Honeymoon

😀As most of you can probably tell, I have very recently begun blogging again regularly. 

As I was going back through the posts I have written, I noticed one that I never posted. 

Our honeymoon!! 

 

And of course, who wouldn't want to hear about that, right?  :) 

 

So here it goes, though more than a year late. 

 

 

 

When we left our wedding in Dan's pickup truck, we drove back to the church where we had left Dan's car and switched over into that.  It made more sense to drive to Virginia in a car than in a truck. 

 

I had no clue where we would be spending the night, since Dan had took it upon himself to plan that all out secretively. 

 

We pulled into a long winding driveway in Lancaster, which went straight up a hill.  Almost at the top, we could see what looked like a mansion!  It was definitely a mansion, but was also an awesome bed and breakfast. 

 

Dan took this picture as we were cresting the hill and I had my first sighting of the Hurst House. 

 

 

 

The Hurst House was a truly beautiful place to stay!  We only stayed for that one night and then left early the next morning. 

This picture was taken at breakfast the following morning. 

 

 

Dan had planned everything out down to a T.  There was a gorgeous bouquet of roses waiting for me, as well as three different types of junk food snacks (he knows me so well!). 

 

At the Hurst House, we had our own private balcony, overlooking their beautiful lake. 

 

 

After we left the bed and breakfast, we actually went to church in Lancaster county at a Baptist church.  I've always thought it'd be odd to attend church the day after you get married, but something wouldn't have felt right if we had missed church.  We were both glad that we went.  It was a very nice church. 

 

We made the drive down to Shenandoah Crossings in Virginia where we were going to spend the week.  It took us about four hours or so to get there.  We were staying at the Bluegreen Vacation spot which was a sort of resort with cabins and yurts and campground.

 

We had this cabin all to ourselves.  It had four bedrooms and two bathrooms.  It was HUGE!

 

 

It was a neat place.  And because we were there in April, not many other people were around.  It was a historic area, so we went to see Thomas Jeffersons's Monticello home as well as James Madison's home.  We were planning to go on lots of hikes, but it rained almost every day that week. 

 

We were able to sneak in this short walk one day between rain storms. 

 

On the second day at the resort, we went to this required lecture about what Bluegreen Vacations was and all of the vacation spots we could go to. 

We really didn't want to sign up for a timeshare with them or invest into vacations with them.  We were given a deal at Bass Pro, which was why we signed up for it. 

 

Anyway, so we sat through the lecture and then had a tour of the resort and three different salespeople tried to get us to sign up, but we stayed firm and did not purchase anything or sign any contracts. 

Four hours later, we were free to enjoy the rest of our honeymoon.  Please don't think I am being rude when I say this (because our honeymoon was truly AMAZING), but those four hours were the worst part of our vacation. 

 

 We felt very pressured into making a decision to buy their vacation sampler package.  Despite our insisting that we rarely go on vacation and that when we DO, we certainly wouldn't spend thousands on a vacation, the salespeople were quite relentless. 

 

The best part about this sales pitch time was that there was a popcorn machine.  So I enjoyed that. 

 

After we finally got back to our cabin, we saw a horse and buggy and wanted to go for a ride. 

 

Our driver was the nicest elderly man.  He talked to us the whole trip. 

 

 

When our buggy ride was over, we explored the resort.  There was a historic house on it, and we looked at that for a little while.  We just peeked in the windows, since it was closed.  

 

The week flew by!  On our last day there, Dan and I played checkers.  They had this large checkers board and checker pieces on the sidewalk.  I beat Dan, which is why he is pouting in this photo.  :)

 

 

That was the end of our fabulous week!  One day, we hope to go back to that same resort for a vacation.  It really was a very nice spot! 

 

 



Fixer Upper No Longer!

I've been meaning to put my final pictures of our renovation project up, but kept on forgetting.  Though we no longer live in Baltimore, I like to look through these pictures as a reminder of the work we did, and also the fun we had decorating this fixer upper and making it a home. 

 

Of course, most of the work that was done can't be seen in these pictures...like completely replacing the radiators in the house, re-plumbing the whole plumbing system, and putting in new sheet rock.  

But the differences you CAN see in these pictures (like the paint colors, added closet, re-done hardwood floors) are well worth it. 

 

I will post the before picture, and directly underneath that, the "after", finished product. 

 

This is the front porch, before.

 

And this is after.  As you can see, we didn't do too much with it.  Replaced the window, put a security door on, and re-stained the wood door. 

 



The Front of the house before.  

After.  We painted the whole foundation of the house a darker color.

 



 

 

This is the dining room/stairway view before.

 

 

 And after.  We did a lot of paint scraping in here and then re-mudded the whole room (as well as the licing room).  After re-painting, we pulled up the nasty carpet (which had served as a paint drop cloth) and sanded and varnished the hardwoods.  Also, there was no light fixture before.  So we purchased the cute, old-looking lamp fixture and installed it. 

 

 

 

The Living room before.

 

 

The living room after.

 

 

View of the living room/Dining room before

 

 

And after

 

 

The kitchen before

 

 

The kitchen after

 

 

The master bedroom before

 

 

The master bedroom after.  This room, though it was the biggest room, had no closet.  So Dan made a large walk-in closet by shortening the room next to this one. 

 

Basically everything else, we kept the same.  

 

The middle room before.

 

 

The middle room after.  Yes, we picked a crazy color for the walls...it was the only paint we had, and we didn't feel like going and buying more since this room wasn't being used very much. 

 

The bathroom before.

 

 

The bathroom after.

Dan completely re-configured the set-up of this bathroom.  So he had to re-direct pipes and stuff.  And he built the vanity, medicine cabinet, and large shelf on the left as well. 

