Home sweet home for the holidays

Tugboat at the airport. Waiting.

A little snow

When I Was Wee

School bus stuck in the snow

It has been about 5 years since I've seen snow like this. As I'm writting this, I still hear cars outside, tires spinning, engines reving - people stuck in the snow. It has been snowing for 11 hours steadily. This picture doesn't really show that there is about a foot and a half of snow outside. It took me forever to get home. I got stuck about four times. Then I had to shovel the whole driveway just to get in my parking spot. Craziness. The snow is so pretty though. I just want to jump in it and make snow angels!

Have You Seen My Husband?

The Ugliest Tree

Charlie Brown's Christmas tree looks pretty snazzy compared to this one. That may be because our tree this year isn't really a tree, but a very large, floppy tree branch that I found in a park. We are pretty broke right now, and will be spending Christmas with Caleb's folks, so buying a tree wasn't really an option. Not one to give up easily when it comes to the Christmas spirit, I was pretty proud of myself for finding this "tree". Then I got it home and spent an hour trying to get it to stand and not fall over. It is tied in two places to the curtain rod with kitchen twine. Merry Christmas!

Caleb and I Looking Fancy

A Whirlwind Michigan Thanksgiving and the Loveliest Wedding

Caleb and I just got back from Michigan Monday morning at 2am. Just in time for me to work at 9. We are both very tired from our very eventfull and short time in Michigan. We arrived in Michigan Thanksgiving day and had a great, relaxing day with my family. My mom made a ton of food and I ate until I hurt. The next day I spent running errands with my brother and helping with last minute wedding emergencies for our friends Dan and Emily, who were getting married that Saturday. We had the rehersal dinner (Caleb was a groomsman) and the guys kidnapped the groom for the rest of the evening. All of them, that is 16 guys, got stuck in an elevator for 45 minutes. Nobody came to rescue them and they ended up breaking out and climbing out of the elevator. I guess it was a good bonding experience, because Caleb said it was the best part of the night. I found out later that they thought the elevator jammed because one of the guys was crowd surfing in the elevator and kicked a button with his foot...
Anyway, Saturday was great. The wedding was at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art a fun, non-traditional, very cool place to have an evening wedding. I used to teach kids' ceramics and art classes there about 4-5 years ago. The "alter" was a big, orange, Chihuley glass sculpture. Our dear friends Dan and Emily wrote their own vows and they were so heartfelt that I was leaking all over the place. We've known Dan for many years and we love that he has Emily. She is lovely, and bright, and funny, and adventurous. There were so many friends that we hadn't seen in years at the wedding. It was a Kalamazoo reunion. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends all over the place! Caleb and I danced the night away and bid everyone a very sad farewell.
We left Michigan early on Sunday and now we are back in Providence. Caleb hit the ground running and has been in his studio pretty much the last two days. He has an impossible amount of work to fininsh before the semester ends. I'm pretty much just planning on not seeing him until December 14th. He is doing great though. He is making interesting work and being invited to be in shows.
I'm trying to figure out what to do with my life. I can't keep having dead end jobs. Most of my girlfriends have careers of some sort, and I need to committ to something as well. I'm thinking about several things, all very different, right now. Grad school for couseling, working at an adoption agency, or becomming a sommelier. I'm just not living up to my potential, and I want to be proud of myself and to make Caleb proud too. I'm open to career ideas if anyone has any. I need to do more research and pray about it. One thing I am wary of is spendint a ton of money on school and a lot of time. I sure am not getting any younger and deffinitely not any richer. We will be rolling in debt after Caleb is done with school. Anyway, I want to be excited about something and tackle it with passion.
Okay, time to go to bed. Tugboat is all snuggled next to me and nice and warm.

