Two Nerds Shopping

A few days ago, Justin posted the following amusing web-comic with the conclusion that he and Erin are nerds...



Well, it appears that Jeromie and I are nerds as well.

In addition to riding our bikes to Target/the grocery store with a mass amount of carrying capacity, we spent probably an hour debating over the best organizing strategy for Jeromie (in lieu of the options he's already picked out, which turned out to be unnecessarily expensive). Then we pedaled over to Sunflower Market (which is awesome) and proceeded to make a usually quick grocery trip take nearly twice as long. See web comic.

The moral of this story: I should probably go grocery shopping alone if time is ever an issue.

But, I shall embrace my nerd-dom and share with you my new favorite toothbrush. That's right, I said toothbrush.

the wild toothbrush in its natural habitat!

I'm notoriously hard on toothbrushes, so it came as no surprise to look at it this morning and decide I needed a new one. I read somewhere a few weeks ago about toothbrushes with removeable/replaceable heads & figured I'd see if the environmentally-conscious Sunflower had any. They did... and the price was competitive with the sorts of toothbrushes I normally get... especially when you take into account the cost of the heads you replace them with!

So, I have a new toothbrush.

Yay!

Of Hobbits and Happy Trails

I must say, I've had a pretty happy day.

Our hiking venture was full of fail (for lack of planning), but we've had a great time anyway! After a month here, Jeromie and I figured it was about time for some mountains, but we really had no idea of where to start without tackling on of the (in)famous Colorado 14-ers. Don't get me wrong, we'd love to hike five or ten or all of them, but we didn't want that to be the first trip out... so, on the recommendation of a new friend, we headed toward Boulder.

Fail factor #1: a late start (what with work, cleaning and laundry that needed to be done)

Fail factor #2: lack of a packable lunch

Fail factor #3: the decision to stop in Boulder for lunch

Upon entering Boulder, we headed for Pearl Street, and that was the end of any plans for hiking... downtown Boulder is just plain crazy. Perhaps it was just today, since there was a fall festival going on, but I feel like we saw a little bit of everything there, and it was awesome. We grabbed lunch at a place called the Falafel King (which was delicious), then puttered around taking the place in. We ended up spending a looooooooooooong time in a kite/toy store (can't remember the name) and found a furry friend that very nearly came home with us:

From K100D

They also had some hilarious band-aids at this toy store, like ones with sushi, kiss marks, pirate symbols, or Jesus on them. I don't know why, but sushi band-aids are kind of tempting to me. :-)

Once we finally wrenched ourselves free of the toy store, we headed for the car to salvage the plans for hiking, at which point the sky decided to threaten rain and then *dump.* We still might've made it out, had we not found a cozy coffee/bike shop in a TRAIN.

A bike/coffee shop in a train in the rain in the mountains.

From K100D

Folks who know me well will recognize that this is a win/win/win/win situation in my book... a lot of my favorite things all rolled into one. Add some thunder (of which there was some), and you've got one happy Liz. The only thing that could've made it better would be either hiking before, or biking to get there.

We'd planned on finding a coffee shop to crash & study in anyway, so we stayed. And it was the awesome. And it's still the awesome... because we're still there.

* * * * * * *

In other news, we now have confirmation that Jeromie is a hobbit:
- he has furry feet
- he eats about 8 meals a day
- he lives underground (mmmm... basement)
- and he gives presents on his birthday!

Meet Maple:

From K100D

She's an MSI Wind Notebook... about 10 inches wide & 3lbs. Tiny and cute. After a few weeks of school, we realized that one computer and two paper-writers was just not working out. While I love Macs to pieces, they don't make any particularly small and affordable laptops... thus we started looking at windows machines and found out about netbooks... which is what this thing is. Small, very portable, and great for all the things I typically use a computer for. What's funny is that Maple makes Jeromie's Macbook look fat... and Macbooks aren't fat at all! She came in the mail yesterday, and I've already been vastly more productive. :-D

Anyhow... back to my studies.

