They're Back!

It's kind of old news, but our dear friends/comrades, Cameron and Ellie, returned to us the week we left for Canada. They've been living in Colorado for the last twelve months and the whole time they were gone, it felt like a piece of us was missing. It's still a little surreal that they are here in the flesh again. Even sweeter is that they just found a great place to rent around the corner from us! I love that God has reunited us and that we can live life and worship Him together once more.

Some of our favorite pastimes with the Philips's include:

• eating late night take out from Aladdin's
• playing Dutch Blitz & Settlers of Catan
• watching Gordon Ramsay television
• going on local adventures
• worshiping God through music and prayer
• being hilarious, because we are. naturally

There are so many things to look forward to in this season of life with these two by our side, as well as those in the little community we've found at our new church.

Life is so much sweeter when spent with those you love.

Goderich 2012

We just got back from a great week in Canada on Lake Huron.

The calming hues of Lake Huron

We go almost every year. And every year, I cry a little when we have to leave. As if its the last time we'll ever be there again in history. But we always return, eventually. Thankfully.

The Pier and Boardwalk

This year was a little extra special because of some extra special company.

The traditional pose of most hipster self portraits. Ironic.

Richard and Sarah flew all the way from England just to be with us.
And maybe to see Toronto.

And maybe because she's been hearing about Goderich for 20 years
and wanted to see what all my raving was about.
You know the kind of friends that you love so much it hurts?
These are those kind of friends.

One of the "must sees" was the Goderich museum. For some reason, the museum has always lived in my mind as wonderfully kitch and a place we must always visit while we're there. Sarah was anxious to see the two-headed calf that I used to reference. However, I think the overall experience underwhelmed. Displays of old farming equipment and vintage bicycles are just not that special when you've paid a large sum of money to fly to see them. I think the whole experience was marred by the fact that I twisted my ankle, collapsed in a pile of gravel just before arriving and ended up limping around rather pitifully.

Old medicinal cabinet at Huron County Museum. Riveting stuff.

Because of my injury, I spent the last sunny day hobbling around a museum and then laid up in the cottage. After that, it rained for the next 48 hours. Determined to make the most of all our last days together we had a dance party in the cottage and played Yahtzee.
We also swam in the rain. And it was glorious.

Rich and Jack at the town square.

The last day, we spent time in a little town called Bayfield (which, naturally, I took no pictures of) ate lunch at a great "British" pub, implored Sarah and Rich to try their first corn dog (which was gross) and ate sorbet. Then we had to say goodbye which meant I cried off and on for the next 24 hours.

We were thankful for the rays of sun on our last evening. 

It gave me a chance to take some pictures of the boys. So classic. So adorable!

I also took two now traditional pictures: 

One of all the grandkids and 

One of Jack kneeling on the picnic table. 

How we managed to get him to make a similar pose and expression is beyond me.

I already can't wait until our return to the sandy, soothing shores of Lake Huron.
Come quickly!

England 2013

My family and I celebrated New Year's Eve, 1992 on a British Airways flight to London. I was 7 going on 8 and it was my first airplane ride. I spilled orange juice on myself - I remember this because it was written in a diary I was keeping at the time. A few weeks later, while having lunch at my new British middle school, I had apple juice spilled on me (accidently) by a girl named Hayley that the teacher described as a "trouble maker" - she was kidding, but I didn't clue into the sarcasm, so I was terrified when I was assigned a seat next to her. The juice spilling was confirmation of my fears at the time.  Later that day I was introduced to Hayley's best friend Sarah who told me I was ugly (she still denies it, but why would I imagine something like that?) Twenty years later, they remain my dearest, most beloved friends.

In the two and a half years my family lived on Windsor Road in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, Sarah, Hayley and I gathered a myriad of strange and wonderful memories, playing games of our own invention. With Sarah a game we dubbed "vomit" which involved placing a bottle cap full of orange juice in your mouth and seeing how much you could keep from spilling out (weird). Hayley and I enjoyed standing on the edge of my tub looking into the big wall to wall mirror as we "shaved" toothpaste off our face with a wet toothbrush (I don't know).

Here we are back in the 90s (from left - Hayley, who hates this picture, Sarah and myself) getting ready for a school production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I was cast as a piece of corn (!) I was only on stage for about 3 minutes but was still required to go to early morning rehearsal to practice "waving like a piece of corn."

My family moved back to the States in 1995 and it would be another 7 years before the three of us would be reunited.  Hayley faithfully stayed in touch through letters and cards, while Sarah and I barely talked because we were lazy penpals.  But when I returned to England in 2002 as a graduation present from my parents, it was as if time had stood still and nothing had changed. And it still feels that way today. No matter how much time goes by between visits, we are still those little girls vomitting juice and shaving toothpaste off our face - in spirit, of course.

