15--Do a service project together as a family (List #17)

When I put this on my list back in December, I envisioned my family doing something like helping with our church's work at a local elementary school, or helping at the mission for the homeless in downtown Indy, or maybe packing meals together to help feed hungry kids.

Enter Jen Hatmaker and her book 7:An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. Those who are my Facebook friends have heard me talk about this book many times.  It's been life-changing for me and for Matt (he had to read it just because I was talking about it SO much).  I'm still not sure how to eloquently communicate everything that has changed in my thought process and actions after reading her book, but maybe someday I'll get it all down on paper (or on my blog).  One thing, though, that it convicted me about was to love as Jesus did and does...and to especially love those that our society sometimes views as "unloveable."  Matt and I talked a lot about this, and about how our passion fit into this conviction we were feeling.

For the last 10 years or so, we have toyed with the idea of foster care.  We usually dismissed the idea fairly quickly...we already have a big family, a busy life, things are crazy, how could we really make that work?  But this time was different. We felt like we needed to pursue it a little further.  We don't have many friends who've ever fostered (3 to be exact--one on the west coast, one on the east, and one here in Indy).  We felt like we needed to sit down and talk to someone with a little experience and talk through their experience and our questions and concerns.  So our friends here in Indy agreed to have coffee with us and talk about their experience.  We loved hearing about how they fostered and later adopted their youngest daughter.  But when we told them that we had a deep desire to help kids, just not necessarily to have more of our own (adopt), they had the perfect answer for us!

Safe Families for Children.  Through SF, parents in crisis can place their children in a loving Christian home for a short period while they work through whatever challenge they are facing (homelessness, medical issues, etc.)  We felt like this was the perfect answer for our family.  After talking with the kids and getting the go-ahead, we applied to be a host family.  This was NOT the service project I thought we'd be doing together, but it has been such an incredible experience.  It's been challenging but rewarding.  My kids have stepped up and helped out.  I've seen a nurturing side (especially in my boys) that I would not have seen otherwise.  I think my kids have gained just a tiny bit of perspective, realizing all that they've been blessed with and learning about how little some kids have.  We got our first placement the day before Matt left for Paraguay.  It wasn't  perfect timing, but the needs that week were so great that we just couldn't ignore it.  We have grown to love our little 3 yr old guy.  He stayed for 2 1/2 weeks, but was back again after a weekend at home.  We ended up (to date) hosting him 5 weeks and he is currently at home with Mom.  We aren't sure it he'll be back or not, but he has a special place in our hearts and I'm sure that we will visit with him again, even if he isn't placed in our home.  We love that Safe Families is there for these struggling families, being the hands and feet of Jesus and helping to keep these kids with their parents instead of ending up in the system.  I wish I could show you a picture of N's awesome smile (he has a healthy 3 yr old temper to balance it, be assured!), but for now I'll leave you with this one...

14--Visit the Garfield Park Conservatory (list #25)

Well, I had hoped to take a photography class BEFORE I went to see the beautiful flowers in this small conservatory in an Indy city park.  It is just one of those places in my own city that I'd never visited and I felt like I should.  I had a couple of hours one morning (I should have chosen a day with more time, but I'm getting panicky about not finishing my list!)  So I threw my camera in my bag, hopped in the van and decided today was the day!

It's a little place, with one man sitting at the front desk, collecting the $1 donation. (it was a dollar well spent) Right off the bat, a chocolate tree.  What could be better?!

 I was in sensory overload and it was hard to force myself to walk SLOWLY through the greenhouse.  My life lately has been so rushed and busy that it has become a habit to hurry.  I was glad for the chance to slow down (hard as it was).

 These guys seemed a little creepy to me, but I figured the kids would love to see a picture of them.

 This seemed more like something I'd find in the craft aisle at Jo-Ann's, not growing on a plant!  Or maybe just belongs in the Lorax movie...

 Now THIS would be an awesome place to sit with a cup of coffee and a good book.

