We're Heeeerrre!

Yep, we made it! Noah threw up 3 times along the course of our drive, but beyond that did surprisingly well on the trip. We pit-stopped at my grandma's house on the way. It was really nice to see her although she made enough food to feed a mid-size army! Have mercy! She is full-blooded Polish (picture "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" only Polish). She was upset when we barely made a dent in the (yes) 2 main courses, a huge bowl of potatoes and a green bean casserole...for 3 people. :-) I love her though and we have come to expect and even admire this about her.

We arrived at the cabin Sunday evening...We spent today settling in. We had 2 minor mishaps that we needed to tend to...The brake pads on the van were down to the nubs and badly needed to be replaced (we noticed the grinding only when we added the jet skis to the back). Secondly, one of the jet skis is out of commission...not sure why, but it's broke.

We have taken a few pontoon rides...Noah loves driving! Spent part of the day cleaning out the pontoon, and have enjoyed spending time with Dave's family (His parents, grandparents, and aunt and uncle).

Tomorrow, we are planning on going to the stock car races in the evening and on Wednesday to the traditional ski show that we see every year (but really enjoy). Dave and I are both feeling more relaxed and are enjoying just being with one another...the sweetness that comes with rest and getting away.

Thank You Jesus for rest and relaxation and that you built them into our lives for a purpose.

Vacation...Here we come!

Today is the day...we hit Calvin and Heather's wedding then off to my friend Ryan's wedding...then off we go! See you all when we get back!

Vacation...or bust

Well, it is the day before we leave for our long-awaited vacation. Noah threw up in his car seat this morning...everywhere. Needless to say it got a really nice cleaning before we left tomorrow. Somehow the bottle of syrup that I purchased yesterday at Meijer never made it into my cart again...both Dave and I tried making waffles and couldn't eat them without syrup. Amidst packing, cleaning and hitting a few garage sales, we have spent the last 3 hours running around doing clinic things for Dave so that he can actually leave. Packing...well...enough said. I am beginning to wonder, will we actually make it to Wisconsin or is it just a mirage that is taunting us? Hurry vacation!

Lessons from the pool

Dave and I out of desperation and not wanting to keep telling Noah "no" decided to take him to the pool tonight. It was a splendid idea. He had a great time. He is such a water baby. He puts his face under, kicks his feet, "jumps" in off the side. He LOVES it! Occassionally, he would lose his footing and go under. Dave and I would wait a second just to see what he would do. He would struggle, but instinct always kicked in and he would stick his head up for air and work to find his footing. Now, before you call DCFS, we were right there and never let him struggle longer than a few seconds. We wanted to teach him that although the water is a lot of fun, it can also be dangerous. While I was experiencing this difficult non-coddling as a parent it made me think of how this applies to my own life. In my swimming pool of life I sometimes lose my footing and feel like I am "sinking". Sometimes we need to struggle through it a little to realize the value at the end. (You know all those character building lessons) Noah came out at the end just fine with no tears, but hopefully a deeper appreciation for the water. Like Dave and I were for Noah, God is right there ready to pull us out. I got the impression of Him standing over me encouraging me, but ready to pull me out when it became evident that it was too much.

Thank you Jesus for realizing that sometimes we have to struggle through things in order to grasp their importance and fully appreciate the end result more. Thank you too that you are always there to pull us out when we need it.

Yesterday, I helped Tiffany S. clean her apartment. Then for dinner, Dan and Darlene came over. We had a great time hanging out with them. Dave made homemade pizza (are you noticing a trend with how much I LOVE this stuff???) Darlene and I were partners for all the games. We still managed to beat the boys in a few games despite how tired we were...and never remembering what was trump in euchre. :-) Today, Noah and I went to lapsit at the Tippecanoe library and I picked up some reading for vacation. We then met Dave's mom in Remington to do a switch...the dog for the jet skis. My family is watching Chester while we are on vacation...and Dave's parent's are taking him for a few days so we don't have to haul him to the (yes) 2 weddings we are attending on Saturday. The jet skis are now taking up residence in our garage and Chester is living it up at grandmas! I've spent the rest of the day cleaning. My (ideal) thought is that if I clean now I won't have as much to do right before we leave.

In more exciting news, Noah will have a girl cousin come November. Dave's brother and sister-in-law just found out that they are having a (probable) girl! She will be the first girl in this immediate Yenerich clan. Oodles of pink to go around I'm sure. Congrats Mike and Laura!

