The House in Hayward That We Call Home

       I'm filling in at the office today....it's a quiet day, so I shall try to take the chance to update this blog, which has also been rather quiet lately. 
     I haven't taken many pictures of life lately, and I prefer blogging when I have pictures to go along with it. It's not at all that our life has been boring or slow...rather opposite in fact. I'm thinking that it might be slowing down a bit now, but I won't say that too loudly! 
    A week ago the last of our corn hole games sold, so we're trying to make a few more sets in our spare time. I had a new dress to sew, and we had music to practice before we headed out of town last weekend to sing at Stan and Kerra Troyer's wedding.
     
     Moving on from old news and rambling....
     
     I was thinking the other day about the changes we've made to our house and yard since we bought the house nearly a year ago. So I dug up some old pictures, and thought I'd show you! We're not done yet, but I think it's improved!

     Tom put skirting around all of our little decks, and we built the flower beds this spring. My flowers are growing fairly well, in spite of my neglectfulness and a bit of a deer problem.

     I love how easy Morning Glories are to grow...the pretty things have done a nice job of covering our somewhat rickety deck railings! I hope to spend more time and put some perennials in my beds next spring!

     And here's the back deck, my little herb garden with sunflowers, and our chairs. Some fine moonlit night before summer's over, I'd like to sleep under the stars there on the deck.

    There's a reason I'm not showing you the back yard. Two reasons actually! For one, we still need to level it out, plant new grass, and take care of the drainage field vents that poke their unsightly heads up out there. Secondly, my little garden is back there, and the poor thing is in no blog-worthy condition. Here's what happened: We started from scratch, so by the time we tilled up the sod, raked out the grass clumps and got it planted, it was a bit late in the spring. I feared that deer would be a problem, since we see them in our yard fairly frequently, so I bought some natural repellent clips and put them on my little plants. Unfortunately, my veggies took a very long time to grow, even thought I watered them faithfully. Finally, I decided the soil must be sadly lacking, so I started to give them Miracle Grow, which seemed to help a good deal. Just about the time the plants took off and my garden started looking like a productive thing, the deer found it. I am resigned. The garden just wasn't meant to be this year. But it was a worthwhile experiment, I think. Now at least we know that the garden needs a lot of fertilizer, and a fence before next spring!

    That's all, folks! Please feel free to stop by and see us! 

    

On turning 22...

    On Saturday I turned 22...for the most part, I feel pretty neutral about the fact. At this stage in my life, not a lot changes just because my age does. Somehow the number 22 doesn't have quite the ring 21 did, but I guess I just like odd numbers the best! Not anything to sweat over! Whether 21 or 22, my goals are the same. Love God, love my husband, and learn to accept whatever God sends me as His plan for my life. I guess these will be my goals long past the age of 22! There are so many other things I want to learn and become too: to love people the way Jesus does, to have an unselfish servant's heart, to decorate my house in a way that's pleasing to the eye and the pocket book, to focus on pleasing God rather than impressing people. The list could go on for a few more pages, but I'll stop there! Anyway, God is very good, and I'm quite content with life at this ripe old age! :)
    Back to Saturday...
        We slept in. Or I thought we did, til I rolled over and saw this:

     Ok, so it was sleeping in, but not really sleeping in! :)

     Then, my handsome husband made me breakfast. (until the eggs got a little too involved, then I went to his rescue.) :)

 It was delicious!

     Then we ran errands here in town, where Tom bought me this nice sturdy camping chair to replace my tattered old one!

As well as a sweet card!

     After that, we met my family, and they treated us to lunch. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so from here on the events of the day are not captured on film, er, SD card. The lunch outing was enjoyable, but too short...I really need to get the family up here for a meal soon!

    After a bit more shopping, we finished out the day playing volleyball with a group friends. My family joined us for the evening there too. (That was supposed to be a surprise for me, but as my husband is finding out, secrets are hard to keep from me!)

   I should also mention that on my birthday one year ago, I said yes when Tom handed me a bouquet of roses and asked if I would marry him. What a sweet memory! If life keeps getting better the way that it has this past year, I have no problem with getting older! 

Reunioning

    So, we're back home after a nice week of vacation with Tom's family. Sometimes when you have to pack up lots of clothing, food, bedding, and other paraphernalia and drive 4 1/2 hours to get to the campground, it can make one wonder if it's worth the hassle. I'd say I've come to the conclusion that it was. We had many good times, and created memories.
    Some of the highlights for me: (some were just the little things)
     -A ladies tea. Complete with lace tablecloths, fresh wildflowers, sparkling juice, and an impressive spread of fancy snacks! It was so relaxing to have all of us around one table visiting--without interruptions! Thanks to the men who took care of the little people!

     -Vacation means I get to see my husband every day. I took that for granted until we got home and started the work week, and I realized how much I missed it.
     -I noticed how often the piano was played over the course of the week...nieces and nephews and a couple of brother in laws that would spontaneously make lovely music for all of us to enjoy.
     -On the subject of music, I greatly enjoyed singing with the rest of the Schrocks. I think almost all of us love to sing, from Dad S. to the young grandchildren, which makes a pretty large chorus!
     -Getting to know my nieces and nephews better. They feel almost more like cousins than nieces and nephews sometimes, due to the fact that I'm only two months older than my oldest niece!
   Other good thing included but are not limited to: delicious meals, lots of corn hole games, wiffle ball,
cute babies to hold, a pinata which we all took a whack at, and family pictures.
    I was getting quite annoyed at the quality of pictures my camera was taking, but toward the end of the week I discovered a simple error in the setting of the camera, which greatly improved my photos from there on out. I'm a little sad for all the pictures that are grainy, but they're captured memories nonetheless!

     From Friday evening through Sunday we were joined by the Kauffmans for a more extended reunion. I think that brought the count to about 200 people. One thing's for sure, I didn't know many of them! :) That turned out to be fun too, getting to know more people and enjoying some volleyball and other activities, including an auction. We helped organize some children's activities for Saturday afternoon.

     Well, that's only a fraction of my pictures, but if I don't post this soon, it'll be stale, so...that's all folks! 

     For those of you interested in family photos from the Schrock/Kauffman reunion here's a link to my picasa album: https://picasaweb.google.com/102593028581683522819/SchrockKauffmanFamilyPictures2012