The Music Man-a girl's night/going away.

I had the most fantastic girls night a couple weekends ago! Well, a girl's night/Amanda's going away shindig. Me, Holly and Liza played it hush hush and didn't fill Amanda in on any of the details about the evening. All we told her was that the attire was fancy, and we let her guess the rest!

The evening started with me metro-ing to a fancy French restaurant in downtown DC. (everyone else drove, they live further out) First time I have metroed solo! And I am proud to announce I did not get on the wrong train or get lost inside the stations at all! I did however get lost on the way to the restaurant....I walked seven blocks in the wrong direction but that is to be expected for someone as directionally challenged as me. I did get myself there though...so it was a success!

This restaurant was so chic with lush red curtains around the booths for privacy, crystal chandeliers, French speaking waiters....it was dreamy.

And seen as how I've been practicing on perfecting my French lately, I thought I'd try out my new skills on our waiter...so after I ordered my food he said "merci mademoiselle," to which I replied, "gracias."

DOH!!!!

"Merci" is the most basic, well known french word in their language maybe...and I couldn't even get that right!! I was so embarrassed I just stared at the table till he went away! Bah ha! Freaking "gracias"...I am doomed!!

The whole night was filled with hilariousness though. That's why I love these ladies...we have a lot of fun together.

The food was superb except for the part where Holly pulled a two inch stiff ole piece of hair out of her quail and Amanda found a fly in her wine. But they brought us a bowl of ice cream as a peace offering...so it was all good!

After dinner we hustled over the the Arena Stage to watch ourselves The Music Man! And when I say hustle, I mean we were hustling, while the rest of the world seemed to be running in slow motion. That always seems to be the case when you're in a hurry though. So as we found ourselves in a hustle state of mind while everything else was moving at a snails pace, I recommended we just quickly run the stop light we had been sitting at for a good FIVE minutes, with NO other cars around at the intersection, at all! It would have been totally fine it is wasn't against the law. I mean, no body was around and we were in a hurry, and it made no sense that this light would be taking so stinkin' long to turn green...."lets just go, nobodies watching." I said. To which Liza and Holly were like, "except for that entire parking lot full of COP CARS!"

"Oh. Well, except for them, nobody else is watching!" Ha ha! Liza wouldn't give into my argument to just go, probably not wanting to get a ticket or something. So we waited. And while in the car Holly realized she had a big ole bloody gash on her leg! How do you not notice when you do that?! I mean really?! The blood was darn near dry! ha ha! So nasty. But I had to post it because we laughed so darn hard! We laugh at everything.

Finally, we made it to the theater with minutes to spare. The Arena Stage in D.C. is this awesome little theater with a stage set in the middle of the floor and the seats set up in a square surrounding it. Not a single bad seat in the house!

We watched The Music Man. Oh boy do I love love love me a musical! Really, anything that has singing and dancing is a winner in my book. And this play did not disappoint.

The play was fantastic with an incredible crew of actors.

We had such a blast. So much laughing and general hilariousness. We never take ourselves too seriously. :)

These ladies have made my life so much richer during my time in DC. So honored to have had the opportunity of meeting and becoming good friends with Amanda. What a special lady she is. Praying for all the ways that God is going to use her and her photography and passion to live for Him while in St. Louis. We've had a whole lot of fun times these past five months and I can only hope that one day our paths will cross again thanks to this crazy military life!

PA with Bekah!!!!

BEKAH!!!!!! Oh, to see my dear friend's face again in person, and hug her neck, was just such a sweet joy! This lady is beyond special to me and it was such a blessing to get to spend the whole weekend with her at her parent's home in PA while she was on the East coast visiting from Portland.

Bekah grew up smack dab in the middle of Amish country. Where lush rolling hills, endless farm fields, and horse and buggies trotting down the road are an everyday sight. This part of the country is beautiful beyond words. Every time we were out driving I was kicking myself because I never had my camera with me. It was breathtakingly gorgeous. Definitely in my top five most beautiful places I've been in the United States. It is peaceful. And runs at a different pace. It's the kind of place that I could just sit forever, soaking up the views and the big sky and listening to the sound of hooves hitting the pavement. Needless to say, it was a great three days away.

(picture from Bekah's parents backyard.)

Once we finally made it inside the house following all our screaming and jumping and hugging after we arrived....this beast (ha ha! get it, beast) greeted me in the room the girls were staying in!

