Everlasting Friendship

In everyone's life there are people that you come in contact with that you know you knew before and that you already have a connection to.  One of those in my life is Barb Finch. When John and I decided to purchase Curves in Newberg Barb was a member and she had applied for a job with the previouse owner and was promised a job.  When she decided to sell, the owner stopped Barb's hiring but when Barb heard that we were buying it she was the first one to congratulate me.  She wasn't asking for a job she sincerely was excited for us.  She gave me a great big hug and I knew then that I wanted her working alongside me! Her vision and mine were the same and so along with Robin Boyles we set out to build our Curves.  While working side by side we became close friends and we often spoke of our religious views to each other.  We learned about each other's families and knew each other's pains and concerns.  One day I asked if she and Clay would like to attend the Messiah that was being put on at church.  She replied, "let me talk to Clay" and the next day she told me the answer to my question was yes.  I had forgotten what the question was...it turned out it was one of the most important questions I ever asked anyone! As they say, the rest is history.  She and Clay went on a fast track to joining the church and were baptized on Easter Sunday.  Clay was baptized first, given the Aaronic priesthood, and then he Baptized Barb.  What an amazing day! One year later they were sealed in the Portland  Oregon Temple and we were able to have a reception in our home.  Our lives are forever entwined.

Barb and Clay moved to El Paso Texas in July of 2007 and in October we sold Curves and then moved to Virginia. 
It has been three years since we have seen each other and last week we got together again!  We have one of those friendships that when you are together it is like no time has passed.
We went to DC and saw the sites and talked and talked and talked!
 Here we are at the Lincoln Memorial:

Abe & Us

We saw all the major monuments and then headed out to Maryland where we went to the DC Temple visitor center and watched the Joseph Smith movie together (and cried together!). We wandered all over looking for a hotel and finally ended up in Silver Spring at the same hotel Dad and I had recently stayed in.  In the morning we did some window shopping, ate at a great Irish cafe and then went to the Temple to do a session.  It was very special to both of us and we loved being in the celestial room together.(We cried there too!)  It was the first time Barb has been able to do a session since her beloved Clay passed away so we were glad we were together.

After Church on Sunday I took Barb on a little tour of the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway that is in the mountains just behind Buena Vista.

We promised each other that we won't let three years go by again!  How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that he is so aware of each of us and our needs that he puts special friends in our lives to help us along our way!

Must see video! Happy Birthday Jack

Here are two precious videos from Jack's 1st birthday party! First: The cupcake:

Next Comes the Ice Cream!

Celebration time!

Last week the students returned for the beginning of the new school year and we have 100 more students than last year!  It is a good problem to have but it has it's challenges with getting everyone into limited housing, helping everyone get their finances finished and calming down parents who are leaving their children for the first time.  On Thursday I gave out all the tissues in my office!  We were open 8-6 three days this week and were busy every moment we were open but on Friday we closed at 4 to celebrate the end of the audit and the end of a successful week and headed to a beautiful house at Lake Anna about 2 hrs away.  The business office team went there last year and since we have combined the business office and the financial aid office into Student Financial Services this year we were invited to join in.  The home had plenty of room for all of us and we shared meal duty so it worked out great.  What a wonderful break it was!

Friday night after we arrived and got situated I went down and just sat on the dock and listened to the peaceful sounds of night on a lake.  It reminded me of the sounds of my parents home on Barrett Creek and then I looked up at the gorgeous starry sky and thought of all the nights I stood on our deck or on our roof in Newberg and stared up at those same stars.  It made me homesick for both places and yet at the same time brought me peace.  Our minds and bodies need that peace every so often just to help us handle the hustle of daily life.  I often used to go to the Oregon Coast to get that feeling and to refresh my soul.  I have a card that says "I go to the sea to breathe" and that holds true for any quiet spot with water for me!

The next morning Dad and I were in charge of breakfast and so he made his famous Crepes (he has an amazing crepe "platform" that makes them even better than he used to with a frying pan) and we brought along his great homemade granola.  Both were a huge hit!  We had fresh peaches, blueberries and strawberries to top them with and all enjoyed their fill.

After breakfast we went out onto the water!  It was a perfect day temperature wise with no humidity and clear blue sky.  Dad and I rode a jet ski and later were pulled behind one on a tube. Today my body is upset that I didn't remember how old and out of shape I am!   It was fun and a tad scary.  I was worried I would fall off and then not be able to get back in!  Today I am a little stiff having used muscles that have been idle for a very long time !Here are some pictures of Dad on one of his rides that he took after our initial one.

There was a huge deck that was great for sitting and eating and watching the water.

People used the tubes for lounging too!

And there was even a cool baby floatation device!

And nifty water guns!

We finished off our day with the first annual Stufin Awards (Student Financial Services).  The Committee (Tilly and Tricia) decided who would get what and Tilly made the cute piggy bank trophies!

