More Snow

Yes, I still love snow, although I'm wondering if I should be a little quieter about my enthusiasm. There are a lot of people who do not share my zeal for the beauty of snow, but can only see how much work and aggravation it creates. And I admit I do feel bad for Andy who spent 6 hours yesterday shoveling and snow blowing our driveway. He's pretty sore today.Then when we could finally get out of our driveway, he had to worry about getting the church parking lots and sidewalks cleared. He doesn't actually do that, but has to arrange for someone to get it done. Usually, our church is not a priority to the contractors. Maybe they get more money from retailers, malls and doctor's offices. But it takes a lot of effort to get someone to actually show up.

I had so much work to do in the office yesterday, I couldn't afford to stay home doing nothing. So after our driveway was open, Andy told me to start the car and he would drive me over to the church. Cemetery Road was barely plowed - one lane - and thankfully, we didn't meet anyone coming toward us. It was so beautiful driving down the road - like a winter wonderland.When we got to the church parking lot, there was no way we could drive in. The entrance to the parking lot was like a high wall because of the snow plows mounding up the snow from the road. I had boots on but they were only ankle high. So I asked Andy if he minded taking me back home to get my knee high boots on and I'd just walk into the office from the road. The roads weren't really well plowed but we finally made it home again, where I changed into the higher boots. Back on the road, we decided to go a different way than Cemetery Road. Andy turned onto the road that goes by the church and stopped the car right at the driveway. I was able to walk in on top of the mound, then up to the church door. I got my purse out to get my keys but they weren't in there. Then it hit me...I had started the car with my keys and they were still in the car which was now driving back home. So "yeah" for cell phones...I had to call Andy to come back to give me my keys. Because of the lack of well plowed roads, he had to take the circuitous route again, and it seemed like forever till he got back to the entrance to the parking lot.Well, it was worth it, though, because no one else was at the church all morning. I had hardly any interruptions, and it was a profitable day, except that one of the printers malfunctioned, and I had to call for service. Then when the repairman called to say he could come, I had to tell him he couldn't because the parking lots still weren't plowed. Sigh! I have a friend who says: "It's all good." And it did all work out in the end.I saw a statistic somewhere that this is the 3rd snowiest year in recorded history. And you know what, it's still only January!

A good day for a hike

Since we were away last Tuesday I didn't get my cleaning done. So I spent most of Saturday doing my housework. I made a batch of rolls, then cleaned all the bathrooms, dusted the furniture and vacuumed the whole house. It was better to do it then, anyway, because we had our Community Group over on Sunday evening for dinner and a final good-bye. We won't be meeting with our group any more, but will be starting a new ministry. (Maybe more about that at a later date)

So Sunday night we had 9 people over including Andy and me. I made a bit pot of minestrone soup with my homemade dinner rolls. Someone else brought salad and we had a couple of desserts. We put 2 leaves in the dining room table and had a very nice time together.

So since I had just cleaned house on Saturday, I didn't feel the need to do it again so soon. What to do??? Why not go for a hike? It actually was a very nice day: cold and brisk with no wind. We drove down to Lebanon State Forest and were going to walk around Pakim Pond. When we got there, we found the road to the pond was blocked off. We went to another entrance and that one was blocked off, too. So we parked the car and walked in till we got to the pond. Some of the trails were snow covered, but the trail around the pond was 95% clear.
There are some spots around the pond that are really pretty.
We decided the reason the roads were blocked off was because there were a number of tree companies in there cutting down trees and cleaning up the forest. The hardwoods in the forest have really taken a beating from the gypsy moths. In some spots, it hardly looks like a forest. It seemed like most of the oaks were dead.What a shame. I hope it's not too long before the forest can grow back.

An Oasis of Peace in the Busyness of Life

We like to go away after Nativity is over to get a rest from all the activity we've been involved in. This year things didn't let up as they usually do until this past weekend.

Last week Andy came down with a cold, a pretty bad one. On Saturday he stayed home and rested and studied while I went up to visit my mother. We played some games together, then went to Shoemakersville to eat lunch. We each ordered a bowl of cauliflower soup that was outstanding. After lunch, I shoveled her front walk which was still snow covered. She never goes in and out of her front door because she has a garage door opener, but I cleared it in case she gets company or visitors.

