Senior Citizen, Shipshewana, and Hickory Corners

Back in February I stopped by one of our favorite bakeries to pick up a Valentine’s Day treat. As I was paying, the cashier quickly stopped me from putting in my credit card. She had forgotten it was “discount day”. I thought maybe they were trying to clear out the valentine goodies and didn’t think anything about it. But as I was leaving the store, I heard her say to a co-worker, “I forgot it was Senior Discount Day.”

Excuse me?

SENIOR Discount Day?

Ummm….SENIOR?

I was 54.

I had a birthday at the beginning of April and now I’m 55. The age that many restaurants give a senior discount. A lot of churches have “senior groups” that start at 55 (seriously, churches….stop it). The age where you can no longer check the 45-54 box on forms. 55.

Seriously though, age doesn’t bother me. I blame my grandma who lived to be 100. I’m planning on doing the same thing. I have a lot of living left to do!

We did what some might consider “old people” things for my birthday this year. We went to Shipshewana, Indiana (Amish Country) for a couple of days. My main goal for the trip was to eat a soft pretzel. LOL! Don’t judge.

If you’re ever in that area, you HAVE to go to Ben’s Soft Pretzels. You can thank me later.

We had a fun couple of days shopping, eating yummy food, and seeing a comedian at a local theater.

I love all the horses & buggies.

There’s a car museum up in Hickory Corners, Michigan that Brian has wanted to go to. (If you happen to watch The Neighborhood you may recognize the name of the town Dave & Jemma are from – I didn’t realize it’s a real place!) I found out that the museum was 1 1/2 hours from where we were so it only made sense to swing up that way for a night.

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We had a BEAUTIFUL Saturday to explore the Gilmore Car Museum. If you like cars, you should make the trip.

What a fun few days away for a senior citizen and her younger husband. (He’ll be 55 in September!) We’ll both be enjoying those senior discounts before you know it!

Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a fun Easter weekend. Ours was good!

Friday night we helped out at a Good Friday event at church. We were tour guides as families visited Jesus’ tomb and tried to find his body (spoiler: He wasn’t there.).

Each person was asked to remove their shoes and socks and wear a blindfold for the tour (since tombs are dark). We had them hold a rope to keep their group together as we guided them through their tour. As they entered the tomb they felt the sandy floor under their bare feet (sand on a tarp) and smelled a stinky smell (the mulch we got wasn’t stinky so we added a smelly essential oil to it). They then moved to the tomb wall, where they felt the rough (sandpaper) & smooth stones. Then they found the stone slab where Jesus’ body was – or not! All that was left was a burial cloth. As they exited the tomb through the garden they felt grass beneath their feet (fake grass) and smelled a sweeter scent of a garden (a floral essential oil). From the tomb entrance to the exit they were taught about Jesus’ great sacrifice for us and that he was no longer in the tomb – He is alive! We had a couple of kids go through twice and one little cutie made her way through a third time without a blindfold so she could explore the area and see what was going on. So cute.

I loved how the parents (and a few grandparents) fully participated. You could definitely tell the ones who had their eyes closed under their blindfold. They needed quite a bit of guidance on their tour! :)

There were several other rooms to visit during the evening with games, crafts, and other fun things, including the snack station with this adorable snack.

The stone was rolled away!

The Children’s Pastor at our church is an amazing event planner (my unbiased opinion). :)

Saturday night we met my parents for dinner at a Cracker Barrel that’s half way between us and them. We had a great visit & yummy food and wondered why we don’t do this more often.

Sunday morning service at church was wonderful (I always love the Easter service). I love this song we sang…

Brian & I were on our own for the day (we’re getting together with family in a couple of weeks) so we hit up one of our favorite restaurants (The Wooden Barrel for those that are local) and had a quiet afternoon at home. I may have even taken a nap!

I loved seeing everyones fun Easter pictures on Facebook last night. Since I didn’t take a single picture, I’ll leave you with this one stolen from Taylor’s Facebook page. :)

Aren’t they the cutest?

Have a great week, friends!

Blogging Sounds Fun

How long is too long to go without blogging?

I might have reached that point.

But here we are. I’ve thought about bringing back the old blog for quite sometime. Today is the day. We have new carpet being installed today and I’m sitting in the middle of a huge mess with nothing to do, so I figured this is the perfect time to restart this thing.

Last year at this time I was finishing up this book with a great group of friends:

One of the things that kept popping up was discussion on things we had done in the past that were fun. We were encouraged to try some of those things again. Blogging used to be fun. I’m not really sure why I stopped. It wasn’t like I ran out of things to post about. LOTS has happened over the past couple of years! Maybe I’ll fill you in on the highlights soon. Blogging again sounded fun but I just never did it. We’ll see how this goes!

