blogiversary 2.0

It has been 2 years since I started sharing my thoughts on the World Wide Web and I was curious in thinking through all that has poured out of me in those 2 years as to what some of the themes have been. So I took inventory and this is what I came up with according to my tags on my posts:

about me (31)
celebrations (17)
community (21)
friendship (31)
growth (21)
learning something new (17)
seasons (29)
simple joys (27)
worship (33)

A few conclusions from those numbers...I am trying to figure things out in my own life and relationally (aren't we all?) I have been sensing lately that it is important to know our own journey: to walk backwards into the future appreciating where we have come from (something we learned in Israel). I miss it, Israel that is. I find myself longing to engage depth but today something wonderful happened. I was able to live in the moments and not think too hard beyond the fact that I was enjoying sitting outside, enjoying good food and company.

I talked about movies and books; we laughed about past vacations and talked about those to come. I played with my dog and kissed my husband; I ate ribs with Sweet Baby Ray's and drank a great wheat beer in the sunshine on the deck. Nothing to analyze or debate, just a day to be enjoyed.

knee deep in summer

It is that time of year where everything is centered around flip flops, grilling out & enjoying the season...blogging finds its place somewhere in between the bbqs and pool parties.

So here are a few things from the past week since St. Louis:

For the date night that I was promised...Ryan took me to the Electric Cheetah in GR and it was another one of those places so great you want to share it with friends. Lucky Amber & Sarah, who both live in cool places near enough to frequent it often, but for the rest of us, these little Eastown gems are a special treat.
We shared the "raw" fries which are fries sliced as thin as potato chips...a ketchup lovers dream:

and the brocolli salad which was equally, if not more, delicious. Fresh produce and all from local farmer's markets & providers.

I spent all day Saturday hanging out at the 2nd annual "art in the park" in Hudsonville where our church had a booth with a couple of other crafting friends and then had my fam over on Saturday night...Toby was obviously excited to celebrate:

cuties: Erich & his girlfriend Allison whom I love! (can't wait for another family vacation with these 2 this fall! Hilton Head in 3 months...)

this is how "home" looks in my mind:



Ever so thankful for the miracles that took place in our family this spring & can't help but think that when I see this picture of the 5 of us.

making wishes for our 25th & 27th year. Love being the older sister!

Allison got me this new scarf for my b-day which I LOVE and is a sign she knows me well because she said it just looked like me.


Another new thing that started this week is our high school Summer Intern program at EGM-- which means I get to spend one day a week with these 2: Laura & Ryan and our 6 incredible students!



I will leave you with this...a little preview of a giveaway I am working on with a crafter I met Saturday whose specialty is "flowers & feathers..." drooling yet?!


fashion disclaimer: my obsession with scarves may be morphing into hair accessories.

weekend update

The adventures keep on keepin on and as much as I love summer, I can officially say that my inner homebody self is screaming out for some more time around Zeeland, especially on the weekends.

We are still really loving having Russell around; he is such a great kid and brings alot of life to our house. He got to join us in an annual family tradition...Danish Festival! For the past 26 years I have not missed it once, and my family has been literally sitting on the same corner to watch this parade for the 45 years that it has existed. I asked Russell what he thought since it was his first time and without missing a beat he said "those Danes are really something."

Here are a few pics of the day @ the parade and then our annual family party afterwards to celebrate my parent's birthdays which are both in late August.

Sunday night goodness

what a refreshing weekend; bookended by good times with new friends including a bonfire on Friday night @ the Davidson's (who are going to have their 3rd child tomorrow morning and still invited us over)! And then tonight an impromptu spaghetti dinner with our new friend Laura from EGM. Sandwiched in the middle of those 2 things was a great Saturday spent at home with the exception of a trip with my boys to the dog park.

