And on to Autumn we go...

And so we move into the fall... Time seems to swirl by like the leaves turning color. The garden is producing heavily now. Tomatoes are abounding and the fall radishes and lettuces are delicious. The garden is doing really well and I seem to be a better gardener each year. I think the most exciting development for me is this years purchase of organic and heirloom seeds. The gigantic Amana Orange tomatoes are so yummy that it makes me hungry thinking of them!

Okay, so I cannot say that my stress levels will remain down. But at least for one subject they have moved down the stress richter scale. We have Felipe in a High School. Ovid-Elsie said they would take him from the beginning but we had no way to get him there. Finally on a suggestion from Sarah Sageman(Thank you very much Sarah) I looked into the Clinton Area Transit. I was thinking that this would be futile, but it wasn't! Felipe has a long bus ride, he leaves our house at 6:20 am. From our house to Suzzy's and then on to the O-E bus. But at least he can go to school and stay with us. On that note, Felipe has begun school and it has been really great. He is meeting new people and enjoying a different perspective, the rural US school life. He is taking Animal Science (Which I think is great! Go FFA!) and learning all about animals and agriculture, English, Geometry, GIE and the 60's and Beyond. In GIE, he informed me, he will be making a sheet metal toolbox. This certainly will be another new experience for him. Things are certainly moving along great.

Three weekends ago we celebrated the ending of a Dodd tradition. We had a final family get together at the Cabin. We celebrated momma k's 60th birthday (What a milestone!) and it was the last weekend before Grandma Dodd moved to an apartment in Westlake. We will sorely miss the Cabin, but what a celebration we had! Thanks in large part to some excellent wine making by momma k and some gullywash from Aunt Deb and Uncle Bob. Pictures are below.

The only other exciting news I have to date is my shiny new bike! It is a Dimondback Maravista. I have been on three bike rides since I got it a couple of weeks ago and I am excited to begin a journey that will culminate next year with Samone. Samone decided that next year for our annual trip we are biking the DAL MAC (Annual bike ride from Lansing to the Mackinaw Bridge!). What a challenge this will be. Some pictures are posted below and I will post more soon.

Happiness Comes from Contentment.

Sometimes it's the little things that drive things home. This morning I left the house feeling fulfilled and content. I posted my feelings on mySpace saying that I felt content today. Then I made a cup of Yogi Cleanse tea and the tea bag tab had this bit of wisdom on it, "Happiness comes from contentment". What a gem of knowledge to know that the rest of my world seems to be in alignment with me. How often do I just think of all the problems I have to face and the millions of things I am behind on? More oft than not. It's nice to see that I've slowed down a bit and have been seeing the important things.

We have had some huge news. In case you missed it Mike and I are now parents. I know, I know... you are thinking, "What's the catch?" Right? Well, Mike and I have gotten an exchange student from Brazil. He is 16 years old and he's from Natal in the Brazilian state Rio Grande do Norte. Felipe Lisboa Luz is our new "son" for a year. We are having some difficulties with school enrollment because St Johns High School refused to take any more exchange students, but hopefully it will all work out. We are excited about this new adventure we all will be on.

We also recently took the nephews for their annual Auntie-Nephew trip to Silver Lake. We had so much fun!! Friday we took off for the dunes with Ben's truck and 2 buggies in tow. Friday night we broke our buggy. Walker and Joey named it the "Red Bomber". Caleb's got named the "Purple People Eater". Saturday we hiked about the dunes and Mike and Joey tried to get us running again. We had a few short runs, but we were not destined to run that weekend. Saturday night after the boys' pool time we went putt putt golfing. It was surprisingly hard! We had fun though. Sunday we packed up and headed to Kalamazoo to pick up Felipe. We found a Laser Tag place near the pickup point and we had so much fun chasing each other around in the dark.

This weekend we will have the Community Group campout back at the pond. Looking forward to another fun weekend!

Pictures below.

August 2008

Prince Edward Island, Acadia Natl Park and In-Laws!

I had a wonderful week long vacation to Prince Edward Island and Acadia National Park. I arrived in Portland, Maine via a very very early airplane. I was picked up three very cheery ladies, namely my in-laws Momma K, Christy and Patricia. Off we headed in the Sonata on an adventure.

Prince Edward Island was beyond description. A small Canadian province with a population of only 130,000, but it was not small in breathtaking views and nice people. We did so many things! We drove to the east point, watched sunsets, ate good food, saw some good shows, saw great art, saw Anne's house, visited a brewery and went sea kayaking. And that wasn't even all we did! It was beautiful, relaxing and full of great memories.

Then, Thursday we moved on and drove down to Bar Harbor, Maine. We drove along the coast of New Brunswick and stopped for lunch in the Bay of Fundy. (Never heard of the Bay of Fundy? Me neither until this trip. Check it out, it's a really neat place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Fundy) We arrived in Acadia and had a nice dinner at McKay's Public House. The restaurant was not really of note except I happened to have one of the best chicken dishes there that I have ever eaten, Cinnamon Speckled Chicken. Friday and Saturday we did a ranger activity, watched "What Not to Wear", hiked, watched sunrises and generally enjoyed our last days together. Back home on Sunday and the end to a wonderful and memorable vacation. PS. Thanks to my in-laws for inviting me along :)

CLICK BELOW TO CHECK OUT THE WONDERFUL PHOTOS!!!

