Home Sweet Home

Today I finally got home from my 9 day Thanksgiving trip. Man, I HATE being out of touch with my cyber world. =) Since Mark had to stay here for Thanksgiving, my mom talked me into staying a while longer once I got to Boston. So I did. But I was dying to get home by the end. I'm so thankful for my safe trip too. There were a few moments where I was thanking God frantically for keeping me safe--I was driving with some real winners out there.

Anyway, once I get life organized once again, I'll be back to blogging my love of the holidays.

By the way, thanks for backing me up, Gretchen and Abby, as usual. Thanksgiving is never overshadowed by Christmas in my world. And do we have a blog clique? If so, you are totally part of it, Gretchen. I love that you comment now!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Get Your Kicks on Route 66

Last night the Chapman household had a premiere showing of Cars, including popcorn, jammies, and lights out. We all loved it. I was pleasantly surprised, even. I am a Disney freak—I love most Disney movies, especially the Disney/Pixar movies. But I wasn’t as excited about this one because I assumed it was mostly about a nascar type world, and that is a world that just doesn’t interest me in the least. Boy was I wrong! I mean, it had a little to do with car racing, but mostly it was about friendship and Route 66 and that old American way of life—something that I’ve always had a fascination with! I even have a vintage Route 66 sign in my kitchen, and several recordings of the song, “Route 66” (Nat King Cole, etc). It touched on life before Interstates, and how family trips were just as much about the drive, as the destination (a metaphor for our lives, really). I highly recommend this movie, and if you get the chance, watch the 15 minute documentary in the special features about how the movie was inspired. I was extremely touched, and even more so, when right smack in the middle of the movie, James Taylor started singing. Never am I NOT touched when I hear my old pal JT’s voice. I really want to pile the kids in the mini van sometime in the next few years, take a family trip without driving on any highways, and discover America. But that’s the romantic in me—the person who has always loved Americana and should have been born in a different time. I guess discovering America means not using the DVD player to keep the kids content, and that is not something I’m willing to give up at this point in time. Maybe in about 7 or 8 years. =) Anyway, see Cars. It’s fun!

Around Town

Well, it's that time of year. Everything is changing and becoming magical. Here are some signs of the season I've noticed as I live life around town lately:

--The Glorious Cornucopia of Wonders (also known as Target during the holidays) is more fun than ever
--Huge toy ads come with the Sunday paper
--Turkey sales and baking product sales are in all the ads
--Feeling an exciting hustle and bustle, rather than monotony as people take care of their errands
--Halloween candy in center aisles replaced by candy canes
--Icicle lights lit on a lone house here and there while driving around the city streets
--Some radio stations played Christmas music all weekend long as a preview for December

AND...

--Gingerbread and Peppermint Mocha coffee creamers arrive in grocery stores! Yaay!

Halloween

Well, here is our Princess and Mr. Incredible. Rory's costume was a no-brainer because she was in a wedding this fall. My mom found a tiara, and she was done. Jake's costume consists of a couple of pieces of felt glued together and pinned to his sweatshirt, a pillowcase for a cape, and a felt mask. (Now for those of you who are Incredibles afficianados, I know they don't wear capes, since it's specifically talked about in the movie, but he looked much more superhero-ish with a cape, so we just went with it.) He LOOOVED being Mr. Incredible. Jake showed Rory how to trick-or-treat, which was fun to watch. They've been wearing their mask and tiara around the house ever since. =)

I can't figure out how to explain to a 4 year old that Halloween is just once a year, because he asks to go trick-or-treating every night now.

I already checked a bunch of Thanksgiving books out of the library, so I guess I'll focus on that now and see if it takes. Did I mention that I love this time of year?

My Father

I have never put a lot of thought into God as my Father. I know He is. I know it's a fact, but I don't know that I've ever truly personalized that. I was thinking about it today and wondering if maybe I've never put a lot of thought into it because of the fact that I never had an earthly father. Since my dad died when I was so young, I don't really know what it is to have a fatherly relationship with someone. I've had a father-in-law for 6 years and he's great, but that's a different thing altogether. I don't think I've seen a father-daughter relationship up close until now because now I'm watching Mark and Rory up close and can see how much he really loves her and wants to protect her and take care of her. Don't get me wrong. I'm not feeling sorry for myself in any way, shape, or form. I have never felt sorry for myself because my mom made sure that we had a very happy lives. But I'm just kind of thinking about things in a new light now. I've seen God take care of me and teach me and guide me so much throughout life, but I've never really called Him "Father."

