Thursday's Visitors!

Thursdays are turning into my favorite days of the week, or maybe the days that I look the most forward too lately. The first Thursday of July held much excitement as my mom, sister, three sister-in-laws, and their kiddos traveled out to see me. Most of them had never seen our new house, but I think the kids explored every single room within the first minute or two. 

I figured with thirteen kids, an organized activity may be in order. In the picture below, here they are oldest to youngest, getting ready for an obstacle course that I created. Of course, they were all anxious to participate when they heard that there were prizes. I find that bribery can be a useful tool in certain cases. 

The obstacle course actually kept them entertained longer than I thought it might. Later on, the kids slurped down some popsicles.

My two oldest nieces, Corinne and Lexie, got to spend the night with Nate and I. I love that they are in the crafting stage right now. It was enjoyable to come up with fun things to make. I hope that there are more craft days and sleepovers with Aunt Han in the future, but anyways...

we filled mason jars (see picture below) up with gumballs and decorated them. The lids are made to hold pictures, cards, ect.

We also made chapstick.....

and friendship bracelets. 

We watched a movie, ate popcorn, and even went to bed at a decent hour.

The following day we went to the park for a while.

Next was the pool, which was very chilly.

Despite the cold water, Corrine still braved the water slide.

These two girls were a delight to have, and I am thankful that we could create some fun memories together. I appreciate all of my family who made the effort to visit Ohio. It always means so much.

Today I tried my obstacle course out on a more advanced group. I had eight girls over for lunch. Most of these girls are from Latty and Junction, and we are all virtually in the same stage of life.

There is not much to throwing tennis balls into buckets, pinning doilies on the clothes-line, ladder golf, or throwing frisbees into a fire ring, but when you put all of those together and throw in a stop watch, it can get serious.

Angie was all gung ho for my crazy obstacle course idea.
She ended up being the champion! 

Bekah said "no pictures", well of course that made me want to take pictures even more than before.
Here she is finishing up the challenge with the frisbee toss.

I would hate to play Laura at this game. She has it down.

It was refreshing to have some "girl time." Guess what? I found out that I am not the only woman on the planet that can be moody at times or who might let emotions get the best of them. Well, I actually knew that, but it was nice to hear it again as we all shared some of our "moments" around the lunch table.

I am so blessed to have such a great group of girls to go through life with. Most of us girls have married husbands from other churches, and it is nice to have that similarity, as it is not always easy to uproot and become rooted in a different area. We actually represent four different states now that I think about it. Thankful that we have each other, and I look forward to seeing how our relationships grow in the future.

I love my visitors!!!

27 Dresses? Not Even Close

We are on a wedding roll once again. Most of the weddings we are just attending, but two weekends ago I was privileged to be in Brooke's wedding. Brooke is a good friend, and we both claim Fiechter blood, also know as we are first cousins. Our last names may have changed, but we hold tightly to our roots.

Nate and I went out to Bluffton the Friday before Brooke and Doug's wedding, in order to prevent any rushing around the next morning. That evening I got to going through my old bridesmaid dresses. They bring back such good memories. What wonderful times I have had celebrating with each specific couple.

Nate took a picture and inserted "27 dresses?" Not even close to 27 dresses. If you aren't familiar with the phrase "27 dresses," it is a movie about a girl who has been in 27 weddings.

I decided that I would share the 8 dresses, all of which are now collecting dust in the closet, yet they hold priceless memories.

The first wedding I was ever in was my brother Kurt's wedding. As a fifteen year old, I felt pretty special to take part in this.

A little over a year later, Lance and Sara were married.

Photo credits to Reinhard Photography

That same year was Krista's wedding....

....followed by Kinsey's wedding.

After a two year gap, it was time for Paige's wedding.

Photo credits to Patch 36

Give it another year and Victoria surprised my by asking me to be in her wedding.

Photo credits to Patch 36

Two weeks later I was privileged to be a part of Jenae's big day.

Photo credits to Moments by Pam

Now coming back to the present year. Being a part of Brooke's wedding brought back so many memories of my own special wedding weekend. Many of the places, where the events were held, were similar, which sparked the memories even more.

I was hoping that we would have smoked pork chops for the rehearsal supper, and I was not disappointed.

 

My aunt does such a good job at decorating her place for these type of events. 

