Last night after I shut off the light and snuggled down into bed I regaled Marc with a tale of a bloody nose I had the year before (it related to the topic at hand, I promise). After adding, perhaps, a bit too much detail to the story there was a brief pause before Marc says, "Wow. You really know how to talk to a man."
Marc sometimes thinks I sing too much around the house. I told him that I only sing when I'm happy and I'm happy when I'm around him so I really only sing at home when he's present. I then said, "I don't sing at all at work or when I'm by myself at home." Marc responds with, "I still make goofy faces in the mirror when you're not home." (I actually believe this to be true!)
Another thought - why is it that when I get a meeting invitation in my email at work - a meeting I have absolutely zero interest in being part of - and I click on the "Check Availability" button that I am ALWAYS available? Seriously, I lead a semi-busy life at work most days, why am I never busy when there is a meeting I don't want to attend?
Holly is coming for a visit this weekend - pretty excited! We have no real plans, we'll lolly gag our way through the weekend, but I'm looking forward to catching up!
I stopped to get gas this morning and mindlessly watched the snow flakes fall lazily to the ground, in no real rush to be anywhere. It was nice to just stop for those few moments and watch them. There is something so peaceful and quiet about the world when it snows and for a few minutes this morning I got to be part of it.
The guy in the cubicle next to me is using a typewriter. Honestly? I didn't know those were anywhere besides museums...
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Dead People Moving
Some of you may know that my only fear is moving dead people. Yes, I know. An irrational fear because dead people shouldn't be moving. This fear stems from an ill fated trip to Gettysburg when I was 7.
AMC has a show out called "The Walking Dead". It premiered on Halloween and the season finale is next Sunday. In a nutshell, there has been an apocalypse and now there are dead zombie-like creatures roaming - "Walkers" - and then the remaining humans who somehow survived and are trying to evade the Walkers and find safety. If you get bit by a Walker (they eat flesh to survive) you die and then soon there after come back to life as a Walker yourself. Walkers can only be stopped by shooting them in the head (or damaging their head in some way).
Everything about this screams to me "Sara you hate this show! Don't watch it!", but alas I sit and have watched it the past two weekends with Marc. Honestly, minus the moving dead people it's not that bad of a show. After watching it I'm always a little creeped out.
Last Sunday night I was back in the bathroom getting ready for bed and I hear the bathroom door knob wiggle. I say "What?" knowing it was Marc, but thinking it was weird he was wiggling the door knob. The door knob wiggles again. I open the door and a zombiesque version of Marc was standing outside the bathroom door. He had smeared ketchup all over his face and neck to really help the gross half-decayed zombie point be driven home. After a mild heart attack I laughed and laughed and laughed!
Here is what happened after watching the show last night:
Sara: Will you come outside with me to turn off the Christmas lights?
Marc: No.
Sara: What if Walkers attack me? How would that make you feel?
Marc: Sara, there are no such things as Walkers. It's just a show.
(author's note: In my head he rolls his eyes right here, but I can't say for sure if he did in real life)
Sara: Ok, ok
Sara heads outside to unplug the Christmas lights, before heading outside she turned on every light between her and the front door. She dashes outside, unplugs the master cord for the outside lights and rests it on the outlet cover. It falls down. Marc, being hilarious, turns off the outside light so now Sara is outside in the dark, she yells "Marc! Don't you...oooh (trails off)". She picks up the cord again - glances around for Walkers - and puts it back on the outlet cover. It falls again. "Blast!" she yells and decides that her life is more important than her OCD desire to have the cord on top of the outlet cover. Sara sprints across the garden to the front door and bursts through slamming it behind her. She hardly has time to revel in her victory of not getting attacked by Walkers when Marc leaps out from the corner behind the front door and screams. Sara screams. Everyone is screaming. Arms are flailing (Sara's). Arms are getting punched (Marc's). There was a lot of "That's not funny!" "Why would you do that" sprinkled in amongst Marc's uproariously laughter. I think my heart slowed to a normal rhythm 40 minutes later.
Secretly, I think both events were really funny, but since I don't want to encourage this torture to my heart I won't ever tell Marc that I think it was funny...
AMC has a show out called "The Walking Dead". It premiered on Halloween and the season finale is next Sunday. In a nutshell, there has been an apocalypse and now there are dead zombie-like creatures roaming - "Walkers" - and then the remaining humans who somehow survived and are trying to evade the Walkers and find safety. If you get bit by a Walker (they eat flesh to survive) you die and then soon there after come back to life as a Walker yourself. Walkers can only be stopped by shooting them in the head (or damaging their head in some way).
Last Sunday night I was back in the bathroom getting ready for bed and I hear the bathroom door knob wiggle. I say "What?" knowing it was Marc, but thinking it was weird he was wiggling the door knob. The door knob wiggles again. I open the door and a zombiesque version of Marc was standing outside the bathroom door. He had smeared ketchup all over his face and neck to really help the gross half-decayed zombie point be driven home. After a mild heart attack I laughed and laughed and laughed!
Here is what happened after watching the show last night:
Sara: Will you come outside with me to turn off the Christmas lights?
Marc: No.
Sara: What if Walkers attack me? How would that make you feel?
Marc: Sara, there are no such things as Walkers. It's just a show.
(author's note: In my head he rolls his eyes right here, but I can't say for sure if he did in real life)
Sara: Ok, ok
Sara heads outside to unplug the Christmas lights, before heading outside she turned on every light between her and the front door. She dashes outside, unplugs the master cord for the outside lights and rests it on the outlet cover. It falls down. Marc, being hilarious, turns off the outside light so now Sara is outside in the dark, she yells "Marc! Don't you...oooh (trails off)". She picks up the cord again - glances around for Walkers - and puts it back on the outlet cover. It falls again. "Blast!" she yells and decides that her life is more important than her OCD desire to have the cord on top of the outlet cover. Sara sprints across the garden to the front door and bursts through slamming it behind her. She hardly has time to revel in her victory of not getting attacked by Walkers when Marc leaps out from the corner behind the front door and screams. Sara screams. Everyone is screaming. Arms are flailing (Sara's). Arms are getting punched (Marc's). There was a lot of "That's not funny!" "Why would you do that" sprinkled in amongst Marc's uproariously laughter. I think my heart slowed to a normal rhythm 40 minutes later.
Secretly, I think both events were really funny, but since I don't want to encourage this torture to my heart I won't ever tell Marc that I think it was funny...
Clean
Marc and I like a clean house. We like tidy. We like organized.
I may have gone a tad overboard. Marc thinks I vacuumed entirely too many times while I was home for Thanksgiving break. He's probably right. I'll retype that. He's right.
I lost count of how many times I vacuumed, but in my defense setting up the Christmas tree was quite an ordeal and required multiple vacuumings.
On Friday morning I organized all the cupboards in the kitchen. Dang they look nice. I bought a little organizer unit thing to hold the saran wrap, aluminum foil, etc. Marc was nice enough to hang it up as soon as he got home from work. Most normal people would have been ok to wait until the next day, but Marc knows that I can't fully relax until everything is "done" - whether that be cleaned, put away, started, etc. He knew I'd be a mess all evening if I didn't get the aluminum foil and wax paper properly organized right then. These are the little ways that Marc shows his love to me and it reminds me how much he cares. No big showy gestures needed here, seeing that he will postpone his own relaxing to hang up my organizing unit says it all!
Took a big trip to Goodwill on Friday as well. We had gone through our closets a few weeks ago and had two big bags of clothes to donate and we also donated kitchen items - we may finally be rid of all the doubles of things from when we moved in together.
Speaking of doubles, while organizing the spice cupboard we had doubles of a variety of spices. Now that it's nice and neat and organized by spice type, finding what you need in a flash should be no problem! Marc also discovered we owned a pepper grinder - he was quite ecstatic about this! I also cleaned out the fridge and freezer. After all of this it's safe to say we have a lot of garbage for garbage day this week.
Yesterday I swept out the garage and did some minor tidying up. Luckily I had to go back to work on Monday because I think I ran out of places to clean.
I'm going to try to slow it down in the cleaning department though. I don't want Marc to think I'm weird or anything...
I may have gone a tad overboard. Marc thinks I vacuumed entirely too many times while I was home for Thanksgiving break. He's probably right. I'll retype that. He's right.
I lost count of how many times I vacuumed, but in my defense setting up the Christmas tree was quite an ordeal and required multiple vacuumings.