Last week was rough. I was lonely for a friend. I miss close relationships near to where I live and being able to call someone, make spur-of-the-moment plans and then talk the hours away. I know these things will come eventually, and most of the time I'm busy enough with the kids and our home and don't think much about it, but sometimes the lonliness takes over for a little bit. But with this comes a perfect example of God taking care of me, his daughter. Lydie, my new friend here (who also happens to be Mark's cousin's wife), wanted to go out for coffee. We made plans to meet at Easton for supper and some Christmas shopping. But we ended up talking the night away, and then at the last minute decided to see a movie too. We had a great time, and it ended up being a night that both of us really needed. God had a new friend (who happens to be my favorite person of all the people I've met here) call me out of the blue, exactly when I needed someone to reach out. Not only that, but she communicated to me that she's really thankful we moved here and has needed this relationship too. That is more of a blessing to me than I can communicate with words.

This may seem like a little thing, but for me, it was gigantic! God, my Father, loves me.

Costume Time

There’s something very nostalgic about homemade costumes for Halloween. My sister says she has bad memories of wearing silly homemade costumes and will never do that to her kids, but for me, I see beauty in it. Good thing too, because while I love the ease of store-bought costumes, I know in my budget-conscious husband’s mind, Halloween costumes are definitely not budget worthy. And that’s okay with me. We both agree that families had to make up costumes at home for decades, so we can too. So now, it’s up to the mother to figure out how to dress up my kids every year and I’ll have to start getting creative. I’ll pick up little things here and there with my groceries and collect things at home and put together some kind of outfit. I’ll romanticize it in my mind by using words like nostalgic and hope my kids have fun in the process. Stay tuned and see what we come up with…

My Winter of Soup and Bread

I’ve been on quite a soup and bread kick lately. Over the years I’ve made a lot of chili, perfecting the recipe to suit me and Mark along the way, and a ton of tomato soup because my mother-in-law has an amazing recipe. But other than that, I haven’t ventured into the homemade soup world. I decided to make that a project for this fall and winter. So far so good—last week we had potato soup and this week, chicken and rice, and they turned out pretty okay. I can tweak things with each recipe for next time. Seems like there’s never enough broth, so I’ll work on that. But I’m most excited about the breads. I’ve been making homemade rolls at least once a week since the summer, so those are good to go, but last week I tried homemade Italian bread and it actually worked. The bread machine is half the battle, because I’m not really crazy about kneading. I made it again last night for our chicken soup and it was delicious. It feels so authentic with the hard crust, chewy inside, and even cornmeal on the bottom. My next experiment will be tomato basil bread. I found a recipe online and I’d love to have some to make grilled cheese with for our tomato soup—yummo! Just thought I’d share because these are big accomplishments for me. The picture above is our Italian bread from last night.

The First Snow

Today is our first snow of the season. Those who know me well know I'm having a very happy day! This blog is about the simple things in life that I love, and the first snow is the perfect example of pennies from heaven. It's only flurries and won't collect on the ground, but it's beautiful to see the snow slowly falling, and it's been coming for hours now. We're having a very cozy morning here in our homey living room. I'd love to go out and take a walk with the kiddos, but today is potty training day with Rory. Hopefully it will keep snowing so we can go out later, but if not, we'll take our annual "First Snow of the Season Walk" another day. I just can't keep putting off the potty training--priorities of life with preschoolers. This time of year keeps getting better and better...8 days til Halloween!

I Love Heroes!

