Surprise Part Three

Wednesday afternoon when Olivia got out of school for Fall Break, Michael came back from Terre Haute to pick us up and head to Anderson. We were a little nervous about how this particular surprise would turn out because we had already been in Indiana for over four days, and since we all have a lot of the same friends, we knew there was a chance that someone might inadvertently spill the beans. Lucky for us, no one did and we also had some pretty sneaky people on our sides. Christopher's girlfriend, Alison, was our big in and kept us current on their schedules and helped get some of Sarah's friends involved to make everything run smoothly. We knew that Sarah would show up in the RA office that evening because she thought she had to work (but her friends covered for her...they are saints, seriously!) so we showed up in the office a few minutes before she got out of chapel and it went a little something like this...

"Why are all these people in here, and why is that person taking pictures of me?"

Realization: cue piercing scream

Fall to the ground crying, laughing, and still screaming still.

Peel Sarah off the ground.

Hugging and more crying and asking how we're there.

Sarah is still not functioning while Michael and I die laughing at her reaction.

Hugs for Olivia.

And more hugs for Michael.

I don't think the phrase, "a picture is worth a thousand words" has ever been more true. So now that you've had a visual, here is a little word from Sarah explaining her side of the story...

Every other Wednesday night I spend three hours in the RA office, simply being available to the residents in my hall in case they need anything.  Last week was my duty night, and to be honest I was not that excited about it. All that week I had anticipated being in the championship intramural football game that night instead of working, but my team had taken a brutal loss the night before. It was the day before Fall Break, which calls for an overabundance of fatigue and stress. Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to working. As I put the key in the door and slowly opened it, I became apprehensive as the light was already turned on. Even more suspicions came as two of my best friends were sitting there on the right as I lifted my head. "Hm, maybe they want to come hang out, cool! This won't be as bad as I thought!" And then I looked straight up. On the couch at the back of the room were 3 people I never thought would ever be sitting in that room, like ever. Smack dab in the middle, Michael Angelo Russell was smiling back at me. My heart skipped a beat. My mouth dropped. Next to him was a huge camera in front of a face, and as soon as my confused brain put two and two together, I realized that face belonged to Lexi. And on his other side of Michael was Olivia. When all of this actually registered, the shocked look turned into a loud, piercing, shriek. I fell, literally fell to my knees and just started crying. MY family? My DENVER family was sitting right in front of me? And no one had even told me?!  I didn't even consider the fact that I was in the middle of the hallway, on my knees, crying, all I could think about was Michael and Lexi were here. To see me. Lexi came over and hugged me, and I'm pretty sure I was too weak to hug her back. Now I know what you're thinking. This all sounds pretttty darn pathetic. But words cannot even begin to explain the joy that was in my heart. Just that day for my teacher interview I had a writing prompt about the person I admire the most, and I had written about my oldest brother, Michael. I never could have fathomed that at the very moment that my pen was expressing my love for him, he was driving hours upon hours to come see me. You might think I'm crazy for having such a dramatic reaction, but I think you're crazy for not realizing what an amazing family I have. I am so blessed. 

And there you have it. Obviously, it was a roller coaster of a reaction including just about every positive emotion known to man. But wipe your tears because it's time to move on to Christopher who after surprising Sarah was kind of a let down in the reaction category, but still just as fun. I'm kidding! His reaction was so him and it was great...

here we have Michael reading a newspaper as Chris walks in (as were the rest of us at the table, except for me, I hid behind the camera) 

and here we have Chris completely oblivious to the fact that there was anyone else in the room.

here he is assessing the situation.

still assessing.

and one last double take...

OOHHHHHH! WAIT, WHAAAAAT?

"I'm so happy I don't know what to do"

hugs all around.

and to top it all off, a lovely group shot...

In summary: SUCCESS 

more on the rest of our AU adventures to come! 

(no promises on when though...) 

To Kristin and Sarah,

my two faithful, demanding, nagging, beautiful readers, this is dedicated to you!

I've learned my lesson, and that's the last time I put a teaser at the end of a post.

Alternate Title: Surprise Part Two

So.

Picking up where we left off...

Michael and I hit the couch around 5:30 am IN time, right after I snuck back to mom and dad's room and gave Mom a hug (dad was on a church retreat until Sunday night). The next morning, Michael and I waited for Olivia to finally roll out of bed around 10:30. We pretended to be asleep when we heard her walking down the hallway and then come to an abrupt stop, followed by twenty seconds of silence, followed by running back down the hallways, followed by running back in the living room and "waking" us up. It turns out, she walked in in her underwear (don't worry, Michael had his eyes closed!) and once she realized who was on the couch, which apparently took a good while, she sprinted to her room to put some shorts on before coming back out to this...

and this...

and the next day we (by we I me an Olivia and I) did this...

 and found nifty things like this...

and after that, we went to Curt and Jeannie's and met Bailey...

and after that we went to my Grama and Grampa's to surprise them...