Jonelly...looking forward to seeing the new pad soon! Perhaps after vacation?

Mindy...good luck with the last week in lit...then back to having fun with the kiddos!

Ann...Hope your brain is not too full with all the info in Alpha...enjoy the rest of your time there and have a safe trip back!

To everyone else, hope you are having a fantastic Wednesday!

Sleepless night

When you have a kid, every hour of sleep that you get is precious. They are your alarm clock. That is why at 1am this morning, I was frustrated that I could not fall back asleep. I tossed and turned until 1:30 when Noah woke up and needed to be comforted. Shortly after that there was a loud repeated banging in the living room. I went to investigate what the cat was up to. I thought he had been messing with a balloon that Noah had, so I picked it up and stuck into a closet so I could finally sleep. (Didn't see the cat though). Laid back down and tried praying for awhile...good prayers just didn't help me fall asleep. I couldn't regulate my body temp, therefore I couldn't really get comfortable enough to fall back asleep. I tried reading (finished my book) and around 3:30ish fell back asleep. At 6am we hear a distinct meowing from outside the window. Apparently what I heard at 2am was not the balloon, but the cat opening the screen door and escaping for a midnight retreat. Dave (thankfully) let him in. But, my relief was short lived. Noah woke up at 7 and has been a crank since. I feel his pain. I am so looking forward to vacation. Dave has promised me 1 day where I do not have to get up with Noah and can sleep in. Today, it sounds heavenly.

William and Emily's Wedding

Well, the day finally came! The much anticipated and talked about wedding of William and Emily Pool took place last night (Friday) and was beautiful. Dave was an usher and I manned the guest book. We had a great time at the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner, and of course the wedding. Emily looked beautiful...both nights. We really enjoyed seeing a lot of our friends that we hadn't seen in awhile and having a child-free evening. My good friend Melinda watched Noah for us so that we could be free to do our duties...Dave and I had a great time....and Melinda reported that Noah was very good for her. We got back late last night and now I am doing the usual return home stuff...laundry and putting my house back together...only to have to get ready for vacation next weekend (We're getting really excited!) Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs!

Happy Birthday Summer

Happy Birthday to my friend Summer, who turned 25 today! We went to eat at Don Pablos for a birthday lunch. Hope you have a great rest of the day and that this next year rocks!

Weekend...

It's time for a long overdue update...

Saturday: Dave and I spent the morning making my dad's birthday present...a stepping stone for his garden with Noah's handprints in it...A creative idea in theory (he loves gardening). The actual process did not resemble the 5 easy step directions that it boasted. A few hours later, we managed to have it looking somewhat presentable. We spent the rest of the day looking at storm doors at different home stores (but didn't buy) and went to Applebees for family dinner where Noah always gets a free balloon. (He loves that!)

Sunday: Church in the morning. Tony preached a really good but hard sermon on relationships and restoration. It made me think a lot. Afterwards, Heather watched Noah while Summer and I went shopping (for the elusive dress among other things) sans children. Let me tell you, it was liberating. We went to all sorts of places and made great time because we didn't have to adhere to kid's schedules. AND...I found the dress! Summer handed it to me and made me try it on. It was one that I would never have picked on my own at all...but it fit perfectly and was on super sale! WooHoo!



Monday: I headed home to Kankakee to help celebrate my dad's birthday. He is now 61 years young. :-) During the day, I met with my close friend Tiffany. We went to the State Park and walked a little bit. It was beautiful and serene. Tiffany actually was the catalyst that brought me to Christ oh so many years ago. We have both moved around a lot and are enjoying living closer right now. She is such an encourager and a great person to "process" with. Her husband Jon, is taking his first set of boards this Thursday, so after we met, we went back so that we could pray over him. It was good.


That evening my family went to Blue's Cafe to celebrate my dad. Holy Cow is that the greatest food ever. That place has been my favorite restaurant since my 11th birthday when I first ordered chicken fillet (the beginning of a lifelong love affair.) Afterwards, we watched the Illusionist...a really interesting and great movie.

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Tuesday: I drove back this morning, had a fun chat with Sara, took a nap, and am now getting ready to get back into the swing of things by going grocery shopping and cleaning. Go me.

