Seek

Grandma turned 94 years old yesterday. Since last Friday she had not been eating anything. She had a TIA prior to that. Since last summer she had been living with my aunt. This was because she had gone outside to enjoy fresh air and decided to start weeding. She ended up on the ground and couldn't get back up. She crawled back to the house and was able to call for help. That was not the first time that had happened, so the decision was made for her to stay with my aunt.

Grandma passed away in the early morning hours today.

I do not need to seek anything at this moment. I am at peace for many reasons. Mostly because she lived a good, long life. I cannot recall a time that she ever complained about anything or anyone. She was generous and, like any good grandma, always had something ready to eat. She was independent and wise.

Unfortunately, I did not get any patience from her. She was very patient. I remember her raising her voice once to one of my cousins (and he deserved it). I remember how calm and collected she was when my grandpa died.

I do think I learned a lot about faith from her. Not in a Bible preaching sort of way, but through letters while I was in college and how much she volunteered in the church.

She was the matriarch of a large family. She was a great-great grandmother to several kids. She will be missed, but I know that there is much rejoicing among her family who has been waiting for her.

Search

Today my search will involve how to work Pi into my post.

Hm, I guess I just did, so that search is over.

But my search during Lent is still going.

What am I searching for?

I keep asking myself that question. The answer is constantly changing. I'm searching for love. I'm searching for answers. I'm searching for guidance. I'm searching for truth. I'm searching for acceptance.

I will search for these things in my friends, family, neighbors, and strangers.

The search will continue past my Lenten journey.

Bless

I am on FaceTime with my sister and nephew. I am blessed to enjoy time with them.

But the word is bless. How do I use that in context? All I can think of is blessed or blessing.

That's the difficulty I am having with this challenge.

Like the other day when the word was "powers".

I can bless someone. But that doesn't seem to fit the purpose. If I tell you how I think I bless someone, I think it sounds like I am bragging.

What I can tell you is that my friends and family are a blessing to me.

Yesterday I received a gift from a friend that was thoughtful. I consider her random act of kindness as a blessing.

My cat is blessing me with his unconditional love. By his extraordinary way of showing it which is slamming his head into my laptop, my arm, and whatever else he can find. His breath is a far cry from a blessing. I'm just saying. I would appreciate it if he stopped breathing on me. That would be a great way for him to bless me.

See? I did find a way to use it.

just because days

If you read about our trip to Vegas (starting here), I mentioned that I did some baking and cooking for Bill's family.

Since I'm visiting my family for a few days, I thought I would do some cooking and baking for them. I offered two choices for dinner: Four Cheese Macaroni and Meatloaf or Lasagna, Caesar Salad and The Bread. Dessert will be Vanilla Rich Chip Cake.

The winning dinner is lasagna, salad and the bread. Yum!

Mom and I went to the store tonight to buy the ingredients. I can't forget the sugar this time, because there isn't any to add! (The cake uses a box mix, shh don't tell anybody. But it's so good, it doesn't matter.)

I'm thankful for dinner choices and spending time with family for birthdays, Mother's day and just because days.

Catching up

Okay, look. I am way behind. I just wrote two posts and I'm still behind a day. I'm going to combine yesterday (Wednesday) and today. Mostly because the most exciting thing I did yesterday was unpack and eat dinner.

I also went to the grocery store.

Bill and I took a walk.

Today, I caught up on emails (for not having a "real" job, I had 150+ emails, yikes!), went to the pet store, bought toilet paper, and ran.

I'm also looking through my scrapbook stuff and trying to get ready to work on them tomorrow.

Because I've been posting so many pictures, I thought I'd show a few more.

 I don't remember if I posted these on Sunday, but here's Bill and me on Easter (also Bill's birthday).

 Can you tell that it was sunny? And windy?

 This was Sunday afternoon on our golf cart tour. No golf carts were harmed in the taking of this photo. Do you see the golf cart at the bottom of the twisting path? We went down and came back up!

Fun sculpture in a desert yard.

I am thankful to be back home.

Friday

We went to the conservatory at the Bellagio this morning. Then we drove over to Ethel M's for free chocolate and a walk around their botanical garden. Here are a few pictures from the Bellagio.

 I think they had every spring bulb nature has to offer on display.

 Tulips and daisies and lots of color.

 Even the Lady Bugs were made out of flowers (chrysanthemums). 

