On Wards and Up Wards

                Saying goodbye is always hard, but I like to think of it as a see you later; and unfortunately it always seems like a must.  No matter how many times I say “see you later,” I can never help getting teary eyed, at least when it’s dealing with my loved ones. 

Saying by to my Uncle

Unfortunately I had to say bye to my family because JD and I had to continue onwards and upwards on our trip.  Of course we had to make a small pit stop to have a quick lunch with another one of my Uncles and his family.  As short as this visit was, it is always great to see them, and catch up.  It just seems like there is never enough time on a trip.

Lunch with my cousin.

                After our quick lunch we kept on with our journey until we reached JD’s parents’ house.  There we had to deal with the introduction of P to the two Pomeranians, who I shall call The King and Tripod.  I was a bit worried about P meeting The King because The King is very aggressive.  Luckily there weren’t any scuffles that a shout of “NO!” couldn’t stop. 

                Following the dogs meeting we were able to catch up with his parents.  JD and his father went off doing father-son things, where I was stuck with his step-mother to basically do whatever she had in mind; and what she had in mind was marriage talk, not just talk, but for me to try on her wedding dress.  She expressed that she would like me to wear it if the day ever comes for traditions sake.  I was taken aback at this.  I was always under the impression if I was to wear a dress out of tradition; it would be my mother’s.  Also, I am not too keen on her dress.  I’m sure every little girl dreams of her big day, and has a vision of what she is going to wear, but frankly, his step mother’s dress style has never entered my fantasies.  Don’t get me wrong, her dress is beautiful, but it is just not me.  Similarly, I felt odd trying it on; since it is the first wedding dress I have ever tried on.  His step mother is shorter than I am, so I had reservations that it would not fit, and sure enough it was a tight fit.  I felt like a sausage stuffed in casing, and couldn’t wait for her to help me out of it.

A wedding dress I saw while ordering a brides maid dress for a friends wedding.  Isn't it beautiful???  (not sure why it's posting sideways)

                Besides the talk of wedding dresses we also visited the church his parents attended for 25+ years.  They had recently added onto it, and oh my, it is beautiful.  

JD's step-mom, JD, and I posing in front of the church.

Their church felt like a mini United Nations.  There were people from all sorts of cultures there, even cultures that historically have been known to dislike one another.  It’s amazing how faith can bring people together.

A small portion of the many different cultures that attend the church.

                Well I’ll conclude this leg of the trip here.  So consider this as a “to be continued….”

Feeding Time

                It’s always great when I get to spend time at my grandma’s, you know, the cute, little, quaint farm house that I am oh so found of. 

Every time I go to visit, it seems like I have a routine of things I absolutely have to do, or else my trip just doesn’t feel complete.  I of course have to go to the lake, and hang out on the “beach,” as well as help out in the garden, go for a walk through the woods and fields, as well as go up to another lake to “feed the damn fish” as my uncle puts it.  

I know it sounds so silly.  Feeding fish?  How in the world can that be fun?  But for me, it is. 

 

I could probably spend an entire day feeding the carp and watching them jump on top of one another trying to eat the little bits of bread I throw down to them.  There’s something mesmerizing about the hundreds of fish splashing around, fighting for food, and my precious P would agree. 

Starring and pulling to get to the carp

I know it may not be everyone’s cup of tea per say, but I’ll let you judge the lake off of the photos and videos.   

If you watch the lower left hand corner you can see P trying to get to the fish.

The carp in the spill way.  This is only a small portion of how many there are in this massive lake.

Home Sweet Home

                Sorry about my long hiatus, and I do mean loooooooooong.  JM, P, and I were out visiting family while JD got to spend time at her friends and her boyfriend’s houses.  I know, it doesn’t seem fair, but since we were visiting our grandmothers it only seemed like a safe choice.  We wouldn’t want JD accidently knocking anyone over and injuring them, not that she would, but better safe than sorry.  And now that we are home, I am exhausted from the extensive amount of driving we did.  I officially feel drained.  What is it about a trip that makes it hard to get back into the swing of things?  Also, why is it when you visit your family it never seems you get to spend enough time there, but when you visit someone else’s family, you are just counting down the minutes till you return home?

                Well back to the trip, or at least the leg where we visited my grandmother.  

My grandma and I

JM was taken aback when he laid eyes on my grandma’s house, which is an old farm house (that I unquestionably love) and heard that the small town she lives in is also inhabited with the Amish.  JM grew up in the city, so country life was all new to him, and I'm not sure that this was a life style he would be willing to do for an extended period of time.

Isn’t it quaint? 

The farm house is so old that there’s even an outhouse out front.  You can barely make it out in the right hand side of the above picture. 

Of course it is no longer used, and no, it does not smell.  We just don’t want to tear a piece of history out.  

                So you may be wondering if it's an old farm house, where's the farm?  Well, there are no animals on this farm anymore, other than cats.  Having animals is just too much work for my grandma.  But here are a few pictures of the once was farm.

Above:  The barn  Below Left:  the old chicken coop  Bottom Right:  planted field

Cabin in the sky, or the deer hunting perch.

AHHH!!!  HOME SWEET HOME!