Are there things you used to do that still sound fun? Today is a great day to give them a try! Let me know how it goes!

2021 Recap

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know it’s January 29. But it’s still January so I can still wish y’all a Happy New Year, right?

Just go with it. Before we move on to February, I wanted to get my 2021 Recap posted. I love looking back at these and see what was going on in life.

January

Brian and Taylor both started new jobs. Brian got out of consulting after many years. Taylor started as the Children’s Ministry Director for a great local church. Happy to say they are both still loving their jobs!

Nick turned 25. He was diagnosed with covid right before his birthday so we did a porch drop off of gifts and a zoom call.

Taylor was in one of her bestie’s weddings. She also officiated!

I gave yoga a try (Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube) and loved it. I also decided that this was going to be the year I learned to bake pies and did an apple pie for my first try (it was okay – nothing great!).

February

Corbin turned 11.

My father-in-law turned 80. We had fun celebrating his birthday and enjoyed looking through a little book we got him filled with popular things from the year he was born.

We (Brian) helped Tay paint her new office.

February’s pie was a no-bake chocolate raspberry pie (which we didn’t like – maybe we’re picky pie people).

March

I started helping my chiropractor with their social media account. I renewed (barely) my driver’s license (thought for sure I was going to fail the eye exam). We helped “egg” a house for the church’s Easter outreach.

I baked a pie we finally liked – caramel apple.

Tay got a new (to her) car!

April

I turned 52. When Brian asked what kind of cake I wanted, I told him they should just pick out a crazy design (on a white Servatti’s cake, of course). Here’s what the kids chose…

A “bachelorette” theme. I was cracking up. Loved it so much that I decided all cakes would be crazy from here on out.

My mother-in-law asked me to bring a pie for Easter. We liked the caramel apple so much that I made it again. But I forgot to take the caramel sauce! It was good as an apple strudel pie as well. :)

I had to call in for jury duty but since things still weren’t “normal” at that time, I never had to report.

May

We started the month with a family dinner to celebrate Mother’s Day. We finished dinner and Brian & I took the dog for a quick walk before dessert & games. When we got back from the walk, Tay declared that she needed to go to the hospital! She had been having some pain for about a week and it was suddenly worse. I quickly looked up info on the two closest emergency room and chose the one I thought would let me stay with her. She ended up having surgery in the middle of the night (if you know her history, it’s the same issue she had at 16! – totally crazy to go through this again!). She had a much easier recovery this time around and was soon back to her normal activities.

June

We spent a fun week at a cabin in Pigeon Forge.

I started swimming on Thursday’s with a friend at her mom’s house. Brian & I went to a Red’s game and got to sit in fancy box seats with lots of free food & treats.

Tay helped some friends with their VBS and was the speaker at church camp for Kindergarten-2nd graders.

July

I joined some friends in a fun bowling league. I had a job interview (was offered the job but ended up turning it down).

I made a mixed berry pie.

Tay lead her first VBS at church.

We had a fun July 4th family party (late) and celebrated my dad & my mom’s birthdays.

August

I spent a couple of weeks with my mom while my dad was in the hospital. (He’s good now.)

We travelled to Indiana for a wedding.

These two have been friends since the were in the church nursery.

I started working part-time at my chiropractor’s office.

September

Taylor turned 23. She doesn’t do cake so she missed out on the crazy cake. She made cinnamon & pumpkin rolls for her birthday treat. Yum!

Nick finished his (first) Master’s Degree.

We had fun celebrating Brian’s birthday. He got a crazy cookie instead of cake.

October

Corbin had a cancer scare and we started October with him having surgery (he’s all good now). Brian started construction on our master bath. Brian & Nick went to a Packers game. We celebrated our 31st anniversary.

We chose a “Great Pumpkin” theme for our trunk-or-treat car. Brian was a good sport about dressing up with me this year (the things you’ll do when your daughter is the children’s director at church!).

I spent a few days in New Carlisle and even helped my mom decorate their house for Christmas (in October!).

November

We met the sweet young man that Tay recently started dating.

I WENT TO DISNEY WORLD WITH MY DFF! (I still can’t believe it.)

This was a spur-of-the-moment decision and a very fast trip – and we had THE BEST TIME! We may/may not have already started discussing our next spur-of-the-moment Disney adventure (don’t tell our husbands). Ha!

We had fun celebrating Thanksgiving with both sets of parents. I made my 2nd favorite pie of the year – pumpkin.

December

My mother-in-law may have thought that I’d lost my mind when she saw her birthday cake this year.

Ha!

We had a fun time celebrating Christmas together after not having our normal gatherings in 2020.

The biggest news of December? Brian & I became empty nesters! Tay moved to the cutest apartment about 15 minutes from here. So happy for her and so thankful that both of our kids live close!