 We saw tons of these in Hawaii when we were there for our 10th anniversary.  Ahh...it's fun to remember good times, isn't it?

So, another item checked off today.  Working on lots more, but lots of challenges have cropped up this year.  More on that in my next post :o)

13--Spend a weekend away with Matt (List #7)

Let's face it...life is busy. Life with kids is crazy. Sometimes you need to get away together. And so "weekend away" definitely made it to my list, and it took a little creativity but we figure out a weekend that would fit into our schedule (except that I also scheduled Zane's baptism at church for the same weekend. Oops. He graciously agreed that he'd like for us to be there at church the day he's baptized so we moved him to October!) 

 We had a great weekend in Brown County...a cabin in the woods.

We had no agenda, so there was plenty of time to read, talk, cook, and enjoy nature.

Cute, cute cabin.  And the kitchen was great...had everything we needed!

Long hike at the state park

Matt agreed to try fennel and sugar (something we were given at the restaurants in India after the meal)

Awesome dinner...

...and dessert!

Not the greatest picture, but needed one with people in it! :o)  

12--Spend a week at Bearskin (list #10)

Ahh...if not for the mosquitos this place would be the most perfect place on earth.  What a wonderful week in the Northwoods with my family (and Dad, Brian & Courtney). 

 I love the peace of no cell phone (although now it IS possible to check email and Facebook from the lodge) and the quiet of reading by the lake.

 I love the fact that the kids play hard (no video games allowed on our trip) and fall into bed happy and exhausted each night. 

  

This is truly one of my favorite places, even if I can't stand the thought of baiting my own hook with a friendly leech (let alone participating in leech races!), 

 or touching one of those tasty fish that we spend our week trying to catch.

We do lots of reading and work puzzles...

eat homemade ice cream sandwiches and drink Snickerdoodle coffee...

(sorry no picture, guess we gobbled them up too fast)

take long walks...

view beautiful sights...

.

skip rocks on Lake Superior... 

 kayak or canoe around the lake...

 build sand castles...

 and keep our eyes open for wildlife.

Truly a rest for body and soul.  It was wonderful!

11-Take a Cooking Class (list #11)

I just love Groupons (except when I forget about redeeming them...)  Shortly after I came up with my 40 items for this year, a groupon for a cooking class showed up in my mailbox!  What luck!!  We really know nothing about Greek food or cooking, but this place is right next door to the studio where Quinn takes cello lessons, so we figured it was convenient and affordable so we'd give it a try.  We had a great time and the food was awesome!

We started with the main course...stuffed grape leaves.  I was a little hesitant about these, but they ended up being delicious.  Even Quinn tried one and liked it--leaves and all!!

 There were about 8 others in our class--we had a great time chatting, drinking wine, cooking...

 Quinn was at a cello lesson during our class and came over afterwards to wait for us to finish.  He didn't get to sit for very long.  He got roped into helping make some desserts.  Almond/cream cheese stuffed pastry.  Again, delicious!!

Then we made the appetizer--a feta dip with some of the best warm pita bread I've ever had!!  Fun, fun evening.

10-Visit a new Winery (list #15)

I wasn't planning on working on my "list" today, but we were at a wedding with a couple of hours to kill between ceremony and reception.  Had great conversation with some of Matt's co-workers over a couple of bottles of (so-so) wine.  This one was our favorite, so we bought a bottle and brought it home (cause I needed a picture for my blog!)

9- Go on a date with Clara (List #3)

Today was the day for my date with Clara!! I noticed several weeks ago that Joshua Bell would be playing with the Indianapolis Symphony this weekend, and since she's out of school already, the Thursday morning concert was completely feasible for us!  We decided to forego the coffee and pastries offered at the symphony and we went out to breakfast first.  3 Sisters was fabulous (as we expected!)

It was such a beautiful morning, we decided to sit out on the porch.

  My "Florentine"...eggs with tomato, spinach, basil, and cheese

 Clara's "Bob" with the hash brown combination of regular and sweet potatoes.  We took these pictures to send to Matt as he was really jealous interested in what we were eating.

