ex(PR)essed

This past week, Jeff’s parents treated us to a weekend away in colonial Williamsburg. We met them on Friday night (after surviving terrible I-95 traffic and pouring rain), and we spent all of Saturday and Sunday morning exploring the colonial shops, homes, museums, and churches of Williamsburg. The weather was dreary, but there were plenty of lovely sites to see.

A primitive kitchen, as it might have looked on a planatation.

Everyone was in their best colonial garb!

The palace gates…where the governor lived.

A church where the members of the House of Burgesses once attended service. I sat in Thomas Jefferson’s row!

Signs of Spring, even on a dreary day.

A random red window…what can I say? I’m a girl who loves red!

I’m also a girl who loves squirrels…people were feeding these little guys, and I was thrilled to take a dozen pictures while the critters enjoyed bits of ginger cake or oatmeal cookie!

And, who doesn’t love shorn sheep in the spring?

On Sunday, on our way home, we stopped in Richmond and spent a few hours catching up with our good friends Sarah and Shawn. It was such a relaxing, comfortable time…only to be followed by yet another crazy experience on I-95. This time we did it to ourselves though — to avoid some of the traffic around D.C., we opted for the HOV lane (where we saw cars moving much faster than us on Friday). However, the HOV lanes lasted much longer than we anticipated, and we missed our exit for the bypass around the city. Next thing we knew, the Washington Monument was looming on our left! We were in downtown D.C., following signs for Baltimore, and hoping for something familiar! Thankfully, we get our bearings and got headed in the right direction…it just made for a longer trip. Lesson learned though — avoid the HOV lane unless you know exactly what your exit options from it will be!

My parents live in northwestern Pennsylvania. They’ve had 100+ inches of snow so far this year, and they’re rooting for Erie to get another seven inches so that they can break a record (149 inches!) and all the cold and mess of the winter can feel like it actually means something instead of just being a significant pain in the rear.

It’s no wonder then, given the weather, that cute Dave and Linda couldn’t wait to make a break for it and head to sunnier, warmer climates. They left on Feb. 27 for a two-week stay in Indian Shores, Florida, and they invited us to join them for a few days of sun and surf. Of course, we said yes and booked our airfare immediately. You don’t have to ask us twice to leave behind the frigid temperatures and put our toes in the warm-ish Gulf. Can you see why we couldn’t wait to get out of here?

My parents had rented a condo with a beachview, so we enjoyed this type of stunning finale each and every day we were there. And, yes, we all stopped what we were doing each evening to gather on the balcony for the sunset. That’s what you do on vacation. Perhaps when Floridians travel to Pennsylvania on vacation (why?), they gather around the window to watch the snow plows go by. (Or, in the case of central Pennsylvania, they gather around to watch the snow fall without a plow in sight.)

Anyhow, there were many wonderful, beachy sights to see.

Lest you think we just stumbled upon this pile of gators, allow me to clarify. Jeff and I played miniature golf on Sunday, and the course’s claim to fame was gators aplenty! I counted 18 within a rather small area. It was a hot day, so many were catching a few rays while waiting for a tourist to pay $3 to dangle a chicken liver over the rail. We just observed them and moved on, minus the chicken thing. (For more about the golf game, check out Jeff’s blog.)

In addition to seeing lots of sea critters, we also enjoyed eating lots of seafood! We scoped out some fun, delicious restaurants. At Bubba Gump’s I ate scrumptious cocunut shrimp. No grease; perfectly crispy. Delicious! At Crabby Bill’s I enjoyed a crabcake sandwich, and on our last day, at Conch Republic, I had Baja Shrimp Tacos. Yum! Each place was very beachy and all, but I was especially fond of the “attitude” at Crabby Bill’s!

Jeff has written a funny and thorough account of our trip on his blog. It’s worth checking out, although, perhaps without being there, you won’t find some of his memories as funny as I found them.

Jeff and I love going on vacation together — we discovered what good traveling partners we are when we ventured to Maine on our honeymoon. Since then, we always look forward to an adventure away. We’re fortunate that my parents also enjoy an adventure together and invite us to join them! (Read about the Bertram-Lorow vacation adventures last year here.)

