Lightin' It Up

Last Sunday on our way home from church, we spotted a garage sale.  We decided to stop and take a look.  We didn't think we'd really find anything, but we spotted two matching lamps that stuck out to us.  We kept debating on the style, but thought let's go crazy and try something different.  We picked them both up for a total of $15.

(Newly purchased lamp)

We were not fans of the orignal lamp shades.  They weren't the best quality and also looked very dated.  So we headed to our new favorite place -- Menard's and picked up some new shades.

(New lamp & new shade -- it's amazing how a lamp shade can change the overall look of the lamp!)

We put one lamp in the living on an end table (pictured above) and the other lamp is on our newly acquired entry way table!

(Entryway -- this lamp is purely for decoration, there's no outlet in that location to plug-in.  Now I'm in the market for some sort of basket or decoration to accompany the lamp on the table.)

Our new lamps were purchased just in time -- this Sunday, our chandelier in the living room decided to quit working.  Well actually, we had the opposite problem.  It wouldn't turn off!  It's controlled by a remote control, so we thought maybe the battery was out on the remote.  After replacing it, the lights still wouldn't turn off!  Steve took a peak up in the mount on the ceiling to see if there's a battery in the receiver box.  However, the box is bigger than the hole in the ceiling and we couldn't find the battery in the tight space.  But while he was messing with it, it shut itself off and we can't turn it back on.  Oh well, at least we're not wasting energy with it now :-/.

Lovely Visitors

My mom and youngest niece Gabbie came to stay a couple days this week.  I had some stuff to pass off tomy mom and she had some stuff of mine, so she decided it was worth driving all the way to Lima for a visit to exchange the items (the items were merely an excuse to come!).  They didn't stay long, just a couple days, but anytime with family is better than no time with family!

While they were here we did lots of shopping (we were on a mission for some items for my oldest niece Emily's birthday), crafts, and re-potted a couple of my plants.

(We made a "note-board" for Emily's birthday present.  She turns 9 next week and her big gift form her parents is a newly decorated room.  It's semi-ballet themed with bright colors.  This board will hang on her wall and she can slip notes and photos in between the ribbons to display.)

  We had intentions of using a staple gun to assemble the board, but my mom got injured just opening the box of staples.  So we used a hot glue gun instead -- much better idea!  It took us way too long to assemble, but the end result is worth it!  While we worked on our project, Gabbie was busy coloring and creating pages to give to people.  That girl is so creative!

(Ha ha, this picture was too funny to share.  In the morning after Steve left for work, the other two would come and crawl into my bed.  We attempted to take a picture together, but the flash got us all.)

Thanks Mom & Gabbie for making the trip to visit!

Packing it in in Cincinnati

This traveling stuff is getting old. I can't speak for Steve (who is already begging for another Europe trip), but I am sick of living out of a suitcase.  But I also know that if I didn't, I would be holed up alone in Ohio and I enjoy my friends and family too much.

Last week was a live-out-of-a-suitcase week.  Steve had training in Cincinnati (you'd think he'd be a pro with all this training :-/).  We headed there Sunday night and stayed at Ashley & Scott's house (Steve's sister & brother-in-law).  They let us crash at their house the entire week!  While they were all away working, I hung out with their cute dog Tyson.  He and I became best buds on the first day.  I entertained myself with the tv & crocheting, but Tyson would periodically interrupt that for a game of tug-o-war or running around the back yard.

(Tyson!)

(Some of the week's creations -- I made hats & booties for my nieces baby dolls.  For Christmas, they're getting a bunch of doll stuff -- American Girl & Bitty Baby -- from me.)

While we were in Cincinnati, we did our Cincinnati Trifecta -- Dewey's Pizza, Graeter's Ice Cream, and Ikea!  We however did not do all three in the same evening, we spread out Cincinnati's goodness over several days.  Scott & Ashley had a pretty busy schedule, and we are very thankful we were able to get to spend the time together that we did!  Thanks guys for hosting us and letting us invade your lives for a week ;-).

