a visit with Steve and Jolie before they moved to Seattle
Oliver
the draft
Oliver
the pancake breakfast at Marion's Drive-in Fly-in, or as Aaron calls it "D-I-F-I"
Oliver
JuJu Berry!
Oliver
couples
Oliver
my new sewing machine, which promptly helped me finish the family room curtains
Oliver
Mark and Lauren weekend!
Oliver at King's Island
I painted the dining room and recovered the chairs
Oliver
Jordan and Allison weekend!
Oliver: army crawling and officially teething all at the same time!
Yeah, I'd say we've been a little preoccupied...
Actually I have another reason blogging has been especially lax, except I don't have a picture to show for it. Lately I've been doing some soul searching and finding that I'm concerned about what I am and am not doing for the Kingdom of God in my day-to-day life. This blog is supposed to be about just what it's title suggests, everything and nothing, and yet I'm worried that my posts have been significantly lacking in the everything category. You see Jesus is and should be my everything and it's not that my life and all the things I've blogged about up to this time are nothings, but they would be if I they didn't include Jesus. Thankfully my life and all that it's made up of does include Jesus, but he should be the headline of each story and not in the background which is where I fear I've put him. So I've decided to include more posts about faith and the spiritual journey that makes up the everythings and nothings. I still plan to post silly pictures and recaps of things we've done and places we've gone but I'm hoping to have just as many posts where I share what God's been teaching me and how I've seen him at work in and around me. It's a restructuring of sorts that I hope leads to many new and wonderful things not just here but in all aspects of my life and maybe even the lives of others.
Few have seen it in all its glory. Those who have marvel at its subtle balance of sweet, tangy, and...well...chewy blandness. Those who've tasted it? Well, as far as I know that's just me, but I love it! I'm talking about, of course, horsefeed.
A piping cold bowl of the golden good stuff.
What is horsefeed you ask? Only my favorite late night snack. Perfect for staving off hunger pangs (pains?) while avoiding yet another cookie/cracker/slice of pizza/cake, a good old fashioned bowl of horsefeed goes a long way toward filling you up. And since it's high in fiber, who needs Jamie Lee Curtis and her overstated regularity?
Making horsefeed is easy--all it takes is a well stocked pantry and a strong ability to layer dry ingredients. Ready?
Layer One: oat bran
Layer Two: old fashioned oats
Layer Three (not pictured due to supply shortage): steel cut oats
Layer Four: mini chocolate chips
Layer Five: shredded coconut
Layer Six: brown sugar
Layer Seven (not pictured due to heart health implications): sea salt
The result? Perfection...as long as your idea of perfection is a food that takes approximately 30 seconds of chewing per bite, has a tendency to fly everywhere like a bag of sawdust, and rivals Saltines in its ability to suck every drop of moisture out your mouth. Seriously, don't eat this stuff without a pitcher of water nearby.
Despite its potential shortcomings, however, I can't get enough of this stuff. And if you have concerns now, keep in mind that the original version included only layers one through three. Horsefeed indeed.
Oliver and I spent the morning catnapping, snuggling and giggling in bed together. Its been busy around here lately so it was nice to just hang out for a while with no pressing responsibilities and sneak in a little extra rest.
Toby was there too but he was mostly just napping
The only thing that would have made it better is if Aaron had been there too...oh and maybe if someone could have brought us breakfast...
There are some things I'm kind of guarded about. Personal feelings and emotions that I try so hard to keep out of the social media realm and public view...sometimes maybe too hard.
So on our 4th wedding anniversary I'm letting my guard down.
The thing is Aaron, I love you a thousand times over.
I know I don't say it enough or always let it show,
but you are my best thing.
Happy anniversary my love.
For all of the everything and nothing that we've had and will have together I am truly thankful.
I love you forever.
"Earl opened Mooch's gift.
'There's nothing here,' said Earl.
'Yesh!' said Mooch. 'Nothing...but me and you.'
So Mooch and Earl just stayed still and enjoyed nothing and everything."
There are two ways to approach inconsistent blogging. The first is to apologize with something like "Sorry it's been so long" at the beginning of each bi-annual post. The other is to ignore the lapse in text but acknowledge it by posting a collection of Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, and Memorial Day photos. I prefer the second option, since it at least allows you to enjoy some pictures.