On Sunday Andy and I went to early church, we had some obligations in the 9:30 service, then left to pack and get ready to go away for a few days. We drove up to one of our favorite places: Walnut Valley Guest House in Lancaster County. It's so private and quiet there, a perfect place to chill out. After an hour of unpacking and just resting, we drove on over to Amy's to have dinner with them. Ricky cooked up some venison wrapped in bacon with raspberry sauce. Wow! Was that delicious! Of course, we played with the kids and held Katy, too. I should say Andy played with the kids. They were very excited to see him.Katy was her usual pleasant self. What a sweetie. She's growing!The evening ended all too soon and we headed back to our little haven. Both of us had taken lots of books along, so we did a quite a bit of reading. Andy also did a lot of walking on Monday. We drove down to Ephrata to the Cloisters. They were closed on Monday, but we still walked around on the grounds. There were lots of walkways between the buildings and they had all been cleared of snow. It was pretty cold and I had forgotten to take along a hat and gloves, so we weren't really out very long. The afternoon was spent in more reading and Andy took another walk along the country road by the place we were staying. That evening we ate our dinner at Applebee's.

When we woke up Tuesday morning, we saw that it had snowed over night, but that now it was raining. By noon, all the snow had melted off the roads and walks, and we left to go home.Even though we were away, we were still somewhat connected to work because there was a funeral at the church on Wednesday evening. So people needed to contact us to schedule certain things and make sure of other details. Andy was leading the singing at the funeral, and we needed to tell the other pastors when the building was free to use for a service.

But it was still good to be away. I'm sure if we'd been home, we would not have taken the time to just sit around and do "nothing." I have a hard time relaxing at home because there's always something to do.

I'm thankful for opportunities to get away, a chance to be still, think, pray and gain a fresh perspective.

The Pros of Snow

I love snow, but not everyone does. In fact, mention snow and a lot of people groan, grumble and complain.

I love it and here are some of the reasons why:

1. It's beautiful.
2. It makes the earth beautiful.
3. Winter is dull with grays and browns, but snow covers up all that dullness.
4. White snow when the sun is shining on it seems to sparkle like a field of diamonds.
3. If it's a big enough storm, everything stops.
4. If I'm in the house when it's snowing, I feel cozy and warm.
5. If I'm out in the snow, it feels adventurous.
6. I have lots of fond memories of playing in the snow as a kid.
7. I have other memories of snow adventures when I was thankful to make it home safe and sound.
8. God made it!

I remember snow storms when I was a kid. The electricity would be out for a week and no school. My parents would turn on the gas oven, open the oven door and we would live in the kitchen all week. My mother would make donuts - um, yum - so good and hot after playing outside. I remember one snow storm where we got so much snow, my brothers and sisters and I were able to dig a tunnel from the house partway out to the barn. Other times we built forts and had snow ball battles.There were other times when we would take shovels and shovel paths on the pond and skate around on the paths or just through the snow.
Then when Andy and I were living in Washington state, we got an invitation to a wedding in Portland, Oregon, which was a 4 hour drive for us. It didn't usually get cold enough to snow much there, but this time it did. On our way home from the wedding, we drove through blizzard like conditions. It was snowing so hard we couldn't see the front of the car. The snow was blowing so hard straight at us and into the grill of the car. The car kept stalling out because of the snow on the carburetor. Andy had to keep getting out of the car to try to clear out the snow and get the car started again. We were wondering if we were going to ever get home. We finally did (obviously).

So even though I currently have a friend on a cruise off the coast of South America and a sister in Hawaii, I am not in the least jealous of them. I love living here with lots of snow!
Someone might say, "Hmph, it's easy to say you love snow because you don't shovel it." But that argument does not hold water. I have shoveled lots of snow and enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I can't do it any more because of my back issues. But I would if I could!

More Partying

I was expecting the after Christmas blahs, but it just isn't happening. The parties continue!

Last Wednesday was our 37th anniversary. I dug out some old photos to share. This first one is soon after we started dating, around October 1972.We look sooooo young. And look at all the hair Andy has!

This picture was taken at a PCB formal dinner the night we got engaged, April 1973.
I made the dress. At least that's the way I remember it. My mother may have made it, and if she did, I'm sure she'll let me know. Ha, ha.

Someone had given us a gift certificate to Olive Garden, so that's where we went to celebrate on Wednesday. There were a lot of other people who must have been using gift cards, because the restaurant was crowded. Fortunately, we went early and didn't have to wait long.

On Friday night, New Year's Eve, we were invited to the home of someone in our church who was having a going away party for another member who is being deployed for 14 months. There were a lot of people at that party and it was really fun with lots of good food and people we love. We didn't stay till midnight, although there were some who did. It seems that no matter how hard I try to stay up late, my body just goes into tired mode and there's no hope. Someone asked me how I was going to bring in the New Year. I said I was going to sleep through it, and when I woke up on New Year's Day, say "Happy New Year!" It seems the new year will come regardless of whether I see it in or not. It was a unique year, because of 1/1/11.

