The Garden after 8 weeks

Over Memorial Day weekend I turned 9x24 feet of green lawn into a nice garden for me and my family. The Garden is at my parents house and I promised them that if they let me have part of the Garden that I'd share my crops with them. I also promised that they would not have to help in any way. I did leave town a few times, so they kept their eyes on it. And they also helped lay cut grass down as a sort of mulch to keep the weed population down.

Today I went to the Garden to see if any work needed to be done and to hopefully harvest a few yellow beans. I asked my mom to go out to the Garden with me, just so we could look at it together. This is what we saw.

My lettuce garden continues to thrive. Only a week ago I cut it down to nothing and now it's ready to be cut again. This never ceases to amaze me.

The zucchini is bigger than my hand. I started the Summer squash and zucchini plants from seed.

The cucumbers are quickly climbing the spokes of the old wagon wheel and check out their pretty yellow flowers!



Mom and I started out by just looking at the beans and I slowly began picking a few. Mom wandered over to the squash patch and let out a cry, "Oh my! Come over here, diane! Check this out!" which quickly got my attention. I made my way over and continued the hunt. I am sure that I will harvest more than I can consume. We also pulled all the onions and marveled at the way the cucumbers are growing. The potatoes and pepper plants continue to surprise me. I am so amazed at the way a Garden explodes with life. Looking at and working in my Garden often leads me to think about God and creation. He is an artist, I am sure of it.

I had no idea what to make for dinner tonight, but now I'm going to have yellow beans tossed in butter and a fresh garden salad. I'm also going to prep the squash, zucchini, and onion in olive oil and salt and then grill 'em up. What a delight! Fresh, local, and tasty!

Really, you should come over for dinner some time soon.

Unplanned days.

I live a Conscious life.
I live intentionally.
I live well.
I make a point of living.

I returned home from Europe on the 16th. I was in a funk for the days following my return. It's a hard adjustment between living an adventure in Europe to buying toilet paper at Meijer. In Rome there was an adventure around every corner. I turned left and saw the Colosseum. Left took me to the Pantheon. The Spanish Steps and the Fountain of Trevi were all to my left. Three days later I went to Meijer because I needed toilet paper and soap. They were also off to my left, but not nearly as thrilling. I was in a funk and I didn't know how to shake it. I wanted to be alone but I was with a lot of people. It turned out that being with dear friends was the exact right decision to make because they helped de-funk me.

Don't worry, the good funk is still in me.

Sunday night I stayed up til midnight- thirty while chatting with my new online friend, Joan. She was encouraging me more than she probably even knows. She was telling me to write and offering good advice at the same time. Of course, I went to bed smiling. Monday morning I woke up thinking, "Did I go on a date last night? Do I have a crush on someone? I feel so good." And this, dear friends, is how I feel a lot lately. It feels as though I'm in love, but I'm not. Do you ever feel that way? Life is so good that you feel in love with IT? In love with Life?

It took a moment and then I remembered that I'd stayed up late chatting with Joan. I busied myself making breakfast. Around 11 a.m., while still in my pajamas and drinking my 3rd serving of fruit smoothie, my cousin Leanne knocked on my door. This is a welcome surprise visit! She sits and chats with me for a good hour before her 3 year old just can't take it anymore. Leanne is one of my favorite people. When Leanne left I went to work on my lovely garden. You should come over to see it, it's amazing. Later in the afternoon I met with Katie for coffee. Katie lives in the Netherlands 10 months out of the year and I usually get a chance to meet with her once in the summer. I give her advice on growing plants and she gives me advice on fashion. We both share our knowledge of good food. We could talk for days. After coffee I met Suzanne for Sushi. This was Suzanne's first time out for Sushi! We also talked about gardening, adoption, and living Green.

This day, this particular Monday, was one of those surprise days. I had no idea I was going to have such a good day. I'm so glad I lived it and lived it well.

Today, Sunday, was another surprise day. I came home from three days of camping and was feeling kinda bad that I missed church. I'm not sure why I felt bad either, because last summer I took 3 months off from church just so I could love her again. The sky was cloudy, the wind was chilly, and I had a house full of laundry that smelled like campfire. I also had a Fridge full of food from Farmers Market that I had to clean and process. Bah. And all I wanted to do was sit and reply to all my email and maybe write an article or two.

And that's when the surprises kicked in.

I did actually reply to my emails. I wrote nearly everyone back (which is quite good of me, I must say). I owed Mitch at least 6 emails and then I finally sent him a txt telling him to check his email. This is when I discovered that txting is cheaper for me than a phone call! I don't get charged the daily $2 fee when I'm txting! Woohooo!! Finally, Mitch just called me and we talked for, I dunno, maybe 30 mins? Mitch is a new and dear friend of mine. He lives in California and he thinks I'm amazing and I think he's amazing and we're members of the Mutual Admiration Society. He pushes me in the best way possible to follow my dreams of becoming a writer. He promotes my work. He listens well. And, most importantly, he's patient with me while I sort all this stuff out. Talking on the phone was a first and a dear treat indeed.

