The Big Move!

Yes, this is quite delayed....

I am moving to the rural countryside of Southern Indiana at the end of June.  Bring on the heat, humidity, and rural roads through corn fields!  I am so excited, and a bit nervous, but mostly stoked out of my mind.

I am excited to get to live within driving distance of the bf.  I am excited to slow things down and live in a more rural setting for a season.  I am excited for all that God has in store for me on this new adventure.  I am excited to get to know bf's family and be with him in his home setting.

Note: This move is so far from being anything normal for me to do.  I don't take risks. I don't step out of my comfort zone.  I do not go anywhere where I know hardly anyone.  I never go far from home for more than a quick trip.  And I certainly never do things without having a detailed thought-out plan written down and kept in my pocket.

All these are perfect reasons why God would have this temporary move to Indiana in his plan for me.  IT requires me to learn how to better trust him in everything I do.  I am a planner and a details-oriented person.  So of course God is taking control of all that and not allowing me to have everything planned out.  Yet, strangely counter to my normal self, I am excited for the unknown of this adventure!

I am literally leaving on a jet plane and don't know when I'll be back again in California.  I will be back (according to my plan).  And I think that is in God's plan too.  But who can say what the next few years have in store for me.

More to come as the move day gets closer and I then settle in to being a Hoosier.

Thunder Storms

I have officially experienced my first legitimate thunder storm.  Well at least to this souther California-raised girl it was legit.  Because it was way more of a storm than anything I've ever experienced in my beach-bordering habitat.  I recently returned from another trip to Indiana and the Miller family (more to come on that later).  It was in this state that I had a sleepless night listening to big booms and watching the walls of my room light up every minute or so.

It was the kind of thunder storm that shook the whole house.  No, that is not an exaggeration.  And it also sometimes thundered for a good 10 - 15 seconds without stopping.  And the lightening was blinding and frequent.  Oh, and there was golf ball-sized hail too.  Again, this does not happen in my neck o the woods. The biggest hail I have ever seen was so small it melted as soon as I blinked and hit the ground.  So I would guesstimate that it was about the size of a grain of rice, or less...

So here is the Indiana hail.  It could eat California hail for breakfast.  While I am not afraid of thunderstorms, and in fact find them quite exciting, I wish this one would have come earlier in the day.  The loud booming of thunder made it impossible to sleep.  So I, being completely unselfish and ever so thoughtful of other people, made bf David wake up and hang out with me in the wee hours of the morning so I was not sitting up alone.  I have no memory at all of what we talked about since we both were in a state of sleep-deprived delirium.  But I am sure it would have been entertaining to listen to the next morning had we recorded our conversation.  No matter.  I am ever more convinced he is a good guy since he did not complain in the slightest about being awakened in the middle of a nice sleep simply to be a second awake person in the house.  I figured waking up his mom or dad might lose me some brownie points.  Or maybe it would confirm that I actually am a stereotypical high maintenance California blonde who is going to brainwash their sweet perfect country-raised baby boy.  Ok, maybe that is a bit over the top.

Welcome to Indiana Basketball

     So you probably know people from Indiana are called Hoosiers.  And as a state they are known for their love of basketball.  And I mean LOVE.  Like they think that basketball and breathing are in the same category for life-sustaining elements.  I was fully thrown into this obsession on my March trip out there.  It was during March madness, NCAA basketball tournament.  This is the team the Miller's would die for:

     The second born Miller brother, Mark, is an alumni for this Indiana school of 4,000.  Well Butler played some awesome basketball games.  And that is saying something because it takes a lot for me to enjoy a basketball game.  It is far too easy to make points and the variation in the game is minimal (Maybe a lifetime of soccer has me biased? I think not).  Well Mark took off for New Orleans to see his team play as they continued to win games.  And the rest of the Miller's and myself watched the games on TV each night.  Well we got a surprise at the end of the Butler vs Florida game (which was the most intense ending to a ball game Ive seen in a while!)

Please feel free to scan ahead to about the 39 second point.

     You will probably have noticed a certain upper 20's guy with a shaved head running on the court with the team.  This bald guy is wearing a blue shirt and cargo shorts, not a uniform like everyone else allowed on the court as the Butler team celebrates their win.  This is because that man is David's brother Mark, so overcome with joy at his teams victory that he vaulted the railing and a table or two to get down to his team before taking the time to think through those actions.  

Yes, only members of the team are allowed on the court.  

Yes, Mark did not think about that.  

Yes, he did suffer the consequences.  

Yes, it was worth it since he made it onto the highlights on every major news broadcast that night (as the "bald guy in cargo shorts"), and will forever be in the history books when people look back at that game ending.

     It took security about 30 minutes to find Mark in the stands.  So he was able to see them present the trophy and cut down the net before being handcuffed and led into the security office where he sat for 40 minutes before being released without any further punishment.  Those of us that were together watching on TV laughed for a good hour while rewinding their DVR over and over again to watch Mark.  We also went back further in the game because we discovered he had been sitting right behind the Butler bench and was seen on TV anytime the camera pointed that way.  It was quite entertaining.  Oh those Hoosiers and their basketball.

Now lets pause for a moment of silent mourning for the Butler loss in the final Monday night.

Thats enough.  It was one of the worst final basketball games every played by both the winning and losing teams.

Expert Hiker and Outdoor Enthusiast

I do believe that I should be given a personal thank you from the airline industry for keeping them in business with my long distance relationship.  Who's with me?  I just returned from another trip to Indiana to visit with David, the bf, and his family, the Millers.  Between us two, we have made 5 trips in the last 6 months, and two of those trips included Sam, David's "ex-roommate" as Sam explains.  This means 7 fully paid flights for the airline industry in 6 months.  Yes, Southwest and Frontier, you are welcome!  Lets not crunch numbers here.  I would hate to see how many Sonic Cherry Limeades I could have bought instead.

Here is the lovely Miller home.  The far left upstairs window is the room I call home on my visits.

And here is their late 1800's-built church where David's dad is the pastor.  It takes about 15 steps to walk from their front door to the front door of the church.

These are the woods out behind his house where we did some hiking with his parents.  I, of course, tripped on a log crossing a creek and tweaked my knee and bruised my forearm.  I am very good at impressing their rural Indianan family with my outdoor abilities.  I am sure they feel that I, an Orange County-born blonde, am a great fit for their son.

We took a trip down to the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee with David's parents, and brother Brett and wife Nicole.  This a view looking down from the top of the hike, Chimney Tops.  I am hoping my ability to scale these steep and slippery rocks redeemed my creek crossing catastrophe from earlier that week.

Spring was starting to show its colors in Tennessee!  I rarely see wild flora like this in the suburbs. Sigh. It made the driving, the hiking, and the walking around so much more enjoyable!  My first visit to Tennessee left a great impression and I would love to return in the fall when it looks like this:

More to come on my March adventures in Indiana with the Miller family.....