Fruitful

How sad is it that the last update on our garden all the pictures showed was a big brown plot of land!?! Things have come along way and our garden has exploded! The zucchini plants alone are like conquerors bent on conquest, taking over as much space as their big fat leaves can stretch. My dad takes such good care of it and my mom is a dedicated harvester. She goes out at 6 a.m. to beat the heat every day! Here's a few shots to give you a taste of our fruitfulness.

 I love watching the skinny little vines, that seem to have minds of their own, stretch out and wrap around the wire cages. I truly see the hand of God at work in how a tiny little seed can bring forth so much life!

With all our veggies I've been doing my best to figure out how to use them. I decided to try out my mom's trusty zucchini bread recipe with a tiny twist. We put half of the batch into my donut pan!

Sad to say, I have no pictures of the finished product, but it was very tasty. Next time I'm going to make a glaze for the donuts, at my husband's request, and maybe add some nuts or raisins. Who would have thought something so tasty could come from something so stringy and slimy?

The Atlantic

Jadah has never seen the Atlantic ocean. That had to be remedied, and I felt I should be the friend to take on the task. So, the other day we packed into my Rav4 and headed east. We made a pit stop at Trader Joes on the way and boy oh boy were we excited. Just today we ate the last of the TJ's granola that I bought and I almost cried. Why is their food so good and their stores so far away?? We loaded our empty cooler with all our delicacies and went to the coast. We enjoyed fine weather, sun bathing, a refreshing swim in the tumbling waves, and some tasty italian ice from the board walk. Jadah was satisfied with the Atlantic, but her heart is still for the west coast. My attempt to convert her failed, but I don't blame her, it's so lovely on the other side of the continent.

This was by far the most unique picnic spread I've ever seen but it was perfect for a Jadah+Lindy outing. Figs, beats, carrots, hummus, and sushi!! Yum! It was a tasty lunch enhanced by some Trader Joe's finds, of course. 

Follow Along

Yep, it's been a while again. I have some good excuses and some bad excuses for why this blog has been so silent, but either way, here I am. One reason I'd like to share with you all is best depicted in picture form.

2 lap tops, a printer, paper cutter, labels, labels, and more labels, envelopes, address books, lists of names, multiple trips to buy more printer ink, and fried rice. What does all that add up to? Fundraising. After many hours we finally finished our first wave of fundraising letters as we move toward going on Mission staff at Gateway House of Prayer by October. It's been hectic, but it feels so good to have it done. Just this morning I took our big box of letters to the post office, so now we just pray that God moves on people's hearts to partner with us and in the mean time trust Him to provide our daily bread.

Now, on to my update. I realized recently that this blog has become my journal. Ever since I did the internship at Gateway, my journaling has seriously suffered. I haven't made time for it and I have a feeling in the future I'm going to regret that decision. I love to look back and see what happened in my life, how I grew, the lessons I learned, the revelation I received from God, and all the other silly little details in between. So, even though my impulse is to do one general blog to catch all the readers up to speed, I've decided to be a little more thorough. For the sake of me, a year from now, I'm going to take the time to write several posts about different events that have happened lately.


So, sit back, listen to some bluegrass (I've been soo into bluegrass lately!) and catch up!

Rails to Trails

When we first moved to Pennsylvania, Jake started right away researching fun things to do around here and creating a "bucket list" of sorts. These were all things we wanted to accomplish in our first year of marriage. We've been doing pretty good, some of them even got checked off the list without us even trying. This weekend we did one that Jake was extremely excited about. All around Lancaster county (and the surrounding counties) they are in the process of turning old railways, that are never used, into trails. It's a great idea and all sorts of people get plenty of use out of them. We borrowed a bike for me (mine is out of commission) and set out on our journey. We stopped at a super cute ice cream parlor for lunch and enjoyed our pleasant bike ride on the peaceful trails.