I went back to the food prep and was up to my elbows in cherries when I received a very gracious email from Joan, my new friend from earlier in the week. She is encouraging me and helping me to pursue my dreams. I'm very grateful for her support. I mean, it just seems so weird to receive this kind of support from a stranger, ya know? But so very, very good.

I'm back at the sink and this time I'm prepping blueberries. You should see my freezer, it already has frozen peaches, blueberries, cherries, blackberries, and raspberries. I've been busy. The phone rings and it's my neighbor, Andrea. She lives just up the steps from me, literally. She misses me when I go off on adventures. She said, "Hey! I'm at the supermarket and am going to buy Salmon, would you like to eat dinner with me? We'll cook and eat at your house!" She has cats therefore we hang at my house. "Yes, that would be great! It's 2:30 and I've not eaten lunch yet, would 5 work for you?!" She is over and cooking at my house less than 30 mins later. I can hardly handle this kind of love.

A day of love.
An unplanned day.

No more funk.

Andrea stayed until 6. We made roasted asparagus, a rice mix from Trader Joe's, and Teriyaki Salmon. Later, I made Italian espresso and shared my chocolate covered cherries. We hang out like we're in a dorm, just chatting on the patio and listening to music.

Andrea gave me a stern talking-to today. She told me to work less and play more in the Summer. She's been over in the winter and while we watch a movie, I am grading papers. She barely sees me during the school year. Today she heard me say, over and over, "I am so far behind on life. I need to clean the bathrooms, finish the laundry, iron, clean the toilets. I need to...." And finally she said, "diane, you work so hard during the year. You are incredibly responsible. Take time now to just enjoy life. Don't worry about your projects."

I'm hoping for less structure and more surprises. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.

It's all about Grace

Tonight I met Dana for the first time.
We've been online "friends" for about 2 or 3 years now. We have many mutual friends and we read each other's blogs and tonight we actually met for dinner and drinks.

Dana is fabulous.
Dana gets it.

It's always a bit strange, you know, when you "know" about someone's life because of Facebook (oh how I love thee!) and blogs. But then to meet them face to face in real time, well, it could be a real disappointment. What if they talk with their mouth full? What if they are rude to the service staff? What if they interrupt you in the middle of your best story?

Dana was none of those things and the only reason our meeting was cut short was because of time. Sometimes I really hate time and how we measure it.

We finally had the space to share ourselves over pizza and beer. She had the pizza while I had the beer. It was Stein night at New Holland and I borrowed an unused stein and drank 32 oz of hard cider for, like, $7 (I dunno for sure though because Dana wouldn't let me buy my beer).

We talked about Grace.

A few weeks ago while I was writing down my memoir in a little hotel room in Traverse City I wrote this sentence, "I moved to Philadelphia and for the first time in my life I learned about Grace." Or something along those lines at least.

It seems to me that I grew up in a culture that understands Record Keeping but not Grace. Allow me to explain the difference.

Record Keeping looks like this:
I mowed your lawn, so later you can mow mine.
I borrowed your garlic press, so you have the right to borrow mine.
I bought your dinner, so next time dinner is on you.
I took care of your pets while you were away, so you owe me a favor when I go out of town.

This is Record Keeping, folks, plain and simple. There is no Grace there.

Grace, on the other hand, is a lot like Love. It keeps no records. There is no accountant. If I do something nice for you, YOU DO NOT OWE ME A THING.

We talked about growing up in a culture of faith that is all about who is doing what, how often, who is keeping tabs and why. And honestly, Christians are some of the worst witnesses when it comes to extending Grace.

One of the best examples I have of Grace comes from Mexico. I studied Spanish at the University of Guadalajara about six years ago. In Mexico they extend the best kind of Grace that I have ever seen. Let's say that the clerk at the store is cranky. Instead of complaining about the service, a Mexican will say, "It looks like they didn't have a good breakfast today."

Breakfast, you hear? "It looks like they didn't have a good breakfast today."

Plain and simple. If someone isn't living up to your expectations, extend them some Grace because maybe they didn't eat well today. You see? They don't owe you. Don't do favors for people with the hopes that one day you can "cash in" on the favors and get something in return. Do nice things for people because you are a nice person. And you are a nice person, I've met you.

You are saved because of Grace alone. You are Not saved because you did something great for Jesus and he owes you one. God does not work in a Cash economy. He works with Grace alone.

Eat a good breakfast tomorrow and if someone you meet is cranky, maybe offer to buy them breakfast the next day?

