The 311

Living room re-do

2012-01-01T17:39:00.001-05:00

I am very bad at taking before photos but I thought about it today so you're in luck.

We are repainting the downstairs living room and in the process changing the trim to white.

Before photos are below... After photos... Hope to post for you later this week!

Happy New Year to all!

Ahhhhhhhhhh.... It arrived

2011-12-05T20:15:00.001-05:00

While some use the blog to comment on the cute things their children are doing we Verwys' know what's really important.....

No more trips to the laundromat!

Cat on your lap?

2011-11-26T15:03:00.001-05:00

Human style!

Marvin is watching Michigan vs Ohio state and having Fran dance to "hail to the victors" after touchdowns!

Cat on a lap

2011-11-15T21:36:00.001-05:00

What more can you ask for?

Cider

2011-10-24T21:54:00.001-04:00

Homemade cider twice this season! It is fabulous and totally worth the work. Tonight we even had to pick the apples before we pressed!

Gotta remember to take my camera!

Pumpkins

2011-10-22T21:57:00.001-04:00

Carving on Tuesday!

I just downloaded blogger on my iPad so maybe I'll get back to blogging

Summer Dinner

2011-08-21T21:45:00.000-04:00

Tonight for dinner I decided to make some De-Lish garden food.
I had some produce to use up before it went bad.
(PS: our fridge decided to quit on us today, freezer is still freezing but the fridge is about 60 degrees inside. Marvin has had 2 bowls of spoiled milk with his cereal this week- not a great way to wake up.)

Course 1:
Bruschetta

I was able to use 2 tomatoes and basil.

Course 2: Chocolate Brownies

You're probably thinking, what in the world could you grow in the garden that you'd put in those brownies...
Here's the secret: 2 cups of shredded Zucchini! Which is about 3 zucc's.

Zucchini Brownie recipe: All Recipes

You can't even taste the zucc's.

Both turned out great! I love gardening!

Colorado Challenge

2011-08-10T00:46:00.000-04:00

I’ve had a ton of experiences this summer that were a first. I say I because most of the summer Lindsay ( I ) have been travelling and Marvin has to stay to work. Unfair…maybe! :)

Up first- Trip to Colorado.
June 25-July 3
Cost: Free to ME

Why? It was a church camp and we took kids from the area 8th grade and up. 10 chaperones, 33 kids.

Chaperones

Closest I got to all the kids in 1 photo- about 12 missing

Pike’s Peak- World Famous Donuts

You had to eat them at the top of the mountain, because if you took them down the elevation would deflate them and they would taste bad...of course we tried this- it's true!

Pike's Peak is a 14er. This means it is above 14,000 feet above sea level. You could really feel the elevation change and we were up there a while. A lot of us got a little dizzy!

Jill - another counselor I met, we got along great.

Each night at camp they had different activities- Line dancing, horseback riding, paintball, mountain biking etc.

Soldier’s Mountain

At camp there was a smaller mountain we could hike to the top. We did this at 4:45 one morning to see the sun rise. None of the campers went – too early! It was beautiful!

Guy counselors and one of the teens on the left

Me and Jill

At the top they have a cross.

On top of the world....

Then I fell in...

Also on our trip we went white water rafting- mountain climbing- repelling and did a bunch of other life threatening events! It was a blast. Check our facebook to see other photos.

Mackinac Island

2011-06-14T22:12:00.001-04:00

Is it with a C or a W? I always spell Mackinaw/Mackinac wrong… so why the 2 spellings?

The French Pronounced it "aw" but spelled it "ac". The British heard it pronounced "aw" so they spelled it that way. Today Mackinaw City retains the "aw" spelling while the bridge, straits and island steadfastly cling to the "ac" spelling. No matter how it is spelled, however, it is always pronounced Mackinaw!

Well we headed to MackinAC Island on Friday with 4 high school girls.

Depart at 8am, catch the 9:30 ferry.

Looking for cheep ferry tickets, go here, they are $11.

Amanda, Lindsay, Tawni, Lauren, and Antonia (our German exchange student).

A stop at the church

A pose near Father Marquette.

Who doesn’t love the jumping photos

Another church stop:

We had a lot of repenting to do I guess…

A hike out to Arch Rock, and stopping along the way for photos.

Arch Rock- we made it!

Highest point on the island: Fort Holmes, once a British fort taken over by the Americans!

Checking out the cemetery. Oldest grave was from 1823!

Hike back down.

Hitting the shopping stores- I love Antonia’s turtle photo.

Had to sneek this photo~ no cameras in the stores. Who is seriously going to wear a wiener on their head?

Turtles Again:

Doc Oc!

We had a great day. It was a bit chilly but very fun!

Storms a coming….

2011-06-12T16:05:00.001-04:00

Well it actually already came, but I’m bad at blogging…

I came home from work the other day and started walking up my steps and saw this…

I thought OH WOW, what happened?

Then I looked a little farther and saw this…

The whole meter had been pulled away from the house. Then I thought, “how’d that happen?”

Then I saw this…

HOLY COW!

A MASSIVE tree had fallen because of the high winds we had a few weeks back. It took out our power lines, cable, internet, and telephone. Our electric in the house still worked even though the lines had fallen. Well…the electric worked until we called Consumers Power! They came out and actually disconnected our electric because it was “unsafe”. They did this on Friday morning with out telling us! After about 5 visits from them, over $300 in electrical costs, a visit from the city inspector and 96 hours later we finally got our electric turned back on.

Being with out power for 4 days will result in a huge LOSS…

It was about $200 in food from both freezer and fridge that we had to throw out!

For once we are glad we don’t own a house, and most of the costs (electrical) are picked up by our landlord.

Schools out for summer

2011-06-08T19:43:00.001-04:00

I stole the title from my cousin’s blog!

I love teaching at a school where the instructional hours are from Labor Day to Memorial Day!!!!

A few photos from the last day.

10th graders

8th graders

And Spenser!

My summer plans include not working very much! I took this teaching job so I’d have my summers OFF! Some teachers like the kids, I like the summers off!

Marvin did say I needed to get at least a part time job so I wouldn’t drive him batty with my boredom. He’s right, after about 1 week I go crazy! So my plan is to tutor about 8 hours a week, and possibly pick up a babysitting job 1 or 2 days. I also was just assigned 4 local stores as an American Greeting Card stocker- whooo hooo! That will be about 10 hours a week. With all of these side jobs I’ll be able to accomplish my main goal of summer~ sleeping IN!

A few other goals I have planned, in order of importance:

1. watch the star wars series

2. visit flint and gr for some family/friend time

3.read more~ currently on the list Glass Castle

4. blog more, sorry…I’ve told you about my love/hate relationship with blogging!

Summer in Boyne

2011-05-28T21:46:00.001-04:00

Enjoying beautiful sunsets on our front porch.

Betsy is here this weekend ( more on that later) and we were commenting about how light it is even at 9:30pm!

If you don’t have summer plans please come up and visit BOYNE! I know where you can stay the night for free

Around Boyne

2011-05-09T23:02:00.001-04:00

Friday Nights are $1 bowling nights- in Boyne. $1 games, shoes, and pizza. We have gone 2x so far. I'm getting better at bowling. I've even beat Marvin, once.

We went with our friends the Hasty’s – Amy and Dan. They are expecting their first child in November!

We also went with the Manthei family (they have 3 kids, Anika- 10, Kohen-7, Will-2)

and the Stahl family (they have 2 kids, Andrew-4, Jake-2)

*********************************************************************************************************************

A few weeks ago we had a spirit week at school.

Mis-Match Model Day! I like Spencer’s pose- he is in the RED vest!

Pajama Day- I let them take a nap for the last 5 minutes of class!

The Sophomores are frantically trying to learn their presidents in order. Some crazy teacher is making them know them for their final!

How many presidents can you name? There are 44!

Our classes favorite video to help us learn!

Imagine listening to this at 9:30 in the morning! Welcome to History Class!!! :)

National Contest Finalist

2011-05-05T19:05:00.000-04:00

A few months ago I had the Seniors for seminar. This is a shorter period of the day. We decided to work on scholarships and team building for the 6 week course. One activity we did was to create a historical video. We then submitted it to Samsung's contest. They were asking students to make a video on their historical super hero. Some students did Achilles, Amelia Earhart, and Pocohontas. I just got word today that Tabor Priest one of our Seniors is a top ten finalist for the contest- he did his video on Johnny Appleseed! We need to spread the word and vote for him! If he wins- my school, Concord, wins too. Tabor will take home $500 and our school will get a new Samsung SAMCAM 860 (document camera)!

Here is a picture of the video. You have to have to click this HERE to watch it.

Now I need you all to go and VOTE so he can be the WINNER! (you must have facebook to vote, otherwise you can't)

Go Vote then, please copy the below info to your facebook page/blog-

Vote for Tabor, Johnny App Click this link:https://www.facebook.com/SamsungDigitalPresenters
you have to "LIKE" the Samsung Digital Presenters page (at the top)
Then "Like" the Tabor Priest's, Concord- Johnny Appleseed video

I'll keep you posted on the outcome! We are very excited and proud of Tabor for his achievement!

April 20th

2011-04-20T21:57:00.001-04:00

What does it mean to you?

It is the 110th day of the year
Detroit Tiger’s Baseball 1st opening day in 1912 @ Tiger Stadium
Adolf Hitler’s Birthday ~1889
Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba~ 1961
Columbine High School Shooting~ 1999

Needless to say some pretty horrific events occurred on this day. Some we dare not celebrate. However this day is very special for Marvin and Lindsay ~ It’s our anniversary! 4 years!

