our tree is trying to compete with yours, wiebes

Last night I was sitting on our front porch waiting for a friend to pick me up. I heard a bit of crashing in the branches and leaves above me. Although it was dark and I don't see a lot of squirrel action after dark, I assumed this is what it was. But then I did not hear any further crashing around or scrambling. I investigated and discovered a snake! It was quite a ways up and out (this is in large basswood). I know black rat snakes climb trees, but this was in kind of an unlikely place and plus there was that crashing as if it had fallen to that particular spot. I alerted Brian to come outside to see. He got a flashlight so we could inspect it better. Sadly, it seemed injured along one of its sides. The skin looked whitish and kind of torn where it should have been a dark color. One of Brian's speculations was perhaps it had been captured by a hawk and managed to get free of its clutches, landing in our tree. Crazy!

[In case you missed them, there are another two new posts below this one.]

4th

The extended weekend for the 4th was quite nice. I had a few hours of lazy on Friday but also went to the wellness center and did a bit of work in mom and dad's basement, which mostly made me think of how much work I have to do in our own house. And how much we put it off! Brian got back from a cicada trip in the early evening and we set out on a failed journey for supper. We ended up back home for bierocks, which of course was a nice alternative. On Saturday I didn't do much during the day, but I did take a nap. In the evening we were hosted by Amber and Jeremy for a 4th of July party, and it was a very fun time. Relaxing, beautiful weather, yummy food. Ber and I rocked beanbag (that is, we won by one point). We left to pick up Mark to hit not one, but two town fireworks shows! In our quarterly newsletter we'd seen an advertisement for North Newton's fireworks show, which we thought was just too cute. And it actually exceeded our expectations. Plus, they were incredibly dedicated to keeping the ground show of fountains going the entire time. I really enjoyed our viewing area on the grass between some of the Kidron Bethel duplexes. As soon as that show was over, we headed to the park area in Newton. We found an ok spot, but the show wasn't super. Then, it was off on a quest for roman candles and bees. Three fireworks stands later, we were satisfied with our minimal purchases and went to mom and dad's to light them. Sunday was our first time back to church for in a while; I guess we have been gone a lot! Mom and dad had us over for lunch and then we watched a disc of Arrested Development, which, if I haven't mentioned previously, is hands down the funniest show ever. Brian and I finally went out for his birthday for supper and had steaks.

collective soul!

Collective Soul is perhaps the only popular, kind of contemporary band I might actually choose to spend the money on to see in concert. If you're unfamiliar and want a great cd that is listenable all the way through, their greatest hits collection 7even Year Itch is amazing. Brian and I had talked about that they would probably be pretty fun to see in concert. A few weeks ago I heard an advertisement on the radio for their upcoming concert at the Cotillion. Woo-hoo! Even though tickets were a bit pricey, we talked about going. But then Brian went out of town right at that time. I considered going alone and maybe would have, but Amber went with me, even though I only asked her at the last minute, which was so great! The concert was so good. The set list was mostly all songs I know, which always makes for a great show. I also really enjoyed the handful of songs they played from their upcoming album. I've had mixed feelings about shows at the Cotillion before, but I really enjoyed it for this show because we could be so close to the stage – like probably ten people away. We were well positioned directly in front of their aweome guitarist; sadly, I did not get a decent picture of him. Oh! – oddly, they co-headlined with Gavin DeGraw, whom I would not have paid to see in person, but ONE TREE HILL!! :)

my day

I had quite a bit of time off in June and always intended to take one day for myself to do some superfluous things I would enjoy. I was going to do it a couple of weeks ago, but something else came up. Yesterday was my last day of vacation, so I went for it! I caught some extra sleep in the morning and went to the gym. After a couple of things that had to be done, I was off to Wichita for the Passage to India buffet for lunch. I was feeling pretty lucky to find my favorite dish -- chicken korma -- on the buffet, which I never have before! I definitely ate way too much and found a dish I may even like slightly better -- vegetable korma. After lunch I started my failed quest for Crocs. I think some of you have some real opinions about the aesthetics of these shoes, but I actually think the flip flop style ones are cute, and they sure are more comfortable than other flip flops I have. Since the ones I have are brown, I was wanting ones of the black persuasion that I could throw on with athletic shorts, etc. I had printed off a list of places in town that supposedly carried them. Let's just say Crocs really needs to update their list. I even got a tip from the Von Maur shoe guy (Von Maur was not on the list but does carry Crocs but not the flip flops) about a store that supposedly has "the biggest selection in town." I called them next and asked the person who answered the phone if they sell Crocs. His answer? "Do I sell CRACK?!" Um, no. Apparently that phone number was incorrect. Or it had been reassigned because I tried to find the store anyway, and it was not at its supposed address. Anyway, partway through my failed quest, my luck was even worse! I was maneuvering between a column and a rack of clothes, when I felt my sleeve catch. There was a dang nail sticking out from the column! It definitely ripped a hole in my sleeve. Oddly enough, I was at the store where I had originally purchased the shirt, so I ended up buying a replacement. But it was done in anger. The other activity I wanted to take part in during my day for myself was reading at Sugar Sisters and trying every kind of dessert I wanted to. They sell mini versions of their babycakes, and I tried lemon, chocolate peanut butter, black tie, and salted caramel (my favorite). They do not have all of their cake flavors all of the time, so I did not get to try another on my list -- dark chocolate stout -- but it's not like I needed a fifth. It's such a cute place and had amazing americanos to boot. That was my supper, for I was off to the best part of my day. Something I would not have gotten to do on my day had I not postponed it until yesterday. It was a great end to my vacation, so I think it deserves a post to itself.

