Spring Break 2011

Last Saturday, Seth and I left on the first vacation we have ever taken (since our honeymoon). We arrived in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, very late at night. Why Kittanning, you ask? Seth's brother Luke, and his wife, Kayla, moved there shortly after marrying last summer after Luke took the youth pastorate at the Kittanning First Church of God. Their apartment is so cute!

On Sunday morning, we visited Luke and Kayla's church. It was wonderful to see them in their element! We even got to ride the church bus to and from service, since Luke is in charge of the bus ministry. This afforded us the opportunity to visit more fully with some members of the congregation, including some very cute old people.

Upon arriving home from church, Seth suggested that he and Luke cook for the ladies. This is how the afternoon went...

The boys did a great job--pan fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and biscuits!

After lunch, we went on a walk at Riverside Park in Kittanning. I loved the old buildings, the bridge, and the river!

On Monday, we took off for Gettysburg, which was the bulk of our vacation. Seth and Luke rode together, and Kayla and I rode together. We took two cars because Seth and I left directly from Gettysburg to come home. I had such a wonderful visit with Kayla. I am so blessed to have another "sister" in my life. Of course, our visiting caused us to get a little lost on the way to our destination, but we got there in the end, and the boys had fun rubbing in our faces that they had arrived at the hotel 20 minutes before us.

As soon as we got to the hotel, we took off for dinner. We chose to eat at General Pickett's Buffet. The food was good and the conversations interesting. The waiter spent most of our meal talking with the people behind us about finding human remains on the battlefield. Apparently the park service goes out at night and reburies them...Conspiracy theory, anyone?

Since we were so stuffed and it was not yet dark, the four of us walked the battlefield at the location of Pickett's Charge. Across the road along the union line were a number of monuments, which we explored until it became too dark to see.

The next morning, we were able to tour the town and battlefield with a private tour guide. Our guide talked for three solid hours about the battle. I didn't understand half of what he said, but it was still a great opportunity. My favorite part was seeing the statue of Robert E. Lee riding Traveller. The book Traveller by Richard Adams, which describes the Civil War through the eyes of Lee's horse, is one of my all-time favorites!

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel to eat lunch. We had brought lunch food along to save money on eating out. As soon as we arrived in the room, the boys parked on the beds to watch...the HISTORY channel. As if we hadn't had enough history! These guys are more alike than they realize!

That afternoon, we went back to the Gettysburg National Military Park to tour the museum, Cyclorama painting, and bookstore. I was amazed at how huge the museum was. The highlight for me was seeing Gen. Lee's cot, writing desk, and gloves. The cyclorama is a 360 degree painting created by a French artist and restored for placement in the new visitor's center just a few years ago. The bookstore is almost as large as the Borders in Evansville, and an hour almost wasn't enough time to spend there.

After finishing up at the Visitor's Center, we went to the National Cemetery where Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg Address. This speech is my favorite of all time for a couple of reasons. For one, did you know that Lincoln actually was not the main speaker at the dedication of the cemetery? He was thrown onto the program at the last minute and delivered a surprisingly short address, yet no one remembers who the keynote speaker was or about what he spoke. That just goes to show that Lincoln was a brilliant orator. Secondly, my dad made us memorize the speech in sophomore honors English. I remember working very hard on that assignment and carefully considering the words I was committing to memory. Here are the four of us standing at the site where Lincoln delivered his famed speech.

Our next stop was Little Round Top, which is the part of the Battle of Gettysburg that seemed to interest Seth the most. No wonder this was the coveted battle position. The union army could see everything from here!

By this time we were getting very hungry, so before heading back to the hotel, we stopped at Tommy's Pizza to sample the local fare. I, for one, was very impressed with the pizza! So was Luke!

Before bed, we went swimming in the world's smallest indoor hotel pool. Despite the pool's modest size, it was a treat to get to go swimming!

The next morning, we enjoyed walking around downtown Gettysburg. Mostly we did some window-shopping and looked for bullet holes.

Around 11, it was time to part ways and head for home, or so we thought. When we were about 30 minutes into our journey, I realized that we had left our nice pillows and blanket at the hotel. So we turned back to retrieve those items. All told, this detour cost us an hour in an already 11-hour journey!