Then we headed downtown...

 At Hilbert Circle Theater getting ready for the concert to start.  First piece was, well, interesting.  (It was actually very cool.  It just required thinking outside the box a bit.)  We were really there to hear the other piece...the Brahms Violin Concerto with soloist Joshua Bell (this concerto, I might add,  contains a very lovely oboe solo in the 2nd movement.  I remember traveling with my mom to Cleveland once to hear Scott play that solo.)

 We hadn't planned to get an autograph, but when she bought her CD the man asked if she'd like it opened so she could get it signed.  Well, of course she did!! :o)

8-Eat at Bub's Burgers (list #30)

Not a great picture (sorry)...and it was quite a miserable evening.  But look how handy those IKEA umbrellas can be!!  Bub's is one of those places that is close to home but I've never been.  Since I tend to get stuck in a rut, my routines, I decided to put this on my list.  It would force me to try a new place!  We dropped the older two off at church to head to the youth retreat for the weekend and decided to take the little kids out to dinner.  Delicious burger (no we didn't try the Big Ugly).  The highlight for the kids...red cream soda.

7-Read the entire New Testament (list #9)

Well...I thought about trying to read the entire Bible during Lent, but thought that might not be quite do-able for me this year.  I'm glad I decided to make the New Testament my goal.  I started out strong at the start of Lent, with Matthew and his genealogy of Jesus.  And I kept pushing on through the gospels

I got a little bit behind the third week of March, with a lot of things I had going on at school, but I tried to keep reading what I could, and then I took advantage of the quiet mornings during Spring Break to read...

...and took advantage of a quiet Easter afternoon and evening to finish (I Timothy to the end!)  What a way to end this Easter day of celebration of the resurrection of our Savior!

6-Go Duckpin Bowling (list #29)

Duckpin Bowling is pretty fun...and it's not quite the same as bowling.  You can be pretty good at bowling but be horrible at duckpin bowling.  Or (like me) you can be bad at both...  Regardless, it's pretty fun and was a fun way to spend an afternoon of our spring break.  There's an OLD duckpin bowling alley in Indy that kind of takes you back in time...

Clara in action...

And the results...(thanks Millie for being the scorekeeper since you couldn't play)

5- Trip to India (list #1)

My trip to India was truly a life-changing experience.  Rarely a day goes by that I don't think about the girls there, or reflect on the things that I learned during my 10 day adventure.  I experienced the reality of having brothers and sisters in Christ...on the other side of the globe...and ones that might not even speak the same language that I do.  I learned how to serve through "being" as opposed to "doing."  The previous work trips I'd taken part in all had some physical goal--building a church, painting rooms, cleaning areas...but this one was about loving people.  I blogged about my trip on our family blog. I have another entry or two to write, but you'll get more than enough of my thoughts here...
India part 1
India part 2
India part 3
India part 4

4 - Go on a Date with Millie (list #5)

Friday night, Millie and I took advantage of a joint birthday gift from some good friends (who also happen to be Browns) and went on a date!  Millie received lots of money for her birthday to use for a shopping trip, so after dinner we headed to Target.

She ended finding a new pair of boots that she really liked (and they were on sale!) and this wallet.  It is so bright that I don't think she'll ever lose it!  She was very excited because it's "Just like Jaime's except a different color!" (she got Bionic Woman Season 2 for her birthday from Uncle Scott, so we are once again obsessed with all things Jaime Sommers...)

 Then we were off to the movies to use our gift card!  We saw Big Miracle--it was a perfect movie for Millie, who dressed up as a member of the Animal Rescue Team for Halloween!  She was so funny...we got a small popcorn to share so that we wouldn't eat too much.  We were kind of early so we ate a bunch during the opening ads.  She leaned over and told me "no more till halfway through the movie," and then she held her hand over the top of the bag for half the movie, so that I wouldn't sneak any!!  That's Millie...