Point Plesant, West Virginia

Downtown Point Pleasant, West Virginia

I recently traveled to West Virginia, unfortunately to attend the funeral of a good friends father.  I have not spent much time in West Virginia, other than my annual trips to Harpers Ferry to go tubing.  It is a beautiful state, and very very weird in spots.

We stayed in Point Pleasant, which is on the banks of the Ohio River in the far western part of the state.  Have you ever seen the movie The Mothman Prophecies?  Me either.  But I learned a lot about it on this trip.  Creepy. The only hotel in town is the historic Lowes Hotel, which is run by a quaint man and his wife who have lived there forever.  The Historic Lowes Hotel has the potential to be very cool, and historic, but it somehow just misses the mark and is creepy instead.  Perhaps it was because we were seemingly the only people there, or that all of the doors were unlocked, or maybe it was just because I’d read the history of the place before.  But when we pulled up to the hotel after dinner and no lights were on I was a little disconcerted.  All that to say we survived.  It was an interesting glimpse into how a larger part of our country than I often realize lives.

The creepy hallway to our hotel room

Amazing reading materials provided by our hotel

The neon green margaritas (it’s food coloring)

Everybody does it once… or twice…

If you need something to help get you through Monday morning, listen to this adorable and hilarious interview a dad does with his daughters after one cuts the others hair:  http://gawker.com/5922086/npr-reporter-interviews-his-two-little-girls-after-one-gives-the-other-the-worst-haircut-ever

Proof

That you really can monogram anything:

oh hey monogrammed iphone cover

I ordered this beauty from Minnie and Emma about a month ago, and it finally arrived in the mail this weekend.  I love it.  Next I think I need the elephant coasters.  Coincidence that they don’t have donkey coaters?  I doubt it.

Obamacare Fail

We have a history of doing “surgeries” in our house.  Someone gets hurt and one of the other roommates tries to “fix” the problem without going to the Dr.  Although in our defense Joanna is actually a Dr. and is most often the one called on to execute the “surgery”.  I recently hurt my elbow in one of my running falls (see here and here) and rather than go to the Dr.  I called Jo to come over and take a look.  She brought her needles, and then this happened:

This is obviously not a failure of Obamacare, but more a reflection on my laziness and inability to function in the world as an adult.  Yes, sticking needles into your muscles to make them relax does hurt.  And while it sounds crazy, it sort of worked.

Urban Garden

Maybe one of my least favorite things about living in the city is a lack of a yard to work with.  I don’t miss the chore of grass cutting, which somehow was always my responsibility growing up.  According to my mother my little sister couldn’t do it because “she might cut her foot off”, I guess mine are more disposable?  Anyways I’ve got a few pots out back in which I’ve planted some herbs, peppers, and tomatoes.  I noticed last night that I’m close to having my first “harvest”.  I’ll have to go get some good fresh mozzarella to have with my homegrown tomato and basil.

Shep

 

On May 22 at 9:30 (ish) in the morning I was on a metro bus on my way to work and my life changed forever.  Because at the same time I was listening to music and likely looking at facebook on my phone, my sister was giving birth to an amazing little human named Shepherd William McNinch.

I was fortunate that I was able to make it down to meet him that next weekend.  And I’m sure that everyone says this, but seriously my nephew is the cutest.  It’s crazy how instantly you can love a person that you’ve never known.  He’s the first person who has fundamentally changed my identity.  I’ve always been a daughter, sister, cousin, niece, etc., but before Shep I was never an Aunt.  I can’t wait to live life with this little guy and watch him grow, and learn and develop a personality.

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A Father’s Love

My mom always told me that if I didn’t have anything nice to say don’t say anything at all.  That’s the best I can do to explain the blog absence.  I haven’t had anything nice to say.

A few weeks ago I went to the Gospel Coalition Women’s conference in Orlando.  It was amazing.  Wonderful teaching, great time of worship and fellowship, and a lot of really challenging things to think about and attempt to incorporate into my life.

But my favorite moment of the weekend happened on my way home.  Sitting at the gate in the airport they made an announcement that a Dad, in the military and home from Afghanistan, would be surprising his kids who were arriving on a flight at the gate next to mine and invited anyone around to come and cheer on the surprise reunion.  The kids thought they were going to Disney and had no idea their Dad was anxiously waiting for them when they got off the plane.

The picture below attests to the number of people who gathered to watch this reunion.  It was a beautiful sight to see so many people supportive of our troops.   You could hear the squeals of delight from this man’s children as they caught sight of him and ran the rest of the way down the jet way into his waiting arms as the crowd looking on cheered.  I sobbed like a baby.

As I boarded my flight to DC I couldn’t help but think that what a beautiful picture of the gospel that reunion was.  A father so excited to see his kids, and his kids so excited to see him in such an unexpected place, never doubting his love for them and running like crazy into his arms.  It was simultaneously encouraging and convicting.  How unbelievable that the God of the universe sees us this way, and shows up to surprise and support us in unexpected places and how unfortunate that I don’t often take the opportunity to freely and unreservedly run into his arms.

 

Happy Donut Day!

Donut Day is a holiday I wholeheartedly support.  Once when I was somewhere around five years old my parents were out of town and some family friends who were basically surrogate grandparents were staying with us.  They told me the night before that we were having donuts for breakfast the next morning, and as the story had been told (over and over and over again) I woke them up at 3:30 in the morning asking if it was time to go get donuts yet.  What can I say, from an early age I knew a good thing when I saw it.

I’m bummed I’m not in New York and able to celebrate this great holiday at the Donut Plant.  Any suggestions on where to get a great donut in DC?

It could be worse…

At least we don’t have to make dating video’s anymore…

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C.S. Lewis inspiration

Love these two quotes from C.S. Lewis- dude was smart and got it.  I feel like these two accurately describe how I feel about life right now.

“What matters is the nature of the change in itself, not how we feel while it is happening.”

“The main thing we learn from a serious attempt to practise the Christian virtues is that we fail.” #cslewis