Itteh Bitteh Mad-Typin' Committeh

Yes, that is a spoof on the LOLcats. It's also an apt description of my new laptop, but more on that later... I've got a bike to ride!!

Um, so...

I promise I didn't fall off the edge of the earth. Really, I'll just have to agree with Corey. Grad school & sleeping are not exactly compatible some days. Grad school & blog posts are not exactly compatible most days. Unfortunately, neither are grad school and sewing, painting or taking the time to start a new knitting project. So far. But I still have a lil' hope.

One thing grad school is conducive to though (at least in our current living situation): riding bicycles. So far, Jer and I haven't taken the car to school yet... and we went about 2 weeks on a quarter tank of gas... only using that because we were heading to Nebraska!! All this bike riding makes me *very* happy.

Nevertheless, we've swapped our SC plates & licenses for CO ones:



The house in the background is the one that Ben and Cori Hamilton are so graciously sharing with us (for a small fee). We live in the rather well-lit basement & share the kitchen. We're really loving it so far... especially the "book nook" that we set up in the living room. At some point, I'll take some pictures, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. Our commute to school is a whopping 1.75 miles (3.5 round trip), so we intend on riding regardless of the weather (even in the winter if we can manage it).

Pigeon likes it here... thinks there are plenty of shenanigans to be had, but hasn't been caught in the act yet... at least around Denver. But in Nebraska on the other hand...

He pulled a fast one on the Mattisons by moving the pig!

He snatched the camera and snapped a picture...

He checked on the bikes on the way home
(cause it was *super* windy)

aaaaaand... when we stopped at the Pony Express historic spot on the way home he insisted that "Nooooooo, it's not Pony Express, it's Pigeon Express... you know, homing pigeons?? they've been around for waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay longer. The horse & rider?? Oh, that's just our mascot!"


- - - - - - -

B vs. C: 171.2 / 52.4*

*(This does *not* count road trips. The goal is to use bikes more around town. Had it not been for the DNC though, we would've taken the train to Nebraska!)

And the winner of the 100th post drawing is... Teresa from Affectioknit! I used a random list generator & she came out on top! Maybe next time I'll draw names creatively, but I am just toooooo tired. (Please email me your address!! eliz(dot)rand(at)gmail(dot)com)

Surrounded by boxen.

Well, we made it, and we brought the rain with us! It's starting to feel like the Rands have the gift of rain since both our long-distance trips this summer have been to places that don't get all that much and it starts raining as soon as we get there... Red Lodge, Montana, and Littleton, Colorado. We got here Friday and got our first glimpse of blue sky & mountains this morning! Since the weather's been nice this afternoon, we unloaded the POD... now we're surrounded by boxen. Boxen upon boxen upon boxen.

(Translation: Boxes. Boxes here, boxes there, boxes freakin' everywhere!)

Since arriving, I've been downright giddy. I love the couple we're living with, I love the town we're living in. I love the bike trails that criss-cross the city. I love the mountains outside the front door. I love the cool, dry air. I love the fact that our housemates (who own the place) have an incredible garden in the backyard - an itty-bitty corner that produces a whole lot of stuff! (Maybe Cori's green thumb will rub off on me!) Most of the time, I feel like I'm home... but there's still a lingering feeling of having been uprooted. This uprooted feeling hit me like a train (even though I saw it coming) this morning at church. I realized that as much as I love it here, what's missing is deep-rooted community: the kind that comes from wrestling and discussing and playing and being together, the kind that comes from being real and open and honest, the kind that loves unashamedly, the kind that comes from fighting for each other, the kind that takes time. The kind that doesn't happen in a weekend. :-)

I miss my DCF family, scattered as it now is. I miss the pilgrims I walked with there. But at the same time, I look forward eagerly to the time I will spend here - wrestling and discussing and playing and being together in a new (to me) community, being real and open and honest, loving unashamedly, fighting for the family I will soon join, for as long as God sees fit for us to dwell in this place.

* * * * * * *
P.S. I hope to get the boxen under control by the end of the week, at which time I'll draw a name and having a special block-printing party just for that person!

