Life in Lancaster

I am quickly learning how dangerous it is to get behind in my blog - somehow a month has already passed, and now I don't know quite where to start! After logging 1,300 miles on the Jetta odometer while getting to see the landscape of 7 different states, we are finally residents of Lancaster, PA! But let's rewind life just a little before I bring you up to date.

The last weekend of June (and my last weekend in KC), my great friend Valerie Bailes and I were privileged to host 10 of our friends at Val's house in Liberty, MO for our fifth annual Girls Weekend. These yearly get-togethers of sorority sisters are always full of laughter and fun, and this year was no exception. Activities centered around a theme of "our favorite things" and included everything from picking blueberries to making lip balm. Below are a couple of pictures of the group - click here if you want to see more (beware, there are hundreds)!

Nelson Art Museum (yes, that's right, Kelly and I are matching)

Sporting our sashes with this year's patches

After Girls Weekend, I hurried home to help Brian finish packing up our little home. We rented a 26 foot long U-haul to transport everything back to Wichita, and it's a good thing we chose that size (the biggest they offer). Somehow we filled the entire thing, which neither of us was expecting! Some of our Bible Study friends came to help us and were such a huge blessing - the guys helped Brian load the heavy stuff and the girls were so sweet and helped me vacuum and clean before we left. What servant-hearted friends! Thanks yall! We miss you!!!!

Girls (minus Camille Potchad)

Guys (minus Mike Potchad)

Before we pulled away at midnight, we stood in our dark house and thanked the Lord, through quite a few tears, for all of the ways He had blessed us there. Looking back, we were once again reminded of His faithfulness, which greatly encouraged us toward the road ahead. Brian bravely maneuvered the U-haul (and its trailer which held my Jeep) down I-35 and we made it to Wichita safe and sound. We were there a couple of weeks, during which time we got to see my sister, Lesley, my brother, Austin, who we hadn't seen since Christmas, and Brian's sister, Abby, and her husband, Adam. Brian also got to work for his dad for a week, which gave him a great taste of what he will be doing once we move back to Wichita this fall. 

The morning of July 16, we absolutely crammed the Jetta full of stuff and hit the road again (after my tearful goodbye to Stryder. I have never been away from him this long since I brought him home). And when I say cram, I mean CRAM.

The road trip was thankfully pretty uneventful, except for a traffic jam outside of Indianapolis that cost us 3 hours. After waiting in a standstill for 1.5 hours at 11:30 p.m., we had had enough and put the Garmin to good use and found another route. My favorite part of the drive was through West Virginia - wow. Crossing the state line from Ohio, we drove over a beautiful old bridge through a huge gorge and it was absolutely breathtaking. The rest of the time we were in the state, the highway was full of twists and turns, streams, bridges and mountains. I am so grateful for the opportunity to see a part of God's creation, and my country, that I had never seen before.

Our apartment is great - we're renting all of our furniture, so it was really nice to move into a place that was already ready to be lived in. The complex is in the middle of Amish farmland, although we're also about a quarter of a mile from the city's main highway. Lancaster is certainly an interesting dichotomy of old-world Amish and modern day America. Tonight we walked a trail that encircles our apartments and got to see an Amish man plowing his field behind a horse. We have quickly developed a great respect for these people - they are humble, hard-working and extremely disciplined. I know that just observing them could teach me a lot.

I have already written way too much so I'll wrap it up for now with a picture of our apartment building, but all you Office fans need to check back soon because we went to SCRANTON today! I'll post pics and stories soon!