Happy New Year. V Style!

What better way to spend January 1, 2014?!

• Very fun 5k race in the morning! 
• Craigslist search uncovered a $5 joyous treasure.  
• Chick-fil-A lunch with free icecream!
• Pogosticking all around Charleston, SC -  for the rest of the day and night.

We were extremely popular!

A Tuesday with many names

I stole the below information from the ever dependable Wikipedia. Some of my dear blog-followers may feel like they are back in Sunday School, but not all Sunday Schools are equal. It wasn't until I was an adult and living in Prague (after 26 years of Sunday School) did I learn about Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and the Lenten Season. This is why I post it here - to remind myself and maybe give you a bit of new info.

Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Tuesday and Pancake Day) is the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. The expression "Shrove Tuesday" comes from the word shrive, meaning "confess."  

The term Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the 40 days of the Lenten season.

Pancakes are associated with the day preceding Lent because they were a way to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk, and sugar, before Lent. 

I am just coming back from the kitchen where I mixed together a small bowl of batter for my own Fat Tuesday pancakes to carry with me to school today. However, I guess they may already fit into the Lenten fasting food group, since I chose a more healthy recipe that used no milk or sugar... and even my eggs were only the whites! Regardless, I'm still really looking forward to eating them in virtual communion with fellow Christ followers around the world - especially in my beloved Prague. 

Speaking of "my beloved Prague", as I was gathering and mixing my pancake ingredients this woman came warmly and fondly to mind. 

I borrowed this photo from the IBTS facebook page. You should follow them!

Isn't she gorgeous? During my nearly seven years in Prague she was a woman whom I grew to deeply respect and love... and still do. I am honored to call her a dear friend. I could do one full and lengthy blog post on her, and very possibly an entire blog site on the fact that everyone needs a Denise in their lives!

What brings her to mind on this day, is that she was the preparer and server of Fat Tuesday pancakes every year on the day before Ash Wednesday for the seminary community where we lived and worked together.

The above photo was taken today (!) whilst she is eating one of her delicious pancakes.

Happy Pancake Day!

Christmas 2011, New Years 2012

Christmas and New Years was excellent; celebrating the days with family and long-time friends, and even making new ones along the way.

For your visual enjoyment, here's the pictorial synopsis:

A week or so before Christmas, two dear friends and I went off to visit the jolly old fellow in the red suit. Pictures of him are yet to appear, but here we are excited for the annual meeting!

25 December, Christmas Day, my parents and I celebrated with a feast and gift exchange with the Lake side of the family. (My first photo without those metal wires holding my teeth in place! Happy Christmas to me!)

Boxing Day (26 December) we celebrated Christmas with my mom's sister and her family, who also live in West Michigan. My mom was excited to have found Christmas crackers at World Market, so we popped them open to each receive a small gift and a Christmas paper crown from inside! (Notice the bright sun! - A true winter has yet to arrive.)

A few days prior to ringing and singing in the New Year, I flew from Grand Rapids to Oklahoma City, to meet up with a good friend from college (and beyond) who now lives in Washington state.

(This is a classic photo of us; my being unashamedly ridiculous & friend just pleasantly putting up with me.)

We played in the park in the sun with friends and their children.

We avoided colliding with horses who were annoyed that we drove down their street.

We played pool in a smoke-filled local joint, while observing a one-armed cowboy dance to off-key karaoke music.

The 2011-2012 transition was spent in the Bricktown section of Oklahoma City. After walking around trying to stay awake and warm, we settled into "Toby Keith's" for some live (and good!) music and cheese fries.

(We learned that in OK City, the big lit New Years' ball goes up and midnight, it does not drop... yeah, we missed the big countdown...)

Following an IHOP brunch on New Years' day we walked to the Oklahoma City memorial that was set up after 168 people (including nineteen children under 6 years of age) died from a bomb attack in 1995. It was moving.

Content and sleep-deprived, I returned to a much colder Grand Rapids in the early hours of January 2nd, where I caught a bit of sleep before waking early to begin the real life of Vanessa again.

Happy New Year, with love and cheer!
~V

What did you see this Christmas?

Santa visit 2010

Got my annual Santa visit in this year!
This time with some friends from school - elementary school!

He didn't remember me from last year, but that's understandable as I didn't get quite a good one-on-one in 2009.
Here's hoping for a good memory for Mr Claus for this year!

Santa's surprise

Santa made a little present for our Calvin Seminary folk!

Enjoy!