Bike vs. Car: 8.7mi / 2.7mi :-)

Day 8 - Rollin', rollin', rollin'... in!

So, today's our final day of travel. Somewhere around 5pm mountain time, we should be rolling into our new town. Heh. "Town." Don't know if Littleton/Denver qualifies as a town. :-)

Here's the route:


View Larger Map


On tap for today:

- delicious breakfast at the Parkview House B&B
- adios Amarillo!
- hola pseudo-backroad that will take us through part of NM
- maybe a small-town antique store or two?
- ugh... hola interstate...
- COLORADO!!!!
- shenanigans of some sort, mixed with driving driving driving
- arrive in Littleton & meet our housemates, the Hamiltons!!

Day 7 - Dallas to Amarillo... still in TX

Today, we'll venture "onward and upward, whichever way that may be-" to quote my Grandy. In this case, it means heading out of Dallas in a generally northwestish direction toward Amarillo:


View Larger Map

On tap for today:
- stockpiling a bit of Dublin Dr. Pepper
- lots of Texas
- finding a good place to picnic, since my grandmother (who we call Mom-Pat) packed us an incredible lunch
- consuming some yummy Dublin Dr. Pepper
- more Texas
- stopping for the night at a bed & breakfast Jeromie found in Amarillo

Off we go!

Days 4, 5, and 6 - Messing with Texas

We've been in Dallas for the past couple of days hanging out with my family (mom, grandparents, aunt). We had trouble connecting to the internet initially, and decided not to bother with it until last night, so I'll edit this post later to add pictures & details of the fun.

Messing with Texas included:
- Dallas traffic
- expanding my mental map
- lots of outings with my mom
- a trip to the Dallas Museum of Art (Pigeon got attacked by an old Japanese warrior!)
- dinner with Leafy (Adam Green Grace)
- messing with the lifeguards at my mom's YMCA
- yummy Einstein Bros. bagels
- lots of monkey-doodles and merry-sunshines
- Dublin Dr. Pepper

Check back in a week, and I will have (hopefully) updated the post to include pictures.

Denver-bound, Day 3 - Mobile, AL to Dallas, TX

View Larger MapDay 3: Mobile, AL to Dallas, TX

On tap for today:
- early morning walk with Darla (hopefully!)
- drink some coffee
- drive a lot
- take pictures of Pigeon at every state line
- sing along to a lot of songs
- probably cry some more when we think of the incredible people we've left
- drive a lot
- drive a lot
- collapse on my grandparents' floor in Dallas!


Anyone know of any interesting stops on this route??

Denver-bound, Day 2 - Rockin' out in Mobile, AL

You know, sleeping in is awesome. Today has been the first day in weeks that I had the option to, and boy did I ever need to and take advantage of it. Just thought I'd share that. I don't prefer to sleep in, but sometimes it's a necessity.

So... today is a non-travelling day. We're in Mobile hanging out with the Rand side of the family and I *love* it. I am definitely a Rand at heart... no less a Goudelock, but definitely a Rand. Twas a perfect day to be here too... it's Darla's birthday and the weather played nice! We slept in, bummed around the house, and then went golfing at a local Par 3 course. I've never played golf before, so it was pretty amusing.

My impression of me golfing:
- 25% of the time - wind up, swing, keep swinging in a circle without hitting the ball
- 25% of the time - wind up, swing, dig a hole to China
- 40% of the time - wind up, actually hit the ball and make it go about 10 feet
- 10% of the time - wind up, actually hit the ball and get it actually kinda near the green!!!

All in all, twas a fun time though. Pigeon came along and elicited a chuckle from the golf course guy, who said he was the hugest club cover he'd ever seen. Pigeon also managed to keep his mouth shut for the most part, til the end when he begged for a picture with the Noodle ball & pouted when he didn't get it. :-)

Don't worry, he's been in plenty though:

Eating cars in Georgia


Signing the guest book in Alabama


Celebrating Darla's birthday in Mobile

Denver-bound

Well, we're officially en route to our new home.