On Friday morning I organized all the cupboards in the kitchen. Dang they look nice. I bought a little organizer unit thing to hold the saran wrap, aluminum foil, etc. Marc was nice enough to hang it up as soon as he got home from work. Most normal people would have been ok to wait until the next day, but Marc knows that I can't fully relax until everything is "done" - whether that be cleaned, put away, started, etc. He knew I'd be a mess all evening if I didn't get the aluminum foil and wax paper properly organized right then. These are the little ways that Marc shows his love to me and it reminds me how much he cares. No big showy gestures needed here, seeing that he will postpone his own relaxing to hang up my organizing unit says it all!
Took a big trip to Goodwill on Friday as well. We had gone through our closets a few weeks ago and had two big bags of clothes to donate and we also donated kitchen items - we may finally be rid of all the doubles of things from when we moved in together.
Speaking of doubles, while organizing the spice cupboard we had doubles of a variety of spices. Now that it's nice and neat and organized by spice type, finding what you need in a flash should be no problem! Marc also discovered we owned a pepper grinder - he was quite ecstatic about this! I also cleaned out the fridge and freezer. After all of this it's safe to say we have a lot of garbage for garbage day this week.
Yesterday I swept out the garage and did some minor tidying up. Luckily I had to go back to work on Monday because I think I ran out of places to clean.
I'm going to try to slow it down in the cleaning department though. I don't want Marc to think I'm weird or anything...
Would You Still Love Me If...
Just so you know Marc says and does funny stuff all the time, but sometimes you literally can't put it into words so I can't get a good blog post out of it. Nonetheless some stuff does translate well such as this recent conversation in the Pensyl household:
Scene: getting ready to head out to get our Christmas tree
Background fact: Sara's right foot gets ridiculously cold
Sara (sitting in mudroom putting on sneakers): I have on two pairs of socks
Marc: Two pairs of socks?!
Sara: Yeah - you know, so my foot wouldn't get cold and fall off.
Marc: Ohhhh ok. Well, I'd still love you even if you had one foot!
My heart fluttered. :)
Scene: getting ready to head out to get our Christmas tree
Background fact: Sara's right foot gets ridiculously cold
Sara (sitting in mudroom putting on sneakers): I have on two pairs of socks
Marc: Two pairs of socks?!
Sara: Yeah - you know, so my foot wouldn't get cold and fall off.
Marc: Ohhhh ok. Well, I'd still love you even if you had one foot!
My heart fluttered. :)
Never Too Late To Be Thankful
Things the Pensyls are Thankful for:
Marriage
Tucker and his fuzzy snuggliness
Lily and her suctioned-to-the-side-of-your-body snuggliness
Our family
Bart
Our friends (near and far)
Hugs that comfort
Yankee Candles that make the house smell so good
Late nights and an opportunity to sleep in
Cheesy Christmas movies on TV
Twinkly Christmas lights
Laughter
Mistletoe (even if Tucker is the one who gets the most kisses)
New cars with great gas mileage
Jeeps that gave us good memories
Knowing that God is here
Full moons
A warm house
Cabernet Merlot
Real Simple
Funny memories
Still learning things about each other after 15 years
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do
Marc's band, Risky Coalition, is auditioning for new lead singers. I'll let that hang in the air for a moment.
As some of you may know I'm probably the best singer since Rosemary Clooney (minus the minor drug problem in the sixties) and I really like to test out the 'ol pipes around the house. Marc really enjoys this. He especially likes it when I sing in the shower as he's trying to fall asleep. I believe he said it's like having God's angels sing him to sleep. (some of what you just read isn't true)
Anyway, I'm waiting for Marc to provide me with the song list and I'm trying to find a local studio so I can lay down some tracks and provide a CD of my material to the band members. Luckily I'm talented enough to be able to sing genres ranging from opera to rock to easy listening oldies, I also like to develop my own materials - real "from the heart" songs, so I'm not worried about what the song list will contain.
If you know of a local studio where I could record these velvety melodies or want to create "Vote for Sara" t-shirts and wear them around I'd appreciate it. I hope I beat out the competition...
(if you guessed "minus the minor drug problem in the sixties" you were right on)
As some of you may know I'm probably the best singer since Rosemary Clooney (minus the minor drug problem in the sixties) and I really like to test out the 'ol pipes around the house. Marc really enjoys this. He especially likes it when I sing in the shower as he's trying to fall asleep. I believe he said it's like having God's angels sing him to sleep. (some of what you just read isn't true)
Anyway, I'm waiting for Marc to provide me with the song list and I'm trying to find a local studio so I can lay down some tracks and provide a CD of my material to the band members. Luckily I'm talented enough to be able to sing genres ranging from opera to rock to easy listening oldies, I also like to develop my own materials - real "from the heart" songs, so I'm not worried about what the song list will contain.
If you know of a local studio where I could record these velvety melodies or want to create "Vote for Sara" t-shirts and wear them around I'd appreciate it. I hope I beat out the competition...
(if you guessed "minus the minor drug problem in the sixties" you were right on)
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Weekend Rewind
I know, I know - it's Tuesday and I'm just doing a Weekend Rewind right now!
Friday and Saturday I was in Lancaster with my mom, sister, nephew, cousin, and aunt - we had such a blast! Friday we shopped around Kitchen Kettle Village and I officially started Christmas shopping. The place we ate dinner had an all-you-can-eat dessert bar you could add to your meal for $3.65. Heck yes I will! Honestly, who wouldn't add that to their meal? I had peanut butter mousse pie - yum.
I heard David (our nephew) laugh for the first time - what an amazing sound! A big 'ol laugh straight from the belly! He also smiles constantly - you can't help but have this big goofy grin on your face when you're with him! I got woken up on Saturday morning by David "jumping" on me - I'll wake up like that any morning! I still smile when I think back to how the first thing I saw Saturday morning were tiny blue footed pajama feet coming toward me and a big 'ol smile!
On Saturday we took a tour of different little Amish places and learned a bit about the culture - it was pretty neat (you know, besides "Kath" the loud lady from Baltimore who had crass comments for everything throughout the entire tour)! Then we headed over to the outlets to do some shopping. Nothing too exciting to report here - bought some more Christmas presents and found small dessert plates to match our dishes (hey Corelle, start selling matching dessert plates for your square plate collections - people will buy them).
Here is a picture of David and I out shopping (actually we were resting on a couch at Pottery Barn-the store wasn't designed with strollers in mind, so we waited while everyone else looked around).
On Sunday I grabbed breakfast at Mom's with Auntie Jo and Emily before heading to church. After Marc and I got home from church I started a whirlwind house cleaning and Marc headed out to Wegman's to go food shopping. A weary, battle scarred Marc returned, declaring he'll never go food shopping on a Sunday again. He's bounced back, no worries. Sunday was moving full steam ahead and I had to sprint out the door to head to a congregational meeting at church and then to HSM small group at Alyssa's house.
I worked from home on Monday and was able to finish up a few tasks (ironing, laundry, etc). We also may have hung up the Christmas lights outside. And when I say "may have" I mean we did. It was warm and sunny out, I'm not stupid nor am I ashamed that it's mid-November and the Pensyls have their Christmas lights up.
Tucker jumped from the front porch to the where the front sidewalks curves in one single leap yesterday. Marc estimates that's about 15 feet. He's definitely made of springs.
In Lancaster I bought a big barn star for us to hang on the front of the house - we've wanted one since we moved in and have looked around, but couldn't never find exactly what we needed. We finally found the one we want! Tonight we're going to paint it and hopefully we'll hang it up this weekend! Ooooh I'm excited!
Other than that I'm about to launch into full Christmas shopping/Christmas party planning mode! I have a few good present ideas up my sleeve this year...
Friday and Saturday I was in Lancaster with my mom, sister, nephew, cousin, and aunt - we had such a blast! Friday we shopped around Kitchen Kettle Village and I officially started Christmas shopping. The place we ate dinner had an all-you-can-eat dessert bar you could add to your meal for $3.65. Heck yes I will! Honestly, who wouldn't add that to their meal? I had peanut butter mousse pie - yum.
I heard David (our nephew) laugh for the first time - what an amazing sound! A big 'ol laugh straight from the belly! He also smiles constantly - you can't help but have this big goofy grin on your face when you're with him! I got woken up on Saturday morning by David "jumping" on me - I'll wake up like that any morning! I still smile when I think back to how the first thing I saw Saturday morning were tiny blue footed pajama feet coming toward me and a big 'ol smile!
On Saturday we took a tour of different little Amish places and learned a bit about the culture - it was pretty neat (you know, besides "Kath" the loud lady from Baltimore who had crass comments for everything throughout the entire tour)! Then we headed over to the outlets to do some shopping. Nothing too exciting to report here - bought some more Christmas presents and found small dessert plates to match our dishes (hey Corelle, start selling matching dessert plates for your square plate collections - people will buy them).