And that’s a wrap on 2021! Although life still hasn’t returned to “normal” (will it ever?), it’s nice to look back on the year and remember that there was still a lot of good things taking place.

I need a new hobby. Should I continue pie baking or find something new? Any ideas?

Hope you all have a wonderful, HEALTHY 2022!

Twenty-Six

This morning Brian asked me if I can believe we have a kid who is 26 years old. Nope. I sure can’t! But we do!

Nick is 26 today. We’re looking forward to celebrating with him tonight. He requested steak for dinner when I asked where he wanted to go. So that’s what we’ll do.

We’re so proud of this guy. He’s hard-working, smart, kind and funny. He loves the Packers, board & video games, black coffee, reality tv (Survivor, Big Brother, and Amazing Race), and reading. And he recently became a cat person when he adopted little Madeline.

Happy Birthday, Nick! We’re excited about all that’s ahead for you in 2022! We love you so much!

Twenty-Three

Taylor is 23 today!

Last night she shared 22 things about 22 on Facebook and I thought I’d share it here too and give you a glimpse into her life this past year.

22 things about 22…
1. Got a few more months of leadership development and service in by volunteering in one of the world’s best youth groups under one of the world’s best pastors.
2. Found my passion for baking and especially baking for others.
3. Graduated from Liberty University after saying I would never go to college and I would CERTAINLY never go to Liberty. Lol @ God’s plan.
4. Accepted my position and was commissioned into vocational ministry after a long and emotional 5 years of feeling God’s pull on my life to this career.
5. Officiated my first wedding! One of the BEST parts of minister life.
6. Sold my first car and got my first car payment. Adulting.
7. Learned how to play Chess.
8. Survived my first Easter season in ministry. It’s my favorite season!
9. Ruined a family dinner by being taken to the hospital and having emergency surgery at 2 AM. Fun, fun times had by all.
10. Saw many sweet, sweet friends marry their soul mates.
11. Fell in love with Marvel. (Mainly Captain America)
12. Spent a week in the mountains of Tennessee recharging.
13. Had a life changing moment leading a second grader to Christ at a children’s ministry friend’s VBS.
14. Spoke at Camp 1Three and KDay at the best camp around – Camp Lebanon.
15. Got to start doing life with an incredible group of Young Adults in the church.
16. Directed my first VBS.
17. Took a lot of risks and did a lot of things that scared me beyond belief.
18. Spent endless days with my favorite people.
19. Laughed a TON, which is my favorite thing to do.
20. Prioritized listening to God’s opinion before anyone else’s.
21. Made many new friendships I would have never seen coming.
22. Learned that it is okay when your life looks like nothing you ever planned or imagined, because God’s plan is remarkably good. Life is worth living.
Let’s go, 23. Big moves, okay?

What a year! Can’t wait to see what those “big moves” are! :)

Happy Birthday to our kind, smart, dedicated, determined, funny, sweet, hard-working, coffee-loving, beautiful 23 year old!

We love you so much!

Before & After: Fireplace Edition

We recently did a little (long over due!) fireplace refresh.

Before:

We have hated those brass doors and the molding around the brink for so long!

And after:

New doors, no molding, and a new mantel (made by Brian), and a few new decorations.

Love it! Why did we wait so long?!

March Things

March was officially a year since the world went crazy! We started March 2020 in Disney World and two weeks later we were stuck at home. March 2021 was still not quite normal but we did manage a few almost normal things.

I met a friend for coffee a couple of times at one of our favorite local spots. I met Nick for a “parking lot” lunch date.

I baked a caramel apple pie that we all enjoyed…

and Tay & I tried a new ice cream flavor.

Yum!

(Clearly life is super exciting around here these days.)

I met with The Table Women’s Community on Zoom for a night of learning Zentangles. (Note: when scheduling Zoom calls with people in other time zones – especially if they’re the teachers – make sure you’re all on the same page about the time you’re meeting!)

Zentangle Shamrock (or is it a Shamrock Zentangle?)

I helped my chiropractor’s office get up to speed on their social media accounts.

We finished up Tay’s office…

It’s so cute!

I got my hair cut & colored – long overdue! Is anyone else going longer & longer between hair appointments?

Tay’s church did a super fun Easter activity where families could sign up to have their house “egged”. Brian & I had fun egging a house.

I hosted an online book club. We read this book….

We chatted in a Facebook group and then met on Zoom at the end of the month. Highly recommend the book for parents of older teens as well as young adults.

I signed up for a Keto coaching group (more on that later!) and had my first call to get the ball rolling on that.

Corbin spent lots of time keeping watch over the neighborhood.

We were still doing lots of things virtually & distanced but it was good to do some things that felt a bit normal again. Hopefully there are more “normal” things to come!

February Things

Yes. I know it’s July.

One of these days I’ll get caught up on the old blog. Or not.

