Well I am now back, not really ready to be, but I am back nonetheless. I had the most wonderful time visiting Rachel. I headed out Thursday morning on my trek to Michigan. It has been almost 2 years since
i've seen Rachel and in that time she went and had herself a baby! So of course when I made it to the airport, there was
Rach holding her baby boy Seth and I started to cry. Tears of joy of course, and happiness... I have known
Rach for so long and her desire to be a mother has been evident the first time i met her, and now here she is a wife and mother! My complete and utter happiness for her cannot be contained. We spent our time doing what we do best and that is just relaxing and enjoying each others company. I have great friends, but there is no one like
Rach, where I can just show up and no matter how much time or distance has taken place, we start right where we left off, as if there was no lapse in time. We shared memories of our time in New Hampshire, including laughing over the whole "triangle incident" when we liked the same boy!! Along with all our other adventures of memories over the past 10 years!
Part of our time together included cooking and enjoying good food and conversation. The other part of the time was watching re-runs of our favorite show, Felicity. Rachel is a Noel person and I am so for Ben... and if you watched the show too, you will know what that means! Rachel made me a delicious
Talapia dish one night and then on the another night I made her some artichoke chicken pasta. The best part was that her mom was just in Italy and she sent
Rach a chunk of fresh
Parmasiano-
Reggiano cheese! That was amazing!! We also indulged in some yummy drinks, including our traditional Grasshopper, or as
Rach calls them; "Butterflies".
I loved spending time with Seth, he is such a warm and bright and sweet little boy. I instantly fell in love with him, and I can safely say that his affections to me were matched! Seth is now 9
months old, and
rach says he hasn't always been the easiest baby, with having colic and other medical issues, but now he is becoming quite the charmer. He wears this "cool space helmet" to get a flat spot evened out, but I think he looks adorable with it on! And he is growing and growing and soon he won't even need to wear the cool helmet!
I also got to visit with an old friend from years back, sweet B
eth. She is probably the sweetest, gentlest person I've ever known, and it was fun visiting with her too!
Time went by way too quickly with this visit. I would've loved just one more day with Rachel. But I was blessed by our time, and happy that i am so lucky and
privileged to gain such a perfect friend! I hope that it won't be another 2 years until we see each other. But I know that even if we went 10 years without seeing each other, we would always be able to pick up right where we left off!
"What a miracle of fate that we could live our lives at the same time on earth. How incredible God's plan." ~Falvia Weedn
In 1992 when I was 15 years old, I worked\camped at a little ol' camp called Camp Shamineau (Whoop Whoop EV Free!!!) Anyway, it was the first summer that I was old enough to be a CIT (Counselor in Training) after years of idolizing the counselors as a camper. That summer I befriended a girl, Erin Van Vonderen. We had crazy fun and lots of little adventures all summer long. Erin would always be signing these pretty little songs that would just stick in your head. And so one day I asked her what she was always singing and she said, "It's Les Mis of course!" Thus began my love affair. I went home that fall and promptly purchased the Les Miserables cassette tape! and began to memorize every song. I knew that there was a book, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, but had not read it. So I also bought a copy and read the abridged version. As soon as I got my driver's licence i purchased tickets to Les Mis at the Ordway and Erin and I went to see a real live Les Mis production. I felt so grown up and proud to be doing this all on my own. I thought the music on my little tape was spectacular, but when I saw the production live, I was blown away, I think I cried! Then the obsession really began. I named a cat Marius after one of the main characters, and i vowed if I ever had a daughter I would name her Cosette. My dream was to perform as either Fantine or Eponine on Broadway, although the Ordway would be just fine too! I have since seen Les Miserables over a dozen times. I have also read the Unabridged version of the book.. chunk by chunk, but I did it... I am constantly struck by the beauty of the themes of Les Miserables, Love and Redemption, Forgiveness and the Triumph of the Human Spirit.
to see Les Miserables at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. It was a very well done production, and I must admit i was a little hesitant about seeing it there, since I have always seen it at the Ordway, but I was very impressed. And of course, it never ever, fails to move me... Someday I hope to see it in Paris, all done in French. And I'm still haven't given up my dream of being either Fantine or Eponine. And while I'm at it, I'm still naming my daughter Cosette! 
Now don't get me wrong, I still don't want to burn up, nor be covered in snakes. But I am one step closer to putting some fears aside and being free! What an amazing feeling!
I was mostly on a mission to find some black walnuts to harvest. But it was also so beautiful and the woods seemed so inviting. I did find some walnuts, but unfortunately they were starting to rot. 
I also found some interesting mushrooms, I mean I have never seen an Orange mushroom! Strange. I wonder if they are edible?
I love the woods... so much beauty and life. How amazing God's creations are! How blessed I am to witness it all. 
Last night I had a wonderfully fun time with Ellen. She treated me to dinner at Bar Abilene, for helping her move. We had yummy margaritas and holy moly guacamole, made fresh at our table! We also saw the movie\documentary, My Kid Could Paint That. Very interesting...
Well I am now back, not really ready to be, but I am back nonetheless. I had the most wonderful time visiting Rachel. I headed out Thursday morning on my trek to Michigan. It has been almost 2 years since i've seen Rachel and in that time she went and had herself a baby! So of course when I made it to the airport, there was Rach holding her baby boy Seth and I started to cry. Tears of joy of course, and happiness... I have known Rach for so long and her desire to be a mother has been evident the first time i met her, and now here she is a wife and mother! My complete and utter happiness for her cannot be contained. We spent our time doing what we do best and that is just relaxing and enjoying each others company. I have great friends, but there is no one like Rach, where I can just show up and no matter how much time or distance has taken place, we start right where we left off, as if there was no lapse in time. We shared memories of our time in New Hampshire, including laughing over the whole "triangle incident" when we liked the same boy!! Along with all our other adventures of memories over the past 10 years!
Part of our time together included cooking and enjoying good food and conversation. The other part of the time was watching re-runs of our favorite show, Felicity. Rachel is a Noel person and I am so for Ben... and if you watched the show too, you will know what that means! Rachel made me a delicious Talapia dish one night and then on the another night I made her some artichoke chicken pasta. The best part was that her mom was just in Italy and she sent Rach a chunk of fresh Parmasiano-Reggiano cheese! That was amazing!! We also indulged in some yummy drinks, including our traditional Grasshopper, or as Rach calls them; "Butterflies".
I loved spending time with Seth, he is such a warm and bright and sweet little boy. I instantly fell in love with him, and I can safely say that his affections to me were matched! Seth is now 9 months old, and rach says he hasn't always been the easiest baby, with having colic and other medical issues, but now he is becoming quite the charmer. He wears this "cool space helmet" to get a flat spot evened out, but I think he looks adorable with it on! And he is growing and growing and soon he won't even need to wear the cool helmet!
I also got to visit with an old friend from years back, sweet Beth. She is probably the sweetest, gentlest person I've ever known, and it was fun visiting with her too!