Here is a picture of David and I out shopping (actually we were resting on a couch at Pottery Barn-the store wasn't designed with strollers in mind, so we waited while everyone else looked around).
I worked from home on Monday and was able to finish up a few tasks (ironing, laundry, etc). We also may have hung up the Christmas lights outside. And when I say "may have" I mean we did. It was warm and sunny out, I'm not stupid nor am I ashamed that it's mid-November and the Pensyls have their Christmas lights up.
Tucker jumped from the front porch to the where the front sidewalks curves in one single leap yesterday. Marc estimates that's about 15 feet. He's definitely made of springs.
In Lancaster I bought a big barn star for us to hang on the front of the house - we've wanted one since we moved in and have looked around, but couldn't never find exactly what we needed. We finally found the one we want! Tonight we're going to paint it and hopefully we'll hang it up this weekend! Ooooh I'm excited!
Other than that I'm about to launch into full Christmas shopping/Christmas party planning mode! I have a few good present ideas up my sleeve this year...
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Happy Veterans Day
Happy Veterans Day to all of those men and women who have and are serving and protecting our country. We are grateful for you in ways we can't even express and appreciate you more than you know. We think of you often and pray for you as we marvel at your bravery.
A picture of Marc and his Military Working Dog (MWD) Brit Delta 059 when they were deployed together in 2006
A picture of Marc and his Military Working Dog (MWD) Brit Delta 059 when they were deployed together in 2006
Thinking about Christmas
I was looking the kitchen window sill last night and realized that I had a pumpkin decoration up. "Eeegads!" I thought to myself, "I need to take down this pumpkin decoration!" As I continued to think about it we still had ALL of our pumpkin decorations up. I blushed a little. Then I realized that in a mere TWO WEEKS that we'd be decorating for Christmas. I made an executive decision to leave all pumpkin decorations up for two more weeks instead of making multiple trips to the "seasonal decoration" bins in the basement. We're so "life on the edge".
Marc and I have been humming Christmas tunes for several weeks now. When the girls came over to carve pumpkins on Halloween we listened to Christmas music (it was all Krista, I swear!). I did mention to them that my brain was all confused - I was pulling slimy pumpkin innards out but listening to Christmas carols.
I'm chomping at the bit to hang up the Christmas decorations! I want to put up the outside lights, but now that it is dark out when I get home from work we haven't had the chance to do that yet. I might settle for putting the candles in the windows. I hesitate to do this though because one of Tucker's favorite things to do is to look out the window - this will keep him occupied for great lengths of time. Anyway, each year we have several light/nose accidents during the first few days the lights are in the window because he's not used to them being there. It's actually mildly hilarious to watch.
When Megan, Desiree, and I were out running errands last week we walked into JoAnn Fabrics and the smell was so immediately wonderful I can't even describe it! After we found what we went there for we followed our noses to identify what it was that smelled so wonderful! Well, wouldn't you know it was cinnamon scented pine cones. Oh gloriousness. We each bought a bag (my car ride home smelled delicious by the way). I'm excited to decorate with them in TWO WEEKS!
Then we get to thinking about others - Malea will be in Guatemala for Christmas - we wonder how they will celebrate Christmas? We think about Bart who is deployed - there will be lots of sand involved in his Christmas. How will he celebrate Christmas?
A good reminder that we are blessed and need to be turning that around to bless others - how can we give a little bit of our Christmas to them?
Marc and I have been humming Christmas tunes for several weeks now. When the girls came over to carve pumpkins on Halloween we listened to Christmas music (it was all Krista, I swear!). I did mention to them that my brain was all confused - I was pulling slimy pumpkin innards out but listening to Christmas carols.
I'm chomping at the bit to hang up the Christmas decorations! I want to put up the outside lights, but now that it is dark out when I get home from work we haven't had the chance to do that yet. I might settle for putting the candles in the windows. I hesitate to do this though because one of Tucker's favorite things to do is to look out the window - this will keep him occupied for great lengths of time. Anyway, each year we have several light/nose accidents during the first few days the lights are in the window because he's not used to them being there. It's actually mildly hilarious to watch.
When Megan, Desiree, and I were out running errands last week we walked into JoAnn Fabrics and the smell was so immediately wonderful I can't even describe it! After we found what we went there for we followed our noses to identify what it was that smelled so wonderful! Well, wouldn't you know it was cinnamon scented pine cones. Oh gloriousness. We each bought a bag (my car ride home smelled delicious by the way). I'm excited to decorate with them in TWO WEEKS!
Then we get to thinking about others - Malea will be in Guatemala for Christmas - we wonder how they will celebrate Christmas? We think about Bart who is deployed - there will be lots of sand involved in his Christmas. How will he celebrate Christmas?
A good reminder that we are blessed and need to be turning that around to bless others - how can we give a little bit of our Christmas to them?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Dang
I'm embarrassed this much time has elapsed between posts. Shame on me. Malea called me all the way from Guatemala to tell me to update my blog. That's how you know it's been too long. A ramble of thoughts today:
Got a new phone a month ago. Glad I finally made the leap, I'm really enjoying it!
Last weekend we had the Jr. Week 2010 Wrap Up Meeting - what a blast! We laughed a ton (Quathii) and (somehow) always manage to get a lot accomplished. We met from 9:30am - 7:30pm. Dang. Tuscarora is so good to us too - they feed us and give us rooms to sleep and rooms to meet. Melissa and I were talking Friday night and I was finally able to put into words that Tuscarora is my happy place. Good things always happen there. So many memories, so many laughs, and so many good friends. Erik always said that Jr. Week is a little glimpse of heaven (minus the poop in the pool and the kids barfing on Wednesday night after too much cotton candy I hope) and I have to whole heartily agree!
Just got back from Michigan for Girls Weekend - we had an absolute blast and ate like Queens (thanks Abe!). After giving Marc a rehash of the weekend he says "Um, so it sounds like you guys just ate and talked?" My response, "Well yes, that is what makes it a girls weekend!". We already locked in the dates for Girls Weekend 2011 and plan to add "get massages" to the list of things to do for the weekend!
This weekend I'm headed to Lancaster with my Mom - we'll meet Erin and David and Auntie Jo and Emily there where we'll laugh and talk and shop for two days! I'm really looking forward to a Family Girls Weekend. Once we get back we'll have to fall into Thanksgiving and Christmas and shopping and wrapping and traveling...having one last little get away will be wonderful!
The senior girls have started turning 18...three in one month! I don't remember much of my 18th birthday - I had to go to school and then work (boooo). I'm sure my mom made me dinner and a cake when I got home. I know I made anyone I knew who walked into the mini-mart that afternoon buy me a lottery ticket - I didn't win. Not a once. The 18th birthday is kind of this weird limbo - all this hype, but if you don't smoke there's not much exciting about it. Oooh I can sign my own field trip forms for school! Guys get to register with the Selective Service. I mean that's something. Leaving for college is WAY more exciting than turning 18...I hope the girls are looking forward to that next! Anyway...three down, eleven more to turn 18...that's a lot of cake to eat...
The boys in the DR have been on my mind a lot lately. We sent Jalin's present down so hopefully he's happily flying his kite as I type. This is assuming, of course, that he figured out how to reassemble it. I had to do some minor disassembling of the kite to get it to fit in the envelope and subsequently Sharon's suitcase. He's a smart cookie, I'm sure he'll figure it out!
I've listened to three audio books (lots of driving) and read two books in the past week and a half. My brain is swirling with too many different story lines! I should stick to one at a time! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving when I'll have some time to relax and read (and be generally useless).
The Pensyls are going to begin planning for their holiday plans/travels (Yikes, Marc doesn't know this yet, hopefully we'll have this talk before he reads this!). So many people to see, places to go...we need more time off from work! :)
I looked at myself in the mirror in the other day and was shocked. I truly believe my hair grew like four inches in as many days. I swear it was a lot shorter last week. I have to remember to call my hair lady...can someone remind me to do that? I'm torn though - I want it short so I'm hip and stylish, but I want it long enough to be able to throw it in a ponytail next summer (I'm NOT doing the DR and Jr. Week without being able to throw my hair in the a pony tail again...guh.). When I get to my hair lady she always asks lots of questions and I barely manage to stammer "Uh...shorter?" in response to her question about how I want my hair. She is NEVER happy with that answer.
We're dog sitting...well actually Marc is doing a board and train for an 8 month old golden retriever named Kenna. She's stinkin' cute. Lily and her have become friends and Tucker is choosing to not acknowledge her presence. We'll see how that changes during her two week stay. He was muttering something about too many girls dogs.
