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…And It Was Amazing (Pictures)

/ friends, happy, life, pictures

A few weeks ago, I’d received an invitation to the Luchtenberg’s Golden Anniversary party. I immediately decided that anything that may have been planned that day was to be scrapped–there was no way I was missing this celebration.

The Luchtenbergs had been a part of my life since 1997. I was roommates with their son Dave, and I frequently ate dinner at his parent’s house. Patty’s Cooking. Best.Meals.Ever. She could totally trademark her food.

After he broke up with his girlfriend (who was also a roommate of mine), I kind of fell out of touch with Dave. You know, you drift away, live your lives, etc.

Well, God certainly had plans to reconnect me with them.

Years later, Chris and I started attending Heritage. I remember, during the Christmas program, a family came up to give a testimony. The girl had glasses and long blonde hair and said she was not happy about moving to Ohio. The following weeks, I’d see her, worshipping her heart out, and pray that she and I would become friends. God answered that prayer with a YES, and I later found out that this girl–Katie–was their granddaughter!

It doesn’t end there. We’d met up again with the Luchtenberg’s for some spiritual counseling in 2003. Chris showed me the card, and the name rang a bell with me. “I know them,” I’d said. “They’re Dave Luchtenberg’s parents. I used to go there for dinner.” Memories came rushing back to me as soon as we went to their house, and it was an amazing reunion. I’d begun to remember other family members; people I’d seen around church and thought they looked familiar but couldn’t exactly place them.

So now, there were at least three connections.

One night after church (we used to go to the Saturday service back then), Katie’s aunt Nancy came up to me and asked if the name Vera rang a bell. I had to think for a minute and the first thought was “spankin.net!!” Yes, that rang a bell. She and I had posted together on Dodo’s message board a long time ago, and we were sister domains at one point. Then I remembered that she’d emailed me a few months prior and mentioned that her boyfriend’s family went to my church and perhaps I knew them.

Guess who her boyfriend is related to?

Katie!

He’s her brother.

Oh yes, I knew her boyfriend’s family. Very much so. 🙂

So tonight was the party. The first incredible thing that happened was when Chris and I walked up to the driveway. I saw this gorgeous Asian girl and smiled at her. She smiled back and then said “Ronni?” I said “Yes,” and she said “I’m Vera!” HUGE hugs all around! Her boyfriend was gobsmacked the entire night about how Vera and I had met randomly on a message board then met in real life, unexpectedly, tonight. It was a very good surprise.

She said she’d recognized me from all the pictures I post on my website(s). I wonder if anyone else around town ever sees me and looks twice, wondering if I’m that girl from anywhere-is.net. That would be kind of neat, huh?

The second incredible thing was seeing how this family appreciated and loved their parents so much. Dick and Patty raised eight children and created a legacy that touches more people than they could ever realize. Their grandchildren are amazing musicians. Their family is wonderful. I felt like a part of them when I was there and was loathe to leave. The amount of LOVE there was overwhelming. It had been a long time since I’d felt that.

They sang two songs that they’d written. One of them was about the day of the life of the Luchtenberg Family Tree. It was hilarious!! It totally reminded me of a Brady Bunch type thing. Then they sang one called Legacy which was awesome. The children all sang, and the grandchildren played. It was beautiful and made me cry (just a little bit!) Pastor Jim arrived late, so they did an encore just for him. 🙂

Aidan connected with a cute little girl named Alex. They even danced together! 🙂 It was adorable. Chris said “Hey, if they get married, we’ll be a part of their family after all!” 🙂

Oh yeah, I promised you pictures. Okay…here goes.


Me, waiting in the car for Chris to get the directions.


Me again, still waiting.


The guests of honour – Dick and Patty. 🙂


I thought her face was super adorable here!!


It’s me and Vera!!!


David and me. I wonder if I can dig up some pictures of us from the college days….
NOTICE how my hair is losing more curl in each picture? HAH!

Tonight was really, really good. 😀 God is good. 🙂 Amen.

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I’m An Aunt + Other Stuff! (Pictures)

/ family, pictures

I’m an aunt!!! I’ve never been an aunt before. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had their baby girl today. Jamie Elizabeth is the first girl born into the Davis family in decades! Much rejoicing is to be done!


Welcome, baby Jamie!!!

Had another good day at work. It’s WEIRD to actually enjoy my job. I know I’ve only worked there for two days, but to see people so passionate about something that I am passionate about–the synergy in the group… it’s amazing. I pray it only gets better.

