“I’m in love with an antique. Her name is Sara.”
This is what our kitchen looked like tonight after I finished cooking curry chicken for dinner and a peanut butter chocolate cake for dessert (plus, some remnants of the pancakes I made for breakfast).
I was a one-man wrecking crew in the kitchen today dirtying almost every dish and utensil available for cooking.
And of course it was all worth it just to see THIS smile.
(Be sure to wish Sara a happy 25th if you haven’t already.)
Sara’s big run was this morning. She did great. This video is of her finishing the run, which was at Hands-On House Children’s Museum in the county. Sara’s mom and cousin Hillery both ran too – a first for all three – and finished not far behind Sara.
I’m proud to be Sara’s water boy/biggest fan.
It wasn’t quite the Kentucky Derby Half-Marathon Sara had to drop out of earlier this year because of foot pain, but it was still 13.1 miles on an unseasonably warm and sunny day when water (frustratingly enough) was in short supply.
All of those early mornings running and my waiting in parking lots with water sure paid off.
-Matt
How true it is that hindsight is 20/20. A few days ago I was thinking that we are finally where we are supposed to be–perhaps for the first time in a while. We have so loved our time in Kentucky, and we struggled to understand why things were no longer falling into place for us- on many levels, really.
When we chose an apartment in Lancaster, we took a leap of faith, thinking that Matt’s chances of finding a job here might be greater than in Harrisburg. Thankfully, we were right. Matt has since begun a job working as a Communications Coordinator for Hempfield United Methodist Church. And while I daily question my competency, I think I have already grown and learned as a therapist in my first month at my new job.
It is unbelievable how, sometimes, you think you know what is best for you and for your life and career, when really….it’s not. After a series of interviews and rejection letters & phone calls, discouragement overwhelmed me. But now, I can say with great confidence that it was all for my/our protection. When I was in college, my friend Tyn-Tyn made a stepping stone for me w/ a proverb that said, “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)
So, here begins our new life in a charming neighborhood in Lancaster city. I have never been so excited by a market than I was this morning; the produce from this place is absolutely amazing!!!! The other dutchy wall-hangings & paraphernalia go without comment.
We are honored, relieved, and excited to be back in PA! Thanks to all who have journeyed with us through prayer & encouragement!
Sara
PS- We’re having an open house next Saturday from 6-10 pm. E-mail me or Matt if you’d like more info– we’d love to see you. 
I was going through some of the boxes of my old newspaper clippings this morning when I came upon my first front page article, one I wrote for the Lebanon Daily News about vulture guano in Mt. Gretna way back in February 2001. Yes, my first front page newspaper article was a story on vulture poop. Lovely isn’t it?
That, of course, isn’t what makes this blog-worthy almost nine years later. If you look further down on the page below my first front page byline, there’s an article I distinctly remember reading about Christian T-shirt days at Annville-Cleona High School.
I remember the article and found out shortly after I started dating Sara that she was quoted in it. What I didn’t realize was that she made the front page the same day I did. Not only that, but that it was also Valentine’s Day.
How romantic is that? A match made on the front page of the Lebanon Daily News, five and a half years before our mutual friend ever got the notion that Matt and Sara could make for a good couple (thanks again Trina).
Since we knew there was a possibility we would be moving this summer, Sara and I decided it would be best to have our first vegetable garden be of the container variety. So we planted tomato and pepper seeds early in the season in some fancy buckets we trash picked in a wealthy neighborhood where we were house sitting.
We ended up being able to put a pair of strong tomato plants and three pepper plants on the moving truck (we only had pepper plants though because our friend Bill at church gave us three plants after our seeds were dug out and eaten by a squirrel). Just last week our first tomatoes came in.
And yes, I now have an excuse for typing Pennsyltucky on our blog. The peppers are doing really well too so soon we will also be eating Pennsyltucky peppers as well. This transition gardening thing isn’t so bad after all.
-Matt
“Whatcha doin’ with a suitcase?”
-Over the Rhine
A week from today, Sara and I will be packing our suitcases, filling a truck with all of our possessions and saying goodbye to a city that has been our only home as Mr. and Mrs. Ralph.
With mixed emotions and a book on CD on the stereo we will be heading back east to pursue a new chapter in our lives together, one where Sara gets to use the degree she worked so hard to earn and discovered after seven months of job searching was worthless in the Derby City.
After a pair of emotionally failed attempts at finding work in higher education, an opportunity has opened up for Sara to become an outpatient therapist in York. As I’ve said to a couple of my friends in e-mails, that’s not a typo. It’s York, the small town in south central Pa.