Despite this set-back, we had a wonderful trip home. We traveled south through Western Virginia on I-81, which runs between the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountain ranges. These views of God's wonderful creation were pure eye candy!

Other than a few stops here and there, we headed straight home, arriving in the middle of the night and sleeping throughout the next day. We couldn't have asked for a better vacation! When is the next one???!!!

Finding Joy this Christmas

As excited as I am about Christmas, I am apprehensive as well. This will be the first Christmas without my Meme. As a result, we will be doing things differently this year. For instance, instead of Christmas Eve at Meme's house, it will be at my Mom and Dad's home. The last time my mom hosted was the Christmas of my 6th grade year, just after Papa had died in November. My memories of that evening are bittersweet. I remember laughing hysterically while playing a mock game of Family Feud with my cousins, but I also remember the candle burning on the piano in remembrance of our dear grandfather. I remember going up to my room because my stomach hurt so badly from indigestion and, well, grief. I expect Christmas to be bittersweet again in this new season. We will laugh as we play "Dirty Santa" with our $5 gifts. We will savor an assortment of thoughtful stocking gifts. And we will probably cry.

On Christmas morning, we will enjoy the presence of a new family member: Jill's fiance Brian, who already fits in to the family so well. That is definitely a change to look forward to! Christmas Day dinner will be without my aunt and uncle and cousin, who have other plans that evening. Meme's "very special friend," Harold, will be joining us, however, and I am really looking forward to spending time with him. Mom is planning to bake a Christmas ham. We will play our annual Trivial Pursuit game, which will not be nearly as eventful without Meme trying to play for both teams. It will not be the Hardestys vs. the Hartzells, either, as it has always been. But we will find a different way to divide the teams, and it will be okay!

Despite the sadness that I know we will all share this holiday, I am confident that we will all have a wonderful time together. There will be tears, but there will also be lots of laughter and joy. This year my mom will be stepping up to bat as the hostess and matriarch, and the rest of us will step up a generation into our new roles, as well. God is faithful; he will see us through.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.

The other night at Dollar General, I found an ornament that I am 100% positive Meme would have bought for me had she seen it this year. I would put a picture of it on here, but it is already packed away for our departure tomorrow. Tree branches spell out "Joy." Joy is my seldom-used middle name. Since I got married, I legally dropped the Joy to make room for my maiden name. Even so, Meme would often call me "Amy Joy." Sitting on top of the "J" is a beautiful cardinal, Meme's favorite bird (she collected birds and birdhouses). I bought it for myself and will consider it my gift from her this year. I can't help but think that she sent it my way!

Now I will leave the computer, wipe away my tears, and find joy this Christmas, because that's how Meme would have wanted it.

Yummy Family History

Who knew family history could be so...delicious?

Some time ago I borrowed my mom's recipe box so that I could copy some favorites from my childhood. Tucked in the cards was a recipe I didn't recall ever having eaten. It was called "rice and curry," and since I like the taste of Indian food, I wrote it down. When I asked my parents about it, I found out that it was my great-grandmother Elsie (Genske) Meyer's recipe. Because she was a German, I was surprised to find curry attributed to her. It was then that my dad reminded me about Grandma Elsie's sister and brother-in-law, Maude and Floyd Heinly, who were missionaries to India. My dad conjectures that Elsie's recipe was either given or influenced by the Heinlys as a result of their ministry in India.

And why do I not remember eating this incredible skillet of deliciousness growing up? While my dad has fond memories of this meal, my mom is not a fan of curry. She says it too strong a flavor for her liking. Seth and I, being huge fans of heavily-spiced cuisine, LOVE our new discovery! I do believe it will become a staple at our house!

I truly enjoy delving into my family's history. The truth is, genealogy is so much more than birth and death dates. The "in-between" times, like dinner at the family table, are the real jewels.

Recipe for Grandma Elsie's Rice and Curry:

3 Tbsp. Crisco

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. sugar

2 tsp. curry powder

2 Tbsp. flour blended with 1/2 c. meat stock or rich milk

1 c. chopped onion

1 lb. ground meat

1 c. diced tomatoes

1 c. diced potatoes

1/2 c. beans, peas, corn (we think carrots would be nice, also)

Directions: Grease pan with Crisco. Add salt, sugar and curry powder. Heat. Add onions and fry until brown, stirring often. Remove onions. Put meat in pan and fry until brown. Add onions back in. Add tomatoes and potatoes and cook until tender. Add beans, peas or corn. Add stock/milk. Serve over rice. (We mixed the rice into the skillet and stirred it all together).