Is there anyone else out there in the universe watching Heroes? Monday nights, 9:00--I'm so hooked. I guess this gives Jamie another reason to mock my TV choices, but what can I say? It's another Alias type situation...fake, comic-bookish, but maybe that's why I like these shows. Departure from reality. Every week ends with a cliff-hanger where I'm literally covering my mouth with my hand in shock. =)

Unfortunately I'm banned to the little tv in my bedroom because Mark refuses to watch such absurdity. He was the same way with Unbreakable. He just couldn't grasp Bruce Willis' character because he said he couldn't connect with the fact that he was a superhero in the real world. His brain works too practically for that kind of storyline. Maybe that's why I like all M. Knight Shamalan movies too--because they're not reality. They're just fun to watch, and I always love a twist. I wonder why he loved Alias--maybe because it was the CIA so that was partial reality?...I'll have to ask him about that.

Anyway, it's fun to have a new show to be excited about every week, and I just thought I'd throw it out there, since I'm new to this area, don't know very many people, and don't have anyone to talk about it with. I miss those weekly Alias groups of long ago...

We love fall!

Pumpkin Bread and a Brown Sweater

No, this is not my take on Black Horse and a Cherry Tree!

My last entry is bothering me a little because I wrote to vent, and that’s not really what this blog is about. This blog is a commentary on the simple things in life, the things I really love and enjoy. So to leave on a more positive note today, I have two things to mention.

I made pumpkin cookies last week and had about a cup of pumpkin left, so I decided to make pumpkin bread too. I’m not a huge fan of baking because it’s too scientific. I LOVE cooking because it allows freedom to go on a whim and just toss in whatever. But I was reveling in the warm spicy aroma coming from my kitchen all morning. It was the perfect way to jump start the fall. Not to mention that when my kindred spirit from college got here, she was talking about pumpkin bread and pumpkin stuff and how they don’t have cans of pumpkin in Germany and she wishes she could use it more often. So when I showed her what I had JUST made, we were loving our kindred moment.

The second thing I’ll mention is my great find of the week. I’m not a huge shopper. Clothes aren’t really my thing. I mean, I try to stay somewhat on top of what’s going on out there, but I’m not trendy or die, unlike my sister, who is the most on-top-of-things person I know. I find a pair of shoes or jeans or a shirt and I wear it into the ground because I get very comfortable in what I know and love. Well, this week I happened upon the perfect fall sweater and it will see me through a lot of future coziness. It’s a dark brown sweater coat with a tie around the waist and a huge oversize hood. I don’t think I’ve ever found any article of clothing so completely perfect in my life.

So in keeping with my simple things…

Rough Day

Today has been a rough one for me and the kids. They have been bickering and screaming (Rory learned how to shriek like a total girl and we're trying to put the kabosh on that immediately!) and crying and fussing and I have a headache from it all. I tried really hard to pull them out of their mood, but it all started when we had to leave the park 5 minutes after we got there because Jake was misbehaving bigtime. I knew the worst punishment would be leaving, so that's what I decided to do. Hey, the kid will learn at some point. But ever since then, the day has gone downhill. I took the kids on a walk around the neighborhood to try to get their frustration out, and then Jake helped me weed the garden during Rory's nap, which he loves to do. But they are still going at it as we speak. Oh well. I haven't had a day like this since our apartment days of Minnesota. I guess toddlers and preschoolers just have random bad days too.

This weekend we're driving up to NW Ohio for Mark's brother's wedding, so the kids will be psyched to see Grandma and Papa. And they get to see their new and only cousin, Ella, too! When we come back it will be October--my absolute favorite month of the year. We have hayrides and apple picking and pumpkins and and lots of breezy autumn walks to look forward to.

Aaaaaahhhh...

We've had some amazing autumn days here and I am at my happiest!

