What the Heck is a Hokie?

This past weekend the Link clan headed to Radford and Blacksburg, VA to celebrate Debbie's 50th birthday 10 months late. Last December we promised the tried and true Virginia Tech alum a trip to see her Hokies play at Lane Stadium. So Friday night, after Ben arrived from Philly by train, the three of us drove west to Radford, the city where Jeremiah lived for the first twelve years of his life, to meet Deb, Chuck, and Caroline. I always love a chance to get a glimpse into Jeremiah's life before me, and enjoyed hearing the stories and seeing the sights of him as a young buckaroo. On Saturday, we packed in the van and starting tailgating around 10am for the game at noon. A couple other family members (who are season ticket holders) have a tailgating spot just around the corner from the stadium, a huge plus. The perfect weather and a Hokie win made for a great afternoon. We spent the night again on Saturday and made the three and a half hour trek back to Richmond earlier today.

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend Jeremiah and I took a trip up north for my dear friend Lindsay's wedding. The Franks and the Koehlers have been close friends since our parents went to high school together. Lindsay and I grew up together which made her wedding so special to me. She and TJ couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and everything seemed just perfect.

After the lovely ceremony, we headed to the reception site for cocktails before dinner began. Those poor, poor butlers. Or, if they are paid by the number of trays they clear, they were the luckiest butlers in the history of butlered hors d'oeuvres. Either way, whenever in eyes reach of the Koehler family they were bombarded. Cameron and Jeremiah were literally following their scents in order to get their fingers on as many pigs-in-a-blanket, scallops wrapped in bacon, beef wellingtons, and duck with caramelized onion as they could. It was disgusting. This morning, Cameron determined he may or may not have downed 15 pigs and probably ate an entire duck. Delicious. Free drinks and food is a dangerous scenario. "I wonder how much money I saved..." said my tank of a brother, reflecting on the amount of beverage and food he consumed at one single event. Jeremiah justified his gluttonous behavior with the 'workout' he got in from all that dancing. If you've ever seen that man move, you can understand why he's currently resting on the sofa, sorer than he was the first day he lifted a free weight.

Moving on.

You may or may not know my sister is a top-notch pastry chef. She somewhat recently attended The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan and has been rocking people's culinary world ever since. She's done dozens of side gigs, including graduation and baby shower cakes, cupcake bonanzas, cookies, eclairs, cream puffs, and several other delicacies. Lindsay and TJ's wedding was her first wedding cake debut and boy did she hit that one out of the park. I mean really, this girl is talented beyond belief. This is by far the best cake I've ever seen in the flesh, and probably one of the greatest cakes I've ever see pictures of. And let me tell you, after planning my own wedding, I have seen a lot of cakes. See all those flowers? They're made out of gum paste. Yes, she made each individual flower. (My mom and I learned this with her this past spring break from the same woman who taught Buddy, the cake boss) Not only did it look good, it tasted incredible, too. Chocolate cake with coffee buttercream and pound cake with vanilla buttercream and raspberry something-or-other. Hire her for your next special occasion.

But don't hire me to help transport--that was way too nerve-racking!!

'Twas a wonderful weekend with family. Enjoy some down-time entertainment at our table from Cameron and Aaron--so dark it's almost painful, bummer.

Children Taken By Surprise

I have to be brief since I'm heading out the door to work in a half hour, but wanted to do this while I was thinking of it.

I am the new worship coordinator for children's ministry (K-5) at our church, Hope Church. This is a new position and I'm definitely new to the game. I am in charge for lining up worship each Sunday and innovating different ideas for exposing kids to praising God through song, dance, etc. We're trying to move forward from simple PowerPoint lyrics and a downloaded song playing in the background. Crossing my fingers for live worship the majority of the Sundays in a month!

This past Sunday was kick-off Sunday for the children's ministry school year. We wanted something exciting and engaging to start it off right. I think we did just that! My awesome and talented husband agreed to write and perform a rap for the kids. He took the song 2 Step remix (instrumental), recorded his voice several times over on a computer program, rewrote the lyrics, and then performed it live on Sunday. It was SUCH A HIT. He has gotten so many compliments and thank yous from those who were lucky enough to experience it live. Although the kids--and the adults--were very much taken by surprise and not at all used to worshipping in this way, it definitely was a step in the right direction. The hope is that Jeremiah might perform this once a month so that the kids eventually learn it and can have 'ownership' over it for the year. We'll see! You can check out some of the performance here.

Chooch

I'm appeasing my husband with this post. I didn't want to do it. Jeremiah wanted to let people know about this part of our life.

Here is Carlos (better known as Chooch), our dog for a week and a half. Originally named Leroy, we knew that didn't do this sweet guy any justice. We were brainstorming names one night and once I said Chooch we knew it was the name for us. We adopted this one year old beagle/hound mix with great intentions, but unfortunately we decided it was best to give him back. Best for him and for us. And looking back, we feel 100% right about that choice. Although it tore me up that we brought Chooch here to a good home with lots of good things and lots of love and then sent him back, we think he's happiest being free to roam and play with his other dog friends most of the day. There were several factors we agonized over to make our decision. To say it was an emotional week is an understatement.

Choochie is a great dog with lots of love to give. If you are looking to rescue a sweet dog, we can give you more info about how to make Chooch yours.

Under Construction

As you know by now, we're new homeowners! As you also know, we have yet to actually reside in that new home. Construction started mid-July on our new condo and is said to be finished and ready to close mid-December. We're crossing our fingers for an early finish, but know not to get our hopes up. We stopped by this morning to snap some pictures of progress thus far. Woo hoo, a roof and windows! Men were working on our actual unit, which was kinda fun to see. We're the bottom right condo when you look at the first picture. I sort of wanted to walk up to the window and let him know we were watching and not to screw it up. I didn't.

Under the Knife

Yes. My first ever surgery. And my first ever experience with stitches.

I wouldn't have qualified the procedure as surgery before I was sent back to the room. But then I was instructed to lay down on the table, which, by the way was covered in that god-awful white paper (I thought surely I could sit up for this 'minimal' procedure). And then the doctor walked in with a full-facial clear plastic mask. And then they draped one of those blue cloths with a hole in it over my knee--exposing only the area to be cut. And then mid-procedure the doctor pulled out a clotting machine to stop the bleeding.

I consider that surgery.

But alas, all for a great cause. Finally, I am freak-free now that the "fetus" on my knee is gone and that terrible mole on my chest as well. No longer will little kids go cross-eyed after staring at the freakish thing on my knee for so long. No longer will I have to spend ten minutes trying to explain not only what a scar is, but why mine looks so outlandish to a three-year-old. And no longer will the elderly ask if that's a cookie on my chest.

With both areas numbed, I luckily didn't feel a thing other than a slight tugging as she stitched up my knee. That is the weirdest thing ever and almost sent me over the edge.

And now I am hobbling along, trying not to bend my left knee. Knees are really important and really useful. Who knew? Well now I do. Now that I have to calculate every move before I make it. Fortunately, I have a verbal doctor's note not to exercise. I can get into that.

Excuse the vulgar nature of this post. But as much of a milestone as this is in my life, I had to share. At least I didn't post pictures.

I am Hope

Our church has been showing a series of video testimonials every other Sunday called "I am Hope." The idea behind this is to encourage church-goers to be the church. Not only to come to church, the building, but to be the church, to share our lives and Christ in our own world.

Jeremiah had the fortunate privilege of sharing his experience in this way. You can go here to check it out, and while you're at it, check out the others too. We are so lucky to be part of such a thriving community.