Everything was beautiful and the food was delicious.

The single girls sang Brooke a lovely song. The lyrics were trying to convince Doug to go back to Toledo. That is exactly what he did, but Brooke is now with him. Not exactly what the girls meant, they would have preferred he went back to Toledo alone.

The beautiful bride and her lovely mom.

It was my first multi-colored wedding, as far as different colored dresses. It was really fun for a change.

What a fun, unique cake!

Doug sang a sweet song to his bride right before leaving the fellowship hall. It was really sweet.

CUTE COUPLE ALERT!!! I am absolutely thrilled for these two.

I am so thankful to have a husband that now comes along with me on all of these wedding endeavors. He has a few of his own, I might add, I certainly do not get all the credit for the invitations.

We traveled to Milford this past weekend for a wedding and next on the list is this guys wedding.

I hope you are healing fast buddy. My cousin Troy had a little mishap recently, but he assured me that it will take more than a couple broken bones before any of his joy fades. He is so excited for marriage and is very much in love with his beautiful Alexa.

Weddings are a beautiful thing, oh but I'm glad that mine is done and over with. 

Best friends for life, husband and wife. To have and to hold from this day forward.

WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHY

Hello again blogging world! Who am I to act like I took an intentional break? That is not necessarily the case, for I am just going through a dry spell. Hopefully some of the summer events will make for some interesting blog posts. I may use the template of WHO, WHERE, WHAT, & WHY in the future as well. It gives me a good foundation of randomocity. 

WHO is that one person that you have always looked up too, or WHO is that one person that has always given more than they have ever taken. For me it is my sister Rachel. She is someone that I have always admired, and I wish I had only a percent of her patience.

Both my sister and I celebrate our anniversaries in May. Rachel hit the 11 year mark of marriage recently, and I once again realized that I have always been about 10 years behind her in several stages of life. At times I wished that we were closer in age, but then I think about where I might be without her wonderful example over the years.

Rachel has always inspired me with her heart for the down-and-outers, those who really are in need of a friend. It is as if those type of people are attracted to her kind, sweet self. She is one of the most selfless individuals that I know. Maybe having 5 young children improves the 'selfless' trait, but even before she had kids, others always came first for her. I could endlessly go on about my special sister, but I'll save some of her amazing qualities for another time. She is a sincere blessing to me.

WHERE is that place that has stolen a portion of your heart? The place that you long to visit again. That place for me would be Haiti. Never before has a mission trip left such a major impact on me. I felt like God really moved in my heart that December of 2012. I got so much more out of the experience than I had given in return. I cannot wait to travel down to Haiti with my husband or maybe family one day in the future. I had better get that passport updated.

I love this picture that Madison took. The picture reminds me of the song "Jesus Loves the Little Children," and how it goes 'red and yellow, black or white, Jesus loves the children of the world.'

WHAT was your biggest disappointment of the week? Although it is a bit childish, for some reason I am still dwelling on it, which means that it must have affected me. 

Frequently we have drug representatives come in to our office. They are usually wanting to speak with the doctor or explain the updated information on a medication that they are soliciting. This past Tuesday, as I greeted the drug rep., he presented a box of donuts to me. Since it was right before lunch, I could not have been happier. He explained that this certain type of donut is on the list of the 'Top 33 Donuts You Must Eat Before You Die.' Which is actually true, there really is such a list. The donuts were cinnamon caramel flavored and had come from an Amish bakery near Shipshewana, IN. They looked much more mouth-watering that the lower picture displays, especially at 11:30 in the morning. 

I willingly accepted them until I realized that my health-conscious doctor was not a supporter of accepting such a gift. The doctor that I work for is committed to helping individuals lose weight and he runs a Bariatric (weight-loss) clinic two days per week. He teaches his patients about how to count calories and how to eat right. To him, accepting such a gift, was going against all that he taught and believed in. 

He instructed me to give the donuts back. I hesitantly did so, much to my dismay. It is becoming more and more apparent how determined of a sweet tooth I really do have. It's time I learn some discipline when it comes to heavenly, sugary sweets....well....maybe some day. Who am I kidding, it probably won't happen until it absolutely has too. It was honestly a struggle to accept that I could not indulge in such a treat.  

Maybe the donuts would not have been as delicious as they looked, but I am convinced to track down that bakery and find out for myself. Rise' n Roll Bakery here I come. Next time I am in Shipshewana, you can expect me as a customer. 