(Yes, there is an extremely long story both before, during and after Santa sent this out to our seminarians. Too long for a blog, so just enjoy the music! And actually 'no' I did not create this. Click on the Christmas hues in the text above.)

Sleighbell Shuffle

I'm not ecstatic about it, but knowingly and unknowingly I've gotten on a number of e-mail distribution lists. It's easy to delete the unwanted ones (98%), so I remain subscribed and appreciate the helpful 2% which do come along.

One of these e-mails was announcing the "Sleighbell Shuffle" a 5k run through the wintry streets of Grandville in subzero temperatures at night. Tell me, who WOULDN'T jump at this opportunity?!

I convinced an equally crazy colleague of mine to join, so we planned to

1. meet up at the start of the race
2. obtain our free jingle bells to tie on our laces
3. donate old winter coats for the local woman's shelter, thus obtaining raffle tickets
4. run 5k
5. feast on eggnog and cookies following the race
6. possibly win something at the raffle

We are quite a team. I accomplished numbers 2, 3 and 6. She accomplished 4 and 5. A very important step is number 1 and this you will be quick to notice both my running partner and I bypassed. Through a series of humourous (to me at least!) events, she ended up running the 5k and I was left behind inside the warm school.

Thirty minutes or so later as the runners came through the school doors, winded and cold, I was shocked to see her. She equally to see me. We shared our stories, which made sense as to how we missed each other when notes were compared and I thought was simply hilarious - my partner, not quite as much.

In the end we did jog about half a mile following her run to sing a Christmas carol to another colleague (and kin) who lives on the route and had kept an eye out for us amidst those who ran, but texted to say they didn't see us for some reason... hmm.

Oh yeah, number 6! This was my prize, which is perhaps a bit unfair since I was the only one present who didn't run...

It's a heart rate monitor - for serious athletes - those who actually do things to make their heart rates go above sedentary.

She was ahead of her time

A Black Tie Affair

Having lived in an international community for nearly ten years, I got used to the odd outfits and clashing colour combinations of others and also experimenting myself with various styles and clothing items.

I loved the opportunity and took advantage of it happily. One article which I adopted into my wardrobe was wearing a necktie. Not daily, certainly not, and not weekly, simply as my mood directed me.

This was a style, which I quite liked and recently felt the necktie mood settling in. I was expecting some strange reactions from colleagues when I wore a tie to work on Thursday and was not proven wrong. At the end of the day I had survived their comments and with the worst behind me felt I could freely don the necktie in the future without being the brunt of too many jokes.

Then came Friday.

I had been asked and happily agreed to be the liturgist for our Thanksgiving chapel service at the seminary. No, I didn't wear a tie.

It was a nice service with a good sermon. After it concluded, a number of my colleagues came to the front where I was sitting to, I had thought, thank me and the preacher for the service. Nope. Every single one of them - women and men - was wearing a tie. I hadn't even noticed whilst I was leading, but they had sat all together in the first row of people proudly displaying their attire. Somehow I had totally missed it.

It's probably a good thing I didn't notice - who knows how the Thanksgiving prayer would have ended!

Not So Good Neighbours

Reflections for Easter Monday

When searching for her in a book of names you will learn that it means "butterfly". In grade school this rather embarrassed me as my friends "Listener of God" (Samantha), "Pure" (Cathy), "God's Princess" (Sarah) and many "God Saves" (Joshua) and "Gift of God"s (Jonathan) paraded around with the spiritual names; I was stuck with a bug.

Later, I learned to appreciate the beauty and fragility of this small creature, as well as its strength and resilience. Certainly not disregarding the symbolism of new life as experienced in our Christian journey.

The Baptist tradition which I grew up in did not recognise Easter Monday, apart from it being the day you did not want to have a dental appointment due to the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans which disappeared the day before.

However, for the last nine years I've lived in a Christian community which considers and celebrates this and many other events in the Christian church calendar. This Easter season began with sweet pancakes of Shrove Tuesday, sorrowful ashes of Ash Wednesday, the long travail through the Lenten journey, the warmth of memories on Mothering Sunday, rejoicing at Palm Sunday and the emotion and power of Holy Week, culminating in the victorious resurrection celebrated on Easter Sunday morning.Easter Monday is a day away from the office, no classes are taught and the buses run on holiday schedule. This is the first day of a new journey, a new and fresh hope. The flower buds are showing their spring colours, the butterfly wriggles nearly ready to burst from her cocoon and all are invited to reflect on the past days and renew their vision for the future.

