Of Errands and Fixes

On Monday I felt like a Techie. In the morning I figured out how to re-import sound and copy Tim & Kristen's "love story" onto DVD, so made 10 copies of that. I had bought a DVD recorder last week, so was unplugging my old VCR and DVD player and hooking up the new one when I realized I either had to buy a DVD converter box for my old TV..or buy a new TV. So I decided to splurge and look at the new LCD TVs. So I started this project around 1:00 p.m. Approximately 4 hours and 6 stores later, I returned to Wal-Mart and bought the first TV that I had considered--a 26" Sanyo LCD HDTV. So I had fun setting that up. (Next upgrade in 2 years: Surround Sound!) The picture is so much clearer! I haven't tried recording DVDs yet, but that project will follow soon.

On Tuesday I was running errands when I noticed a screw in my increasingly-flat tire. Unsure of what to do, I did the first thing that came to mind: I called my dad. Through the process of our conversation, as I pondered whether I should try to take off the tire and bring it somewhere, patch it myself, call a friend, borrow Sarah's car...he asked if I had the tire protection plan at Wal-Mart, since that was where I bought the tires. Sure enough, it covers flat. So I put more air in the tire and was able to have it fixed for FREE at Wal-Mart (in about 15 minutes, coincidentally enough)! Praise the Lord!

On Wednesday I woke to 2 houseplants that had decided they needed to be repotted and had unceremoniously leaped off the shelf of their own accord and made quite a mess on the kitchen floor. So besides giving piano lessons today, I have repotted plants, made a trip to Menards and fixed Juju's collar, and used free food coupons at Chic-Fil-A and Dairy Queen!

So, with these projects, besides additional phone calls and practices that have sprung up this week, I feel as if the days are flying by and I'm getting nothing accomplished. What is that old saying? "Man proposes and God disposes." I'm so thankful that a sovereign God is in charge and not me!

Tim's Wedding!

Friday Sarah and I drove up to Portage, MI (near Kalamazoo--just 3 hours away) for my brother's rehearsal and wedding. We got into the area about 2:00 p.m., with time to practice music and get things ready for the rehearsal at 4:30. Afterwards we had dinner at Old Country Buffet then chilled at Kristen's parents' house (with most of the family that was there), watching a video that Tim made and playing Apples to Apples.

New friends: Kelly, Korie, and Michelle

Dave Wetzel and Ben Stiemsma

Photographs were supposed to begin at 11:30 (the wedding was at 1:30)...most people were there by 11:30.

Matt & Rachel Eliason

Mom and the Bride :)

Here's proof that Les & Dave arrived AFTER 11:30, with suits in hand, but not quite ready to go... ;) (Don't tell Kristen or Tim, I'm not sure they know this yet...)

We had quite a good crew of the Helfinstine/Hill clan there so here's an extended family picture--Uncle Dave & Aunt Karen Helfinstine (the MN connection), Aunt Elaine & Uncle Doug Kari (from MI), Aunt Marlene Edwards (CT), Brian & Amy Pentti (MN), Becky Beckman, and Dave Pentti (AZ)! It was so good to see everyone and get caught up.

Here's the siblings. Now half of us are married!

The Beautiful Bride & Handsome Groom

After the wedding we met family for supper at Texas Roadhouse and then Sarah and I headed back to Lafayette.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous. I played the piano for the ceremony and the reception, but from what I could see it seemed to go well! I love Kristen and her family. I think she is the perfect help meet for Tim, and I look forward to seeing how God blesses their new household. They went to Arizona (Grand Canyon) for a week for their honeymoon, but they will continue to live in Virginia Beach, VA. Tim has another year of seminary, and Kristen will continue teaching 2nd grade (I believe) next year. I guess they'll have to follow the Lord's leading from there! I might get to see them when they make a trip to the U.P. next week, because I'll be going up there, too. CONGRATULATIONS, MR. & MRS. TIMOTHY HILL!

Wabash Heritage Trail

I guess I haven't posted in a while...sorry, I've been on summer vacation AWAY from my computer! And I know I owe a post about 8 weirdo facts about myself (thanks to a tag from Carrie)!

But this post is about a great hike that I was able to take yesterday--the Wabash Heritage Trail. It's a one-way trail that stretches about 8-9 miles from West Lafayette up the Wabash to the Tippecanoe Battlefield Museum up in Battleground. I've always wanted to hike this trail but couldn't figure out how to get back to my car once I had walked the 9 miles one way. So I finally decided to just make a day out of it and hike the WHOLE thing round trip (16-18 miles)!

Juju & I started hiking the trail about 10:00 a.m. I thought it would be about 3 hours one way. We started off great and enjoyed the great trail. Parts of it were paved but there were other parts that were just trails in the woods. We startled a deer which thrashed about as it got up about 20 feet in front of us, and Juju had fun chasing squirrels and birds--robins, goldfinches, cardinals, bluebirds, and even orioles! It was great to be in God's wonderful creation.

One interesting sight along the trail was these old cars, too. Go figure.
One of my favorite parts was crossing Burnett's Creek on the stepping stones. On the way up I ran into the trail manager (and her dog Yeager) and she warned me that I might run into trouble on the way back because they were needing to work on a well and the trail was going to be flooded for a little while. I made it up to the Battlefield Museum by 1:00 and stopped to eat lunch: peaches, banana, and PB & J!

The trail manager lady said that they WERE going to be flooding the trail, so she offered me a ride back to the Davis Ferry bridge, which I was happy to take by then. So I shaved off the hardest 3 miles of the trail that way. On the way back I stopped to rest more frequently but still made it back to the car by 4:30. Juju and I had a great adventure but were tired out! After stopping for ice cream (for both of us) at Culver's we crashed at home. I've never seen Ju so tired...she basically slept from 5:00 last night until 8:00 this morning!