back to GBC

Gen Y last night so didn't get to bed till almost midnight, then awake again at 4am. Ryan had an early flight this morning. Missing him already.

See you next month, Ryan!! I love you!

Turkey leftovers

Turkey Pot Pie I decided to do something wonderful with the turkey that I was so angry at on Thanksgiving, so I made one of my family's favorites. I had plenty of turkey to make this and it came out really great. There's only a little bit of it left tonight. I used Kathie's recipe (I modified it a bit). I also made Turkey Noodle Soup, but no pics of that. It's for lunch after church tomorrow. Our friend Danny is spending a couple of days with us. All of the guys have been having a great time playing cards and other games.
My stupid tooth that had the root canal (the second one) is hurting bad. How can it be that a tooth that is supposed to be emptied of its nerves Ħυяṫ?! It makes no sense. I've never had this happen before I used this particular doctor. Ħммм...

฿✞₩, I was unable to post the video of Ryan reciting 1st chpt of Philippians. Sometimes I hate blogger.

Thanksgiving 2010

I will never trust a turkey thermometer again!! Dinner was an hour and a half late because the thermometer was a terrible indicator of turkey doneness... It was almost a disaster. Ok, well "thankfully" the food was edible, although a bit dry from waiting so long (the turkey never did get FULLY cooked!). =( and by the time we ate everyone had filled up on snacks. I'm not being negative, just disappointed. But we all had a fabulous time. It was great having everyone here enjoying the day. We all ate too much, as was expected. Well, maybe everyone except Ryan, the only one with self-control. It was nice Jeff. I know I'm rambling, I'm tired!! It is exhausting making Thanksgiving dinner....especially when there are flaws in the timing, and one has the tendency of being a perfectionist. hahaha... well, it was good to be able to send a lot of leftovers home with Bonnie and Dave. And we ended up with extra dessert!! So it worked out well for everyone. Oh yeah, Ryan surprised us by memorizing the entire book of Philippians. He recited the first chapter for us. I have to post the video of that!

Ryan, Kyle, me and Dana
snacks


Jeff and Dana, and "peanut"Dave, Bonnie, Mom and Dad, and Lily
my family

I Am

Mom and Dad, and Bonnie and Dave joined us at Preakness for our Thanksgiving Service. We were so blessed to have them there!

Here is a song that Ryan did. He did a fabulous job!

Finding It Hard

Ryan finally came home from college this week. As you can see he has a lot more hair than he did when he went out there. Not sure where he gets the curls from....my hair isn't even that curly!!

Here's a new song that he wrote since he's been at GBC.

New window

We had a construction crew here the other day doing work around our house, replacing all the trim, and installing a new window in the front. It was an all day project. Good thing the weather was mild because the window was missing most of the day.

homemade take-out!

Take-out food is so much fun because somebody else makes the food, and all you have to do is go get it. But it is ever better when it's home-cooked food that someone brings right to your house! We had such a great time with Pastor Karl and Jenn and the kids last night. They were kind enough to bring a full dinner over for us to enjoy... and we sure did enjoy it! It was so delicious. I can see why it is Karl's Favorite Chicken! Thanks so much you guys!

oh, it's my birthday!

I had a really fun birthday! I went on treadmill, then took Kyle out driving, went shopping, reorganized some kitchen cabinets, did some housework, did some work for church, then we went to Olive Garden for a little supper. I was planning to make food here but unfortunately I can't eat much with the 2 root canal problems in my mouth (one on each side) so I'm kinda a mess right now. So, aside from having a pain in the mouth, we had a great time.

Kyle decided to make me this really amazing origami butterfly! Isn't it awesome?

Looking forward to a fab day tomorrow.

Mis-matched day

Yes, this is Ryan! He is certainly enjoying life at GBC!

Saturday he goes to Olney, Ill with the Grace Singers. Then on Monday he heads back to NJ for Thanksgiving! woo-hoo!!

Kyle drives!

Here's something you've never seen before. Me neither! Totally his first time behind the wheel, and so it was pretty nerve-wracking for both of us. I'm sure the lesson I gave him wasn't as good or as thorough as the ones Ryan got from the instructor we hired. But then again, that cost us over $300, and my lessons are FREE. hehe...

Congratulations to Kyle for passing the written test. Next test date, May 18th @ 10:00 AM.

Brett's visit

We had such a nice time with Brett last night! What a fun person to hang out with! The food turned out ok in the end...and I think everybody ate too much. I made spicy ribs. Can't wait to do it again.

mini reunion

Had a nice little lunch with folks from high school. It was interesting. Awkward...

Life sure changes fast, doesn't it? Sometimes it's hard to keep up.

I'm tired...

Veteran's Day in NYC

We had such a fun time in NYC today. Our plan was to stop at a restaurant for lunch and spend the rest of the day in Central Park. But the day flew by so fast that we had hardly any time to spend in Central Park. We barely got to walk through it at all… just saw a teeny piece of it. So we still have to go back again to do that. We also want to hit a place for dessert next time. At first, just Kyle and I were going to go, but then at the last minute Darryl went too. Good thing he did because Kyle and I don't know how to figure out the subways. I think we all had a really fun time. Can't wait to do it again. Here are some of my pics.

