Joy Dare::September

12,621. First day of school
12,622. Josiah and Aliza got to spend some time together
12,623. Spending the evening with Anna
12,624. Time to enjoy the changing season 

12,625. All the good memories when I scrolled way back in Instagram
12,626. Good attitudes
12,627. "Waiting on God is living on what I know to be true about God when I don't know what's true about my life." --Waiting Isn't a Waste by Mark Vroegop
12,628. Smooth full day of school
12,629. Windows open
12,630. Giving and receiving grace
12,631. Isaiah enjoying some of the "grown up" aspects of 6th grade
12,632. Finishing a book
12,633. Finishing school on Friday
12,634. Lunch with my sisters and mom
12,635. A new coffee shop
12,636. Delivering coffee to Aliza
12,637. Getting Saturday things taken care of
12,638. Saying Yes to the random supper request
12,639. Rain
12,640. Island Creamery with Mom, Dad and Moriah
12,641. Evening walk
12,642. Dentist appointments that go so easily
12,643. Planning for ESL
12,644. Crockpot supper
12,645. Jeremy could help Josiah with Precalculus
12,646. Anna had a good first dance class
12,647. Josiah showing me all the things he has programmed
12,648. Talking to Brian
12,649. Josiah's calm personality
12,650. Isaiah excited about Kids Kamp
12,651. My Sept. 11 phone call
12,652. PE time with Isaiah
12,653. Good attendance on the first ESL class
12,654. Anna is doing so well with school
12,655. Absorbing all the wedding details
12,656. Nighttime talk with Aliza
12,657. Writing an ESL lesson
12,658. Beach evening
12,659. Cousins and siblings
12,660. A day with Jeremy
12,661. Sunflowers and Amanda

12,662. Supper Van, Karen, Joel and Amanda

12,663. Isaiah had a really good piano lesson
12,664. Praying
12,665. Reclaiming the mantra "it's not about me"
12,666. A friend who broadens my perspective
12,667. Rain
12,668. Doing my part, letting God determine the outcome
12,669. Enough for today
12,670. Not having to make supper
12,671. New homeschool inquiries
12,672. A full ESL class
12,673. Making the meal schedule
12,674. Chai from Jeremy
12,675. Sean really excited about the soft shirt I gave him
12,676. Receiving a card in the mail
12,677. Shopping with Anna
12,678. Aliza's job no longer causes her a week of anxiety
12,679. Working ahead
12,680. Pumpkin muffin
12,681. Aliza doing the next right thing
12,682. Intentionally doing restful things on a Sunday afternoon
12,683. Starting the day laughing at myself
12,684. Anna has been excited about guitar again 
12,685. Cleaning and podcasts
12,686. Josiah giving Henry all of his attention
12,687. Homemade sourdough bread gifted to us
12,688. New chicken recipe for supper
12,689. Anna
12,690. Boys bedrooms clean
12,691. Taylor
12,692. More time that I thought I'd have
12,693. Full rainbow
12,694. Austin
12,695. Chaotic but we made it through school
12,696. Wedding rehearsing
12,697. Waking up early because "today is the day"
12,698. Watching Aliza be a bridesmaid
12,699. Directing the wedding day
12,700. Exhaustion laughter
12,701. Sunday School discussion
12,702. Afternoon nap
12,703. A house full of young adults
12,704. So much silliness during school
12,705. Josiah and Austin getting to play disc golf
12,706. Telling Grandma all the wedding details
12,707. Just us
12,708. A long talk with Karen
12,709. Catching up with Aliza

Beach and Sunflowers

 It's only been a couple weeks and these little moments feel like they happened almost a lifetime ago! A lot of life has happened in the last couple weeks. 

We got to spend a Saturday evening at the beach with Jeff and Janell's family. 

Next time I may have to build a sand sofa for myself! 

Jeremy and I had a day together driving to Frederick and attending a memorial service for his uncle, Lanning. Maybe it would not have been the date day activity that we would have chosen, but nonetheless, we got to spend the day together. We left from church and got home at 10:45. I felt like I had big kids. (which, of course, I do and have had for a while now! It still keeps surprising me!) They had different plans for the day and Josiah needed to get Isaiah to his friend's house and pick him up. Their favorite, though, is that I leave them money to buy supper. 