WHY were the little ones (in the picture below) so intrigued with Audrey's phone. First of all, Audrey is wonderful with children, so she really does not need a phone to attract kids. Secondly, I do not have the best selection of toys, but I think kids are just fascinated by technology and/or expensive toys such as i-phones, cameras, tablets, ect. 

Audrey, Breana, and Krista came out for lunch a couple weeks ago.
It was fun to have Chardon (K's) and Jake (B's) along too.

Speaking of technology, I like to think of myself as a fairly competent person when it comes to technology. Although, yesterday I really began to wonder. When it takes you 3 minutes to fill up two cups of water at a fast-food restaurant, that is when you begin to wonder if there is an issue. I have a feeling that these touch-screen pop dispensers scare off some of the elderly aged people.

All I wanted were two simple cups of water, I was even willing to give up the ice. Is that really too much to ask? I have conquered these machines before, but yesterday I was faced with a much more complex dispenser than normal. There were four categories of drinks on the main screen. I attempted to decipher which category water might be under. I went for the "no calorie drinks" category. There were 3-4 various types of water, but no plain water. Sparkling water is about the last thing that sounded appealing.

Once a line began to form, I was beginning to get really frustrated. Nate had just about devoured his first sandwich, and here I was struggling to draw from the well of touch-screen water. I let the lady, standing behind me, go ahead and get here drink. I humbled myself and asked her for some guidance, but she did not know where the water was either. 

Eventually I clicked back to the home screen and located a small tab, approximately 75% smaller than the other drink tabs, placed in the lower left corner. It read "WATER!" I have never been so happy to see water flow from a dispenser.

I now have a bit more sympathy for my parents who have had their share of technology questions in the past and maybe in the present too. I guess I am not there to know or help any longer.

I hope you enjoyed the first of my (hopefully many) WHO, WHERE, WHAT, and WHY's. Maybe next time I will add a WHICH to go along with it.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, no matter WHO you're with, nor WHERE you are, or WHAT you may be doing, or WHY you are doing it. I hope it is fabulous!

Anniversary Weekend: 1 Year, We Did It!!

I always wondered what kind of man I would marry one day. What type of guy does God have in store for me?, I would ask myself. I should not have wasted time worrying, for God's thoughts and ways are so much higher than our own.

I did not expect to be 20 years old before I would ever meet him, but that was the timing that God had ordained. 

There is such beauty in the mystery of a faith marriage, not to mention all the blessings that come with it, but it is not always easy. Faith is definitely the key word.

Monday marked a year of marriage for us. A year of really getting to know each other. A year of working to blend two completely different lives together. A year of wonderful memories made. A year of growth.

I have heard from some married couples that the first year of married life has potential to be the hardest of all. I guess I don't know, since I have nothing to compare it too. We have had the expected rough patches that come along with any marriage, but God has proven himself so faithful. I can honestly admit that the hard times have bonded us closer as man and wife.

Last weekend, we went on a two day getaway to Potawatami State Park in honor of our anniversary. The weather was beautiful and the lack of people must have meant that we hit it right before busy season.

The Potawatami Inn is nestled on the shores of Lake James. No, we did not stare at the water the whole time, although it was beautiful to look across the lake. We went bike riding and explored the trails, played some of our favorite games that we had brought along, went shopping for as long as my husband could stand (about 45 minutes), supported the local restaurants pretty faithfully, and just enjoyed each other's company.

To top it all off, Nate even brought me home to Bluffton on Sunday. Not much more I could have asked for. 

We got together at my sister's house, for Mother's day, on Sunday night.

The kids (and grown-ups too, of course) helped in breaking in the new trampoline.

What a cute group of little people. They are growing faster than I can keep up with.

I finally have a little extra room in my freezer now. We enjoyed our year-old wedding cake and some sparkling cider for dessert on Monday. The cake was surprisingly delicious, even after a year, moist too.

That is about all I have to inform you of. Just sitting here waiting for my hubby to get home from work so we can go on our Friday date night. I am so blessed to have him as my husband. 

I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars

He sure knew what he was doin'
When he joined these two hearts
I hold everything
When I hold you in my arms
I've got all I'll ever need
Thanks to the keeper of the stars

Love you Babe!