Anyway that's a summary of my life for the past few weeks. I'll try to stay on top of blogging so Malea doesn't have to waste precious minutes calling to casually mention (read: yell) that I need to update the blog!
Got a new phone a month ago. Glad I finally made the leap, I'm really enjoying it!
Last weekend we had the Jr. Week 2010 Wrap Up Meeting - what a blast! We laughed a ton (Quathii) and (somehow) always manage to get a lot accomplished. We met from 9:30am - 7:30pm. Dang. Tuscarora is so good to us too - they feed us and give us rooms to sleep and rooms to meet. Melissa and I were talking Friday night and I was finally able to put into words that Tuscarora is my happy place. Good things always happen there. So many memories, so many laughs, and so many good friends. Erik always said that Jr. Week is a little glimpse of heaven (minus the poop in the pool and the kids barfing on Wednesday night after too much cotton candy I hope) and I have to whole heartily agree!
Just got back from Michigan for Girls Weekend - we had an absolute blast and ate like Queens (thanks Abe!). After giving Marc a rehash of the weekend he says "Um, so it sounds like you guys just ate and talked?" My response, "Well yes, that is what makes it a girls weekend!". We already locked in the dates for Girls Weekend 2011 and plan to add "get massages" to the list of things to do for the weekend!
This weekend I'm headed to Lancaster with my Mom - we'll meet Erin and David and Auntie Jo and Emily there where we'll laugh and talk and shop for two days! I'm really looking forward to a Family Girls Weekend. Once we get back we'll have to fall into Thanksgiving and Christmas and shopping and wrapping and traveling...having one last little get away will be wonderful!
The senior girls have started turning 18...three in one month! I don't remember much of my 18th birthday - I had to go to school and then work (boooo). I'm sure my mom made me dinner and a cake when I got home. I know I made anyone I knew who walked into the mini-mart that afternoon buy me a lottery ticket - I didn't win. Not a once. The 18th birthday is kind of this weird limbo - all this hype, but if you don't smoke there's not much exciting about it. Oooh I can sign my own field trip forms for school! Guys get to register with the Selective Service. I mean that's something. Leaving for college is WAY more exciting than turning 18...I hope the girls are looking forward to that next! Anyway...three down, eleven more to turn 18...that's a lot of cake to eat...
The boys in the DR have been on my mind a lot lately. We sent Jalin's present down so hopefully he's happily flying his kite as I type. This is assuming, of course, that he figured out how to reassemble it. I had to do some minor disassembling of the kite to get it to fit in the envelope and subsequently Sharon's suitcase. He's a smart cookie, I'm sure he'll figure it out!
I've listened to three audio books (lots of driving) and read two books in the past week and a half. My brain is swirling with too many different story lines! I should stick to one at a time! I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving when I'll have some time to relax and read (and be generally useless).
The Pensyls are going to begin planning for their holiday plans/travels (Yikes, Marc doesn't know this yet, hopefully we'll have this talk before he reads this!). So many people to see, places to go...we need more time off from work! :)
I looked at myself in the mirror in the other day and was shocked. I truly believe my hair grew like four inches in as many days. I swear it was a lot shorter last week. I have to remember to call my hair lady...can someone remind me to do that? I'm torn though - I want it short so I'm hip and stylish, but I want it long enough to be able to throw it in a ponytail next summer (I'm NOT doing the DR and Jr. Week without being able to throw my hair in the a pony tail again...guh.). When I get to my hair lady she always asks lots of questions and I barely manage to stammer "Uh...shorter?" in response to her question about how I want my hair. She is NEVER happy with that answer.
We're dog sitting...well actually Marc is doing a board and train for an 8 month old golden retriever named Kenna. She's stinkin' cute. Lily and her have become friends and Tucker is choosing to not acknowledge her presence. We'll see how that changes during her two week stay. He was muttering something about too many girls dogs.
Anyway that's a summary of my life for the past few weeks. I'll try to stay on top of blogging so Malea doesn't have to waste precious minutes calling to casually mention (read: yell) that I need to update the blog!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Jalin's Birthday
So our little man's birthday is a month away! You might thing blogging about it now is a bit premature, but read on, read on...
Jalin is our friend at the Rose of Sharon Orphanage in the Dominican Republic. He going to be 11 on November 18! He came to the orphanage when he was 5 and is just the greatest kid ever. He has such a good heart and the best laugh ever. The great thing about this past year is that we took video of him so know we can hear his voice and get love bursts when we hear his laugh!
Brooks and Sharon Way will go down to visit in early November so Marc and I need to prepare his birthday card now to send down with them. We're going to make the card because, believe it or not, they don't sell a lot of Spanish birthday cards in central PA. I know, I was shocked too. Go figure.
I attempted to use Google Translator to type out what we wanted to say, but failed epically. Malea loving corrected all of the mistakes and sent it back to me so we wouldn't look like complete doofuses when we made his card. I learned one thing during this: 1. Google translator isn't that great. (note to self: tell high school kids not to use it for their homework) and I made one assumption during this process: 1. Malea likes us enough to not give us something to say in Spanish that makes us look "quirky". I'm pretty sure she likes us and gave us the correct translation :)
I can't believe we have to wait eight long months until we see him again, but at least we can send a note to him now to let him know we think about him ALL year long and that he is loved!
Jalin is our friend at the Rose of Sharon Orphanage in the Dominican Republic. He going to be 11 on November 18! He came to the orphanage when he was 5 and is just the greatest kid ever. He has such a good heart and the best laugh ever. The great thing about this past year is that we took video of him so know we can hear his voice and get love bursts when we hear his laugh!
Brooks and Sharon Way will go down to visit in early November so Marc and I need to prepare his birthday card now to send down with them. We're going to make the card because, believe it or not, they don't sell a lot of Spanish birthday cards in central PA. I know, I was shocked too. Go figure.
I attempted to use Google Translator to type out what we wanted to say, but failed epically. Malea loving corrected all of the mistakes and sent it back to me so we wouldn't look like complete doofuses when we made his card. I learned one thing during this: 1. Google translator isn't that great. (note to self: tell high school kids not to use it for their homework) and I made one assumption during this process: 1. Malea likes us enough to not give us something to say in Spanish that makes us look "quirky". I'm pretty sure she likes us and gave us the correct translation :)
I can't believe we have to wait eight long months until we see him again, but at least we can send a note to him now to let him know we think about him ALL year long and that he is loved!
Nice Hair
So this morning I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got dressed. From the sounds in the kitchen I could tell Marc was almost done preparing breakfast so I figured I'd head out to the kitchen before putting on my makeup and combing my hair so when he called back to tell me breakfast was ready I wouldn't have to say "Ok I'll be just a minute!" (because we all know it's never just a minute...) During all of this I just had my hair thrown back in a messy pony tail to keep it out of my face while I was getting ready.
As we're sitting there eating breakfast the conversation goes something like this:
Marc: So...did you do your hair yet?
Sara: No
*a few minutes pass*
Marc: Soooo are you going to do your hair?
Sara: Yes! It's not done because I came out to eat breakfast with you!
Marc: *audible sigh of relief* Oh ok.
If I had planned ahead I would have brought my hair tie with me so I could put it back in the messy pony tail quickly when I get home and then walk into the house like that so he thinks I really DID look like that all day!
At least my husband cares about my general appearance when I'm in public. By this, I know I am loved! :)
As we're sitting there eating breakfast the conversation goes something like this:
Marc: So...did you do your hair yet?
Sara: No
*a few minutes pass*
Marc: Soooo are you going to do your hair?
Sara: Yes! It's not done because I came out to eat breakfast with you!
Marc: *audible sigh of relief* Oh ok.
If I had planned ahead I would have brought my hair tie with me so I could put it back in the messy pony tail quickly when I get home and then walk into the house like that so he thinks I really DID look like that all day!
At least my husband cares about my general appearance when I'm in public. By this, I know I am loved! :)
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Update
Geesh. I'm glad Malea is away or else she'd be yelling at us that we reached our two week time limit. She imposed a "need to blog at least once every two weeks" rule on us. It's ok, I don't mind - I work better with rules.
We wanted to brag about our niece, Abigail (20 months) and nephew, David (almost 3 months) for a minute:
David is working on his senior portrait picture pose. What a cutie patootie. He starting rolling over last week and he's Mr. Smiley (except when the camera is around apparently)!
The two crazies! Abigail is such a great big sister! I love snuggling and giving kisses to these two!
We wanted to brag about our niece, Abigail (20 months) and nephew, David (almost 3 months) for a minute:
The two crazies! Abigail is such a great big sister! I love snuggling and giving kisses to these two!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
More Odds and Ends
Today is my 7 year anniversary at Raytheon. That's a long time. Note that it was not my 7 year reunion (see previous post).
