Great American road trip

Seth, Dave, and I leave Thursday for a road trip! We're heading to Seth's home in Handover, Lydia and Will's wedding in Ohio (Seth was invited...and he asked me to go as his "date"), then finish up with a trip out to my parents' house in Michigan! Road trips are a blast, and I'm pretty excited about sharing some of my Holland life with someone from Philadelphia, while Seth gets to share some Handover life with me!

Students run has a race tonight. A 10K (6.2 miles). Let's hope the 95-degree heat holds off... Thankfully my new sweatband will be on my head to protect me. =)

In lue of the Twin Cities bridge collapse, some interesting information has surfaced regarding cell phone usage in times of crisis. Namely, how cell phone companies may realize a crisis has occurred earlier than TV networks! Tip of the day: if your call is blocked in an emergency situation, use a text message; it almost always gets through. (I also noticed in the article that Sprint's network didn't go down...perhaps because not as many people have it!)

Food, glorious food

After church today, about 20 of us went to Mama Palma's Pizza. I had been there before and was impressed with their customer service and product quality, and this time was no different! Delicious pizza, popping with flavor. They served our large group efficiently and cheerfully (Seth also had the foresight to call ahead and let them know we were coming!). No complaints here!


Jeremy and I caught a ride from Casey to Penn's Landing where there was an all you can eat ice cream festival going on! We scarfed down seven tubs of ice cream from Coldstone, Edy's, Jack and Jill, Ben and Jerry's, Starbucks, Baskin Robbins, and a few water ice locations. MMMmmmm! I thought it would have been a blast if I was a kid too...can you imagine having so many different choices and all you can eat?!? Oh the possibilities.


Tip of the day: when wondering why your bank account made LESS interest than last month with MORE money in it, consider the fact that the months may have differing amounts of days in them. I checked my ING Direct account for its monthly interest and was about to fire off an e-mail question to their customer service department for why I had less interest in June than in May even though I hadn't made any withdrawals. Fortunately, I caught my mistake before I sent the e-mail. (by the way, if you'd like to make 4.5% interest on your savings account PLUS get $25 JUST FOR SIGNING UP, let me know...if you just sign up with the company on your own, you don't get a bonus--that's only with a referral from a current member like me).

Me vs. pollen

That's what today felt like. For whatever reason, all of Philadelphia's trees, grass, molds, spores, dust mites, animal dander, and other allergetic forms of Satan invaded my entire sinus system today. It was rough. I had taken an Allegra D in the morning, but it was no match for the devil's demoralizing attacks. Fortunately, my nose was mostly cleared up for the afternoon, which included a 4 mile run with my kids that felt like 8 miles (all in 88 degree weather...it's amazing what a harming effect heat can have on a runner!).

Despite today's pollen ambush, Philly has TONS of beautiful blooming trees all over the city. Here's a picture of a few of us pretending the petals are pink snow:




This past week was filled with runs. I ran 5 miles Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thurs. Then to top it off, my kids and I ran down to the Skuykill River from school and back--my approximate distance: 7-8 miles. For those of you who are counting, that's the longest I've ever ran in my life! The most encouraging part was seeing my students go so far and be excited about their accomplishments. We needed to go pretty far since our 10 miles race (Philly's finest Broad Street Run) is this coming Sunday morning.

My roommate Seth was asked to give his testimony in church Sunday. He did an awesome job of glorifying God and humbly sharing how God has moved in his life. God really has been at work in Seth, and I've felt tremendously blessed to have been privileged to observe so much as his roommate.

Yesterday some Liberti folk and I spent another GORGEOUS Sunday afternoon in a park. We grabbed lunch to go and headed to Liberty's Lands, a nice green playground/park a mile from Fishtown. What a blast! We played a frisbee game called hot box that one of our church's pastors taught us. I even indulged in the ice cream truck's wares for the first time. Not exactly Franklin Fountain quality, but it sure hit the spot.

God has recently brought some really neat people into my life here in Fishtown. John, Kallie, Nate, Melanie, Kristin, Jeremy, Seth, Sarah, and I have had some really fun times together. I feel so comfortable hanging out with each one of them, and I enjoy life so much with them, too!

Here are a few pictures from last week's adventures:

Incredible weather

After church this morning, about 14 of us grabbed lunch at Whole Foods for a picnic. We went to Logan's Circle to a fountain in Center City, and ate on the lawn there. It was gorgeous! How often do you get to play in a fountain after church? Great friends, great food, great weather, great times. I'll have to post some pictures of the event when my friends post them (my camera was at home).

Yesterday Seth, John, and I attacked our backyard for spring cleaning. We pulled a bunch of weeds into trash bags, tilled the soil, and sewed some grass seeds. Let's hope our experiment is better than the rocky soil in Jesus' parable! We'd like to get a fire pit in there soon too...

My last day of my second masters class is today. Unfortunately, I had put off several papers, so I have some work cut out for me today. Sarah has an exam on physical diagnosis tomorrow...which means we're both finally getting to work.

Christmas pictures

Here's the roommate, the dog, and me.

And the girlfriend. =)