Another reason I wanted to make sure I got my rest is because the next day we drove up to Berks County for the Yoder Christmas get-together. I had made 2 batches of rolls to take along. As usual there was a lot of good food there, too. And it's always good to see the relatives, even though it doesn't seem like we're there long enough to be able to visit with everyone. I think it takes us as long to drive (there and back) as it does to be at the party. Christy, Christian and Amy were able to be there with their children. Dawn wasn't feeling well, and their car was giving them problems so they didn't want to risk the long drive. And Ricky stayed home to puppy sit all their new puppies.

Thanks to my sister for her picture taking. I didn't take my camera so I'm stealing some of her pictures.
On Sunday we had another single missionary young lady, Deb, move into our upstairs apartment. She will be here a month. Her mother came with her but will be leaving tomorrow. Andy and I were invited to a friend's house on Sunday evening to welcome Deb. There was one other couple our age and about 5 young 20 year olds. It was a very enjoyable time. Deb is here till the end of January, then will be traveling to Niger to do occupational therapy in a hospital in Galmi. She's a very delightful young lady and it's a pleasure to have her staying with us, although she's out more than she's here.

Yesterday on our day off, I did my usual housework, made a meal for a family in need, and still had time to go up to Smithville for a walk on a trail through the woods. It was still snow and ice covered in spots, but it was so nice to get out in nature. We were also able to stop in and see Dawn and Kira. Kira is quite entertaining. I think her favorite word is "baby," and second favorite is "dog-dog." She loves to look at my pictures in my wallet, looking at all her cousins, aunts and uncles. Most of my pictures have at least one baby, and there's even a picture of C & C's dog in one of them.I guess as long as we keep going to parties, it gives me something to blog about!

The 4 Days of Christmas

I don't know where the 12 Days of Christmas song came from, although google says the 12 days are those between Dec. 25 and Jan. 6 (epiphany). The song was written so long ago that it seems just plain silly to us today. I mean, really, why would my true love give me lords a-leaping or even a partridge in a pear tree. If I received those gifts, I wouldn't be too convinced that he really loved me! Well, be that as it may...our Christmas this year spanned several days.

It started out on Christmas Eve. I worked most of the day because the evening required my presence at the Candlelight services. I love our church and feel so loved by the dear people who make up our body. One of our traditions is for the deacons to honor the pastors and their families at the Christmas Eve service each year. Earlier in the month, they send out a letter to the church to let them know they can donate toward a Christmas gift for the pastors. So during the Christmas Eve service we are all called up on the platform. The pastors wives are presented with a beautiful bouquet and the pastors get a nice bonus check. On the one hand, I feel exposed standing up there in front of everyone. But on the other hand, I also feel loved. The people clap and even gave a standing ovation in the one service! We are truly blessed to be where we are.On Christmas Day itself, I spent the morning in the kitchen. Because all our children are married, they have their own families and in-laws. So we had originally decided to celebrate the Wallin Christmas the day after on Sunday, Dec. 26th. I made a cherry pie, an apple buttermilk custard pie, a batch of rolls and sausage stuffing.I finished all the baking and cooking by 12:00 noon, so Andy and I decided to go see a movie. I still had a little left on a gift card that someone had given me and Voyage of the Dawn Treader was still playing. So off we went. It was pretty well done and we enjoyed it. There were a few parts that weren't exactly like the book, but I don't think there's any movie ever made that doesn't have some differences from the book.

The third day of Christmas: Sunday, Dec. 26th, was the day we had planned to get together with our family. But there was a big snow storm predicted so after several phone calls, we decided to postpone it till Monday. So Sunday turned out to be pretty low-key and restful, for me at least. For Andy, not as restful, because he went out several times to start shoveling.

On Monday morning, Andy spent about 2 hours digging us out. The snow was really deep, we must have gotten about 11 inches. And in some spots it was even deeper because the wind was pretty fierce. In fact, in some of the pictures I took, it looks like it's snowing, but it's just the wind whipping the snow across the yard or off the roof.It even blew snow up onto the porch.
I don't think anyone's going to be playing on the swing set today.
And now too much solar power either.
We left our house around 12:00 to drive up to Amy's house. She had 1 litter of puppies and another one due any day, so didn't want to leave them for a whole day to come down to our house. It was a lot of fun to be together. I love our family.

There was lots of good food.
Everybody got to hold the baby. What a good baby she is, too.
The little kids' table:
Big kids:
Presents:
All the Lindsay kids got pillow pets.
Chase got a Superman cape. I think Ricky was jealous.
Joanna got a play kitchen.
She was playing with it as the guys were putting it together.
I think she likes it!
The kids were happy to have puppies to hold.
All too soon the party was over. A very merry Christmas.