Which went something like this: Olivia rang the doorbell and peaked through the window while Michael and I stood pressed against the door. As soon as the doorbell rang I heard my Grampa (who sits in a chair watching tv two steps away from the door) say, "Lana! You gonna get that?" who responded, "Bill, I'm cleaning the kitchen floor!" Soon enough Grampa was out of his chair and caught a glimpse of Olivia before opening the door and announced to Grama that Olivia was there. He opened the door to see Michael and I and stood their shocked with a precious grin on his face before wrapping me in a bear hug as I heard Grama yell, "Hi, Olivia!" from the kitchen. Moments later Grama hurried around the corner absolutely clueless before stopping dead in her tracks and proclaiming the most hilarious response I've ever heard from my sweet, mild mannered, five foot nothing grama. Eyes wide, arms crossed she said, "you little shits! I just talked to you on the phone!" And so the night begun. Later we went to my house for pizza and conversation mostly centered on Grama's reaction and wise words from my Grampa on the origins of the "S" word. According to him, it stands for Store High In Transit, an acronym used in the good old days when ships hauled manure across the Atlantic. Don't you feel better knowing that? Me too.

Moving on to surprise number three. Dad.
Dad had been on a church retreat the past four days and got home Sunday night just after reading letters that all of us had written him as a part of the retreat. Needless to say, it was an emotional weekend for him. And if you know my dad, you know that he still cries every time I leave the house and is, in general, an emotional basket-case when it comes to anything involving his girls (mom, Olivia and me). Anyways, back to the surprise. He rode home with one of his best friends, Kevin Parker, who had been updating us on how far away they were, and when they pulled in the driveway all of us were out there playing basketball. Dad was crying before he even got out of the car...

Chalk that up as another successful surprise! We ended the night with a good old fashioned game of horse, or maybe it was more like thirty games, followed by family time in the living room and fun stuff like four-person-push-ups...

The next day, Michael went to Terre Haute to see his parents and help his dad with harvest while I stayed at home and caught up with good friends and surprised one last very special lady, my dad's mom Grama Gerry.

Grama Gerry is a stubborn, no-nonsense, straight shooting woman who's all bark and absolutely no bite. She's my kind of woman. She is in her late 80's and while she's mentally sharp as a tack (minus a tiny bit of forgetfulness) she isn't very mobile, so she sits in that chair all day watching t.v. So this time I thought I'd bring a movie to watch with her even though she always insists that she "doesn't like movies." Someone tell me how the lady who watches t.v. all day won't watch a movie? I still don't know, but at least I tried. Like I said, she's stubborn. So I gave in and watched t.v. as we ate our BK value meals that I brought for lunch and she stole my french fries. She also always mutes the commercials. Why? Again, I don't know because half the time she sits there wondering what the commercial might be about. And I'm all like, "you know you could just leave the volume on!" But no. Instead we made a game of guessing what each commercial was for before the other. I creamed her. If it's starting to sound like I'm dissing on my grama, I am, but it's ok that's how our relationship is, we have an understanding. And she knows I love her!

That about covers all the Crawfordsville surprises! Next...Anderson!

blahblahblahblahblah

Ever have those days? 

Well, that's me right now. 

I've started about five drafts of the next "surprise blog," but I just can't get it finished. Not because it's hard, but because I just don't want to. For some reason, writing lately feels a whole lot more like a chore than an escape and I'm just not up for it. I feel like there are 8,000,888 things that I need to do, but don't have the slightest idea of where to start, and not even blogging (one of the easier of the 8,000,888 things) sounds fun right now. I know I'm sounding all "woe is me" which I'm well aware is never very attractive, but I just need to sort through some things. 

The past few weeks have been something else. I don't even know how to explain it, and I'm still processing. But it feels a lot like I've been standing in front of a fire hose getting blasted in the face for about two weeks straight. My skin is raw, I'm sore and beat up, and most of all I am exhausted from holding my ground, trying to stand firm and let God use this time to blast away all of me that isn't good and replace it with something useful that will bring glory to Him. Somewhere inside of me I know that Jesus has access to the on/off knob and is allowing it to stay on because it is best for me, and while that is comforting, it doesn't make it any easier or less painful. But, as we all know, life's not all about ease. So right now I'm clinging to the truth that He is faithful. That he will complete the work He has started in me.  That He understands. That He is bigger than everything else around me. That He is just, merciful and loving. And that He has a purpose, and wants me to be a part of it.

