Virtual Vacation: Botanical Garden Children's Garden

There were many different areas to the gardens, and one of the fun areas was the Children's Garden. About the time we made our way toward it, a massive field trip showed up, so we had to keep dodging kids. But then again, I guess we were invading their area. LOL.

The Children's Garden was a little bit different from the main part - because there were more teaching tools incorporated. There were also several themes that were fun and different.

Here's Amber at the entrance to that part of the Garden.

These kisses shot out some water mist at various intervals. We thought we could get it in action, but it never worked. I think, however, we amused one of the workers in the process. We didn't see her sitting over to the side reading a book. (She was watching the entrance to the butterfly house...not loafing on the job.)

The walkway had these Hershey bar bricks to teach fractions. I took a picture of the whole bar because I see no point in a half used candy bar. But there were some that had "pieces" out and you could figure out how many twelfths were missing. Now maybe if they'd taught math to me that way in school, I'd like it better!!!

One of the sections had a plant for every letter of the alphabet. Amber posed with the "A" plant...

And of course, I posed with "R."

I should have taken more pictures of this part, but I didn't. They had a "spa" section where they grew plants used in spa products. The plants grew in a claw foot tub, and they made a "window" beside it with a "curtain" of climbing trellis plants. Super cute. At the end of the tub were these rock slippers that you could try on.

We have a picture of Amber demonstrating this, but she hated the picture, so I didn't post it. We couldn't really do this because it was such a cloudy day, but they had a human sundial. You stood on the brick according to the month and held your arm up in the air...and the shadow was supposed to fall across the appropriate hour.

This was just outside the exit to the butterfly garden. This was a "love garden." Why they had that in the children's part, I don't know. But the pond is a heart shape, and the little stools are upside down kisses. Cute, huh?

Amber took this and I really liked it. You can't tell this very well, but the path leading from the camera to the kisses is a butterfly body, and the flowers on either side are in the shape of wings. The butterfly garden is just to the right. We took some pictures in there, but I'm not posting them because they weren't very good. We were told since it was so cold and rainy, the butterflies were not active. That was so true. We only saw a couple.

The children's garden had other things in it - and there was also an "amphitheater" in it, with very brightly colored seats. The group there hadn't gotten to the part of using it yet, but it was roped off for them. I thought it made a great field trip location!

Virtual Vacation: Botanical Garden Weeping Tree

Amber and I loved this enormous weeping tree. I forget the exact name of it - and the name plate in the pictures is too small to read. I had to back up pretty far to get the whole tree in the frame of my camera.

There were little arbors at the "entrance" to the tree. If I wrote fiction, this would have been a perfect spot to find a story idea...entering the secret tree.

Amber under the tree. You can see where it had rained and the top part of the tree trunk was still wet.

As you can see, the branches were very curvy. Made for some fun shots!

You can kind of see, to the left here, how people have carved on the tree over the years. There was a sign posted by the trunk asking people to please stop carving on the tree.

Virtual Vacation: Botanical Garden Close-Ups

And now, for the close-up pictures.

Amber was an art major in college, so she's really good with pictures. You'll be able to tell right away which ones were hers. It had rained in the night, and since we visited first thing in the morning (and by that, I mean 11:00ish), all the plants were still covered in raindrops. They were beautiful.

Amber taught me to use the macro setting (as if I even know what that means) on my camera to get some close-ups.

Skyepuppy, I needed your tutorial in front of me....you would have found better shots!

Here was some of the ornamental grass:

Raindrops on roses....

This was one of my first attempts. I'd actually taken a picture of this before she taught me about the setting, and I went back and redid it. I should have kept the first one to show the difference. But...I was trying to conserve memory card space.

Amber...taking pictures of me with my newfound skill. The rest of the pictures on down are her creations. Enjoy them!

Better raindrops on a prettier rose:

LOVE this one.

And this one:

Some of my other close ups were on the teaser post from earlier this week. Hope you enjoyed the close-ups! If I ever go back to Hershey, this would definitely be on my must-see list again. I know it has nothing to do with chocolate, but it was beautiful. And I'd kind of like to see it on a sunny day, too!

Virtual Vacation: Part Two

I'm trying very hard to stay awake until the end of The Tonight Show. I'm sad that it's Jay's last night, so I'm trying to stay up to see the entire thing. In an attempt to remain awake, I'm going ahead with part two of the vacation. (Okay I'm really just trying to get to the chocolate so Christina can be so happy!)