There is SO MUCH that goes into making a text book. It’s overwhelming. I’m learning so much every day. It’s so nice to feel like part of a team, instead of just the “go to” person for all the grunt work. We have a break room with hot water, tea and cocoa, a fridge, and a neat little machine that makes water and ice. There is candy all over the place (which is BAD for me!). I drink a LOT of water these days. It’s so easy to go and refill it. And it’s really good for me, right?

Proofreading is a lot harder than it seems. But I enjoy it immensely. Isn’t that crazy? Looking for mistakes? How is that fun? But it is for me.

I just can’t believe I got this job! I pray it continues to be wonderful for me.

Here is the building where I work. It’s not the best angle, I’ll try to get a better one soon.


McGraw-Hill

The other day, I was outside. Chris had just watered the plants and I noticed some droplets clinging to one of the leaves of the lamb’s ear. I had to capture it:

I have lots of email to answer. I’ll have to make time to answer it soon, huh? I am also behind on phone calls. I need to start making lists again:

To Do:
– emails
– phone calls
– sort out boxes from NW
– clean out closet
– 10 pages
– critique Renee’s (laverick) pages
– memorize my lines for “Strange Love.”

Mmm. Chores. Gotta love it.

There is a cricket living in our garage! When I go out in the morning to go to work, I hear it chirping and echoing. So cute! 🙂

Ate Friendly’s tonight. It had been a while since I’d been there. YUMMY! I had a chocolate ice cream soda. Delicious. My stomach wasn’t too happy with me afterwards, but my MOUTH was!!!!

Okay then. I should head to bed soon.

Good night!

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I LOVE the Ohio State Fair!! (Pictures)

/ friends, ohio, ohio state fair, pictures, videos, yay

I had such an amazing time at the Fair today! We didn’t get there ’til really late. It was hot and crowded. Not horribly, though. Heh. Bob, Chris, Aidan and I got there first. They parked us with the campers which I thought was really weird, but whatever. After a few failed attempts, we finally made our way into the fair. We went in through a side entrance and totally could have gotten away with not paying–had we not pre-bought our tickets at Kroger! HAHA. Irony, such a funny thing, eh?

So we got something to drink and floated through the Commercial building. It was crowded but air-conditioned at least. Then Aidan got really mad and hungry so we left to get him some food. Craig called while we were at the stand, saying he’d arrived with Theresa and Tom. They met us there. And we went on from there. 🙂

We ate and rode and laughed and got rained on. Total blast. 😀

You guys will be so proud of me. Remember the video of the crazy ride from a couple of entries ago? I GOT ON IT TODAY! Yes, I rode the Power Surge. Craig paid for me, Bob, and Tom to ride it, so we did.

OH EM GEE IT WAS THE KEWLEST RIDE EVAR!!!11ONEone!

Seriously, it kicked some serious bootay. It was just… so random. Lots of flipping and turning and you really have no idea where you’re going or anything. It was fantastic!!! I was very mildly dizzy when I got off, and I was over it in about 15 seconds.

I guess after Mission Space (at Disneyworld), these rides are nothing, hahaha.

Bob and I also rode the Orbiter and the Scrambler. The Scrambler is the longest ride evarrrrr. Totally awesome. I am so glad I have a friend who will ride all those crazy twisty-turny rides with me. Tina didn’t show up, so I was so happy when Bob was willing to join me, yay. Next year, he and I are getting the wristbands and going ride crazy. THAT will be sweeeet.

I have tons of pictures and some video too, so I guess I should go ahead and get to ’em, huh? 🙂

Bob and me on The Orbiter!!! WOOHOO!!!

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It’s Saturday! (Pictures)

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Saturday at last. I must be getting spoiled by the AC because it’s bloody hot outside. Chris mentioned going to the zoo, but there is no way I could handle too much of the heat. Ack. No fun at all. We’re purposely going to the Fair in the evening to avoid much of the hotness. A huge group of us are heading out there. I’m looking forward to it, especially since Tina is going. She’s the only one who’ll ride all those crazy twisty rides with me so YAY.

I noticed a lack of Tilt-A-Whirl and Scrambler when I was there last week. I’m hoping it was merely an oversight on my part. I mean, a Fair with no Scrambler and Tilt-A-Whirl? What the hell?

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took today with my new camera. 🙂 YAY!


Me, using the “Portrait” setting. 🙂
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Every New Beginning Is Some Other Beginning’s End (Pictures)

/ ohio state fair, pictures, videos

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I haven’t had the time/heart/energy to write anything here in a while. But I’m back, for a bit at least.

