10 days in PA

October flew by in the blink of an eye. We moved on Oct. 4, on the 20th I left for a ten day trip to Pennsylvania - a combo work/vacation trip. And just like that, it was Halloween and the month was gone!

All the photos here are from my phone. I didn't take my camera along, and I tend to snap few photos with my phone...so here goes!

Taking off in Wichita usually requires walking outside on the tarmac...classy. 

 No meeting at MCC is complete without chocolates (Wilbur Buds, a locally made chocolate), hymnals and agendas. I was in Akron, PA at MCC for four days of meetings with all the Communications and Donor Relations staff from from MCC U.S. and MCC Canada.

 Thankfully, our meetings are from 8-5 and then there are some activities in the evening that we can participate in or do whatever else we want. Lucky for us, Ingrid Michaelson was performing in Lancaster on Wednesday evening and we got tickets! The Chameleon is in downtown Lancaster, an old row house that's been converted to a concert venue. It was a fantastic break and Ingrid put on a low-key super-impressive show. One of my colleagues knew the manager of the Chameleon so he helped us get up close to the stage so we could actually see Ingrid really well. The photo below is from the back of the venue while we were waiting for her to go on stage.

 After our MCC meetings wrapped up, there was an Anabaptist Communicators Conference at MCC that I stayed to take part in. So after a week of meetings, I got to participate in two more days of meetings! That last sentence was complete sarcasm. I was so done with meetings....but they were still interesting and I was glad I took part.
On Friday our meetings wrapped up earlier than I thought so I took a walk in Akron and found this Amish roadside stand selling flowers, plants, fruits and vegetables. I wasn't sure how much of the produce they grew themselves and how much they brought in, but they had an impressive garden growing alongside the road and several apple trees too.

 As a part of the conference, I visited an organization that brings together Amish farmers in a co-op to sell their goods through grocery stores and CSA's. It was very interesting and eye-popping to see how much money folks are willing to pay for "Amish-made, home-grown" goods.

 On Saturday afternoon, Ben joined me in Akron and thus ended my week of meetings and my week of vacation began! We went to Lancaster to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary and had a wonderful time getting little bits of food at lots of places.

 Sunday morning, before we took off from Akron, we went for a walk. It was a chilly, but beautiful morning.

 We drove to Bethlehem, PA to have lunch with our friend Jason and after lunch we were surprised to find a parade going through town!

 From Bethlehem we drove up to Bushkill, PA where we stayed at a dilapidated resort that would have been in it's prime in the early 90's. Dilapidated or not, we tried to make the most of it, even though we had to go out and buy new pillows on Monday morning. After that we took off to go hiking at Bushkill Falls.

 There were lots of amazing waterfalls and the trails were nice and well cared for. Bushkill Falls is a privately owned area so we had to pay to get in, but after we hiked most of their trails we were glad we paid to see it.

 We ate our picnic lunch under these trees.

 Tuesday we took the train in to New York City. We left the resort early in the morning and safely made our way down Hwy 209 through the "Warning! Major Wildlife Collision Area" even though we saw about five dead deer and at least that many alive on the side of the road. We were both glad we didn't have to regularly make that drive!
Our time in the city was spent walking around different parts of town. We saw tons of interesting things and people, all of it seen as we explored here and there. Below is a picture of the High Line, a raised train track turned walking path. The last time I was in NYC this wasn't open yet, so I wanted to see it for myself. It was a lovely space and we only walked one section of it. There were lots of tourists, taking lots and lots of pictures.

 Chelsea Market had been one of my most favorite places the last time we visited NYC but this time it was so crowded with people it was hard for me to enjoy. I love this sign from the outside of the building, though.

 We rode lots of trains to the city, in the city and back out of the city. Thanks to Google and our phones we were able to navigate around the city without too much trouble. We got back to our room at the resort in the wee hours of Wednesday and rejoiced that we made it without hitting any of the five or six deer we saw along the side of the road!

 Wednesday morning we went to headquarters for the National Park Service to figure out the trail options in the Delaware Water Gap park.

 Our morning hike took us along the Delaware River and it was gorgeous! It was rainy in the afternoon, but in the evening we walked the golf course that surrounded the resort and got quite a workout. There were some steep hills on that course! Bonus: we saw another eight deer on the course.

Highlights of the trip: spending time with Ben, relaxing, figuring out how to bake a frozen pizza without an oven, seeing amazing nature all around us, eating wonderful food, catching up with friends, watching the Royals play in the World Series.
Low points: being away from home for 10 days and missing the boys, the shower was so loud it made our ears ring, the pillows, watching the Royals lose the World Series.
A huge shout out to my parents and to Ben's mom for watching the boys while we were gone! The boys loved every minute of it and we never had to worry or wonder because we knew they were in the best of hands! Thank you!!

Outside work

While nearly all of our efforts and energy have been toward the inside of our home, but with a huge yard of dirt surrounding us it was bound to grab our attention sooner rather than later.

