Rice Grains

Sleepover

2009-05-28T19:01:00.004-04:00

Last weekend my 3 neices came to our place for a sleepover. It was a weekend of seeing lots of baby animals. Friday evening we went to Daryl and Brenda's to see their conglomeration of baby ducks, geese, chicks, and turkeys.
Matt and Sam holding a baby turkey and a duckling (I think:)

Here's the mix!

Katrina with a gosling

Looks like Sam and the gosling are getting along just fine!:)

Karissa with a gosling

Matt and a duckling? Or maybe it's a gosling?

Saturday morning my three neices and I walked about a mile down to our neighbor's pond to see the swan babies there.

It turned out the daddy swan was rasing the three babies, and he was a bit protective, as we found out.

Poor Katrina got marooned on the little island, and we had a difficult time diverting Mr. Swan's attention long enough for her to jump back to safety!

Aren't they cute?

We made one more stop at another neighbor's farm to see their kittens.

When it was time to take the girls home, we stopped along the road to see this cute little guy. He was curious but skittish, so we didn't really get a chance to pet him.

Spring in the Air

2009-05-27T21:52:00.003-04:00

I don't get tired of the beautiful spring colors and sights (as you've probably figured out by now:). One evening I went for a walk once again, and the following pictures show some of what I saw.
Our magnolia tree

Sixty-some chicks that Dad brought home from work

What they'll look like in time:)

Pink dogwood tree at the end of our walks

Dad working in the "small" garden

Mom posing for me on the front porch:)

Tree peony near our front door

Irises near the greenhouses on the way out the lane

About 20 minutes into my walk

May apples in the woods

Look-alikes??

2009-05-27T21:45:00.002-04:00

I'm told my neice and I look alike/have similar personalities. Can you see it here??:)

Easter Activities

2009-04-17T20:33:00.005-04:00

No time for many captions, so here goes: Good Friday after church Karissa with Uncle Larry who is home from Michigan for the holdiay.

Mom in her new outfit.

Easter Sunday morning joyful trumpets!

Chimes (see me back there??:)

Sunday lunch at John and Sue's. The Special K's with one of John and Sue's 6 baby goats.

4 square

Caleb and Safia

Kirsten with her new camera!

Aunt Sue reading to her nieces

Dennis and Zach

Tyler and Zach photographing Josh

Phil points out the invincible candles on Dad's birthday cake

Dad quenches the candles!

Franklin Institute

2009-04-17T20:26:00.005-04:00

On Good Friday, I went with Garry, Kirsten, and Larry to the Franklin Institute in Philly to see--among other things--the Narnia exhibit. It was a really fun day. Say hi to Ben here!:)

Garry and Larry had too much fun trying out all the hands on activities!

We all did the little boomerang things. Actually, maybe they weren't boomerangs. Little paper twirly birds that flitted about depending upon the little breezes shooting up.

Larry's navigating the Wright brothers' airplane.:)

In the parking garage we saw this sign. Talk about LOW!!:)

Spring Walk

2009-04-17T20:05:00.008-04:00

Palm Sunday afternoon was a beautiful day, so I decided to go walking. First I visited the back yard to get a picture of this forsythia blooming away.

Then on out to Daryl's pond where he is growing some bamboo on the edges.

Speaking of Daryl, there he is, across the pond accompanied by his little pomapoo, Kaya.

That dog is simply TOO CUTE!!

She loves to retrieve sticks, stones, whatever you throw. Even if it means swimming in the pond to get it!

Well, I've just walked around an entire country block and am returning home this way. I had to get a shot or two of the neighbors' forsythias.

Looking over the the farm from the road.

Back to home and Rice Greenhouses.

Walking behind the barn up toward the old chicken house where years ago we kids gathered eggs from about 6,000 chickens twice a day.

Looking in toward the house from the chicken house.

Dad's dog Sparky. I took him for a walk after my own walk, and boy is he strong. He almost had more control than me, especially when we scared up a deer in the woods above the chicken house!

Daffodils at the edge of the house.

It was a great walk!

Of Blogs and Jobs and Trips

2009-04-02T18:56:00.003-04:00

I haven't done any blogs in quite some time. I find that I am less motivated to run off somewhere to use the internet, thus the more sporadic postings. If you continue reading after this post, however, you will find a few new posts to help catch you up on a few events in my life.

Regarding a job, if you haven't already heard, I was laid off from Harriet Carter the end of January, went serious job hunting for two weeks, and "finally" got hired by McDonald's. I have never had a real desire to work in fast food, but I have gained a great deal of respect for those who do this job.