Where I will work and where we will live are still up in the air, but one thing is certain. It’s time for us to leave Louisville.
We will miss it plenty, but we rejoice in knowing that this decision has not been made hastily or without prayerfully weighing all available options. If you are the praying type, please pray for this time of transition and for the right doors to open for me to find a job and for us to find a convenient, comfortable and affordable place to live.
Sunday marked one year that Matt & I have been married—I guess we’ve made it longer than some Hollywood stars! It’s funny, many people warned us about the “first year of marriage,” and how difficult it is, but I don’t think it was –that- difficult. Sure, there have been challenges, but no big surprises, and even the difficult things have been worthwhile.
The best part of being married? Just being together!
For those of you who know Matt, it will come as no surprise to you that Matt usually wakes up singing- seriously. His happy-go-lucky spirit helps to make even the most difficult situation seem light. Recently we were talking about how we’ve both changed this year, and I told him I think he has become more “refined.” He told me that I’ve become funnier! Ha!
During my wedding vows last year, I shared with everyone how my relationship with Matt has been transformational; that has continued to hold true. I often think back to Gary Thomas’ (author of “Sacred Marriage”) point that marriage is not just to make you happy, but to make you holy. I’m not claiming holiness here, but it is certainly an aim!
I think that one’s relationship with one’s spouse is the closest relationship anyone can have that exemplifies a relationship with God. Assuming vulnerability and openness, no one else knows your greatest weaknesses, but also knows what you are fully capable of. In fact, there have been days when my sin and selfishness is so abundantly clear to me because I just don’t always feel like putting Matt before what I want. It is through the grace that Matt gives me that I can catch a glimpse of the grace and love God has for me.
Here’s to year #2…
So my mom has this bear hat she bought a while ago to wear to a hat day at school. It’s pretty amazing looking as you can see in the above photos Sara and I took of ourselves sporting the Mamma Ralph bear hat.
After these photos were taken, I vowed to wear the hat as much as possible the rest of the weekend, which unfortunately was only just the rest of the day.
While wearing the hat at Mike and Faith’s for Ella’s birthday/baptism party, I started improvising a song on the guitar. It’s called “I’m A Bear.” The chorus pretty much goes like this: “I’m a bear, I’m a bear, I’m a bear, I’m a bear.” You get the idea. Sing it with me now.
-Matt
As a kid growing up in South Jersey, I (Matt) was frequently ridiculed whenever the subject of where we were born would come up in a geography lesson.
“Olathe, Kansas?” classmates, most of whom had never been anywhere but the “shoor” for vacation, would ask. “Isn’t that where Toto is from?” And then everyone would chuckle at the weird kid with the Joey Lawrence bang haircut and a birthplace too exotic for him to possibly be cool.
To all the annoying kids who ridiculed me growing up, I have this to say: How do you like my birthplace now?
Thirteen-year-old Olathe resident Kavya Shivashankar correctly spelled the word laodicean last night to win the 82nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Way to put Olathe on the map, Kavya, by beating the yellow-shirt wearing They Might Be Giants fan with the permanent smirk on his face. And thanks mom and dad for deciding to have a child in a town that would produce a spelling bee champion 30 years later.
Cross-posted at Tangzine.com.
I was making cookies tonight – two to be exact – to bring to a birthday party at work tomorrow and I royally messed them both up. The first one, which I’m holding in the above picture would have been great if I had been intending to make biscotti. The second turned out great, but I was so anxious to get it out of the pan I smashed a couple of the corners. It will taste good, hopefully, but certainly won’t win any beauty contests.
As this Mother’s Day comes to a close I’m reminded yet again of how gifted my mother is at baking.
If you’ve ever met my mom then chances are you’ve experienced this God-given skill of hers. If you attended our wedding you likely tasted the amazing cake she made (since we never did get to eat any cake Sara and I are looking forward to finally getting to taste the frozen top on July 5).
For my mom, baking is more than just throwing a bunch of ingredients together and putting them in the oven. It’s an expression of love, joy, fellowship and forgive me if I overspiritualize it a bit, the grace of God.
Back in high school, our home was a regular hang-out I suspect mostly because of my mom’s baking. Through elementary school every bake sale was well populated with mom’s goodies and care packages have found their way to zip codes all over the U.S. and even to London in the year’s since I left home. It should come as no surprise that I have a sweet tooth.
Unfortunately, I didn’t inherit the gift but I’m oh so thankful for the love, joy, peace and patience my mom has baked into every batch.