The memorial service was special in a way that Lanning would have appreciated. 

Van, Karen, Joel, Amanda, Jeremy and I decided to have supper together before we all drove home. I saw an opportunity for Amanda and I to have a minute together so I suggested that the brothers ride together and Amanda and I drove together. 

I asked her if they had driven past a sunflower field on their way to the church where people were stopped and taking pictures. She said YES and then recounted just about the same conversation that Jeremy and I had about stopping to take a picture and the guys thinking that wasn't the greatest idea. 

Amanda and I were the last of our 3 cars. We did a u-turn and made our way to the sunflower field. It was golden hour and the road was lined with cars that had stopped. Obviously there were people who had planned full portrait sessions. Amanda and I just jumped out, found a spot, grabbed a couple pictures, giggled over how spontaneous and free we were and headed back to meet the rest at Panera. 

 

I think Amanda's comment as we pulled in to the Panera parking lot with our husbands and in-laws watching for us was, "do you feel like a teenager who is coming home past curfew?" 

We had a lovely supper together and then we drove back home to our kiddos and a new week of school and all the daily activities!  

 

 Happy 11th Birthday Isaiah!!

Joy Dare::August

 12,528. Lower humidity for a day
12,529. Our kids spending time together

12,530. Date night (literally) for Jeremy and I
12,531. A walk through SU
12,532. A deep cleaned back porch
12,533. Future planning with Aliza
12,534. Laughing until I was crying
12,535. When the kids decide it's a good night for Island Creamery and their Dad agrees
12,536. Staying up very late to watch the live stream of our favorite concert
12,537. Grace to be humble
12,538. Brainstorming ideas
12,539. Receiving an encouraging note
12,540. That Henry and Audrey love coming to our house
12,541. Listening to the rain
12,542. Dear friends around me
12,543. The first yellow leaves reminding me the next season is coming
12,544. Reading time with Isaiah before bed
12,545. Maggie "bringing me messages" from Aliza
12,546. Mini golf and lunch with my boys
12,547. Making supper for Laura and Sean
12,548. Christie
12,549. John is home
12,550. Anna telling me all about the rides
12,551. Company for supper
12,552. Talking to Mom
12,553. Bearing witness to another's story
12,554. Josiah's work ethic
12,555. A full Sunday School class
12,556. Talking to my brother and sister
12,557. Smooth travel
12,558. Aliza and Josiah did so well with wisdom teeth removal
12,559. Anna taking on a big project
12,560. Mom's visit
12,561. Reaching out
12,562. Aliza and Josiah's good attitude
12,563. Having Renee and Lydia for the day
12,564. Lunch with the youth group
12,565. Shoulder-to-shoulder time with Anna
12,566. Excited that I am actually re-learning piano
12,567. Taking the first steps to get school ready
12,568. Time with Maria
12,569. Isaiah helping with supper
12,570. More planning with Aliza
12,571. High pitched squeals means they are having fun
12,572. Evening driving
12,573. Listening to Aliza talk about her summer
12,574. Grandma and Grandpa time
12,575. Bible reading before bed (Anna is reading out loud to everyone)

12,576. Laughing together

12,577. Home in time for youth group
12,578. Known 

12,579. Prayer
12,580. Playing piano
12,581. Hearing all about Aliza's day
12,582. Rain
12,583. Thrifting and lunch to celebrate Lydia
12,584. Jeremy
12,585. Learning history from John
12,586. Aliza sharing her summer experience with the church
12,587. Riding home with Jeremy
12,588. A win
12,589. First dahlia