View Larger Map

Day 1: Clemson, SC to Mobile, AL with a stopover in Atlanta!


On tap for today:
* breakfast with Kalbaughs
* little bit of driving
* lunch with the most awesome Diane and Drew
* good bit of driving
* 2 nights & a day with the Original Random Rands


We've made this trip many times before, so we're not in new territory yet... but I'm curious - does anyone have any interesting stops or stories along this route?? :-D

Take Me Home...

Well, the move's starting to sink in. Before the POD arrived this morning, it didn't take too much of a stretch to imagine that, perhaps, we were re-arranging the house. The normal person doesn't pack things up in boxes for a simple re-arrangement, but, hey, we're not exactly normal people here in the Rand house, so it could happen. This definite sign of uprooting has brought tears to my eyes much more easily than before. (For example: turning onto the campus that I once hated but now love to meet someone for lunch, hearing the first few notes of a song that I love sung by a favoritest musician.) I suspect this may continue for a while after we've moved too, especially when remembering the folks I'll miss & the unique places I've dwelled these past many years.

You know, I've called these places home because they are what I know of home:
- little house, large yard, plenty of trees (until I went off to college)
- a dorm room or apartment shared with a variety of fun characters (myself included!)
- the forests of my fluffy Blue Ridge Mountains
- the high limbs of favorite trees
- a cabin full of excited girls
- a tent miles from the nearest road
- a room full of truth-telling, BS-detecting family known collectively as house church
- a house in Greenville, an apartment in Clemson with my dear husband
- a basement full of folding chairs and leaks, surrounded by fellow children of an incredible, merciful Father
- eyes closed, lost in the music of the DCF band
- a deserted road on an early morning, by bike or running shoes
- a green lake surrounded by old peaks, history speaking from its depths
- deepening friendships with grace-giving fellow pilgrims

I could go on for a very long time.

I was reminded this morning (as I drove in to meet my beautiful friend Rachael for lunch) that these are only previews of home. Surprisingly, the song that usually reminds me of this is not a typical worship song... it's my favorite cover of any song ever: Genesis' "Take Me Home" as done by Dave & Co. Singing along (in the car... yes, I am one of *those* people), I remember that I am a pilgrim on a journey to the home God created us for. This doesn't mean I should disconnect from this world I'm in, but rather engage - love deeply, serve joyfully, persevere purposefully, ask meaningful questions, give meaningful answers, think bigger, believe even bigger than that, because God is beyond what I can fathom, and He's made a way to live and breathe and dwell with Him, wretched as I am.

That might be the longest run-on sentence ever. Or not. I don't care. :-)

The countdown stands at ~3 days now, but it's ticking onward. I will not coast through them, as I am prone to do, but live awake and aware as I'm called to. I'll probably cry some, but I really do welcome that now. :-)


* * * * * * *


P.S. This just happens to be my 100th post as the Prodigal Pilgrim. I feel like that (and so many other things) might just call for some celebration.

So. I'm giving away something handmade!

Set of 5 hand-printed cards,
which are also available in my Etsy shop

When I arrive in Denver, I'll do a random drawing to figure out who gets them. In the meantime, leave me a comment that includes your name and how you found the blog! If you pass it along to another friend who enters, I'll stick your name in again just for kicks. I'm a little curious to find out how people get here. :-)

We roll into Denver on the 15th, so sometime that weekend, I'll post the winner.

Introducing...

Pigeon!

* * * * * * *

Pigeon is the awesome main character of Mo Willems' illustrated children's books. Pigeon is also a puppet that's been living at the Open Book until this past Thursday. Pigeon now lives with the Rands. He thoroughly understands that he is in no way a replacement for Molly. Molly is irreplaceable. But he also thoroughly understands that living with the Rands means shenanigans... and a move to Denver. In classic pigeon style, he's been begging to drive the moving truck. The jury's still out on that one.

So here are some pictures of Pigeon's life so far with the Rands:


After his last day at the Bookedy, Pigeon eyes the hummus & pita at the Rands' favorite Greenville restaurant, The Bohemian!


