the infamous lancaster trip

there are several other titles that would apply to the weekend. I'll fill you in on them as we go. :)

The trip began friday afternoon around 4. We headed out I81 north. We stopped for a quick dinner at Subway, and arrived at Audrey's parent's house around 9. The Shenks opened their house to us and showed awesome hospitality.

The first item on our agenda saturday was shopping! We stopped at the Tangier outlet and had success. The theme of the weekend for Amy was SHOES! There was aerosole outlet and I got two pairs of shoes. Amy found three. Next stop Dress Barn. I think everyone found something at that store. The next stop was Bath and Body shop. I got 5 bottles of hand shop for $10. Last stop for the morning was the Nike outlet I got a warm up jacket for $10.

We had lunch at Lapp's restaurant and then headed to the main attraction. The sight and sound theater is huge. I had been there before, but was still amazed by the impressiveness of it all. The play, Ruth, was wonderful. The story focuses on the relationship of ruth and naomi. It was very inspiring.

After the play we headed to another outlet mall. At the QVC store Amy found three more pairs of shoes. We stopped in a couple other stores and then headed back to the Shenks. I inquired about visiting intercourse, but it wasn't in the cards. :)

It was a quiet relaxing evening. We had a yummy dinner and went for a walk. The rest of the evening was spent hanging out with the Shenks, looking through memory books, and reading magazines.

On Sunday we went to East Petersburg Mennonite Church. It's a nice church and we met nice people. After dinner we had lunch at the Shenks. A big thanks to John and Myrtle for a nice weekend.

It was time to head home. Audrey was the first driver and the rest of us had our sunday afternoon nap. After about an hour or so, we had our first pit stop. I took over driving cause i was bored with being a passenger. Our next stop was in Hagerstown for a little shopping at old navy and target. Patty cleaned up at old navy. Amy found another pair of shoes at target. We were getting hungry so the next stop was in Martinsburg for dinner at Bob Evans. Amy had never been to a BE so we decided it was time. I had my usual country breakfast biscuit which was delicious and an awesome reese cup sundae. We were full and satisfied, so it was time to hit the road again.

Around 8:45 we were jamming to Queen's song we will rock you and then we are the champions. Little did we know that our lives were going to change forever. We saw a deer run across the road several tenths of a mile ahead. Audrey and Amy began looking for more. Alerting me to the fact that deer usually travel in pairs and if one ran across, another one might be close behind. Sure enough there was a second one on the right side of the road. It became surreal as we watched it run into the road in our lane. I didn't know what to do. It didn't seem real, I thought the deer would run when he realized we were coming. But it didn't. I hit the deer head on, it hit the hood and flew over my car. I was relieved that it was over and we could finish driving home. Fortunately the others had the good sense to tell me to pull over. Thats when I realized that my car was steaming and had some damage. Amy and I checked it out. My front end was damaged pretty good. I called my Dad to pick us up, Audrey called AAA to get a tow truck.

So our Lancaster adventure ended with a bang or more like a splat. My car is now at Dan's auto body waiting for them to check it out (they're closed today). I reported it to my insurance, and i'll hear back from them soon. I didn't get rental coverage so i'm carless. My very kind and awesome parents have allowed me to borrow their van again.

So the alternate title for this entry are:

• Big Red and me; back together again
• we didn't make it to intercourse, but we got nailed anyway

I must give credit to Patty for the intercourse one.

I am very thankful that everyone is safe and unharmed. God was really protecting us and looking out for us. Our God is an awesome God, he takes care of his children.

lancaster bound

You should probably hum the Simon & Garfunkle song "homeward bound" while you read this. :)

Tomorrow afternoon the chicks and I will head off to Lancaster for a weekend of carefree livin'. We're gonna do a little shopping, see the play Ruth (at the sight & sound theater), and visiting Audrey's family. It should be good times. :)

This week has sped by. Now i'm ready for a three day weekend! Huray!

breaking the habit

Well another weekend passes quickly and another work week starts. It seems like only seven days ago that I did this.

