Just in case i haven't mentioned it before i'm of Finnish descent. Well -- around 1/4 of me is anyway... the rest is German and English. My maiden name is Jarvie which comes from the Finnish name Jarvinen... i still use Jarvi (without the 'e') as my middle name. Because my mom is an only child and my dad is one of five children, we tended to be more connected with the Jarvie side of the family... thus the Finnish-American culture which included Sauna and SISU!
Finns are very proud of - well, just being Finns! Part of that pride is the natural-born characteristic of sisu. I asked some Uncles & cousins on Facebook what the word sisu meant to them and here's some of what they said: Uncle Henry - "guts and intestinal fortitude" Great Aunt Punk used to say it was just "plain guts!" Uncle Robert - "determination" also he recalls a definition that said, 'lighthearted courage in the face of opposition that you have little chance of overcoming.' Kind of makes you go, hmmmmmm, eh?
By the way, did i mention that i've given up Facebook for Lent? It's become far too addictive for me, so i figured this was a good time to give it a rest.... but that's another story!
Last Sunday was Valentine's Day: Psalm 150 Sunday at our church. Every musician in the congregation was invited and encouraged to join the music team for that day to lead worship. I was there on guitar. It was our second year of celebrating in this way - only one service for the special occasion. It was great!
Since i had to be there at 8:30 for rehearsal (and jim didn't) i went ahead and jim came later with Benny. This is totally opposite to our normal schedule when he is the one who has to be there early for music rehearsal! I know he enjoyed seeing me go out the door before him! After the service we set off south to Middletown and the Pretorius' church for James' 20th birthday celebration. We met in their Youth building basement... a nice mix of cafe and game room with large windows looking out to the basketball hoops!
Diana had a taco salad bar set up and others brought goodies to add for lunch. We went in with Art and Louise Fabian who arrived just after Benny's walk. After eating we were obliged to play games - "old people" vs. "young people!" Since James was the 20-year-old it was decided that he was the dividing age and everyone 20 and up was "old!"
The first game was a coin toss to the pool table pockets. The 'big' game was Pictionary which was a tie - the tie-breaker went to the 'young folks'
Thommy and Emily line up for the coin toss while Uncle Art looks on...
Having a good time as Grandma MaryCarol takes her turn at Pictionary!
It was great to get to see James and the family again... glad we went! On the way back north we called Mom and decided to make a stop at Addison Ave. for a few hours. Our first job was to shovel out the driveway and back stairs. That snow was heavy and packed! A cup of tea and good conversation were welcome valentines! We got back on the road to home around 5:30... before dark. Yay!
Stopped at church so Jim could pick up his car which was left in the lot.... i decided to go in and get my guitar which i had left there from the morning, so jim got a head start on me. As i was approaching Fulton Road (less than a mile from home) a deer crossed 25A in front of me and landed in the corn field. On a whim i decided to turn west on Fulton to get a picture... nice!
As i drove a little further down the road i realized this deer was trying to catch up to the herd.... around a dozen deer all together. I got a few shots but they were too far away for my camera to do justice...
I like this one because of the old homestead house floating in the background... wish the deer were more in focus...
Benny was so excited and jumping around the car the whole time i was trying to get these pics...he would have liked to chase the deer through the woods!
Seeing all these deer in one place was my valentine from God... i stayed on the road watching them from the car for many minutes... in fact the Sheriff stopped by to make sure i was "OK" ! A nice way to end the day!
Weighed in at the doctor's today... shocking how those digital scales can be so OFF! This is the most i've ever weighed outside of pregnancies... i really need to move more and cut out the chocolate!.... Ahhh but Valentine's Day is just around the corner... then again, jim said i may have to get my own gift this year since his foot (achilles) is still injured and he can't hobble to the store yet! So maybe i'll get myself some yummy lite yogurt or something...
I started following a semi gluten-free diet a few weeks ago. Have found one muffin recipe that is not too bad. This is an attempt to see if the lack of gluten will help my digestion... I haven't noticed a huge difference yet, but as i said, its a SEMI gluten free thing so far, so maybe that needs to change? Time will tell.