For now, here’s what was happening way back in February.

I met a couple of friends for coffee at a favorite local coffee shop. It was GOOD to be together face-to-face. I love coffee dates with friends. I also continued meeting weekly on Zoom with my Bible study gals and monthly with The Table Women’s Community.

I “baked” another pie for Valentine’s Day. This one was a no-bake pie and we didn’t really care for it.

Chocolate Raspberry Pie

Also on Valentine’s Day, Corbin celebrated his birthday – 11 years old!

What a cutie! He may be a tad spoiled.

We had fun celebrating my father-in-law’s 80th birthday. I loved putting together a fun gift of some 80th birthday things. We all loved reading through a little book of things that were popular the year he was born.

Happy Birthday, Don!

Tay & Brian painted an accent wall in her new office (I just sat around and watched – LOL!). It looks so good. I’ll show you a picture of the finished product soon (or in a few months at the rate I post things).

And that’s a wrap on February!

Crazy Times at the BMV (alternate title: The Day I Almost Failed at the BMV)

Disclaimer: Nothing I’m about to share with you is the fault of the BMV. I take full responsibility for my crazy.

A couple of weeks ago I realized that I needed to renew my driver’s license this year. I used to HATE the BMV we went to. The people working there were rude (I wrote about a previous experience here). Some things happened at that location a few years back and it’s been 100% better. I still wasn’t looking forward to going.

I reached out to a former co-worker who now works there and she told me how things were going there during the pandemic. She made sure I knew which documents to bring (easy peasy if you have a current passport). She also mentioned that I could sign in online and get a place in line. I looked into that, saw where to do it, but the instructions after registering weren’t clear (or posted at all). I bugged my friend again and found out what the process was. I was ready to go!

This morning was the day. Well, actually, yesterday was supposed to be the day but Corbin had me up in the night and I was TIRED yesterday and decided to postpone. Corbin got me up again last night. I was tired this morning but decided I HAD to get this done. I got online right when they opened and put my name in. I gave the dog his morning medicine and then headed out the door.

When I arrived there were just a few people in line so I joined (checking with the nice lady in front of me that this was in fact the line for check in). When I got to the check-in lady she took my info from online registration and sent me right in (she said something like ‘You go girl” when I told her my number so I guess it was a good one). Those that hadn’t registered online were sent back to their cars for a 45 minute wait. Register online if you need to go!

Anyhoo…I step inside and wait for just a short time before my number is called to go to window #4.

(From Disney’s Zootopia)

And here’s where it all goes downhill.

I step up to the window. There’s a plexiglass divider between me and the BMV lady. We’re also both wearing masks. I soon discover that with the plexiglass, her mask, and all the noise around me, I cannot hear a word she’s staying….

BMV Lady: mumble, mumble, mumble

Me: I’m good! How are you today?

(It’s at this point I realize she did not wish me a good morning or inquire as to how I was doing. It’s the BMV. They do not care how you’re doing. She was basically asking me what I wanted.)

I try to keep from laughing as I tell her why I’m there and hand her all my documents (passport, social security card, bank statement, and driver’s license, if you need to know).

BMV Lady: mumble, mumble, mumble Sign and date this (as she hands me a form).

I verify with her what section she wants FILLED OUT and not just “sign & date” this. I also inform her at this time that I can’t hear a word she says. She’s not amused.

I stand there for a bit while she enters my info into the system. I’m sure she’s making a note on my permanent record that I’m hard of hearing. She then instructs me on the eye test. This is where it really starts to go downhill.

1. I cannot hear her instructions.
2. I’ve been wearing multi-focal lenses for the past few months. One sees distance, one up close. This isn’t working well with this machine.
3. My mask is causing the machine to fog up.

I read with my left eye when she wants me to read with both eyes (I cannot hear you, lady). I read the middle column when she wants me to read the left column (I still cannot hear you, lady). EVERYTHING goes fuzzy and I figure I’m going blind or about to pass out. I think at this point I might be having an anxiety attack over possibly not passing this thing. I mention to her that I can’t see a thing. She says it’s the mask but she wasn’t going to tell me unless I said something (thanks a lot, lady).

I finish the eye test by spouting off random numbers. I must have gotten enough correct because she moves on to the next thing.

BMV Lady: Do you have any mental issues?

I don’t even think that’s an actual question they’re supposed to ask. I think she was genuinely curious at that moment in time. I worked in customer service for a few years. There were times I wondered this same thing about people.

We FINALLY finished up (which didn’t take as long as it seemed at the time) and she sent me over to get my picture taken. I left with a temporary piece of paper and quite possibly some permanent notes about my hearing & mental state on my record.

Things to do before my next renewal:

1. Get rid of these multi-focal contact lenses.
2. Find a new BMV location.