Pigeon promptly selects a choice pita and... NOM!


Pigeon jams out with his flamingo friend at Horizon Records
(which is the awesome)


Pigeon participates in the tired & slightly blurry reading of a very good bedtime story for his new family


And now... on to the packing!

Resolutions

Well, I'd resolved to be a bit better about updating, and then I promptly got a whole lot worse. I think I have a tendency to behave that way when attempting to make a change in habits, or at least small ones. I suppose finishing up work and preparing to move could be a bit of an excuse, but I don't much like excuses. I would like my blog to be a bit more of a priority in the coming months as Jeromie and I move away from the people that have been our family and the places that have been our home for the better part of the past ten years. I've found that it is so incredibly easy to lose touch with the people that matter to me. Having been a loner most of my life, I lean a bit much toward letting life get in the way of the relationships that matter to me.

I don't want to do that anymore.

But that may be a post for another day. Right now, I'm taking a breather from a mass amount of sorting and a lesser amount of packing. Moving across the country seems like a great opportunity to get rid of some things I've been toting around for a long time. A little-used guitar, a picnic basket, a microwave-cooking dish from the 80's, some old books, old toys, old perspectives, old habits. Two weekends ago, we had a yard-sale to get rid of some of these things... quiet moments and long, lonely Monday commutes have given space to work on discarding others.

Moving across the country also requires good-byes, and it just so happens that some of our friends are moving to other states at the same time so this isn't a unique good-bye time for the Rand family. Dubbed Blubberfest 2008 by one friend, the past week has brought many tears and I am grateful for each one. It's been a long time since I could cry freely, and it's freeing to be able to now. This past weekend, we did the hard thing of taking our good dog-friend, Molly, to a new home. While I truly believe that she will be happier with the Moores (who have a good, semi-rural 10 acres for her to roam on) than she would be in the *tiny* dog-friendly apartment we'd be able to afford in Denver, it was still hard to settle her there and then just leave. It was hard on Sunday to look Ed in his tear-filled eyes and exchange the peace of Christ in the middle of so much tension, to realize that there were some folks I was seeing for the last time and love them well. It will be hard tomorrow to load up a moving van with the Colliers and realize how much the boys will grow before we get to hug them again. But hard is not bad, and the peace of Jesus is not dependent on emotion, but is rather so much more.

A week and a half or more of Blubberfest to go. Bring it on. :-)

I don't feel like I've done justice to the events of the past few weeks... and the ones that are coming in the next few... but at this moment in time that is not necessarily my blog's purpose. :-) In all likelihood, it will remain a window into my continuing journey with and towards God. I like the thought of a blog as a window: you can open it and share a moment with your neighbor even if you can't get to their house at just that moment. Or you could stick a pie in it... um... figuratively speaking? I just have random retro-image-moments of little boys sneaking fresh-baked pies out of windows.

Here I go rambling again. Oh well... back to this:

photo courtesy of the fantastic Jer

Movin'

Shenanigans

* * * * * * *

Where are all the days going?! In less than a month, Jeromie and I will be filling up another one of these crazy trucks, this time to head across the country. I suppose the swift current of days may indicate some coasting on my part... some dozing off, some drifting along. It happens more than I'd like. I either get super-busy or just worn out, and this time I think it's busy-ness. However, Jeromie and I have both been challenged lately to live and think and pray more alertly. Part of that is just the nature of change: there's work to do in finding a place to live and getting the move on, but I believe that God is stirring things up in our hearts and preparing us for something big. He's called us to listen and obey, and as we have taken each step, He's been providing. It looks like He intends that for where we physically live as well, but not without some difficult questions - one of which being: "What is your life centered around?"

As Jeromie and I have wrestled with that question, we've found too many things vying for the center. Work, creative projects, relationships, books, appetites, the comfort and ease of a car... a furry, yellow ball of energy and affection. In preparing for the move, that furry yellow ball (my awesome Molly-dog) has come to occupy more and more of our thoughts and emotions and wrestling... eventually to the exclusion of much else. You know what that makes? A dog-centered universe. A bit dyslexic of us, don't you think?