12,590. Anna's friends
12,591. Saying Yes to a spontaneous invitation
12,592. Asking for and receiving forgiveness
12,593. An evening with ladies
12,594. Saying Yes to putting myself in a new situation
12,595. A long talk with my mom
12,596. Laughter at the supper table
12,597. Picnic by the Pocomoke River
12,598. Celebrating John's birthday in Sunday School
12,599. Staying up late talking and laughing
12,600. Austin hanging out with us for the day
12,601. The men making sure John gets safely into our house
12,602. So many hard things, and my family still prays
12,603. A sister to adventure with
12,604. Watching Hamilton on Broadway with my daughters
12,605. Anna's face while she experience Time Square at 10pm
12,606. Breakfast in Times Square
12,607. An easy drive out of the city
12,608. Back home in the country
12,609. To do lists to keep me organized
12,610. Friends with so many talents
12,611. Brian
12,612. New blades on the lawnmower
12,613. Family evening at the beach
12,614. Aliza's heart
12,615. Lunch at Mom and Dad's house
12,616. Beautiful afternoon for a walk around SU
12,617. Food prep and balloons
12,618. Aliza, Anna and I working together
12,619. Alena's bridal shower was perfect
12,620. Friends

Bridal Shower

 Aliza and I had the privilege of hosting a bridal shower for Aliza's best friend, Alena. This was our project as soon as Aliza got home from camp. Aliza knows Alena so well. I wanted her to take the lead in the vision for the shower. 

Pretty quickly, Aliza knew she wanted to use wildflowers to decorate. I had recently come across a local u-pick wildflower farm and knew it would be perfect for the bridesmaids to pick and arrange flowers for the shower. It turned out that the farm ended their season earlier in the week. When I asked for other ideas on facebook, the farm owner reached out to me and offered for the bridesmaids to forage for whatever was left for a discounted. For these girls, it was absolutely perfect. They were alone in the field and had the best time together. 

Food was a little challenging because food is not Alena's thing and Aliza really wanted everything to be food that Alena would be comfortable eating. 

We decided on individual charcuterie cups, a fruit plate and individual lemon blueberry trifles. 

The charcuterie cups had nuts on the bottom, salami, cheeses, blackberry, raspberries, cracker and a pretzel roll bite. 

 

I want to make this lemon blueberry trifle again! Lemon pound cake, lemon curd, lemon cheesecake filling and blueberries. Served in mini parfait cups with tiny spoons made it feel extra special! 

I am now a huge fan of personalized water bottle labels. For a couple dollars on etsy, I could get the template to personalize and then my friend printed them. 

We held the shower in the youth room at church. Aliza's goal was to make this church room feel more homey like a living room. She added a coffee table and tray tables, the wildflower bouquets were a perfect touch, and she covered the whiteboard with a backdrop that said "Miss to Mrs." and filled in the sides with balloons. 

Aliza was also led the games. She asked the bride and groom's moms for pictures of them at different ages and then the guests guessed their ages. It was a fun decoration and people had fun guessing and talking about the pictures. 

 

Then we played Scattergories. The categories were all wedding related and we used the letters L-O-V-E. The older ladies had never heard of Scattergories. They were good sports especially given that we did not choose easy letters to get them started! 

I asked everyone to write down a memory they have with Alena or marriage advice. When it was time to open gifts, I read one, Alena figured out who said it and then she opened the gift from that person. 

This is Alena and Aliza's "best friend" picture pose. 

This was the first event that Aliza and I planned together. It took a lot of communication for us to understand each other's vision. The day of the shower, I prepared the food while Aliza and Anna decorated the room and it was just perfect. 

I am often Melinda's "wing woman." This time she had no idea what was being planned and she got to just arrive and enjoy the event as mother of the bride. This season of launching children is special one that we share and cheer each other on in. Let's me clear though--I'm just fine that this is HER daughter getting married at 20 years old and not mine!! 

Times Square

Our hotel was on 7th Avenue. We could walk out the door, turn right, and walk 7 blocks to the middle of Times Square. 

 

We experienced a Tuesday afternoon and night and a Wednesday morning in Times Square. 

 

In the afternoon we watched street performers and went into a few stores. 

On the top of Lydia's list was the Hershey store. I thought about Gramma a lot while I walked through that store. Lydia stuffed her own Reese cup. 