Life, naturally, has also brought a lot of change for each of us. In 2006, while I was living in England and working with an organization called Scripture Union, Sarah began dating Richard. I love this man (platonically) as much as she loves him (romantically) and love that he's in her life.The last time I saw them (as well as Hayley) was when they flew to Cleveland for my wedding to be bridesmaids. Even Richard was a bridesmaid! Just kidding. But seriously, that week was such a memory maker. Do you want to hear about it? Great. Now's not the time though.

Right now I want to tell you about how excited I am that after five long years Richard finally popped the question. Praise the Lord! That man will officially be in our lives for good. This also means a long awaited wedding. A long awaited reunion. A long awaited trip to show Tim the land that I love. It means being a bridesmaid of a friend I have loved for twenty years now (how am I even that old?!) It means walking down the aisle in the church of my old British middle school. It means so many glorious and wonderful things.

It also amounts to a whole lot of dollar signs. The wedding is set for July 13 of next year. If you know me personally, or you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that Tim and I have recently gone down to one income since (essentially) losing my job and having a baby. Finding the funds to make this trip happen isn't going to be easy. We're on a no-frills budget just to make ends meet as it is so we're having faith that our 2012 tax return will cover the cost of the flights (currently they're $1700 per person round trip) and maybe a little spending money. So the time to start saving, if we can manage it, is now.

I'm also going to do something totally crazy and unheard of: I'm going to ask if you would be willing to help us. Now I know this probably seems a little audacious and self-centered. I know lots of people could ask for money for way more important things. I know a lot of people out there are struggling. I know lots of you could use a kids-free trip to England right about now.  But for us, this isn't so much a vacation as it a once in a lifetime opportunity to see one of my best friend's get married and to be a special part of such a special day. Let me assure you that I wouldn't ask for your help if I thought we'd be able to come up with the funds on our own.  This trip is deeply meaningful and I really want to be there to celebrate Sarah and Richard's wedding day. If you don't like the idea of giving money to something like this, I totally understand and please don't give. Save it for something you truly feel called to donate to like this or this or this. But if you want to bless Tim and I - as well our friends - then you can donate a little something towards our trip by clicking the PayPal "donate" button at the top of the page in the right hand sidebar.

Or just donate your prayers.

Because we need those too.

Sarah and I at the height of 90s British fashion.
We loved those puppets.
Such an awkward picture.

Last Week in Pictures

After my dad's heart catherization and watching Forks over Knives (its a must see!) 

some of my family and I are going on a whole foods, plant-based diet.

Tim and I are following the Engine 2 plan. So far we feel great and there's no going back!

Here's what we made for dinner on the first night. 

It was my first time trying collard greens - let's just say they taste healthy :) 

For the second time in his life, Jack fell asleep in his high chair. 

It was adorable.

These beautiful people came back into town for a short visit. 

They are so many things to us. We love them dearly.

Oh and I finally finished the boys room. Pictures coming soon!

Baby News!

Nope, I'm not pregnant. Did you think I was?

Ha!

Last week our friends James and Danielle came over to take pictures for their baby announcement. So exciting! Tim and I both teared up when they first told us a few months ago and it was an honor to be a part of announcing it to the rest of the world. I love how these shots turned out! They came up with all the conceptual pieces (i.e. the fruit/chalkboard/wording) and I was flattered when they asked me to be the photographer! You can see how I repurposed that chalkboard here.

Blossom Festival

For the third year in a row, we went to Chagrin Falls for the annual Blossom Festival. We all gather at Aunt Kim and Uncle Daniel's, meander down the road for a glimpse at the parade and then eat delicious food back at the house. This was Jack's first taste of a small town parade and we were curious to see how he'd respond. We had quickly handed him off to Tim's sister when we got there, expecting that he would start to cry, especially since he's not been feeling 100% lately, but were pleasantly surprised when he sat on her lap, quietly taking it all in as his little cheeks grew more and more pink from the 80 degree weather.

Also in the rookie category to the whole experience were Cameron and Ellie who tagged along with us - they are, after all, part of the family these days. I still can't believe that at the age of 23, Cameron had not been to a parade up until today.

One thing they introduced us to was Jeni's Ice Cream Shop (they'd visited one on their honeymoon), which just so happened to be situated in the town square. The prices were a bit high ($3 for one half-scoop. That's right... a half scoop) but as Tim put it, "Would you rather pay $3 for two scoops of cheap ice cream, or $3 for a half scoop of really good ice cream?" And truth be told, Jeni's ice cream is pretty high end. Any ice cream shop that sells flavors like Goat Cheese with Red Cherries isn't going to come cheap. And for all those unique flavor combinations, I ended up going with boring dark chocolate though the taste was far from boring - and ok, almost worth the $3.