We've had to ask some hard questions in response, and consider more than just our desire to have this beautiful creature in our lives. To go where Jesus is often means leaving people, places, creatures and things behind - often much-loved - and we are not exempt from this. So, we're examining what this means in our lives and trying to discern what we must leave behind. Who knows, it may mean selling all we have and heading to Denver with what fits in/on our car. Right now, it seems that it will mean parting, at least for a time, with a very dear, six-and-a-half-year friend.

All I know is that I want to go where God is, and I want to live how He calls me to - whatever that entails. I want to ask and be asked the hard questions of what that really means in practice. I want to live generously and out of the sheer, life-giving love that Jesus embodied, embodies, and will ever continue to.

Tall order. Need grace.

Hello, my name is...

Old-School Fred... or well on my way there,
i've got one pant-leg rolled up... the other down

* * * * * * *

Yesterday on a quick bike errand to feed the BenninKitties, Jeromie made a comment that I didn't quite understand.

(in a valley-girl-ish voice): "Liz, you are such a Fred"

A Fred?! What the heck is a Fred?!

So I asked, and he showed me when we got home... and I'm down with my Fredness. I'm less of a Fred now than I used to be, but who knows? We're about to be a two-student family.

According to the Dictionary of Bicycling Slang, a Fred is:
1) n. a person who spends a lot of money on his bike and clothing, but still can't ride. "What a fred -- too much Lycra and titanium and not enough skill." Synonym for poser. Occasionally called a "barney". (I am NOT this one. For one thing, I don't have the money... for another thing, I've been biking for a loooooong time.)

2) n. a person who has a mishmash of old gear, does't care at all about technology or fashion, didn't race or follow racing, etc. Often identified by chainring marks on white calf socks. Used by "serious" roadies to disparage utility cyclists and touring riders, especially after these totally unfashionable "freds" drop the "serious" roadies on hills because the "serious" guys were really posers. This term is from road touring and, according to popular myth, "Fred" was a well-known grumpy old touring rider, who really was named Fred.

Another definition found on the bike forums is someone who is functional with no regard to fashion, i.e. milk-crate on the back-rack... or one pant leg rolled up.

We looked a bit further and found some information about the guy who was the original Fred and, in my opinion, he's freakin' awesome. Look up Fred Birchmore of Athens, GA, or start with this article: Oldest living Dog has unique tale.

I think I could only aspire to be that kind of Fred. :-)

Off to this morning's adventure: the Anderson Jockey Lot. I was told I couldn't move away without going at least once.

Inspired.

LottaJansdotter.bikes.katieherzig.buttons

* * * * * * *

Lotta Jansdotter - After hearing much buzz in the general sewing community about her various fabric designs (which are quite cool!), I came across a book at work that she'd published about printing. I borrowed the book for a few days, then purchased it because I'd pretty much fallen in love with the printing process. I'm now eyeing some of the sketchy potatoes in our pantry in a more friendly manner. :-)

Bikes - I *love* my bicycle. I've had it for about 10 years now, though I've sorely neglected it in favor of the mountain variety (or other pursuits) for most of college & post-college. Well, the bike is back, and the Liz is all the happier for it! I think I'm addicted... which could be a good thing, since it'll be my primary source of transportation in Denver. :-D

Katie Herzig - So, I got an email from the Derek Webb mailing list about NoiseTrade, headed over to check it out, and found out about this phenomenal and fun singer/songwriter. Her Apple Tree album has been constantly spinning in my head & cd player, and I'd like to listen to more of her work.

Buttons - I would just like to take this opportunity to tell the world that I like buttons. In the semi-words of my lovely friend Jen: it's my blog, i do what i want. :-D Seriously though, there are some very cool buttons floating around, and I'd like to find a use for them. Even if it's just to make my own 'pieces of flair' board with buttons. But I'd rather knit sweaters. Which reminds me that I need to block the one I finished last week. I should get on that.