 It's not a painting, it's a work of art made out of foliage. It was amazing! 

(The woman was refreshing the plants.)

Emily, Judy, and Heather outside the Bellagio with Paris in the background. Bonjour!

I'm off to make homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast tomorrow. Later tonight, we'll be going back out to Fremont Street. We're going to celebrate Bill's birthday a few days early since Easter happens to be the same day. It's going to be crowded for sure. I doubt I'll take my camera because of how crowded it will be.

I'm thankful for creative gardens.

Pizza and Pop

Before we went bowling for Spencer's 2nd birthday, we went and ate dinner at Cool River Pizza. If any of you are in Indiana reading this, you should go check it out. It's some pretty good pizza.

Cyndi recommended the double stacked cheese bread which was gooey with cheese. They bring you cheese and marinara for dipping. They'll even bring you ranch if you are into that sort of thing. It turns out, Cyndi and I are. Ranch!

For the first time in a very long time, I had coca-cola. Pizza and coke. There's not too much of a better combo.

Pretzels and beer.

Cheese and wine.

Milk and cookies.

Pizza and coke.

See? I can only come up with four. And I don't think that first one really counts. I don't know that I've ever eaten pretzels with beer. I've had beer with a burger. I've had beer with onion rings. I've had beer with pizza. I just don't hear many people talking about a good combo like beer and (fill in the blank).

Back to the pizza. I would say I'm something of a pizza connoisseur. I've had pizza in New York City (that is legit stuff out there), I've had deep dish pizza in Chicago, I've had REAL pizza in Naples, Italy (more legit than NYC based on history and that it really is that good), I've had greasy, run-of-the-mill pizza at late-night parties, I've had burnt pizza, stuffed crust pizza and every kind of pie in between. The second best pizza to our experience in Naples happens to be in our own backyard.

Not literally.

In Grand Rapids. Harmony Brewing Company is making their own pizzas and they are the best we've had since Naples. I'll say it again and again.

Harmony has the best pizza second only to pizza from Naples, Italy.

On a weekly basis, we eat pizza at youth group. It's okay. But there are times that I've had too much of that pizza and the thought of one more slice makes me want to gag.

When I can experience other pizza it's a nice departure from the norm. Cool River Pizza delivered (ha, pun not intended only because we dined in) on the flavor department. The toppings were plentiful, the seasonings were just right, the sauce wasn't too sweet or too spicy and it was gooey with cheese. I should tell you, we ordered the Cool Chicken Ranch pizza and the Everything But the Veggies pizza.

I'm thankful for all the different kinds of pizza this country has to offer. I'm also thankful that Cool River Pizza didn't disappoint and, for me, knocked it out of the ballpark.

back-tracking

Today I am thankful for Christmas which we spent at home, then went to my parents for New Year's and held "Christmas part deux". I realized I never posted pictures (really, no one should be surprised by now, at least I finally got the pictures loaded onto the computer).

Without further ado,

Bill with his new mug

Skylar and her stack of gifts (she who says no one cares as much about her anymore…)

Spencer and his new Batman scooter from Grandma and Grandpa.

for Mom

Today, I'm thankful for my mom.

Not just because it's her birthday, which is reason enough to remind her why I'm thankful for her, but because she is a wonderful person.

She taught me the art of writing thank you cards.

She taught me to appreciate laughter and good times.

She taught me how to get through tough times.

She has shown me unconditional love.

She is an amazing woman in an ordinary world.

She does small things that no one knows about.

She is giving and loving.

I'm thankful for her every day, but today she gets a blog post and recognition for being mom!

Christmas 2012

Here are the pictures from Christmas!

First, Christmas with Bill and Emily. It was a quiet "Christmas" day the Sunday before. We had our Big Breakfast and then we opened presents and our stockings.

We had a small exchange, mostly clothes.

Bill got season 15 of "The Simpson's" on dvd!

Next, Christmas Eve with Cyndi, Jerry, Skylar and Spencer at Mom and Dad's (and Bailey).

Spencer is really good at ripping the paper.

Skylar is really good at being goofy.

Bailey is really good at being in the middle of everything.

Skylar and Aunt Em pose for a Christmas Eve picture.

Skylar is excited about her Nutella from Aunt Em and Uncle Bill.

Uncle Bill and Spencer are good at playing.

