The North Shore With Mum

Greetings! As promised (a day late!), here are pictures and stories from the rest of my Mom's visit. After our fun time in New York, God gave us glorious spring weather for two days. It was in the mid-70's, the sun was shining, and the ocean was a beautiful color blue, as you'll see in some of the pictures below.

On Sunday, we went to church, and then we came home and ate lunch before deciding to go down to the rocks at the end of my street. We laid on the rocks in the sun and rested and took fun pictures and just enjoyed the day. Here are a few pictures from our time there.



After laying on the rocks, we walked on Shore Road to the pier. Here's the Mum on a dock that is anchored off the pier. Isn't the blue water so pretty?? So is the Mum!

On Memorial Day, we walked across the beach by my house to Ocean Lawn and laid on the rocks there. We also went into Rockport and Gloucester to get some "beach town" pictures and stopped by a beach as well. Craziness, but fun! It was VERY windy, as you can tell by my Mom's hair! :)



I had a fabulous time hanging out with my Mom while she was here. It was such a nice break, and we had fun catching up and just relaxing together. It was also fun because she got to meet lots of people and see a bit of my new world that I have developed up here. I know that was cool for her, and they all enjoyed it as well. And Ellie LOVED having her grandmother here! She went through a bit of a depression after she left. I got some cute pictures of them together, but this one that I shall close this entry with makes me laugh every time I see it. I think Ellie looks like a stuffed animal in it! Hope you all enjoy this week. Thanks for visiting me and Ellie, Mum! We love you and miss you!

Smiley Kitchen

Hi everyone! I am SOOO sorry that I have not posted any further blogs from the time my Mom and I shared together. I apologize greatly. The days after she left have been crazy busy, and I have not had time to sit down and go through pictures and post anything. I do promise to post an update with the beautiful North Shore pictures sometime tomorrow. For now, I thought I'd share with you what I have been up to today.

I am working on getting the apartment painted while Michael is gone in Zimbabwe. Today I tackled the kitchen, and it is now freshly painted, clean, vacuumed, dusted, sorted, etc., and it looks lovely! The color I chose is called "bagel", which seems appropriate for a kitchen. When I put the first paint on the wall today, I totally freaked out because I LOVE IT!!! It's a smiley color, it finally gives me the yellow kitchen I've always wanted, and it goes well with the rest of the paint. Below is a picture of the kitchen area, and then a picture that shows the kitchen with the doorway, living room, and one wall of the study. Everything shown has been painted, so you can get an idea of how it all fits together. I hope Brother likes it when he gets back! :)

New York, New York

Hi everyone! Happy Sunday to you all. Here in New England, it is an absolutely GORGEOUS spring day!! The sky is blue, the ocean is bluer, birds are chirping, and it's about 70 degrees. After I write this blog, the Mum and I are going to go outside and enjoy the day. Before we do that, however, I wanted to update you on our trip to New York.

On Friday, we caught the train in Boston into New York.

It was a nice uneventful train ride, and we arrived in New York on time. We decided to try to ride the subway to our hotel instead of taking a cab. NYC's subway system is a little confusing, and to make a long story short, we went the wrong direction first, so we immediately got off the next stop and changed directions. Then we ended up on an express train, which we didn't realize meant didn't stop at every stop. So instead of stopping on 72nd street like it was supposed to, we ended up on 125th street, or thereabouts. We could have turned around and gone back the other way, but we were frustrated and tired of being underground, so we decided to exit the subway and see where we were. That was a slight mistake, as it turned out we were in Harlem. :) We decided to try to catch a cab to our hotel instead but couldn't find one. We ended up walking a bit on the streets in Harlem and came to a police precinct. They were helpful and told us where to catch a cab, and we were able to make it to our hotel. What's a trip without a good story, right??

We stayed at the Hotel Beacon on Broadway, which was a great place to stay. We were on the top floor, and it was very nice.

After we got to our hotel, we got back on the subway (with very clear directions from the hotel concierge) to go to Yankee Stadium. Here are a few pictures from there....



They are building a brand new Yankee Stadium, which will open next spring. Here is a picture of the front of that:

Here are a few final pictures from there - on the flag picture, notice how the weather vane at the top is a bat!



