oh, hi.

wow, i don't know if i've ever gone this long without blogging! wanted to let you all know i am still alive and well. finding it hard to keep up with the blog world while i prepare for this enormous transition that is just around the corner. but i definitely miss it and feel very much out of the loop. come tomorrow, august 1st, it will be moving month {we leave august 24th}. i had to pause for a moment after typing that and stare blankly at my screen. you guys, it still doesn't seem real and i guess it just won't until we're there. i have lived here {in the mitten state} for nearly my entire life, and i am moving 2,400 miles away. i just can't wrap my head around it. but i will say that, though the moments of overwhelming sadness/shock/i feel like balling my eyes out are starting to hit, overall i am still feeling really excited for this new chapter. there is SO much to look forward to.

thought i'd share a few of my favorite instagrams of life since you last heard from me. it has been rather full. we have had a 4-day yard sale in the hot, hot heat and moved out of our house & into my parents. we've traveled to the Denver area for my friend's wedding {for which i was a bridesmaid & joel played music} & then to Manitou Springs for some majestic sight-seeing at Garden of the Gods & Pike's Peak. i finally figured out my work situation for after the move. we visited my sister & brother-in-law (and their new pup) across the state and spent a weekend up north with my in-laws. we sent out a bajillion emails to prospective rentals in Portland, filled out multiple applications, paid multiple fees, stressed the freak out, and THANK THE LORD, secured a place to live (woot woot - more on that later). with LOTS of time spent with family and friends in between, some good memories for sure. there has not been a dull moment during these last days in Michigan. hopefully the rest will be just as sweet.

{a short trip to chicago}

it was so, so nice to finally get away for a few days.
and let me tell you, i was not ready to come back!
despite the fact that it rained the whole time we were there.
i love traveling, and have decided we need to do as much of it as our
pocketbooks can handle while we're still kid-less.
even if it's only day trips to nearby cities, like ann arbor.
it's so thrilling to experience different places.
especially when i am bored to death with where we are now.
it seems i am always craving change.
i am so happy that spring is finally arriving; once it is warm & sunny
and the flowers are blooming here,
i think i will have a new-found appreciation for my surroundings.

i most certainly appreciated my surroundings while we were in chicago.
it is such a magnificent city. i have long desired to live there; although
this desire has decreased lately as my desire to live somewhere warm has
skyrocketed; i'm pretty sure chicago winters are even more brutal than ours
(no thank you!) anyway, here are a few photos of our lil road trip.

us at hotel indigo. complimentary stay, thanks to my day job!

unfortunately, this is the best photo i got of one of the most mind-blowing concerts i've been to :: Arcade Fire. incredible. any fellow arcade fire fans out there?

one of the best mexican restaurants i've ever eaten at :: zocalo. tried duck for the first time!

 

we spent a whole lot of time on the L. public transportation is just so convenient!

we also did some antiquing while we there (prices were outrageous), went to joel's favorite guitar store, where he fell in love with a $12,000 '72 leftie strat (he was practically drooling),
andspent some time with some old college friends.
oh and joel bought me a new dress :)
it was so wonderful to finally spend some uninterrupted one-on-one time with him.
i love that man.

Space Cadet

So today was a pretty typical day in the life of Megan...

Just after I had locked and closed the door to my house, intending to make a trip to the grocery store, I looked down at my key chain to realize that my house key was not there NOR was my purse on my shoulder, which meant I was locked out of my house without a means of calling Joel to rescue me. I ran around to the back door (thank God I had my boots on) in hopes that it would be unlocked, but, alas, I always keep that door locked. In fact, I always keep both doors locked when I'm home alone. Now what? It certainly wasn't the kind of weather where I could go for a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood while awaiting my husband's return. I could still go shopping, but could only browse and that would be torturous.

So I should probably explain why I wouldn't have my house key with the rest of my keys. Well, basically it was my dear hubby Joel's fault :) (Isn't it great when you can place the blame elsewhere?) Yesterday when he left to work, he left his key in the house. He did not realize this until he returned home that evening, at which time I was still at work. So he drove to our friends Zack and Maggie's house, used their cell phone to call me, and we decided he would come pick me up and we'd go to dinner, and I would give him his key. Well we did the dinner part, but forgot about the key part. And neither of us realized this mishap until he once again returned home and once again was locked out. WOW. So he had to once again go to Zack & Maggie's house, call me, and come for the original intended reason, the freaking key.

So yea, you could say we are two of a kind.. at least in the area of absent-mindedness, which does not so much work to our advantage.

Anyway, back to my dilemma. I looked across the street to Martha's house and knew that she was the obvious answer to my dilemma. She is one of the only neighbors that I have any communication with and, being retired (she is probably in her early 70s), I knew there was a good chance she'd be home. I knocked on her door, heard her little Maltese Mariah start to bark if you can call it that, but heard no movement. Please, please, please be home... IT'S COLD OUT HERE!!! An instant later, there she was at the door. "Oh, hi Megan! Come on in!" She seemed so pleased to see me. She let me use her phone, and Joel said he'd head right home (he was helping out at the church), but it would be about 40 minutes. Great, I thought. And my mind ran through all of the things I was planning on accomplishing during that time span.

But instead I had a lovely talk with my neighbor whom I normally give a passing 'hello' to. She gushed about her kids and grandkids. We talked about our extravagant love for our doggies, and she told me she can even tell what Mariah is thinking by the looks she gives her... I only hope to achieve that level of communication with Maggs one day :) I really enjoyed spending time with her and learning a little more about her life. Before I knew it, Joel was pulling into our driveway and our house was now accessible. I thanked Martha for her kindness and returned home to my hubby.

Joel later informed me that he called my cell phone just before I called him from Martha's house -- which must have been just after I locked myself out of the house -- to tell me not to worry about making lunch because the church was going to order some food. THAT was the reason I was leaving in the first place -- to get a couple of things to make a yummy pizza that I'd promised Joel I'd make. What timing.

Now that I think about it, though, I sense this timing that seems just a little bit off to me was really right on. I think God knew that Martha could use some company. I am sure Mariah is great to have around, but as Martha had said, "If only she could talk.."

I am reminded that rather than being so obsessed/one-track-minded with my schedule and getting everything on my to-do list (which exists only in my mind - I am not that organized) done, I need to get outside of myself and allow room for the Holy Spirit to work in me to turn the focus away from myself and potentially brighten someone else's day. That is what gives life its sweetness :)


• • • •
Apparently, I write really long blogs. I must work on being more concise! But before I go, I just have to tell you about the delicious pizza I made (I think God also intended for this to happen): homemade pesto sauce, marinara sauce, mozzarella and asiago cheeses, prosciutto and fresh basil. Umm, yummm. You should try it ;)