Bill opens a gift from mom and dad.

We hope your Christmas was as joyous as ours!

The "flavor"

I could have sworn that I have written about "the bread", but I can't find it anywhere. Mom, Dad? Do you remember reading about it? Or do you just remember it?

It was Easter 2011. I made "the bread" to go with our dinner.

There was a moment of panic when the smell hit the kitchen. The bread was under the broiler and it smelled like it was burning.

I wasn't worried. It was doing exactly what it needed to be doing.

My mom said it was burning and I said, "No! That's the flavor!"

Hence, it is now known in our family as "the flavor". Not "the bread".

Since I never blogged about it (or at least can't find where I did) here's the link to that delicious recipe. Try it with your next dinner. Follow the instructions and wait. Don't get impatient like my mom. You definitely want "the flavor."

The reason why I'm telling you about the flavor bread is because PW blogged about another of her favorite breads. This post is actually older than "the bread" post. But she just reposted it and it was the first time I had seen it.

Check this out.

I have a feeling that this will be replacing "the bread" in our house. I will be trying this soon.

And, if you read through the recipe, don't fret. I read several of the comments and one urges everyone to use kalamata olives instead of the canned. I will definitely be using the kalamata.

And I promise to post Christmas pictures on here soon. I haven't forgotten.

Fakes-giving

We postponed dinner yesterday because I'm having an allergy/sinus/nasal congestion issue. Yesterday was bad and I took a little nap.

Today has gone better.

Bill helped me get the pork roast in the oven (we're not having turkey because the majority of the family is not fond of turkey and since it's "Fakes-giving" it doesn't have to be traditional) and I got the roasted veggies cut and in the oven. Peggy is making a salad and the Wild Rice Casserole. I got dessert made yesterday, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie.

Dinner is going to be wonderful.

We even watched football.

Happy Fakes-giving!

Surprising Don

I didn't blog yesterday because Bill and I spent part of the day on an airplane. We flew to Las Vegas to surprise Don (Bill's dad) for his birthday which is actually December 2nd. But that gets into the holidays and Peggy won't be able to get off from work so this worked out better. Plus he was totally surprised.

We were waiting for him at a restaurant with Ann & Vern (friends of theirs who live nearby). Don and Judy were coming to meet them to celebrate Ann & Vern's anniversary.

This was all prearranged. Ann & Vern's anniversary is in February. Don didn't know that.

He walked into the restaurant and looked all around. He looked everywhere except at us. We were sitting at a table right in the middle of the room with a huge balloon bouquet.

Don was so focused on looking for Ann & Vern that he looked right past us. By the time he was about three or four feet away he finally noticed us. Then he realized it was us.

It was fantastic!

I didn't have my camera (I don't think I could have captured the moment anyway, I was partially behind a fake tree) so no pictures.

We pulled off the surprise. Whew!

soccer and the best niece and nephew

 These were taken back on October 13th. We were in Indiana for a wedding and we got to watch Skylar play soccer the next day!

She is really good. I know this is the back of her, but it was the best shot I got of her in action.

Spencer was all bundled up and he had fun hanging out with me.

Oh, Skylar's team won this game but they didn't win the tournament.

connected

It's taken me awhile but I'm finally starting to make the family connections at our church.

It seems that everyone is related to someone else.

A lot like my high school. My best friend Alisha was related to almost every person in school. Most were distant relatives, family is family.

The same goes with our church. I've known a couple of family relations; some were obvious, such as youth with siblings. Then I learned that some of them were cousins.

I discovered two new relations today and they may be connected.

It's very interesting. You can ask some of the long-time members and they'll just shake their heads. If you ask about specific families, they will tell you. Otherwise you are left to figure it out on your own.

Which takes a few years.

I can't even keep up with my own family...

we feel like we drove through the night

The wedding was very nice.

The bride was beautiful.

The groom was dashing.

The venue was not "white enough" as Bill and my dad put it.

The walls were white, the cathedral ceiling was white but the floor was not white. It should have been according to them.

The reception was in the Garden Pavilion. It was basically a glass atrium style building. The interior was draped with white chiffon-like material. Think "My Best Friend's Wedding" reception and that's what it was like. The floral arrangements were spectacular. The food was good (even if because of Bill we were the last table to get in line and had to wait for the servers to bring fresh trays of everything).