All in all, our Florida trip was great. Plenty of time for sleeping and relaxing, miniature golf and swimming, eating and well, eating! We were far from ready to come back home. Who wants to leave behind 80-degree weather and my cute parents? No one? Exactly.

What a great Thanksgiving holiday! On Tuesday night, Jeff and I hosted his parents and brother Tim overnight. Then, my parents arrived Thursday afternoon for the Thanksgiving festivities. It was great to see both sets of parents without having to travel at all. Love that!

I really like hosting my parents for Thanksgiving. Before I got married, it was our tradition to have Thanksgiving in central Pennsylvania and then go antiquing on Black Friday. It was nice to re-visit that tradition this year.

When my parents come for Thanksgiving, the day ends up being very relaxing. This year, I got up around 9 a.m., leisurely drank my coffee and read the newspaper, puttered in the kitchen, and spent some time in Clifford (our big red chair) admiring all of Martha Stewart’s holiday wonderfulness.

The meal all came together wonderfully, and we enjoyed every bite! After dinner, mom and I jetted off to Michael’s — they were open from 6-9 p.m. Thanksgiving night. It really wasn’t terribly crowded, and we enjoyed shopping around and gathering bargains. We also bought some necessary supplies for our button trees (more to come on that later).

On Friday, we enjoyed our annual Thanksgiving antiquing trip with Jim and Amy VanZandt.

We met them in New Oxford where we spent the better part of the day shopping for bargains. Somehow, we managed to leave without this beauty, although we all agreed it would look fabulous over my mantle. I mean, who doesn’t love a bull painted on velvet?

The other disturbing sight from our day of shopping? (Book lovers…brace yourselves.)

In our group was a librarian, retired elementary school teacher, and six avid readers. It pained us to see these books so carelessly strewn outside. It was clear that some had been wet and most were horribly abused. It was almost too much for us to take, and we purposefully looked away when passing by the second time.

Saturday was comprised of more antiquing and shopping…and making a button tree! I had seen these adorable button trees on my favorite non-family-member’s blog: Ali Edwards. Mom and I decided to take a try at making our own button trees. Now…it wasn’t the easiest or the least frustrating craft that I’ve ever embarked on, but I coudln’t be happier with the result! I was so button-happy that I attempted a second one yesterday, so I now have a pair. Too cute.

Now another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and it’s onward to Christmas. Hard to believe that today is December 1! In the next 24 days, I have cards to write, cookies to bake, gifts to purchase and wrap, and a house to decorate. Whoa. I think we should all be given a mandatory sabbatical in the month of December…

Well, the alarm clock was a rude reminder this morning that vacation is over! Jeff and I had a wonderful week — lots of reading, sleeping, and just general lounging around. Here are just 10 things I want to tell you about my week.

1. I got to eat pumpkin ice cream twice. Love that.

2. I did a lot of sleeping, and I really like to sleep. For six days, I didn’t set an alarm clock or worry about what time to get up. As a matter of fact, for the portion of our vacation spent at Keuka Lake, it was warmer (by far!) to just stay under the covers. So I did.

3. I got reacquainted with my mountain bike. My Army green Trek mountain bike used to be my baby. Then Jeff came along. And then a red, faster, sleeker Trek came along, and, well, I’m afraid of mountain biking really. Jeff and I rode a bit in the woods behind my parent’s house. And, my mom and I used our mountain bikes to stalk, er…I mean encourage, Jeff during the marathon. We probably pedaled a total of 20 miles that Sunday morning, which allowed me the opportunity take these photos:

4. I like to read. Alot. I finished one good book on vacation, “East of Eden” by John Steinbeck, and started another, “Bel Canto” by Ann Patchett. One of my favorite moments was being spread out on the bench of a picnic table in the warm Friday sun drinking tea, reading, and dozing.

5. Hurricane Ike made a stop in Meadville. On Sunday night, we lost electricty around 8:30. Jeff and I laid in our room with flashlights balanced on our chest reading while the wind howled outside. I thought it was a bit creepy. Forced everyone to enjoy an early bedtime though. (Please see #2 for more on this topic.)