It was a HUGE Reese cup!

Next was the Disney store where Janell and I continued to copy our girls picture poses. Janell and I started doing this first thing in the morning when our girls were taking car selfies. We thought it would be hilarious to put the pictures side by side knowing the joke would be on us because we would look ridiculous. It was fun to put the pictures together and when Aliza realized what we had done and was laughing so hard she was crying, it was totally worth it. 

The m&m store was mostly for me. It's my favorite candy and I had seen the store when we went in May, but that was beyond the scope of that trip. Aliza stuck with me and walked all around the huge store with me. 

There was so much to look at! I could have walked out without buying anything, however I decided that a couple souvenirs were in order. 

When we walked out of the Hamilton theater at 10pm, Times Square felt like a whole different place. There were so many more people. It was just a Tuesday night! The weather was perfect though. I decided if I was living in NYC, I would have probably wanted to be outside that night too. 

I wish I could adequately describe how EXCITED Anna was. Her smile took up her whole face. She was laughing...and crying. She couldn't take enough videos and pictures. I just asked her what words she would use to describe herself in Times Square at 10pm--she immediately grinned and said "estatic", "adrenaline rush." 

We made it back to the Hershey store for ice cream and then Janell and I were quite ready to go back to the hotel. It looked like most stores in that area closed at midnight. 

In the morning, we picked up some breakfast at Starbucks (at that point we just wanted to stick with what we knew) and found a spot to sit in Times Square. We had some time to take in the scene. The girls took a lot of pictures. 

After a little morning caffeine, Janell and I joined in. 

I'm so glad we did this! I'll hold these memories close to my heart. 

Broadway

 When we went to NYC in May, Aliza realllly wanted to see a Broadway show. Financially and logistically, it just wasn't possible then. I started looking into possibilities and asked Janell if she and her girls would be interested in joining us for a girls trip. She was in and we started looking at shows. The DREAM was to see Hamilton. I didn't think we could make it happen, but with an educator's discount card, Hamilton was just $45 more than the other show we were considering. I decided that amount of money was worth making the dream come true. It was very fun to tell Aliza and Anna that we were going to Broadway on Aug 27 to see HAMILTON! 

We booked a hotel, made a game plan of what we were going to do in the city and took off! I was designated as the city driver and, thankfully, it was a smooth drive in and out of the city. We arrived before we could check in at the hotel. We parked, checked our luggage in and set off to explore the Times Square. (All of our Times Square adventures will be in the next post!) This is Janell and my face when we realized that we were an easy 5 blocks with just 1 turn away from the theater. (The theater is in the very background of the picture.)  

 

Everyone was very exited about seeing the theater and since it was mid afternoon there was no one around. Of course that meant we needed to take pictures. There was some discussion about whether pictures should wait because we were not dressed in Broadway attire yet.

After some shopping and walking, it was time to check in to our hotel. The girls thought it was amazing that the bellhop brought our luggage to our room. The room was appropriately New York City small, but we happily squeezed in. The girls got started on hair and makeup and I laid down until the last minute. 

We ate supper at Applebee's and waited in line for just a few minutes before the theater doors opened. More pictures were taken. 

We went straight to our seats which gave us a few minutes in an empty theater because most people were buying merch or drinks. Our seats were at the top of the theater which was on a steep incline. My legs just about touched the seat in front of me. I could not cross my legs. 

The theater itself was very ornate and felt time period correct to the musical. During the show we could see the top of a man's head right at the edge of the middle of the stage. We realized he was conducting the orchestra that was under the stage which added a level of interest for me. 

Aliza was in her element. She just absorbed every aspect of the production from line delivery to choreography, to set changes. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out why I find this musical so interesting. It's not the set or the costumes...or maybe it is the LACK of a complicated set or colorful costumes. I do enjoy the music and am amazed at the diction of the actors to make all of those words understandable. Regardless, I enjoy Hamilton. 

As we sat there, Janell and I exchanged a grin and sigh of relief that we pulled this off for our girls. It's a memory that they won't forget and neither will I.