Like I said, this was my first ever vacation, and I took the planning of it very seriously. The mapping out of the route...the budget assembly...the stalking of the weather forecasts...the once over (six times over?) of the car...the selection of a house/cat sitter...it's really an involved process to be on vacation!

One of the things I spent literally hours researching was the hotel. I wanted to make sure I found an affordable place...that wasn't scary...that was fun...but not over the top. It's so hard to do that when you don't know the area. After my hours of searching...various engines...combing a AAA book...reading dozens of reviews...

...I selected the Comfort Inn.

Loved it that it was so tall...had interior corridors...and according to the reviews, the highlights of the establishment were the water pressure, the continental breakfast, and the duck pond. I would have to say I was more than satisfied with all three.

Since it was chilly and misty for our entire visit, we didn't really hang out at the duck pond to feed the ducks, but we did wave at them and I managed to not kill any of them when entering and leaving the hotel premises. I did think it was really cool that the ducks lived there. Not so cool when we ran a suitcase through duck poop, but whatever.

Yes, I know I'm on my side. I'll try to fix it later. I couldn't get the picture to flip in my album. Well, I got it to flip, but it won't save. Anyway, the breakfast at this place ROCKED. Cereal, hard-boiled eggs, fruit salad, danishes and donuts, toast and bagels, and...make your own waffles. And I did.

Loved being able to remain connected. The laptop life is the best. We got a room that had a regular bed and then a sofa bed. I thought since we would be there a couple of days, it might be nice to have "real furniture" in the room.

Amber...perusing the world's worst map of Hershey. About 70% of the town's roads were not on the map, making it very difficult to navigate the place. We did get pretty lost at one point - and I had a minor meltdown. I hate being lost.

So if you're ever headed to Hershey, and you don't want to pay MAJOR bucks to stay in any of the resorts...I highly recommend the Comfort Inn. Just watch out for duck poop.

Virtual Vacation: Part One

262.

It's the number of pictures I developed today. I'm pretty sure the photo lab hates me. But I couldn't be happier. A whole box of pictures and a blank scrapbook just begging to be filled. What a dream.

I promise you will not have to look at all 262 pictures. But I have had a request to give a little bit more detail about the trip. And since I don't understand the meaning of the word "little" - here you go! :)

First I should tell you that this is my first ever big girl vacation. I went on trips with my parents when I lived at home. And since being out on my own, I've gone on a few overnighters just for fun...and I've visited my sister and family out in Kansas a few times. But I've never gone on a for-real vacation before.

Why?

Well, plain and simple, I didn't feel I could afford it. I didn't want to borrow money to go on vacation, and in years leading up to this, I wanted to focus any extra money on other things that were more important. But this year I managed to save money through a variety of creative ways, and I decided to reward myself by taking a little vacation.

I wanted to go somewhere affordable, so I decided to skip out on major resort sorts of places, and I invited my friend Amber to go with me so we could split the costs. Those two things were exactly what I needed to be able to afford a few days away. Being a chocoholic, I decided Hershey was the perfect destination. :)

Armed with Amber's atlas, and my printed directions, we left my house on Tuesday morning. Destination: Hershey. We were lost before we even left Indiana. Takes a special kind of talent to get lost that close to home. But we (and by we, I mean Amber) asked for directions and we made it back on the targeted path without losing too much time.


I drove the first stretch of the trip. This was a huge accomplishment for me because I'm not known for my open road driving skills. Getting lost, yes. Driving, no. Amber was my GPS, and together we figured it out. I was so nervous that first day, because when we stopped a couple hours after starting...my car died. I worried the rest of the day that we'd be a roadside trauma, but we weren't.

We did have a lot of fun laughing at each other, though! Yes, I did take this picture while driving.


Shortly before Columbus, Amber took over. We both felt it safer that way. We decided during that stretch of the trip that cars should have multiple horn sounds. You know, a sound for "GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU MORON!!" A sound for "Hey, friend!" A sound for "I'm over here; don't hit me!" You get the idea.

We were so excited to cross into Ohio...proof that we really were on the right road. As you can see, we didn't have the most beautiful day for travel, although we did have spots of sunshine along the way. Clearly this was not one of them. While in Ohio, we learned it is a very deadly state for deer, and the most heavily cop-drenched stretch of road we faced. (Oh, did I mention my extreme fear of cops? I think I needed a defibrillator twice.)