6. I climbed 800 stairs so that I could enjoy the wonder that is Watkins Glen. It was a cool, sunny day, and we enjoyed our climb up the gorge. The lighting made photography difficult, but I got a few shots worth sharing:

7. I can’t talk about visiting Meadville without talking about going to Pymantuning to feed the fish. This time the fish were all too deep, and the geese and ducks ate all our bread. Jeff was even brave enough to feed the seagulls by throwing bread into the air and watching them pluck it out of the sky. Mom and I just squealed and covered our heads in fear of an awful, unfortunate seagull accident that would leave one us with an unwanted present in our hair!

8. Ben. Ben who I babysit when he was only months old and is now a first-year student at Penn State. Ben and his brother and sister are like grandchildren to my parents. So, we were all so pleased that Ben was home for the weekend. Then, Jeff and I took a little State College detour on our way home yesterday so that we could take Ben his bike. In exchange, Ben took us to the Creamery! More ice cream…mmmmmmmmmm!

9. On Saturday, Jeff and I went to his cousin Angie’s wedding. First of all, kudos to the couple for chosing to get married in the Chautauqua Institution. That is one of my very favorite places, so I was thrilled to be on the grounds again, especially for such a happy occassion. Angie was a stunning bride. Truly. She was gracious and kind. And, sometime ask me about the special father-daugther dance. (Bring a tissue.)

10. Sadly, in the stack of the mail that was waiting for us was a note from the county. I’ve been summoned for jury duty. It’s official. I’m totally an adult. And, it’s definitely back to real life.

On Saturday, a dear childhood friend of mine, Sarah, married the love of her life in downtown Pittsburgh. Sarah and I have been friends since first grade. She and her family are a large part of many of my childhood memories, so it was a real joy to see her marry her best friend.

She was an absolutely stunning bride. And, she threw a fabulous party! I sat a table with many of my high school friends, marveling that 13 years after graduation, we would all still enjoy each other’s company so much. It was great to get caught up with Julie, Laurie, Heather, Lori, Jason, and Kim.

Plus, my cute parents were invited to the wedding, so we enjoyed seeing them. On Sunday, we took Jeff up the Mt. Washington incline for an incredible view of the city. Beautiful blue skies made for outstanding ogling!

Then, we spent the afternoon watching the Buccos get pummeled by the Brewers. At least it was a beautiful day for a ballgame! I especially enjoyed the free Pirates smiley face cookies handed out before the game by Eat-n-Park!

I really love the city of Pittsburgh, and I especially enjoy being there with my favorite people. My dad went to refrigeration school in the city, so it’s fun to be with him as he remembers his long, cold walk across the Seventh Street bridge in the winter and meals at a little downtown cafe. In college, I made some of my own Pittsburgh memories when I spent a summer interning at the Andy Warhol Museum on the northside. I truly always thought I would end up living and working in the city, but after sending 30+ resumes to organizations in the ‘burgh and never getting an interview, it was clear that God had different plans for me. So, I’ve made my home in a different ‘burg, and I don’t regret it at all!

Yep…the Sampson-Myers-Bertram-Lorow weekend escapade to Lancaster County was a huge success! As anticipated there was much giggling, eating, antiquing, and just general getting caught up with each other.

This weekend’s gathering is thanks to a little place called Lock Haven University, and two girls who both happened to live on the first floor in Russell Hall. When I met Jamie 13 years ago, I’m not sure that I would have thought that we would one day spend a weekend together with our husbands and our parents! But, God has blessed us both with wonderful families, and I love that when we’re all together it feels less like two separate families and more like one big happy one!

My cute Jamie is adorably pregnant. And, I mean adorable. So adorable that I was too distracted to take a single picture of her cute self. But trust me, she’s even cuter than usual.

I found myself wanting to photograph all the elements of Lancaster County that make it such an interesting place:

Don’t you love that stack of rolling pins? I couldn’t walk from that antique booth without taking a picture! And, jugs of homemade rootbeer? Delicious! Jeff and I definitely splurged on homemade rootbeer and sauerkraut while we were in Amish country. (He also splurged on a whoopie pie! Lucky duck!)