Here we are in 2007:

Oh man in 10 years we will look back and say… “why was jumping, so cool?” Maybe it won’t take 10 years…

In 2008: We were living at Pineridge Apartments in Walker, MI. Marvin was working at Behr Industries and Lindsay was working at Loft Apartments.

We got Fran that year too!

In 2009: We were living at 656 Lamoreaux Dr. We loved that apartment. Marvin still at Behr, and Lindsay working at Grattan Academy.

We didn’t renew our vows… I just re-wore my wedding dress to a masquerade party at church.

In 2010: We were living at Calle Transversal #8 in the Dominican Republic. Both working at American School of Santo Domingo

In 2011: We are living in Boyne City, MI. Marvin working at Boyne Mountain- Sales/Waterpark and Lindsay working at Concord Academy.

For our anniversary today, Lindsay had a snow day…WHAT? Yes a snow day on April 20th. 4 years ago it was in the high 70s and we were exchanging our vows at 7:30 in the evening. And now just 4 years later it is below freezing! I think I’ll email this to the global warming advocates.

We went to Gaylord for dinner and shopping. We have a tradition on our anniversary to buy new pillows. This is to avoid being 57 years old, married for almost 28 years, and having the same pillows during our whole marriage…not that I’m relating this to anyone in particular. After shopping at TJMaxx we went to dinner at La Senorita. It was a fun evening of just hanging out.

Here’s to many more years together!

Move over TLC’s Extreme Couponing…

2011-04-08T19:22:00.001-04:00

Its Spring Break this week so instead of preparing for school I get to spend a little more time on my hobbies…that means couponing!

I went to Meijer today and walked out getting all of this FREE!

You’re probably thinking, HOW IN THE WORLD?

Here’s how:

1. Meijer had a deal running on Kotex U products. If you buy 4 items you get a $3 coupon on your next order. (your probably thinking – “well you have to pay for those Kotex U products first, right?” WRONG- and ill show you)

2. Collect 4 Kotex U products- I chose the 18 count that were on clearance for $1.03

Use 2- $2.50 off 2 Kotex U coupons

By using these 2 coupons the register actually owes you 64 cents, so you have to throw something else in on your order. I chose TWIX bars (MCVs favorite). Total is now 11cents. I tried this many times and I even told the register lady she needed to price adjust the coupon to $2.06 so Meijer wouldn’t be paying me. She just said nope I don’t need to just add something else to your order. OK I said. I tried! I think I ended up with $33.00 from this deal.

At the end of your order- once you’ve paid (11 cents- I used a gift card I got free – see below) a $3.00 catalina (printed store coupon) will pop out next to the receipt. Use this to pay for groceries.

So you’ve just MADE $2.89 cents plus you got 4 Kotex products and a Twix bar.

3. I used these $3.00 Catalinas plus a prescription gift card I got free yesterday to pay for the shopping cart full.

How I got the free gift card form the prescription: Meijer frequently will spit out catalinas with your receipt that say $20.00 free when you fill your next prescription at Meijer. They look like this:

I got a prescription for amoxicillin yesterday and filled it at Meijer. Getting a prescription is the only good part about being sick. Meijer actually will fill amoxicillin FREE (even with out health insurance) so they usually won’t take the coupon for this prescription fill. Except in my case, I told them I would actually like to PAY for my prescription so I could get the $20.00 gift card. Prescription lady Kathy said that shouldn’t be a problem (most times you can bill your insurance to pay for this- it would have cost $7.99). When I came back to pick up my prescription Kathy told me they actually couldn’t charge me for the prescription that the register wouldn’t let her. So I thought – oh well, I guess I’ll just have to save my $20.00 catalina coupon. Nope- because of Meijer’s great customer service (thanks Fred and Lena) Kathy’s boss went to guest services to get me a $20.00 gift card! So I paid nothing for the prescrip. and get a $20 gift card. I Heart Meijer!

4. So today I shopped using coupons and buying things on sale. I focused on these things to maximize my deals

Things on sale- never buy unless its on sale AND you have a coupon. Just having one or the other does not constitute as a good deal.
Meijer’s 10 for $10, get the 11th item free (deal) Use coupons on all 11 items

So here is my HAUL unpacked.

Fran enjoyed this shop too! She HEARTS plastic bags.

If you are thinking you’d like to try out couponing but have no idea where to start, try these links:

Also feel free to email me questions or leave a post on the blog.

Happy Friday!

Day 4

2011-04-07T17:52:00.001-04:00

The trip to GA was great. Monday we did a little townie touring. We woke up early (8am); boys were up even earlier!

stop at Golden Donut
stop at Ross (kind of like tjmaxx) picked up new sunglasses
Chick-fil-a for lunch (a southern must stop)
commissary shopping with coupons – I think I enjoyed this more than Mandy

this should be an incentive for joining the Military!

Back at home we packed up the car, played a short game of Monopoly Deal (left the game with Wilson- hopefully he is playing up for the next time we come to town), and then headed home.

We stopped in Knoxville (thanks Dotson’s for the invite- maybe next time!) for the evening and them made it back to Flint by 4pm Tuesday.

The trip was GREAT! It was so nice to see the Lutz’s. It was the first time I’d seen Brad since he got home from his tour in Djibouti, Africa.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Bike riding- Both boys are 2 wheeling!

Muskoka- the Dog, beautiful!

Monopoly Deal

The Faces of Walker

Golden Donut

Chick-Fil-A- The manager was laughing at our accents or lack of accents, I guess!

I’m sure my cousin Mandy will be posting photos of the trip too. Check our her blog.

Day 3

2011-04-04T09:10:00.000-04:00

Sunday, Sunday, ....

Church at 930, or 10, they aren't sure when it starts. But, we were on time :)
It is a MEGA church, approx 5,000+ people. Worship was amazing a real production!
After church it was Nascar racing time and nap time. I fell asleep around lap 199 and woke with about 199 left to go. Wilson really gets into racing- he truly watches every lap. Junior is his favorite racer!
We went for a walk and the boys road bikes.
In the evening we ordered pizza and watched the CMAs.
I really feel like I'm in the deep south.

This is what they boys liked most about us being here
Walker says: "Playing monopoly deal"
Wilson says: : "Playing monopoly deal"

(pictures to come on Tuesday/ Wednesday) I left my camera cord in MICH.

Georgia Day 2

2011-04-02T21:08:00.000-04:00

Arrived on post at 10:30 a.m. We made great time!
Post (not base- that's Air Force) is huge! They have 5 elementary schools, and an interstate running through the post. We drove around the post a little with Brad while Mandy was at a baby shower. The boys were very excited to see us; we got numerous hugs during the day.
We taught Wil how to play Monopoly Deal (it's addicting)- he caught on fast.
We went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant ( I got a coupons on restaurants.com). In the menu it said first order of chips & salsa was free...they kept bringing chips, it was comical. I think we had 3 full baskets on our table at one time and about a gallon of salsa! (they didn't charge extra).
It was mid 70s today, supposed to be even warmer tomorrow!

Road to trip- Spring Break 2011

2011-04-01T22:05:00.000-04:00

My sister Ari and I are road-tripping to Fort Benning, Georgia to see our cousin and family.

Day 1

Left Burton, MI at 10am.
2 wrong turns before we even left Michigan :/
1 food stop- McD's please! Can you believe they charge $1.80 for soda in Ohio! It's $1 drinks in MI. I knew Ohioans were crazy!
5 hours of driving for Ari
7 hours of driving for Lindsay
1.5 hours of talking on the phone to the Bakers to find a hotel :} YIKES!
Hotel stop for the night in Dalton, GA (3.5 hours from destination) Best Western $59.99- I think we will be safe here, if not you know where to find us!
A short game of Monopoly Deal and then bed. 8am departure time set!

Couponing 101

2011-03-25T16:59:00.001-04:00

When I was little I remember my mom couponing. When I was home last I asked if she still used her old coupon box.

Mom:NOPE!

Lindsay:OK, then can I have it?

Mom: Sure

Here is what it looked like BEFORE

I guess she hasn’t used it in a while…these coupons below are OLD, they are so OLD that they have NO EXPIRATION date as their exp. date- they don’t make them like that any more

I also found this car wash coupon that expired in 2004!

My mom is GREAT at a lot of things, however couponing may have skipped a generation… Love you mom! I did enjoy looking through the old dividers and finding my handwriting from when I was little, I guess I must have helped her!

When I got home I began the re organization process of my coupons. I equate this feeling to a 5 year old being told they get to go to Chuck E Cheese’s. I was elated!

I sorted out expired from non-expired. I have found that Meijer is really great at taking expired coupons! I then set up a system I can use on a weekly basis to organize my coupons quickly! Fran likes this part too, she kept lying down on the job!

Then I inserted them into the coupon box – holding expired coupons and the flower photo album- holding the current coupons.

Today I hit up Meijer basically stealing cleaning supplies. I got these 28 products for $19.xx out of pocket!

Retail price would be: $83.21

sNoW dAy

2011-03-24T22:52:00.000-04:00

Yesterday- March 23rd- we had a SNOW DAY! Hip Hip Hooray!

I had all intentions of taking photos and posting them on the blog and well it is now 10:50 the next day and I haven't done it yet!

I'm horrible at blogging. I love the concept I just wish I could think a blog post into existence! Is there an app for that?

When I get where I’m going….

2011-03-14T21:36:00.001-04:00

When I was in high school it was always my goal to go to a 4 year college and attempt to graduate before the 4 years was up. Starting my college adventure at Cornerstone, I thought that is what my diploma would read. 3 colleges and 6 FULL years later I graduated from Grand Valley State. I had changed my major multiple times all within education and finally graduated with a Social Studies Education Major.

When I dreamed of teaching I always thought I would teach at the same school for many years and be that old teacher that says she’s been at the same school for 35 years. Well, this is my 3rd year teaching- all at different schools. I think I am staying at Concord this year though!