West Virginia!! I didn't even realize we'd be in this state...it sticks up a little bit between Ohio and Pennsylvania, so we were in it for about 15 minutes. That was the best part of the whole state. In no time at all, we could cross an entire state! This was also where we experienced our first tunnel of the drive.

Pennsylvania at last. This state is overloaded with signs. I didn't have time to pay attention to the driving because I was so busy reading the signs! We also decided the turnpike was very boring driving. Plus there's something very panic-inducing about seeing notification that if you don't go to the bathroom now, you have to wait forty more minutes!

Tunnels, tunnels, tunnels!! We went through a lot of tunnels in Pennsylvania. We took a number of pictures too...which I'm sure made all the drivers around us kind of wonder. It's weird to be that enclosed, speeding along so fast. No room for error!

Bekah drives in the tunnel....

And here is just one of many pictures we took of the scenery in the mountains. When you live in flatland Indiana, these sights are beautiful even if they are covered in fog! We arrived in Pennsylvania around dusk, too, so it limited our view a bit.

So that's part one of your virtual vacation. The drive to Hershey. Thanks for going along! :)

Where in the World was Bekah?

This was Bekah (and Braeya) on Tuesday morning. This picture was taken to prove to Bekah's mother that she really can travel lighter than a U-Haul.

This is Bekah playing GPS.

This was Bekah playing driver.

This was one heavenly (albeit short) vacation.

More to come! Stay tuned!

Just a Little Teaser...

...of my day...

Bits for Sunday, May 24, 2009

This week has been one of the more eventful weeks I’ve had in a while, yet I find myself with little to say. At least little that is meaningful. I know I rarely have little to say. :)

My sister, brother-in-law, and niece came to visit, and I’ve loved spending time with them. In fact, as I type, my niece is stretched out on the floor, taking a nap, while the Jon and Kate marathon plays in the background. We’ve had some great laughs, eaten an extraordinary amount of (calorie-free, I’m sure) food, and of course, taken a variety of scrap-worthy photos.

Maybe the flurry of activity and…eating…has slowed my brain to the point of being unable to come up with something meaningful to share. Maybe I’m just not trying hard enough. But it’s okay, because I have yet another Jim Elliot quote to share.

I’m ever so slowly (emphasis on “ever so”) working my way though Jim Elliot’s journal, and the entry I read last night both comforted and challenged me. This was written during his junior year of college, which makes it even more impressive to me…although I know his words weren’t meant to impress. He has a Greek word in this entry, and not being fluent in Greek, I have no idea what it is or what it might mean. But here it is, minus that word:

Yesterday was one of those [Greek word here] days – idle, not working in the inner man. Yes, I studied but could not draw anything specific from the chapter to put down here. Strange that I cannot with such a chapter as Exodus 12 find any fresh practical truth. I know it must be there, but my unbelief makes me shortsighted.

I found that passage comforting, because from what I know of his life and work, and certainly from what I’ve read so far in the journal book, he was definitely a God-pursuer. One of my favorite things to do in Bible study is to pick through verses and find hidden treasures in them. From the journal entries, I can see that Jim had an even better grasp of how to do that at a much younger age. I’m fascinated with the things I learn from his work. To know that he, too, had “off” days, comforts me.

But as I shared in Sunday School this morning, I find it so challenging that it bothered him. I have “off” days, too – and more of them than I’d like to admit – but when I do, I usually chide myself a little and wait to see if the next day is better. Jim, on the other hand, went so far as to recognize his spirit of unbelief and admit he should have been able to learn more.

I noticed that when I get ready to read in his journal again tonight, he picks up the very next day with Exodus 12 again. He didn’t sit around for days, making excuses or waiting for the mood to strike again. He sat down right away, determined to learn, and from the length of the reading ahead of me, I’d say that the new day must have been successful in the land of learning.

I’ll admit that the busyness of the week behind me did get in the way of the quality of my time with God. I’m capable of digging more than I did this week. But I’m determined to work hard and get back in there to learn all I can. I don’t want to be caught up in being shortsighted.

More Weekend Fun

I haven't slept much this weekend, but I have been having SUCH a fun time. Love having guests!!

Today after church, we all had lunch at my parents' house, and then we migrated back to my house to hang out for a bit. We decided to take a walk around campus. It had been 2 years since my sister and company came to town, and campus has definitely changed a lot since then! The evening was cloudy, but very HOT, so at the end of our walk, we took a few minutes to rest in a gazebo.

