Greetings from Savannah-Day 4

Today was our official shopping day. We started out our day at the famous B. Matthews Bakery where we enjoyed ourselves an amazingly huge cinnamon roll, I had to pass on the sticky buns because of all the nuts on top (bummer). According to grandma and mom, though, they agreed that the cinnamon roll, with cream cheese frosting, was incredible! Do you have any idea how huge this roll was? We are going back tomorrow to pick one up before we leave so I can get one for Tyler.. that's right, get excited Tyler!





















We then made our way around town to find a much needed pair of Crocs for grandma because her heels were killing her. After a few stores she found some she liked and boy was she happy, she was practically running down the street from there on out. We also made our way around the rest of the stores that we thought would be neat, there was a store that had furniture made from gigantic pieces of wood (with the grains and natural shape) which was really neat and specialty stores for just lights, a store for different kinds of stationary, a store for old beach stuff like drift wood and the front vessels of old ships. Different stores from Indiana, but really cool to shop in. I didn't buy much but it was fun looking around and pretending. One thing I have found is that Southern people are really talkative and outgoing, we didn't go anywhere where the people from this city didn't initiate a conversation with us. One of our conversations at the "Paris Market Store" turned out to be with one of Paula Deen's best friends and so I took a picture with her and she told me how her recipes are in Paula's books and she told me to use her name and our picture together to get into one of Paula's shows the next time I'm down here, so that was cool. She told me that she got to go to Paula's "Butter Themed Party" Show and that they actually made deep fried butter...it's official we have now made the fattiest thing on earth more fatty by frying it in itself!




















At another store called "Go Fish" I got to talking to the owner who informed me that this whole store, Christian based, was full of the things they've gotten from places where they've done mission work and that the proceeds from this store go back to support those individuals trades (jewelry making, basket weaving, clothing designers, etc). Sounds like the idea Kathy Troyer has come up with for the Guatamalan people and their handmade jewelry, I have some information on it.. what a great idea!


We stopped at the River Street markets for a salad and some treats to bring home to our loved ones.

Lastly tonight we dressed up and went to The Pink House restaurant. Let me just say our experience was incredible. I shared a BLT salad (fried green tomatoes, carmalized bacon, lettuce with buttermilk ranch dressing) with mom I don't like tomatoes and it was great! I also had Scallops in Herb Butter, Asapargus and Mashed Potatoes and then I finished off my last meal in Savannah with a cheescake covered brownie with french vanilla ice cream in a chocolate sauce.. AMMMAAAZIINNGG!

















We are now packing and getting ready to take off tomorrow.. this went so fast and yet we've made so many memories! Thanks mom and grandma.. what a time! Now we have 14 more hours together tomorrow driving ourselves back home.. yeah, bleh.

PS- To all of those going on the mission trip with LaOtto Wesleyan Church (http://www.lwcteamguatemala.blogspot.com/) to Guatemala this week, you rock! You are all an inspiration to our church family and I know God is blessing you all even as we speak for the venture you are about to partake. Absorb as much of the experience of serving others and sharing the good news of Christ as you can, it's a life changing experience. God Bless you all, we look forward to seeing you again and hearing of your life changing testimonies.

Time To Set Things Straight (Tyler's Response)

Well after reading all of the comments made on our blog this week concerning my status without Natalie, the time has come for me to set the record straight:

So maybe I have been a little less than up to par this week with my wife being several states away. But who says I'm sad and mopey?? I guess if that's what bawling myself to sleep every night, wailing and mourning all day, and walking around looking like a cross between eeyore the donkey and debbie downer implies, well then yes I guess maybe I am sad and mopey.

Who wouldn't be though when your best friend is gone for a week? And by the way, so what if I locked myself in the food pantry at church. Maybe I like it in there. Besides, it wasn't like I was in there ALL day. 20 out of 24 hours is NOT all day. Besides, I was just enjoying several hundred packages of Ramen noodles.

I am making it though. But it is tough. Thankfully my brother-in-law has invited to stay in his tent with him. Thanks Joel.