Update

Yesterday, Dave came home with flowers...Little did he know (or maybe he did) how much I really needed and appreciated them. We then made homemade pizza...mmmm so good. I honestly think its better than eating out! Afterwards, we took Noah and Chester on a stroll. We ran into our neighbors and friends from church, Norm and Sue and had a great time sitting on their front porch chatting and enjoying the beautiful weather. They have a fake owl hanging off their porch to scare the birds away...and Noah was convinced it was a cat... (tat! tat!) Norm even found a doggie treat for Chester. It was an unplanned, but great way to spend the evening.

Today, I helped Heather clean out her apartment in the morning. When I came back Dave had cleaned our house! I can't tell you how nice it was for ME to walk into a clean house after working! :-) It was really very kind of him.

The day has been on and off since. We keep getting phone calls from people requesting services/things...mostly because Dave is the president of the homeowners association...but he isn't home, so I couldn't help them. I went dress shopping for a dress for Emily's wedding. I had to take Noah with me...Boy was that a mistake! #1) Although he had just gotten up from a nap, he still seemed tired #2) He thought crawling under the changing room doors and taking off was the best game there was. (Me, trying to throw clothes on and chase after him was not so impressed with this game). Eventually I gave up and headed home. I've read a good book and had a good chat with my friend Sara, who always makes me laugh.

So all in all, it has been a typical day, filled with ups and downs...but the ups have far outweighed the downs. :-) (Have to go get my crying kid now)

Jane's Gourmet Deli

So, Noah and I went to the zoo again this morning...this time with Becky W. and her son River (who is 11 days older than Noah). The boys had a good time and I enjoyed getting to know Becky better. We then went to Jane's Gourmet Deli (where her husband works...and where they met!). It was FABULOUS! It is this little joint off 4th street and its great. We even met Jane herself. It was nice to experience more of a taste of Lafayette besides Wendy's and Steak n Shake. If you are interested in a good meal and nice atmosphere, you should check it ou! Now, Noah is napping and I am thinking that is not such a bad idea. :-)

Columbian Park Zoo

Today Dave, Noah, and I checked out the Columbian Park Zoo. Although small, we had a lot of fun (and it was free!). Although Noah was often more interested in the dirt and the animal's water...he still seemed to really enjoy himself. We saw Gibbon monkeys that talked and sang for a good ten minutes...I have honestly never seen anything like that before...and we could have left Dave there for hours perfectly content in watching their antics. :-) Noah's favorite part was the petting zoo...where he managed to pet almost every goat there was. Thankfully the goats were so mild mannered they tolerated all of Noah's "pets". We had a lot of fun and it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

VACATION

Is it time for vacation YET?????

Struggling with Sin (Stinks)

I hate struggling with sin. It stinks...Why can't I just have it all together and always act in a compassionate, graceful manner? Isn't that what Christians do? Anyway, this past week I have been really feeling convicted about a lot of things, one of which is my anger and bitterness that seem to come out fairly frequently these days. I am not proud of these characteristics. They are not very godly and don't represent being a Christian at all. I have felt God breaking me down and slowly showing me different perspectives to the people that I have felt this way toward. It has been very humbling. To really minister to people I have to put away my anger and bitterness and see what Jesus wants to do...and if He doesn't want to move in the time-table that I think He needs to, I need to accept that, because...well...I am not God. (You should all be very very thankful). However, I still value speaking the truth in love...the key word is love. In my anger and bitterness, love has a hard way of shining through sometimes. I had Dave pray for me last night to help me feel more compassion and grace towards others. Realistically, I realize that the urge to feel this way will rise again. My prayer, is that with Jesus' help, I can squelch it fast...I am tired of living in the pit. I would rather live in the light.

Melinda

My good friend (and prayer partner) Melinda came for a visit yesterday. It was so great to see her! She has been working at a camp most of the summer so we hadn't gotten to see (or talk) to one another as much as we usually do. It was a great day...we spent a good part of the morning talking about life and praying, then watched a movie and ended the evening watching our favorite TV show, My Boys, online. It takes place in Chicago, where Melinda taught a year. Anyway, it was really nice to see my friend again and to pray and play as we always do.