Everybody needs a Jeff, Dave, Linda, Jamie, Brad, Karen, and Jerry in their life!

Like pretty much every PR person and information geek in America, I subscribe to Google Alerts so that I can monitor how/when/where Messiah College is popping up in the news. Usually, this service alerts me to blogs or news stories I’m already aware of, but every once and awhile, Google is a goldmine! Like today!

I had heard from a very reliable source several weeks ago that a second Compassion Forum was going to take place at Saddleback Church in southern California. In case you’re an evangelical living under a rock, Saddleback is the home of Rick Warren (the incredibly famous author of “The Purpose Driven Life”) and Doug Fields (a youth pastor of the cool-ish variety). Today, the announcement became official.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama will appear at Warren’s “Civil Forum on Leadership and Compassion” on August 16, nearly a full month before either candidate is confirmed as their party’s official nominee. They will each spend an hour alone in dialogue with Warren–he will be the only one asking questions–and the handshake photo op will occur in the middle, just as it did at Messiah for Hillary and Barack. And, it seems that Faith in Public Life has a hand in this event as well, although they don’t seem as in the forefront as they were here at Messiah.

Reading this news today has brought back a rush of memories…and questions. When Messiah hosted The Compassion Forum in April, I was privy to many of the behind-the-scenes conversations. I knew how details were unfolding, how campaigns were behaving, and understood some of the challenges Messiah would face. I would love to know how Warren got McCain to commit, whether Obama drug his feet, and if Saddleback is in conversation with a broadcast partner. Are they busy designing a set? Credentialing media? Preparing catering menus? Renting generators? Coordinating volunteers? Shopping for comfortable shoes? Is someone fielding phone calls from angry constituents?

It’s intriguing to watch how people of faith are inserting themselves and their “issues” into this election. While I appreciate hearing the candidates talk about how their personal faith informs their opinions and policies, I find myself frequently questioning their sincerity. Within the faith community we can’t even agree on issues. So, I am unconvinced that a politician will both understand my faith and make policy decisions in keeping with Biblical principles while at the same time trying to appease the majority. I’m not in the majority, and, you know what? I’m fine with that. Really.

So, besides the excitement of a second Compassion Forum…today has been a pretty swell Monday. Lisa made delicious three-layer, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Yum! Plus, tonight will be my first night at home (without company or commitments) in 10 days. I’m looking forward to it. Jeff and I might even do something crazy…like eat dinner together!

Speaking of eating, check this out:

This is my lunch…from IKEA! (Swedish meatball and ligonberry sauce, of course!) Jason, Heather, and Michael took us to IKEA on Saturday for an afternoon of shopping. Michael, who is a mere five months old, was so good that I often forgot he was even there! I loved IKEA — I mean really, what person with frantic organizational tendecies doesn’t love a whole store devoted to inexpensive means of organizing your home?!

(By the way, I did not eat the meatball that catapulted into the ligonberry sauce. Actually, I didn’t eat about five of the meatballs. Too much red meat for this girl…)

It’s good to be back at work after a busy, exhausting Fourth of July weekend. Neither Jeff or I have family in central Pennsylvania (besides our much-loved church family at Immanuel), so we spend many holidays bopping from place to place to see our kin. This holiday weekend was an especially hectic example: Jeff’s parents and siblings were all in New York at Keuka Lake with his extended family, and my brother and his family from California were in Meadville visiting my parents. It made for a bit less than 1,000 miles of driving and much more togetherness than this introvert is used to, let me tell ya!

We left on July 4 for Canisteo, NY for a picnic at Jeff’s aunt Becky’s house. I adore Becky — she is one of the first Lorow relatives that I met, and she always makes me feel so at ease. We had a great time playing redneck golf and hanging out with myriad aunts, uncles, and cousins.