Seriously though, I miss you Nan, and I can't wait to see you on Saturday. I can't imagine life without you...a week is long enough. Love you!

Greetings from Savannah-Day 3

On day 3 (Wednesday) of our trip to Savannah mom and I started out our morning taking another stroll around the neighborhoods. After we had taken a lively walk around the community I decided I ought to visit B. Matthews Bakery for Paula Deen's highly suggested sticky bun. I went to enter in and there was a "closed sign" I saw someone inside and knocked but the kid who answered said they'd be open tomorrow, just today was specially closed. After discussion with my mother and grandma I theorized or conspired that perhaps Paula was going to visit there today as part of her show taping this week. We talked about sticking around, but decided that the potential of her coming compared to a day at the beach was not really a toss up.

So, we decided to travel to Hilton Head Island, about a 45 minute trip away. We took the new bridge that takes you across the waterways of "the lowcountry", it was very pretty. We took the risk going knowing that it was supposed to possibly rain, but it turned out to be a beautiful day to be at the beach. After laying out for a while we enjoyed a club wrap sandwich at the outdoor lounge with music in the background and water misters to keep you cool (who's ever heard of such a thing?). It was very very nice-a great vacation spot. I'm thinking Tyler would love, love, love Hilton Head (the beach, golf and sun!).
















When we got back to Savannah we showered up and walked through the parks down to the River Side stores. We stopped at one of the parks and I was able to see the famous Mary Gump (my grandma sitting on a bench similiar to that which Forrest Gump sat on, but his bench is in a museum).














We ate at the Boar's Head Tavern, another really pricey joint (don't tell Tyler) but it was delicious. We sat by the window overlooking the river, what a view! All of a sudden my 6oz. filet and garlic mashed potatoes were lonely in my tummy so I decided to accomodate them with a little dessert. My grandma, mom and I all shared our first ever Creme Brulee-which just happens to now be my favorite dessert EVER!!! However I was still hungry after my little portion of dessert so I treated myself to some "Cherry Garcia" by my liberal but creative ice cream artist friends Ben and Jerry.

















After a great night ended off with a very full stomach, we had to take a taxi back to our hotel because otherwise we would have had to be rolled back home.
Tomorrow we are going shopping (Tyler, Layla & Louie I will be bringing you back a surprise) and we've made reservations at a very suggested and very upscale restaurant, "The Pink House", so we are excited. (We are on vacation, LIVE A LITTLE). We are going to dress up and spend our last night in Savannah on the up and up!

Thanks to all your committed readers.. stay tuned for our last day's update tomorrow night (Thursday).

P.S. Are you starting to gather what the theme of our trip was? (Clue:there's three...) FOOD, Relaxation & Paula Deen.
No, honestly we have been able to enjoy a lot more than just those things, even though those maybe the highlights of my daily reviews. We have been able to enjoy a lot of history and culture by being here... it has been an amazing trip.

Greetings from Savannah-Day 2

Today (Tuesday) we woke up and enjoyed the breakfast buffet in the courtyard.
We took a walk and enjoyed some of the historic homes that surround our Bed and Breakfast.












Shortly after our walk we were picked up by our limo to transport us to our guided "Paula Deen" tour location.













We enjoyed 4 hours of stories describing the life of Paula and her rags to riches testimony, she is an amazing woman. We weren't able to go to Bubba's Restaurant for lunch because Paula is recording some of her episodes there this week (we may try to make our way out their, ok spend the night, so that we can try to see her when she gets there with her camera crew. Just joking I'm not that crazy..???) Instead we ate at Paula's restaurant "The Lady and Sons" for lunch, we had the buffet which was incredible. If you were wondering if butter was on the menu- YES! As well as hoe cakes, garlic and cheese bisquits, collared greens, green beans, lima beans, creamed corn, sweet potatoes, roasted potatoes, fried chicken, roasted chicken, salisbury steak and gravy, salad bar, macaroni and cheese, rice and more. It was southern cooking and it was GREAT! For dessert we shared servings of warm peach cobbler, pound cake with strawberry icing and banana pudding. Needless to say I loved them all.