My favorite pics from Europe.

Lunch after a day through St. Peter's and the Vatican Museum. Amazing Vegetarian Pizza!

Love Wins in the Colosseum.

Journaling after lunch in Milan (best Eggplant Parm of my entire life!)

While eating Fondue in Interlaken we spied a rainbow over the Swiss Alps.

My all time favorite picture of one of the Lakes in Interlaken.

I think there are around 200 pics, so I won't post them all...maybe just my Top 5. Also, I've not yet seen the pics from Kerri's camera but I can't wait!

Rome

By the time morning rolled around for our 3rd day in Rome, we weren't quite sure what to do with our day. Days 1 and 2 we worked so hard to cram in all the sight seeing. 

Day 1 was spent exploring the Ancient Ruins under the extreme Roman sun. We were non-stop for 6 hours straight and I earned my 4th blister on the walk back to our room. When we got home we showered, dozed, and finally went out for dinner. Dinner was disappointing (for the first and only time!) and we crashed pretty early.

Day 2 was busy, but we were smarter and made use of the Roman metro. It was easy to navigate and saved our feet a lot of pain. We got up early to avoid the lines and when there was a line we stood in the shade. I already told you about the business of this day: Vatican City, (St. Peter's and Sistine Chapel), a great lunch, then off to the Spanish steps. 

So Day 3? What to do? We knew we wanted to see the Pantheon and I wanted to see the Trevi Fountain and luckily there are near each other. The fountain is simply amazing, huge, and refreshing. Then we walked over to the Pantheon and stood in awe at the ancient architecture and even the way the church went about changing it from a pagan temple to a Christian church.

We were done with this relatively early and so we took the train back to our neighborhood. Over the course of our time in Italy I saw a lot of people walking down the street eating these amazing looking sandwiches (Panini!) and I really wanted to try one. We found a cute place near the Piazza of an old church for St. Mary (we think Mary Magdaline) and I consumed the best tuna fish sandwich EVER. The bread was thin, soft, and perfect. The tuna was mixed with mayo and capers and it was delightful.

After lunch we continued walking, looking for a park on the map. The park turned out to be a major disappointment, but there was shopping to be done around the park. Kerri picked up a cute piece of fabric to take home and transform into something beautiful.

We were trying to kill time because we didn't have to be at the train station until 7:30 to catch our 8 p.m. train. We slowly walked to our neighborhood, went shopping for snacks and juice at the local grocer and it was still only 5 p.m.! I decided I could milk an hour at the cafe outside our hostel, and I did! It took me one hour to drink about 4 oz of Cafe Americano! At 6 we retrieved our bags from the hostel where they were in storage and they let us take one last shower. We milked that too!

We caught our overnight train from Rome to Zurich right on time. The train had been sitting under the hot Roman sun all day and the air conditioning on board was not turned on in time to cool off the train. It was Hot. I mean, it was HOT. We were going to spend the night in a bunk with 6 people. Luckily, we were the only 2 people for the first 2 hours and we got to cool off a bit. Around 10 p.m. 3 people joined us and they immediately wanted to make up the beds which meant that Kerri and I had to climb to the top bunks. I nearly passed out. It was too hot to breathe. I was sweating from every pore and thought I was going to lose my lunch. I climbed down to cool off, then climbed back down. I finally dug out my shami's and wet them down in the bathroom. I gave one to Kerri and kept one for myself. It helped, but not enough. Kerri climbed down around midnight-ish and didn't go back in until about 6:30. She eventually pulled out her pillow and blanket and made a mat in the corridor of the train car. Around 2 p.m. I joined her and did the same thing. I would rather be uncomfortable on the floor of a train than too hot in the bunk room. 

The train ride was 12 hours long. Kerri thinks she actually fell asleep, and at the very least we were able to rest. We arrived in Zurich around 8:30 a.m., and were glad to be off the train! We were in our last City for our trip. 

It's hard to believe that was all only 8 days. It felt like 6 years. In awhile I'll tell you more about the last day and then our return trip.

rome

i have a few minutes left to blog. i have no idea about this keyboard so dont judge my typing mistakes.

we have spent the last 2 days in rome. so incredible for the history teacher in me.
we arrive saturday evening around 7ish and found our hostel after only 1 wrong turn. we are always quite pleased with our navigating abilities. we discovered that we booked a very nice room. only 2 beds, with 2 nightstands, 2 chairs, a fan, and a sink. they also provide sheets and towels. we are feeling like queens these 3 nights.

we unpacked and went for a great dinner and then decided how to spend our first full day.
sunday morning we walked over to the colosseum. we literally turned a corner and there it was. amazing. we hired an english speaking tour guide and with 50 other people we followed them around for the next several hours. i loved the guide b-c i heard so many amazing stories and i really love a good story. you may already know that about me.