Cassie and me....

Cassie...interpreting the "You are Sixteen, Going on Seventeen" song. I couldn't get her to do the flying leaps, though. Party pooper. (Kiddin!)

Aren't they so cute??? This is Lori and Jeff.

Last night I had the chance to see my best friend, Lynnette. She and I have been friends since elementary school, and a few months ago, she moved away. :( She and her husband came home to visit for the weekend, so we got together for dinner and birthday celebrations. It was so great to see her!

Friday Night Fun

Christina once blogged about Friday Night Fun at their house. We actually had some tonight! My sister, brother-in-law, and niece are visiting from Kansas, and tonight we went over to Mom and Dad's for a hot dog roast in their backyard.

Here's Dad doing the only cooking he ever does in life. Seriously. I don't even think he can do toast!

Cassie and I made s'mores. Hadn't had one of those in literally years! This was the two of us trying to make the marshmallow transfer from the little stick thing to the graham cracker. It was...ungraceful.

Yet oh so yummy!!

In true Bekah fashion, I provided the entertainment of demonstrating the way I tried to hide behind Dad while receiving some unwanted attention....Mom played Dad's part and I was being me. :)

Teamwork. Love a good backrub.

One Lovely Blog

It's been a good day here at Bekah's Bits. Lynnette Labelle over at Chatterbox Chit Chat gave me the One Lovely Blog award. Lynnette is a new blogging friend that I met through Jody's writing blog.

Thanks, Lynnette, for coming to visit, and for leaving me an award! I've never received a blog award before, so this is exciting stuff!

Here are the rules of the award, but I'll have to get back to the end of it...after discovering some new blogs! (I get stuck in a rut of blogs I know.)

The One Lovely Blog Award Rules:

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to 5 other bloggers that you’ve newly discovered.

3) Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

This blog award, however, reminds me of another award I received in college that both shocked and amused me.

I took a creative writing course my freshman year, and one of our assignments was to practice character development. We had to create a character in great depth...get to know him or her as well as possible.

We thought that was the end of the assignment.

We were wrong.

Our next assignment was to be paired up with someone of the professor's choosing and collaborate on a script in which our two characters found themselves together in a situation. It was a stretching experience for me to work with a guy who, though nice enough, was my polar opposite. We finished our script....and thought we were done.

We were wrong.

Next assignment? Act it out. I thought about calling in dead...but I went to class. I managed to survive acting in front of the class (which happened to include my crush of the day). I did a HORRIBLE job.

The next time the class met, the professor announced we would be having an Oscar ceremony.

Guess what I won?

Best actress.

Apparently writing a painfully shy character worked to my advantage when it came time to stand before Mr. Cutie and the rest of my peers...

I still have my "Oscar" - a very tiny Cinderella figurine hot-glued on a milk jug lid.

Busy Days...

...Many many chores still to do before I can go to bed this evening!

Just wanted to say that I'm very excited about the American Idol outcome. Let the record show: I WAS WRONG. See? I can say it!

I'm also very excited that my niece will be here tomorrow!! Well, the whole family, but she's the one I know for sure is going to hang out with me...and I can't WAIT! I have much to do around the house between now and then, but I'm excited she'll be here to have some quality aunt/niece bonding time.

I'm also very thankful that my car, which made a trip to the car hospital today, is now fixed. Repair bills aren't my favorite, but I'm so thankful that it was a quick fix and that we found it before it became an un-quick fix. And though I pick on him fiercely, I have the greatest dad, because he took time out of his very busy life to drive my car to the mechanic, wait for it, and bring it back to me so I didn't have to take a half day off work to go do it! Thanks, Dad!

What if it's NOT a Dark and Stormy Night?

I'm starting to understand why Snoopy began his literary masterpieces with the famous line. I sat here and stared at a blank screen for many minutes tonight, trying to determine where to begin with the new project. I thought about going back to note-taking, because that part seemed much easier. But at some point the note-taking must end and the real words must begin.

I managed to find enough words to fill a page in 30 minutes. What has happened to me? I can write faster than that! Not tonight, I can't. Maybe tomorrow the thoughts will flow more freely.