Catching the train in Netcong.A little boy with a sign for the Veteran's Day Parade. We did see a lot of the people setting up for the parade but we didn't have time to wait for it to start. Lots of TV people there. We also saw them shooting a commercial for a clothing store. So much going on in NY.
View from train.The boys.Display at Penn Station.
Lots and lots of flowers on both sides of the street.
We got to meet Chef Ed McFarland from Ed's Lobster Bar. It was so cool to be there and eat the food that made him famous (His Lobster Roll won Food Network's Food Feud).Some pretty spectacular shoes that Darryl wanted me to buy! I didn't buy any. They were $130! I do like shoes, but think women waste too much money on them.
Museum of Natural History. We bypassed this place. I'm not much into museums. What is "natural history" anyway?
Our teeny little peek at Central Park. We walked through a little bit of it. Next time we will spend the day there.
cool guys on subway wanting to make money off of us dumb tourists. But I didn't mind. It was fun. I told Kyle he should yoyo!Ride back home. It was so nice, but it'll be a long time before we ever take the train again. It was WAY too expensive. I don't know how people can afford to take it all the time!!
Another view from train.Our first time on a double-decker train. It was fun to be on top.

Fun in the kitchen

Rustic Rub spice rub for our baby back ribs this weekend when we have a friend over for supper.


Fried onions that I just love!! They were so good that Kyle wanted to have them two nights in a row. So the second night I made a mountain of them. This pic isn’t great, but it’s the memory that counts.

I don’t like to cook every night, sometimes it's a treat to go out, but I do enjoy being in the kitchen creating things. And just like in other areas of my life, I enjoy trying new things. I get bored when things are the same day in and day out, time after time, doing the same things the same way. I need to spice up my food the same way I like my life spicey.

Back years ago I had a small store on Main Street, Whitehouse Station. Back then I knew nothing about running a store, so I didn’t have it for a very long time. And after that I thought seriously about opening a small Soup, Salad and Sandwich restaurant. That would be kinda fun. I have often thought about making something and selling it. It would be cool to actually make money doing what I like to do. I do love creating things, whether it’s food, or the work I do on my computer. For a while I did graphic work making logos. For a while I took photos (mostly flowers) and then made cool digital art with them. I actually did sell some of them in a store for a while, but eventually I got bored with it and ended up giving away most of the ones I had left.

Why I am I writing all this? Why am I even thinking about it? I guess because I realize I have so many things I can do with my life after Kyle is in college. I never have to worry about sitting home with nothing to do. I could redecorate my home, cook, start a business (haha!). I could (and SHOULD) get back to working out like I used to. I have gotten so far away from it lately. I guess because I am so busy all the time. Who knows? Maybe I will get a job.

I don’t know what’s going to happen in the future, but I had fun exploring some of my options today. So, after Kyle goes to college, and I fall apart emotionally, and I'm sitting there sobbing, I will remind myself that there are things I can do to pull myself out of the pit of sadness.

Ryan's new look

Here's a current picture of Ryan, showing off a pair of Indian pants he bought to help support Women at Risk. He is certainly developing his own taste, huh? Oh, and by the way, this is "no shave November" at his college. Can't wait to see how he looks when he leads worship at church on Thanksgiving eve.

Wrestling with God in the Storm of my Mind

Chaos, disruption. All a blur.
Moving through life at a frenzied pace.
Where is my God? Where did I leave Him?
He’s here? No! This is my space, this is my time!

A voice, a whisper among my thoughts:
“Busyness will overtake your life.
I am enough. Just be with me.”

Who are you, Lord?
My way is enough. Tag along if you desire.
But I’ll go my way,
Whether you come or not.

He came. He kept coming. Always there.
Never a source of trouble.
Life was. Life was my source of trouble.
Kept running, I kept running.
Running!
Run!!

I collapse. Who? Me. What was left of me. What I had become.
But He was there. He followed me in my collapse.

His hand reached to me.
But I turned my head in weary disgust.

He collapsed.
By my side.
How was I to know what this meant?
Chaos. Yet in my mind a horrible storm overtook me.
And there was blackness. Transported.
Suddenly standing in a different realm.
Swirling clouds, lightning flash.
My mind an escape from the storm.
No. I lived in it.

Each day, night, separation from what I believed.
From Who I believed.
God! Where did you go?
No longer by my side,
I’m lost in the black swirling death of my mind.

I awake.
Jesus Christ at my side,
Laying with me,
Where we had been all along.

“Save me from my confusion, from my deluded purpose.
My frightful existence.”

His voice, it called out to mine.
A filtered whisper. What do you say?
What do you say?!
It’s my initiation! My purpose, my life.
But no.
His voice to mine: “I am.” All was this word.
Smiling He lit up the storm in my head with a thousand suns,
‘Til even my face lighted with joy.

He reached out His hand.
I grasped it in mine.

by Ryan Vegh

Bear video

Unfortunately someone scared him away before we got a good picture of him. I am sure that will never happen again. =)

Rethinkyoyo DVD Series now available!

So, without further ado, here it is!

Rethinkyoyo.com
Watch and Learn
After much trial, error, success, failure, research and work, the Rethinkyoyo DVD series is officially done (and ready for purchase)! Kyle did an exceptional job on these!