Thanksgiving

Fall Sunset in Julian

Reflecting on the past few months, I am very grateful for all that we have.  Okay, so I gave thanks.  But, as I was looking at the title of my post I realized something that I've neglected to do for awhile.  I've got the Thanks down, what about the 'giving'.  I know, we are supposed to 'give' thanks.  What happens when we look at Thanksgiving a little differently.....  Advent is soon upon us and we are supposed to prepare ourselves for the Lord.  One way to prepare is to empty ourselves of what turns us away from God and another would be to empty ourselves of what others may need.

Since leaving our church community in Phoenix, we have not been tithing regularly or involved in any of the other programs that required us to give of ourselves, like Habitat (building for the less fortunate) or Andre House (feeding the homeless).

I am looking for somewhere to 'give' of myself and hope to start volunteering at Catholic Charities next week.  I hope that during this time of thankfulness that we remember the 'giving' in Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

BBQ'd Turkey - Lake Pleasant

In And Around

Well, my job search goes on and so does exploring and discovering things in the Greensburg area.  This tunnel didn't take too much exploration because the first time we came to the house our GPS gave us directions through this way.  We soon discovered another route, but this is one of the major thoroughfares to this neighborhood.  Now, mind you, it's not that BIG of a neighborhood, nothing like a CA or AZ neighborhood, but none the less this is one way to get to our house.  They do things different in the east, see, Greensburg is the county seat, that's where all the administrative services are for the county. We actually live in Hempfield Township, which is a part of Greensburg, but that's another story.....

Let me just share some pics for now!

Crow's Nest Tunnel
Here's the tunnel - I probably should have taken a picture of the sign that says "flash your lights and honk your horn as you enter".  I tell you, I have to laugh every time I drive through there, it's so crazy!

The Meadow
Here's the view from the townhouse that was taken shortly after we moved in......





...and, here's the view today.

 Our Home
Here's our living room....mostly decorated with the exception of behind the couch, still working on that.

The Five Point Trail

Here's a part of the trail that we run that starts/ends at Lynch Field and goes to Youngwood, a neighboring township.  There is an ice rink, soccer and baseball fields, a mile track and a workout center at the field.  This is where we workout sometimes.  We rode our bikes on the trail for the first time the other day, the trail runs up along the tracks and goes through the city along Hwy 119. 

Greensburg, PA

This is a view of the city from the hill up above our townhouse.  Our neighborhood includes single family homes, then two sets of townhomes/condos.  The single family homes are Meadowlane Heights, the townhouses/condos are Meadowlane Village.  I walk this hill, then run through the township of Bovard for about a 3 mile workout.  This is one of my favorite views so I wanted to share it with you.  This picture isn't the best, the day was a little cloudy but I'll share a better one next time.

Fall Colors

So, by far, fall is the most beautiful thing here in the East.  I love the contrast of the bright colors against the greens and blues.  Here are some of my favorite things from fall here in Pennsylvania.

Shramm Farms 

Our trip to Shramm Farms was awesome.  We bought fresh veggies grown right there on the farm as well as picked out a pumpkin to carve.  The farm store is amazing.  So much great stuff to choose from.  Here is a picture of our first haul.

This is s picture of the pumpkins still on the vine, before they were picked and brought to the field.

Bovard-Luxor Road

This meadow is at the corner of Route 119/Bovard-Luxor Road, the other way to get to our townhouse.  We've figured out that this is the fastest way into Greensburg, and the Crow's Nest way is the fastest to Route 30 and Westmoreland Mall.   This meadow is absolutely beautiful and this was taken shortly after we arrived.  I haven't taken one recently to show the lack of leaves and color, but this is where we'd likely see wildlife!

Fox Den Acres 
Here's a picture of the breezeway at the campground we stayed when we first arrived in PA.
This will always be special as we were able to experience the countryside from a different perspective before moving into our home.

Open Space

It's amazing how much open space there is.  You can drive for miles and see a house here and there as well as sights like this car cemetery.  This field is about a mile from the Supervalu warehouse and one day after dropping Otto off, I drove around the little borough of New Stanton and just had to stop and snap this photo. 

I hope you can get a little flavor of what we see when we are out and about.  We are taking it slow so we can enjoy and receive the blessing of the new sights and views around town.  This weekend Otto is heading to AZ for the NASCAR race and I am going to check out another Farmer's Market at Lynch Field and hopefully do some sightseeing on my own.  

Verse of the day - 

"God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.  He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.'" Job 37:5-6

Pictures

Here's the first snowfall in PA!  I missed it as I was in CA, but Otto experienced it - this was taken on his way to church Sunday am.

On the way to church in Crabtree PA, this is just a few minutes

from the house on Bovard-Luxor Rd.

While in CA, Corynn, Gianna and I met Sandi, Robin, Linda and Kayla at Marie Callendar's for lunch, here's some pics!
Corynn, Kayla and Gianna

Robin, Cousins Sandi and Linda and Me!

That's all for today!  Just finished Yoga and meditation, going to get coffee and search for doctors and a dentist!
Finally hung up our pictures and decorated the walls a little, doesn't look so 'not ours' any longer!
Gonna lead bible study in AZ via Skype tonight - woo hoo, miss those ladies sooo much!

More pictures and adventures to come!

The Gift of Thoughtfulness

I'm reading a book on how couples that pray together notice the positive difference in their lives.  In the current chapter that I am reading, they are talking about how to think thoughtfully and couples are challenged for forty days to pray and thank God as well as being thoughtful towards your spouse.

Nothing reassures your spouse more than to see or hear you express your appreciation through thoughtfulness.  But, really how do we do that?  An example of the extreme is the Gift of the Magi - you all know the story. Della and Jim loved each other very much and wanted to buy a special Christmas gift that would express their love and devotion to the other.  Della had beautiful long, silky hair that she loved and Jim adored and Jim had a pocket watch that was handed down to his father from his grandfather.  Della knew how much Jim loved that watch and wanted to buy him a special chain so she cut and sold her hair to purchase the gift.  She wondered if Jim would still think she was beautiful with short hair as she headed home with her prized package.  She was so excited to give Jim his present, she forgot about her short hair and what he would think.  As Jim opened the tissue that revealed the present he had to laugh.  Della soon would see why Jim was amused as he presented Della with his gift; two beautiful tortoise-shell combs for her hair that he purchased with funds from his pocket watch that he sold.  Both decalred their love and appreciation by giving up their own prized possession.  They both laughed and embraced as the greatest gift of all surrounded them, their love for each other.

Okay, so I guess we don't have to go down that path, but what can we do?   One example in the book was one spouse greeting the other with a hug and a kiss at the door as they came home from work.  Simple, yet caring.  Another example was valuing your spouses opinion. Really listening to their complaints and changing something for them.  Easy things, not cutting your hair, or selling your favorite watch but giving the gift of time and taking the time to listen to your spouse and put something into action that they have an opinion on.

During this time of thanksgiving and the approaching season of advent, it is the perfect time to examine our actions and to make the necessary changes that will align them with our beliefs.  I hope to take a more thoughtful approach to the way I speak to and show appreciation to Otto.  What better way to prepare the way for the Lord than to be thankful for and to be more thoughtful toward our spouse.