we also saw the roman forum and the palatine hill. so incredible. by now it was 2ish and we were too hot to eat and oh my lands we were baking in the sun. my feet are swollen and rub against my shoes which has made for some lovely blisters. just sayin

we decided to just walk back which nearly caused my feet to revolt but i did not complain. well, maybe just the one time. anyways, we showered, rested and found food again.

today the alarm went off at 6:45 and we were out the door an hour later. to save our feet today we took the roman metro straight to the vatican. we toured st. peters and then the sistine chapel. breathtaking. seriously.
we found a good pizza to split and by good i mean an amazing vegetarian pizza with grilled eggplant, artichokes and zucchini. heaven.

there were some women selling clothes on the street so i bought some for a deal. i know how to barter in many languages.

we caught the metro to the spanish steps where i climbed to the top and then we both sat by the fountain to cool off and people-watch.

then we went to Gucchi. just sayin

we caught the metro home, soaked our feet in water. my feet were in the garbage can while kerri soaked hers in a plastic bag filled with cold water.

we went to the store to buy more food for our picnics and breakfast, then came to the internet-laundry place for 30 mins and now that it is nealy 9 i am going to eat dinner.

love to you.

Europe - Day 5

The other day in Interlaken I had 6 free minutes of internet time. I sat here for enough time to leave a quick message on facebook and then I pounded out a quick blog. It looks as though the blog did not make it which is no surprise to me. Something went wrong at the end.

It is evening now in Florence. We are done for the day as it is after 9 p.m. Our hostel here has 2 computers and we have free internet usage for 45 mins and if there is no line then we may log on again. It is payday for me, so I decided to come online and check my bank accounts to make sure I am not draining my checking account! I fully planned on writing down every interaction as I went along, but it has not happened that way. Thank goodness for the ability to manage accounts online from overseas!

We landed without problems early Tuesday morning, after a very long and noisy flight. Neither one of us slept and we had a long day to look forward too. We immediately found a Dayroom at the airport and reserved it for our last night in Zurich instead of booking a hostel. We will be able to shower and sleep there and get ready for our early flight home. Then we went to the train station across the street and secured our train reservations. We ran into problems booking them from home but we had no problems when we arrived to secure them. We finishd up with only 4 minutes to spare and caught our first train.

We went straight to Interlaken and the view along the way was incredible! It was rainy and chilly, but still breathtaking. We got a little bit lost on the way (like 45 mins lost) but with the help of a very cute Swiss lady we were able to find it. We checked in, regrouped, and went out exploring. We were hungry and must have had the best pizza EVER. Just saying. When we stopped to window shop or to orient ourselves we got so very tired. We just kept moving. And moving. And more walking.

We could not get into our room until 4ish and when we finally did we decided to shower, eat dinner and we were in bed by 8. By that time we had been awake for 32 hours and we slept for 12 hours. It was delightful.

Paragliding turned out to be too expensive, so we canned that idea. Instead we decided to explore Interlaken. In the morning we went for a 2 hour hike along one of the lakes. We were in search of castle ruins. It was a lovely time and I am so in love with those rivers and lakes. We had a picnic back at the Hostel and then rented bikes for the afternoon. We toured the other lake and slowly made our way back to the Hostel. It was a 2 hour bike ride. For dinner we splurged and had fondue. OH MY WORD. So good. Ben was our server and he was a very smooth flirt. With the encouragement of Kerri I flirted back. Such a great night.

Thursday we woke up at 6ish and caught a 7 a.m. trian to Milan. Milan was overwhelming. We were at the far end of the city and carrying our backpacks so we could not walk far. We found a delightful cafe and camped out there for about 2 hours, as is the European way! I ordered the BEST EGGPLANT EVER. It is hard to avoid my food allergies here, so I am trying to be careful, but am not worrying about it for this trip. Seriously, the eggplant was cooked perfectly, the sauce was no overpowering, and the cheese was melted just right. Every bite was a bit of heaven.

We caught our next train from Milan to Florence just a few hours later and in the late afternoon we arrived in Florence. We immediately found our Hostel, checked in, and went in search of food. Our dinner was again outside on a piazza and I was able to order a white pizza. It could have fed a village. YUM, and I took half home for breakfast.

Last night we slept for 11 hours. This morning we toured the 3rd largest church in Europe, the Duoma of Florence. We took 463 steps to the top and could see the entire city. Amazing. We had gelatto for lunch and then caught a bus to Greve in Chianti to visit a winery. We had a fabulous time Wine Tasting and walking around a very cute Italian city. We caught the bus back, and went in search of another amazing meal. No matter where we eat, we are never disappointed! Tonight I had pasta tossed in what must be the freshest pesto ever. Amazing.

Lots of pics are being taken, I promise!