life

Life was on sale at the local grocery store last week:
13 ounces for $1.88.


That's a deal I can't afford to pass up.

whiz.bang.doodly.

In statistics class, Dr. Surfield used to say Excel did "whiz.bang.doodly" things.

At work, sometimes I get to make Excel do whiz.bang.doodly things too--

take for example the payment voucher request it now automatically generates using data submitted to us by global employees in their business expense reimbursement sheet.

[I've spent months working on this project.]

dinner

the last of our butternut squash from last fall!

Cooking a full meal isn't an every-day occurrence during this season of my life,

but it's definitely satisfying when it happens :).

Last Saturday Sara and I went to Ikea!

I took this picture up in the showroom area to remind myself to buy spoons in the marketplace...
sadly, the spoons I wanted only came in knife/fork/spoon sets, so I left them there.

My friend Mrs. Williams (also known as Sara) wanted to take a trip to Ikea to finish purchasing a few household items necessary for setting up her new apartment. Her husband wasn't keen to go to Ikea, but was fully supportive of us taking a trip independent of his accompaniment.

weeee!

I checked my CMA study schedule, and discovered I could spend Saturday as a play day instead of a study day.

Hurrah for fun shopping dates.

Sara and I spent the day wandering showrooms, taking pictures, and carefully selecting items for our cart. In between... there was a lot of driving, chatting, and... of course some eating involved.

It was such a wonderful day.

{oh, and to top it off... we stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home!}

our mid-shopping food break compliments of the Ikea cafeteria

the store was so busy... Sara was stuck in the checkout line about 30 minutes!

I admired this throw last time I was at Ikea, and thought about it ever since...
so this time I brought one home with me.

new tea/treat tray
(I always used to borrow Sara's)

BABY items for my new nephew!
It was a blast to have an excuse to spend time in the baby department :)

3 weeks ago...

...we were practicing for a wedding

(and checking our phones, 

obviously.)

...and spending time with friends from afar.

Good

Seven years ago today was a bad day.

But seven years ago this year, I experienced God's goodness in a new way.

An unchanging, beautiful way,

independent of my circumstances or feelings.

He is Good.

because that's who He is.

You are good, and what you do is good.

~Psalm 119:68a

Statement

A police officer stopped by our house the other evening to drop off papers for me to hand write a statement regarding an unsafe driver I reported earlier in the evening. After witnessing several minutes of unusual driving, I called 911. Apparently, shortly thereafter, an officer arrested the driver for driving under the influence.

#interestinglifeexperiences

Decorating

Sam and Sara's wedding reception venue was lovely!

I played a little part in the plans and decoration. It was so great to have a team of helpers, and to see the major transformation of the space after a few hours of work.

The favors were Malawian serviettes (handmade by a tailor friend of the family), and (nestled inside each serviette) a small bag of two handmade chocolates-- Grandpa Miller's famous Christmas recipe!

In addition to the favors, we decorated the tables with small glass vases filled with dried statice and fresh eucalyptus, paper winter trees, and Zambian bread baskets. Seth and Amy spent three evenings hanging hundreds of strands of lights, creating a shimmering canopy for the special evening.

table at the entrance of the room

If you give a Cookie a snow delay...

...Chances are she'll want to make a pan of cinnamon rolls to share at the office.

On Tuesday, Amy texted me happy news: school in Michigan was delayed until noon due to a winter storm.

Trailing behind the initial happy text were updates on her cinnamon-roll-making.

Sandy (my coworker) and I read each ensuing photo text with drooling delight...

{and, yes, jealousy}

Inspired by Amy's snow-day baking, and wishing for an opportunity to make some snow-day cinnamon rolls of my own, I sent one of Amy's photos to my supervisor and asked if he could please schedule a morning snow delay soon, as I would like to make cinnamon rolls.

My supervisor wrote back:

"Consider it done."

The very next morning at 6am I received a text bearing news of a two hour ice delay at the office!

I rushed out of bed and into the kitchen.

It just so happened to be the first day in weeks that I left my computer at the office, making working remotely an extra challenge...

so instead of answering emails and crunching numbers on my laptop from 8-10am on Wednesday,

I baked cinnamon rolls and cleaned the bathroom.

Now that is a proper winter weather morning!

boomin' babies!

Seems to be baby season among my friends and acquaintances these days (locations span at least three continents!), which calls for some classic flannel-baby-blanket-sewing :)

This edition is for a little bundle of joy I'm looking forward to meeting in March.

Fabric Flowers

We had wanted to add some fabric flowers to the waist of Sara's wedding dress, but hadn't been able to find any large sized flowers that Sara liked (and which matched the dress). Thursday morning before the wedding, Sara and I chose three different strips of wedding fabric at JoAnn Fabric, and after looking up a do-it-yourself fabric flower YouTube, I set to work.

After a few minutes of cutting, folding, and arranging, I was convinced the make-our-own fabric flower idea was a fail... but instead of giving up right then I finished the flower.

and when I finished, it was beautiful!