That last part is what I really don't understand. Right now I just can't see it. How or why He would want to use me for anything representing Him. Because quite honestly, I'm not a very good representation of a perfect, selfless, holy love. I don't even come close. But I suppose that is precisely why God sticks with me, with all of us. How much more beautiful is it when someone who is sinful, broken and totally unworthy is changed by the power of God to display a love that is not of this world? 

That is my prayer today and everyday. That God would rid me of myself and overflow me with His love, His joy, His peace, His patience, His kindness, His goodness, His faithfulness, His gentleness and His self-control.

Please don't read this to say that I am not thankful or blessed to be where I am, because that is so far from the truth. God has blessed me with far more than I deserve, and right now I'm just in a definite season of learning; especially learning to trust and rest, even when I don't understand. Learning to be humble. To listen. To give grace. To persevere. And to fight. 

Ephesians 6:12-13 For we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age...Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand [the fire hose], and having done all, to stand. 

Surprise Part One (of many parts)

As Michael and I drove home from babysitting two Thursdays ago, we talked about how much we love Fall weather. This topic of course lead to imagining what Indiana must be like: invigorating crisp air, 70 and sunny, turning leaves of every color, Wabash football, and the covered bridge festival. Sounds a lot like the definition of perfection, no? As our dialogue progressed, we arrived at the conclusion that it would be the absolute perfect week to go home. It started off as a kind of joke, wishful thinking, but quickly progressed to "what if?" and then "could we really?" followed by "oh, lets just do it!" Very responsible, I know (note the sarcasm). But we did take some precautionary actions in between the above thoughts. Like checking Michael's syllabus for the next week, emailing professors, making sure Amberlie could cover us, and calling our moms to make it official. In the next few hours I frantically tackled the laundry, packed our bags, printed directions, calculated gas costs, and hit the pillow. The next morning, we left. And documented everything along the way. Literally, everything. We took a picture at least every hour of where we were and whatever was around us. So without further ado here they are. 

Departure: 9:53 am CO time.

1086.68 miles to Cville.

10:00 am first stop, Jamba Juice.

If you've never had the Razzmatazz, GO GET ONE NOW.

It will change your life forever.

11:00 am flat nothingness in northeastern CO. Smelled like poop.

12:00 lunch time. 

The secret to driving 17 hours straight through. But don't worry, 

I pulled my weight too. 13 hours out of 32 ladies and gentlemen, be impressed. 

1:00 pm frosty for Michael before we switched drivers.

2:00 pm proof that I really did drive!

3:00 pm Nebraska.

4:00 pm still Nebraska.

5:00 pm Again, Nebraska. But I'm not complaining, 

if it were Kansas you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the last three pictures.

6:00 pm sunset in Iowa.

7:00 pm Missouri

9:00 pm my iced caramel, yes please.

(no 8:00 picture...that's what happens when the other

person is sleeping and there's no one to use the camera.

I won't mention who that person was...)

 12:00 am Michael's idea, obviously.

 2:00 am Arby's chicken goodness.

 3:10 am downtown Cville, a sight for sore eyes.

Arrival: 3:15 am 

This is what our Mapquest looked like after 17 hours.

A work of art if I do say so myself,

although the top right corner leaves a lot to be desired.

No comment necessary.

Approximately five minutes after this picture was taken, 

we passed out on the living room couch and waited for my sister to

stumble upon us the next morning. Speaking of passing out...it's about that time friends.

But I'll be back tomorrow for the exciting-ness that is part two!

* or ten days later, you never know...

...

Ok, so I hyped up this really exciting post like it was going to happen asap. And it wasn't. And still isn't. Woops... But, here's a sneak peak of one of the best week EVER! And I promise that soon, very soon, I will finish the long awaited post(s), and you will not be disappointed!

The Great Outdoors

So Michael and I decided last minute that we would take a quick trip to the mountains before it got too cold for camping. It was our first camping experience together, and other than my constant fear of being attacked by bears, moose, mountain lions, wolfs and squirrels, it was an awesome trip! Mid afternoon on Tuesday, we packed up the Jeep and made it to our campsite on the backside of Pike's Peak, tucked in a forest of Pine trees near a small stream. The whole way there I worried, nagged, begged Michael to stop for wood just in case we couldn't find any that was dry enough for a fire, but in true mountain man spirit, he insisted that he would find all the wood we needed.