What is your favorite family recipe?

*Sorry about the picture...it looked better before Seth and I devoured it!

My Weekend

Last weekend my husband and I traveled to the town where I grew up and where we both attended college. We started out after school on Friday, stopping on the way to eat dinner at O' Charley's. I was so excited to have a nice dinner out with my hubby (the first one at a sit-down restaurant, just the two of us, in a couple of months), but I was sorely disappointed. I ordered a Philly steak sandwich that tasted like the cook had dumped an entire container of salt in it, not to mention that it caused me days of digestive problems. I should have asked them to take it back, but I didn't. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

We arrived at my parents' house late to find my mom waiting up for us and my sister and her fiance hanging out in the living room. We visited for a while, despite the hour, and then went to bed. The next morning, we all woke up very early to head to a music education workshop held at a university an hour from my hometown. The workshop was absolutely wonderful! It started with a choral reading session led by the fabulous Ruth Dwyer (one of the directors of the Indianapolis Children's Choir). Not only did I get some great ideas for choral literature, but I also learned some valuable rehearsal techniques that I used as soon as I got back to school. The next segment of the workshop was on active listening. One of my professors from Indiana University's Summer Kodaly Institute, Brent Gault, led this session, and of course it was awesome! Lastly, we participated in a very meaningful movement session with Sarah Hassler, an awesome teacher in the Indy area. I have some great pictures from this session, but they are on my mom's camera, and she doesn't know how to get them off without help :) In addition to the great presenters, I had a blast with my mom (a music teacher), my sister (an elementary ed. major), and her fiance (a music ed. major). Isn't it great that my family and I can share so much in common? Also, I got to catch up with two friends from my summer classes at IU, who were also present.

After we arrived back at my parents' house that afternoon, my mom and I headed over to visit with Harold, a dear friend of our family because he was Meme's "special friend" (AKA boyfriend ;)) He is such a gem that I kind of feel like he is my adopted grandpa. We're even pen pals! He seems to be doing well these days, and is certainly staying active taking care of his house, yard, and vintage car.

This is Meme and Harold in July 2009

The next stop was the hardest. We went to Meme's house. I had not been back to her home since the week of her death, and as you might imagine, the tears flowed freely as soon as I walked through the door. I knew I wouldn't hear her voice say, "Well, hello! Come on in!," but a part of me still waited for her to rush to the door and greet us. Mom and I mainly worked in the second bedroom where Meme kept her computer and desk. I alternated between crying and laughing as I went through the desk drawers. One of the funniest things I found was a cassette tape labeled "Olivett snoring" in my Papa's handwriting. My mom said she remembered Papa recording Meme once so that she could no longer deny her ability to saw some logs. I also found a paperweight that Papa made with his picture in the bottom. The back of the picture says, "The one and only Eugene F H, age 19." My grandpa was quite the handsome fellow. I've always thought he resembled a Grease-era John Travolta. I also found an envelope of family pictures with my name on it (Meme always enjoyed helping me with geneaology), and one of the pictures showed my Papa's mother as a little girl with her parents and siblings! Even though the pictures were a great find, I treasured every single thing my fingers discovered, even her wallet with its MCL coupons, which expired in July. Mom left the wallet on the desk, telling me that she wanted to leave it just where it was.

I love this picture of me and my Meme. The other picture is from Meme and Papa's wedding in 1948.

That evening, my parents, Seth and I went to Cracker Barrel for a nice dinner. I must admit, I enjoy the fact that my parents eat out a lot, because Seth and I hardly ever do. My dad and I got to visit quite a bit that evening, which was really nice!

I like this picture of my parents, which was taken at Thanksgiving a couple years ago.