Holy Mamma!! We've died and gone to Disney heaven! That's the most gigantic Disney picture I've ever seen! To say that Bekah's mom 'Lou loves Disney would be the understatement of the century! Any lady that can convince the theater to give her a 9 foot tall cardboard picture of Beauty and the Beast when it is strictly against theater policy, has my undying respect and admiration! Oh, I just love these people so much!

Once I scooped my mouth up off the floor after witnessing all this wonderful Disney magic we eventually hit up Bekah and her parents favorite Dutch restaurant, Shady Maple.

This place made me giggle. It was the most massive buffet I've ever been to! I think Isaak saw a beam of heavenly light and heard a chorus of angels singing "Hallelujia!" when we got there! Ha ha!

It also had a gift shop on steroids! You could probably fit a whole Target store inside that thing, that's how stinkin' massive it was. I think we could definitely pull off being Amish. If ya know, only we weren't such Harry "Poo Poo Head" (bah ha!), Twilight lovin', Hunger Games obsessed, electricity needin', make-up wearin', Disney fanatic, x-box playin' "sinners"! Take all that away and we'd fit right in. :~)

After dinner we all came back to the house and spent the evening with one of Bekah's sisters Natalie, her brother-in-law Shaun, and her little nieces and nephew. The kids hit it off immediately. In no time flat they were running around the house, picking each other up, screaming and giggling like they were all old friends. While they busied themselves us adults got our game on.

And, may I just say, I thought we were competitive?! This family is in a whole other league! And when you throw together some of the most insanely competitive people on the planet, games like Dutch Blitz, 7 and Catan will without a doubt turn into the most intense smack talkin' fist slammin' "I will crush you to smithereens or go down trying!" games you've ever witnessed! You could cut the tension with a knife! It was hysterical!

Saturday and Sunday were spent just blissfully hanging out. 

We swam.

 Bekah taking deep breaths to not kill Isaak after he blasted her with water.

 Sydaleigh practiced her diving.

 Isaak practiced being....intense. :~)

We laughed.

We stayed up late talking. We laughed till we cried. This weekend was one of the funniest times I've spent. Bekah's family is without a doubt....exceptional. I couldn't get enough of them. None of us could. I had to pry Isaak away because he kept stalling to leave, and the girls had a tear fest before we left. They are just the kind of people that I could thank Jesus for the gift of knowing them every day of my life and it still wouldn't be enough. Lou and Joe, Bekah's mom and dad, well, let's just say...if we are half the people they are when we die I will be happy. There are no words. Or, really, too many words. They are the most authentic believers, absolute powerhouses for Jesus, humble and obedient, wise and faithful. The conviction behind the way they prayed, left me with in awe. They live with integrity. They have every movie ever made, almost. And every book every written, almost. They are deep feelers. Wise crackers. Disney lovers. Incredibly hospitable. They are crazy funny. As competitive as all get out. But more than anything they love Jesus, and they love their family. And, spending the weekend in their home blessed my socks off. 

I am so grateful that they all were willing to share their time together with me and my family. It was unforgettable. Such a hilarious and deeply rich time together. Love this lady.

Next time, hopefully I will get to see this face in Africa. A girl can pray..... :~)
  
some unforgettable moments...
"would dya look at that."
penis enlargement
"Heaven's gonna be like Hogwarts!"
seeing Lou's face and hearing her laugh when she opened her Twilight picture (and seeing her put it up in place of Abi's wedding picture-ha ha!)
Bekah's "Bald Guy" break up card
sanitary napkins
wings, scented, overnight and extra long
"I thought you were the first kind...a raging alcoholic"
Isaak's ego getting crushed in Catan
Natalie carrying all four girls around on her back
Sunday church
Lou anointing us
watching the girls make themselves at home in everyone's lap. 
"You want me to sleep with Isaak and Missy?!" 

Standing in the sky

"A puddle!" That's all it took and they were in it. Thank you to the only neighbors on our street who care enough about their lawn to water it for making my daughters hearts leap for joy. My girls love themselves a puddle. And this was a particularly special puddle. This puddle was in the clouds.

"Look at your feet.  You are standing in the sky.  When we think of the sky, we tend to look up, but the sky actually begins at the earth." ~Diane Ackerman

Less than a month to go.