Anniversary Time

Mark and I will have been married for 6 years on Saturday! We’ve had a lot of changes recently which has me thinking about the changes we’ve had through the past 6 years. We’ve worked 9 jobs between the two of us. We lived in 3 different apartments, one rental house, and just now bought a home. We lived in a quaint all-American town in Pennsylvania for 5 years, a huge Minneapolis suburb for 10 months, and now in the metropolis of Columbus, Ohio. We started out working in an AWANA ministry at our church, and then moved on to a college student ministry, and that’s where our hearts have stayed for now. I guess we’ll see what the future holds in that area at our new church here. We have two kids now! And our once pretty organized home now has Buzz Lightyears, My Little Ponies, blocks, and balls hidden in every little corner. We’ve watched 76 Ohio State football games (most of them in the Miller’s living room with our 4 little Buckeyes running around in their scarlet and gray) and seen one National Championship! We’ve traveled hundreds upon hundreds of miles to see our families. We’ve thrown 5 Superbowl parties. We’ve had 312 Saturday pizza nights and ate possibly hundreds of batches of chili. We’ve played hundreds of games (and guess who always wins). Mark taught me to like games, and I’m still trying to get him to love movies. We don’t have much TV in common, but every year we seem to find one show that we’re both excited about (Ed, Alias, King of Queens, all the Law and Orders, The Apprentice, The Office…) We got to be part of a college basketball program for 5 years, and now we dream together about a future coaching career. We’ve learned to rely on each other more and on God through the same circumstances. We’re trying to figure out this parenting thing together. The message of abundant life changed our lives at the same time. We both learned about our spiritual gifts at the same time. 6 years doesn’t seem like much in the grand scheme of what I hope our marriage is, but they’ve been a full and fun 6 years and I’m so thankful for Mark and for what he is to our family.

Rain!

Today is a much needed day for me. It's raining hard and it's so dark that I need lights on to see what I'm doing. Most people probably think I'm crazy but I LOVE rainy days, especially this summer. It's been so hot and so blindingly sunny everyday, and maybe it's seemed more so because we have lots of cathedral ceiling windows in our living room and it really heats up in here from the sun. So I've been hoping for a dark rainy day because it's just plain cozy!

Time to light some candles and make a second pot of coffee...

Oscar Wilde

"A dreamer is one who can find his way by moonlight, and see the dawn before the rest of the world."

Go Bucks!

Football season is less than two weeks away and I think the closer it gets, the more unbelievable it is that we live here, in Ohio State central. I can't begin to describe the hype everywhere we turn. Mark got to take Jake to the Buckeyes open practice at the Shoe last night. Jake has been singing the fight song all day, and Mark is rediculously giddy. It's all so fun!

Coffee Talk

I guess I'm not as far away from all you Minnesota friends as I thought...we have Caribou Coffee here.

I've been aching to discover some fun coffee spots in my new city. I found one place that looks fun in Canal Winchester called Harvest Moon Coffee, but I haven't had a chance to go in yet. My exploring and discovery phase of moving to a new city has been put on hold for 3 weeks now since our car broke down and needed a new engine. Until I can venture out again, I'd love coffee advise from any Columbus natives out there.

What a little paint will do...

Friends have asked to see pictures as we get rooms done in our house. Thanks for being excited for us as we add color to our daily lives. Those of you who are in the process of doing the same thing, I love seeing yours too!

Gas or Charcoal?

The other day I was a little bent out of shape because of the heat. Well, today it's 15 degrees cooler--a gorgeous 80 degrees with a little breeze too. So, since summer is more tolerable today, I'll tell you two things I actually love about the season.

The first is flip flops. I have an addiction--it's pretty bad. I am not a shoes or clothes girl at all. But for some reason, when it comes to flip flops, I definitely go overboard. Maybe it's because they're so cheap, it's easy to slip another pair up to the register. I thought I might count how many pairs are in my closet for this post, but I decided not to because if I know the number, I might be really embarassed.

The second thing is the grill. Now, for the past 5 years, we've had a gas grill and we loved it. We loved the convenience and quick prep time of our gas grill. Well, it ran its course from being used so much over the years and we ended up getting rid of it last summer. This year, after moving into our new home, Mark went out the next day and bought himself the King of All Grills--a Weber charcoal grill. I promise you we are never going back. We LOOOOVE charcoal! The change in the taste of our food is unbelievable. From hot dogs to chicken to burgers, everything is way juicier. And I swear to you that our grilled peppers, summer squash and red onions the other night tasted like candy! (For anyone who has not tried this, you need to--thickly slice your veggies, brush on extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle liberally with pepper and kosher salt.)

Anyone out there who would like to share their grilling ideas with me, I'd love to hear it. We've been grilling out about every other night and I always like hearing other people's recipes or ideas for some variety.