I never imagined that after I got married I would move rentals 6 plus times in a period of less than 4 years, with one move being out of the country.

If I had my way this may be how my life turned out: 4 year degree from Cornerstone, in debt up to my eyeballs, with a degree in Math. I would have never married Marvin or adopted the little fuzz bag- Fran. I may not have lived out of the country and most importantly I would have missed out on the wonderful adventure my Lord had planned for my life.

"My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts," says the LORD. "And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” Isaiah 55:8

You see, it’s GREAT, that things haven’t worked out the way I planned or I dreamed…it’s been even better! Each day I am so thankful for the Lord’s blessing in my life. It is so wonderful to be a chosen child of God.

Gone Granola

2011-03-12T10:22:00.002-05:00

For the past 2 weeks I've been attending a couponing class with another friend. The class meets at a ladies house and usually involves a short devotional. There are about 15 women that attend, both new to couponing and old pros (like myself). Usually there is a semi organized discussion of the night and then we get around in a circle and look at all the extra coupons people bring to share. I equate this time to lions eating after a long hunt, and there is never enough to go around. I feel like I have found my place in life. I came home after the first night and told marvin that I found a lot of people just like me! Organized, frantic about deals, and very bossy! It's fabulous! :)

Last week our main discussion hovered around homemade products to save money. Our leader made homemade granola. It was very good! I got one of the few recipes that lay in the feeding pile at the end!

I hop for IHOP

2011-03-01T12:01:00.001-05:00

In honor of National Pancake Day, you can snag a FREE short stack of pancakes on Tuesday, March 1st, from 7AM-10PM at participating IHOP restaurants. Even better, if you have a good deed to share, head on over here to enter the “Stacks for Good Acts” contest and you could win FREE pancakes from IHOP for an entire year!

~ Courtesy of Hip2save

Marvin the Radio Star

2011-02-17T18:06:00.001-05:00

So today I (Marvin) was scouring the internet for my daily political fix and I ran across an article on mlive.com about Gov. Snyder’s budget proposal. The article was well written, neatly to the point and kind of funny to boot. Finding quality journalism on mlive is something of a rarity so I decided to research the author. His name is Tim Doctor and as it turns out he hosts a radio show in Grand Rapids on WJRW 1340 AM. This is his facebook picture, he and Lindsay are friends now.

Also as it turned out, his show was on the air right then. So I tuned into it online and gave it a listen for a while. After a few minutes I heard some unthinking, robot moron call in and spouted off some socialist drivel. I was incensed and decided to give the host a piece of my mind. I NEVER do this but I was really feeling it and I had also been cracking myself up all morning so I decided to go for it. I called in and told the screener what I wanted to talk about and he asked me where I was from. When I told him Boyne City he was floored that I was listening all the way up here and told me he would put me right on. 2 minutes later my receiver crackled and I was on air. I didn’t even have time to get nervous or have second thoughts. Tim Doctor was even more thrilled than his producer that I was calling from all the way up north so he grilled me on how I found out about the show. Basically, to make a long story short, he interviewed me for about 10 minutes. I went through our whole life story and he kept getting more and more pumped up. I charmed him a little bit and we had a great conversation. I asked him some questions and he asked me some more and before I knew it time was just flying by. I barely even got to be mad at the stupid robot moron who I called in to be mad at but when I finally got around to my opinion (which was scathing and brilliant and hilarious and succinct and enlightening) Tim assured me he was on my side blah blah blah. After I came unhinged and Tim responded, there was a short pause and I thought the conversation was going to be over, so I kind of said “weeeellllllll” like I was trying to get off the phone, but Tim wanted to keep going. So I rolled with it. All told, I absolutely carried the segment. I listened to the rest of his show and he referenced my call several more times. I think I have a shot a being a recurring guest on his show (I’m thinking “Marvin From Boyne City” will be my handle). I’ll call back in a couple months and give them a real charge but I am going to leave them hanging for now. I feel like they want me to call back tomorrow but I am going to pick my spots and kill them when I drop in. I’ll try to let you guys know next time I call so you can tune in and check it out.

Here are some pictures of me and the cat. Enjoy!

And now you know

2011-02-15T21:47:00.001-05:00

This post was inspired by my great friend Becca…check out her “and now you know” post here.

Lindsay’s

I sleep almost as much as our cat. Which tends to make us great friends, or worst enemies when we want to sleep in the same place
I like to be just as comfortable as the next person…well actually MORE comfortable than the next person. I often get jealous of other peoples conformability level.
I enjoy paying bills and charting the balance in our bank account…however, small it may be. (see new living room update post)
I hate waking up in the morning, no matter how late I get to sleep in. Actually I hate waking up period, naps included.
I could eat McDonald’s every day. I do limit myself though, some months better than others.
The idea of blogging is so appealing, and I know others love to read, but I hate doing it
I love movies! The cheesier the better, if it involves teaching, I’m all over it. True stories- SOLD! A hallmark movie can’t possibly get any better unless of course at the end of the flick they tell you where the characters end up in life. (Ex: Legally Blonde, The Sandlot, Remember the Titans)
I like writing utensils. Usually the cheaper the better. But I am particular about what I write with.
I’m afraid of wood. I do not like to use wooden spoons unless they are varnished. And don’t even try to give me one of those wooden spoons the scary ice cream man off the truck gives away. I wrap popsicle sticks in napkins.
My latest hobby has been sewing…I need lessons!
I like to compete in odd tasks, and win! When I was at MSU, I had to hop up and down the court on one of those large balls with the
handles. I won a $100 gift card to the bookstore.

Marvin’s:

He loves to be at the last place in the course as quickly as possible. Even if he likes what is he is doing along the way.
He enjoys politics and reading websites like drudgereport.com as much as others love being on facebook.
He is a facebook page stalker…he reads my page frequently, and sometimes posts.
If he could chose one profession and be the best at it, he’d be a TAP DANCER.
He’s completely obsessive compulsive about food. He will absolutely LOVE something for a short period of time and then absolutely hate it. Right now his kick is dried fruit leather from trader joe’s.
He has a debilitating fear of rolling his ankle. It keeps him up at night worrying about it.
He snores- when he isn’t worrying about the ankle.
He loves the cat. He speaks cat, and often has conversations with the cat about Lindsay. It annoys Lindsay.
He enjoys doing laundry, and does all our laundry, including ironing. Attributed to JLV.
He is the loudest sneezer, next to his father, PMV.

We LOVE being together!

Visitors!

2011-02-14T22:07:00.003-05:00

ach weekend in February we have plans! We either have visitors coming up here or we are heading down south!

Last weekend the Verwys’ came up for a short but fun filled weekend!

We celebrated Betsy and Dad’s Birthdays! I think this was one of 17 cakes Betsy got on her birthday! I may be exaggerating a little but not too much

Cake 1:

Cake 2, 3, 4:

Cake 5:

Just kidding ...they were all the same cake, at least for this birthday event!

I read on one of her blogs that she was going to do a cake-off with all the goodies she got, but I haven't seen any updates yet!

Present for Dad and Betsy came next.

Later that weekend we also went snow shoeing. Check Betsy's blog for photos!

It was such a great weekend. I wish we could move all our friends and family up here to "God's Country!"

Kids say the darndest things

2011-02-14T21:59:00.002-05:00

While hanging out with my friends children, age 2 and 4, they gave me their philosophical thoughts about which snowmobiles are the best. Their grandpa has heavily influenced them. I have no idea what the grandparents real last name is, only that they are called Grandma and Grandpa Bile, because they own snowmobiles. They said. “My grandpa doesn’t drive anything but a Ski-doo, and we call the other snowmobiles Arctic-craps!”

This story reminds me of 4 other small children often referred to as mice. When they drive by this type of car, pictured below, they call it a “fart-car”!

Before and after

2011-02-14T21:47:00.001-05:00

Our living room need a little update. When Rachel was up a few weekends ago, she preformed a little magic. We stopped at the house for just a quick second before heading back to the hotel and while I was grabbing something from the backroom, she started moving things in the living room around. About 20 minutes into the redecorating, we realized the car was still running! She quickly finished up decorating and my room was turned from a room with furniture into a LIVING room…nice and homey!

I had to add a few sewing projects to complete the make over. It is a far cry from what it used to be…2 chairs and, a left over pillow, and a carpet remnant from our school. I have also added lamps and switched out the coffee table from our recent trip to IKEA (not pictured) I don’t have a before photo just an after!

This is the pillow I made; I love the fabric. It was less than a $1 per yard, which is part of the reason I love it

Fran the (cold) Cat

2011-01-28T22:53:00.002-05:00

Thousands of you have asked about what happened to Fran (the cat) during our weekend ordeal. Here is the story: Remember when David the 2nd King of Israel was just a Shepard? He used to spend his days guiding sheep to green pastures and leading them beside still waters and slaughtering bears and lions. If he had a sheep or lamb that had the tendency to wander off he would take the little sheep and break its leg off. The idea was that if the lamb didn’t die or convince all the other sheep to headbutt David to death, it would have to stick close its caregiver. David had the right idea I think. When we got home on Sunday, the temperature in the house was nigh on absolute zero. We were 30 seconds from having achieved a scientific impossibility in our very own rental home.

Lindsay wouldn’t even hang around because it was so cold, she took off without her phone and with our only car that would function in that kind of cold. After Lindsay left I searched for Fran but she was nowhere to be found. Eventually she emerged from under the covers of our bed shaking like a leaf. Keep in mind that she already has a fur coat on all the time. If she had enough warm blood to supply the necessary energy to her hind legs she probably would have leapt directly into my arms. I picked her up and felt her paws and they were ice cold. After a while of holding her I set her down but she would hardly let me take two steps before starting to meow and trying to trip me. I spent most of the next hour or so holding her and breathing warmth back into her. We got to cuddle with her the rest of the day and well into the night because our house didn’t get warm until evening.

