A Summer In Pictures

Well, since I forgot I had a blog, I'm imagining y'all did as well! Up here it actually feels like fall already! (Well more like winter since it will be in the 30s tonight!) I can close the door on my summer and embrace pumpkin and flannels without sweating and swimming through September like I'm used to. But before I get ahead of myself, we did have a wonderful summer and I'll give you all the speed version in pictures!

We started off with a spontaneous Memorial Day weekend trip to Saint Louis and it was a BLAST! That city is so fun. We did a ton of stuff including the Art Museum, the City Museum and the botanical gardens. 

Most of you may not know this, but David and I have a married goal to eat ice cream in all 50 states. That is not a joke. Those of you who know me best will not be surprised. So here is me, eating ice cream in Missouri!

 One weekend we went home with our friends Joy and Tyler to the great state of Nebraska. We started off here, visiting Tyler's family on their farm in Stromsburg, where we also checked out the Swedish festival. (I told you Midwesterners love their European heritage!)

 We then went to Joy's family's home right outside Lincoln. We walked around the University of Nebraska, and the boys went to a James Taylor concert while Joy and I visited some of her friends. On Sunday after church there was a gender reveal party in which Joy and Tyler told the world that their firstborn is a boy! It was a blast. 

I went back to Alabama for a few days for the wedding of Stuart and Rosie Spooner. It was SUCH a blast and such a breath of fresh air to get to see all my people.

I also got to go to my favorite place in the world. I even got to ski 3 days in a row! It doesn't quite feel like summer because I never went to the beach, but at least I got to sneak a little lake time in.

4th of July came and it pretty much consisted of eating these delicious guys for breakfast and watching some fireworks with some friends. 

We may a last minute splurge decision to go see Gillian Welch and David Rawlings in concert. It. Was. Amazing. I'm not even going to try to explain how great it was. The venue was perfect. She is one of our long time favorites, so it was a bucket list concert for sure.

We went to the renowned Iowa State Fair. Maybe this one deserves a post of its own. It was pretty much everything I imagined it to be. 

On August 10th we celebrated being married ONE WHOLE YEAR! It is crazy to think that it has already been that long. I have learned so much, but more than anything I've realized how much more I have to learn! We celebrated by going to dinner downtown and then eating the top layer of our wedding cake which my sweet mom shipped all the way from Sweet Home Alabama. It actually tasted really good - that Peggy McKinney knows what she's doing.

We also went to a hot air balloon festival at night when they were all lit up. 

I also threw my first ever baby shower. What better friend to celebrate than this one! Joy has been such a blessing to me during my time in Des Moines. It was so fun to come together and get excited about her sweet boy who will be here in a few short weeks!

Of course the crafting part was my favorite! Okay maybe the baking. All of the preparation was so fun to me. I wish I could throw parties for my job.

For Labor Day we could think of NOTHING fun to do so we decided to drive to Kansas City, MO for the day. We ate some incredible BBQ, and explored a few different areas of town, including the plaza with a tower that looks just like the cathedral in Sevilla! It made me miss Spain. 

While sitting in a coffee shop we realized that we were only 15 minutes from Kansas! I have been to Kansas before. On a charter bus. With 50 high schoolers. We drove across the whole state. There were no hills. We ate dinner in Kansas. And breakfast. There were lots of windmills. I had motion sickness. Needless to say, I don't really have a desire to go back and spend a lot of time there, so we took advantage of being so close and drove across the border! The neighborhoods were really pretty! And of course we ate ice cream. Then we stopped outside of a bank and took this selfie with the flag to  prove that we actually went there. Excuse my double chin. 

All in all it was a fun summer! We are surprised to still be in Iowa, since there were some changes in David's project that he got slated to stay and finish. But I think I am enjoying it now more than I have been! I have much to be thankful for. We'll see what adventures the fall brings!

Tulip Time

Several weekends ago I went on probably my strangest midwestern adventure yet - and it was a blast! Let me introduce you to the little town of Pella. It's a small Dutch town about an hour east of Des Moines. People warned me that it is a little creepy, and indeed I've never seen anything like it. We visited this charming city for the pinnacle of it's year - Tulip Time. It is basically a celebration of how the Dutch are the greatest people on earth and Pella is a haven from the outside world. At least that it how it appeared to me. 

When I say this is a Dutch town I mean that even the movie theater and the gas station have to meet standards of Dutch architecture. I've never been to Holland, but I have a feeling it would look a lot like this place. 

