what happened a week ago today

Dear readers,

I have been home from California for a few days, part of me wants to go back and part of me is glad to be here. A few weeks of Indiana summer life before the next trip, and it is going to be a crazy couple months of travel.

Last time I think I left off after recounting the Saturday in San Francisco adventures? I know I did a very quick job of that, but hopefully it gave you a picture of the full and fun day.

On Sunday we slept in, we had yummy grilled hot dogs and buns and grilled corn and little tabouleh and couscous salads for lunch, then Natalie and I finished our movie (Little Miss Sunshine) while Jon took the dogs to the park for some exercise,which they needed after being shut up all day. Oh yes, Jon and Natalie have 2 dogs and 2 cats. I am amazed at all the animals in their apartment but it is pretty fun.

When Jon got back, he informed us that we could take the next train which by the way was in 10 minutes! That is, if we were ready. Oh my goodness! So we scrambled around, grabbed our stuff including sunscreen, and for the 2nd day in a row took off for the train station.

We took the train into town and then took a cab down the bayside (hmm the driver did not know where the Ferry building was... insane). We walked along the bay for a while, in a mall, (one of the cool urban malls with nifty stores), around town a bit, then I decided I needed to head back and head out to San Jose for work that week.

Somehow I drove to San Jose without having to turn around... more than once, initially I got on the highway headed north instead of south. Figures!! But with a GPS it is easy, and actually I kind of like the freeway ramps in California, it is easy to turn around on them. huge improvement on the East Coast and even the Midwest.

I got to my hotel and was IN AWE at the beauty of it... amazing, when I have a few minutes to collect my pictures I will show you. Got my computer online which is of course the most important part. Took a picture from my balcony. I wish I'd had more time that week to simply hang out in all the different parts of my suite and enjoy it... That is one of the things you have to keep in mind, those of you who have the working world ahead, when you have a job that sends you on cool trips, you are often busy enough that you don't often take the time to properly appreciate it even if you do initially appreciate it very much with your eyes and your gasps of delight. In fact that applies to all of life. Enjoy what you are doing right now and live it to the full. That is a paraphrase of a great quote by Jim Elliott, a missionary who died for Christ in South America.

Then I finally realized my text messaging was failing and I called the person I was meeting for dinner to find that he was already there... so I took off! I had dinner with a new friend I made over the weekend, my cousin's friend who was also there for work. We went to an outdoor mall and I picked out a French restaurant, mmmm yummy. What a fun evening and delicious food. And then it was plenty late and time for both of us to go to our hotels and get some sleep before the work week ahead.

Well I will tell you about the rest of the week in another post because this one got a bit long and I don't want people complaining that they have to read through a book every time.

bopping around San Francisco

So on my first full day on the West Coast, we got up and ate breakfast my cousin cooked, we dashed out the door with a friend to catch the train to the bike shop, where we rented 2 bikes for those of us who are just temporarily in town, met up with another friend who biked there to meet us, and set off on a bike ride across San Francisco and to the Golden Gate Bridge! which we crossed. Then we biked doooooooown the hill and found a place to park and lock our bikes, with some difficulty, and sat down to a delicious lunch which was more or less seafood for all of us. Then we went back to take the ferry back across the ferry... I mean across the bay, guess I am a little sleepy. But apparently we needed tokens and tickets to get on the ferry and there was not time to get that hour's ferry. So we got ourselves tokens and tickets for the next one and then went and sat in a little restaurant place and got something to drink and sat and chatted and bonded for a while. Oh yes, after locking up our bikes before that. so then we went and picked up our bikes again and waited in line for the ferry! And we got on it and enjoyed a nice chilly super windy ride. When we got back we rode our bikes through downtown traffic to my cousin's office because we had to wait for the next train. Oh yikes, that ride was a little interesting. Then we hung out in the office and warmed up for a while. that office is AMAZING! nothing like the cubeville I am used to. when we left, we said goodbye to one of our friends and then it was the four of us walking back to the train station. Well I said something, joking, about racing. Two of us had bikes, two of us didn't - me and the friend. The friend seemed to think I was mostly serious and that started me running and then we both started running breakneck down the sidewalk, then we were just about ready to slow down when my cousin and his wife on bikes started passing us! So we ran again really hard and just managed to run into the train station ahead. We were very excited about that. Hahaha!! These little impromptu adventures... Then we took the train, then we got home, the friend left to go to another even he needed to attend, and I and my cousins went out to a VERY cool Mongolian restaurant (are you reading this Derek??)  where you have a hot plate in the middle of the table and a pan of broth there, kept at a rolling boil, and you order different kinds of meat and vegetables and other things that you want, and you take pieces of them and dip or leave them in the hot broth to cook for a minute or two, then eat them... totally new incredible experience! I have to learn how to do that. Probably not hard, just takes some prep. If you ever get the chance to have Shabu Shabu (i think that's what it's called), please do.