The moral of the story is that if you want your cat to love you and be really affectionate just turn off the heat for a few days.

Here is a photo of Fran practicing staying warm tonight.

what does negative temperatures cause?

2011-01-27T21:05:00.002-05:00

A cold day in the neighborhood. The weekend we were at Bay Harbor we had record setting temps. It was –6 on Sunday at noon!

We had left for the weekend and turned down our heat. Well, because our house is a little drafty our pilot light blew out on our furnace. This caused our heat to not turn on and led to our pipes in our radiator freezing!

So it wasn’t as simple as relighting the pilot light and turn on the heat. It took about 5 hours and a plumber on overtime to get it fixed. Then at about 10pm we had a pipe break in our entry way and water from our radiator gushed out everywhere. I’d say about 10 gallons came out pretty quickly.

What had actually happened was our thermal coupler when bad. The plumber came and finally fixed it today.

You’d think in this video I would have stuck a bucket under it or something, but the major damage had already been done in the first 10 seconds and truthfully I didn’t think about it until just now!

I did have to throw out my homemade rice sock air blocker!

Water pouring out of the heater.

…. and that is why we are so thankful we are still renters!

Weekend away

2011-01-26T16:20:00.001-05:00

… and I forgot my camera.

Tim and Rachel came up for the weekend and we spent two nights at the Inn at Bay Harbor. It was very relaxing and didn’t cost us an arm and a leg. This hotel is part of Boyne USA (where Marvin works) so we got a sweet deal. We love playing cards and usually focus around the game of ROOK. Tim and Rachel are the only ones who own ROOK cards and so it was their job to bring them… they forgot! And ROOK cards are the hardest to find. They stopped at a few places but no luck. In a last ditch effort they stopped at a dollar store/consignment spot in Kalkaska. They had an OLD box for $2! What a steal! So if you see ROOK cards anywhere pick them up and I’ll pay ya back!

Other weekend highlights include:

eating out for dinners
making breakfast around noon
staying up late and chatting
painting our toe nails (girls only)
eating chili at the cook off (boys only)
playing ROOK until we dropped!

It was a GREAT weekend and we are looking to many more good weekends in February.

Stay tuned for: Weekend with the Verwys’, Weekend in Chicago, Weekend in Ann Arbor for a Michigan Game, Weekend with the ole’ high school crew (MCV)… and then we will be into March.

…I’ll try to remember my camera!

Tree... no Three!

2011-01-18T18:22:00.001-05:00

Marvin has taken to speaking with a Mexican English accent.

Watching Napoleon Dynamite didn't help any either.

MMXI

2011-01-04T20:21:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year! This past year was a whirl wind for us! We are so thankful for where we are now and how far God has brought us this past year. We are blessed with wonderful jobs. We live in an amazing location in the USA and not too far from family!

This past week my parents came up to visit. My mom and I worked on a jewelry board.

That cute white one on the right was a hand made gift from Betsy!

We also celebrated Christmas with my dad’s side. My Aunt and Uncle live in Charlevoix so it only made sense that my parents come up here for the holidays! My mom and dad surprised the heck out of us with some awesome snowshoes. We love them and tried them out tonight with a 3.5km hike on one of the snowshoe trails here.

Later in the week we received our gifts from Nate and Andrea. We were not able to spend Christmas with them this year…maybe next year!

Marvin is sporting his new shirt…which he has been wearing ever since he opened the package 3 days ago…Lindsay is wearing her oatmeal miffins and adorning her new personalized bag.

For New Years we thought Marvin was going to have to work all night but he ended up coming home at 5pm. So we decided to head to Traverse City for the Cherry-T ball drop.

While downtown Lindsay discovered what her spiritual gift was… getting picked for things in large crowds. She was one of 10 chosen to let loose a canister of confetti at the stroke of midnight!

Before we went down town we enjoyed a night out at the Olive Garden (I had $20 in gift cards) and then a shopping spree at Target!

Marvin has been on this entrepreneurial streak and thought about selling glow necklaces downtown. So…here’s how we ended up.

BEFORE

AFTER
We made it ‘til the cherry dropped! Happy New Year!

May your year be filled with blessing and may you bless others along the way!

And so this is Christmas…

2010-12-28T22:00:00.001-05:00

We travelled to Grand Rapids for Christmas this year to spend time with the Verwys side. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Verwys’ for Christmas Lunch at 1pm. We then headed back to Cherrywood to open presents as a family.

It was a short trip and I didn’t take very many photos… I’ve got to get better at that, and blogging too!

Fran’s long lost cousin was the life of the party. She opens her own gifts as well. Good job pu-ph-ph (puff).

Sunday night we headed back to BC; MCV has to work all week! Here are some of our decorations around the house… the only thing I bought this year were lights- we had a very homemade Christmas this year!

The 311 Christmas

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The whole time we were gone Frannie pooed in the toilet! Good Job fuzz bag!

99 cents?

2010-12-15T21:03:00.001-05:00

Went to 2 more Hallmark stores yesterday. Found candles for $10.00 even. Used the $10 coupon only had to pay tax!

I got 4 Yankee Candles yesterday for 99 cents + tax!

~ Andrea are you getting this deal? You love Yankee!

Almost free candles

2010-12-12T20:16:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I came across a valuable Hallmark coupon. Since we were going to the “big” city (Gaylord) to go shopping I brought a few along.

I think you can print coupon by going to Google and searching for the coupon “image”

Marvin and I both went into the Hallmark store. I persuaded Marvin to go by telling him he could buy anything he wanted. His reply, “Oh great, a $10 coupon to a store full of crap”. It ended up that he didn’t find anything…shocking! We both purchased the 14.5oz Yankee Candles.

Regular Price: $21.00

Sale Price: $13.99

Discount coupon –$10

Total Price: $3.99 plus tax each!

So if you have a snow day like me, tomorrow you can get yourself a cheap candle too! I just got the “schools closed” call about 10 minutes ago; I squealed with delight! *ts ts ts*

Bunny hill or Black Diamond

2010-12-12T18:52:00.001-05:00

Today was our first ski of the season. It was also the first time we’ve skied together.

Both of us have skied before, Lindsay only in Michigan and Marvin out west. So needless to say one of us is much better than the other.

I have never skied with goggles before and I heard it was a must and that I was crazy if I didn’t wear them. So before we hit the slopes we both invested in some goggles. I was very glad I had them, with winds up to 50 miles an hour, they were a necessity.

We started off on an easy hill and I was literally blown up the hill while trying to go down it.

Wipe out count:

Marvin 0

Lindsay 2

We will go back next weekend when night ski opens!

Snow Days

2010-12-06T16:50:00.002-05:00

I love Christmas break, Winter break, and Spring break…but nothing beats a good ole’ snow day!

Last Thursday we had our first snow day of the season, and with any luck we will get many many more!

Marvin went off to work like normal and Lindsay enjoyed ever minute; she slept in until 10:30 and then played housewife for the day. A delicious dinner awaited when Marvin returned home.

This is my pumpkin from Halloween

2 weeks ago, Boyne City had an “Earlier than the Bird” weekend shopping activity. Participants dressed in their PJ’s and went shopping reciving freebees for being the first 50 in the door. Lindsay took this very literal and must have forgotten for a moment that we were in northern Michigan, population 50!

We were THE EARLIEST bird. The first 4 shops we went to we were the first. Marvin enjoyed a 1/2 price haircut, and Lindsay got free hot chocolate and later won a $25 gift certificate to Alpine Chocolate Haus.

Wearing the homemade PJ’s by Lindsay (pants only were homemade, not the Northface jackets)

All the freebees- 2 mugs, a cup, a coaster, 2 boxes of chocolates, and shampoo samples

Also last week students had a snow coming dance. Marvin and Lindsay chaperoned. Lindsay was excited, Marvin was…not!

Snowcoming King and Queen, and Runner ups

The Chaperones

And just for all to know. Fran is completely potty trained!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-27T20:22:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday after work I picked up Lindsay, kissed Fran goodbye and pointed the car toward New Lothrop. 10 minutes later we arrived at the gas station to refuel our parched throats with some delicious Red Bull and Diet Caffeine Free Coke. About an hour and a half later we stopped to deposit our drinks at a friendly neighborhood rest stop. 30 minutes after that we stopped in Frankenmuth, MI! Wait… Frankenmuth? No, we’re meeting them for dinner in Birch Run not Frankenmuth. Me: (not very patiently) Lindsay (pause, pause, pause), I JUST asked you Frankenmuth? and you said yes Frankenmuth. Lindsay: (apathetic toward my anger) Oh, nope, Birch Run. 10 minutes later we arrived in Birch Run to kick off our delicious weekend of food and family.

We lodged at Grandma and Grandpa Rose’s house (because the Bakers had a full house already) and checked in around 9:00 on Wednesday evening. Grandma and Grandpa chatted us up well past our bedtime (not theirs though, they are kind of party animals) and we hit the sack with visions of drumsticks and mashed potatoes dancing in our heads. I made the decision that I was going to sleep on my back and snore just as loud as I could because we got to sleep on separate twin beds and there wasn’t a blasted thing Lindsay could do about it. She typically turns into Muhammed Ali the very second I even consider snoring, but not even Ali has a 7 foot reach. So I slept great and she had to deal with it.

When we finally dragged ourselves out of bed we awoke to such rich aromas and succulent fare that surely even King Solomon could not have imagined. The Thanksgiving Fairy must have worked all night under the cover of my snoring because nary a dirty dish was to be found and Grandparents Rose were sitting quietly reading the morning paper. 24 people came to feast and when it was all said and done it was about 6 in the PM.