Africa is drawing nearer. We leave in twenty four days. That's how near it's gotten. We officially have less than a month to go.

Wasn't it yesterday that we had twelve weeks left??

Time keeps ticking. To that I can be sure.

I find myself sitting on the floor a lot lately. Sitting on the floor, and staring. At nothing really. Yesterday I squeezed myself into the tiny two inch space of carpet I could still see on my bedroom floor. I was surrounded by heaping piles of clothes. And suitcases. And vacuum seal bags. And the contents that we are going to be bringing with us to live off of for the next three months before our stuff arrives.

There was a two inch space of carpet left visible. It was in the moment that I sat down, that I realized the whole, "I can't even say that I'm overwhelmed. To be overwhelmed I think one's brain still needs to be functioning to determine that it has reached it's max. I am happy to announce....my brain is beyond functioning at this point!" is no longer valid. I have reached the overwhelmed stage. Which is where the whole sitting and staring thing comes in. There is so much to pack and do...instead of doing it, I find myself sitting and staring off into nothing.

I was this close to having a little emotional breakdown yesterday, in my two inch carpet space, as I stared off into nothing. I couldn't concentrate. There was too much to concentrate on. Too many decisions to make. The mounting tasks before me seemed impossible to complete. I could feel the breakdown building up in my chest. It was coming. It was trying to escape. I should of let it maybe. Sometimes it just feels good to cry. Except I don't have time to cry right now. I didn't have time to give into my breakdown, as much I as would have welcomed it. So I started praying. That I would stop staring into nothing and the Lord would help me focus. That my hands would start moving. Praying that He would help me to let go of what doesn't need to be brought. To simplify. To see.

It's amazing how much you find out about yourself, when you find yourself moving to a third world country. At the beginning of all this, way back in September of last year, I said to Isaak, and me, and God, that I wasn't caught up in our material possessions, and I couldn't wait to simplify, and leave so much of what we use and live on now behind.

I found myself replaying those words in my head about a thousand times yesterday. For someone, I thought, who doesn't cling to her material possessions, sure was having a hard time leaving her jeans and stiletto boots behind. :~)

But at some point during my three hours spent on the two inch space of my bedroom floor, God met me. Slowly, my hands started to move. My mind started to focus. I could see again. I ripped back open sealed vacuum bags and pulled out the wool blazer(s) packed away inside. God helped me cut the cord. He helped me let go of the little things...so that I could see the bigger things again. Slowly my two inches of crawl space gave way to an entire carpeted area. I had made some progress. 

I love that when I am overwhelmed to the point of inactivity because there is so much to do I find myself doing nothing because I don't know where to start....all it takes is a whisper. A petition for help. And He is there, helping. Such wonderful comfort I have knowing He is close to me. I feel like there is nothing I can't conquer when He is conquering it with me. Even my closet. :~)

Traveling bookstore

Isaak came home from work two days ago and said, "I got a purchase confirmation from Amazon...you bought a lot of books."

I looked at him for a minute. It was one of those weird husband responses that's somewhere in between a question, a statement, and a reprimand.

I wasn't sure what else to say so I retorted with one of those weird wife responses that's somewhere in between a statement, a question, and a I hope it's okay please don't be mad responses..."yeah," I said. 

He was cool with it. :~) He's a big reader too.

But without a library at our disposal for the next two years, or the ability to download books to our Kindle (because it's restricted)....I have no other choice than to purchase massive quantities of books before we leave. I have been looting thrift stores lately and scoring great finds on books. I am now one book away from the entire Harry Potter series which I paid maybe a whopping $8 for. Gosh I love me some $ .50 books. What I haven't been able to find in my thrifting I have had to purchase online. My first shipment arrived today. Nine down. Fourteen more to come. I will be able to add those to the four stacks of new books I have pushed up against the wall. All waiting to be read. *insert big smile* I have everything from Westerns, to Amish, to Sci-fi, to suspense, a little Mother Teresa, werewolves, Christmas...ya know...a little bit of everything. 

I can barely contain my excitement!! Restraining the urge to dig in to all these now!

To Delaware and Philly we go....

We got back late Sunday evening from another little getaway. We be takin' a lot of these lately. Trying to get in as much family time as we can before we leave, and this time we headed up north a bit to spend the weekend with Jordan and Becca in Delaware. And like always, we jammed in as much as we could for our short time together!

