Winona Lake Adventures

I've gotten to be away for a whole weekend two months in a row! In September, it was our annual Father/Daughter Retreat in Northern Michigan. In October, it was the True Woman Conference in Indianapolis with lovely, God-fearing women from our church. James and I...

Goodbye, backyard picnics. Goodbye, long family hikes. Goodbye, warm river. Goodbye, mosquito bites. Goodbye, sidewalk chalk painting. Goodbye, cleaning out the van. Goodbye, scooter washing.  Goodbye, summer tan. (er, wait, those are just legs with bruises) And helloooooo, static electricity! ...

I cleaned out both our phones and our Nikon last week, organized all our photos on our computer (to someday be placed in a Blurb photo album), and found some long lost gems. Like these! This past winter, James led FPU again at our church. In...

We bought 15 pounds of blueberries last week. The first 5-pound box is gone. You can see who's at fault. (That's right, I'm the mom who eats the last piece of cake and says, "The kids must have sneaked it," after wiping the crumbs off my mouth.) Good friend Megan is...

The snow lasted something like a hundred days this winter. I've always said if it's gonna be cold, let there be snow, but shew, the length of this winter really tested that statement! We love walking through the quiet lanes in the cemetery a few blocks down. Even in...

In honor of my five-year college reunion, we ate a free pancake breakfast in Alpha dining. The place where we first met, first dined together, first flirted, first fought, first pranked, first dreamt. We were now back with our two kids. Didn't see that one coming! Got us all fancied up for the dinner that evening. Met...

In case you missed it, we just bought a house! Here's a fun little story for all you Dave Ramsey fans out there. As most of you know, we live by many of Dave Ramsey's principles as outlined in Financial Peace University. (Quick plug: there's a...

The first house we ever looked at we fell in love with.  The refinished hardwood floors, the updated kitchen, the newly-carpeted upstairs loft. So we got a realtor. And then we learned. Sure, the price is great--your resale value is quite small; the area is...

Have you heard of Instagram? It's photo journalism at its finest. I've never participated because you have to have an iPhone or iPad. I don't have an iPhone, and let's just be honest--an iPad's not that handy to carry in your back pocket and whip...