On Sunday morning, we went to church with my parents. It is always nice to visit my home church, mostly because I get to greet my former Sunday School teachers, spiritual mentors and family friends. It is very different from the church I attend now, but it's still "home." After service, I walked across the parking lot to peer in the windows of my old elementary school, which has been closed for some years now. I quickly found out that the church has just purchased the school building to use for community ministries, and one of the members in charge of the renovations asked if I would like to go inside and look. Of course I said yes! I found every classroom I studied in, from grades 1 though 6, and many memories came flowing back. I had excellent teachers in elementary school, but the social component of my education was rough. I never had much in common with my peers, preferring adults and "weird" kids. As a result, I was ridiculed mercilessly. The neatest part of my little tour was finding a Looney Tunes mural that I helped to paint still looking great in the foyer. The church people are going to keep the mural there and even have a painter restore it! Isn't that awesome?!

After a quick lunch at home, Mom and I headed to her classroom (she is a junior high choral director) so that she could show me some sheet music. I was looking for some pieces my upper elementary kids could perform at their Christmas program, and boy did I hit the jackpot! By that afternoon, I had the whole program selected.

Much too soon, it was time for my husband and I to head back to our little home and get ready for another work week. Our weekend getaway, despite being emotionally exhausting, was a real treasure!

Date Night!

Seth and I enjoyed a fun date night after school yesterday. It was a much-needed time to talk, flirt, and laugh together. First, we went to My Jalapeno, a Mexican restaurant nearby. We had only been there once before and were very impressed. My favorite Mexican food is the chimichanga, so I thought I would try it there. I was not disappointed! Our next stop was Dairy Queen where I tried the mocha chip Blizzard. Oh my goodness, I found my new favorite Blizzard flavor! It was truly amazing! After going home to change clothes, we went out to the park, took silly photos, and walked the trails. As we walked, Seth, who is a former boy scout, began to name the various trees and tell me all about their identifying characteristics. Each time he mentioned a tree's name, I would start singing a folk song containing the name of that tree.

Oh sister Phoebe how merry we were, the night we sat under the Juniper Tree...

I see the moon, the moon sees me, down through the leaves of the old Oak Tree...

See the little Birch in the meadow...

Let us chase the squirrel, up the hickory down the hickory...

Apple tree, apple tree, will your apples fall on me...

I could go on and on. As an elementary music teacher who is the daughter of a music teacher, I am a human jukebox. What can I say? Being hyped up on caffeine, I thought this was HILARIOUS!

Finally, I fell asleep on the couch 10 minutes into Sherlock Holmes. We will try to watch this again tonight...

What's Most Important

As a new school year looms on the horizon, I am striving to keep my life in perspective. Being a young wife with no children, I have naturally let teaching consume me these past few years. Some would say that is a good thing, to give your life for the worthy pursuit of education, but as I sense myself growing from young adulthood into true womanhood, I disagree. This summer, my mind and my heart have been consumed with making a home, and I have felt such peace.

This year I long to keep my profession in its proper place. A friend once said to me, "Teaching is your identity!" I thought long and hard about that, and it brought me to my knees. "God, forgive me!" I cried. I want my identity to be found in Christ. I am a child of the King FIRST, then a wife, THEN a teacher. It is a part, not the whole! I will work hard to teach and reach my students, don't get me wrong. Yet I purpose this school year to put my husband and my home first. Life begins and ends with family!

Our Moving Anniversary

This weekend is the THIRD anniversary of "the big move," when my husband and I started our brand new life together in Southern Indiana. I graduated college in May 2007, we got married in June, we moved at the end of July, and we started teaching in August. That was one crazy summer, but I will always treasure it.

Here is a picture from the day we moved. When my parents walked out that door, I cried. I was so scared! But the Lord knew what He was doing, and He has helped us to thrive in this place and become our own family. We are home!

Missing Meme

You may have noticed that I went from April 30th to June 30th without a blog post. Just as the school year was winding down, I got a call that my grandma (we call her "Meme") was in the hospital with a blood clot. This was quite a shock for me because I had just seen her the weekend before, looking as healthy and as spry as ever.

On May 18th, a few days after the initial call, I found out a devastating piece of news: following testing of spots on the pancreas and liver, an oncologist determined that Meme had Advanced Stage 4 pancreatic/liver cancer. They estimated that the cancer had been in the pancreas for 2 years and in the liver for 1. After that, I went home to visit Meme every chance I got, but I didn't have much time. Just 29 days after diagnosis, she passed away. In hindsight, it was such a blessing that none of us new, including Meme. She was able to enjoy living (and being in love with her 85-year-old friend Harold) without the knowledge of what was going on in her body.