On my journey this butterfly will test her wings in a different field. The Lenten weeks are passed. The struggles, the frustrations and disappointments have been many, but have not broken her spirit. On this Easter Monday 2010, a fresh breeze is blowing clear a new and exciting path.

Christmas by John Betjeman

The bells of waiting Advent ring,
The Tortoise stove is lit again
And lamp-oil light across the night
Has caught the streaks of winter rain
In many a stained-glass window sheen
From Crimson Lake to Hookers Green.

The holly in the windy hedge
And round the Manor House the yew
Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge,
The altar, font and arch and pew,
So that the villagers can say
'The church looks nice' on Christmas Day.

Provincial Public Houses blaze,
Corporation tramcars clang,
On lighted tenements I gaze,
Where paper decorations hang,
And bunting in the red Town Hall
Says 'Merry Christmas to you all'.

And London shops on Christmas Eve
Are strung with silver bells and flowers
As hurrying clerks the City leave
To pigeon-haunted classic towers,
And marbled clouds go scudding by
The many-steepled London sky.

And girls in slacks remember Dad,
And oafish louts remember Mum,
And sleepless children's hearts are glad.
And Christmas-morning bells say 'Come!'
Even to shining ones who dwell
Safe in the Dorchester Hotel.

And is it true,
This most tremendous tale of all,
Seen in a stained-glass window's hue,
A Baby in an ox's stall ?
The Maker of the stars and sea
Become a Child on earth for me ?

And is it true ? For if it is,
No loving fingers tying strings
Around those tissued fripperies,
The sweet and silly Christmas things,
Bath salts and inexpensive scent
And hideous tie so kindly meant,

No love that in a family dwells,
No carolling in frosty air,
Nor all the steeple-shaking bells
Can with this single Truth compare -
That God was man in Palestine
And lives today in Bread and Wine.

Black with white stripes or?

Doesn't this just say "Christmas!" to you?

We got some "Snuggies" for Christmas gifts -
Careful, if you stare too long, you may get dizzy!

Santa Sighting

Every year at this time he appears in shopping centres and parades, on television and magazine covers. This weekend I had my 2009 encounter with the famous jolly fellow.

My parents and I (along with many other parents and their children) took the 'Santa train' this past Saturday beginning and ending in the small city of Coopersville.

Mr Claus made his appearance with his pointy eared elf on the small train in which under two hours, the Big C heard each child's Christmas wish, a Christmas story was told by a teenage Miss Coopersville 2008 and young five year old Landon was told to sit down one hundred and thirteen times by his frustrated parents.

All in all a good trip, concluding with our taking advantage of the coupon on the back of our train tickets for a pizza place in Coopersville.

St Nick and his elfess greeting the train passengers.

Me, the oldest 'child' on the train, with our Conductor (Tom), who I'm convinced was actually the real Santa undercover.

My wonderful parents on the Santa Express.

Have you seen me?

"Hello! I'm red, soft-sided, durable, not at all new and smell of German sausages.

Oh, did I mention I love to travel - and to my own time schedule."

Yep, I've arrived to the winter-wonderland of West Michigan. The trip was a long one during which I was transported by taxi (1), plane (2), bus (2), train (1), underground (1), foot (many), airport shuttle (2) and an old green Alero (1).

Half-way through the trip my luggage had had enough and decided to spend a day among the French speaking population of our globe before making its entrance to Michigan.

The last three times I've visited the US of A, my luggage had its own independent adventure.

The first was on my return trip to Prague from visiting my wonderful nephew on the West Coast in 2006 - my bag followed me two weeks later. Yes, two weeks - I had given up hope by then.

The second was a trip to see my parents a year and a half ago when my case never appeared on the baggage carousel in Grand Rapids. Upon tracking my bag I learned that when it did arrive the next day a confused old man took it home with him. He then showed up at my parents' door to return it with great apology.

The third - this trip. I think I could fill out these lost baggage claim forms with my eyes closed!

More to come regarding my Christmas Michigan adventures - don't worry!

First Thanksgiving

This Thursday I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner party, so thought it only appropriate to tell the story of the first Thanksgiving. Well, one version of it!

With help from:

• the Indian Maiden ('woo woo woo woo!' - Indian hooting)
• the Pilgrim Father ('chop chop chop' - cutting wood).
• the Indian Chief ('How!')
• and the Pilgrim Mother ('psheap psheap psheap' - did you know the sewing sounds like this?)

We all told the story together!

Here's the crew:
We enjoyed a semi-traditional meal for Thanksgiving and lots of good laughs! It will certainly be a day I will remember for years to come and laugh just looking at the photos.