Multi-tasking and speed are high priorities there, and I am not strong in either aspect. Let me restock or clean or do other behind the scenes work, but do a gazillion things at the same time while keeping everyone's orders straight has not proved to be an area of gifting for me.

I am grateful that God has provided me with a source of income while at the same time hoping He has another job lined up for me before too much longer. One that capitalizes on my strengths.:) I am also grateful that my co-workers and supervisors are very patient and encouraging.

The final piece of this update regards an upcoming trip in July. I am THRILLED to have been asked to be one of two delegates from my church to go to Mennonite World Conference in Paraguay this coming July. I didn't expect to be doing any long distance traveling for a long time, but God is providing this opportunity, and I am excitedly anticipating participation in this event.

I think that about does it for now. You have all the basic news in my life. Feel free to leave comments or email me. I love hearing from you.

Puzzling...

2009-04-02T18:50:00.003-04:00

It truly is puzzling how doing a thousand-piece puzzle as bland as this one can keep a person--me at least--plugging away for WEEKS till the puzzle is finally completed. I was always happy when drop-in visitors helped me out a bit, and at one point I was so ready to be done with the thing that I thought the first thing I'd do after placing the last piece would be to immediately tear up the puzzle with gusto.

However once I did place that last piece, it felt necessary to show it off to a few people before returning it to the box from whence it came. I've had enough of puzzles for now, though!

Signs of Spring

2009-04-02T18:46:00.004-04:00

I LOVE spring. One of the first signs we had at the farm were these crocuses growing up all o ver one section of the yard in front of the house.

Family Events

2009-04-02T18:31:00.004-04:00

Wow, Dad and I got to "go bowling" via the wii a few weeks back. What fun! Garry and Kirsten invited Mom, Dad, and I over one Sunday afternoon, and Garry showed us how to use the wii--a first for both Dad and me.:)

While I scored MUCH better than I do in real life, I still didn't score all that well. Ah well, such is life!

Last Sunday evening the family was invited to Phil and Renee's to celebrate Katrina's 12th birthday. Just one more year till they have their first teenager!

The cousins had quite a pillow fight going on for a little while.

I like Caleb's shirt! He loves drawing roads, so we had fun pretending the stripes on his shirt were roads to travel up, down, and around.

Karissa with Aunt Brenda:)

PS I don't know why the pictures decided to position themselves where they did--they just did and I don't know how to fix it.:)

Chutes and Ladders

2009-03-12T16:56:00.002-04:00

Every Tuesday evening Caleb comes to Grammy and Pop-pop's house while his parents and I go practice chimes at church. Sometimes he makes lots and lots of roads all evening, and sometimes he likes to play chutes and ladders. This photo shows the chutes and ladders mode.:)

Dashia's Birthday Party

2009-02-26T16:45:00.002-05:00

On Sunday afternoon I went to wish my little friend Dashia a happy 3rd birthday. She had chosen a Nemo theme. That cake was YUMMY!

Yep, I got to wear a Nemo party hat too! For the picture at least.:)

Wow, she had a LOT of gifts! Maybe I should try having a birthday party for myself next year.:)

On the Heights

2009-02-13T18:07:00.002-05:00

Today I went upstairs for something and happened to see this guy looking in the window! Poor guy, I think he's lonely! He's the lone survivor of a flock of guineas that Dad had some time ago. Sometimes he's so starved for social interaction that he tries to play with the dog. Sparky is actually a little scared of him when he "attacks".

The view from outside.

Talking about heights, here's another view of someone on the heights. Yikes! Not for me! Daryl is up on a ladder on the barn roof fastening down some roofing that blew loose last night in the wind. That other guy in the wagon is Dad.:)

I think it's quite a creative way to keep the ladder in place. Just back up the wagon, afix the ladder to the wagon, and crawl on up! DEFINITELY not for me!

My Nephew's Band

2009-02-10T14:25:00.004-05:00

Wow, can it be that I have a nephew old enough to do something like playing in a band? The guy in the red T-shirt is Josh, my oldest nephew. He and some of the young people from his church formed a (very upbeat:) worship band. They sing a lot of contemporary worship songs and have even written a couple of their own.

Saturday night they played at Franconia Mennonite Church. They did a really good job, and I'm not impartial at all!:)

Below is a very poor quality video clip of the band doing a song they wrote. Yep, I'm pretty proud of them!

Jobless in Perkasie

2009-02-10T14:13:00.003-05:00

Yes, if you haven't heard through a little bird, the grapevine, or facebook, I am currently jobless again. I got laid off from Harriet Carter the end of January. I thank God for allowing me to stay on there as long as He did. I only expected to be there till Christmas.