It is the final Idol night - and guess what? I missed most of the show and don't even care. At this point I like Kris, I know I like Kris, and I know (unfortunately for me) Kris is unlikely to win. I did record the show, but I haven't watched it yet. And maybe I won't. I did get home in time to see the last song for each guy and liked Kris better than Adam. (Shocker, huh?)

In other Bekah-land news...

A huge congratulations to my friend Jody, who had writer's dream moment recently. I had tears in my eyes when I read her news, because it is SO BIG! Way to go, Jody!!

Today I said goodbye to a very sweet friend. Not a forever goodbye. Just a moving goodbye. She worked as a temp in our office a couple of years ago and was so wonderful to listen and care and offer love and advice. She just completed her classroom work for her master's degree and is moving back home...which does not happen to be in Indiana. :( Sarah, I will miss you!

I have one tiny scrapbook page I must finish before I'm allowed to go to bed, so I need to sign off and complete that.

Trendy Took Over

I typically balk at all things trendy. I don't like printed fabric on furniture because in ten years, someone will be able to say the exact year of purchase based on the print. I'm kind of picky about clothes...print and style. Plain is good, because it can last for years without as much risk of becoming worthy of a What Not to Wear nomination. I try to take it easy on wild makeup colors and hairstyles.

But last week....I gave in. A snippet of trend wormed its way into my home.

Gasp.

I've seen these before in Hobby Lobby. I recall even rolling my eyes and deeming such a thing stupid...why would anyone pay for such a dust collector?

And now I am that consumer.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Mom took me to a show home for my birthday. One of the rooms in the show home was a trendy (gasp) diva/princess room. Multiple shades of pink and black. So cute - but certainly so 2009. On the dresser, I spotted one of these above "things" - serving as an earring and bracelet holder.

Shut right up.

Now that I have not one but two jewelry makers in my office, my collection of beaded earrings, bracelets, and necklaces has grown. It is not uncommon for me to spend a good five minutes in the morning hunting down the match to an earring...or untangling necklaces.

And this, I decided, would be just the answer. And since it just happened to be half price the day I was there...well...I had to buy it.

Don't tell anyone but.....I love it.

Bits for Sunday, May 17, 2009

Tis the week of season finales. I’m exhausted! The obese have shrunk to half their original size, the singers have powered (almost) the last of the tunes, the interns have survived (or have they?) another day of trauma, and tonight…the last house of the season is built. I’m not normally a die-hard viewer of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, but tonight’s show is in Indianapolis, so of course, I have to watch. I’ve already cried twice, and the show is only half over. Perhaps the Kleenex box should just relocate to the living room.

This show reminds me of the verse we’ve been learning during our Sunday morning church services. Hebrews 10:24 says “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” God made us to thrive on the encouragement of others. Have you ever noticed that when someone takes the time to tangibly love you, it energizes you to go out and do the same to someone else?

Extreme Makeover can clearly encourage on a grand level. Who wouldn’t be energized by leaving behind a dilapidated home in exchange for something state of the art…a paid mortgage…a new vehicle…full ride scholarships? Unless something extreme happens in my own life, I wouldn’t be able to provide any such encouragement to anyone.

But encouragement comes in all sizes, and here are some things that have encouraged me in the recent weeks.

· My friend, Judy, took a Saturday afternoon to go running with me, even though she’s a for-real runner and my pathetic attempts (and gasps for oxygen) slowed her down considerably.

· Our student worker, Rachel, often hides sticky notes around my office to make me smile and remind me that the work is worth it.

· Some friends of mine drove over an hour to my house to hook up my computer and internet because anything that technological is beyond my comprehension.

· I had a chance to reconnect with some friends from days gone by, and they welcomed me back as though no time had passed.

· When my lawn mower was in the shop, my parents’ neighbors loaned their own push mower, and Dad brought it to my house and took care of my yard before the city showed up with goats.

· In my Bible are two cards, sent by two different friends who just wanted to send a blessing to my day and affirm me in my ministry.

· My birthday began with a giant breakfast cooked for me (in my own home!) by my friends Tom and Olivia. They got up early, drove over, and allowed me to relax with bedhead while they did all the hard work.

It’s all in the little things. These people gave of their time, their talents, their thoughtfulness to encourage me. To brighten my day. And these people – along with many others who have blessed me – have spurred me on to want to reach out to other people. To send a card or make a meal or share something I have that they might need.

And so the cycle goes…encouragement breeds encouragement. So consider it this week. What can you do to spur another on toward love and good deeds?