We sat through the parade that is apparently one of the highlights of Tulip Time. It was filled with half the town wearing traditional Dutch clothes. Even the band of Pella Christian School (which I hear is bigger than the public school) wore the traditional wooden shoes and echoed as they marched down the street. There was a girl who came over the loud speaker to explain each new part of the parade. Her speech was full of phrases like "the Dutch are known for their superior …. " or "… reminds us of back in the Netherlands." Let's just pause for a moment and remember that my parade upbringing was Mardi Gras - where you scream your head off and wave your hands in hope that your classmate's drunk dad will recognize you and your friends and dump a case of moon pies on you. This was a little different from the Calvin Scouts that rode buy and smiled and waved politely. (I am serious, they have Calvinist boy scouts in this place!)

One of the cutest parts was the tulip queens of yesteryear. I guess these ladies come back year after year to relive their time in the spotlight. 

Apparently this is the largest functioning Dutch windmill in the United States. Pretty cool. 

After the parade we walked around town looking at the tulips. This is my friend Joy. Shout out to her sweet friend from Florida, Rachel, who took the picture! I think Rachel pretty much summed up the reason Tulip Time weirded me out a little bit when she commented that she has never seen such a high celebration of white culture as they have in the midwest. I realized how true that is! Everyone is very much aware of and very proud of their European heritage. After thinking about it and talking about it with several people, I have a few theories about why it is this way. 

For starters - we aren't allowed to be proud of being white in the South. If we were to have a Dutch festival or a English festival or something where we explicitly praised the Fatherland we would be immediately labeled racists and it would not go over well. There is too much fresh pain in people of color - even today - for us to consider this. 

Also, as I talk to people who have grown up here I realize that distinctively ethnic communities are much more common. The midwest was settled so much later and in such tight knit (and geographically disconnected) communities that they were able to hold on to their European traditions and culture with a little more ease. My ancestors came across the pond when we were still a grouping of colonies, and married whoever was around - across lines of nationality. That being said - I'm a big part English, a part Scottish, a little part German, a little part French, a decent sized part Native American, some sprinkles of who knows what else, and 100% Southern. Indeed, our culture has taken on so many of its own unique characteristics that we celebrate those instead! 

Side note: I am still trying to figure out what those things are that define midwestern culture outside of a specific European one. So if you have any ideas let me know!

All that being said, living here has motivated me to learn a little bit more about my ancestry and to think a little bit more deeply about culture and heritage in general. I am thankful for these people who are proud of where they come from! And the tulips - let me tell you. They were gorgeous. 

Here's another view of the giant windmill as we walked to wait in a really long line for these delicious little buttery pancake bites that I'm not even going to try to spell. 

There were so many different variations of tulips. These were some of my favorites. 

Public Service Announcement: Let me just remind you that my motivation in starting this blog was to keep my family and friends down South updated on a few little parts of my life in the midwest! In other words, if you happen to be from here, please just see my thoughts for what they are - the friendly observations of someone who is most definitely not from here. I'm sure that you would think Dogwood Trail Maids are the weirdest things ever, and that's ok! That is part of the fun of this big, beautiful, and diverse country! 

Where the Wild Things Are

So I'm WAY behind on blogging, but we've gotten to do so many fun things these past few months that I can't wait to catch up. For starters, we couldn't come up with anything we wanted to give each other for Christmas. In college we would usually go on a special date as our "gift" to each other. So this year, we decided to do something similar and head down the road a few hours to Omaha, Nebraska and see the zoo. However, no one wants to go to the zoo with snow on the ground, so our Christmas present was a little delayed. It was worth the wait! This zoo has been ranked best in the country by several magazines or people, or whoever it is that gives out those arbitrary titles. Regardless, it won my stamp of approval, that's for sure.

 A scene from our very midwestern drive through western Iowa. 

 They have a huge desert dome that is pretty impressive. 

 There is also an indoor jungle that was incredible. It was definitely my favorite part. We almost skipped it because at this point we had walked who knows how many miles over the last four hours, but I'm glad we didn't. 

 Selfie on the jungle path right before I got pooped on by a bat. 

We ate at M's Pub in Old Market, which I highly recommend. The food was wonderful, the waitress was great, and the sitting on the patio was a perfect way to wrap up the night!

Well, I take that back. Ted and Wally's was the real best way to wrap up the night. This is homemade ice cream at it's finest. I don't even know how to describe it, you'll just have to go get some yourself! 