We headed off to Mom and Dad Baker’s house to try to recruit some poor suckers to go Christmas shopping with us at 10:00 PM at the outlets in Birch Run where they were having some can’t miss door buster deals. The outlets were insanely busy and forced me to bust out my Dominican Driving. After a while the parking situation digressed to the point that I had to drop Lindsay off at the store and just weave in and out of traffic until she was ready. Genesee County must have released the insane asylum just for the night because I have never seen so many idiots, morons, and brainless idiots trying to operate motor vehicles since drivers training. Oh, there were some women drivers too. Old Lindsay got some sweet deals though and by the time we rolled back into Hotel Rosencrantz at 1:00 AM she had freed several dollars from our bank account.

Friday morning we woke at the crack of dawn (8:00) to find Grandma and Grandpa Rose about 3 hours into a peanut brittle project. We bid them adieu and headed off the the Baker’s to split some wood. Mom Baker and Lindsay quickly left for more shopping while Dad and I went out back to do all kinds of manly wood splitting and hauling. We got all of the wood done that they will need for the winter and then feasted on summer sausage, cheese, and crackers (maybe my favorite meal ever). For dinner we had chili and cornbread. We played a game of spoons in there somewhere too.

Friday night, before heading back to the hotel we stopped by Uncle Dave’s new house to check it out. We loved it and promised to visit again in the morning. When we arrived back at the Rose’s we played Rummicube until we could barely count to 30 anymore.

Saturday morning we woke up and said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa before we headed out to Uncle Dave’s. After we visited him and he lavished gifts upon us we left for good old Boyne City, USA at 8:45.

All in all it was a great weekend and we loved spending time with our family. Look for us next Thanksgiving at the Verwys’!

Lindsay, Jack, and Whitey

Grandma Thanksgiving Fairy

Grandpa Thanksgiving Fairy

29!

2010-11-17T19:02:00.001-05:00

Wikipedia defines 29 as… “29 (twenty-nine) is the natural number following 28 and preceding 30.”

It is also…

the 10th prime number
It’s the atomic number of copper
29 days is the average lunar month
It is the highest possible score in a hand of cribbage
It is also the sum of three consecutive squares, 2² + 3² + 4²

But today is my best friends 29th Birthday.

Happy Birthday Marvin!

This is when he was 28

This is the day he turned 29…

Big difference? Right!

For his BIG DAY! We celebrated by going to Red Mesa- one of our favorite Mexican restaurants.

We then came back to the house where Marvin began to find every “surprise” I had for him. He walked into the spare room to find his cake- homemade white cake with chocolate frosting!

He then walked into the den and found his “red bull”! And he got the mail earlier and found all of his birthday cards. I was trying to hide all of this for him but he kept finding out everything!

Now we are off to watch a movie, actually a mini-series. Marvin doesn’t care much for “movie” watching. We went to the video store and he chose “The Pacific”.

He says his favorite thing today was opening presents!

Happy Birthday Marvin!

Wedding Weekend

2010-11-14T22:58:00.002-05:00

Also, a few weekends ago! Our good friends Jason and Courtney got married on October 30th. Marvin was in the wedding so we made it a long weekend in Grand Rapids. We both took Friday off of work!

Wedding Cake

Happy couples at the wedding:

Good Times with old friends

Happy Marriage Jason& Courtney!

They didn’t smear the cake in each others faces so their marriage will last forever

(theory embraced by Marvin and Lindsay)

Freezer Cooking Weekend

2010-11-14T22:23:00.001-05:00

So this weekend occurred 2 weekends ago but I’m just now getting around to posting!

I spent most of Saturday baking all afternoon and into the evening. It was a fun day. And we are still reaping the benefits. Marvin helped a little- he prepared the meats!

We created a pot roast that we enjoyed the following Sunday for lunch, and Marvin ate leftovers ALL week! Definitely worth the $8.00 for meat and ~ $2.00 for veggies

I am not known for eating breakfast so when I saw my cousin’s post about freezing muffins I was all about it. I made a double batch of Banana Chocolate Chip muffins. Again, I’m still eating these. I actually took a bag to work and keep them in the freezer so I don’t even have to grab anything from home in the morning.

Then 2 weeks ago a friend from church needed some meals prepared for her family. She was having some procedures done later that week. Our bible study decided to all make a dish and bring it with us. I prepared Lasagna… 3x! We ate one, gave away one, and I still have one in the freezer.

I tried to show the steps to freezing. wrap in plastic, then wrap in tinfoil and label the outside for preparation information!

Then that night I made Chocolate Chip cookies. We baked 11 that night and I froze the rest of the dough~ although that IS all gone now. Marvin was even baking it all by himself!

Here’s to saving money and eating at home!

It Happened!

2010-10-21T19:29:00.001-04:00

S-N-O-W! Just after seminar around 2pm, my school window is beaten with this white stuff!

It hasn’t stuck but our first snow was officially October 21, 2010! And I’ve heard it doesn’t stop til May! What have we gotten ourselves into?

2 weeks ago when it wasn’t SNNNNOOOOWing, we took a little high up avalanche mountain.

View from the bottom

Half way up, over 400 stairs!

View from the TOP!

Hiking around up top. They have disc golf, mountain biking trails, etc.

Our town also had a scare crow contest and my 9th grade class created a Ginger Bread Scarecrow!

2 of my 9th graders trying out the costumes!

We had a Cross built to hold up the scarecrow. My Jacob thought it was a large sword for slaying!

Out on the corner of Main and Lake St.

They even created a ginger bread man house.

There were over 33 scarecrows around town.

9th grade at Concord Academy took took 3rd place!

09.17.1787

2010-10-19T18:09:00.002-04:00

Constitution Day!

I know there have been comments concerning our citizenship and its status so I just want to clear up a few things. We started going to a Constitution class to better educate ourselves on what the Constitution actually says. Our teacher is a former High School teacher who is very passionate about teaching the Constitution. We are having a good time learning more about our founding fathers too. HBO has a great mini-series called Adams which basically follows John Adams from before the Revolutionary War all the way through his presidency. It is very informative and entertaining if you ever have 6 hours to kill. Basically we are full on racist, sexist, homophobic Tea Party members now (except that nobody has ever said or done anything controversial whatsoever). Our class happens to meet at one of our favorite restaurants and we have met tons of awesome people who also want to learn about the Constitution. One lady rented Adams from the video store and then dropped the DVDs off for us to watch when she was done so we didn't have to spend the money to rent them ourselves.

So that is the story of Constitution Class. Nothing to it.

No photos…

2010-10-13T18:06:00.001-04:00

Don’t worry, I still have my camera. Last time I make a post title like this, I had just gotten my purse stolen! I just have some words to update and no photos…I’ll try to get some up next post!

New with Lindsay:

Making progress on the 9th grade Washington D.C. trip- suggestions on fundraising?
9th graders had entered a scarecrow contest in Boyne City. We got 3rd place!
I’m doing a Beth Moore bible study at our church WLCC

New with Marvin:

He got a new job and it is going great! He is the working in Sales at the water park at Avalanche Bay
He bought us another car- 2004 Impala- white, it’s an old copper car (but the siren and bar dividers have been removed) Luckily!
He has removed 3 rings on Fran’s Citty-Kitty!
Tonight is the last night of his sailing team for the winter

New with both of us:

We joined the spa/gym where Marvin works- Lindsay likes the free apples, Marvin rides the recumbent bike
We are attending a constitution class on Monday nights
We hiked to the top of Avalanche Mt. I do have photos I’ll upload soon! It was beautiful. A must for any visitor to see!

We have been so blessed these last few months. We are so thankful to be back in the US, living in “God’s Country”! We will be in GR during Halloween weekend to attend the wedding of Jason and Courtney (soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Kingma)!

Top 91.6%

2010-09-28T21:09:00.001-04:00

Way to go Concord!

http://www.petoskeynews.com/news/pnr-news-concord-boyne-092810,0,299000.story

Happy Wednesday!

2010-09-22T22:24:00.001-04:00

Today was “See You at the Pole” Day. A day where people meet around a flag pole and pray for the nation. Our school had a few students show up.

It was also Western Day at school~ Spirit Week – Hannah and Amanda, some of my students.

And to top off a fabulous Wednesday we received a package from a great lady who attends Highland and lives back in GR, she has been a pen pal to us while we lived in DR and has continued the tradition. We appreciate her faithfulness in writing letters and her constant prayer for Me, Marvin and Fran. Today she sent this fabulous package…those of you know have meet “nonny” know that I am in need of a larger edition. This did the trick!

This is my old “nonny” I got her when I was born from my great Aunt LaRu. I love “nonny” and have slept with her every night. But I have outgrown her and she is not useful as a lap blanket.

So here is the new blanket, I’ve named it “nonny on steroids” It was hand made by Jean Porter! What a blessing!

CAB- Taxi’s

2010-09-19T20:59:00.001-04:00

While Concord Academy Boyne has been great so far… their mascot is not! They have been through numerous nicknames this season and one that is seeming to sick is the Taxi C.A.B.s! I think this name came about because of their uniforms?

Some have been asking to see my classroom. Here is a before and after photo:

Before Lindsay works her magic:

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After the magic!

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Birthday for Lindsay

2010-09-08T14:22:00.001-04:00

I like it when Lindsay has a birthday because then she is only 1 year younger than me. I get so excited about it that I buy her presents and write her cards and stuff. This year her birthday started early. It is pretty slim pickins up here as far as cake makers go but I happened to know that Lindsay enjoys the cake that Glenn’s makes. It wasn’t my birthday, so I didn’t argue. I went to Glenn’s and ordered a white on white sheet cake. So at 6:30 AM I presented Lindsay with her cake.