My 30 day challenge is going pretty well. Last week I was almost feeling cocky. Thinking things like "I'll never bite my nails again". Silly jenni. Thats when some of my nails got uneven from picking something and I couldn't stop playing with them and picking at them. I finally got a grip on it last night when I filed and painted them. So the morale of the story is don't underestimate your bad habits.

quick review

It's good and definately worth seeing in the theater. So go do it! Now!! Or this weekend, but not if you're coming to my pampered chef party. Then you'll have to wait until sunday. :)

episode three!

Tonight is the big night!!! Finally we get to see episode three in the star wars epic. A group of die hard fans is gathering tonight to see it at 12:01am. I can't wait. I'm hoping to remember it more than episode two. :)

I'll try to write about it tomorrow.

enter into the pain

I've been mulling over this blog entry for awhile. Its an idea that's been in my head since last year, when I saw "The Passion". That is the movie showing Jesus' last few days. One of the scenes that sticks out most in my mind is while Jesus is carrying his cross through the town. There is a woman who tries to help and gives him water. In return the guards threaten her, but the look on Jesus' face is priceless. He was moved by the kindness of the woman. She risked bodily harm from the guards to help Jesus.

The same lesson can be applied to problems that we go through. Recently a friend of mine had a scary evening. She was expecting to hear from her father and didn't. She tired to call his house and cell phone, and he didn't answer. I happened to call during this situation cause she was suppose to eat dinner with me and some other friends. I could hear the tears in her voice and I knew she was scared. I told her to let me know if/when she had more news and I said goodbye. As I was sharing the news with the other friends, I had the strong urge that we needed to take dinner to her. So we did. This was a scary prospect. What if the situation turned out to be something terrible. Was I ready to feel all the emotions and deal with it. Would my friend welcome us or tell us to go away so she could deal with it in private. Conviced that she should not be alone during this we went.

She was very relieved to she us and gave me a long hug. We didn't have any magic words. We weren't even sure what to do. But we did the most important thing, we were there. She knew that we cared and we'd be there. She didn't have to go through it alone. We lightened the mood and helped her relax. Soon there was a phone call from her brother who had figured out the situation and it turned out her dad was at a meeting.

I know that its a scary idea to talk with someone who is experiencing pain or grief in their life. We're afraid of saying the wrong thing. We don't want to make the situation worse. Its also hard to be the one going through a tough time. We don't want to appear weak. We want to be self sufficient. But the reality is that we need people. In fact they are part of the healing process. I know that I would not have made it through the separation/divorce without the wonderful people God put in my life. What I remember from that time is not the words they said, but the kindness they showed by listening to me and just being there.

So if you know someone who is hurting, I encourage you to enter into their pain. And if you are the one hurting, allow friends into your pain and let the healing begin.

working for the weekend

Its saturday morning and I'm at EMU working. Nothing too strenuous, just sitting at a table with Greg and Michael. We're ready to answer questions for new students about computers.

volcano girls

Tonight was a lot of fun. The SS girls hung out at Calhouns. What a great bunch of women. Thanks for the good times.

the crazy, busy, no time for myself week

This week was a whirlwind. I had activities every evening after work and 2 things on saturday. Finally on Sunday after church I had some time to relax and hangout with the cats. Hopefully this week won't be as busy.

30 day challenge update: I'm still doing pretty well on the nail biting. My nails are getting a little longer. I'm not doing so well on the food journal due to my busyness this week. I'm hoping to get it organized this week.

Sorry for the shortness of this blog and the lack of details. I'll try to write more monday or tuesday. :)

strange days indeed

I had a bizarre dream last night. Part of what made it bizarre was the fact that I remember it fairly vividly. Anyway in the dream I was pregnant. Probably near the end of the third trimester. I remember going to the hospital and that Sarah was there and my dad. Dream moods indicates that it means I'm developing an idea or something new. This is actually pretty likely since I've got a lot going on and many plans for my life.


30-day update: Another day down. I've not biten my nails. Its still not easy but I'm doing it.

30 days - it begins now!

Its here. May 1 and the 30 day challenge. I've already stopped myself from nail biting several times. Its a hard one since it happens without me even realizing it. I've changed my mind about the 1500 calories. Instead I am committing to keeping a food log and limiting my calories to 2000. I think this will be a better starting goal.