For an added treat we were able to meet BOBBY DEEN!!! I told him that although I was married I could pretend to be single, if he would take me to meet his mom. It didn't work, oh well. We took a few pictures, talked about his new show that includes his brother Jamie called "Road Tasted" and then he signed my new cookbook (the very last one I needed to finish off the full Paula Deen cookbook collection, although I hear she's working on a new one). I also got a picture with "Jelly Roll" a good friend of Paula's who is credited for many of Paula's recipes as well as the famous garlic and cheese bisquits. What a great day.
















We made our way down to the River Markets for shopping, which proved to be a great time. Then we made our way back to the Eliza Thompson for appetizers, a little disappointing tonight (everything had crab in it.. GROSS!). Shortly after, we took another walk and made our way around some of the parks, took a few more pictures and finished off at a restaurant called "Six Pence" which happens to be the restaurant in which Julia Roberts spots Dennis Quaid through the window in "Something to Talk About".













There are so many parks here in Savannah-so beautiful and dogs are everywhere. We also heard the word from some of the locals as far as the reputation that stars have that make their way into Savannah. Robert Redford who made his way here for "The General's Daughter" was supposedly rude, short (height) and not the cutest pick of the litter. John Travolta who was here for "The General's Daughter" was supposedly untouchable because of his guards but was friendly to those around him. Lastly, Clint Eastwood is the hero in town because when he was here doing the movie "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" he sent roses to all the neighbors who lived near and had to deal with the camera crews when taping. We didn't hear any word on Tom Hanks who was here a few years ago sitting on a bench in the middle of one of the squares for the recording of "Forrest Gump".














We also checked out some of the real estate around here, a couple we met said that they've lived in Savannah all their lives and that 20 years ago you could purchase a historic home for around $15,000 now they are averaging nearly one million dollars or more. To bad I wasn't old enough in the 1980's to invest!! I was thinking though, LaOtto Wesleyan Church needs to strongly consider packing up as a congregation and moving down South it's so warm...anyone on board?

Well, we are back to our hotel snacking on the Dessert Reception snacks which included Pepperidge Farm Cookies, Cream Puffs and Coconut Cake.
The night has come to an end and I'm signing out and heading to bed.

Greetings from Savannah-Day 1

My grandma, mom and I all decided to take the very first official Women's Only trip to Savannah, GA. I had personally been wanting to take a trip to Savannah for a while now to visit the restaurant of the person I admire so much, Paula Deen (aka: the queen of butter) check her out at www.pauladeen.com . We began our trip right after church on Sunday and left to drive as far as we could, however we decided to stop at our favorite restaurant, Casa's, on Dupont first to stuff ourselves before getting a start on the highway. Needless to say, we didn't have to stop and eat supper that evening (after bread, entree and salad)...that is until we finally arrived in South Carolina at 1:30am on Monday morning and grandma, after drifting to sleep a few times, popped her head up to say "I could go for a juicy burger" so we made our last stop that night at Steak n' Shake, and then finally settled down and spent the night in Rock Hill, SC.

Monday morning we left around 9:00am and finally arrived in Savannah around 1:30pm (making our trip approx.14 hours with stops for dinner, gas, restroom breaks, etc). We found and settled into our lovely Bed and Breakfast Inn called the Eliza Thompson House, it's incredible! We get a breakfast buffet in the courtyard, wines and appetizers in the afternoon (don't worry I don't drink the wine) and a dessert reception at night. I think we will be very comfortable for the upcoming few nights.

In the afternoon we decided to take a guided tour to become aquainted with the city. It's similiar to Charleston, SC a little bigger and not as quaintly uniform as the historic district in Charleston, but it's still stuffed full of history, adorable and luxurious homes, stores, restaurants and plenty for us to do the next few days. We have discussed possibly visiting nearby Tybee Island, Hilton Head, Charleston and Beaufort but we'll see, although a week goes fast!

We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant, Giabaldi's, in the City Market Square, it was delicious and pricey.. but most importantly delicious! Plus, we had a really good waiter (don't tell Tyler) but he brought me bread because he liked me.

