And I Quote . . .

I grew up without watching Disney movies. I didn't feel deprived by this, but apparently I didn't know what I was missing and it's not a real childhood if you haven't seen any of them. I've been realizing that I only have vague ideas of what the stories are actually about. Here are a few summaries of Disney movies by a person who hasn't actually seen them: Aladdin Boy who wears linen pants and a vest, but no shirt flies about on a rug. There is a blue genie who comes out of an oil bottle at times and I think he is evil. There is a girl with a long braid down her back who dances. I don't know how she is involved in the story. She probably falls in love with vest boy. (Update: I have watched the live action Aladdin that came out this year. Lots of singing. Genie is not evil and the only character I liked.) Lion King A baby lion is born. A crowd gathers as Father lion holds him up on a mountain and sings a tribal song. I think they are happy. Possibly so...

Have you ever had one of those moments when your mind is just static? Like the sound of a dead radio station or the feeling your legs get when you've been sitting on them too long and try to stand up. In my teen years I got those moments quite frequently and have quite a few embarrassing stories to prove it. But, I've grown up since then. I have become poised and calm. I rise to each occasion and shine like the morning star. Okay, that may be a bit of a stretch. Sometimes I am painfully reminded of just how blonde I still am.  So, becoming an adult means you have to do adult things. Things like grocery shopping and booking your own doctor's appointments and the dreaded TAKING YOUR CAR TO BE SERVICED.  That last one had to be done to my car for quite a while and I finally bit the bullet and took it downtown to a place I have frequently passed. The men were very friendly and guided me to the correct spot to park the car and I airily tossed my hair and thought lofti...

I spent my teenage years in a small country church. We all knew each other very well. When there was a potluck meal after church, we always knew who had brought the tater tot casserole. If a certain girl wasn't there for the service, we knew immediately that the singing would fall flat without her soprano voice to carry us through the chorus. We didn't pay attention to other trendy styles going on around us. We had our own trends, which most consisted of ruffles, circle collars and florals. (Not the cool kind.) We liked to wear matching dresses and wore our hair swooped over our ears and thought we looked cool. It was in this church that my father was voted in as a vice leader and, at one point, the head leader. The official term was Moderator, but it meant that he had to be there on time, do the welcome, announcements and most of the preaching. When you were the head Moderator, your wife and daughters had the distinction of being in charge of communion bread and gra...

My last post was a bit of a downer. I wanted to end on a positive note, but it almost felt hypocritical to insinuate a happy feeling where there was none. As I may have mentioned before, the past year was hard. It can be difficult for me to see the sunshine through the fog.  No life is a complete veil of tears though and mine has a lot of good in it. I am determined to focus on some of the positive parts of our move.  CHARLOTTE We both love living near a big city and the past year holds some dear memories spent in Charlotte.  Here are some pictures and tips for you. Parking can be a bear, but you may discover that it's easier to park outside of the main part and take the train to where you wish to be. The $2 train ticket is much less painful than paying $21 for 3 hours in a parking garage, which I accidentally did once.  You never know what you will see in the city. You may be innocently drinking an iced mocha and suddenly be surrounded by cos...

There are days when I deeply regret moving away from all things familiar. True, the roads are beginning to make sense and I can get myself to various places without pulling up my Maps. I've discovered the amazing thrift stores in our neighborhood. We have a favorite sushi place that we frequent when we are feeling especially down. We even have people here that we love and who quite nicely put up with us.  But do we really belong here?  I had no idea how important it is for me to feel as if I belong in a place. Where I am known and recognized and NEEDED.  To be the one who needs people more than they need you is a very vulnerable place to be in.  The past year felt like a fog that we were barely surviving in. Fighting for breath. Fighting to keep going. If it wasn't for B, I doubt how sane I would be at this point. He really was a rock. Is a rock.  Nothing prepared me for how lonely I would be in a new place. I still, up to the this point, ...

It was drizzling and grey the day we moved into our second story apartment. After mad dashes up and down the stairs and through the droplets of rain, we finally closed the door and stared dismally at our damp belongings thrown hurriedly in piles about the room. There was no bed, no table, no place to sit, and most importantly, nothing to eat. It was not a cheery beginning to our new life in a new state. What had we done? In theory, I loved the idea of moving to a brand new place. A clean slate. New places to explore. New friends to make. I was optimistic. How naive. After a few hours and more than a few $$, we managed to procure an air mattress, a few towels and cooking utensils and enough groceries to get us by until we could plan a bit better. Never underestimate the cheering power of cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. I’ll forever be thankful that we moved in on a Saturday. That gave us the weekend to organize a bit and gather our wits before Monday came. Ugh. The Hus...

This. This is a favorite photo from last year. In Europe (London, to be exact) with 5 people who went from strangers to good friends in a few hours.  Some of us met each other just hours from boarding the plane in NYC. There is just something very bonding about traveling together. Taking in the smells, tastes, accents and wrong side of the road driving all at once can be overwhelming, but it helps to have others around who are experiencing the same things. 

