Memorial Day Weekend!

Sometimes, when you're a lucky kid, your boss will give you a three day weekend. Last Saturday through Monday, I received just that, and boy did it feel like heaven.




Of course, the fun always begins as soon as you get home from work on Friday night, so I had breakfast for dinner and rented a chick flick. Oh.... and did I mention the large bowl full of ice cream with chocolate, caramel and a cherry on top?! ;)





Then on Saturday I drove to Madison, where my friend Laura was a vendor at a farmer's market there. She's so much fun! We usually see each other at busy events and never really get a chance to visit much, so it was nice to actually get some one-on-one quality time with her. Even if it meant driving around Madison on a wild goose chase with her.



In the afternoon about 85 people made it to the Gitto farm for a "Party just because..."! We enjoyed sports like volleyball, Frisbee and croquet, and of course there was food and music to be had as well.

 Croquet is a bit slow-paced when you have somewhere around 13 people playing.

My lovely friend Rachel... she's so gentle, encouraging and sweet. Her sweet nature and good example inspires me to be more mature and kind.

 This girl! Sarah... she's so good natured... and has such a fun sense of humor! 

Here are the volleyball junkies. Literally.... they may have stopped playing for a very short time to eat. I think they even played in the rain!

Sorry the pics are blurry... but the food and fellowship were fantastic! It's always a fortunate affair when you have so many great friends in one place.

So here we have Courtney... and her giant ice cream cone. She apparently forgot how you turn the soft-serve machine off. ;) ...it's funny, I almost did the same thing. You pull the lever and forget about everything else as you focus on getting that perfect twirl. =D

A big rain storm that rolled in, too. My friend Malachi captured a sweet time-lapse of the storm and stunning sunset. Sometimes he'll upload his time-lapses to his YouTube channel so be sure to keep an eye out for it.

As always, it was a good time at the Gitto farm. At a late night hour I zipped home with Courtney and stayed at her house for the rest of the weekend. Spending time with the Dunn family is always a pleasure! They all have their own amusing witty remarks and wisecracks. They jovial and fun to be around... but know how to be serious and calm as well. 

On Sunday, I went to Courtney's church. Both messages were good and then we had mango smoothies afterward!!! They were so tasty!

Then after lunch the sun came out, it was warm and the swings in the park were calling my name.... so we ran out the door to enjoy the "curious" weather. My new friend Josh lent me ALL of his camera stuff... we're talking fancy. So I tried one of the less intimidating lenses and cameras out. My subject was very photogenic as usual:





In the evening Court and I decided to go on an adventure... to Cheddar's! The food and atmosphere were surprisingly impressive. I had the most delicious whitefish, rice and salad, and Courtney had a big burger...

Courtney showed me where she taught school this past year. I convinced her we needed to get a picture of her for posterity's sake! ....especially since it's technically her first teaching job!

We spent the evening drinking sun tea, singing silly songs, and just simply relaxing. Mrs. Dunn and Court were trying to figure out what is important to each of us in life... relaxation was on the top of Court's list!

We found june bugs, Mr. Dunn showed me his garden and flowers! I love that he's like a farmer pretty much, in his own way!

We had a bonfire later on and I introduced them to s'mores with reese's peanutbutter cups instead of milk chocolate. It was the perfect night for sitting around a fire and visiting.

On Monday we went to the Memorial Day parade in Racine... and I forgot my phone!!! But luckily Courtney remembered hers and took lots of pictures... which you can see on her blog. Oh, did I mention all of the phlox growing in all of the ditches? Soooo much purple! It makes my heart happy! We took a walk on a wooded trail with phlox making up a good portion of the undergrowth. It was quite serene and peaceful.

Sammi, Court's cousin, came with us. She's so nice and fun! Christopher took us to this HUGE tree.. it had to be the oldest tree in the woods. The branches were the size of regular tree trunks. It was quite the tree, and rather perfect for climbing.

We brought Zirk along on our hike! He really is the coolest dog ever.

We decided to wade in this river. Water always attracts me. I can't help but feel it on my feet.

This picture of Zirk is soooo funny! He's such a feisty little dog. He wasn't too sure about hanging out in the water.



It was such a nice three days, but alas, I said goodbye and set off for home. The drive back was easier than I expected. No crazy holiday traffic or slow-downs... It was the best holiday weekend!

Another SoWis Adventure

This past weekend I was able to visit friends and attend a wedding. Such visits are always too short, and yet so much can happen in two days that it makes the heart full. I made it for Courtney's graduation party on Friday night. I'm so proud of her accomplishments... she's a dedicated person, with a gift for children. I know she'll impact the lives of the children she teaches in a very positive and permanent way. I was thankful to be able to spend some time with her family and her boyfriend, Estu, who is from Indonesia. I also met some of her very cool friends, and we had an epic evening of playing instruments and making the night festive!