Birthday Wish #1 - birthday cake in bed.

For the first time in her life though Lindsay scurried out of bed before hitting snooze 4 times so she didn’t get her cake in bed but she did get it before she went to school.

Everyone at school was really sweet to her for her birthday and they had 2, TWO!, more cakes for her (not pictured). Carrot cake, and chocolate cake.

I picked her up at school and she came back home for a little post-work snoozin. After she had rested her eyes a bit we walked up to the library for:

Birthday Wish #2 - rent and watch a movie

It was her birthday so I let her choose two Non-Marvin approved movies.

Not exactly Casablanca and Inception but again, it wasn’t my birthday.

Following our trip to the library, we headed off to dinner at a place we were saving for her birthday.

Birthday Wish #3

We are both big Mexican food fans and our favorite celebratory restaurant in Grand Rapids is Beltline Bar but since there is no Beltline Bar here we hit up the next best thing. Red Mesa. Red Mesa Grill is part of a family of restaurants called Magnum Hospitality. We already visited one of them in town called Cafe Santé and we enjoyed it greatly. I would put our experience at Red Mesa up there with finding out we won the lottery (I can only imagine), running a sub-four minute mile, sailing solo around the world, and potty training my cat. The food was somewhere in-between extremely excellent, and somewhat exquisite. Hands down it was the best Mexican food we have ever had that wasn’t actually made by Mexicans. The best way to describe it was that it was the absolute value of getting punched in the face (the value of getting punched in the face is –25 on the fun scale so Red Mesa is a 25). I don’t even remember what we got except that we both brought most of it home because as usual, we loaded up on free chips and salsa and Dr. Pepper.

We headed home after RM and ate some cake for dessert. I brought out some gifts that had been sent to the house for Lindsay and she tore into them like a rabid wolf. I thought she would damage the actual gift but she is very skilled in the art of tearing things open, neither gift was damaged.

First she received a bag thing from my sister Betsy. I assume it is meant for holding guns and transplanted hearts because it was waterproofy on the inside.

Next, she tore into a gift from my sister-in-law Andrea.

This one was like the other one except bigger. Lindsay was very excited so maybe it was meant for packing Barbie Dolls or dismantled sub-machine guns. She loved her gifts and wanted to make sure they would be seen by all her blog readers as most of them are gun lovers.

After presents and cake we watched SnowBound. It featured Doogie Howser and his wife and child getting stuck in the snow but then rescued. It was OK with an absolute value of maybe 2. After that we watched RatRace. It was horrendous.

I enjoyed spending time with Lindsay on her birthday though, she is my love and best friend. I look forward to her next birthday because then she will only be one year younger than me.

Family Photos

2010-09-02T23:27:00.001-04:00

This summer we had family photos on the beach of Lake Michigan!

Our good friend Jamie Geysbeek took the photos. He is amazing. Head over to his site to check out more of his work. Click here.

These are photos of Marvin’s side of the family. His Mom and Dad. Sister: Betsy.

Brother: Nate and wife Andrea- their 4 kids… Grace, Rita, Sam, and Ellen.

The many WORKS of the 311

2010-09-01T21:11:00.001-04:00

Yard WORK:

A few weeks ago our Landlord came into town and we all worked out in the yard doing a little clean up.

Before photo:

After photo:

As a thank you for the yard work we helped with, they purchased us deck chairs and a little table. A perfect combination to watch the sunset.

Here is a photo from our living room to the great outdoors. I got the photo idea from Andrea.

Andrea also asked for a close up on the plaque on the outside of the door:

Cooking WORK:

This week I made a dinner list and went shopping and we’ve done ok (Monday& Tuesday went well) Then along came Wednesday. Tonight was Marvin’s night to cook. He truly did an excellent job he just had a rotten recipe and some new equipment to work with. I got a pressure cooker for my birthday from my in-laws and tonight was its debut.

Marvin got to chose the recipe: Broccoli Veggie Cheese soup

We don’t know what went wrong! But the soup tasted like it had been cooked over a campfire- it had a burning flavor to it. When we went to clean the pressure cooker, there was at least an inch of sludge soup blacked to the bottom. It had defiantly been fired! Needless to say, dinner was ruined and we turned to a failsafe- McDonald’s.

I’m not giving up on this pressure cooker though- I hear it works magic. I just have to figure it out still.

When we got back from McD’s we had to begin the clean up. We pored all of the soup down the disposal. I ran the disposal ‘til it sounded clear- ran with cold water too! Something made me look under the sink, I’m not sure why but I’m glad I did. The 6+ cups of char cooked broccoli cheese soup was smattered from wall to ceiling in the cupboard below. Our garbage disposal blew up under the sink. There was liquid and cheese and broccoli all OVER! And it reeked to high heaven.

Fran WORK:

An update on how Fran's potty training is going. Yesterday she missed the toilet and IT landed on the floor. Marvin took another of the rings out and this really freaked Fran out. She hadn’t gone to the bathroom since yesterday (approx 24 hours). She is a little afraid of the toilet water and with the 2nd ring out of the trainer you can see straight to the water. So today she didn’t even try the toilet and finally after being completely bloated she gracefully relieved herself right next to the toilet…. Marvin get’s to do that clean up!

Are you creepin' ?

2010-08-31T09:37:00.004-04:00

That's ok!

What is a creeper? Someone who goes to other peoples blogs, facebooks, twitter, etc., and reads thier posts without being a follower

What is a follower? Someone who has become a "friend" of what they are reading.

This post is all about how to FOLLOW someone's blog and become a FOLLOWER of the blog. It's pretty simple and it really makes the person who's blog you follow feel really cool when they have 100's of followers!

So... to become a follower all you have to do is follow this easy tutorial:

1. Click off to the right of this post on the word "FOLLOW" ----->

2. You will then see a page pop up with something like this on it:

Sign in using an account you've already created

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Now wasn't that easy? Mom Verwys I want you to try this tutorial and see if you can follow your children's blogs :)

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Please leave your success or questions in the comments below or if you are super unsuccessful email me :)

Mackinac Island

2010-08-28T21:56:00.001-04:00

First of all… is it Mackinaw or Mackinac? To see a good explanation click here

So this weekend we took a trip to Mackinac Island. It was a little unplanned, but Marvin has been helping out with the Soccer team at Concord Academy Boyne, my school.

Here are the weekend events with a little photo commentary…

Friday- depart for Island at 2pm

Arrive on Island, go to school (its located just before the Grand Hotel on the main road)

Team Photo, there are 18 players, 6 are girls, 7-12th grade

Shots of the Island- we had to walk from the school to the soccer field about a 20 minute walk.

Game Time- 6pm

WE WON!

Head back to the school.

They give us pizza.

Spend the night in their gym.

Get up for breakfast- provided by Mackinac Island School.

Head back to the fields for another 10am Game on Saturday Morning.

WE WON, Again!

The players shook all the refs hands after both games- Great sportsmanship!

And of course like all teams- we had to soak the coach. It’s the first soccer team CAB has had, and now they are undefeated!

Marvin and I had such a great time. We got to meet a lot of the parents. Just about all of the players had someone from their family go. It is a very conservative public school. It has a great family atmosphere and the parents offer a lot of encouraging support.
I think its going to be a great year at CAB!

Birthday Girls

2010-08-24T12:01:00.002-04:00

Our beloved Fran the Cat shares her birthday with the most adorable 3 year old I know. Some call her Nora but we prefer the Norster, Norie and NoraBoraCloraDoraFlora :)

Their Birthday’s were actually Aug 22nd but we had to wait to celebrate Fran’s until her present arrived (more about that in a minute).

But first a collage of photos to honor them both.

Nora’s mom keeps a pretty cool blog and her father takes some amazing photos, you can head over to the blog to check them both out ~ Nora’s Family

So for Fran’s birthday, since she had made it 3 years into her long life, we decided to celebrate by getting her a small gift. She is never sure which item is the present because she loves the wrapping more than the gift itself.

CitiKitty is a multi-tiered insert that sits inside the toilet. You remove the rings as the cat gets used to using that as her litter box… 3 weeks later- Waaaalaaa … she’s trained. (results may vary)

Step 1: place the litter inside the bathroom… well, we skipped this step because fran is very laidback and adaptable.

She’s doing great… we will keep posting about her progress…But we want to leave you with a photo of encouragement!

It is possible that she is making the most disgusting face that a cat could conceivably make. Gross Fran! It took her all of 30 seconds to introduce CittyKitty to her rear-end. Per the instructions, we praised her and gave her a tasty morsel of grilled chicken.

out and about

2010-08-20T21:13:00.001-04:00

We moved to Boyne City just last week. A little trivia for you about BC:

BC is where BC pizza was founded
BC has a population of 3,500
BC is located just north of the 45th parallel (which is 1/2 way between the equator and the north pole)
average annual snow fall is 119” which is almost 10 feet!

Trivia about where we live:

It’s a historical home built in 1911
It is located just across the street from the 3rd largest lake in Michigan- Lake Charlevoix
Its set up perfectly for guests to visit :)
photos of the home

Since we moved in we have had 3 different visits from friends and family.

1st up was a over night stay by the Bakers and Uncle Dave. We drove into Charlevoix and took the Ironton ferry.

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2nd in line were the Hoogendyk’s who also enjoyed an over night stay. We walked downtown and enjoyed the flea market and antique car show. We ate at Cafe’ Sante’ – European meets traditional goodness!

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3rd was a pleasant surprise visit by the Verwys’ parents. They came up just for the day and we enjoyed Whitefish and chips at the Villager in Charlevoix.