I have a lot of catching up to do. In particular, a month of wandering around Europe. But right now, this is where I am. Florida. I moved to the sunshine state for almost 5 months. It's now been a little over a month and I still have to stop and just breathe and be glad I am here. The job is the same as last season, (Waitressing at an Amish style restaurant) but there are new friends to make and adventures to have and places to live in. (3 different places throughout the winter, to be exact.) This is new friends and old. Lynn, who is a friend visiting for 2 weeks. I actually met her last winter in this very town and we became best friends in short order. Then there is Amanda, who we met a little over 2 weeks ago and has been a great addition to our group. That's her brother, Chris, behind us. Linda (better known as Lu) is a friend and coworker of mine from up North and I'm so happy because she decided to come down to work as well.  Keva Juice is a favorite place of...

A good friend from work got married this week. It was my first Amish wedding. It was fascinating and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Even down to the hard benches we sat on for the ceremony.  A lot of us waitresses and past waitresses were servers for lunch and supper. We literally laughed all day. Somehow, no matter how different we are, working together has made us all close friends. Aren't the colors pretty? Huge thank you to my friend Lynn for sewing this dress for me.  Sadly I wasn't able to sneak a picture of the bride as she was surrounded by people all day. 

Here are a few moments from snap chat... Reunited with Diane...we were great friends in Florida.  When your car's battery dies and your mom comes with jumper cables.  Occasionally the brothers call and say, "want to go get ice cream?" And we do.  Emily is a dear friend. Level headed and loyal.  The joy we feel when we walk out after a long day of work...

This is a hodge podge of photo memories from part of my summer. Ice cream is always a good idea. Always. When friends from childhood come over for a couple of hours. Ah, the memories... Work. Lately it has been busy and stressful and sometimes, when I can't keep up with all of my tables, I just want to walk out and never serve another table again. But these people help get me through. This is my brother Logan, he is pretty cool. And he is holding my favorite nephew. I do try not to be one of those annoying aunts who talk of nothing but what their nieces and nephews, but it is difficult. My grandparents and I spent a day fishing together. It was awesome. And after a while I even quit gagging over putting worms on the hook. My Grandpa is a great fisherman. My church had a game night and invited some local officers to join us. I was honored to present one of them with a gift basket. This is my family. And our best try a nice picture. And this picture bec...

(Yes, this is my nephew. I adore him.) I know, it has been months since my last update. But life, it has this thing where it gets in the way of stuff like blogging. Or maybe, just maybe, I am a procrastinator. That is a distinct possibility. So much has happened and there are so many pictures I should share. Speaking of which, I have been trying to get photos of things. Happenings. Laughter. Because even just one picture can make you remember a whole episode in your life. This has been one of the hardest and also one of the best summers of my life. New friends were made and old friends became better friends. People I cared about faded into bittersweet memories, but other people went from black and white to color for me. People were married (seriously, what is with everyone getting hitched suddenly?!) And babies were born. People moved away, people got new jobs. There was laughter, there were plenty of tears. Through it all, God was there. He is always there. Which makes it alri...

Yes folks, I am finally an aunt. And quite proud of the fact. My little (very little) nephew was born April 2nd. He only weighed 4 pounds, but I tell you, he has all of us wrapped around his fingers. I came home from Florida 2 weeks early just to see him. In case you were wondering, I am his favorite aunt.  ::Shane Anderson Yoder::

 My bestie, Sherri, was able to fly down for a quick, half week visit. We had an incredible time, catching up, eating junk food, walking, riding the scooter, watching movies and just laughing. Because Sherri always makes me laugh.  Sadly my 'Grandparents' went home last week. I miss hanging out with them. I met Linda at the park a couple of weeks ago. Turns out we live in the same area and have mutual friends. She was one of the rare and wonderful people that I can just meet and instantly 'click' with.  Sherri, Emily and Marilyn are all coworkers of mine up North. And both Marilyn and Emily have been down here all winter as well.  Taking time out of our day to pose with an Amish man and his buggy.  I love this friend.  And these goofballs.

 After my (joyous) return to the warm, sunny South, I continued having adventures.  Anna, Diane and I decided we were a biking gang. Our name: Sweet Thang Gang. Our motto: "Don't look at us".  We never forget this. Mostly because the Northerners don't let us. I've had visitors. Marvin and Jan, dear friends from church who practically adopted me are down for a month. (Or maybe I adopted them.) They take me to get ice cream. We have a lot of fun.  Daniel and Janel, my world traveling buddies, were able to stop by for a quick visit. It was a blast showing them "nightlife" in Pinecraft. Where they roll up the sidewalks at 10.  I made some new friends as well. Rachel actually lives in my area up North, but we didn't meet till down here.  I had met Emily and Laronda before, but we didn't really 'click' till down here. The laughs with these girls were many  I love surprise visitors too. Tabitha dropped in at work...