I have been applying at all kinds of places and am about "applicationed" out. Still no job, so I am needing to learn another lesson in trust. I am grateful to have the support of family and friends. I could still be a whole lot worse off.

As I write this entry, I am sitting in Panera taking advantage of their free internet and filling out an application to work there. According to a sign on the door they are actually now hiring....

Odd Horses

2009-02-10T13:51:00.003-05:00

Have you ever seen the kind of horses shown below? They are fairly common in my area, especially Doylestown and Quakertown, though some have been removed. They are often seen in front of business establishments.

Ohio Time

2009-02-10T13:24:00.003-05:00

The last weekend in January I had the privilege of driving to Ohio for a wedding. While out in my "old stomping grounds" I managed to see a bunch of friends. Friday night I went to Audrey's apartment for a fun evening with Twila, Audrey, Marti, Kelvin, and Steve. We played a couple rounds of a silly drawing game and laughed and laughed!:)

Marti and Twila working on their particular drawings/interpretations of drawings.

Kelvin and Steve wondering how such an interpretation of a drawing happened. Or vice versa:)

Saturday morning our good friend Karen treated us to a great brunch at First Watch.

Saturday evening was the wedding of Joelle Kurtz and Hans Hochstedler. Joelle had been in Thailand during my time there, and she married the "little" brother of Jared, my former REACH teammate to Kenya back in 1994.

All of the Thailand REACH team (minus Joelle) posing with me at the reception. Oh what great memories!

And here is my former teammate, Jared. He served me espresso at the end of the evening, telling me it ran through the machine so quickly the caffeine wouldn't affect me. I still don't know if he was pulling my leg or not. But I did sleep just fine!

My good friend Trish, who also spent a year in Thailand. But we go way back to my Graeter's days, when we often drove to work together and served ice cream together.:)

This is a test!

2009-02-08T15:19:00.002-05:00

I am trying to figure out how to allow viewers to leave comments. My brother just told me it's not possible to leave comments on my blog anymore. Why????

Hello Love...

2009-01-26T19:04:00.004-05:00

...is the name of Chris Tomlin's current concert tour.:) And last night I had the privilege of going to his concert down in Philly at a warehouse-turned-club called the Electric Factory. I sure am glad Ben Franklin smiles on this place.:)

That bright white sign hanging on the building above actually looks like this close up:

Inside the building is a U-shaped balcony holding most of the few chairs/barstools available. I know, you can't really tell, can you?

View center stage pre-concert:

Steve and Eunice

Chris Tomlin and band

Raising hands in worship
It was a good concert apart from having to stand for 3 hours. If I ever go there again I think I'll leave my purse at home. Between holding my coat and my purse, my hands were pretty full!

Snow and Friends

2009-01-22T20:00:00.002-05:00

OK, I have no idea what I just did. I still have a lot to learn about this new blog site. But, at any rate, one picture is of some of the snow we had. I was standing on the walks by the house looking out at the barn, and beautiful huge snowflakes flitted down.

The other picture is girl breakfast out last Saturday morning. My sis-in-law and two other friends and I decided to eat at the Dublin Diner. I grew up 3 miles from the Dublin Diner but never went there. So last Saturday was a first!:) Then I ended up going again Tuesday evening to have dessert and coffee with my friend Janet.

Good times!

Harriet Carter and Names

2009-01-12T19:12:00.004-05:00

I'm STILL working at Hariet Carter! I was told I'd be hired till Christmas. So far, though many other temps have been laid off, I am still there. For those of you who don't know what Harriet Carter is, you can visit their website at http://www.harrietcarter.com/ . It is a mail order company that sells many novelty gift items.

Maybe you've seen a catalog like the one below, or maybe you even received it in the mail???:)

I started out working in personalization, the department that takes care of any item that is to be personalized with a name. I've had a lot of fun seeing what names--both for people and for pets--are popular/unique.

The pet names that topped the list of unique/creative??--include Poopie Princess (I know of a dog that could be named Peepee Princess instead of her given name of Kaya:) Then there's Tripod, Charlie Chan, and Sushi. Okay.....?? And one order had a pair of names: Scooter and Skeeter; do ya think they're twins??

As for people names, here's a few of the more unique ones: Zion, Satchel (why not just call 'im "Bag"?:), Jaldla, Malachi, Alex Gell, Jadon Hay.

A couple more popular boy's names were Aiden and Daniel. Girl's names I apparently forgot to write down and now I have forgotten them entirely, apart from Autumn. I think Samantha was another common name I saw.