And now we're back home chilling, Natalie and I are watching the first part of a movie (Little Miss Sunshine),, and I should really go to bed. It is 12:40 here and 3:40 Indiana time. Yikes! But a very fun day. Tomorrow should be more relaxing, although, I would totally take another day like this.

jumping back in history for a moment

Dear all,

When I went to the airport to leave Philly back in June I had some fun getting to my gate, so thought I would share... I typed this out back on the day it happened and never remembered to post it.

This afternoon my flight was at 6pm so I left my cousin’s house around 3:15. They only live 20 minutes from the airport. But here’s the story. First I set off toward what I thought was the nearest gas station, I just missed it apparently, after a couple minutes I put it in my GPS and circled back around to it. Then I pulled up on the wrong wide, the gas tank was on the other side. Then I could not figure out how to open the gas tank!! There was no fingerhole on the tank lid and no lever anywhere in the car…. So I had to Google that on my phone and it said to push the gas tank lid. I was so mad, I did it and it opened. But it was funny. Then I drove off to the airport. I missed one of the turns on that really big ridiculous traffic circle so I had to take a back way to the right road (my GPS rerouted of course), then I found myself at a 4-way stop on this new route between 2 Drexel police cars. I was slightly freaked out but laughed about it right away. Fortunately they weren’t with me long. Then there were cars stopped on the road I needed, got around them. Then there was one-lane construction ramp, finally got past it and to the airport. Then the lady took a while to figure out how to split my charge for the Avis rental. Then I had to wait for the bus. Then when I got to the airport they did very quickly check my 1 bag for me but security was a long line. Then I got almost all the way to my gate printed on my ticket and looked on a flight info board and it said it was a different gate on the other side of the airport! Before I went all the way down there I asked someone and they confirmed my 1st gate was right. I had to ask the lady at the gate too because the sign said it was going to San Juan Puerto Rico. That would have been a fun place to end up but I guess it’s just as well I went home. On the plane I sat next to a married couple so there wasn’t a lot of point in trying to talk although I did have to ask them about my seat belt which had a weird detachable part… hahhaha! They said I won the prize for having that. On the flight first I dozed for a while and then I read a book. Hmmm I had better stop talking, this is getting pointless to go through all the details. But it will make my blog post about these adventures much faster! Haha, sorry, that will be a repeat for you then. So anyway, I am in the right gate for my flight to South Bend and I shouldn’t miss it.

heaps of stuff!

Well, I think this year I am going to beat last year's record. Last year I recall that I did not even leave the state of Indiana in the month of July... though I did every other month. This year I am going to California. Yikes!

Yes, a new work trip, I can't say I balked at all when the San Jose site asked me to come out for a few days. Have never been to California and am extremely curious and a little nervous about it. Will the air feel different? Will California smell weird? Will I fall over and pass out? Will the people speak the same language as me? Ok, I better stop. :)  haha!  Regardless I am looking forward to it, and I really hope this time I can avoid missing my connecting flight and showing up late at my hosts' home. How handy to have second cousins basically right in San Jose a few minutes from the airport!

the other grand bit of news is that I had an orthodontist checkup today and my orthodontist gave the go-ahead to schedule the last 4 appointments, which involves everything necessary to take the braces off. I have been saying for quite a while that I will actually be a little sad to lose the braces and lose my teenager identity, and yes I will be a wee bit sad about that, but now that they have said it is almost time, I am truly excited to have them off. Funny how that works. I guess you start looking forward to whatever you know is coming!

Right now it is 10:37 and we are sitting around waiting to see if the bible study group who basically all couldn't come at the regular time was serious about coming around 10:30 or if it was just a joke. It is so hard to tell with these people. I need faces to look at. And people to make the sarcasm sign if they are actually joking. But it's cool, a little time to hang out with Kendra and update the long neglected blog. But nobody has been complaining very vocally... That is, at all... So I must assume no one cares too much. Nevertheless I will try to do better!