On July 5, Jeff ran a 15-mile trail race, and I went to a flea market with the rest of his family. Best Kettle Korn ever! We spent the rest of the day with another batch of aunts, uncles, and cousins…only this time they were all from his mom’s side of the family. That night, I hung out with two-year-old Hope, a sweet little girl that Joe and Molly adopted from China. She won me over in no time flat, and I had a great time playing with her and teaching her to count the boats on the lake.

On Sunday, we left in the afternoon for my parent’s house. We had see my mom and dad quite a bit over the past two weeks because of my grandfather’s funeral, but I never tire of spending time with them. I was delighted to pull into the driveway and see dad and my brother Dwayne standing at the grill! My parents made so many delicious meals, which we enjoyed eating outside on their fabulous deck.

We did many Meadville-esque things with Dwayne, Barb, and Brandon, including lunch at Eddie’s Footlong Hotdogs, frozen custard at Hank’s, feeding the fish at the spillway in Linesville, and hiking up into the woods to see the beaver dam. We got see the neighbor kids, whom I adore, and even lit a few fireworks, much to Brandon’s delight.

Jeff and I left Tuesday morning so that we could spend a few hours with my grandmother, who was back in the hospital. I had a great visit with her, which was a real gift. Her memory is slipping at a rapid rate, and I feel fortunate for every time that I visit and she knows who I am. This time we laughed and remembered some of our adventures together, just like old times.

And, interestingly, one of my favorite parts of the whole trip took place in my parent’s backyard. There is an abandoned quarry deep in the woods behind my parent’s house. Amazingly, there are fish here.

And, just as we got there, it started to pour, and we all got soaked! But, everybody was in good humor. Both Barb and I caught a fish. Jeff, the fish whisperer, caught like 40, and dad hooked a few too. The Powell kids came with us, and we had a great adventure.

All in all, it was a blessing to see so much family in just a few days.

I do love palm trees. And sunshine. And even afternoon rain. I like open-air shopping malls and eating outside. I like Florida. I do. But, Pennsylvania is home. While I certainly enjoyed my time in the Sunshine State, I’m also pretty happy to be back home.

After a cancelled flight and relatively easy re-routing, I arrived in West Palm Beach on Wednesday safe and sound. It was raining and humid. I met my first CCCU friend — Carrie from Mt. Vernon Nazarene in Ohio — and got checked into the residence hall. We quickly bustled off to a reception, dinner, presention by the president of the CCCU, and time of worship. All my nerves about venturing off to a conference where I didn’t know anyone were quickly put to rest. When you have Christ in common, the rest just starts to fall into place.

It wasn’t until Thursday that I started to really take in my surroundings:

An unexpected sighting:

These little critters were a frequent sight on the sidewalks, and you could hear them rustling around in the dead leaves along the sidewalks. I wasn’t too bothered by their presence, but I heard more than one girl scream when a lizard would go scurrying across the sidewalk…even once coming very close to running right over Meredith’s foot!

Besides the camarederie (too lazy to look up proper spelling) with the other attendees, my favorite part of the conference was playing croquet at the National Croquet Center. This place was no joke! Our teacher, Kathie from New Jersey, was a hoot. Sometimes she called me Beth, sometimes she called me Teresa, and sometimes she just called me babe. But, my partner Katie and I had a great time, and our record was 1-1. Trust me: you’ve never seen croquet like this before. The courts are laser-leveled (at a cost of $50,000 per court; this place has 12). The seven-time world croquet champ works at this particular center. There were mallets for sale in the gift shop for more than $400!

Also, I can’t talk about Florida without showing you this tree. Check it out!

This tree is in front of Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Norton Museum of Art. It’s very cool. I stood in awe of it for so long that the people I was walking with were getting impatient and slightly tired of hearing me say over and over, “Wow. Look at this tree.” I took like 33 million photos, but I’ll just share this one. And, while this particular tree looked quite fabulous beside the museum, the same type of tree looked quite creepy in the cemetary across the street.

All in all it was a really great trip. Great people, good food, helpful sessions, fun free time, hassle-free flying. It was also really great to see Jeff waiting for me in the airport and to sleep in my own bed.

Just one unpleasant thing seems to have happened while I was gone: