Howdy, Pilgrim

No, not trying to imitate John Wayne~just showing a couple photos from work today. I decided to be a Pilgrim this year, inspired by my Pilgrimage last weekend...cleaver, huh?? Now I'm all set for Thanksgiving, too. Next year I can change it up a little and be a nun. Anybody know a handsome priest? Anyway, we had fun today and I'm sure you can view all the giddy-ups from Body Perfections on our facebook website. We had an angel/devil(Lisa), two cowgirls (Lindsey and Brooke), two faeries (Rae and Miranda)and a bathrobe beauty with curlers in her hair(Kari). Just thought I'd share... you're never too old to dress up for Halloween!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!! HAVE FUN~BE SAFE!!

PILGRIMAGE

Getting there is half the fun??? By the time I left for my Pilgrimage, I felt like I had run a marathon!! Nothing went right~especially Mapquest~SHOCKER!!I was late for the rendezvous. The force was definitely not with me!I had a flashlight that didn't work, couldn't find the rain poncho, bedding was still damp because Tyler forgot to put it in the drier...I could go on and on! Whenever we make big commitments in our lives,it seems that big obstacles pop up to test our resolve! Such was the case with me and Pilgrimage.Still, I had the sense of being called and I knew deep down that it was meant to be for me to experience this thing called Pilgrimage. But what the world is Pilgrimage anyway??? Nobody was telling...Some sort of spiritual journey I was sure. But what were they going to do there? Especially without cellphones, laptops, and FACEBOOK!!! I wondered if it was an Amway ploy? A secret society like The Skulls? Worse yet..some kind of cult. Hmmmm. Hey, wait a minute, Kathy Bruins invited me. I'm sure she's not into anything weird.She looks innocent enough. Anyway, the Presbyterian church has some affiliation with this. When was the last time you ever heard of a bunch of Presbyterians running amuck, losing control, and going wild?? NEVER! Yeah, I'm sure it's probably ok. What's the worst thing that can happen? Go ahead, live dangerously, take a risk, right? So, I went.
You know me, I'm the one with the "I'm blogging this" T-shirt. It was my intention to write a tell-all, complete with pictures, describing in extensive detail everything I did and experienced on my Pilgrimage. In retrospect, I have decided not to do that. Why? Because Pilgrimage was a very unique, life-altering, God-finding, soul-searching event and, looking back, I understand why my friend did not want to tell me about Pilgrimage. She wanted me to have my own experience, uninfluenced by the input of others.There are people in my life that I hope will make this journey themselves and I do not wish to diminish the experiences of any future Pilgrims in any way. In fact, I believe that Pilgrimage should be on everyone's Bucket List~a once-in-a-lifetime must!
So, I apologize to those I promised to enlighten upon my return...
There are a few things I can say about Pilgrimage, however:

*Presbyterians are a lot more fun than I had ever imagined!
*The dining experience was very colorful, shall we say...roosters were crowing, hens clucking, chicks peeping!
*The first night I thought I had morphed into a nun.
*The second day I was channeling Picasso, Rembrandt,Leonardo Da Vinci, or maybe someone more on the order of Andy Warhol :)
*The third day I could have been mistaken for a cast member from Saturday Night Live!
*The fourth day everyone turned into a ROCK star!
*For some reason, the number 22 keeps popping into my head (inside joke!)

Lana Mae Baker gives Pilgrimage a 5-star rating and 2 thumbs waaaay UP!!

THE LORD IS MY ROCK! Psalms 18:2

Ponderings

This slideshow is basackwards because I couldn't figure how to re-order the pictures in the web album after it was uploaded.A Benjamin Button kinda concept! Please keep in mind that this pond is not finished...and probably will not be until the good weather comes again in Spring/Summer of 2010. Just consider this a work-in-process:

Granny's Groovewalk

Jayden and I have our own version of the Groovewalk and here it is:


After a frustrating attempt to attend the Kids Hope Prayer Walk...which turned out not to be a walk, which I was counting on to work the wiggles out of my little wiggle bug...Jayden isn't big on a lot of talking and no activity. So, Barb graciously excused us from the rest of the meeting and we spent a surprisingly entertaining afternoon walking downtown in Holland. Not very busy downtown this crisp Fall Sunday afternoon. Only a select few have acquired this taste...But we had fun noticing all the pumpkins downtown and drooling over the candy at the Peanut Store and Kilwins. We scoped out all the toys at the Sandcastle. We even peeked in the window at the Windmill where we will have breakfast in the morning before school. Most of the businesses were closed but we enjoyed the water fountains and all the sculptures that Jayden likes to pose with. We encountered a mix of Fall and harvest themed decorations and Halloween ones. We saw the occaisional dog out walking his owner. We shuffled our feet through several big piles of leaves. Stopped for a drink out of the drinking fountain at City Flats Hotel. Then made our way back to the water fountain where we parked our car. A quick trip to McDonald's for some Chicken Nuggets. Then home to check out the inside of the barn -just to make sure nothing has changed since last week! Jay taks a little sit on top of the hay bales in the pasture. We let Gunther and Patches run, before settling back inside for our usual viewing of Cars before bath and prayers and naps. We like our version of the Groovewalk just fine :)