It's raining again. I really don't mind - it's a good excuse to cuddle and read a book (although I have not done this yet. And yes, I get annoyed every time someone thinks they're cool and posts that they're doing just that as their Facebook status.)
It's 2:21 and I'm just eating lunch now. This is no good.
I got my flu shot yesterday. She gave it to me really high, like practically in my shoulder. Luckily I'm so tough.
I made the first batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins of the season last night! Yum! I already put the ones I need to bring to life group in a separate container so I don't accidentally eat them all before 7pm.
I'm loving the book we're reading for Life Group "Doctrine" by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. It's meaty, but really makes you think.
Life is good - the Pensyls are blessed :)
It's raining again. I really don't mind - it's a good excuse to cuddle and read a book (although I have not done this yet. And yes, I get annoyed every time someone thinks they're cool and posts that they're doing just that as their Facebook status.)
It's 2:21 and I'm just eating lunch now. This is no good.
I got my flu shot yesterday. She gave it to me really high, like practically in my shoulder. Luckily I'm so tough.
I made the first batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins of the season last night! Yum! I already put the ones I need to bring to life group in a separate container so I don't accidentally eat them all before 7pm.
I'm loving the book we're reading for Life Group "Doctrine" by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears. It's meaty, but really makes you think.
Life is good - the Pensyls are blessed :)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Odds and Ends
Marc referred to our one year anniversary the other day as our "one year reunion". I'm not sure what to make of that.
Finally got the house cleaned over the weekend. Life always feels more in order when the house is spic and span. Threw both dogs in the tub and then finished it off with ear cleanings and toe nail clippings for good measure!
Marc surprised me with some candy corn the other day! Yummm! AND tonight I'm making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins!Yes! Fall is here!
We've been stalking Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy Pumpkin Spice K-cups, but they don't have them (sold out already!). I guess we'll continue lurking in the BB&B parking lot...
Finally got the house cleaned over the weekend. Life always feels more in order when the house is spic and span. Threw both dogs in the tub and then finished it off with ear cleanings and toe nail clippings for good measure!
Marc surprised me with some candy corn the other day! Yummm! AND tonight I'm making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins!Yes! Fall is here!
We've been stalking Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy Pumpkin Spice K-cups, but they don't have them (sold out already!). I guess we'll continue lurking in the BB&B parking lot...
Monday, September 27, 2010
Malea heads to Oregon
Our dear friend Malea left on Friday morning to head to Oregon where she will train for three weeks and then head to Guatemala for the next two years! You can read her blog here if you're interested in what she's doing through Brethren Volunteer Services!
God puts truly amazing people in our lives exactly when we need them. Who is yours?
 |
| We love you too Malea :) |
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Let's Go State!
Don't you love when awesome things literally fall into your lap (or your Facebook inbox as it would be)?
Jr. Week friends Mike and Katie couldn't make it out to the Penn State game this weekend so they gave us their tickets for FREE! I was so overjoyed! My sister (Erin) and Jay were coming out this weekend and I had looked into getting tickets so we could go to the game, but it was going get expensive real fast so we bagged that idea. Next thing you know I'm on the phone with Mike arranging the pick up of the tickets (they live in NJ and sent them with other friends that were coming out to the game - that's one thing that makes Penn State so awesome - alumni are everywhere and make quite the network)!
Jr. Week friends Mike and Katie couldn't make it out to the Penn State game this weekend so they gave us their tickets for FREE! I was so overjoyed! My sister (Erin) and Jay were coming out this weekend and I had looked into getting tickets so we could go to the game, but it was going get expensive real fast so we bagged that idea. Next thing you know I'm on the phone with Mike arranging the pick up of the tickets (they live in NJ and sent them with other friends that were coming out to the game - that's one thing that makes Penn State so awesome - alumni are everywhere and make quite the network)!
My mom (Gram) watched Abigail and David while Erin, Jay, Dad and I went to the game (Marc didn't want to go). We had such a blast! It was Jay's first "official" game - he had only ever been for the Football Eve Pep Rally before!
We had two touchdowns in our end zone that were thrilling to watching and there was much hootin' and hollerin' to be had. The first touchdown didn't count though because there was a flag on the play (holding on the offense...that was us...poop...cost us 10 yards). It didn't matter though, it just made the second touchdown a few minutes later that much better! :)
I posted some videos and pictures on Facebook if you want to hop over there to take a look!
We had a great time, the weather was PERFECT Fall football weather, and when we were talking out of the stadium, across the tailgating area, back to our car Erin and I each found $1 to boot.
Marc and I are headed over to my parents to spend some more time with Jay, Erin, Abs, and David and eat dinner with the family!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Ode to Bart
Bart is doing well during his deployment - we miss him tons, but here is an update of sorts for you! If you'd like to send Bart a care package, let us know!
Friday, September 10, 2010
Prayer Walking
So the Life Group went prayer walking last evening on campus. It was a new experience for me. Sure, I often pray as I'm walking, driving, showering, you name it, but intentionally walking to pray seemed like such a radical idea to me! Anyhoo, I grabbed Lily (and some poop bags...just in case!) and we drove out to the JoePa statue to meet the group. (By the way, I love that I live in a town where the JoePa statue is a landmark where people meet!)
After praying, Aaron let Lily pick which direction we'd head off in to start - she chose to go toward the commuter lot. I'm not going to lie - it was very hard at first to not chit chat about life and stuff and things while walking with friends. I literally just had to walk and pray! I got the hang of it after awhile as we walked across the commuter lot, past BJC, down University, down Hastings, around the Indoor Sports Complex, past Holuba Hall, up University, past all the IM fields, down Park, around the stadium, and back to the statue.
I did marvel at the fact that I went to school here and I walked past certain buildings I didn't even know existed and/or had never stopped long enough to look at and absorb what they were.
The "point" of our prayer walk was to just pray over the Penn State campus. To pray for brokenness, to pray for healing, to pray for restoration, for awe, for relationships, for wonder. The students, the faculty, the staff, the professors, the parents, and on and on. It's almost overwhelming to think about! What's comforting is that none of that was overwhelming to God. Our God is a big God, a mighty God. A God who took my disjointed prayers and wove them into His larger plan for Penn State.
It makes me swell with pride for my God knowing that all it took was my feet and about an hour of my life to be used by Him in His plans for campus! It made me feel connected knowing that all sorts of people from Calvary have been, and will be, out praying - the body of Christ out moving for the Kingdom - it's a beautiful thing.
All of the people that make up Calvary (and hopefully many more!) will meet for worship on Sunday morning September 19 at 10:30am at Eisenhower Auditorium. I'm very excited to see God move - it's going to be awesome!
After praying, Aaron let Lily pick which direction we'd head off in to start - she chose to go toward the commuter lot. I'm not going to lie - it was very hard at first to not chit chat about life and stuff and things while walking with friends. I literally just had to walk and pray! I got the hang of it after awhile as we walked across the commuter lot, past BJC, down University, down Hastings, around the Indoor Sports Complex, past Holuba Hall, up University, past all the IM fields, down Park, around the stadium, and back to the statue.
I did marvel at the fact that I went to school here and I walked past certain buildings I didn't even know existed and/or had never stopped long enough to look at and absorb what they were.
The "point" of our prayer walk was to just pray over the Penn State campus. To pray for brokenness, to pray for healing, to pray for restoration, for awe, for relationships, for wonder. The students, the faculty, the staff, the professors, the parents, and on and on. It's almost overwhelming to think about! What's comforting is that none of that was overwhelming to God. Our God is a big God, a mighty God. A God who took my disjointed prayers and wove them into His larger plan for Penn State.
It makes me swell with pride for my God knowing that all it took was my feet and about an hour of my life to be used by Him in His plans for campus! It made me feel connected knowing that all sorts of people from Calvary have been, and will be, out praying - the body of Christ out moving for the Kingdom - it's a beautiful thing.
All of the people that make up Calvary (and hopefully many more!) will meet for worship on Sunday morning September 19 at 10:30am at Eisenhower Auditorium. I'm very excited to see God move - it's going to be awesome!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Eating Dinner With the Pensyls
Eating dinner with the Pensyls is an absolute blast (if we do say so ourselves!)! When other people are over, or we're out with others we try to act semi-normal so they don't think we're completely nuts, but generally that is exactly what we are (nuts, not semi-normal).
As I've mentioned before my Marc is so good to me because he takes care of preparing dinner (and usually breakfast!) so we can eat right when I get home from work. I love that he knows me so well because, guaranteed right when we're about to sit down I go, "Oooh wait, I'll be right back! I have to go to the bathroom!" Tonight he knew there were a few minutes left until dinner was on the table so he told me to go to the bathroom. I debated for a half second denying that I had to go, but then I realized I really did so I had better go while I had the chance.