After getting a good night's sleep, we walked the streets of New York for a few hours before heading back to Boston. We spent some time in Central Park walking around, which was a lot of fun. We rode the carousel and had a blast! I highly recommend that you do that if you're ever there. It's only $2, and worth every penny. See how much fun we had??


After Central Park, we walked some on 5th Avenue and went into FAO Schwartz, where we purchased a few minor trinkets. Then we headed back home for a much needed good night's sleep! New York was awesome, and we enjoyed it very much. Now on to soaking in the sun on the North Shore for the next couple of days. More stories to come! We love you!

The Mum Has Arrived

Greetings! My mom arrived in Boston safe and sound yesterday. We actually went into Boston after she got here and met up with David Webb, who was in town visiting the city. We took him to Cheers and Mike's Pastry shop for some authentic Boston food. Here are a couple of pictures....



It rained off and on most of today and we just sort of chilled out. It was nice and relaxing. Then it started raining with the sun out, and if you look closely, you'll see the rainbow in this picture.


We leave in the morning to head into New York to see Yankee Stadium, which will be awesome. I'm looking forward to that. We'll be sure and post lots of pictures and stories when we get back in town. Hope everyone has an awesome Friday!

Happy Birthday Brother!

Today is my brother's 28th birthday! Wow, I'm old.... :) But seriously, I wanted to take a moment, in this very public forum, to wish my brother a happy day. I'm sad that the fam is out celebrating and I can't be there to join in. So here is my birthday wish for my "oldest baby brother"....

Brother, happy 28th year to you! I just wanted to take a moment and let you know how proud I am of you and how proud I am to be your sister. Being in a new place for the last almost year, anytime you meet new people, one of the things you talk about is your family - siblings and what life was like growing up. I have been reminded again and again how blessed I was (and am!) to have had the opportunity to grow up in a family with you. I have so many awesome childhood memories, and you are in most of them! I have enjoyed getting to watch you grow from a boy into a man, seeing you define your passions and observing your tender heart. You are a treasure and an awesome creation of God's, and I am honored to be your big sister.

Being on the receiving end of your care and concern for the last 16 months has just served to remind me how awesome it is to have a little brother who protects me like a big brother would. I am thankful for you. Keep seeking God first and let Him be your measuring stick for yourself. Love others well, dream big, and I hope that year 28 is truly your best yet. I love you!
~Midge :)

Painting Fun

Happy Monday, all of my blogging friends! I hope that you had a splendid weekend. I did - I got a ton done in my apartment - cleaning, painting, sorting, organizing, throwing away, etc. It's really starting to take shape and look really cute, and I am excited! I have posted a quick picture below for you to see the progress. It's a little hard to see the color of the bottom part of the wall, but this gives you a general idea. I got new curtains and a new rug, and I love it! As I continue in the painting process, I'll be sure and post more pictures, but this is a good start.


My mom is coming into town on Wednesday evening to visit for the long weekend. I am quite excited to see her and know we'll have lots of fun. We're going to a Yankees game Friday night, and beyond that, we plan to just relax and enjoy hanging out. It's beautiful here - everything is in full bloom, so it will be quite nice. There will be many posts and pictures to follow!

Hope you all have a great week! :)

Painting Cats

In one of my previous entries, I put a picture up of my living room with new paint on the walls. Michael and I have decided to stay in the same apartment for another year for many reasons, a few being that we don't feel like moving, we live on the ocean, and we like our neighbors. Our landlords agreed that we could paint the apartment and do what we wanted with it, and Michael made me promise that I would paint it while he was away in Zimbabwe. So I am slowly cleaning, painting, and transforming our apartment into one that looks like we actually live on the ocean (without being obnoxious!)... When I get it finished, I'll be sure and post some pictures, but for now, a funny story.

