1 week

7 days! Very excited! 

Furry friend update

Clark decided to be a banana for Halloween. He loved the costume and even slept in it! He was not a huge fan of the hat though!!

Walter is in heaven: it's deer season which means our yard is becoming a deer bone cemetery. If it's not bad enough to have drool hanging out of his mouth all the time, try drool with leaves that get stuck on it! 

Newest member of the family: Belinda!! This stray little kitten has become part of the family! She is already making friends with Walter and sleeps on his back during cold nights! 

And yes, my dad still loves his cows! 

                         Moo! 

Bowling Halloween!

We had our 5th annual Halloween party this past weekend, and had a wonderful turnout with amazing costumes, delicious food, and awesome entertainment!!  We have the most creative friends ever!!!! We never tell each other our costumes, and its always a great surprise to see the amazing costumes everyone comes up with!!! 

Here's what we came up with this year: 

    Harry:  "Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!"

 Lloyd:    "We got no food, no jobs... our PETS' HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!"

Great friends......Great food......Great memories!!!  Thanks to everyone!!! Happy Halloween! 

Yep, you have mops on your heads!!!

What does the fox say?
Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!
Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

The keeper of the ice block......

Who wouldn't give this little "guy" some change in his bottle?!?!

Emily, come on down, you're the next contestant on the Price is Right! 

I've got you babe! 

E.i.e.i.O And on that farm there was a....

There were so many more amazing costumes!!! Loved all of them! 

Exactly what we were looking for :)

Covered Bridge Treasure #2

We have an old harvest table as our dining room table. I found it a few years ago and fell in love with it! We used the same chairs we had for our other table, but have been on the look out for a long bench for one side of it. We finally found it........ And Its Perfect!!!!!

Have I said how much I love the Covered Bridge Festival?!??!?!?!

BeD PaNs!!!

Ok. Here is treasure #1 from covered bridge. It only took me 20 min to find once we got there, and it will probably be the best find of the year! 

Any guesses?? 

Drum roll please..........

Here it is: 

Yes it's a bed pan. It's not just your typical white antique bed pan, it's a child's bed pan!!  I didn't even know these were made! I was so excited after finding it. 

So what will I do with it?  

If you have ever been to our house, then you know exactly where it is going. If you haven't been to our house, then let me explain:

Our main level bathroom is decorated with antique medical equipment and treasurers!!   Bed pans and urinals make a border on the upper portion of the walls, I love finding old medical bottles, bandaid containers, syringes, gauze packages, and more!   

Love love love my gas mask (thx Aunt Jo) and the wooden container the smallpox vaccine once came in! 

We turned this rectangle bed pan into a magazine rack. It works perfect!! The box is an old stomach tube! 

I love finding things that fit in the bathroom decor, but I truly treasure items that have been given to us because most come with a story or from a local medical professional! The business card in this medicine cabinet is from a doctor who practiced in Yeddo, In! Who knew Yeddo had a physician at one time?!?!?

Can't wait to head to covered bridge this weekend...... More treasures to come......

Watch out for the FLEAS!!!

If you are from Western Indiana, you know exactly what this means: 10 days of bumper to bumper traffic on normal country roads, tons of yard sales, a multitude of out of state vehicles,  those who are lost while trying to find covered bridges, junk to sort through, dogs in strollers, and pop-up flea markets. Although most who live around it all, hate it.........I LOVE every minute of it!!!! Whether you call it flea marketing, fleaing, or junking...... It's all the same: The Covered Bridge Festival! 

        The Covered Bridge Festival takes place in October when the fall foliage is beautiful and vibrant, and the weather is just the right temperature to enjoy apple cider, chili, Amish noodles, and much more!  There is so much to do: drive around and enjoy the scenery and covered bridges, walk around and enjoy the entertainment, and sort through antiques, homemade crafts, and delicious local food vendors. The three main areas to visit are Mansfield, Bridgeton and Rockville. 

       I love it all, and plan on attending multiple days each year! Not only do I love visiting the three main areas, but I also enjoy visiting the Amish and the small barn sales that are all around. I have my favorite food vendors: noodles by the Bridgeton Mill, beef tips & mushrooms, buttery corn on the cob, fried cheese curd guys along the main street, and any free sample I come by!!  I also enjoy checking out the antiques, junk, crafts, and the different "knock-offs" each year! Some of my best finds have come from this three day festival! 

 

 Stay tuned for some of my treasures from the 57th annual Covered Bridge Festival (or the "junk and food place" as a city friend calls it!)

Mr. & Mrs. Guy

Congrats to the new married couple - Mr.  & Mrs. Guy!!!! We had a wonderful evening celebrating your special day. Best wishes for a lifetime of happily ever after! 

Go Be Love

1 month. 2 countries. 9 team members. 1 God. 

We leave in 31 days for Ethiopia and Uganda. It has finally set in and feels real. This is no longer a trip a few months away, and I can no longer say, "I'll have to pick up that up when the time gets closer." - The time IS closer, the time IS here! I think it really hit me when I received our team shirt and luggage tag in the mail. I looked at it and thought, "This is really going to happen, I'm really going back to Africa." 

With my luggage tag arriving, I figured it was time to get my suitcase down and start deciding what all I am going to take. I plan to pack as minimal as possible for myself, and as much as possible for the orphans. We found out that there is a huge need for flip flops and crocks. Many do not own a pair of shoes. If they are lucky enough to have a pair of shoes, more than likely the size is not correct and/or the left and right may not match. I saw this first hand last year in Kenya. Being the bargain shopper I am, I made it my mission to find deals, sales, and clearance flips flops and crocks. Since it was the end of the summer season, I had wonderful luck finding those orange and red clearance stickers!!! With the help of a few who donated money for the shoes, kind store managers who brought the prices down even more and allowed me to clear some shelves (which was an awesome feeling) and yard sales full of flip flops, this is what we ended up with; 

     Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! 

Along with all the shoes, we also have 2 boxes full of books to take to the orphanages thanks to Random House Books. I am excited to see the children's faces when they get to open and hold a brand new book- more than likely something they have never done before. How many times have I opened a brand new book? There are many in this world who have never even seen a book! It's just another eye opener to the many things I take for granted on a daily basis. I can not wait to get these books in the hands of the little ones and start reading to them!! 

      Books. Books. And More Books!! 

This week our team started a 5 week Bible study to prepare our hearts for this life changing adventure. The study is called A Discipleship Journey. We had our first conference call, and I was grateful to come together as a team for the first time. It's amazing how God has brought our team together - we attend different home churches, are from different states, have different jobs; yet are connected in some way to be part of the team! This week, our study was on "Knowing God." This quote by Sanders really made me look at my life and the choices I make in the priorities of my life. This trip for me is definitely going to be more than just a trip to visit orphans......

“We are at this moment as close to God as we really choose to be.

True, there are times when we would like to know a deeper intimacy,

but when it comes to the point, we are not prepared to pay the price involved.”

J. Oswald Sanders, 1902-1992, New Zealand Theologian and Missionary Leader