Last week, I said goodbye to Tyler as he headed off to Denver. Then Chris and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. He let me choose. He sent me this paper called “The Princess Package,” and let me choose the place to eat and other activities. We ate dinner at The Melting Pot. It was good, but the dessert was heavenly. Cookies and cream chocolate fondue with marshmallow. All sorts of goodies to dip in. I want more NOW!

HEY LOCALS!!! WHO IS UP FOR GOING WITH ME TO THE MELTING POT AT EASTON FOR DESSERT? IT’S $14 AND WE CAN SPLIT THE COST. IT IS SOOO WORTH IT!!!

After dinner, I spent the evening in Barnes and Noble. Mmmm. Grabbed the latest Sophie Kinsella book, a 2006 planner, and a Yoga book. I LOVE that store so much and their discount card too! 🙂

Quote(s) of the Week:
“I’ll just go back on steroids!”
“What does he think I am, his little bitch?”

Tuesday was the Wildwood Arts Fest (Grove talent show). It was fantastic. Lots of singing, funnies, stories, photos. The best part was Aidan, I must admit. He was so cute, dancing and laughing and stealing the shows. Great times, man. Great times. 🙂 And as usual, it was great seeing my friends. Happy Birthday to Monica (bluemo84), she is 21 now HEY!!

Saw a couple having a heated fight in the parking lot of Applebees. It was intense. I felt sorry for the girl, she was pregnant and emotional and crying. The guy was floundering, didn’t know what to do b/c she was so angry. I wanted to take him and tell him “Just nod and say ‘You’re right. It’ll all be okay.'” Heh.

Today was my last day at Nationwide. It was a bit bittersweet. I turned in my badge and desk keys and my parking transponder. I took one last sweep around my desk and hoped I didn’t leave anything. I cleaned out my computer and turned off all the lights and realized I wouldn’t be coming back. Yesterday I’d taken all my stuff down to the car. I’d managed to smash everything into two boxes and a bag.

My team gave me a $150 gift card to Best Buy, so I put it towards the purchase of this:

Oh yes. I am quite happy. 🙂 I can add lenses to it (YAY) and do loads of other stuff. I can’t wait to take it to Disneyland!!! ºOº

They also got me a $50 gift certificate to Scrapbook Groupies. OH YEAH, baby!!!!!! More scrapbooking goodies. Now if only I’d get to work on an actual book… I think my Disney ones are next.

Yesterday, the team took me out to Max & Erma’s for lunch. I am addicted to their BBQ Bacon burgers. I mean YUM.

We got this new bacon, Maple Cured or something. It is the best bacon I’ve ever tasted and it makes the house smell like pancakes. It’s amazing. I have been on a super duper bacon kick lately.

Ack. So many goodbyes. One friend moved to Denver, one to New York. I said goodbye to a lot of people at work today. So many hugs. One of the admins totally cried. I didn’t get to hug everyone that I wanted to. Stupid meetings. It’s kind of weird, saying goodbye. I took those people’s presence in my life for granted and now I am leaving. I choked up a bit today, but I didn’t cry.

It’s very draining to say goodbye and I don’t doubt that was part of the reason I’ve been so tired lately. But now it’s time to move on. I start my new job Monday. Abbie emailed me and told me that they set up my computer today!!!!! EEEK! This is REAL!!! I’m an EDITOR!! YAY!

I went to the Fair last Saturday and it was so much fun. I ate a Philly Cheesesteak, french fries, corn, and a deep fried Twinkie. Yummy!!! I’m thinking that might have to be the plan tomorrow. A bunch of us are supposed to be going around 4ish or so. I rode this crazy thing called the Orbiter. It was sweet and I only got a little dizzy on it. It was totally worth it. I hope some of the people we’re with tomorrow are willing to go on those crazy rides with me. It’s more fun when you have someone to share it with.

You guys have to check out these two videos I took at the Fair, though:

Aidan On The BIG Slide: Click (4 megabyte download)
CRAZY RIDE (Power Surge): Click (12 megabyte download)
(For those of you who download and watch the 2nd video, which of you would or has ridden a ride like that? What was it like?)

I am pretty sure I’m going to the Fair again tomorrow. Anyone interested in joining me? Hit me up. You know where to find me.

Anyway, I’m sure you guys are more interested in the pictures (teehee), so here you go:



Here I am at the Fair with a Fisher Price Rescue Hero
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