On the morning of June 13th, I chose to be in the room with Meme when she died, along with a number of other family members. It was the most difficult experience of my life, but at the same time, it was a beautiful memory that I will treasure always and forever. I actually watched her pass from this life into the next. I saw her open her eyes and stare into the corner with expectation.

As I thought about that moment, I assumed that the angels had come for her. Later, while talking to Rev. Phil Bruzeeze, Meme's Sunday school teacher and an incredible man of God, I knew that Jesus Himself had come for her. Phil shared with us a truth that the Lord had revealed to him through the scripture in John 14: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME BACK AND TAKE YOU TO BE WITH ME that you also may be where I am" (verses 1-3, emphasis mine). Praise be to God!

I will miss Meme dearly. She was both my grandma and my best friend. We talked on the phone every week, sometimes for as long as 2 hours at a time! I will always treasure those moments of sharing as two grown women, one with a wealth of experience and knowledge, and the other just beginning to navigate the journey of womanhood. I'm sure I will pick up the phone many times before remembering that I cannot call my grandma. Maybe I will call anyway, just to listen to her voice on the answering machine: "Hello, this is me! Just leave a message, and I will get back with you!"

Here is a link to her obituary online. It was an honor and a privilege to write it myself.

http://heraldbulletin.com/obituaries/x93715918/Olivett-Hardesty

A Lesson in Trust

My husband and I have discovered a new kind of "bonding time" this week: home haircutting. In our quest for frugality, we are trying anything and everything to save money. We realize not everything we try will prove to be practical or sustaining for us, but I try nevertheless in the name of research.

Normally, I would pay $63.00 every 2 to 3 months for a haircut and color. Seth normally pays $20.00 every 1 1/2 months. Because my mother-in-law has always cut her husband and sons' hair, I asked her to teach me how to cut my husband's. One afternoon, she let me serve as her apprentice, and although I am most defnitely a novice, I now know that I can cut my husband's hair.

But what about my hair?

Lately I have been asking my sister (who enjoys doing hair as a hobby) to color and cut my hair whenever I travel to my hometown. I quickly realized that I could not possibly make it home at exactly the times my hair stood in need of a touch-up, so I asked my husband to try coloring it for me instead. He did it with success! When I then asked if he would cut my hair, he was VERY reluctant, but eventually conceded when I reminded him of the money we would save and when I quoted my grandmother, who told me, "The difference between a good haircut and a bad one is two weeks."

Today was the day! After trying to back out one last time, my husband did cut my hair, and I think he did a wonderful job. He even tapered it around my face in the front. But this does not get to the heart of my post.

After updating my status on Facebook, where I told my friends about my husband's triumph, one friend responded, "Now that is trust!" The more I think about this experience, the more I believe that this was most definitely an exercise in trust for both of us. Could I let go of my perfectionism enough to believe my husband could do a decent job on my hair? Could he rely on the fact that I would not be upset if the cut went badly? For that matter, could he trust me with his haircut, when the only other time I had attempted it was with my mother-in-law at my side?

Well, the answer to all those questions is a resounding "yes!" In stepping out of the box and trying something new, my husband and I found that we enjoyed this quality time together. We talked and laughed and flirted shamelessly. Who would have that a high-risk haircut would become bonding time for us? Ladies, if you want to add a new dimension to your relationship, home haircutting may be for you!

Becoming a Family

All my life, I've thought of my future in terms of my own family's traditions and values. That is only natural, I'm sure. Seth has probably pictured our future together in much the same way--looking through the lenses of his family's way of doing things. Both of us have gained much wisdom from looking at our lives in this way because we are so thankful for how we were raised! I can feel something subtle happening in these days, though, and it is beautiful. As we talk together and pray together, we are becoming our own family. We no longer see ourselves solely as younger versions of our parents, but as adults well-equipped (by our parents) to blaze our own trail. God is knitting our hearts together and whispering what he wants for us and our future family. Keep talking to us, Lord. We are listening!