Our second home

This past weekend Dan and I traveled back to Marion for the weekend to spend time with friends. It was a fun time getting to stay with the couple Dan would always stay with when he would come down while we were dating. It felt good being back and had a ton of fun. We had dinner with our friends Angie and Jason before heading to Sandra and Joel's where we were entertained by Sandra and Joel's 11 month old. Saturday we went to the first showing of The 5 year engagement, which was funny. We grabbed lunch at a local Chinese place before spending some time at Starbucks reading.

Around 3:30 we met my old Student Development friends at Ivanhoe's in Upland and enjoyed good ice cream and conversation. The rest of the night was eating Little Caesar's pizza and bread sticks while watching some Freaks and Geeks before we both fell asleep watching Inception. On Sunday we celebrated 6 months of being married!!! We both have so enjoyed being married and love how much fun we have been having...as well as not having to travel so much just to see each other :)

We wrapped up our time by having lunch with my past mentor and her husband at our favorite Mexican place. We both love how much being in Marion still feels like home. It felt like we were just having a relaxing weekend at our house with friends.

Michigan Part 2

For the party Stephen had gotten things ready in the kitchen for the final food prep and had the tables set up for us. The kids had fun playing while we went to work. Stephen and Michelle started making the homemade salsa and guacamole while Dan and I decorated the tables and hung paper decoration. Michelle also got the "cake" set up.


Titus finishing up the stickers for the tables





So cute!

Party Favors for the kids

It didn't take too long to get everything set up and the kids wanted to help after a while, which was fun. They loved putting the stickers on the table, which was also a very cute idea. We also had fun playing around with the mask for Damaris to wear and of course Damaris wanted her picture taken too.

 

Ready for the party!

After the party we cleaned up and headed home to make homemade pizza for dinner. We were all pretty tired and just watched a movie. The next morning we went to church with them and had lunch before meeting my parents for dinner at one of Dan's new favorite places to eat in Michigan, Carrabba's Italian Grill. We have them here in Indiana just not where we live. After dinner we said good bye and headed home.

Michigan Part 1

This past weekend Dan and I went up to spend it with my sister and her family. It was my niece's 5th birthday and we were excited to get to spend it with them. We were welcomed Friday evening with the usual, don't look at the dog or touch her. The excitement of people will make her pee on the floor if she gets attention.

We also got a sneak peek at the cupcakes that would be making up the "cake" for the party.

The plan for Saturday was a little crazy but we were ready to go in the morning. The kids needed to get their Tee Ball pictures taken at 8:30 am, Michelle had a conference call at 9 am, and Stephen had a men's breakfast at the church at 8:30 am. So Dan and I were going to go with the kids and meet up with Michelle after to grab some lunch, pack the car, and meet Stephen at the church. Then we all would set up for the party. But first I had a cupcake for Dan in honor of the founding of Rome...we even sang Happy Birthday to Rome.

For the pictures we loaded the kids in the car and headed to their athletic fields. It was FREEZING outside and Dan found out it was 33 degree's outside. People were in sweatshirts and Baseball Jersey's...I thought they were crazy. Things took almost 2 hours as a couple of their team mates forgot that the pictures were on Saturday. But things went smoothly once everyone was there. Dan and I enjoyed getting to spend the time with the kids and started some games of chasing each other around to help distract all of us from the cold. The kids started to have fun and liked running around...I even got some flowers brought to me.

Back at the house we had hot chocolate and tea to warm up and Dan was reading to the kids while Michelle and I got lunch together. Then we were off to set up the party!

New Mattress

Before I moved to Cambodia I had a regular bed...two mattresses and my bed frame. When I moved my bed to my parents house I had to throw out my box spring mattress. I figured I would just get a new one when I got back. But the longer I was back the more it got pushed to the back burner. And then I got married and we used Dan's bed because it was Queen size and mine was only a Full. Well the time finally came when I saw an ad for a great deal on mattresses.

On Saturday we headed out to find the store that was advertising. As we pulled in we both commented on how shady this place looked and I was excited to go in. It had the feel that if we came the next day nothing would be left inside the warehouse. Still after checking prices at other furniture places we went back and bought a box spring for my bed. But how to get it home? After talking about borrowing or renting a truck we were inspired to try strapping it to our car :)

 The guy helped strap it down and off we went. We drove slow on back roads and made it home with everthing still intact.

 It only took a couple minutes to move the top mattress (we have it set up for all of our house showings) and put the bed frame together. It is honestly the easiest bed to assemble and take apart. So here is the before and after pictures.


Before



After

Dan and I both have gotten so use to the mattress on the floor that when we saw it all set up we both felt like it looked really weird but also really great. We had to try it out and we could tell there was a new mattress on the bottom. My other box spring was very well worn in... this one not so much :) BUT we now have an actual bed to offer if someone was to come stay with us!

Plus if I get tired of sewing or quilting I can just lay down and take a nap :)

Camping

Dan and I have been getting antsy about going camping and for Christmas Stephen and Michelle got us an amazing air mattress. It came with a battery powered air pump and inflatable pillows! We were both really excited about it and this weekend randomly decided it was time to try it out.

Getting it set up

Ready for the movies

 We decided on a Batman marathon and got cozy for the night. It was fun sleeping in the living room...until I woke up freezing at 6am. :) I have gotten use to sleeping on a regular bed (I was sleeping on my mattress on the floor before we got married) and didn't have enough layers on.

It was tons of fun having a "sleep over" in our living room and finding out how comfortable we get to sleep when we go camping this summer! Much nicer then the camping trips when I have slept on the ground.

BBQ sauce

Dan likes BBQ sauce...

Easter

Dan and I decided to do Easter Baskets for each other. I have not gotten a basket since I was in High School and have never had the fun of putting one together. I had been collecting things for a couple weeks and gotten candy we both would like...

The candy

The basket and grass (with a few fruit snacks)

A few fun items

All put together

For the weekend we went to our churches Friday night service which was very nice and we were really glad we went. On Saturday we went to a Mad Ants game. The Mad Ants are a Development League for the NBA. They haven't had a good season but we were excited to watch them win by one point!

On Sunday we did the search for the Easter baskets. Dan made a little M&M trail for me...

 He cleverly hid it outside...which was slightly cheating. But the M&M trail was very cute and I just had to follow it. I did go outside but as the M&M trail ended I didn't think to look around the corner of the house.  After a bit of Hot and Cold help and a few hints I was back outside and found my basket.

After church we went to Dan's parents house and had lunch. I made a sweet potatoe dish and some brownies, both turned out really good. We had a nice time filling ourselves with good food and enjoying time to relax.

Sweet Potatoes :)

When we got home later we decided to decorate eggs!

It was a fun weekend and I love being reminded of what Christ did for us and the freedom we have in Him. It was also fun doing things from my childhood. I hope you had a good Easter too!