I was working on painting the wall that the loft is next to last night. Michael sleeps on the top "bunk", and there is a shelf on it that is very close to the wall. Ellie likes to sit on it, lay on it, look out the door, etc. Last night, as I was painting the wall, she kept sitting on the shelf, peering over it at me, eating my hair, trying to be near me. I saw a disaster looming, so I tried to get her to move. As she turned around, she swished her tail onto the wall and proceeded to cover the top 2 inches of her tail in "princess ivory" paint. Michael's duvet cover is dark brown, so I had visions of it becoming covered in creamy paint. I'm trying to get to her to get the paint off her tail without chasing her where she can spread it everywhere. I finally capture her, where I have to hold her down, grab her tail and scrub the paint off. She was squirming all over the place trying to get away. After all the paint was gone, she was quite miffed and ignored me for about an hour. After cleaning off the paint, I had to go wipe all of the cat fur off the wall in the new paint. Never a dull moment!

Here is a picture of Ellie peering down at me last night and a picture of her relaxing on Michael's bed - clearly happy to be the queen! Thanks God for animals that make us smile! :)

Fun With Photos

So for a Mother's Day surprise, a friend of mine and I took our small group leader's 3 kids to the beach one sunny afternoon to try to do a photo shoot. At ages 6, almost 5, and almost 1, it was certainly an adventure. We had grand plans and ideas that pretty much faded as soon as we hit the sand and the water was in view. After the kids covered every square inch of themselves in sand and ocean, and we attempted a few pictures, we stripped them down to their underwear, drove them home and put them straight in the tub. My friend had to leave, so I fed them, read to them, and they were all asleep by about 7:40. :) It was quite the adventure, but we had a great time. My friend who helped me is pregnant with her first child, so I think she's mildly panicked now about having kids, but it was cool. Our mission was accomplished for a Mother's Day surprise. We both took pictures, and she got some great shots as well, but below are my favorite shots that I took of each of the kids. Enjoy!

Tulips

Hello everyone! Happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mothers. Your job is significant and often unrecognized, but you are vital in the lives of many, and we are thankful for you. I am especially thankful for my awesome Mom, who in my opinion, is the bestest mom ever!

Today was our one nice day in a series of rainy and cold days, so I took advantage of it after church and went into Boston to the Boston Public Garden. They plant lots and lots of tulip bulbs every winter, and everything is currently in bloom, so I wanted to try to get some pictures. It was fun to stroll around for about an hour and try my hand at photographing tulips. Below are a few of my favorite shots...





I have many things to catch you up on, so keep an eye out for a few blogs this week. For now, I leave you with a sneak peek at one topic...

Goin' To Zimbabwe

Happy Monday everyone! As many of you know, my brother is going to Zimbabwe for 6 weeks to teach at a seminary over there. The situation in Zimbabwe is not good, and up until recently, it was up in the air as to whether or not the team was even going to still be going. As of now, however, he leaves on Wednesday evening.

Here are some prayer requests straight from my brother:
1. The political climate in Zimbabwe is currently very dangerous. We will be entering an environment where there is great potential for danger. As a result, please pray that God will give us wisdom and safety both as we prepare to travel and also while we are in the country. (If you want to keep up with what is going on, I recommend www.bbc.com for a good news source.)
2. Please pray that God will have mercy on the Zimbabweans and that He will once again look on them with favor. They are in desperate need of food, jobs, and safety and we believe in a God who has proven Himself faithful to His people over the course of Christendom.
3. While the team does seek prayer for safety and protection, we ultimately want God's will to be done in our lives and on this trip. Pray that His Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven in the country of Zimbabwe, and that we will be faithful to the calling on our lives for whatever part we may play in that.
4. Pray for the team as they teach at the seminary, helping train native people in God's word so that they can share the gospel with their country.

At church on Sunday, the congregation "sent Michael out", and prayed for him as a group. Here are a couple of pictures from that time.


I am a firm believer in the power of prayer, and I challenge all of us in these upcoming weeks to be faithful to lift up our brothers and sisters in Christ, along with the country of Zimbabwe. God is a huge God, and His church is worldwide. Whether we're in the midst of a war torn country where there is literally no food or safe at home in the US, we have a call to join together with one voice and seek first His Kingdom. By joining in prayer together, we can play a part in what's happening around the world - even if we're not physically there. Thank you for your prayers on my brother's behalf.