He was right, but we had to climb halfway up the mountain to find it, and all the while I was certain that a mountain lion was stalking me and that I would faint from the altitude all because my husband refused to stop for firewood. I was loads of fun to be around, obviously. Actually, I just sat down with my bundle of twigs while Michael ran around like Paul Bunyan, ripping full-grown trees out of the ground and snapping them over his knees. If I weren't in the middle of being pouty, I would have made-out with him on the spot for being so studly. Before I knew it, he had a fire going and we were roastin' weenies and cookin' soup for dinner! It was really a wonderful night; the weather was crisp and invigorating and the smell of pine trees was ah-mazing. I repeatedly imagined what I would do if a bear waltzed onto our campsite: throw rocks, scream, cry hysterically and run backwards (you never turn your back on a bear, duh) leap over the stream and weave in and out of the trees in the dark without error before jumping into the Jeep and peeling out...all backwards, mind you.

I did forget all my fears of death by wild animals momentarily while we took hundreds of pictures and played around with long exposures and flashlights, never-ending fun I tell you (pictures to come). After our photo shoot, we were both ready for bed-mostly due to an unruly amount of smoke inhalation and smoke exposure to our eyes. Seriously, I'm blind now. Anyways, we took the cooler 100 yards away from camp to tie it up so that the bears would stay away. BUT, it turns out that Paul Bunyan only specializes in chopping down trees, and not in cooler-hanging-bear-prevention. So, long story short, we put the cooler in the front seat of the Jeep. This wouldn't be such a big deal except for the fact that we were sleeping in the Jeep.

Sidenote: Bears can smell an opened bag of potato chips from miles away. Before hibernation, they need to consume 20,000 calories a day. There are an estimated 10,000 bears in Colorado.

Are we understanding now why I would be a little uneasy about sleeping in the same place as the food?! So after hours of laying wide-eyed and stiff, I finally drifted into nightmareville only to be woken shortly after by strange grunting noises and our car rocking gently back and forth. We both sit straight up and know immediately what is happening as we see the silhouette of the bear's upper body through the foggy passenger seat window. I nearly have a heart attack as Michael scrambles for the keys and fumbles into the drivers seat. I manage to shriek a quick, "I told you!" before breaking into a fit of hysterical nervous laughter. I know, not normal. Michael starts the car and the bear jumps back, startled as we peel out of there like Bonnie and Clyde, the bear chasing close behind down the winding dirt road in the dead of night. Before long we lose the bear and continue speeding down the mountain in stunned silence before the Jeep looses control and we drive off the edge of a cliff and tumble into blackness.

I kid, Internet, I kid. We didn't see a single bear, moose, mountain lion, or wolf the entire trip. But seriously, we were THAT close to being bear bait. I count myself lucky to be alive, truly.

So the next morning, I'm feeling much better because the sun is up and I can see for myself that the sound of a twig breaking is not, in fact, a mountain lion sneaking up on me. Michael got the fire going again and we dined on donuts and granola bars before setting off to blaze the trails. The hike was probably my favorite part of our whole adventure; it felt wonderful to be surrounded by nothing but the crisp breeze, towering trees, holes of sun light peeking through, and the sound of the little stream that followed us through the mountain. We climbed for hours and talked about life as we stopped every now and then for water and snacks, but as we neared the end of the tree line, we decided to head back to camp as an ominous gray cloud quickly approached. Michael noted that "all the trees up hear are probably dead for a reason..." that was really comforting for me, as I'm sure you can imagine. So, we set out down the path in fifth gear as the light shower turned into down pour which turned into hail. Yes, HAIL! But really, we were totally fine and equipped thankfully with rain jackets. It was only small hail and we quite enjoyed the way the sun shone through the trees and lit up the rain. I wanted to take a picture but didn't for fear of damaging my precious baby (that would be my camera in case that was unclear). Before long, the rain subsided and we made it back to camp without getting struck by lightning. We had worked up an appetite and quickly whipped up another round of hot dogs, soup and s'mores before we packed up camp and headed home.

It was such a simple and refreshing trip. A chance to get away for a day and remember who we are, who God is. I know I've been a tad dramatic and have perhaps portrayed our trip to be more of a disaster than a retreat, but it's my blog and I quite like rationalizing my fears of bears and lightning in the form of exaggeration and drama. But honestly, it was the PERFECT little get away, and I can't wait to do it again!

Sleeping quarters.

Soup.

Check out that fire.

Could we be any cooler? No, I really doubt it.

Our little hole in the ceiling of the forest.

I found these trees fascinating.

The Paul Bunyan in his natural habitat.

Food in mouth smile. Shortly before the ominous gray cloud appeared.

I'll end with this picture of my angel :)

That's all for now friends, but I'll be back soon for a VERY exciting post in a few days. Stay tuned!