Walking around Charlevoix we found some great signs that were top contenders when naming our blog:

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Marvin and I have been busy unpacking and checking out the town. It seems like every other night there is something that is going on in town. We’ve eaten at a few of the restaurants already. Marvin found a local shop that was selling coffee mugs and you could get them refilled for 50 cents. Needless to say, he is now a daily visitor to Water Street Cafe’.

The newest thing...

2010-08-20T19:01:00.002-04:00

Our blog changed because we have! (we are not going back the the DR... in case you haven't heard)

More to come but first we HAVE to go get ice cream :)

Top contenders

2010-08-07T23:17:00.001-04:00

Regarding the recent submissions for the blog title change… the top picks are as follows, in no particular order:

Sunshine to Snow ( The travelling adventures of Marv, Linds & Fran)
M&L freeze their buns off
We’re Hot then we’re Cold
I’m still thinking for a title while I fold laundry
0 to 45 (parallels)
Trash Heap to Back Woods
The Great Downsize (population numbers)
Smogville vs. Pure Michigan
Can we drink the water or not? ( where are we now)
Boyne-ing Around
Boyne-ing, Boyne-ing, Boyne!
What is Boyne? A river in Ireland?
Ohhhh, we’re half way there…

Please vote for your favorite, new submissions are still welcome.

Because everyone loves photos on blogs…

new title

2010-08-03T23:12:00.001-04:00

I need help thinking of a new title... something with the following , or something else if it is good :)

Boyne
Mountains
Sunshine to Snow
On the road again
moving a lot

If your title is chosen I will do a spotlight blog all about you... I know some of you are so pumped about the prize! :)

Grocery Outlet

2010-08-01T00:05:00.001-04:00

Today I found a sweet little place to get a great deal… Morrie’s Grocery Outlet. This store is located on Chicago Dr in Hudsonville.

What is a grocery outlet… well in short its a cheep place to buy your groceries that you might otherwise get a Meijer, Wal-Mart, or your local Mom and Pop shop. These shops sell in their items at discounts ranging from 30% to 50% off what the same item would sell for in your local supermarket. Sometimes these are no frills stores that resemble a warehouse more than a store, sometimes not. Some are stores that usually sells all the groceries returned by a supermarket to their warehouse. Why were they returned? Sometimes due to a case getting dropped or punctured which ruins one or two cans or boxes. Sometimes due to a manufacturer overestimating how many of an item to produce. Sometimes due to a label change or warehouse closing. For whatever reason these excess goods must be sold. Items whose packaging is compromised are discarded and the rest sent out by the truckload to end up for sale at your local salvage grocery store.

A few of the deals I found today include the following, but their inventory changes daily!

candy bars $0.25
flips pretzels $0.50
Natural Valley Granola Bars –6 pack $0.99
Starbucks frappuccinos- 4 pack $1.49
Orbitz gum 2 for $0.50

List of Michigan outlets, list is not exhaustive, but it’s a start:

Michigan

Allegan

Specific address unknown but I have plans to visit on Monday- will post a report :)

Bay City
Blue Knight Salvage Foods, 3286 South Huron Road, Ph 989-686-5540

Bear Lake
Bear Lake Discount Grocery, 11740 Chippewa Hwy., Ph 231-864-4640

DeWitt
Mor For Less, 16795 S. Business 27, Ph 517-372-5096

Evart
Wieler's Food Mart, 5938 W US-10, Ph 231-734-9730

Farwell
Hook 'em Discounts, 199 W. Main, Ph 989-588-3200

Grandville= rumored to have closed today!
M & B Foods, 2900 Wilson Avenue SW #5, Ph 616-249-0081

Haslett
Sav-A-Lot Food Stores, 16912 Marsh Rd., Ph 517-339-9670

Homer
Kryst Farm Market, 8451 Van Wert Rd.

Hudsonville- this is the one I’ve visited
Morrie's Grocery Outlet, 2410 Chicago Dr.

Lansing
Sav-A-Lot Food Stores, 3222 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Ph 517-394-0396

McBane
Pineview Discount Store, 9200 S. Burkett Road, Ph 231-825-2892

Mio
Country Corners, 1284 W. Kittle Road, Ph 989-826-6063

Newaygo
Brookside Discount Grocery, 3701 W 72nd St., Ph 231-924-9118

Sand Lake
Verns Wooden Nickle, 70 2nd Street, Ph 616-636-5795

Scottville
The Mercantile, 707 W. US 10, Ph 231-757-9130

Sturgis
Misfit Foods LLC, 116 North Centreville Rd

Research curtious of Andersons and Cart Challenge and Savings Addiction

The end is near…

2010-07-31T23:33:00.001-04:00

Life in the DR is coming to its end. This Wednesday Lindsay will be flying to the DR to gather up the rest of their belongings and make the final return back to Michigan.

After MUCH thought, prayers, and conversations we have decided it will be best to stay in Michigan instead of returning to the DR for another year.

We are very excited to be close to family and friends once again, but this is not to say it was an easy decision to make. We will miss many of the things that we experienced over the last year in Santo Domingo and at The American School. It will be hard not to return to our students and friends we made while living there. But we feel, finally, that this is where God wants us this next year.

So long Santo Domingo!

Thank heaven for 7-11!

2010-07-11T23:52:00.001-04:00

7/11- free slurpee day! To celebrate our sunday school class went on a slurpee run to our local branch. 7/11s give our 7.11 oz of free slurpee on July 11th (7/11). My choice- Sprite twisted with Wild Cherry!

Other notable events since vacationing in Michigan include:

The Twing/Bergakker Wedding.

Congrats to Lee and Becky!

Biking to Rockford

Dinner at the Corner Bar- Hotdogs to go and picnic by the water for open mic night

4th of July celebrations- East Grand Rapids for fireworks

Wes fighting off the crime in E. GR!

Red, White and Blue- America we love you!

Day in Detroit- Go Tigers!

Baker Family Outing!

Tom, Lyla, Marvin & Lindsay

Michael, Brittan, Arrrrrri and Bethany

Greeting from Grand Rapids! We love it here!

Life in Michigan

2010-07-01T10:32:00.003-04:00

Since coming home last saturday life has been a whirlwind. Here's a short recap.

Church on Sunday's
Sunday evening hang out with our F.L.O.C.K. and other members :)
Softball on Monday nights
Evening walks
Drive to Boyne
Dinner with Family
Bike ride to Rockford
Hang out with friends- many nights
Gym Co.
Bike around Reed's Lake
Chris Tomlin/Toby Mac concert- click here to see photos
Visit family in Flint
Shopping
More walking
More shopping

The first 3 days I was in the US I ate at Subway everyday. I've visited Target at least 3 times and I've started couponing again. If I get any great deals I'll post.

Good Outlet shopping deal- Jeans @ Gap for $5.97!

!!!

2010-06-17T21:38:00.001-04:00

One last note before signing off for the summer….

Tonight I went with a friend to get our nails done- Graduation tomorrow. We tried this new salon “liz salon” in Plaza Central (mall). I got a mediocre mani and pedi but I thought oh well how much can it be…$450RD/ EACH (that’s $12.50 each) which is A LOT for here. Last time I got mani, pedi, and hair washed and styled for $500RD ($14). So anyways… after the mediocre mani y pedi I got a 30 minute massage, it was heavenly! Well worth the $500RD.

So let me back up… as I was finishing with my Pedicure I gave the lady my sandals. Instead of putting them on me she tried them on her self- I thought something must have gotten lost in translation but then I repeated my self and I thought she understood. I ended up leaving the room with those throw away flip flops and headed to my massage. After the massage I came down- they were closing- and I asked for my zapatos. They looked at me weird and said where did you leave them.. I said with the pedicure lady. Well the pedicure lady had left and my shoes were no where in sight. We spent about a half hour looking for them (everywhere including a lady’s lunch box). In the end I walked out in the throwaway flip flops and got all services for free… I’m still very disappointed about my shoes.

I’m pretty sure the pedicure lady stole them- she tried them on… that was weird!

(Andrea SIL- I can only image what you would have done if you A) Spoke Spanish and B) Had this happen to you!)

Last Day of School

2010-06-17T11:15:00.003-04:00

The year started way back in August 2009 and looking back I can't belive it is over. What a challenge, what an experience, what an adventure!

Let's Review!

Classes I taught:

9th grade World Geography
10th grade World History
11th grade US History
12th grade Government and Economics
7th grade Health (2nd semester)

Flying Solo

2010-06-15T21:28:00.001-04:00

Marvin went home today… well he hasn’t made it as of yet- He has a layover now in Atlanta that has been delayed longer because of thunderstorms. Also Marvin took the flee bag too! So I’m alone on this little island!

We have had some trouble with Marvin’s flight- he was flying Spirit. You may have heard about the Spirit pilot strike?? We had to get a refund and then rebook with Delta. It worked out great in the end. We ended up getting a better deal, unlike some passengers that are stranded. Ask Marvin about going to the airport and sneaking into the “authorized personnel area”

I had to drive today - First time since August 2009! (except for my short trip home in April)- it was actually better than expected! I don’t think I will hit anyone, I’m more worried about them hitting me!

I fly home on Saturday- I’m hoping to get an earlier flight because we have our great friends getting married…

Congrats Lee & Becky

A post for grandma

2010-06-09T19:18:00.001-04:00

I’ve been tutoring this week A LOT. Most of the students I tutor need help studying for exams… not in this case. My wonderful Taiwanese students have exonerated most of their exams so we are just “studying” English. Today we finished 1.5 hours of tutor and we planned to go to the gym but in between we fit in a quick game of Rummy Cube!

De Regreso a la Cruz

2010-06-06T21:32:00.001-04:00

This Thursday- Sunday Morning, John Piper, spoke at a conference in San Souci, Dominican Republic. The conference was FREE, but that wasn’t the best part.