While in Cincinnati, a good friend from high school/college reminded me of how close Cincinnati is to her home in Indiana.  The last time I saw Bree was when I subbed in Indiana last October (I stopped and stayed at her house on the way back to Tennessee).  Since we live like 4 hours apart, it would have been silly of me to miss out on seeing her (especially since her first baby girl is due in a month!).  I went with Steve to his training in the morning and then drove 2 hours to visit with her until it was time to drive back and pick up Steve.  We had a wonderful visit and I wish we lived closer so that could happen more often (but at least I cut a 7 hour difference from TN to a 4 hour difference in OH, even though they used to live in Ohio and moved to Indiana just months before we moved.)  I sadly didn't get a picture with her, but I got one of their dog!  I was having an animal week, I guess.

(Riley!  He was very riled up from construction workers working on the house, and he needed lots of attention.  So I played tug-o-war with him.  When I got back to Tyson that evening, he knew I had played with another dog :-/.  Sorry Tyson -- don't worry, I bought back Tyson's love with a treat the next day.)

Steve's training finished up on Friday and he knew he'd get done sometime around noon.  Since the training location and Ashley's house were 20ish minutes apart, he asked me to stay in that area while he was finishing up.  It just so happens that my Uncle Dan & Aunt Joni live 5 minutes from the training site!  So I went with him to work, dropped him off, picked up bagels, and went to visit my aunt & uncle!  I saw my aunt earlier this year at her daughter's baby shower, but I haven't been able to visit with them in some time.  They have a son (Steve) who was in a bad car accident which left him a quadriplegic and unable to communicate (although, he and his parents are able to communicate with each other).  I had an absolutely fabulous time with them!  They let me hang out with them all morning and even took me to lunch!  Just as our lunch was finishing up, Steve's training finished up.  Before leaving their house, they got their Steve laughing which was the best send off for me!  Thanks Dan, Joni & Steve for letting me hang out for the day! 

We got back to Lima in the late afternoon.  I was ready to just be lazy in our house, but Steve had other plans.  We ended up taking his car into the shop to have the muffler fixed (it was rusted out in 3 spots, yikes!) and ran some errands while waiting on the car.  

I loved being able to see so many family & friends during the week, but I especially loved coming home.  I'm ready to just be home and stay home, but there are a few more trips planned in the next couple months and then we hit the holiday season (where has the year gone?).  But for now, our suitcases are just sitting out waiting to be used again.  

Church Search Update

Steve and I have had a slow going church search process.  It doesn't help that we travel a lot and have been gone a lot of weekends this summer.  In Tennessee, our search went pretty quick and we settled on the 4th church we visited.  The first time we went to Fellowship Bible Church in Jackson, we immediately fell in love and new it was the right church for us.

Our story here in Lima has been a lot different.  We've gone to 8+ churches, but we think we've found one.  We have attended Lima Baptist Temple 6 or 7 times, and are growing more attached to it.  The style is much more traditional -- sing primarily hymns, lots of amens from the crowd, and the music is primarily soundtracks or piano/guitar.  Our church in Tennessee matched our desires so perfectly, that we kept comparing the Lima churches to it.  Now, we've accepted we won't find what we had in Tennessee and are learning to appreciate the differences.

We are growing particularly fond of the pastor's teachings.  We decided a strong teacher outweighed the worship portion and LBT has just that.  We especially like the pastor's hand raising (can I get an amen?).  He has a laid back personality, young, and is pretty relatable.  Another perk is the fact that it is broadcast on the tv every Sunday!  There have been a few Sunday's when one of us was feeling the greatest and we were still able to enjoy the church on television (although the tv sermon is from the previous week).

This past Sunday, we visited the Sunday School hour.  We had previously filled out a visitor card and a pastor contacted us with the information for the class after college - 30 class.  It was a pretty good size 25+ people, and a good mix.  There was probably only 2 other couples around our age, leaving the majority closer to 30 and with kids.  We sat next to another couple that was visiting for the first time, and they were newlyweds (a little younger than us).  The leader of the class also happened to be the music pastor.  It was neat getting to see him on a more personal level and then watch him lead the worship in the next hour.  When we were sharing where we were fun, the leader shared with Steve that he too used to live in Colorado.  He prefaced it with "I don't remember exactly where other than that it was South of Denver in a place called -- The Pinery!"  Ha ha -- for those of you who don't know much about Steve, he grew up in the next subdivision in the South Pinery -- what are the odds??  The leader lived there 35+ years ago and remembers the area being very wooded and secluded -- now it's all houses and subdivisions.