 Our family friend, Sharon Boese drew a landscape plan for us and we are so thankful for the work she did! We hope/plan to simply take parts of the plan and plant them one area at a time.

 I think some mulch would really set things off nicely, but to simply have plants growing in front of our house makes it feels even more like a home to us.

 We also planted three maple trees out in the yard. We've got our fingers crossed that they take hold and grow.

 Ben got the waterway and mound system planted with a mix of native grasses and flowers just before a nice rain.

 I put all the pumpkins and gourds we bought at the pumpkin patch to good use around our front door.

 Maybe I went a little overboard...but I started and pretty soon I had quite a bit of things set up,

 and I was having so much fun with it I couldn't stop until it felt balanced. When I asked Noah to take me on a 4-wheeler ride to gather hedge apples, Ben just smiled at me, knowing that some sort of outdoor decorating was underway.

Pumpkin Patch

Nothing says fall like a visit to the pumpkin patch!

 It was chilly this morning, and there was plenty of mud thanks to the rain we got yesterday, but that didn't slow us down. The boys slid down the big slide, then we ventured toward the patch. A new feature this year was a short maze that the boys tackled all by themselves. Levi made it!

 And here comes Noah!

 After a brief stop to play on the playground equipment we hauled our wagons to the patch. There were so many pumpkins! I let Noah pick his pumpkins all on his own.

 He ended up finding two unique and awesome pumpkins.

 Ben helped Levi find and cut his pumpkins,

 but Levi did the heavy lifting.

 Pumpkins sure are heavy!

 Then back through the maze to enjoy a few more activities.

 The boys did the Straw Scramble - a two minute long opportunity to find as much money and candy in straw.

 There were a few excited finds,

 but they mostly came up empty handed. Although, the few nickles and pennies they found, in addition to the banana flavored Laffy Taffy, was thrilling for them.

I was reminded this afternoon while on a walk with my mom, that we didn't used to have pumpkin patches and corn mazes. We simply bought our pumpkins at Dillons. The boys are fortunate to have a fun pumpkin patch only a short drive from our farm!

House Progress: Moved In

So we're done! We moved in to our new house one week ago. I'm hoping and praying this is the last time I move...I do not enjoy it.

 I took a week off from work to move and spent time with my family at the hospital during my mom's mastectomy. It was an incredibly tiring and full week! Mom came through surgery well and is at home recovering, and working with her doctors on determining the exact next steps of treatment.
The farm house wasn't looking too great in the last days that we lived there...

 But on Saturday morning, we had a bunch of (wonderful!) friends come over and help us move everything we hadn't been able to move on our own. The weather could not have been better so the kids enjoyed playing football and exploring on the farm.

 And the adults got our stuff moved from one house to the other and then enjoyed a great lunch prepared by my cousin Megan. It was fun to have friends around to laugh with and it was incredible to have a delicious lunch prepared for all of us!
That night, we chowed down on pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon in our new kitchen! We all worked together to make the meal and there was room for all of us in the kitchen, it felt magical.

 This photo for two reasons: 1. A new house has a way of showing you all the dirt, dust and hand prints - and yes, I mean ALL of them. 2. Each morning, we get to watch the sunrise and it's good for my soul.

 I walked around the house this afternoon and snapped photos - just a glimpse into where we're at with settling in.

 Ben's office - if I can't find him I know to look in the office. He's been waiting for three years to have an office and has this corner of the house perfectly organized.

 Seeing my dishes - the ones we eat off of everyday - through glass doors has been a dream of mine for the past 11+ years.

 The storage room is doing its job - storing stuff.

 The boys are enjoying have their own rooms and Levi has clearly claimed his new big brass bed  (which actually came from my great-grandma's house).

 Noah's settling into his room, too.

 And holy cow, we have enjoyed our new shower! The shower in our master bath doesn't have glass yet so we're all using the boys' bathroom. The shower head puts out lots of water and there's a light near so we can actually see when we're inside it! Ahhhhhh.

 The master bath is working out nicely,

and so is the closet!

 Tractors are slowly taking over the living room upstairs.

 The wooden barn quilt I painted last Thanksgiving is sitting on the floor waiting for me to find it a home.

 The sun room - the room with random furniture is looking a bit dreary on this cold and rainy fall afternoon.

 Our old hand-me-down kitchen table is serving as our dining table...and I smile at how odd it looks each time I see it.

 I baked pumpkin chocolate chip muffins this afternoon and it was so nice to have the kitchen smell and feel warm!

 There are a few boxes hanging around still, but slowly they're all getting unpacked and thrown out.

Looking back at the process of building this house, it's easy for me to skim over the parts that were stressful (the floodplain, septic system questions and expenses, etc.) because the rest of it was fun! I enjoyed working with our builder and I enjoyed laying out the floor plan and picking out finishes. In some ways, I'm sad that it's over. But in lots of ways it also feels really good to make this house our home and to share it with our family and friends.