Sorry, no great pictures this blog. I'm getting lazy!:)

Christmas Gatherings

2009-01-04T16:08:00.006-05:00

Merry Christmas (a little late)! The past couple weeks have been full of family get-togethers. The Sunday before Christmas we had the Rice-Moyer dinner at Deep Run.

Here's my Dad and Uncle Norman as well as my brother John.

Moyer cousins Sue and Lamar prepare a pinatta for the children.

I would've been scrambling for the peanuts!:)

Love that pose, Karissa!:)

My nephews and neices waiting for the next big blow to the pinatta!

Spectators enjoying the "show"

The Saturday after Christmas we had the Rice dinner at Mom and Dad's. Dennis and Safia had already given these beautiful outfits to my neices.

Sam and Matt wore their brand new Phillies shirts that were also Christmas gifts.

The rest of the day (apart from eating:) was spent playing a variety of games.

Oops, we're back to opening gifts in this picture!

More game playing taking place in the living room.

I don't know why some people can't act their age!

The final night before Safia and Dennis returned to Maryland, we played Upwards and Rummicube with Mom and Dad.

I thank God for the great family in which He placed me. (Don't tell my brothers I said that, OK???:)

Ice

2008-12-29T18:40:00.005-05:00

These last couple weeks we've had some ice storms. Below are a couple pictures of ice-covered bushes on the farm. I like the picture with the cardinal in it.:)

Happy Belated Duck Day!

2008-12-29T18:08:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday I had the honor of attending my nephew Caleb's Duck Day party, along with his Uncle Larry, and both sets of his grandparents! What a nice invitation!

What a fun evening! I never knew Caleb had so many DUCKS!!!:) And now he can curl up under his little duck quilt that his Gramma Cosanad made for him.

That Star....

2008-12-18T19:05:00.004-05:00

Today I looked out the window to see my dad putting up a Christmas decoration--one he made himself, I believe. He was very creative in figuring how to put it up without using a ladder!:)

Deep Run East Christmas Program (or having a blast watching nephews and nieces in the Christmas play!)

2008-12-18T18:45:00.007-05:00

Sunday was the children's Christmas program at church. It was a lot of fun to watch. I didn't know how much extra fun a program is to watch if your own nephews and nieces are a part of it!:) So humor me with the pictures, ok?:)

Karissa, the gal in the maroon dress, did a great job singing, and she also had a speaking part. Karissa, forgive me for not remembering what part you played!

My nephew Caleb is the little shepherd below.

My neice Katrina is the gal on the left. She is acting the part of an aspiring screen writer. She's a very good young actress.

None of my relatives are in the picture below (I think I'm right on that!:) But we all loved the fake mustache on the one little guy!

Hmmm, I can't tell for sure who all is in this picture apart from my nephew Caleb in the front. Family, please feel free to leave a comment if I fail to mention one of your children!

Mary, in blue of course, happens to be my neice Kimberly. She made a good Mary.

Mary again, and also Matt, the guy in the back row with a crown. He played a great magi!

Long Time No See

2008-12-18T18:33:00.003-05:00

These past months I have been enjoying meeting up with friends whom I haven't seen in a very long time. One of those friends is my high school friend Rita. She and I went out for Thai food one evening.

Another of my old high school friends who also now goes to my church, was to be my walking partner until I got a job. I think Terri and I managed to go walking at least twice!:)Still another two friends, one living in Indiana and one from Lancaster, met me at Salad Works to catch up on lost time. Salad Works closed at 8:00, so we moved next door to Jumping Java, or something like that, where we sipped tea together until that shop closed at 10:00. Then we stood on the sidewalk and in the parking lot until what, almost 11:00??

Here we are in the coffee shop: Rose, me and Beth. It's always good to be with longtime friends!

Saturday Sightings

2008-12-13T20:52:00.004-05:00

This morning I was in the Dublin shopping center. I parked my beautiful '89 Volvo station wagon, then looked out my window to see this fancy fellow in the parking space next to me!

Then tonight I went over to Daryl and Brenda's house to use the internet, and I discovered my nephews had made these awesome gingerbread houses! Oh to be creative like them!

Tomorrow I get to read scripture at Deep Run and then play--or attempt to play--chimes in their chime choir! Scary, isn't it?!

Something New

2008-12-08T19:49:00.001-05:00

Well, this is my first post on my new blog! Just a test run if you please. Hopefully I will be posting here instead of my previous blog. Maybe not as often. At least not for now. I do not have convenient internet access, so I may be somewhat sporadic for the time being.

Now I must go to my other blog and close it down.:)