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 :)

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...

Hey who's this little guy?!

Oh hot dog! He is cute isn't he?!

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 :)

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)!

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!

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!

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!

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:

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:

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!

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! :)