Well, I better go brush my toophers and floss and all that good stuff, especially to impress my dentist tomorrow morning. He is going to be super excited to hear about my braces! Come to think of it, I will miss my orthodontist and all the techs there. My orthodontist has a standing joke about "this appointment is going to hurt" or "pull a little to make it hurt and she might bring it treats" because once it did hurt so bad I cried, and then I felt bad, and brought in brownies as an apology. Hahaha! Some great laughs over the last 2.5 years.

Happy Friday!!!

time wants to run when you're having fun

How did a whole week run away and I did not notice?! 

Last weekend when I left you, we were jumping full swing into wedding preparations... I spent all afternoon helping with that (including cleaning a bathroom at our friend's house... which is really ironic since I almost never clean the bathroom here, dishes are my assigned chore), then we had the wedding rehearsal and dinner afterward at Hacienda, then we ran home to find KENDRA was here!! That was exciting. Then we ran out again for fireworks. Winona Lake fireworks were a slight disappointment in the length, I think they only lasted about 20 minutes, and we missed the first couple minutes. However they were very beautifully staged and delightful to watch. But the length was more than made up for the following night when we spent at least 30 minutes watching fireworks exploding right over our heads at the wedding reception. That was a great day and probably deserves its own post. I really hope someday I have the time to sit down and write all the things I should. Till then I will try to keep my readers updated while occasionally picking some adventures to describe in more detail.

The last week with Kendra here has been fun! I think we have done something fun every day. Basically. Fun on purpose I mean. Just hanging out with siblings is fun, you know. So many inside jokes and shared memories and total license to pick on each other... !

She did totally blow me away on Thursday with the news that she had passed her board exam which oh, by the way, she had taken on her way out here but had not told us!

Today the plan is to go shopping, because we need clothes. And we have tried the shops in Warsaw and they have not measured up to our needs, so we are going to go hit The Mall in Fort Wayne!

And then we have to come back and go to the last Masterworks concert of the season and.... etc.

Have a great Saturday!

4th of July weekend...

Hi guys! Sorry. The slacker blogger finally updates. I am not doing very well at keeping this up! Not from lack of desire, just from the busy-ness of life. Even now as I sit here my fingers are still damp from washing dishes, after a morning of booking a flight to California (next work trip) and running errands and cleaning the house in preparation for Kendra coming! and even I am trying to stuff down some healthy food before going next door to help with wedding prep. 'Cause our super good friend Elisabeth is getting married tomorrow! And I am a bridesmaid so I should help. Plus a good friend and next-door neighbor so I want to. :)

Yesterday was July 4th as I'm sure you know. I confess I didn't spend the WHOLE day in patriotic celebration, I spent some time in the morning practicing hairstyles and sandal tying with another bridesmaid. You may ask yourself "sandal tying?!?"  Well for the wedding we got these sandals that have the foot part and then several loops for a long ribbon, which you can tie through the loops different ways for different styles. The ribbons are pretty long and there are a LOT of different styles so we had to find one that we liked, that looked good with the dress, that felt good on our feet and wouldn't let the sandals fall off. We were successful after just 3 tries. Then I can't remember what I did all afternoon... Oh, I took a walk, and researched lots of different flight options so I could get the best one today. Different airports to fly in and out of, different times, different prices... complicated! Then I made some brownies and drove up to Goshen (stopping to pick up potato salad on the way) to hang out with Uncle Doug and Aunt Cindy and a couple of the cousins and a couple of the first-cousins-once-removed (otherwise known as FCORs). I did my best to explain this term to them (the once-removed ones, who incidentally are all 12 or under) and they mostly had it by the end of the evening. Had grilled corn on the cob for the first time ever! Cut mine off of course. After dinner and a game of Apples to Apples, in which my 12-year-old FCOR won, we went out to the driveway to set off some fireworks! Josh said that some of them were illegal but some of us were slightly doubtful he could have just walked into WalMart and bought illegal fireworks. They were all very fun... I set off a couple too. Some of the neighbors stopped over to help us.

And then I drove back to Warsaw and decided that 60 miles left on my tank of gas was plenty to leave that chore over until today. There were a lot of fireworks to see on the way home.

And then I watched part of a movie at 11:30 before going to bed because you know on these holiday times you can't just go to bed right away!

Well I hope you all had a good 4th of July, thanking God for the country we have to live in, and I hope you keep enjoying the weekend! Stay tuned for more wedding weekend updates. :)