Haircut update

Well, I did end up mourning the loss of my long hair. Here's a (not so great shot) of the final product. I went and got it trimmed up a little more (lessoned the layers) I just have to remind myself...It's just hair...it will grow out. I think after I give it a few days to "train" it, I will like it much better. I think I am still just going through the shock of looking in the mirror and realizing its me I'm looking at. :-)

Happy 4th!

Yesterday, we had a lifegroup party over at the Carlyles (thanks for hosting) then went on an expedition to find fireworks. We were supposed to meet up with Ben and Havilah, but our wires got crossed (meaning I misunderstood the master plan) and we never found them. We also lost our party leaders Jo and YooJung because of the traffic...So we (William, Emily, Jonell, Dave and I) caravaned into a parking lot and found grass. Despite the fact that we were a ways away from the actual fireworks, we still had a good time. I was surprised Noah hung out there till the end too. It was a pretty late night for him...but he was a trooper!

Shaggy Haircut

I went to get my haircut yesterday. For awhile I was thinking I really wanted to get it chopped off. Then, of course, yesterday I had my first good hair day in weeks and that made me rethink all my plans. So I go in there and tell the hairdresser..."Don't really know what I want, but I think I can go shorter and I want some more volume around my face." See, I have a really really hard time articulating sometimes. Of course, in my mind, I had gotten my vision across clearly. Of course she would cut it just the way I had in my mind...or better even, I mean she is a professional. I have always wanted to go to those hair places where you walk in...they look at you...and know exactly what you need! Mostly because I never have any real vision for my hair.

Result: Shaggy longer version of Florence Henderson haircut. I don't blame the hairdresser at all for my inability to articulate. It's just unfortunate. I went home and tried playing with it...that made it worse. I think I might end up going to a different salon and having them fix it on Thursday (of course...everyone is closed today). It's not all bad...I just think I am going to have them shorten it a little more...The bottom is the part that is problematic for me. I had a picture, but failed to give it to first salon due to allowing creative vision...my bad. :-) Will give to second salon for sure.

This picture doesn't give a really good idea what it looks like.

Melancholy

I'm kind of down today. There's no real reason...Dave and I are fine...great in fact. Noah is behaving. There are just moments where I want to go into the bedroom and cry. Perhaps I am still thinking about the picture yesterday...But I don't think that's all of it. There is a lot on the plate right now...but most of it is stuff I've been handling well for awhile now...truly I don't have any reason to feel this way. It's weird.

Lord, Help me to find my joy in You. Remind me Jesus that You are in control...that I need to be productive, but not worry. Thank you for all that you have blessed me with. Amen.

feast and famine

I read my friend, Ann's blog today. On it she showed a very disturbing and heart-wrenching picture of famine:

(Picture taken down out of respect for this child and his/her family.)

The picture is apparently taken in the Sudan and is of a young child crawling to a feeding station 1/2 mile away as a vulture looks on. It's sickening...I wanted to look away and pretend that it didn't exist...that it was somehow fake...but I know better.

This picture, like it did to Ann, has haunted me since I first saw it. I keep thinking, this could have been my son given different cirumstances. It's a kid...a helpless child. It makes me physically ill. I became very convicted about the way Dave and I lead our lives...and what possible ways we could continue to help out (We already have a compassion child)

Then, the mail came. In it there was a letter from World Vision. Interesting that it came today of all days. Could this be God telling us something? .

I wrote to our compassion international child today as a way to remind myself that the world exists beyond me. In looking for a verse to send to him, I came across 2 Corinthians 9:6-7:

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

For the record, I didn't send that verse...althoughI definitely felt God tugging on my heart strings today through all these different avenues. If you too are interested in getting involved, World Vision has a great venue for providing one-time donations or for sponsoring a child...as does Compassion International. In reality, it takes not going out to eat ONCE to sponsor a child for a month (~$30/month).

I don't know what ever became of that child...the outcome was probably bleak...However, as much as I would like to forget that suffering exists...I can't forget that picture. That picture is a stark reminder that famine does exist, terrible things are happening throughout the world, and, that my life is lavishly rich (no matter how much I sometimes disagree), and that we are called, as Christians, to help those who are less fortunate than us.

Jesus, thank you for the reminder that there is REAL pain and suffering out there. There are REAL needs. Help me to keep that in perspective. The feelings you have invoked in me today, let them bring change...don't allow me to forget because it hurts to see. I pray that you would show me how you want us to partner in this cause and that you would move others to
partner as well. Amen.