Tomorrow we are going to be picked up at 10:30am in our limo to go on our Paula Deen Tour with stops at a Cookie Factory, Bubba's Oyster House for Lunch and other places. We also receive a VIP pass for Paula's Restaurant "The Lady and Sons" for tomorrow's dinner. Should be a great time.. I hope I can see Paula, her brother, her sons or someone related to Paula, either way it should be a memorable time. Check back tomorrow for Day 2's update!

PS- I Love and Miss You Tyler! (This is our first week apart in 4.5 years) I suppose I'll just cuddle with my pillows tonight.

Lots to share and a lot to come...

As usual it was a busy week. We spent some time early in the week enjoying Natalie's parent's pool with the hot weather and all. Monday night we went up to help Natalie's brother Jordan and his wife Sara with some work at their house. We got quite a bit done in a couple of hours.

Tuesday we had the chance to do some clothes shopping at Kohls. They had sweet deals. Afterwards Natalie went to Kathy Troyer's for another "Women Only Pool Party." No suprise that they had a great time.

Wednesday was busy with church work and Bible study at night. Natalie and I made a trip to Arby's afterwards for 5 for $5.95. What a great deal! I never used to be a big curly fries fan, but Natalie has once again gotten me started. We washed it all down with some free frosties from Wendy's (we used some coupons we bought back at Halloween time - I'm glad they still let us use them even though they expired last December).

Thursday was a busy day of tying up loose ends for the week before my day off on Friday. We had some family over for steaks on the grill Thursday night. It was a great night to spend together as the weather was perfect and the meat was seasoned perfectly.

Friday we went golfing with Natalie's parents. Natalie and I are becoming quite the team to beat. We had a great time hitting the links.



Friday night was the "Going Away Party" for our friends Nate and Michaela. They are leaving for Ireland next week :-( We wish them the best and pray God will be at work in their lives during this transition. The party was at Nate's aunt Beula's lake house (also known as Sweet Beula Land). As always there was great food, conversation, and many many laughs.

Here the girls are posing for the camera.

Here the guys are doing their best "Old Man Butt" impressions.

Nice legs Hamlin!

Saturday we finally got to sleep in (we needed it since we didn't get home from the party until around 3:00 am). Once we woke up we went to IHOP for breakfast (is it me or does it seem like food is a MAJOR part of our lives - works for me). We both had stuffed french toast. The first french toast they brought me didn't have any cream cheese stuffing (the best part), so after eating the entire thing looking for some I let our waitress know that there wasn't any. So she brought out a whole new plate of it OVERFLOWING AND OOZING with cream cheese! I get hungry again just thinking about it.

Finally tonight we spent some time with the Stones, the Griners (minus Adam, Ben, and Joey), the Folds (minus Mike), and the Lees. It was Ashley's birthday (Happy 3rd Birthday Ashley)! More food of course, plenty of presents, cupcakes, and hillbilly golf. It was great as usual spending time with all of you tonight!!




What a week. So much going on. We will have double the stories this coming week as Natalie heads out Sunday for Savannah, Georgia with her mom and grandma. She will be updating the blog from there. While she's gone I will be here alone spending some nights camping out in my brother-in-law's backyard. So look for some updates from me as well.


Have a great week everyone! May all that God has in store for you be fulfilled in your life. Be sure to look for His loving kindnesses around you.

A Paradox ( long but worthy)

THE SCENE: On Friday my mother, my sister and I (Natalie) went to Jefferson Pointe to go shopping. Like normal tradition we began our shopping spree (is it still called that even if you don’t buy anything??)…with a stop at IHOP. While we were eating our breakfast my sister made my mother and I aware that the lady sitting next to us was crying. We tried to nonchalantly check out the situation without being to obvious. As I looked over I saw an older lady with swollen eyes sitting alone quietly sobbing to herself. My heart broke for her even though I was oblivious as to why she was crying. Given the scenario I suspected perhaps that maybe she had lost her husband as we discussed at our table what we should do for her. In most cases we would maybe say that it was sad and think about it for a little while but quickly return to our carefree and happy breakfast. But today we all felt a heart tug and so perhaps for the first time ever, my mom decided she would go and talk to the lady. My mom can be very upfront and outspoken however; this sort of thing was completely out of her natural comfort zone. Yet, with a little encouragement she decided to go talk to the lady and invite her to join our table. After my mom went and spoke with the lady for a few minutes my suspicions were confirmed, she had just lost her husband nearly a month ago and this was the first time she had been out on her own. She said her emotions took over when she saw the different families and couples at the other tables surrounding her knowing that she would never share similar happy memories with her beloved husband again.