When I came back out to the table this is what awaited me:
Apparently the last of the pudding attacked him? Besides the obvious shown here, Marc made it through unscathed and a little soap and water had him back to normal!
Also, you can't quite tell here, but believe me a picture will be forthcoming, but Marc styled his hair so he looked like Jim Carrey from Ace Ventura Pet Detective and walked around like that all day (he claims he wore a hat while he was at work!). I completely and totally died laughing every single time I looked at him today. I tried to stop myself at first, fearful that it would make him feel awkward, but then I just couldn't help it anymore. Have I ever mentioned that my favorite thing about Marc is that he makes me laugh? I giggled the first time I met him 17 years ago (but that was just because I thought he was cute and lost all ability to say anything clever) and he still has me gasping for air all these years later. I love this guy so much!
Oh yeah - Marc revealed to me what he is going to be for Halloween. It's going to be epic. I am so excited!
Throughout the typing of this blog post Tucker has been over sleeping on his bed and his nose is whistling every time he exhales. It's pretty stinkin' funny!
As I've mentioned before my Marc is so good to me because he takes care of preparing dinner (and usually breakfast!) so we can eat right when I get home from work. I love that he knows me so well because, guaranteed right when we're about to sit down I go, "Oooh wait, I'll be right back! I have to go to the bathroom!" Tonight he knew there were a few minutes left until dinner was on the table so he told me to go to the bathroom. I debated for a half second denying that I had to go, but then I realized I really did so I had better go while I had the chance.
When I came back out to the table this is what awaited me:
I love that my ketchup was in the shape of a heart :) Also, as a disclaimer, I told Marc that I wanted just a tiny bit of mac 'n cheese since I was having a corn muffin. He was worried that people would think he didn't serve me enough - he gave me the perfect amount :)
On Monday we went to a Labor Day picnic at our friends Becky and Mark's house (Mark is the one who did our delandscaping...but more to come on that - see previous blog post). We made chocolate pudding pie to bring, but when you make it there is always a little extra because it doesn't all quite fit in the pie crust. We had the smidgen of extra pudding for dessert. Right as we were finishing up my phone rang and I stepped into the living room to answer it. I'm not entirely sure what happened but this is what I came back to:
Also, you can't quite tell here, but believe me a picture will be forthcoming, but Marc styled his hair so he looked like Jim Carrey from Ace Ventura Pet Detective and walked around like that all day (he claims he wore a hat while he was at work!). I completely and totally died laughing every single time I looked at him today. I tried to stop myself at first, fearful that it would make him feel awkward, but then I just couldn't help it anymore. Have I ever mentioned that my favorite thing about Marc is that he makes me laugh? I giggled the first time I met him 17 years ago (but that was just because I thought he was cute and lost all ability to say anything clever) and he still has me gasping for air all these years later. I love this guy so much!
Oh yeah - Marc revealed to me what he is going to be for Halloween. It's going to be epic. I am so excited!
Throughout the typing of this blog post Tucker has been over sleeping on his bed and his nose is whistling every time he exhales. It's pretty stinkin' funny!
Things I need to Blog About
1. The delandscaping that occured. Requires pictures
2. Megan and Abe's visit to central PA at the end of August
3. Meeting David James Lee and hanging out with Abigail
I will get on this...I promise...life is just slightly overwhelming with planning for our high school youth group's upcoming Destination Unknown trip. I could reveal the destination...then we could see how many people read our blog! :)
2. Megan and Abe's visit to central PA at the end of August
3. Meeting David James Lee and hanging out with Abigail
I will get on this...I promise...life is just slightly overwhelming with planning for our high school youth group's upcoming Destination Unknown trip. I could reveal the destination...then we could see how many people read our blog! :)
Friday, August 27, 2010
Centre County Dog Training has a blog!
Blogtasticness! Marc has created a blog for Centre County Dog Training! Check it out here! If you click on the links on the sides CCDT gets money...so click away! Some of his entries are also posted below!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuckers sleeping dilemna
So let me start from the beginning. We have two dogs a Dachshund and a German Shorthaired Pointer. There is quite the size difference, Tucker is 60 lbs and Lily is 12 lbs. Dog beds are purchased according to the different sizes of our dogs. That being said, Lily has a "Lily sized" bed and Tucker has a "Tucker sized" bed. Tucker doesnt get it, he always wants to sleep in Lilys bed. Lily on the other had lays in Tuckers bed. This looks silly both ways but I though hmmm ill fix this, so as Lilys bed wore out I got another bed bigger then Tuckers and Lilys. The bed situation at this point is, no small bed, one medium bed, and one large bed. At this point Tucker is confused so he starts sleeping in the smaller bed! This is the bed that he would not sleep in before! Will I ever get this right!?!?
Just yesterday as I was practicing some serious bass licks (haha) I saw Tucker found another place he could call home to his daytime dog naps. See image below. Ive also added some other funny pictures.
Just yesterday as I was practicing some serious bass licks (haha) I saw Tucker found another place he could call home to his daytime dog naps. See image below. Ive also added some other funny pictures.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Landscape Update
The Pensyl's have a landscape update...a lupdate? The landscaping is completed! Mark and his team did such an amazing job! I just stand in our yard and smile! Our yard (and subsequently our lives) are neat and orderly again! I, of course, forgot to take "before" pictures (because I was so busy hating the gardens), but I will take "after" pictures and write soon!
Malickle's Pickles
I love pickles. So does Marc. This is only terrible in the sense that when you get a pickle with your meal when you're eating out I don't get two pickles because Marc likes them too and will eat his. I need to start eating out with friends who don't like pickles...
Malea received a pickle making kit recently and decided to try her hand at pickle making. Marc and I (being her BFFs and all) are the direct recipients of her labors. It's been the most wonderful pickle eating summer of my life! My life!
I don't even know who likes those bread and butter pickles (yuck!), but these are nice crisp dill pickles. Oh yeah. Marc and I were encouraging her to open her own pickle business last night at dinner. We even suggested she name it "Malickle's Pickles". We practically wrote her business plan for her (make them, label the jar, sell them). Maybe she'll throw this law school idea out the window and just make pickles when she comes back from Guatemala? One can hope...
Malea received a pickle making kit recently and decided to try her hand at pickle making. Marc and I (being her BFFs and all) are the direct recipients of her labors. It's been the most wonderful pickle eating summer of my life! My life!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Torpedos Birthday
So over the years (four to be exact) Lily has accumulated many nicknames. Limo, drawbridge, semi, torpedo, loafer, stretch, bug, i have writers block so i cant think of any more (i know right my first blog post and I cramp up) but trust me there are many more (really anything long, brown, or short (no poop jokes please)). Anyway the little stretch UPS truck turned 4 today! Big day in the Pensyl household!!(yes that called for two exclamation points) Lilys spending the day doing what she does best, curled up like a little bug. Tuckers still running around the house thinking its his birthday. Whenever he hears the word birthday he thinks its his and that hes getting presents, that makes Tucker about 3 times as old as Lily even though he was born two years after her. Anyway, we love Lilys licks, her cuddling ability, her monster thighs, and her smile. Heck we'll probably even love her breath for today (but only for today).
WE LOVE YOU LILY! HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY!
WE LOVE YOU LILY! HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Sunflowers
I like sunflowers. I always have. I bought some the other week (happened to be right after we finished the dining room) and I put them in a vase on the coffee table in the living room.
Marc: I really like sunflowers
Sara: Me too
Marc: Maybe I can paint a picture of sunflowers and that is what we'll hang on the wall in the dining room
Sara: Hrm. Ok.
Viola! My husband is an artist! I knew this about Marc - he's always loved to draw and he took a handful of graphic design courses in high school. I have all sorts of things he drew for me during our fake dating phase (these are the years when we liked each other, but neither one of us would admit it). He would hide hearts in the pictures he drew for me - I love that he would do this.
I loved the idea of Marc painting a picture for the wall - how awesome to display something you created yourself rather than something painted by some dead guy. I'll be honest, I had little hope it would happen in a timely fashion. I figured we'd have an empty wall for awhile (I mean, heck we had left it empty for two years so what was the rush now, right?)
Not Marc - he grabbed the coupon from the Michael's ad in the Sunday paper and stopped by and picked up all the supplies he needed. Then he found a picture he liked and sat down and went to work. The man is unbelievable! It took him 5-6 hours to complete the entire thing and it looks SO AMAZING! I love having a work of art on my wall that was created by my husband and comes from the heart!