Supper tonight was red sauce with meatballs & veggies over rice noodles - "Maifun" -- quite acceptable, if different!
Ohio has had a much snowier and colder winter than usual this year. This suits me fine ... i love the snow on the trees... except for all the shoveling involved! Being from Michigan i have no problem driving in snow as some do around here. It's always amused me how panicky people in this area get at the thought of a 3 inch snowfall. I've been a little 'snap happy' with the camera - wanting to capture all the loveliness of this snowy season... i'll try to choose just the best shots to post here!
Lovely Lacey Branches covered with ice and frost in early January
Neighborhood creek under snow - Feb 7th
Our sleepy Shed and pines - side yard
West yard - Feb.6
Spring bloom in the lacey snow-covered kitchen window
Paperwhites in the kitchen bay window with a snowy backdrop and some feeding birds
After the storm passed we had a brilliant blue sky on Saturday - Feb. 6th
The second half of 2009 was a bit more rocky.... but first the GOOD news!
Our niece, Corrie, (and Chris) gave birth to Owen Thomas on 6.1.09. He was 8 lbs 14 oz. Such a BIG boy... since she's nursing him, he's still a big boy (at six months); we call him the BFB (big fat baby)!!!
We got to meet him for the first time on Father's Day at Mom & Dad's. Such a nice surprise!
On the 25th Ej took Dad (& Mom) to the VA hospital for an overdue checkup as dad's leg had been swollen and very sore. They admitted him. That day started a roller coaster ride of doctors and diagnosis, hospitals, and care centers that would not end for two months.
That was also the day that we heard of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcet's deaths. so sad.
The following Saturday we bought a stairlift from 'Jeff' in Kettering. A God-send!
Chris helped Jim install it in Mom's basement stairs the next week.
In July my "library career" came to an end when i was one of the 30% let go due to the State Funding Cuts. My last day was the 25th... the summer reading Carnival. It's been bitter-sweet. I've enjoyed my time off -- especially the weekends, but i do miss the people.
My Aunts (finally!) organized another Jarvie family reunion, so we were on our way north to da U.P. the weekend August 1st. We met at cousin Annette's (& Roger) beach house.
Even though it was a rainy day, we had a great time visiting and God even provided some afternoon sunshine for a walk on the beach.
I was just re-reading my journal. From June to August Dad Gene was in and out of various medical facilities 5 times. After the pancreatic cancer diagnosis August 4th he was moved to Hospice of Dayton. Many family and friends visited him there and we cannot say enough about the caring staff... they were great! Gene went 'walking with Jesus' on the evening of August 16th (2 days before his 89th birthday) while the family was getting some supper in the cafeteria. He chose that private quiet moment to leave us.
Gene taught us much about the value of hard work and how to have a good laugh! We miss him a lot but know he's in a much better place now.
*Gene served in the Coast Guard during WWII in the Pacific*
*A proud employee of NCR for many years*
*There's that famous grin! ('07)*
The day after the funeral (Friday 8.21) Jim and i were on our way to Athens Ohio to prepare for Leah and Julian's 'marriage celebration.' Talk about an emotional week!
We stayed with Tom and Anne Walker who are second parents to Julian since he stayed with them all through his college career at OU. They are excellent hosts!
Friday and Saturday were a whirlwind of activity as is typical for any wedding. Leah and Julian had a lovely bilingual church ceremony at OU's Galbreath Chapel to celebrate their marriage. They each wrote personal vows which they spoke in both Spanish and English. Julian said it was much harder in Spanish!
*the Happy Couple!*
*Dancing to 'Sway With Me'*
*Reception Hug*
September brought another bouncing baby into the Overholt family as our niece Melanie (& Ben) gave birth to their first child, Avery Elizabeth, on the 18th. We got to meet her at Christmas when the Virginia Overholt's traveled to dayton for a visit!
