off her job and Jesse's mother could come down to sell their dogs.

It was about a week before they arrived that my parents told me for sure that they would be coming in on Sunday and Jesse was sure that his family wouldn't be leaving until Monday. It was only at that point that the possibility of a meeting was explored and planned.

And, in typical fashion, I thought about it and worried about it much more than necessary, until a wise friend reminded me, "It's the same as meeting any one else you've never met before."