Marc: I really like sunflowers
Sara: Me too
Marc: Maybe I can paint a picture of sunflowers and that is what we'll hang on the wall in the dining room
Sara: Hrm. Ok.
Viola! My husband is an artist! I knew this about Marc - he's always loved to draw and he took a handful of graphic design courses in high school. I have all sorts of things he drew for me during our fake dating phase (these are the years when we liked each other, but neither one of us would admit it). He would hide hearts in the pictures he drew for me - I love that he would do this.
I loved the idea of Marc painting a picture for the wall - how awesome to display something you created yourself rather than something painted by some dead guy. I'll be honest, I had little hope it would happen in a timely fashion. I figured we'd have an empty wall for awhile (I mean, heck we had left it empty for two years so what was the rush now, right?)
Not Marc - he grabbed the coupon from the Michael's ad in the Sunday paper and stopped by and picked up all the supplies he needed. Then he found a picture he liked and sat down and went to work. The man is unbelievable! It took him 5-6 hours to complete the entire thing and it looks SO AMAZING! I love having a work of art on my wall that was created by my husband and comes from the heart!
You probably can't see the heart he hid in the painting from this picture, but next time you're at the house take a look and see if you can find the heart!
I'm lucky because there is another canvas (it was buy one get one free and Marc Pensyl doesn't pass up a deal)...I can't wait to see what Marc will create on that canvas!
Basketball Update
I purchased a basketball! Now we have a hot lookin' hoop and a ball! I also wrote "PENSYL" on the ball in case in rolls into the neighbors yard. Marc made fun of me for doing this. I like to look at it as planning ahead for the day our little Pensyls are out there shooting hoops and I call them in for dinner and they drop the ball and come running in and it rolls away across the street to the neighbor's yard. Then the neighbor will know just who to return it to! See how well prepared I am making us?!
Harassment
So I'm fairly new to this whole "blogging" thing. No one tells you in Blogging 101 that people...alleged best friends and husbands...will harass you, hound you, threaten you, if you don't update the blog in a timely manner.
I've been blarassed. I've been blounded. I've been blreatened.
What is the maximum amount of time to let lapse between blog posts? Did Miss Manners ever cover this topic? Could someone write a letter to Dear Abby and let me know?
I've been blarassed. I've been blounded. I've been blreatened.
What is the maximum amount of time to let lapse between blog posts? Did Miss Manners ever cover this topic? Could someone write a letter to Dear Abby and let me know?
Monday, August 9, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Shootin' Hoops
We have a basketball hoop. For some reason I was super excited about this feature of the house when we bought it. I have no idea why. I couldn't even tell you the last time I dribbled a basketball. I think it stems back to the basketball hoop I had growing up. It was a beautiful hoop, grand in all of its wooden glory, standing tall above our driveway. Except our driveway was stone. Do you know how hard it is to dribble a basketball on a stone driveway? Very hard.
Anyway the basketball hoop at the house here was in need of some TLC. The net was only half there and slowly rotting off. The metal parts were rusty and the paint was peeling off. The fiberglass backboard needed some care. For the two years we've lived here I've been saying that I wanted to fix it up. Nothing happened. Last summer Marc took care of the rust and painted the pole. But the hoop...it was just so...high. Above our heads, easy to forget about.
Since we were in the painting zone last weekend I resolved that the basketball hoop would finally get the love it needed. During one of our many trips to Home Depot last weekend I bought the paint for the backboard. I even found directions on ehow.com for how big the orange rectangle needed to be (these were ultimately unhelpful, by the way, due to the size of our backboard). Then I had to wait for it to not be raining and for me to be home, but Thursday night proved to be the night! I was precariously perched on the extreme top of a ladder, clinging to the hoop, for quite sometime while the job got done, but it got done (I probably could have finished much earlier if I wasn't such a perfectionist). Then I hung the new net (only $1.86! What a steal!) and viola! the Pensyls have a hoop the neighbors will be jealous of!
Now to buy a basketball...
Anyway the basketball hoop at the house here was in need of some TLC. The net was only half there and slowly rotting off. The metal parts were rusty and the paint was peeling off. The fiberglass backboard needed some care. For the two years we've lived here I've been saying that I wanted to fix it up. Nothing happened. Last summer Marc took care of the rust and painted the pole. But the hoop...it was just so...high. Above our heads, easy to forget about.
Since we were in the painting zone last weekend I resolved that the basketball hoop would finally get the love it needed. During one of our many trips to Home Depot last weekend I bought the paint for the backboard. I even found directions on ehow.com for how big the orange rectangle needed to be (these were ultimately unhelpful, by the way, due to the size of our backboard). Then I had to wait for it to not be raining and for me to be home, but Thursday night proved to be the night! I was precariously perched on the extreme top of a ladder, clinging to the hoop, for quite sometime while the job got done, but it got done (I probably could have finished much earlier if I wasn't such a perfectionist). Then I hung the new net (only $1.86! What a steal!) and viola! the Pensyls have a hoop the neighbors will be jealous of!
Now to buy a basketball...
I realize the "oooh, ahhh" factor of these photos would really pack a punch had I remembered to take a "before" picture, but I was just so excited to get started...
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Our First Home Improvement Project!
Marc and I hit a major milestone this past weekend. We started (and completed!) our first home improvement project not only as a married couple, but in this particular house!
Our house was beautiful when we moved. I even joked around that I wish we had twice the amount of money to offer the sellers to just walk out and leave everything "as is"! The walls were painted beautifully (even if Marc doesn't like yellow) and the trim work was painted white (I've ALWAYS wanted white trim work...I have no idea why!). Needless to say we didn't have to do any fix up work to the house when we moved in.
That being said the kitchen and dining room were painted white. Marc and I have talked on and off about doing something to the dining room and finally decided to do something about it. We painted the top part of the walls "artichoke heart" green and then put white wainscoting on the bottom half. We love it! It took us two days and so many trips to Home Depot I'm surprised they weren't greeting us by name by the end of the weekend!
It was nice to work side by side on a project that was for "us". My love language is quality time so getting to spend the weekend with Marc making our dining room more beautiful is the best thing I can think of! It was hot and we took a lot of trips between the dining room and the garage (and again let me mention, also to Home Depot) but we got to talk and laugh together and that's what made it all worth it. I loved watching Marc work - I realized that I had no idea where he learned to do these things, use these tools, etc, but it was fun watching him be manly (did he attend some How To Do Manly Things class during basic training?) - it made me proud of him. I daydreamed about the future and all the family events that would happen in the dining room and pictured the table surrounded by our future kids and their friends as we passed bowls of food around the table - I think I smiled all weekend :)
Another reason why I love Marc - he didn't even laugh at me when I asked for ear plugs when he was using the saws to cut the wainscoting.
Our house was beautiful when we moved. I even joked around that I wish we had twice the amount of money to offer the sellers to just walk out and leave everything "as is"! The walls were painted beautifully (even if Marc doesn't like yellow) and the trim work was painted white (I've ALWAYS wanted white trim work...I have no idea why!). Needless to say we didn't have to do any fix up work to the house when we moved in.
That being said the kitchen and dining room were painted white. Marc and I have talked on and off about doing something to the dining room and finally decided to do something about it. We painted the top part of the walls "artichoke heart" green and then put white wainscoting on the bottom half. We love it! It took us two days and so many trips to Home Depot I'm surprised they weren't greeting us by name by the end of the weekend!
It was nice to work side by side on a project that was for "us". My love language is quality time so getting to spend the weekend with Marc making our dining room more beautiful is the best thing I can think of! It was hot and we took a lot of trips between the dining room and the garage (and again let me mention, also to Home Depot) but we got to talk and laugh together and that's what made it all worth it. I loved watching Marc work - I realized that I had no idea where he learned to do these things, use these tools, etc, but it was fun watching him be manly (did he attend some How To Do Manly Things class during basic training?) - it made me proud of him. I daydreamed about the future and all the family events that would happen in the dining room and pictured the table surrounded by our future kids and their friends as we passed bowls of food around the table - I think I smiled all weekend :)
Another reason why I love Marc - he didn't even laugh at me when I asked for ear plugs when he was using the saws to cut the wainscoting.
Now to find something to put on that wall...
A New Nephew!
Marc and I have a nephew! Our first! He was two days late (due Sunday) so when Erin went for her ultrasound this morning they said her amniotic fluid was low and they sent her upstairs to be induced! She was in labor for five hours and at 4:09pm David James came into the world at 8lbs 3ozs.! Everyone is healthy and doing wonderfully!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Two Years!
Two years ago today Marc and I spent the most money we've ever spent in our life and bought our house!
