All things new

A new day
A new week

A new month

A new place

A new house

A new city

A new street
A new neighborhood

A new community

New neighbors

New connections

New friends

New flowers

New walking options

New changes

New challenges

New wonderings

New projects

New opportunities

A new world 

A new life

A whole new adventure

Adventure awaits

Today’s the day, but we know not the hour and so we sit and wait.

We need to be ready to step out the door at a moment's notice. 
And so we are.  
Ready. 
Waiting.

Certainly there are more things that we could be doing.  Lots more things.

But we don’t want to start something that we can’t leave in the middle.

And so we pick projects that will take only five minutes or things that we CAN leave unfinished.

So I guess we are not really sitting and waiting.  

We sit and wait until we think of one more thing we could do in a short time.

We do that one thing and probably another.

In the meantime, we find still another.

And then we sit and wait again - and get so excited that we can hardly stand it.

But then we figure out one more detail that we could care for.

One more project.

One more loose end that we can tie up.

And another…

And then we wait again.

Adventure awaits and so we wait.

Farewell to winter

The vehicles in the parking lot

wear bridal veils loosely draped

over their noses this morning. 

After lingering modestly

to shield the eyes for a bit

they slowly slide down

into a tired heap on the ground.

Buying a house?!?

Big news!

We are buying a house.

That's right.  After coming off the road a year ago, we've decided we like it.

I wrote recently about our one-year lease on a small apartment.

I described how that one year has been so right in so many ways.

It has been a time to get through the rest of those bins and boxes that got moved out of the big house five years ago and hadn’t been dealt with yet.  That is MAJOR accomplishment!

It has been a chance to try a winter back in Michigan and figure out that there is much about it that we like or at least can cope with. 

It has been a time to explore our new little town and to look for places where we could get involved. I have worked hard to make connections here but none of them have really been a good fit for either of us.

This year has also been a chance to explore the Flint area - AND to get acquainted with International students - which has been a long-term dream for us. We volunteer once a week helping students with conversational English. Through that connection, we have realized that that is where we belong. And that is where we long to live - near the university so that we can hang out with students on a more regular basis and so that we can serve them in other ways as well.

So, as the end of our one-year lease approached, we began looking at houses - and we found one!  It is smack dab between two universities.  In fact, it is within walking distance of U of M Flint as well as the old downtown area.  AND the farmers’ market.  I’m not even sure which we are most excited about - because there are so many things we love about the area.

Are there concerns about living in Flint, Michigan?  

Of course, there are.

Flint is often in the national news because of the lead in the water.

And yes, there are safety issues in any city.

But there are concerns about living anywhere. 

In any town or city.   

And even about living out in the country.

On the other hand, there is much to love about living in the city and I’m just beginning to explore them.  In fact, my list is growing by the day.  I’m guessing the things on that list will become topics for lots of blog posts in the coming weeks.

So this country girl is ready to try living in the city.

Stay tuned for the next adventures!

...

Two late notes:

First, we won't be making the move for about a month.
Secondly, you can read Bob's perspective on his travel blog.

Cold day, hot soup

I feel like an old-fashioned woman today.  

A real woman who knows how to make real soup.  
I love soup.

I love to make soup.

I love to eat soup.

I love to smell soup simmering on the back of the stove.

But this soup story starts back at Christmas time.  After we pulled off the last tender slice of our spiral-sliced Christmas ham I wrapped the bone up and stuck it in the freezer to make soup “some day.”  Today seemed like the time - because it might be our last really cold day for this winter.  

So I simmered that ham bone until every little scrap of tastiness fell off. To make hubby happy I also added one of those cheap cans of ham from the dollar store.  The kind where the ham is diced and therefore doesn’t work so well to make sandwiches, but I am happy to report that it works really well to supplement a soup bone!  Meanwhile I diced a couple carrots and threw them in… and then some cabbage and onion and some celery leaves. Added a handful of soup mix from Country View (the “Mennonite store” in the Thumb) which contains lentils and a few other goodies. At the last minute I decided to dump in the leftover fried potatoes from breakfast.

So was it good?

You bet it was!

I am quite sad that I failed to get pictures along the way.

As we were savoring the yumminess and speaking of the accomplishment, I easily admitted that this was really no big deal.  This is simply making good use of what we have - like my grandma would have done. All. The. Time.  Every day. Every week.

But…  it can feel like a big deal in these “modern” times.  These days when we don’t always make use of every little scrap.  Bob wondered aloud what people usually do with the ham bone.  I suppose they toss it in the garbage; right? I have to admit I almost made myself pitch this one at Christmas time - because I figured I wouldn't really follow through to make soup from it.  But hey, I'm rather glad I didn't toss it and that I DID follow through.

At any rate it was fun.

And tasty.

And gratifying.

And fortifying.

I hope to do it again.

Maybe even make it a habit.

...

Did I mention that I love soup?
Soup warms your innards.  Therefore coming up with a new soup recipe is something to celebrate.