camp, birthday, harvest

Wednesday and Thursday of last week I spent at Camp Mennoscah volunteering in the kitchen. Kate and I went together, which was fun, and the rest of the crew was great to work with too. As someone interested in food -- making, learning, and of course eating -- I like to document what we helped make. I believe I did this last year as well. During those two days we made (among other things) bierocks, spaghetti, verenike casserole, scotcheroos (minus the 'scotch part of them...), zweiback, various baked potato bar toppings, and cinnamon rolls. Fun, fun! It was fun to be there with directors whom I have counseled for numerous times and also to see Olivia. Due to overcrowding in the staff house, we got to stay in the sweet director house; Kate and I even had our own rooms and bathrooms! Lap o' luxury, I tell you.

Friday was my birthday. Brian and I slept in and then went to a community park for my bank's customer appreciation lunch. Lunch was good, but the sno cones were disappointingly flavorless. Friday afternoon I spent making bierocks for the first time from start to finish all by myself. My main inspiration was to make something that would work well for a field meal that I could take to my in-laws' for Saturday supper. The project was a lot of fun, and they really turned out well! Note: Dough made with lard = mmm.

On Saturday after running some errands and other activities, I went out to the farm to ride along during harvest. However, I got to do more than ride along, which was quite exciting! I've always kind of wanted to be a farm girl, and maybe at some point in my life I will actually be one. I got to take the tractor and grain cart to the combine twice. Then I got to cut some wheat for the first time! When it was our turn on the truck, I also got to bring back the empty truck from the elevator -- driving it was also a first! At the end of the evening -- and also the very end of harvest -- my father-in-law left a couple of patches in the field for me to cut. Awesome! I did that, dumped it into the truck, and then was instructed to finish the job and take it to the elevator. Exciting! I did, and was definitely the elevator's slowest customer of the day (while I'm sure it was somewhat annoying to them, there was no one else there at that point, so it's not like I was impeding business or other farmers). It was so nerve-wracking, and I did kill the truck once when trying to inch up further to get the bed over the grate, but I successfully hauled it in! Pretty fun. And also neat to be the one to finish everything (kind of...) up, even though I didn't really feel like I deserved that honor. I obviously could not just take off and go on any part of the process myself, but it is fun to start learning, and at least I am now maybe capable of doing more than move the pick-up!

new posts are nice

And that is the reason I'm typing up a quick one. Perhaps more in-depth individual posts on these topics will come, but just because I have not updated in a long time, I thought I would at least put something out there for you blog readers. I have been off of work for a lot of June, which has been nice. However, it has not be particularly restful due to the stress of our need for housing come August. Much worry is present. We have spent a lot of time looking online at realtor.com and at craigslist and calling lots of places too. Last week we went to Boulder for a few days and spent two days with a realtor looking at homes. It was definitely a worthwhile trip, but we don't feel a pull to put an offer on something right now. Our hope is to rent for a while to allow us to be in the area and get to know it and then, with any luck, find something we might like to buy. Or maybe we will rent long term. Who knows at this point? Other events of recent times include Mark's graduation party last Saturday, several family get togethers, Rhett's dedication, hosting book club last night, and watching our plants grow (tomatoes, pumpkins -- fun to watch even though we won't be around for any bearing of fruit, and a pepper -- the plant looks great and keeps flowering, but sets on no peppers...??). And Brian is harvesting several days this week.

supper after 10pm

Two nights this weekend we ate supper after 10pm. Friday we just got started on our evening late, and we ended up going to the nursery with mom & dad to take advantage of 25 cent tomato plants; we got four plus one pepper plant. Then Brian needed to take some lab materials back to his bio professor and by that time it was close to 10. Of course we struck out on the first restaurant we went to ("oh, the kitchen just closed" Really? Your kitchen closes at the weird time of 9:47?) but were lucky to find Chinese open until 10:30. We were there late enough that the employees were eating. Chicken feet. Eating chicken feet. Brian asked them if they ever serve them to customers, but they said, "No!"

Sunday we had plans to have visitors, which meant that we had major cleaning work to do on Saturday. Our house had been sadly neglected for probably more than a month due to our busyness. I woke up and made a long list and am proud to say everything on the list was accomplished (except for a couple of non-cleaning related if-we-have-time items)! That is what 12 hours of working will get you. It was after 10:30pm before we could stop and eat. About eating, that reminds me that one out of the ordinary fun thing from our day was when we were at Wal-Mart late morning waiting on our oil change, we took advantage of a wonderful sample -- a full Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream sundae. Mmm.

After church Sunday we met Reid & Grayce for lunch, and then they came over for a few hours of Office watching. We were invited to Moundridge for grilled chicken -- yum! We also spent some time around the pond -- boys fished, girls + baby Rhett swung. That boy is a sweet cutie.