On our way to michigan for thanksgiving

Our New Home and Caleb's Birthday

I'm back again. Sometimes there is so much time between my posts that I wonder if people will just give up and stop checking my blog. Please don't! We moved again. So that resulted in chaos and loss of internet access for a short while and also lack of energy to do anything other than try to get this apartment to look like home. I forgot to mention that there was a lot of drama surounding getting this apartment. We looked at a bunch of places, most nicer and much more money and had actually put money down on an apartment and were planing on moving into it the following week. We had gone through a real estate agency and gave them the check. The landlord contacted the real estate agency the day before we were going to sign the lease and said he had found somebody else to rent the place. The agency was very upset, out of a commission and we got screwed. We found out Thursday night and had to be out of our apartment by Wednesday. Thank God, he protected us from another nasty landlord, and from spending more money on a place than we should have anyway. I was really nervous the next several days, and had to keep praying for trust and belief in His provision. We ended up signing a lease late on Saturday. It was actually for an apartment we had seen Thursday night after we found out we were homeless. It is cheap and with a little t.l.c. will be cute. Caleb said our new apartment is kind of like living in a cabin. There is no hallway, just rooms connected with doorways, giving a cozy, albeit awkward feel. It is very much like a cabin. Our landlord is nice and relaxed, not insane like our last landlords were. There are still boxes everywhere, but we have gotten somewhere with the living room and kitchen, so it is livable. Tugboat likes it too. Caleb built me some kitchen counters and storage, so it looks very user friendly and kind of industrial. My red kitchenaid looks rockin' on the white counters.
Caleb turned 28 on Wednesday. Old man. Actually, we are the same age for four months. I surprized him with a massage and dinner. It was our first home-cooked meal in our new place. We had Mediterranean swordfish wraped in prociutto with garlic roasted potatos and tiramisu for dessert. We both layed down with a belly ache after that meal. So good, but so rich.
Caleb is liking school a lot more now. He is busy all the time and I'm amaised that he hasn't gone crazy yet. He is still patient and kind to me regardless of the pressure he is under at school. I am very thankfull for my husband! He has been asked to show his work at a new media conference in Scottland and at a gallery in Germany. They asked him. How cool is that! He is pushing himself to excell and be very proactive in making connections with the right people and seeking critical imput on his work. If anyone can make it, it is Caleb. -By the grace of God.
I'm doing well too. Long walks outside have helped. I take the kids I nanny for to the park everyday. We went to the zoo yesterday and it was such a nice change in our routine. So much work though! Getting them all ready and their snacks and outfits and diapers and strapped all in safe to their seats and folding up the enomous stroller and heaving it into the trunk.... Anyway props to all the supermoms out there that take their tiny kids everywhere. I just felt proud that we did it.
I miss my girlfriends in Seattle! I really miss Friday's excellent wives club. Haven't found any excellent wives here yet. ;-)
I hope you ladies are still meeting every week. What book are you reading? I'm reading, "The Dangerous Duty of Delight", by John Piper. Really thought provoking.

So Many Boxes, so many Moves

My favorite bouquet

A Dislocated Elbow, An Impromptu Party, and a New Apartment (hopefully)