THE PARADOX: As I heard my mom tell me this story of this poor lonely widow (while trying to control the lump in my throat), I saw in the background a little infant enjoying the beginnings of life and exploring the big world around-so careless, innocent and free.

THE INSIGHT: This moment (or rather-GOD) initiated the thought in my mind that while a lady sits alone grieving the loss of life and a child sits a table away in the beginning stages of life -God can be the source of what both need for the moment. God is everything for everyone….he is the source of love, security, joy, comfort, peace, etc. for all people in their given circumstance. He knows what we need and when we rely and call out to him we can receive what he so willingly offers to all of us. What a confirmation and comfort to everyone that we are never without a God who can be everything we need for every moment and every circumstance we face both the good and the bad. When we left we told the lady that we would be keeping her in our prayers (and we will) and we took care of her bill anonymously, although I suspect she’ll figure it out.
We discussed for the following 20 minutes on our ride to Jefferson Pointe or so, what else we could have done, said, or offered to the lady in her circumstance.

THE EVALUATION: What would you do? Have you been in similar situations and have avoided the potential for a difficult discussion with someone in need? What would you say to someone who needs you? Could you and would you be who God wants us to be to those around us-strangers? We thank God he gave us the strength for the moment, for the opportunity, and that he would use that opportunity to bring that elderly lady hope, joy and comfort resulting in praise for our Almighty God.

THE CHALLENGE: Take the plunge, do something out of the ordinary perhaps a little crazy, make a difference in someone’s life, look around you, search out opportunity, people are in need all over- we have something they need we have something they want. Have you ever been on Fire? Try it sometime.

Tracking our Blog Readers:

Over the last six months or so since we have been blogging (as we try to do at least weekly and if we don't we get reminded to by our readers) we have found that many different people read our blog and updates fairly regularly. We have heard from friends, family, friends of our friends, church members, church members' bosses, etc. Because we have found it so interesting that so many people check our blog we would like to track for a few days who actually reads our blog. Below this posting you will see a small section that reads "Comments" if you click on this it will take you to a page where you can post a comment. We typically only open up our comment section for individuals who are bloggers (so that we avoid random viewers to put their two cents in about our lives), however for the next few days we are opening up our comment section to include anonymous public comments. For the sake of curiousity we ask that if you view our blog somewhat regularly that you would go to the comment section and leave your name so that we know who is checking our blog, if you are reluctant to identify yourself perhaps leave "Anonymous" and the city you are from (ex. Anonymous-Fort Wayne, IN). You certainly do not have to participate in this little venture... but we would surely appreciate it!

Thanks to all our readers for your steadfast commitment to reading our blog! Continue checking back for all our postings (all the funny, sad, confusing, boring, inappropriate, informative, interesting and whatever other descriptive words apply).

A Sabbath Rest

I read a great article today and thought I would make it available to all of you. The article addresses the importance of making a sabbath rest a priority in your life. It was a timely reminder, as it is so easy in the context of life and ministry to neglect the time I need to rest, relax, refresh, and recoop. If you have the time, read the article. It may be exactly what you need. Also, if you read it, leave a comment on our blog letting us know what you think.

A Call to Honor the Sabbath
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2006-07-02-faith-edit_x.htm

It's been fore-ever!

It has been forever since my dad, my sister, Natalie, and I all had the chance to spend some time together. Today we had the chance to get out on the golf course though. We were able to finish nine holes before the rain really began. It was great!! Natalie and I beat Taryn and dad, but that didn't matter. Today was about the fun we enjoyed together. We played at Willow Ridge Golf Course. I played the best golf I have ever played, shooting even par (36) for the first time in my life. I had one birdie, one bogie, and the rest pars.