PEI 2008

Fire

For all who wondered if I've dropped off the planet... I have. My parents house was struck by lightening and set fire June 22 and I have been practically living in the trailer my parents are temporarily in helping with the mess.

They will be out of their house for 3 to 4 months, conservatively. The entire first floor has to be gutted back to the studs and all begun again. The downstairs and front porch have to be scrubbed and repainted. To say it was a mess is probably the biggest understatement of the year. We spent a solid week sorting through everything in a house my parents have lived in for 34 years. One pile for toss, one pile for the cleaners and one pile for the insurance claims. I've never smelled anything so gross or been dirtier.

But the worst is over, unless you count the part that my mom's home is gone as she knows it for half a year. And all of her things have to be taken from her. I know that they are just things and I'm glad they are physically okay, but it still doesn't change the fact that we no longer have a home to gather in.

We gather anyways and eat. Always eating, even if it's outside of a burned out house on a picnic table. God bless us for the rest of the year and hopefully we'll get a home back by Thanksgiving so we can gather together and eat some more.

Hooray Summer!

Well summer is here and we are busy! Anyone who knows me even a little bit realizes why I haven't been blogging. I've been in the garden and in the woods. Gardening is definitely one of my passions and I am excited to say that the herb box is producing well. In the garden the lettuce is pickable and we have had radish salads the last 2 nights. Fresh radishes, yum!

Mike and I took a trip to Columbus where we did a very nice hike at Clear Creek. Then we ventured to Pigeon River Country for a hike on the west side of the State Forest. Lastly, Samone and I just returned from our annual "Auntie - Niece Trip". We went to Algonquin Park in northern Ontario. We had a glorious time. I even got to see my first moose!!! (PS. This was a big moment for me.)

I'll take some new garden pics soon, but for now you'll have to look at the beginnings of the garden this year up until a couple of weeks ago. Check the new pictures below (Click to see)...

Garden Spring '08

Algonquiun June 2008

Can't Slow Down!

Apparently I am not the only one that thinks that we are very busy! We talked to our neighbor the other day for the first time in several months and he asked where we are all the time. Hmmm.... He seems to caught on to our trend of always being busy. Oh well, we sure are having fun.

I've gotten some moderate gardening done and I am looking forward to more today as long as it isn't raining. The seedlings are getting big and its just about time to plant them. We are making a trip to the UP this weekend. Tiffany and Nathan are getting married. Should be a nice time.

In the last few weeks there was a double baby shower, the end of Portuguese for this year (Muito bom! Eu estou alegre.), Ned has gotten a injured leg, Joey is turning 11 and Mom successfully completed a 5k! Woohoo Mom! We've been busy.

We also got a very exciting new purchase. A handheld GPS for backpacking. We cannot wait to test it out in a couple of weeks. We're taking our first backpacking trip to Pigeon River Country. Looks to be a lovely month.

Also a shoutout to the new homeowners (Christy & Doug have just bought their first house!), "Have fun with your home improvements!!"

Two Traveling Weekends

We're back and recovering from two traveling weekends.

Two weekends ago we had a short visit to NYC to visit Patricia. We had so much and a few adventures!

Mike and I flew in on Saturday morning and then spent the majority of the day at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was very neat and we were both glad we got to experience it. Saturday night we went to the Amsale fashion show and looked at all the pretty wedding dresses, while Patricia worked away in the back. I wishfully pondered which dress would be my 5 year wedding dress :) It was a fabulous show and we went out with two of Patricia's friends afterwards for some much needed food and alcohol.

Sunday we spent some time with Patricia at the apartment and then ventured out to the NYC Transit Museum. It was so cool! We walked the Promenade in Brooklyn and then headed off to Manhattan to find some rodizio. Unfortunately the Brazilian food did not pan out and we went to a favorite Indian restaurant, Mtali's. Mike and Patricia had it out with our awful waiter and created a memory that I will not soon forget.

Monday, we attempted, might I emphasize the attempted, to find Mike jeans. Even Manhattan couldn't put jeans on him! One of the neatest things we did was ride the subway through an out of service stop that used to be amazing! It was so cool we did it twice. Then homeward bound. Super fun weekend!

This last weekend we spent our Saturday and Sunday in Cleveland with Mike's family. Saturday we got to visit with almost everyone and we stayed over at cousins Nick & Juli's house. Sunday was the main event. Juli's baby shower. It was a really lovely shower and Juli got tons of presents! Then just a bit more visiting before we headed home. Highlights of the weekend were our first wii playing experiences and a heavenly dinner with Juli and Abbe, lobster risotto, yum!

Pictures from both.