I wanted to make sure and hold to my word with my blogging for books giveaway! Thanks for all of the great feedback, so reassuring to know others experience the same joys & struggles. Janna is the lucky winner of this one but stay tuned, there will be more coming this fall!

we came, we tri-ed, we conquered

It is a very good thing I decided this week to remember my like for running because I sure needed it this morning. Temperature: 91 degrees, Heat Index 101 degrees as we began our team triathlon at 7 a.m. in Naperville. We all decided we love this team thing because you still get to do the carb loading, enjoy the experience of the event and without putting your body into a state of exhaustion for the next 24 hours.

I was so proud of Ry, his first race of any kind and he has been the spectator at more races than he would like to remember so I guess he decided it was his turn. He rocked the swimming, Evon killed it on the bike & ran until I thought my face was the deepest purple possible. And it was all worth it because we just checked the team results and we got 9th out of 30 teams! Oh yeah! I'm really not too competitive with anyone but myself but it was fun to accomplish something as a team. Now we are off to enjoy a block party complete with brats on the grill & homemade ice cream. Here are a few post race pics (the camera died before hand) but it's all good.

Lake Geneva, WI part 2, the adventures

Amazing how a week of vacation can enough space for relaxation and exploring new places. I loved the town of Lake Geneva and we drove in a couple of times to just walk around and soak up the historic beach town. Here we are goofing around one night on the pier:

One of the highlights of our day trip into Milwaukee was Lakefront Brewery which some friends had highly recommended and it did not let us down. It was so laid back and fun that the hour tour flew by with a hilarious guide who is one of the original founders of the place. If you ever have a chance, for $6 you get multiple beer tastings and an awesome pint glass as a souvenir. It stood out as a favorite of everyone in the group as we sat on our last night and discussed the highlights of the week


We also took the chance to visit the "CHEESE MART", part of this little German district with a cheese store that ships internationally and has cheeses I have never even heard of. My poor family, a few of them asked me if I was going to buy a hat...am I that embarrassing?!

We tried to stretch our last 24 hours by waking up on Friday & kayaking down a river, just the 2 of us, which was a must-do on Ryan's short list. And I happily obliged, so relaxing and fun to just paddle side-by-side. Or more like Ryan was usually way ahead of me and I was dodging bushes and trees but I got the hang of it. For our last night we dressed up for dinner at a beautiful little Bistro on the top floor of an old manor with yummy appetizers like baked brie, bruschetta, and spinach dip followed by deep dishes of pasta and later the last pieces of the Lake Geneva Pie Company strawberry/rhubarb & apple pies ala mode. perfection.

weekend update

We had the most wonderful relaxing weekend that we have had in a long time and I am so thankful we were home so much of it. I have been feeling like we are always gone somewhere, doing something and miss out on those nights where we just make plans on the fly. Like Friday night, when we went to see BrieAnna play at Mocha & Music with Christina and ended up with a group under the stars at New Holland.

Saturday night proved to be much of the same when Justin & Jamie called us around 7ish to meet them at the Brewery...2 nights in a row was perfect. They brought their new little girl, who definitely takes the cake for being my favorite little one right now. Who says you can't mix babies and breweries? They are the most laid back parents and I can honestly say that they are the same Justin & Jamie as always. We didn't get a picture of the 4 of us but Jamie was kind enough to snap some pics of Alexis with us :)

what a sweetie, she was so chill the whole night, almost like she knew that was what you do at New Holland, just relax!

As for Sunday, after church we vegged ALL afternoon, didn't go anywhere or do anything beyond a walk down to the Post Office & a nap on the couch with the sun pouring in. At night we had our long awaited small group cookout on Dana & Randy's back porch and since everyone has been gone on vacations and doing summertime things, there was much catching up to be done. Hard to believe that we have been together for close to 2 years as a group and a new couple will be joining us this fall who just celebrated their first anniversary which I think will add alot of life to the group.

ended the night with choosing this new layout from Shabby Blogs since I didn't win any of the contests I entered. I figure, if you can't beat em, join em. Let me know what you think!