Steve and I left the church feeling much better about where God is leading us.  We even sat next to the other new couple in the worship service and got to talk with them a little more.  We are looking forward to next week's church visit instead of cringing and worrying about not meeting people we can call friends.  We are even excited to get to go to a "date night" class event next week!  Thanks for all the prayers about us finding a new church home and creating deeper roots in Lima.  We are finally starting to feel more and more at home in Lima and are excited to get involved more into the community.

My Best Friend's Wedding

I spent most of last week in Indiana helping my best friend from grade school get ready for her big wedding. I went to Kokomo on Tuesday to spend the day with my family.  I was supposed to head to Indy on Wednesday to help her out, but she ended up wanting me to come on Thursday.  While in Kokomo, I got to spend some surprise time shopping with my mom and sister which was very much needed.

Once I got to Indy, Meg kept me pretty busy.  Her wedding was set to be an outside wedding, but there was rain in the forecast.  She and I spent all day Thursday going to 12 different stores hunting down rain boots for her to wear.  After several hours and stores, she ended up purchasing the first pair of boots from the first store. I totally called that would happen.  I had a lot of fun just running around with her.  That evening, I cleaned up her apartment while she worked on some wedding stuff.

Friday morning, we packed all her wedding decorations in our cars and we headed to meet her sisters and mom at a nail salon.  We spent the afternoon being pampered with pedicures & manicures.  I hadn't seen her sisters or mom in a very long time.  Her parents just went through a very messy divorce, and I was afraid of how the weekend was going to go.  There were times of awkwardness, but overall things went better than I expected.

The rehearsal was Friday night and was a pretty painful rehearsal.  First off, it didn't help that we were rehearsing for an outdoor wedding that was predicted to be moved indoors.  Secondly, it was the officiants first wedding.  And lastly, Meg and her husband Joel are very spontaneous people and oftentimes don't think in advance.  It was very evident in the rehearsal, just in that a lot of decisions needed to be made last minute. I had to step in a few times (hope I didn't offend) to help out the officiant.  But once decisions were made, the rest of the rehearsal went very smoothly.  I sat with Meg's dad & siblings at the rehearsal dinner.  I got to talk to her dad and "remember the good times".

That night, I stayed in a hotel room with Meg's 2 sisters (she stayed in a room with college friends and it worked best I went with her sisters).  We stayed up way too late laughing and giggling and all sorts of stuff.  Her younger sister (in high school) has a baby and it was neat to get to talk to her and hear her side of the experience.  She later told me how much she looks up to me and appreciated the time we got to spend together.

It of course poured on Saturday which sealed the fate of the wedding being moved indoors.  All morning and afternoon were spent just hanging out at the hotel getting ready.  A family friend came and did all of our hair. One of Meg's photographers was a good friend of mine in high school and it was weird seeing him again.  We were supposed to go to downtown Noblesville (where the wedding was located) to take pictures but that got changed due to the rain.  We ended up just heading to the wedding location (like a garden/nursery).  We decorated inside the barn (where the ceremony & reception would take place) and had pictures taken.  Steve showed up with my parents before the evening ceremony.

The ceremony was so them!  I could see both of their personalities in the music, the vows the wrote, and the words that the officiant shared.  It has been pretty neat watching Meg grow throughout the years, meet Joel, and now marry him.  I got to serve as her Matron of Honor and even gave a speech at the reception.  Everything went off without a hitch, despite the rain.  Some of my friends from high school came, and it was pretty exciting to get to catch up with them.  My parents left the reception before we did.  Since Steve came with them (he actually came into town Friday night and hung out with my dad & brother-in-law) he was able to go back with me that night.  We didn't stay for the whole reception, I was pretty tired and ready to relax!

It worked out great that Meg chose to get married labor day weekend.  That way, Steve and I were able to spend time with my family with our extra day.  The Adamses came and hung out at my parents' house Sunday.  The guys did their usual gaming while the girls played cards, watched movies, talked, and played Wii.  The girls (and Amber), stayed Sunday night, allowing more play time together Monday morning. In the afternoon, we had a cookout with some extended family coming.  My brother and his family showed up just before Steve and I had to leave to head back to Ohio (in our separate cars).