Natalie also played well, probably the best I have ever seen her play. She even hit the shot of the day. It was her shot from the tee on the final hole. The hole was a 170 yard par three. She hit it within two feet (see the picture below - you can see the tee box in the background). They don't call her Natalie "Woods" for nothing!




After golfing we went to Logans. The lunch was great. Dad had never been there before. I think he is definitely ready to go back now though.




Finally, we ended our day together with an ice cream stop at Zestos. Dad had his usual chocolate malt, Taryn and I had hot fudge sundaes, and Natalie had a hot fudge and marshmellow sundae. What a great day with family. We look forward to doing it again.

A Full Weekend

Last Thursday Natalie and I ate dinner with Aaron and Jenny. We had an awesome taco bar! Thanks Jenny! Afterwards we watched an episode of Arrested Development and The Office. Two very funny shows. Thanks Aaron for introducing them to us.

Friday we went to the drive-in. The picture below is a picture of Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. Not a bad movie. I fell asleep for the last 1/3 (it was 2 1/2 hours long). Natalie thought the ending was no good. We also saw Nacho Libre. I watched about 5 minutes and fell asleep again. Not bad...I paid only $6 for 2 hours of a movie and a three hour nap.




Saturday our friends Brian and Alicia got married. Congrats guys!

Finally, on Sunday we had a concert at our church featuring Rudisill (www.rudisillmusic.com) and Bernard (www.bernardmusic.com). Two very solid bands. It was a great show and we hope to do many more Live @ LWC events. It was also nice getting to spend time hanging with my good friend Tom Rossmanith. It was good to see you man.

Your Weekly Update

Once again another full week of fun, life, friends, family, and ministry. On Friday of last week I had the opportunity to go to a Chicago Cubs vs. Chicago White Sox baseball game. My friends, Matt and Drew, are both Cubs fans, so I was flying solo as the only White Sox fan in the group. The ChiSox pulled through for me with a 6-2 victory. It was an exciting game...definitely a great time (especially the Hebrew hot dog guy)!




After the game we left Chicago and headed to Valpo. In Valpo we met up with one of our friends who is getting married Saturday July 8th. Together the four of us, along with 3 additional friends, bachelor partied it up, going out to eat at Applebees (it's Brian's favorite place to eat - he eats there 4 weeknights a week and even has a chair with his name engraved on a nameplate attached to it) and hitting up some of the local hangouts.




We stayed the night in Valpo and came home Saturday morning. Saturday we spent the day at the lake out on the boat. At night we enjoyed the Big Long Lake fireworks.




Sunday morning was a great morning of worship and celebration at LWC (as usual). We talked about the Hebrew name for God, El Roi (The God Who Sees). What a great God we live for!

After church we went out to eat at Cebollas with Phil, Kathy, Christy, Matt, Natalie, Wayne, Drew, and Ashley. We were pleasantly surprised when a special guest arrived. As you can probably tell by the pictures below, we were joined at Cebollas by Santa Claus. I think he thought we wouldn't notice, but there was no fooling us. Thankfully Natalie had the camera with her so that we could have proof. Who would have guessed that Santa spends his summers in Fort Wayne?






After lunch it was back to the lake for some family time. With the rainy weather we spent most of the evening playing cards and watching movies.





Monday was more of the same with the gloomy weather. In the late afternoon evening we went to Natalie's grandma's lake cottage for a 4th (really 3rd) of July celebration. It was fun playing hillbilly golf and kayaking on the lake. More card games and a tornado warning in Lagrange county made it yet another interesting night!




Tuesday morning we came home and cleaned up just in time to head to my aunt and uncle's for another 4th of July celebration. We had BBQ chicken and homemade ice cream with homemade hot fudge (YUMMY!). It was great to spend time with my grandma with all of our family there together.




Tuesday night Natalie and I spent the evening trying to figure out our new digital cable system. We signed up for it for 6 months because the promotion works out to be cheaper than what we were paying for before with regular cable. We love it so far. Hopefully we don't get so hooked that we never want to go back!