Friday evening we hung out at Jordan's for a while. Becca got busy right away doing some art with the girls. How blessed are we to have an art major and Delaware Art Museum employee for an aunt! Sydaleigh is in heaven in her company! She looks up to her so much. And even though Marvelly is not as much of an art enthusiast as Syd, her and Becca are kindred spirits in different ways. They share many similar little quirks and Marvi girl just loves her to pieces.

After some art time we played with Becca's stash of 'staches! Ha ha! Who doesn't love a good 'stache?! Bekah, you and my sis-in-law Becca got some kindred spirit action happenin'!

 Ah, yes, very nice girls. 

I, personally, like Isaak's Salvidor Dali 'stache on the bottom right the best though. Ahhh, just don't grow a real one, 'k?

The girls took turns stuffing themselves into Irma's play tunnel, which of course was hilarious!

And then after dinner the girls stayed behind and had a special movie night with just Jordan and Becca while me and Isaak sneaked out for a movie night of our own. To the Avengers we went! (And sorry Tommy, but you've been booted off your throne in Isaak's all time favorite movie ever category! Avengers now holds that coveted seat! And yes, while I agree that it was good, nothin' will dethrone Mr. Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in my books, sorry!)

Saturday morning we hit the road again and rode up to Philly for the day.

Thanks to the 100 degrees we stayed inside most of the time at The Please Touch Museum!
Biggest children's museum I've ever been to! And this is not all of it...the rest wouldn't fit inside my camera frame! It was two floors with every possible activity imaginable.

And just to add some more icing on the cake, my cousin Tara and her husband and two boys who happen to live in Philly met us at the museum to play with us for the afternoon!

There was a fantastic Alice in Wonderland play area.

So we wasted no time getting our Alice on.

Ah! The house is shrinking!
 

Who says little tiny train openings are just for kids?! We are actually on the second floor and this train is hoisted to the ceiling. Isaak was scared it was about to snap and plummet to the ground! After I persuaded him to squeeze in to take a picture he bolted out of that thing! Ha ha!

This museum is actually pretty expensive, for any type of museum. But when we got there they had an unadvertised military deal going on till Labor day where you could get in six people for free with a military ID. (that's why we always ask if they have a military discount!) There just so happen to be six people in our party! So we all got in totally for free! And then one of Becca's co-workers gave her two free passes for the carousel...so the girls got a free carousel ride too! Cha-ching!!! Nothin' beats free!

After we pooped out at the museum we drove downtown to explore a bit down there. (and dude, again, got a free parking spot right in front of the Mint! Which is exactly where we wanted to go, which is right next to the Christ Church cemetary where old Benny boy is buried, and one block away from Independence Hall! Again, holla for free and convenient!)

(I was forbidden from taking any pictures inside the Mint. Yeah....okay, right. Like that's gonna stop me. See, I have this thing (or sin, whatever you want to call it) where when someone forbids me from doing something...I tend to want to do it even more. Not sayin' I always do, but, in this case, I did. So I just sneaked me a quickie little picture thank you very much. Jordan was so appalled at my rebellion- like I broke the law or something! Here's hoping my blatant disregard for "rules" doesn't invite the CIA in to break down my door and confiscate my computer. :~)

Moving on......

 we visited Benjamin Franklin's grave site. Very cool.

We passed the City Hall which is cool and historical and the largest city hall in the United States. Kudos Philly!

We saw Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. (which is super great all on it's own, but seriously, it's even cooler because National Treasure was filmed there. Just sayin'.)

And that was a wrap for Philly because it was 100 degrees outside and we were melting! So we headed back to Newark and had dinner at Jordan and Becca's favorite downtown restaurant, strolled the streets and had some gelato. And then when we got back to their apartment us girls stayed home and introduced Becca to the Disney goodness of Tangled, and Jordan and Isaak went out for some manly time at his favorite neighborhood Cheers.

Sunday we hit up the mall and shopped and played and Jordan stuffed the girls into an ottoman in Target. Ha ha! He tried getting in after them but he wouldn't fit. Gotta love aunts and uncles who do random silly things. (like stuffing you in ottomans and upside down hugs!)

And that was a wrap! Great time. Jam packed. Loved getting to visit with Jordan and Becca in their town and get a better glimpse into their lives. We all had so much fun. Love them both so much!

 Till next time!