My People

When Matt goes home to Indiana, I often hear him say on the drive back to the airport that those are "my people." He enjoys going home to be among them. 

On our trip to Memphis in August, I realized I didn't want my parents to feel like they only got our leftover time. We knew we'd make plans with various friends while there, but we were staying with my parents. It would be easy to plan to hang out with them at the house and have no real definition to our time together. But, knowing Matt and I are quality time people and so is my dad (mom is just crazy about us ;), I knew the best plan would be to set up with them specific things we'd do together. 

 

My Mom. I meant to get a pick of us together and forgot :(

While Matt was on a short work trip that week, I planned to have a play day with my parents so they'd feel they had some time with me to themselves :) We took in a movie and had lunch afterward. Then, we planned a double date night on the evening after Matt returned from his trip. We simply went out for dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. Finally, we planned to go with them to their Sunday School class (so they could show us off to their friends ;), sit with them in the church service and go to lunch before a trip to the airport to fly out. We had some time at home together too, but it was nice spending time with clear plans and togetherness.

It was a fantastic visit with them! It just so happened that on the day we visited their Sunday School class my dad was being inaugurated as their class president.

My Dad.

It meant a lot to me to be there on such a special day. 

My parents are the best! 

It was great being with my people.

Sweetest Place on Earth

One of our recent road trips was to visit Hershey, PA. Now we can say we've been to Chocolate World! I must admit, it was fun.

We hit town right at lunchtime and hit up the local Red Robin.

Matt's not crazy about me taking pictures of him, but he plays along :)

Fortunately for me, he does appreciate that I keep up with a blog about our life. He often gives his support by reminding me to bring my camera when we hit the road. It's not natural for me to think of it myself. 

After Red Robin, we were off to explore Chocolate World!

The first part of our visit was a tour around the grounds, so we could hear the history of Hershey's beginnings. 
 

It was very interesting for both Matt and me to learn that Milton Hershey had a heart for giving underprivileged children an opportunity in life. A part of his legacy is that he established a trust to provide ongoing support to a school he founded for underprivileged children. He and his wife were never able to have children of their own, but before his death, he made sure the school would remain to fulfill its purpose indefinitely. 

On the trolley tour

It also was an interesting fact to learn that Milton Hershey made his first million and maybe even his second in caramels. He made a foray into chocolate a little later in his career and never looked back. 

Inside the chocolate-mobile

We enjoyed a lot of free chocolates throughout the trip. The tour alone gave us a sample of five varieties. We went for an IMAX type movie that was somewhat brief (as a part of our package) and the main thing from it was seeing all the Hershey products. When I shop for chocolate, I don't particularly take note of the manufacturer. 

Afterward, we created our own candy bars. 

 You can see Matt was thrilled I took this shot :)

It was an automated candy-making system, but it was still neat to watch. Here are the chocolate bars we made: 

Mine was so good, I think Matt ate more of it than I did :)

Finally, we went on a tour that explained the process of making chocolate from cacao to chocolate bar. This was one of the most interesting parts of our visit. To hear of the volume of what is produced in a day, to see the step-by-step process needed to break down the raw material and process it into the deliciousness that is chocolate, that was fun. 

Photo they took at the end of our tour.

Last Hurrah

While in Memphis at the end of August, I stopped by my house in Oakland. With a contract on it, expecting it to close soon, I wanted to take one last look. 

Though I didn't take many pictures, I thought it would be nice to snap a couple.

The master bedroom, though you can't see it all

For whatever reason, I looked in every room and every closet. As if I left something and it'd still be there after more than a year of people traipsing through (including my parents who've been maintaining the property). That's when I found this:

Barrette hanging on a ribbon in the master closet

This was the single remaining evidence of my day-to-day life for 10 years of living in this house. Yes, I took the barrette with me. :) 

Remembering the days I laid on my bed looking at the ceiling in my bedroom, thanking God for His provision...for His blessing...for His answer to my prayers for a home of my own...Remembering entertaining friends over the years and enjoying a few moments with family there...Remembering long nights of studying and writing papers while in my doctoral program...reading, studying and preparing curriculum to teach...cooking, cleaning and doing everyday things...God has been so good to me in so many ways...one of which was living in that little house and dreaming of the day I'd be married and begin a family of my own. 

It was good to remember...

and that was my last hurrah...

A New First

Since Matt and I are spending Thanksgiving in Colonial Williamsburg this year, I decided to make him a traditional Thanksgiving dinner tonight. This was the turkey: 

Needless to say, we had leftovers :)

This was the rest of the meal: 

Dressing with turkey gravy, green beans and a roll

The turkey was moist and tasted great with the creole seasoning and gravy. The dressing handily passed the test as well. I'll call this one a success.  

Happy Thanksgiving!