All of us had a wonderful, relaxing time!

Peaches and Porches

Well, it was Saturday and time to wander a little but this time we were on a mission.  About every two weeks we need to replenish our supply of peaches so it was off to our favorite place, Saunders!  This Saturday it was Blakes (yellow freestone) and Sugar Giant (white freestone).  This summer we have had Redhavens(yellow), Sugar May (white) and Loring (yellow).  They will have different varieties all summer and they are just starting to get apples and asian pears.YUMMM.

Every Saturday during the summer Saunders also has some sort of special event going on and this week it was Indian artifacts,especially Arrow heads and farming implements.  There was even one table with gold from the Atocha and the guy knew the finder (how that fits with Indians I don't know!) 

We wandered down the road and found a few good finds at a yard sale,

We stopped at a farm along the road to purchase yummy corn, tomatoes and homemade ice cream and then went on to one of our favorite places called the Shanandoah Heritage Market.  It is a collection of privately owned shoppes with most of them run by the menonites.  There is one whole shop of  homemade Jelly and Jam and they make it there!  We picked up one of our latest favorites, green pepper jam (great with cream cheese on crackers)!  We then traveled on to Costco and then headed home. (Costco is an hour away from home).  We then spent the evening with some friends playing a new card game for us, Nertz. It was fun! They just received their mission call to Texas!

The people of Buena Vista love their porches.  When the evening gets a little cool they sit on them talking to each other and passers by.  I thought I would show you some of the great porches here in town. I didn't take any pictures of the ones with people on them since I thought that would be perceived as rude.

Almost all porches have at least one Rocking Chair, usually two.  All the stores around sell these chairs and Cracker Barrell has hundreds of them!(and there is a Cracker Barrell at every exit on the freeway!)

And many times there is a swing

This is my friends house and the sign says, COME SIT ON MY PORCH

I love this porch and they always decorate it for every season

I love screaned porches and I call this house the "Virginia House" because it has the perfect structure and the perfect porch!(You can see SVU from the porch)

This house is owned by a member of the church and she just re-sided it...great porch!

This is a great screaned porch...I love the filigree

This house is owned by a woman almost 90 yrs old and she still lives in it!

There are many, many others in town...these are just on my way walking to Emilie's house!

Oh, how could I almost forget, the best porch in town!

I love the charm of this town!

"Take Me Home Country Raods"

Papa and I have always loved going to the Oregon State Fair each year and it always falls near our anniversary so we have often gone there to celebrate our anniversary.  Papa had read about the West Virginia State Fair and how it is a traditonal old State fair so we decided to give it a whirl.  Since the next few weeks are full of things we have to do we decided to do our anniversary early this year (on the 28th we will be married...gasp..ready...38 years!) The fair is in Lewisberg and it is only about an hour away but  we decided to go to Lewisberg  and spend the night.  On the way there I took some pictures of the beautiful drive:
  this is House Mountain just outside of Lexington:

There are mountains and peaks and these are peaks

We had made reservations at the General Lewis Inn. The house was built in 1830 and then a family bought it and added on to it and opened it as an INN in 1929. The same family still owns it.  You can check out the details at?http://generallewisinn.com/lewisburg-history.html  A battle during the civil war actually took place around the Inn.

Front of the INN

Our window is partially hidden by the tree on the right

Papa coming out of the entrance

This coach was used to take guests to the nearby hot springs

Out in the back there was a nice yard with a garden:

Of course there was a Cardinal to welcome us!

There was a lovely parlor with lots of antigues and beyond you can see the restaurant where we ate dinner and breakfast

We had an old Acorn bed, can you guess why it is called an Acorn bed?

I wanted you to see how high the bed was, Papa had to help me get in it!

The next morning we went and explored downtown and then headed to the fair.  There were several things about the fair different than the Oregon State Fair.  It wasn't nearly as big, no sky ride and barely any commercial vendors (one of our favorite parts!) but it saved us money!  All of the animals except the few Llamas were there to be sold and there were no unusual varieties of goats, sheep etc.  Just the ones that were good for meat. (Did you know that goat is good for your health?).

Papa was happy they at least had some Llamas

Papa became a Mountaineer

And I tamed a bear

We cozied up to a huge chicken!Note the can in Papa's hand, that is how they served us home made rootbeer!

And in the poultry house they had a water slide for ducks.  They put feed in a little can and when they reached to get the food if the duck wasn't careful he would slide down the slide.  They seemed to be ok with it and kept going back for more!

We thought we'd see what Papa looked like as Daniel Boone!

It was a great weekend and we enjoyed ourselves!
We plan on making many more trips to West Virginia.  Our next one on the radar is a dinner train ride through the mountains when the leaves change!  One thing is for sure, everywhere we go we will hear John Denver singing "West Virginia" (as they call it in the state!)