Actually, it hasn't been that long (Oh look, a third way: denial). We have been keeping ourselves busy though. For one, we've gotten back into the summer viewing routine. So far our list of must sees includes Burn Notice (a cooler James Bond) Leverage (think pint-sized Oceans 11), and Falling Skies (Independence Day/War of the Worlds), the latter being a new entry to the summer rotation. In non couch potato news, I've been spending one evening a week getting my exercise in a local beach volleyball league. Our team is improving (we won only one game during the spring season) but we still have difficulty closing. I mostly blame the fact that we're playing beach volleyball in 90 degree heat.
Obviously, the big event of the last few weeks was Jordan and Alli's wedding. As expected, it was amazing. A lot of work and a lot of fun led to quite the day/night. Evidence in the form of pictures below.
You can guess how many L of moisture we wrang out of those clothes.
Obadiah, Jethro, Abraham, and Samuel
(Actually, the yellow ties would be way too bright for the Amish)
After the festivities, we relaxed with two backyard cookouts, courtesy of family and friends.
Overall, lots of Kan-Jam, burgers/hot dogs/chicken, and cold drinks. To top it all off, we went to the library yesterday and I picked out my summer novel (Bridge of Sighs, Richard Russo). Life is good.
Look back... I have a confession to make. I watched Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, and I liked it...a lot. It's an awesome story and Justin Bieber is a super talented kid who gets to work with some pretty great people. It's a documentary that will inspire you and might even have you humming "Baby"...just ask Aaron :)
Look out... News flash I love this baby! And not just because he's already saying "momma".
He's wonderful and I love spending every day with him. For the most part it's all smiles and giggles and I could not love him more! He's really loving his cereal now so we'll move on to some veggies soon.
Also, his new favorite toy: Solo cups. Minutes of entertainment!
Look forward... A few exciting things to look forward to in the coming weeks. Alli and Jordan are getting married! I can hardly believe Aaron's youngest brother is all grown up and ready to start a new life with his lovely bride to be.
little Jordan and big brother Aaron
when we first met he was a sophomore in high school
Uncle Jordan
Something I'm most looking forward to is our beach vacation to the Outer Banks with my family.
The last time we were there was in July of 2009 right before we headed to another brother's wedding.
I can't wait! I love the beach and I'm especially excited to be there with my family and take Oliver on his first vacation. Sunscreen and hats for everyone!
Given the obscene amount of time I have not had for sitting at a computer, I'm proud that I am somehow managing to squeeze two blog posts into a single month. Award, please. In an effort to avoid a monthly "this is a list of what I've done since I last blogged" routine, I'm going to let you in on what I'm looking forward to this summer.
(1) Oliver eating solid(ish) food. We tried that today and the results were...well...not for the faint of heart.
(2) Jordan and Alli getting married! Memorial Day weekend was an awesome excuse for all 10 of us (+2 dogs) to collect in one place for 3 days. From the hour long game of Signs to the cookout by committee, I enjoyed every minute. Naturally, we're excited to see everyone again in July--and to finally need one less air mattress!
At Logan & Emilie's Wedding
(3) Leaving behind the ridiculous end-of-days weather. The past 4 days notwithstanding, the latter half of May seems to have been one giant severe thunderstorm. We lost power twice--always fun in a new place. Monday, the power was out from 7pm to 3am. Not too bad. Go to bed early, walk around with flashlights/candles, hope you've shut off all the lights that were on before the power went out so they don't all come back on at 3 am., etc. Wednesday, however, the power went out at 11:59pm, not to be seen again until 2pm the next day. We realize this isn't especially terrible, but we did find it ironic that while we sat idle without power, the mailman delivered a box of 6 complimentary CFLs...from our power company.
(4) Taming the outside. The joys of home ownership are abundant. The joys of maintaining the home one owns, not so much. Last Friday we finally got a fence installed on the side of the house. Thinking this would now contain Toby, we let him out for some outside time. One hour and a frantic hunt later, we found him wandering in the woods well down the road. We have since wired in the bottom tier of the deck and done some other dog-proofing work around the house. As you can see, we have not, however, deer proofed.
Our next big task is to figure out why one portion of our yard continues to earn the nickname "The Slough". Even recognizing that we've had two months of near record rainfall, we're still a bit baffled by the marshy conditions and persistent muck. Fortunately, the best minds I know are mulling over potential solutions (thanks, Mom & Dad).
(5) Summer tv. We watch tv. It's our outlet for decompressing after a long day and quite frankly, it's often entertaining. With our fall/spring network standards on hiatus, it's back to cable with new seasons for Burn Notice, Leverage, and our new entry Franklin & Bash. Of course, we'll miss favorites like Parks & Recreation...