I haven't had internet service in about a week, so I appologize for not posting in so long. Last week was both the worst week here yet and also the best. Let me elaborate.
On Tuesday I accidentaly dislocated Franklin's (the little toddler I'm a nanny for) elbow. I had a baby in one arm and Franklin in a room he wasn't supposed to be in, refusing to budge. I had his hand in mine and was trying to coax him to move and I lifted him momentarily by his arm into the hall. I didn't realize he was hurt until we were having lunch and he wasn't using his arm. I felt sick to my stomach and absultely guilty. I hurt him. The poor little boy ate lunch with one hand and when I lifted him out of his highchair he started to cry. I called his mom and left a message and was able to get ahold of his dad, who is an orthopedic surgeon. I didn't know if his arm was sprained or broken or what, but I was terrified. His dad thought it was probably dislocated and told me to drive the kids into his office so he could take a look at it. It was a tearfull 45 minute drive to the office and my mom graciously answered a blubbering phone call from me and reasured me that it was only by the grace of God that she hadn't accidentaly killed us kids when Matt and I were growing up. I think that was comforting.... So, I walked into the doctor's office shaking and holding Franklin and baby Anna in her car seat. Franklin's grandpa and dad work together and are both doctors so they checked him out and gave him an ex-ray just in case. No broken bones, just a dislocated elbow that was poped back in place and the kid was fine. Meanwhile, I was in one of the rooms being comforted by the nurses as I fell apart again as soon as Franklin started crying. They reassured me that this kind of thing happens all the time and that its easy to fix. I thought for sure I was fired and expected the parents to be angry. Instead I was blown away by the grace and kindness that they showed me. I told them that I would never intentionally hurt Franklin and that I totally understood if they wanted to talk to me about the incident. Instead, they asked me if I was okay, and said that if this is the worst thing that happens it's no big deal. Apparently, Franklin's three year old cousin had the same thing happen to her a few weeks ago. I had no idea that this was a fairly common thing. Poor babies! I think the fact that both of Franklin's parents are doctors (and his mom works in an ER) helped because they have a different perspective on what an emergency is than the average person. Also, we didn't have to go to an ER, we went to his dad's office. God is gracious and good. I think that the hardest part of the whole thing was forgiving myself. On my drive home, I was thinking about the day and just feeling really terrible and exhausted. Then I remembered that my God forgives me all the time for all the crap I do, and that His sacrifice covers it all. I realized that if God can forgive me, than I probably should too. The rest of the week Franklin got extra kisses and snuggletime.
On Friday, as I was driving home from work I thought I didn't want to face an empty apartment again, with no plans and the possibility of eating dinner alone. I called Caleb and told him to invite anyone who wanted to come over for dinner and I would roast a chicken. I have to admit I also knew that Caleb would be more likely to come home for dinner if I made an event of it. We ended up having ten people over and hung out until about 1am. It was so nice to have a housefull of people. I think it was the best night we've had here so far. I feel like I really live in a place once I can start welcoming people into my home.
Speaking of home, we put in an application for an apartment today. We won't know until Monday if we get it, but it would be a lot bigger and in a much nicer neighborhood than we live in now. It's also quite a bit more money so I'm a little nervous about affording it. We can pay rent, I'm just not sure we can heat it! We have eleven days until we need to be out of here. It will be so nice not to live in a stessfull situation with crazy landlords. Pray that we have the energy for all this, since it will be a midweek move and I can't take the day off and Caleb is incredibly busy.
I'm going apple picking tomorrow. I'm so excited. I will be going with that girl, Cecelia, whom I've mentioned before in a previous blog. By the way, she did end up calling me and we have hung out a few times since. I'm looking forward to a day outdoors and crunchy apples and cider. We may even make applesauce. I'll post pictures for sure.
It was 54 degrees with thunderstorms in Seattle today. Providence was 75 degrees and sunny. I'd still trade locations, but it's been a lovely fall.

His Faithfullness

"Praise be to the Lord,
for He showed His wonderful love to
me
when I was in a besieged city.
In my alarm I said,
'I am cut off from Your sight!'
Yet You heard my cry for mercy
when I called to You for help."

Psalm 31:21-22

The Lord has shown His faithfullness to me this weekend and revealed to me my lack of trust in Him. I have often felt cut off from God's sight. Alone. Needing mercy. This city does feel besieged and godless. Caleb and I were just dicussing how amoral Providence felt. However, has Christ been my Life, my Hope, my Joy, daily since I've moved here? No. I have cried out to God like David in this psalm, "I am cut off from Your sight!". I've said, alright Lord, I moved here. I'm being faithfull. You know the sacrifice and the tears. You know how alone this feels. Now it's Your turn to be faithfull to me. - How arrogant! How pridefull.- God never stopped being faithfull to me, I just didn't want to suffer that much for Him. I am always put in my place when God does just what He promised from the begining. He takes care of me. He is my rampart and my sheild. He is my daily bread. All this to say that Caleb and I have found a church. Or rather, God put a church right in front of us. We prayed that God would make it very clear to us if this is or isn't the right church. Our prayer was directly answered as the church revealed their heart to us and had a long period of prayer and communion. Caleb and I wept, convicted of our own lack of trust in our God and His enduring faithfullness. So I say, "Praise be to the Lord, for He showed His wonderful love to me!".
'