I was also able to visit with Christopher, who's back from Uganda, ...but only for a short time. He'll be off to work for NOAA and leaves for basic training at the end of July I believe. I don't think it would be an exaggeration to say that he has an adventurous streak. I'm sure he'll enjoy tracking weather and chasing hurricanes. Speaking of which, did you know that it's national hurricane preparedness week? ;)

The tulips in the Dunn's front lawn never cease to catch my eye.... or a shot from my camera.

Estu and Courtney during a walk to Starbucks. ;)

These pretty things look like poppies to me.... but I'm not sure.

Estu said this tree would make a good photograph. He's a photographer himself... and he was right about the tree.

Estu is headed back to Indonesia tomorrow and during the last few weeks has been looking for things made in the U.S.A to take home to his family as presents. Alas, most everything seems to come from foreign countries, especially China. I snapped this picture because he discovered the coffee grounds were from Indonesia. Maybe I should move there.... since they can actually grow coffee!!!! ;) Hehe

Courtney & Estu... trying to decide on who would get which cake pop. ;)

 Estu had a graduation ceremony the day after Courtney's. It's a nice photo of the two of them.

Since I missed the ceremony, Court sent me a cap & gown photo. :)

Sadly Courtney's actual graduation ceremony was at the same time on Saturday as my friend Amanda's wedding. Therefore, I reluctantly hopped in my car an zipped over to the wedding (only an hour from Courtney's which was nice!). The weather was cold and cloudy but the warmth of friends at the wedding made everything cheery again! I was able to witness a beautiful, God-centered wedding as Amanda married Justin. What a rare thing to witness and in spite of the frigid wind, rain and even SNOW, it was a beautiful, heart-warming wedding. PLUS.... it was a bonus because I was able to visit with my favorite Gitto family! Katie, Laura and Rachel are so dynamic, and unique and their company is so encouraging and fun!

Amanda's daddy walks her down the isle.

Amanda and Justin. You'd never guess the weather was bitterly cold by those smiles on their faces.

We witnessed their first kiss.... a precious moment, indeed.

Mr. & Mrs. Becker!

The Gitto family.... taking up a whole row! I love this family to pieces!

Laura was looking lovely, of course. She can make a grey dress come alive with excitement!

Katie and I were able to spend a good deal of time visiting that evening and the next morning. This girl inspires me with her humility and servants heart. A lot of people tell her she's perfect, which frustrates her greatly. She says in return, "...but I'm not perfect. I'm a sinner just like everyone else."

The park where the wedding was held was lovely. Bridges, water... quite picturesque.

The three Gitto sisters: Rachel, Laura and Katie. Everyone assumes Rachel and Laura are twins but actually Katie is Laura's twin. Rachel is the younger of the three.

Overall, it was a wonderful visit. I'm already counting down the days 'till I can go back. Visiting with friends can be dangerous as it makes you start to wonder why you have to work and for what purposes you're really living your life. It's true that we must work all the days of our life and enjoy the portion we've been given (Ecc. 3:22), but honestly I'd rather be broke and spend time with the people that I love that spend my days toiling away to put a penny in the pig. *sigh* ....it's these moments that teach us to find a balance. Anyway, I'm just glad my old Honda made it there and back without any breakdowns!! I have so much to be thankful for. Until next time...

So many things to say...

Hello and good evening! I'm up later than usual tonight as my phone storage is getting close to full so I must download pictures off of it to the computer. The process takes a bit of time so I thought I'd blog a bit.

I've had a longer work week than usual. Spring planting just finished today on the farm where I work. They started last Sunday (not yesterday but the Sunday before), and everyone's been working odd schedules and longer hours. I can't complain as the bigger paycheck will be nice. Still, I'm glad things will be going back to normal. I think the cows will be happier too. :)

The weather and landscape has really burst into new life since I blogged last! I keep going to my gardens to check the progress of the little plant shoots coming up. The hosta plants have really taken off and my ferns are starting to un-curl. They remind me of little dragons before the pop into their leafy shape. Unfortunately the goats ate my irises to the ground. They've continued growing and have made good progress but I don't think we'll be seeing any flowers this year. OH.... and did I mention the weeds?! So much chickweed. I know it has fantastic medicinal properties but I wish it would grow somewhere besides my flower gardens. *sigh*


Anyway, can you tell I'm excited about gardening?! I've barely been able to wait for Mother's Day because that's when the majority of the greenhouses start to open. It's tradition to go flower and plant shopping with my mom, sisters and Grammy. One of my favorite thing to do!

Well... I really should be working on writing an article for the newspaper. I've been so busy with work and life that I've missed getting an article submitted for the last two editions. I'd like to have one ready for the June edition. My dilemma is usually narrowing down my subjects of interest. There are so many good topics to write about, yet what can I actually portray well and cover accurately? So.... that's where I'm at right now.

It reminds me of a TED Talk I watched recently that perfectly describes my habit of putting off important things 'til the last second: