Bombadil

I've been home for over a month now and things have been a bit harder than expected. I still feel out of place in the area that I called home for most of my life, and loneliness is trying to kick in. Being around my family has been the biggest highlight and blessing of this time at home. I'm so thankful I get to watch my nephews grow, reconnect with my sisters, and of course be around my parents. I have a few things I've been doing lately to brighten my day in my down time. One is knitting my very first hat. It's proved to be a challenge, but definitely doable. I have an extra drive to complete it because it's for my wonderful boyfriend and the cold Minnesota days are coming quickly!

 I am also embarking on the long journey of the "Lord of the Rings" book series. I really love it! Tolkien's language paints the most beautiful pictures and brings me right along in the adventure. If any of you are fans of the movies, the books are really wonderful as well.

And last, but not least, I'm preparing to celebrate my favorite month of the year. October is just around the corner and I have quite the list of things I want to do. I got myself in the fall festive mood by ordering a fallish drink at a coffee shop, which was decorated in such a way that I didn't even want to drink it!

Butterflies, beaches, bicycles, boyfriends

Yesterday Jake jumped back on a plane to Minnesota after a much needed 7 day stay. The first three days we were in Pennsylvania and he got to meet all of the family. It was so nice to have him share in my world over here, to be able to have faces with names and what not. Then we left for a 4 day vacation with my parents in Ocean City, New Jersey. The weather was exquisite, the boardwalk food delicious, and the time spent together essential. At the very latest we'll see each other in December, but we sure hope to make it sooner than that.

Today I also had my first day with Home helpers and my first client. It went well and I feel a lot more confident about working in this area. I really hope that God can use me to love people who need it in a practical way. One of the first things my client asked me was "Do you like to torture yourself or something with those nose rings and tattoo?" :) I think we're going to get a long great.

jingle jangle

My trip to the cabin was relaxing and enjoyable. We spent most of the time outside in the beautiful 60 degree weather with my sisters, mom, and I knitting while the men and boys did some geocaching and hiking. And, because I can't show off my newest nephew enough and due to feelings of 'blog neglect' from my sister, here's a cute picture of mother and son :)

My parents and I have taken on the challenge of moving my mother's sewing room from upstairs to downstairs. This has been something we've dreamed of doing for a long time, and have finally decided that now was the time to do it. In going through her sewing stuff my mom has found a lot of older sewing supplies that she neither needs or wants. This is exciting for me since I plan on trying my hand at sewing in the very near future and would need some supplies of my own. I also enjoyed taking some cute retro needle holders and using them as decorations in my room.

While we were cleaning out my mom's room I found three old prayer cards of mine. I realized that this is the first time in four years that there wasn't some sort of card plastered all over people's refrigerators with my face on it. I was thinking I should make a new one that says something like "Pray for Lindy as she embarks on a long distance relationship" and maybe post a photo of me holding my "Help Jake and Lindy be in the same time zone" change jar.

In case you lost count, Jake will be here in less than 48 hours. :)

Young and Old

I'm going through the process of becoming a 'caregiver' with an agency in Lancaster called "Home Helpers." Their tag line is "Helping aging seniors safely manage and enjoy an active lifestyle while maintaining their independence." I'm really looking forward to this new opportunity. I'll get to hang out with people in their homes and help them do little bits of every day life that are a struggle to them. I can't wait to have lots of new Grandpas and Grandmas around.

On top of that, I've been babysitting my youngest nephew Colton at his house on Mondays and Fridays, and helping my mom babysit him and my nephew Evan on Tuesdays and Thursdays here at home. They keep me on my toes and exercising my imagination which is always a blast for me. Also, they give me an excuse to check out some of my old favorite kids books from the local library. If you haven't read anything by Bill Peet you are seriously missing out. The Wump World was always my personal favorite.

Tomorrow my whole family (parents, sisters, husbands, nephews) will be heading up to our cabin for the long labor day weekend. I'm so excited to relax and enjoy the outdoors. Hopefully I can teach my nephews my favorite game to play at the cabin which includes a slanted tin roof and lots of acorns. When we return from the cabin, it will only be 5 short days until Jake arrives!! I'm a little bit thrilled about that :)

And since two other dear friends of mine recently posted links to lovely videos with good music, I've decided to do the same. Check these guys out. This video feeds my origami obsession.