We are thankful to check Nebraska off the bucket list!

Visitors

A few weeks ago, we got the much anticipated treat of having David's parents visit us! It was such a fun weekend. It was great to catch up with them and let them see a little part of our lives, as well as do some fun things that we wouldn't usually! 

 We started off Saturday with an incredible (and incredibly caloric) breakfast from La Mie, a local bakery. It was pretty enough to eat outside in a park! 

 We then went to this super cool downtown shop called West End Salvage. It's basically a four story antique shop that has everything you could ever imagine. It also has it's own coffee shop and HGTV show!

 After that we headed to the High Trestle Trail Bridge, which is one of my favorite spots near Des Moines. (Check it out at night in my post from my parents' trip out here.)

Mrs. Barbara suggested we take a selfie, so why not?

And just for fun, a hilarious one that David snuck in there.

What a huge blessing to have such rockstar in-laws, and what a fun time to show them our city!

Grateful

The book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp taught me to start numbering the gifts from God that I see around me in everyday life. So just for fun, here's a little sample. I'm thankful for….

For vintage seed pack stamps, kraft note cards and handwritten letters.

 For birds that perch on bare trees in the middle of falling snow.

 For peanut butter buttercream icing, first attempts at cupcake decorating, and new friends to share them with.

 For real silver forks at a good southern bridal luncheon. 

 For a well loved crazy quilt and finding the names of all ten grandchildren hidden in it one more time.

For a momma who has been cleaning out old pictures, a best friend who sends me this one, and people I have known for a long long time.

For coworkers who know me well and some color to brighten up many hours spent in the same place.

Happy Saturday!

Eighty

Some of my favorite childhood memories are right here, sitting on the back porch of my grandparents' house in Montgomery, while Big Daddy smoked his pipe, talking and playing and laughing and learning and solving the world's problems. Because if you know him, you know that's one of his specialties. One of the perks of being the oldest grandchild is that you get to name your grandparents. Well, I guess some name themselves but I was bossy and did it myself. Anyways, the affectionately christened Big Daddy turned 80 this past weekend! I thought it would be fun to share a few pictures and memories and publicly wish him a happy birthday! I promise I'll try not to get too sentimental and reminisce my the past 22 years, because that could be a book rather than a blog post. 

Big Daddy, thanks for patiently pretending to be a patient and laying on the brick steps outside while I gave you countless "shots." Thanks for sending me a medal that year in grade school when I was sad to be the only one of my friends without one. I'm glad I'm still your favorite brown-eyed granddaughter. Thanks for taking me to see the state capitol and all the other Montgomery historical buildings so I'd have a head start on the other fourth graders for our class trip. Thanks for reading me the Hardy Boys out loud and defining all the words I didn't know. Thanks for reminding me that it is the War Between the States or the War of Northern Aggression, and never ever the Civil War. Thanks for beating me in Monopoly in a half hour more times than I can count, and reminding me to use at least four of those five fouls in basketball. Thanks for teaching me to drive in the church parking lot when I was fourteen, and being patient when my parking was horrendous. Thanks for teaching me to love learning, and that education doesn't stop with a cap and gown. Thanks for always keeping up with what's going on in my life. Even when y'all lived 3 hours away you both made it to sporting events every year. Thanks for being my biggest fan, and for praying for me every day of my life. I am so incredibly blessed to have you as my grandfather! 

This is my family with Nana and Big Daddy at their 50th wedding anniversary party, about 3 years ago. 

My brothers and I with the grandparents at their new house in Birmingham.

Big Daddy was really really sick a few months before our wedding. But his goal was to walk down the aisle by himself on August 10th, and he made it! 

This is the whole crew at Christmas this year, the last time we were all together!

The thing I've been humbled by the most as I've been sitting here thinking about this, is that   I didn't have to be a part of this family. My mom is adopted. It's not something that is a big deal to us, she's known as long as she can remember. People used to tell her she looked just like her dad, and they'd just smile. But when I remember that, I am blown away with gratitude that the Lord gave her these parents. Because of her parents, my mom doesn't remember a day when she didn't know Christ, and because of her and my dad, neither do I. What a marvelous work of grace in our lives, what a clear picture of the Gospel I have seen through this - that they loved my mom at her weakest, as a little baby that nothing to give back to them. How much more does our heavenly Father love and delight in us, not because of how much we do for him, but because He is love. 

So happy 80th birthday Big Daddy! I love you so very much!