Today we spent most of the day in the car.

We watched one of Skylar's soccer games (50 minutes from Cicero), went to lunch at 99th street. Drove clear across town to the mall so I could buy a silly lanyard for my church keys, drove back to Mom and Dad's and then hopped right back in the car and drove home to GR.

But Skylar won her soccer game. Spencer giggled, played and had fun blowing raspberries at us. Lunch was yummy (Red Robin, yum). And I found the lanyard I wanted and got $5 off!

While it was a long day, it waited and rained at the end, we made it home safely and enjoyed seeing my family.

just another Friday

Today is the wedding of our dear family friends' son, Ethan.

I have known Ethan since he was born.

I talked about him the other day because I bought their wedding gift (the oil & vinegar).

We got the wedding invitation months ago.

I immediately put it on the calendar. Mine, not the Bill's. I have access to his calendar on the iPad but he's a big boy so I didn't [think to] add it.

About six weeks ago Bill walked up to me in the kitchen and proudly shared that he finally got an appointment with that company in Ann Arbor for October 12th.

Um, that's Ethan's wedding, I reminded him.

After a few minutes of, "oh crap what do we do now"; this is the plan we came up with.

I found a salon here in Ann Arbor, while Bill has his meeting (it just started), I got my hair done. He'll come and pick me up and we'll head to Indiana from here. It's a four-hour drive so we'll get to my parents just in time to get dressed and leave for the wedding.

It wasn't at all complicated.

I am using sarcasm.

Now I sit in the fine establishment with free wi-fi and enjoy a bagel while I wait for his meeting to end.

The uncomplicated part happened when I scheduled my hair appointment. In a perfect world, I could have made it for exactly fifteen minutes before his meeting. When I tried to do that, I discovered my high expectations. The salon couldn't get me in at 11am. They could get me in at noon (too late) or 9:30am or 10:00am. Let's go with the 10am. We had to leave the house by 7:30am (yes, we were early, no we didn't hit traffic but had we, we would have been late and neither of us like being late) which meant getting up early. Early for us. I don't know what time Bill got up but it was before his alarm which was set for 5:30am.

I hope you have a happy Friday. I'll tell you about the wedding tomorrow, after Skylar's soccer game.

A lot of fish in the pond

Mom came up to visit. She got here last night and will head back home tomorrow in the early afternoon. Today we went to visit Grandma.

We had a nice time. On our way out of town, we stopped by the cemetery to visit Aunt Beulah's grave and to find Grandpa's grave. We found them and then we also found Grandpa's grandparents, the Geidemann's. It is a very pretty (but small and modest) headstone. I wish I had my camera. Next time I go to Niles I will take it with me.

Not many of you will know this, but we don't spell Geidemann that way anymore. Grandpa's dad dropped the last "n".

That's all.

Oh, in case you were wondering, the title of this post is referring to Shark Week that is currently showing on a tv near you (at least near me).

May the 4th be with you

My mom, sister (with new baby) and I met at Grandma's house today. We went out to lunch with her and the aunts.

The whole ride there, I was thinking about family and thought I'd write a post about it.

That was twelve hours ago. I don't remember what I was going to say. Something profound and likely poetic, I'm sure.

I got distracted by the cuteness that is my nephew. He makes the best faces. Of course I took photos. And yes, they're still on the camera. It gives me something to post later when I finally get to them. 

Yup, that's all I've got. I haven't slept very well the last two nights. Bill and I both had sore throats the other day, but by this morning I was really feeling better. All day I felt fine. Now, my nose is pretty runny/stuffy. How is that possible? Do you know what I'm talking about?

I'm going to bed. I'd promise a better post tomorrow, but I don't want to be held accountable for that kind of disappointment.

One last thing regarding the title of this post: I heard it on the radio this morning and that is what my brain chose to remember. I think it's amusing, being a Star Wars fan. How have I never heard this before? 

family rivalry

Central played Ball State in Monkey, Banana (Muncie, Indiana). Bill and I went into the game telling my family that they would be happy at the end of the game.

For the first half, Central made liars of us.

Then, as Bill predicted, it all fell apart. Central blew a seventeen point lead to lose 31-27. It was a good game.

Then we went to Greek's Pizza. I've talked about that before here. That pizza makes everything better.

Now we've settled in to watch Notre Dame football and the World Series. Good night.