Three days after the 'wedding' Jim and Bryan left for a back-
pack trip to the Grand Tetons with friends from Sidney. It was rugged terrain, but they had a great time enjoying
God's creation, as usual. It was God's perfect timing for healing and reflection on the trail.
I took part of the week they were gone for a visit to Michigan with Benny! Here we are at the Ludington State Park at my favorite stop on the Island Trail.
In October, Jim and I celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary with a long weekend trip to Gatlinburg TN. It was my first time to the area!
We stayed at a small cabin up a winding road and enjoyed the shopping and trails in the area.
The first part of our 2 mile mountain trail was a slow grade up and beside a beautiful stream!
As the grade steepened and grew rougher, i kept shedding layers!
The last part was slow, but i made it to the cave destination! Jim went ahead of me the last little bit...
The end of the year was full of family gatherings... Thanksgiving was at our house this year; 15 people enjoyed lots of food and good fun!
We had all four kids home for Christmas... first Leah & Julian for Christmas Eve service at Grace
Then Bryan & Laney for Christmas day at home and with the extended family in Dayton.
Leah & Julian woke us up Christmas morning at our door, wondering why we weren't out of bed yet...
it was because the power had been out since 6:30am and we saw no reason to get up yet! BUT up we got, and jim got the propane heater & 'stove' from our camping supplies; then about 15 minutes later the power was back on at 8:30, just in time for B & Laney's arrival! L&J made us a traditional Colombian breakfast of Bun~elos and hot chocolate with cinnamon! Yum- we were stuffed!
All four stayed the night at home, then B&Ln had to get back to Columbus for work. Leah & Julian were able to stay a couple more days until Tues.
The Virginia Overholts traveled to Dayton for a visit on Sunday, so we all met in Mom's church basement for a party Monday night. Good times... a nice way to end the year!
Wow - it's been almost a year since i posted here... where did 2009 go??? i'll try to condense it a bit!
In April we traveled to Baltimore (on my birthday), rented a car and drove to the Stiegler's house in Anapolis. Wow! It was an awesome (rented) house! Very historic Brown Stone with 3 stories of deliciousness! We enjoyed meeting some of their friends that evening and i was even serenaded by a young man (Jeff) on his dulcimer with "happy birthday!" The next day Doug showed us around the Capital building, had lunch and were on our way to see Leah and Julian in Anandale that afternoon. We stopped at a Target on our way over; it had it's own parking garage with an escalator up to the store... on the way down, we put our shopping cart in the middle of the up/down escalators & it traveled down with us on it's own 'step' ... pretty cool!
I made an 'origami' scrap book of wedding pics for L&J's first anniversary. They were quite surprised to get it!
We had a lovely few days touring the area and enjoying some of the still remaining Cherry Blossoms around the Capital.
Friday we went to Georgetown for lunch and enjoyed a picnic by the river as the rowing teams went past!
Later, we went to a Good Friday Service at Ebenezer's which was very moving. Then on to the Capital to enjoy the tulips and people watching!
On Saturday we drove up to the Stiegler's (now back at the farm) for an informal lunch. It was lovely as always!
Easter Sunday we attended the Theatre Church at the mall, had a quick lunch at home and were on our way to the airport to fly back to Columbus.
Jim turned 50 in May and we decided to take the "little critter" to Hocking Hills for a camping/hiking weekend. Stayed at a local KOA and had a nice time. When we got home on Memorial day (jim's b-day) we changed clothes, & cars, and drove west past Versailles to meet Glenna, the foster mom of our new dog. His name was Eddie, but we changed it to Benny! He's a 2 year old Jack Russell terrier with a wire coat! Jim is very pleased!
Born in Kalamazoo MI, i'm a Wolverine by birth - Go Blue! Married to James since Oct.1980 - lived in Ohio ever since. Hoping to have a cabin on a lake in Michigan one day!
Our children Bryan and Leah are now on their own leaving us to a quiet house and empty nest.