Giddy-Up!

(slightly sweaty Rands)
I am one happy girl right now.

Not only did I spend a fantastic Saturday with Jero... I spent a fantastic Saturday with Jero on BICYCLES. I have lately rediscovered the thrill of road riding, and now I get to share the experience with my husband! (Thanks, of course, to a lot of time on CraigsList and BikeAthens.)

We headed out for Athens between 8-8:30am, grabbed some breakfast & yummy coffee at Jittery Joe's (Clemson), before heading to Jittery Joe's hometown. I tell you what, I think I just rediscovered bagels too. Anyhow, we had a good time talking on the way there and made good time to meet a cool dude named Mike at the BikeAthens homebase.

BikeAthens is a non-profit organization that advocates for the improvement of the Athens/Clarke County area in such a way as to encourage alternative forms of transportation (pedestrian/bus/bike). They also do bike recycling: folks donate their old bikes to BikeAthens, whose members fix and/or tune them up and give them to folks in the area who need a reliable form of transportation. Sometimes they get some fairly nice bikes that need some love and are still worth a pretty good amount - in this case, they tweak 'em & sell 'em to raise money for their mission. And that's how Jeromie found his bike - a Novara Randonee (REI-brand touring bike)! I also scored some sweet, gently-used SPD pedals, which should make my bike-commuting life just a little easier.

le vélo


In anticipation of a potential bike purchase, we'd brought my bike & a picnic lunch, so we pounced on the opportunity to ride around and see the town. We rode out and back on the Oconee River Greenway, then into town to poke around a vintage store I'd spotted on the way in. It's sad... I've never spent much time in Athens - maybe one show at the 40-Watt - but it's a really cool town. The downtown is beautiful & it looks like they have a wide variety of shops & restaurants. I wish we could've spent more time there, but the sky just about dumped on us & we needed to get back anyhow. We completed the trip with a stop at SweeTreats, which I will sorely miss when we move away.

I am so giddy about riding right now. I did a lot of riding when I was younger, but sort of fell away from it during college. Having a car and a too-busy schedule will do that to you. Well, now the car is gone, and partially because the bike's got the better of me (and riding the bike just makes me feel better). I also realize now that it's a good alternative to running... which I always seem to get injured doing. Maybe the bike'll balance me out! :-)

We rode in to church this morning, then home again after lunch and I didn't want to stop. Unfortunately, housework called. (Shedding season in the Rand house doesn't bode well for other activities.)

Well, you guys get the point. I'm excited.

(and a picture of my Jero because I think he's pretty swell.
and manly enough to drink out of a butterfly-laden Sigg.)

i did it.

I did it. I'd been thinking about the possibility for a while, but now I've finally done it.

What is this "it" that I've done??

I opened up shop on Etsy. Etsy is an incredibly awesome online marketplace specifically for people selling their own original, handmade goods. It's one of my favorite places to browse... there's some really cool stuff up there! One of my favorite shops on Etsy is Block Party Press - Jeromie got me a pendant for my birthday, and I promptly order 2 more with some birthday dollars. Oh, there's a lot of fun stuff on there. And now the fun stuff includes something of mine!

I wrote a blurb for the shop bio about how I arrived at this spot, but the basic gist is this:

I've spent most of my life not living,
and God has changed that.
Because of Jesus, He's rescued me and is redeeming me.
After many years of denying any sort of value or gifting, I finally realized that God *has* given me a voice, and something to share with His world.
If I really believe Him, then it's time to stop hiding and start celebrating.

The shop name: lizzleisALIVE

and I am!

:-D

I know this is already on Justin's blog (that's how I first saw it!), but I figure I might have a few readers that he doesn't and I want to share the love too. Cause the world is just awesome!




Some things I particularly love today:

* the mountains (blue ridge & otherwise)
* Clemson sunsets
* brilliant lightening storms
* the human body in motion (we can do some pretty cool stuff!)
* spoken and written language
* the fact that all creation attests to God's glory, & that He's redeeming it (!!!)