Moving Again

I apologize for not posting anything meaningful in a while. While pictures of leaves and dead birds and sesame street characters are cute, they really don't let you know how we are doing. So here it goes. Caleb and I are finding a new apartment for November (for reasons I can't get into right now, other than to say it has been a very stressful month in terms of our living situation). We gave our 30 day notice and are moving once again. Please pray that we find not just an apartment, but a place we can be at peace and call home, at least for the next couple of years. Also, Caleb desperately needs studio space and unfortunately he is in the only program at RISD that doesn't provide him with a studio. We will be looking for a two bedroom because of that. I think it will be a good idea anyway for Caleb to have a studio at home because right now he is so, so busy that he is gone from morning until night. He is also stressed about trying to balance everything; school, work, me, moving...
The light at the end of the tunnel is that we are planning on going back to his folks house in the upper peninsula of Michigan for Christmas. We will spend about 10 days with them. We need a vacation from life for a little while. Caleb and I don't really take vacations. We just move across the country. Even when we go back to Michigan to visit family it is usually harried and stressful as there is never enough time to really see everyone. We usually return home exhausted and go right back to work. So, 10 days in the remote, snowy wonderland of Hancock, Michigan sounds pretty delightful.
I'm sick with a head cold because I've been kissing the babies I nanny for a lot this week. What can I say? They needed the love and they are just so darn cute. The little boy has been testing me lately but I think it is expected as he is just hitting the terrible twos. I'm trying to be patient, firm, and consistent. It can be a real challenge when I'm being kicked in the gut as I'm changing his diaper!
Tugboat is in heat again and she's driving us crazy this morning. I think she wants to get outside to visit the neighborhood boys. We should have gotten her fixed eons ago.
I still don't have much of a social life. It's slow going when I'm really not in any social circles. I'm in Caleb's circle of course, but a lot of the conversation of his peers has to do with critiques, teachers, lectures, and other elements of school that I can't relate to. It is only natural. However, as I've mentioned before, his peers are all nice people so I feel welcome. I just get bored sometimes with the conversation. I was proud of myself this week. I called up a girl I barely knew and asked her if she wanted to grab a beer after work. I know it is such a ridiculously small thing, however, I can be rather shy when it comes to initiating friendships. We ended up hanging out. Caleb and her boyfriend are friends, so they joined us and it was very natural and nice. I really like this girl. Her name is Cecilia and she is half Brazilian. She is fluent in Portuguese and English and she is smart, funny and kind. My hangups when it comes to initiating a friendship also include feeling that I'm over analyzing the situation, and I'm not sure at what point do I wait for them to call or do I call them. I've called her twice, so now should I wait to hear from her? You would think that I should have this figured out by twenty-eight. I feel like I'm in middle school. Does she like me? Ha, ha.
Speaking of friends, I recently joined facebook and have found some long lost high school friends. I feel like that's quite an accomplishment considering I went to an international school in Budapest and my classmates are scattered all over the world. I'm working up to emailing a friend I've had since I was three years old but have fallen out of contact with her for almost ten years. We were best friends and she was like a sister to me. How do you fill someone in on a decade of experiences and life? How do you rekindle a friendship after so long?
Caleb and I will be trying out another church tomorrow. We went to a really bizarre church last Sunday and it looked like it was Lex Luther who was preaching. Their "cutting-edge technology" that they were so clearly proud of was a little overwhelming. Tomorrow we are checking out Renaissance church, recommended by some Mars Hill folks that used to live in Providence. I can't wait to find a church. My soul is so hungry. I am loading up my ipod with Mars Hill sermon podcasts to listen to on my daily work commute.
It is a beautiful fall day here. Sunny, 70's, mariachi music drifting up from our neighbors outside. The ice cream truck just went by. Tugboat is asleep on the couch and I'm still in my pajamas. I love weekends.

Dead Bird in Roger Williams Park

Fall is here

The worm cup on sesame street!

Fine cup of coffee

I may no longer work at Uptown, but I can still make a damn fine cup of coffee! I'm sipping this and listening to Nick Drake's "Pink Moon" album and it takes me back to rainy Seattle and working so bleary eyed at 5 am.

Church and a Picnic

So Caleb and I headed off to church this morning at our usual Larsen time - ten minutes late to everything. It has been so long since we have been to a traditional, small church. Very different from what we are used to at Mars Hill. We were glad the pastor spent so much time in prayer and preached Jesus, but it was the worship that was a little hard to participate in. I forgot that the hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness" always makes me giggle because of how high it is and how painfully slow it is sung. The singing was led by a baby grand piano, a guitar, and a woman with an amazingly high vibrato voice. Caleb was trying to sing along with "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and his voice got so low that he sounded like a bass and I started shaking with laughter and then he lost it too and we were goners after that. Still with 3 more verses to sing. One of the hymns was over 300 years old. Beautiful, poetic words, but formal, stiff and a little tricky so sing along with. Oh, how many church services have I attended where I sat in the back stifling laughter as I struggled through some song that required the range of Mariah Carey! I'm sure that the sweet, regular church attendees thought I was just plain wicked, but it is my own inadequacy I am laughing at. Anyway, that all said, the Presbyterian church was a very nice church but we will keep looking.
Caleb's Digital Media classmates had a picnic down by the beach today. It was so nice. We had piles of Thai takeout and lots of beer and perfect weather. Tugboat ran wild and charmed everybody. We spent six hours just hanging out with his classmates, playing bocce ball, and looking for seashells. I came home with three new phone numbers and a cupful of seashells. After my last pathetic, sad post, you will all be happy to know that I have three people to call this week and also that Caleb and I are finally having dinner with our neighbors on Wed. night. Caleb actually suggested to me the other day that I Google how to make friends. I thought, wow, if I get that desperate I might have to. Thank God, today I think I made some friends!