It was a good date day. Cheap, fun, and we even got a work out (not much of a work out since we got some ice cream half way:) )

Also this weekend, our friend Hope came for a visit. We had met her at Bethany during our freshman year when she returned from Cambodia for her senior semester. She was visiting family in the area, so we invited her out to our place for the night. We took her to Green Dragon and stayed up late worshipping at Gateway. It was so refreshing to have her around and hear what God has been doing in her heart. I've never met someone who 'abides in the vine' the way she does. Our conversations stirred me up to pursue greater depths with God.

Birthday Bonanza

I like birthday parties. We had one for me on Sunday and it was delightful. There were plenty of outdoor activities, tasty treats, friendly faces, and laughter. Jake was on grill duty while I meandered around and chatted. We got to introduce the slack line to our friends and it was such a hit. I thought that you only received presents at birthday parties when you're a child, but I was happily mistaken! A bunch of people gave me all sorts of thoughtful gifts and cards and my love tank was filled.
I think I'm like a pirate when it comes to presents. I probably don't really know what pirates do with their discovered treasures and plundered booties, but if I had to guess, I would say it's pretty similar to my strange ways. I love to lay out all of my presents in front of me and look at them over and over. I like to pick up one at a time and inspect it, then put it down as I move on to the next. I got some real doozies from Jake as well, but that will have to wait for another post. My 24th year is looking promising and exciting with lots of unknowns and new adventures. Bye Bye 23, you were an awesome year to say the least.

I'm Back!

It's been quiet over here on the blog. A little too quiet.
A few things happened. One: I stopped bringing the lap top with me during my nanny days. It became too much of a distraction to me during his nap when I really wanted to spend time with the Lord. And Two: We've had some CRAZY busy evenings packed full to the brim. Isn't it funny how when it rains, it pours? In a matter of days the internship ended, and so did the school year, thus leaving me jobless and with free evenings almost every night. This is only day two of being unemployed, and I have to admit, it's been kind of nice. Yesterday I spent 3 hours in the prayer room relaxing in the presence of God, reading the Word, interceding for family and friends, singing songs and even dancing around a bit. It was delightful. That was the most time I've spent in the prayer room at a time since being in the internship myself over a year ago. I forgot how much I missed that uninterrupted time fellowshipping with my Creator.

A lot has happened! I feel like these sorts of posts end up being crazy and random and way too full of pictures. I'll try to keep it as small as possible.

I went to the beach with some friends of mine.

Bella made sure to tell me that next time we go to the beach together she'll wear her cutest bathing suit. I don't know how she can get much cuter though! Have I mentioned how much I love the beach? I love it. Seriously, I could go there all the time and not get tired of it. I'm looking forward to more trips this summer.

Jake got to do a mural at the Prince Street Cafe in Lancaster. It was only a temporary installment since they were in the midst of remodeling, but it was still a great opportunity. Prince Street is sort of the central hot spot in Lancaster and they posted his name and flickr account all over so that people would know who he is.

We went to my family's cabin for Memorial Day weekend. It was a lovely time. I have so many memories at that cabin and it's fun to see Jake experience something so familiar to me. We grilled, lounged around, ate way too much, visited Penn State, and tried out our sweet hammock that our dear friend Laura Stocks gave us as a wedding present!

Every other Sunday we meet with a small home group from our church. Normally this happens in Lancaster after church, but this time we had everyone over at our place and had breakfast. It was delightful. Jake flipped some of the fanciest flapjacks I ever saw and made some iced coffee that was a hit with the whole crowd. We love having people over, even if it does mean that our tiny apartment is maxed out and people have to sit on kitchen chairs and swivel wheely chairs and eat with their plates in their laps. I like it.

And last, but certainly not least, my eldest sister Amy, gave birth to her second child. A girl. A precious girl. Her name is Chloe and everyone is loving her to pieces!! After 3 boys being born into the family, we were itching for some pink and lace and dresses and nail polish.