We attended Friday, Saturday and Sunday Morning
He spoke in English and it was translated to Spanish and Creole- for our Haitian population
I took 13 pages of notes
Attendance: Over 5,000 (MCV thinks around 10K)

Topics Included:

How important is it to get the gospel right?
How is God magnified in us when we are satisfied in Him?
10 places to pursue JOY all the time
What does LOVE look like and where does it come from?
Fighting for JOY

We went with Michelle and Israel who came to us from GR for a short little vacation. They are now traveling the island and will be flying home on Thursday.

Back to the Cross

2010-05-31T21:53:00.003-04:00

John Piper will be here this Thursday-Sunday doing a "Back to the Cross" speaking engagement. The concert is free; it will be broad casted in English and translated to Spanish.

We have visitors coming in Thursday morning (Michelle & Israel Alvarado) and they are interested in going too. So if we go I'll post more about it.

Cat sitter

2010-05-30T22:29:00.002-04:00

Marvin will be coming home June 14th, Lindsay will be right behind him on June 19th. Both plan to be at HHBC on Sunday :) Woohoo!

Return date: ~July 26th

Yes that's right 6 weeks+ in MICHIGAN! Woohoo!

Anyone interested in fran sitting? We have to leave her in the DR! :(

5 oceans

2010-05-25T19:26:00.002-04:00

All week we are reviewing in class for final exams which start next week.

Today one of my 9th graders and I had an interesting conversation as she was filling our her review packet...

Student: Mrs. V does it matter which oceans I label?

Mrs. V: What do you mean??? (puzzled look)

Student: Well you said lable 5 but there are 7 on the map

Mrs. V: Which map are you looking at? (puzzled again)

Student: That one (and points to the one on the wall), see 7 oceans.... (she looks for a second) Wait! They have Pacific and Atlantic on their twice...

Mrs. V: Oh Student - don't say things like this out loud it makes me look like a bad teacher

FYI: 5 oceans

Atlantic
Pacific
Indian
Artic
Southern

The 3rd wheel

2010-05-21T23:56:00.003-04:00

On a fuzzy note...

The fuzz bag has been very affectionate since we returned from vacation.

We recently discovered her favorite foods - other than canned tuna... (in no particular order)

Cheese covering on Cheeto's*
Cookie dough*
Strawberry Yo-plait Yogurt*

* All things she consumed today.

Tonight we were sitting on our bed, Marvin was using the computer and Lindsay was reading. Fran was ready too be petted. Nobody was paying attention to her though so she decided to start crawling all over Lindsay. After repeatedly sticking her butt in Lindsay's face she finally settled down inside Lindsay's arms. We have photo documentation. Fran is the one with the collar on. For whatever reason she has been really pumped up to see us lately. She is getting a little older and maybe a little nicer. Although earlier this week Marvin was rough housing with her and she promptly sprinted across the bed and bit Lindsay directly on the knee only to return to Marvin for more rough housing. Crazy cat.

VACATION!

2010-05-21T23:51:00.001-04:00

It’s already been a few weeks since we were on vacation… it’s been a busy few weeks here since our visitors left. But I must give this blog some attention :)

Link over to Becca’s blog to see a wonderful narrative of their visit.

When our wonderful visitors agreed to vacation with us this year, the planning was on! We tried to give them as much “island life” as possible in a short weeks vacation.

We started off our vacation by eating at a very ethnic Dominican Restaurant… Burger King, Starbucks…. just to name a few :)

We spent a lot of time hanging out!

We hung out in PAIRS

We hung out in “QUADS”

Marvin made some weird faces…

And we visited amazing places…

It was altogether a FABULOUS vacation. It was very hard to let them go home. I tried to talk Adam into being a PE teacher and Becca could work in Pre-School and bring the boys down for a cultural experience… Adam was more about it than Becca~ We know they are needed in GR :)

MCV's frisbee catch

2010-05-09T20:05:00.002-04:00

A preview of the week we spent with Adam and Becca... more to come!

Parque Verde

2010-05-02T18:19:00.001-04:00

Elections for city officials are May 17th. City officials once elected do little for the communities. There may be some corruption occurring… but it is nice when elections are around the corner. Officials tend to create things that are eye catching so the public knows they have done something for the community.

Our local official created the Green Park (Parque Verde). We visited it earlier this week and took some fun photos. It is just next to the McDonald’s and the IKEA- very close to our house.

As we walked the park I asked Marvin Questions and he answered them…

Lindsay: Marvin if you could pick any sculpture, which would be your favorite?

Marvin: I don’t know, that one (then pointed to the closest one)

Lindsay: Marvin which animal do you want your picture next to?

Marvin: None of them, can we go yet, it’s too hot

Lindsay: Marvin stand next to the turtle and act like a turtle

Marvin: Are you kidding me…

Lindsay: Marvin since you wouldn’t act like a turtle will you stand next to the eagle and at least put your arms out

Marvin: (with arms out in front of the eagle) did you take the picture yet

We really did have a great day. I love the park and hope to go back soon. Marvin would probably rather me go by myself. But we do make a great pair and we ultimately are BEST FRIENDS!

Michigan Trip

2010-04-29T21:59:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago now I was able to visit Michigan. It was a great trip. Well worth all the hassle in the airports.

I accompanied one of my students, Luisa, to her orientation at Norte Dame. We ate at Chick-fil-a and I had my first Diet Coke of the trip.

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Lunch with the family. Betsy and I in our coordinating outfits. Later in the week- Lunch at Olive Garden (soup, salad, and breadsticks please)

Ice-cream when it was basically freezing out… notice the Northfaces.

A stop at the Hoogen-hopper household

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A real great sisters’ outing to Becca’s new salon and Wincherstonfieldville… some new GR restaurant.

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A visit over to the Geysbeek household. Subway, Wii, and lots of great girl talk

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A stop at the VandenToorn household to check out their newest edition, Zay! We also had a great time chatting, trying to get Averie to talk, and going for walks! We are trying to get them to visit next year so if you see them suggest that they come.

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A day in Flint- Walk with Grams in the morning, shopping all day in Birch Run with Grams and Mom, dinner at night with the Baker family. It wouldn’t be complete without Uncle Dave and his photos :)

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Back to GR for one last night. Shin-dig at 1036! In attendance, Geysbeeks, Hoogs, Verwys fam, Dotsons & Adam, and the newest member Ben.

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I had such a wonderful time in Michigan! I am truly blessed by friends and family who welcomed me all week long! It was too bad Marvin couldn’t join but you all had a great laugh at the blog postings he made during his week of solitude!

Marvin is expected to be home in GR around June 14th.

Samana Santa

2010-04-25T21:57:00.001-04:00

I am very behind on blog posting. Marvin did a great job posting while I was away- he is a very funny character. I will encourage him to continue blogging and you can too.

Well way back in March we had our spring break.

Week long vacation visit from the Baker’s. Click on over to see the photos.
Trip to the North- Puerta Plata
Trip to the East- Las Terrenas
Trip to the Waterfalls- so fun
Out to eat daily, some times dinner in the evening with Pedro.
Shopping with the locals
Riding 6 in a 5 passenger

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This is one of the weird photos I took. They have a special drive for motos.

Day 5 of Isolation

2010-04-15T21:44:00.001-04:00

I saw Fran walking through my room today. She was walking really gingerly like she wanted to walk without setting her paws down. She scanned the ground like she was trying to avoid stepping on something. She finally gave up and walked out of the room with a really disgusted look on her face. I was really interested to see what she had seen so, a few hours later I pealed myself off my perch on the bed to go get some more Swiss Cake Rolls and potato chips. After I settled back onto my perch and found it exactly how I left it, (really, my form had molded into the mattress) I realized that Lindsay asked me to change the sheets last Saturday when she left. So I set myself upon the monumental task of changing the sheets. Over the course of my duties it became more and more evident that my surroundings had become less and less sanitary. My pillowcase looked like I had used it for a gunnysack race. The sheets were all matted and nappy. My half of the bed (I’ve been occupying half and using the other half as kind of an office. Our bed is huge so it allows for a nice sized office) was decidedly more beige in color than the side Lindsay occupies when she is home. After a few trips to the washing machine, I began to realize that aside from having become a Hazardous Material sight, my room had taken on something of an odor. Earthy but unpleasant. Finally, I placed it. Remember going to the zoo as a child? I always hated the reptile exhibit, partly because snakes are untrustworthy but mostly because of the smell. The unmistakable smell of molting and shedding. That was the smell in my room. It has just been the two of us (Fran and I) but together we have worked up quite a stink. I swept and cleaned up a little and the smell improved a bit. I will have to ask Lindsay when she comes home if 45 minutes is a reasonable amount of time to spend sheathing a pillow. I was going to do both pillows but 45 minutes is too long to in my opinion, she can do hers when she gets here.

Also, Fran has proven to be quite the provider. In the absence of meals of any kind she has taken it upon herself to hunt for fresh meat. After alternating between pouncing on and then letting escape a gecko, she graciously presented me with its dead corpse which she laid on the threshold of the bedroom. I politely declined because truth be told, it was really small. It was almost a baby, but she was quite proud.

Tonight I made myself the first dinner I have had since Lindsay has been gone. I made baked potato on the cob. It is very much just a baked potato. It was kind of hard but I figured it out. First, I had to wrap the potato in aluminum foil. That part was pretty easy, it was like wrapping a Christmas present (which I am told is fairly straightforward). Next I had to turn the oven on. After I did that and placed the potato in the oven I waited for a few minutes and then checked out the progress. There wasn’t much but I didn’t feel like waiting 7 minutes just for a warmed up potato so I indulged. I’ve had better, but I felt good about it because I made it all by myself.