River on fire

Caleb and I watched a bunch of black cloaked men and women float around in dark boats and light piles of wood on fire on floating sconces last night. There were gondola rides and men in costumes tossing red carnations at the crowds. It was a carnival atmosphere and though a bit culturally confusing, fascinating nonetheless.

Caleb's first week of school

It has been a while since my last post and I don't know where to begin. It has been a really hard week for me and I think a pretty good week for Caleb. Let's start with him. His first day of school was Monday. I actually went to orientation with him and felt a little sneaky being there as I was the only non-student. His classmates all seem genuinely kind and interesting. It is quite an international group with several students from Korea, one from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, and all over the U.S. There are 18 in the program that are new this year and I think 15 second year students. Caleb is cautiously excited and anticipating being incredibly busy. He may end up having 100hr work weeks including his job for Smith Harmon. We will still maintain date night somehow, as a necessity to connect regularly. I went with him to some grad welcome parties and really was struck with how friendly everyone was.
I still feel a little out of place. When people ask me what I "do" it is such a loaded question. Right now I nanny, but that is not all of who I am and what I do. Unfortunately there is a part of me, probably pride, that wants to explain this and yet I am at a loss for words. I can say my degree, that I don't use, or the volunteer work that I have done, or the books that I've read or that I grew up in Hungary but it all sounds flat. It sounds flat in the company of a group of graduate students pursuing their careers and their dreams with intent and direction and intensity. I think I feel especially rootless right now as I think about being so nomadic and following Caleb and his calling. I know that his calling is our calling as we are married, but I just feel really alone right now.
My work is isolating as I am way out in the country and at the same house all day. The children are sweet but this week has been rough. Long days and I got puked on and pooped on and that's as much as you need to know. I think it will be different when I can come home at the end of the day and connect with friends and a community of some sort. Right now I come home to an empty house and wait for Caleb to get home and eat and go to bed and start the day again in a few hours.
I have been crying out to the Lord and am waiting on Him to reveal His plan for me here and provide a friend. I think the difficulty with a lot of this move is that the feelings of isolation and loneliness are all so familiar. I can't let the memory of previous moves and their clouds overshadow this one because that would mean that I am not growing, changing, learning. I am trying to be honest, open and welcome new people and new experiences. Sometimes I just feel tired and miss my family in Seattle so much . You all know you are family to me. I miss you so much. Please, please pray for Caleb and me. We will be checking out a new church on Sunday. Maybe it will mark a new path on the road.

New Job and the Local Produce

The last several days Caleb and I have been pretty down. We found a place that does good chinese takeout so that has been a plus. We never did find good chinese food in Seattle. The first day of work was a little weird. I was in the burbs somewhere in small town Mass. in a "classy" culdesac with mansioney looking houses and I felt so foreign and way too friendly. I touched my employer on the arm on the way out and spent the next 15 minutes in the car fretting about it being too forward. East coat mannerisms are different than west coast ones. The last couple of days at work have been really encouraging though. Franklin the 21mo old said my name the first day. His folks were impressed as he had yet to say "mama". He has a huge vocabulary though. We spend all day pointing out colors, saying the abc's and reading books about trucks. The kid has such a truck obsession that going on walks is really slow but incredibly cute. He gets all starry eyed and stops and stares and just keeps saying "blue!, blue!" as a blue pickup passes. The tiny 3mo old Anna is cute as a button. I spend a lot of time feeding her and making sure she sleeps every other hour. Sometimes we just grin at each other.
Tugboat seems more adjusted to life here. She snoozing next to me curled around herself like a donut. Caleb got a new laptop for school and has met a few of his classmates. His spirits are up too, however some of it may have to do with his excitement about the new ipod just coming out. He's so crazy about fancy gadgets we can't afford. I told him our next big purchase is a graduate degree so he has to wait on the toys. His mom is in New York for the week so she's coming up here for the weekend. We are both looking forward to having someone else to talk to besides each other and to have someone we love visit. I have to say though, it really has been quite wonderful having Caleb to myself the past few weeks!
So, I checked out the local meat market and it is a cultural experience to say the least. I'm short so I fit in with all the hispanic people. There are at least 8 butchers that work behind huge glass cases filled to the brim with meat and parts and other delights I'm not familiar with. I'm not sure that anyone speaks english there. I'm definitely going back. I thought it was really cool.
We haven't really found a good grocery store, fish market, produce stand, etc. This is really geeky I know, but my Gourmet magazine this month is featuring cuban, puerto rican, el salvadorian and dominican food and I live in the perfect neighborhood to find all the specialty ingredients. Now if I can just find a store for all the regular stuff...
We might go to the ocean this weekend. I hope we do. I need to smell the salt in the air.