After spending the day loading the truck, making the short drive from town, and unloading the truck we were wiped out. It was dark out and we were sitting on our *new* back porch with our *new* patio furniture that Mom and Dad Powers were nice enough to help us set up. A few seconds of silence passed and then I said "Do you realize after everything we've done and everywhere we've been over the past 8 years we're back to exactly where we started?" Marc gave me a questioning look and I said "Remember every night of the summer of 2000 we'd sit outside on one of our back porches and listen to the crickets and talk...here we are doing that again, but this time we're on our porch at our house. All that time we spent "living our life" and "doing our thing" and God landed us right back where we came from."
It was definitely a milestone realization for me. I love that Marc and I have this house that we can grow in and share with others. And even though it stretched us financially at first to live here God has been faithful and provided our every need exactly when we needed it. A God of manna.
I'm excited to see how He'll continue to work in and through our house!
It was definitely a milestone realization for me. I love that Marc and I have this house that we can grow in and share with others. And even though it stretched us financially at first to live here God has been faithful and provided our every need exactly when we needed it. A God of manna.
I'm excited to see how He'll continue to work in and through our house!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Who Are The RAs?
A snippet of Junior Week
We were playing Bible Jam and the multiple choice question was "How many RAs are at Jr. Week". The conversation goes like this:
RA Tom: How many RAs are at Jr. Week?
Camper: RAs? *pause* They're like the disciples, right?
RA Tom: Yes! I'm giving you the points just for that, go sit down!
Hahahaha - ahhhh and this is why I love Jr. Week campers!
(Hi Marc, I love you and can't wait to see you)
We were playing Bible Jam and the multiple choice question was "How many RAs are at Jr. Week". The conversation goes like this:
RA Tom: How many RAs are at Jr. Week?
Camper: RAs? *pause* They're like the disciples, right?
RA Tom: Yes! I'm giving you the points just for that, go sit down!
Hahahaha - ahhhh and this is why I love Jr. Week campers!
(Hi Marc, I love you and can't wait to see you)
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Why Marc is the most wonderful
Marc mowed the lawn, went food shopping with me yesterday, and just finished vacuuming the entire house. He doesn't necessarily love doing any of these things (with the exception of mowing the lawn) so I appreciate him and all of his wonderfulness. I'm a lucky girl :)
On top of all of this I'm going to go ask him if he can help me figure out the boundaries at Harvest Fields for our massive game of Manhunt we're playing at HSM tonight. He really can do it all!
On top of all of this I'm going to go ask him if he can help me figure out the boundaries at Harvest Fields for our massive game of Manhunt we're playing at HSM tonight. He really can do it all!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Back from la República Dominicana
I entered my house at 11:30pm on Monday night. After a loooooooong day of travel I was home from the DR. It's been a lot harder readjusting this year. This could be because last year Marc got stung by a bee the day after we returned so my mind was on keeping him alive. This year Marc was safe and sound the day after I returned so it's been a long week of reflection - the laughter as I relive memories, a sad heart as I miss the boys yelling my name, holding my hand as we walk, and passing out hugs like they were going out of style.
It's a little easier to wrap my head around because I know I can go back. Too bad I don't have unlimited time off and money so I could visit multiple times a year.
All the pictures are posted on Facebook if you want to pop over and take a look. I'm working to post the videos - I'm so thankful I took videos (and the boys took some of the videos themselves) so now I can hear their voices and laugh throughout the year if I miss them!
I realized on Saturday morning of the trip as I was painting that my heart was literally overflowing. If you know me you know my two love languages are acts of service and quality time, followed closely by physical touch. I was able to get/give these in abundance for seven days straight and my heart was smiling in a huge way.
I left a little piece of my heart down there - but that's a good thing - loving those boys is so easy to do and if loving them is what God needs me to do then sign me up!
It's a little easier to wrap my head around because I know I can go back. Too bad I don't have unlimited time off and money so I could visit multiple times a year.
All the pictures are posted on Facebook if you want to pop over and take a look. I'm working to post the videos - I'm so thankful I took videos (and the boys took some of the videos themselves) so now I can hear their voices and laugh throughout the year if I miss them!
I realized on Saturday morning of the trip as I was painting that my heart was literally overflowing. If you know me you know my two love languages are acts of service and quality time, followed closely by physical touch. I was able to get/give these in abundance for seven days straight and my heart was smiling in a huge way.
I left a little piece of my heart down there - but that's a good thing - loving those boys is so easy to do and if loving them is what God needs me to do then sign me up!
Breakfast for Dinner
The Pensyls desperately need to go food shopping. So "making dinner" each night this week has been an adventure. Tonight we have breakfast for dinner - it's easy and we actually had all necessary elements - score! We had heart shaped pancakes. I love loving Marc.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Five Arm
You maybe had to be there...
Last night Marc went to put his arm around me, but it landed on my neck. I gasped for air and asked him to move his arm because it was too heavy. Then he says, "My forearms are so big they're fivearms."
I laughed for the next five minutes.
Last night Marc went to put his arm around me, but it landed on my neck. I gasped for air and asked him to move his arm because it was too heavy. Then he says, "My forearms are so big they're fivearms."
I laughed for the next five minutes.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Headed back to the DR
I'm leaving tonight to lead our high school seniors to work and play at The Rose of Sharon Orphanage in San Juan de la Maguana in the Dominican Republic. This will be my second year going. I was hesitant last year to go (things outside of my comfort zone don't make my list of favorite things), but my heart was changed last year. What an incredible experience! I love that when you're serving someone else you're almost guaranteed to get more in return!!
We fly out of Newark Monday morning June 14 and will get back to State College late on Monday June 21. If you could pray for our team that would be great - not only for safety, but since that is kind of a whimpy prayer let's pray to be bold and to live dangerously for Jesus. We want to be his hands and feet!
We'll be painting the classrooms on the compound and finishing the cement block wall around the girls orphanage across the street. We'll sweat and get dirty, but we're going to have lots of fun and laugh a ton with the boys and I really can't think of any other way to spend my week!
We fly out of Newark Monday morning June 14 and will get back to State College late on Monday June 21. If you could pray for our team that would be great - not only for safety, but since that is kind of a whimpy prayer let's pray to be bold and to live dangerously for Jesus. We want to be his hands and feet!
We'll be painting the classrooms on the compound and finishing the cement block wall around the girls orphanage across the street. We'll sweat and get dirty, but we're going to have lots of fun and laugh a ton with the boys and I really can't think of any other way to spend my week!
Anniversary Part II
After our anniversary canoe trip and tree planting we went to the Alehouse for my absolute favorite food - the Ale Burger (see the list of my favorite things to the right -->). Once we were home again we still had lots of anniversary fun to cram into the few short hours of May 22 that were left!
We re-read our vows to each other
Then we danced to our First Dance song (When I Say I Do by Matthew West - SOOOOOO good!)
Then we had our wedding cake. Year old wedding cake. Hmmm. We were hesitant, but had heard positive things from recently married friends.
Note the look of concentration...and the Swiss Army Knife...
Finally got all the foil and Saran wrap off!
Then we cut the cake. Yes that is milk in our wine glasses. We're classy like that (and milk goes with cake!)
I'm in love with this guy.
(I just noticed that Bart is in the background...so both of my husbands are actually in this picture...)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Abigail comes for a visit!
Our niece Abigail came for a visit the last week of May. Dang she's cute. I had lots of fun playing, splashing in the water, walking around, and making her laugh! She's going to become a big sister in FIVE WEEKS! Here are some pictures we took while she was here:
Abadabadoo
Sara and Erin (dang we look alike)
And some short videos!
Gifts
Marc and I aren't big gift people. We tend to show our love with quality time and acts of service. Nonetheless we were set to exchange gifts for our first anniversary. Last summer after we were married Marc suggested we get a Marriage Tree and plant it - we both loved this idea...and then never got a tree. So instead we got an Anniversary Tree! Marc surprised me with it on our...you guessed it...anniversary!
He took some of the leaves and pressed them in a frame. At the bottom is says "Easter Redbud, May 22, 2010" We hung it on the living room wall! Then we headed out into the yard to plant our tree! After scoping out several spots we finally picked one in the back right of the yard. Tucker and Lily wagged tails to let us know they approved.
Marking the spot (or was he "marcing" the spot? bahahaha)
Demonstrating how heavy the tree was
Dig, dig, dig
It's in the ground!
Oh! Hey Tucker!
Safely in the ground! Please note Lily as she waits for the tree to provide her with shade...
A close up of Lil waiting for the tree to shade her
Marc and Sara in front of the Anniversary tree!
We put it in this particular spot so we can see it when we sit on the porch with the dogs. It is an amazing gift we can enjoy together forever :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)