I wasn't sure if Sara would like it, but I knew I liked the flower even if she didn't wind up using it. When Sara saw the flowers pinned on the dress, she approved.

I can't believe I made a fabric flower which was featured on a wedding gown!

fun times :)

aren't they beautiful brides?

Susanna and Sara

Getting Ready

You can imagine what life might have been like the morning before Sara's wedding with NINE (9) gals in the house prepping for the special event!

Sara was sure to plan enough time for all of us to enjoy a special breakfast together as well, complete with a toast to all of her bridesmaids, and
of course... bacon :)

Sara's lovely do

Sara's Bridesmaids

Selfie of all five of us warming in the car before outside pictures last Saturday:

the last day of December.

WHO does outside pictures (in sleeveless dresses!) on a windy 32F day?!?

We all survived :)

pictures from Sam and Sara's special day

The Happy Couple :)

the entire wedding party (photo thanks to Megan M.)

(photo by Megan M.)

Of course the "W" is for "Wedding"...
or, maybe it's for "Williams"-?

The cake (made by Sara's sister-in-law) was so beautiful! Fresh blueberries and blackberries as decoration... that's my kind of cake :).

Friends from Afar

Michelle and me at Sara's reception

December was a month of guests at our house...

friends from our Africa days (originating from multiple countries) traveled from afar to spend time visiting, and to attend Sara and Susanna's weddings. What a treat to have international friends make the long journeys to this Pennsylvania destianation!

Last Thursday, Sara and I sneaked away from the wedding hubbub and drove to Philadelphia to collect our friend Michelle, who traveled all the way from British Columbia to celebrate with Sam and Sara on Saturday! Her brief two-day visit flew by, but not without special times spent together. Thanks, Michelle, for coming to visit. [and thanks, Andrew and kiddos for letting her come.]

414 roomies

Sara, Susanna, me, and Sharon at Susanna's wedding the weekend before Christmas.
These gals have been an incredibly special part of my life here in Pennsylvania.

Yesterday Sara married Sam!

what a privilege to be part of Sara and Sam's special day!

I played maid-of-honor yesterday for Sara as she married our mutual friend (my former coworker) Sam. What a lovely day. (more posts to come, of course!)

For now, here's a reprint from my speech at the reception:

My relationship with Sara isn’t touchy-feely… I guess because neither of us are uber touchy-feely people. And I think I didn’t realize how much Sara has been a sister to me these past three years… until these past several months when we both knew life was about to majorly change. While I’m thrilled that Sara and Sam are merging their life journeys into one, I will miss the significant companionship Sara and I have shared the past three years.

Sara is one of my favorite traveling companions. We’ve wandered all over Zambia’s southern province, and bits of Zimbabwe, and Malawi on the African continent, as well as traveled together to Colorado, Virginia, and of course multiple parts of Pennsylvania here in the States.

I love traveling with Sara for so many reasons—her excitement, which is contagious. Her planning, which is meticulous. Her last-minute-ness yet always prepared-enough-ness. Her fearlessness, and bluntness. Her road trip music. Her packing—just a few items, but so much variety, simplicity, and significance all tied together. Her adaptability, and her little snacks.

Not only have Sara and I traveled together, we’ve hiked together, dreamed together, planned together, hosted together… and as we’ve lived together, we’ve shared deep soul moments. The kind of moments that words don’t really express.

If I had to choose three words to describe Sara, I think I’d say, Complex, Intelligent, and Lovely. Sara’s the sort of friend who lives on a fairly small income, yet isn’t afraid to spring for an expensive luxury here and there. She’s also the sort of friend who expands my vocabulary (probably once a week she uses a word in normal conversation which I have to ask for a definition or remain semi-clueless of its meaning as we continue our dialogue) [sagacious gal!], and she inspires me with her discoveries of how to make the world a more beautiful place.

Sara is a friend who faithfully listens to me unload a stressful day at work, keeps tiny lists of everything scattered throughout her purse, and stashes snacks under her bed in preparation for midnight cravings (Cheez-its with Nutella was a fave for a while).

While sharing life in Zambia, Sara and I found a space in this world to be together. Sara’s the one who shared tea time with me in the bush… more than once. Just her and me, and our chairs, and our tea out under that vast African sky. It was a bit of soul food, a respite from the normal challenging moments that met me on the veranda every day.

And as I packed my life into a couple suitcases and crossed the ocean to the world of a new job in an immeasurably different culture, one of the most meaningful pieces of my Zambian good-byes was a handwritten note from Sara.

Sam, I’m so thankful that you will have Sara’s deep thoughtfulness alongside you throughout life. Her complex, intelligent, loveliness is a gem to cherish. I’m filled with anticipation as your lives merge together onto one path. With Sara’s excitement, adaptability, dreams, and little road trip snacks, it’s going to be an incredible journey! And, I hope you’ll both continue to include each of us along the way, to whatever extent we can be a blessing and encouragement, as you live out God’s calling on your life as husband and wife.