Providence

After an exhausting 20 hour drive from Michigan, Caleb and I arrived in Providence in the dark. I was listening to Red Letter as we drove in and I think it was really important to begin this next phase of life with God's praise on my lips. Funny thing is, as I was singing along I watched Caleb and our huge truck nearly side swipe a car and then we both had to pull over on a tiny street to let a huge firetruck roar through. Minor distractions, but then there always seems to be something that tries to distract us from worship. Anyway, our first night here we drank gin and tonics in our back yard with our landlady and one of the tenants. Then we grabbed a few items from the truck, blew up the air mattress and crashed. The next morning was coffee and a bagel, then a mad dash to get everything out of the truck and into our apartment before noon, since the truck was due back. I forgot that I could sweat so heavily that I turned into a human salt lick. Nasty! I don't know how many times I climbed those stairs... I am so thankful that our neighbor Ryan, from across the hall helped with the really heavy stuff. We grabbed lunch at The Classic Cafe after dropping the truck off. Caleb looked across the table at me and told me I looked "great". Sweat-matted hair, hadn't showered in a few days, covered in dirt, scratches and new bruises - yeah, I was real pretty. He told me he was glad I wasn't self conscious and he was proud of me for working so hard. I had a huge burger and their homemade chips. I felt like a dude.
We worked steadily all day on the house and for dinner had crackers Kathleen gave us, spicy black bean dip I found in a box, beef jerkey, and a bottle of champagne from the Wilmorlees. Our home was properly toasted and we fell asleep on the couch full of sodium and bubbly.
Oh, how our bodies ached this morning! We are like to 85yr olds hobbling around. We drove to Ikea today for a few essentials and now we are really tired. That place is like the black hole of shopping. I always leave amaized that I spent all day there and that it got dark so quickly. Tomorrow I start my new job. I have to admit I'm a bit nervous. The first day of any job is that way. For those of you that don't know, I'm going to be nannying for two tiny people. 21 month old Franklin and 3 month old Anna. I'll let you know how it goes.
Tugboat is depressed. She just lays around all floppy and sad looking. I think she's homesick. I told her I know what that's like. I miss you guys!

Summertime in kalamazoo

Wyoming sky

A Penske to Rhode Island

I've started this blog in an attempt to stay in touch with all of you. Leaving Seattle, Caleb and I were overwhelmed with the love and generosity shown us our last few weeks there. This is what it means to have community in the most beautiful sense. We felt really cared for as we read cards, opened care packages and ate homemade cookies. You helped us clean our house and move our boxes into the penske truck. You paid for the super 8 motels we stayed at in Spokane and La Crosse, WI. You would have paid for a super 8 motel in Wyoming but all the motels were full so we slept like a Larsen sandwich (Caleb, me, then Tugboat) in the cab of the truck. We want to be more generous like you. Caleb and I talked about this a bit and decided that it was quite a lesson for us. So, thank you, again.
We are currently in Michigan visiting our folks. Our plan is to head out the 30th or 31st and finish our trip to Rhode Island. It's about another 14hrs and we will be driving separately since we have a new car. It is a very, very red ford focus wagon. We are getting used to it, but it is not the ant van. Please pray for safety and stamina as this is the last leg of a long trip.