The Wedding.

This past weekend was wonderful. Some of our dearest friends got married in a breathtaking location surrounded by some of the best people I've ever met. If I could marry Tim all over again, I'd take some pages from Miss Ellie's exquisite book of wedding ideas. It was just a perfectly beautiful day and I felt privileged to be a part of it.

Upon reflection

I'm absolutely, 100% ok with feeling as though I really only fit in with my family. Because some people don't even have that.

And when I see two faces greeting me at the front window after a long day of work, with one little set of hands banging against the glass in excitement about my arrival, I really do think to myself, "This is what counts."

So as much as I'm having a very "Eeyore" day, my life is full of love and God forgive me when I don't stop to count my blessings.

Friends : Rethought

I wrote a post the other day about friendships - close friendships to be more specific. The kind that plant themselves deep in your heart. It's true that I've been in want of more of these as of late - not because they don't exist in my life, but because I often feel distant to the people who live closest to me.

Obviously I've removed that post and here's why: I don't want to disvalue the lovely people I call friends here in Cleveland; without them my life would truly be lacking. What I was really getting at - what Tim and I are both longing for - is community. This is not the same thing as having a collection of friendships. Community is close-knit. Community is about people being in each others lives on a daily or weekly basis. Community is, at its core, another word for family - and so much more because these are people brought together by choice, not by blood-lines.

Chances are, if you are my friend and you live in Cleveland - I'm wishing we had a closer relationship. I'm wishing we saw each other more - that we discussed life over coffee and laughed about the funny thing that happened today. That we shared meals and intimate thoughts, jokes and philosophies. I'm wishing we lived life side by side, and not just from time to time.

For those friends who live outside of Cleveland - we already share these things, just not frequently enough due to time and distance. I miss you often - with a sorrow that leaves a dull ache deep in my bones. I wish you were here, or I with you.

To all who consider themselves my friend - my life is made richer from knowing you. My one request: please stay. Even if its from a thousand miles away. And if possible, draw closer - I miss our time together.

"I'm Only Helping"

Tonight we finally got together with the Foxes and Bradfords and it was so refreshing to see these old, dear friends of ours. Since having Jack, I could count on one hand how many times we've collectively gotten together with either couple. This makes us very sad, so it was high time we got together again.


We all met at Dewey's where I ate two delicious slices of pepperoni pizza and Jack did his very best to not pass out from the effects of Tylenol for his achin' gums. Back at the old a.p.t. we compared our favorite youtube videos (ours being amazing race watermelon to the face and sound of music flash mob) and played a boys vs girls best out of three euchre tournament with the B-fords - girls won, naturally. The following was also introduced to us tonight by Ashley, which for whatever reason had me bent over with laughter every time I watched it (which was more than a few times). I'm laughing now. It's THAT funny to me.

Lately.

a) Jack rolls over

b) Giant Eagle run

c) the beauty of a power outage

Pizza Pizza!

Last night was the first night since Jack was born that we were able to go out as a couple; baby-free and fancy. It was g-l-o-r-i-o-u-s. We did a double date with the Kerneys - who also left their wee ones behind with our friend Amber - and had a wonderful little evening together. It started off in downtown Cleveland at Fat Fish Blue - a restaurant I've always wanted to try. The food did not disappoint, except if you were Steve, in which case... no bueno. The elevator in the parking garage, on the other hand, was definitely the highlight of that part of our night. It was the kind that you're not sure you'll get out of alive. The best part was the sign that hung on the wall with the color-coded floor key. Instead of just normal colors like red, yellow, green... the powers that be decided to class the place up a bit by naming them rose, violet and some other random shades mixed in with your everyday color names like blue.

After that we made a stop at Discount Drugmart (they really DO have everything you need - "....Discount Drugmart saves you the run around"... you know the jingle) to buy a pack of cards so we could play euchre at dessert - which would commence at Cheesecake Factory. Tim shushed me as we walked in, because apparently I was talking too loud. Then he scolded me when he thought I'd opened a pack of play makeup and started trying it out (it was actually Rebekah's lipgloss). Then onto dessert we went and the girl's beat the boys at cards and we all enjoyed our cheesecakes. And that is how you have a lovely evening with your best friends and no children (as much as we desperately love our little ones :)

Tonight tonight! Tonight I made homemade pizza from scratch (that means even the crust) and it turned out pretty delicious if I do say so myself. I feel like there's no going back to store-bought pizza once you've had homemade. It's too much fun to make! Not to mention the fact that its all fresh, natural ingredients with no additives or preservatives like other pizzas.

Ok time for bed. Tim and I have been getting to bed wayyyyy too late these days. And tomorrow is a looooooonnnngg day.