 

 

 

And THAT was our house in Baltimore.  It was fun to watch it come together.  I must confess, I didn't do much of the hard work; just the painting and sanding, pulling up carpet and things like that.  Dan is the mastermind behind all of our renovation projects. 

 

 

 

Soon, I'll begin posting a new renovation project pictures.  We purchased a house in New York and are going to be working this next year, fixing it up as well.  So stay tuned to my blog for more fixer upper pictures!

The Musician

Every now and then, I have to post something funny I come across. 

 

I found these old videos of my husband trying to prove to me that he can read music. 

So funny!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blessed People

Well, we are very blessed people!  Our home in Baltimore was listed online for sale and two days later, an offer was placed and we accepted their offer.  It was exciting because we put a lot of work into that little home.  Our choice of style for the house was kind of rustic (re-doing the clawfoot tub and using it) and quaint (for instance, taking out all the carpet and re-sanding the hardwoods).  It was nice to know that our hard work paid off and other people liked the house as well.

We packed up everything into a Uhaul truck, our pickup and Dan's car and work trailer.  We made the trek up to New York with Dan driving the U-Haul while pulling the car on a dolly.  I drove the pickup truck hauling the work trailer.  We made it in on a Friday night quite late.
The next morning, several men from the church came and helped us unload all of the vehicles. 
It went very smoothly and quite fast as well! 

We have since settled in very nicely and adjusted to the area.  I am very much enjoying the country life again!  The slower pace of life is just what I have been missing. 

Dan keeps himself very busy with preparing sermons, fixing up things around the church and on the property, as well as getting to know as many people as possible in town. 

This past sunday was our kickoff of a morning service.  We called it "Restart Sunday" and advertised it in the community via passing out flyers and putting it in the newspapers.  It was an exciting day and we were able to have a nice picnic after the morning service. 

Since that Sunday, we have been keeping busy with follow-up visits and planning for the next few months. 
Hope all of you are doing well!  I will soon take some pictures with my phone and post them. 

Life Changes

After teaching music in a Christian school for two years while my husband taught Spanish, Dan and I both decided that it was time for us to switch to something else.  Dan has known for years that he is called to preach, and my desire is to support him in that. 

 

So after months of praying faithfully about how to make the transition, we told our employer and pastor that we were looking for a church where Dan could pastor.  We turned in our resignations to the school and began searching for a church in need of a pastor.  After meeting the people at Calvary Baptist Church in Granville NY one time, I felt at home and loved.  It isn't all about good feelings, but there was a sense of peace that came over our lives.  We weren't worried about the future or where God would have us to serve. 

 

We put our house in Baltimore up for sale (more pictures to follow about that!)  and within two days, we had an offer on it for the asking price! 

The church in New York asked for us to come back and for Dan to be considered an official candidate for the pastorate. 

We went back to New York one more time, Dan preached, and the church then voted to have us come there and for my husband to be their pastor. 

We proceeded (last week) to pack all of our belongings into a U-Haul truck and we made the drive up to Granville New York last Friday. 

 

 

 

We are so excited about this opportunity to serve in upstate New York!  

Parenting and Piano

People could probably ask me, "How do you think that you are qualified to write a post about parenting when you are not a parent?" 

Easy...I was once a child and I had parents. 

I have been thinking hard about the subject of music (not just piano) and parenting for a long time now.  I have been teaching piano and violin (as well as some other instruments) for five years consistently and I have much to say on the subject of children taking lessons on a musical instrument.

I have only been teaching for five years and I have some students who do not practice.  Sometimes, this trend of not practicing turns into a downward spiral.  After confronting the parent and expressing my concern about this lack of practice, Inevitably, our conversation goes something like this:

Parent: "Well, _______________(child's name) has just really lost interest in piano lately.  He used to REALLY love it, but I don't know. He's just, sort of lost interest.  But he REALLY wants to start taking cello/clarinet/trumpet/flute/drum/voice lessons!  So we're considering buying him a drum for Christmas.  What do you think about that?" 

Me: "Hmm, well _________________(child's name) has only been playing piano now for three months..."

What I really WANT to say is "Changing instruments is not the solution to your child's problem. It doesn't matter if they don't like practicing, you need to teach them some discipline before deciding to switch to a different instrument.  The change in instrument is unlikely to change their practicing habits."

Sadly, only one of these parents has listened to my advice when I told them that switching to a different instrument was NOT the solution to the problem. 

There are two different types of families out there. 

The type of family who has their childen "play around" on a lot of different instruments but they never truly become proficient in any,

And the family who trains their children to be proficient in everything they do. 

I do NOT believe that children must be perfect at everything they do, but I believe that they must be TRAINED to do their BEST at everything they do, and not just for 3 or 4 months.    

If my mother had left the choice of switching from piano lessons to any instrument I wanted at age 10, I am convinced that I would not be proficient in any instrument today.  The majority of children are not mature enough to know when they should quit an instrument. 

Had I been given the opportunity to gripe and whine about how hard piano was and how it wasn't fun anymore at age 10, I would have.  At age 8 and 9, I did not enjoy the piano.  The excitement of being allowed to be play and take lessons had long since worn off and it was drudgery to play the same songs my four older sisters had already played.  By the time I played them, nobody seemed impressed, but rather, they seemed annoyed to hear the "Indian Song" played again and again (from Alfred's method book 1a).  

But my mother did not ONLY teach me once a week, she also personally told each of us to go practice every day.  She also listened to us from her desk in the other room and would correct us if need be. 

Most of the parents I deal with in my piano teaching say to me "Well, I tell ____________ that they need to practice... we're paying good money for this!" as if their job ended at the reminder. 
My mother did not simply say "Make sure you practice this week!": she said, "Go practice the piano now", and then listened to or monitored our practice time. 

In conclusion, while I know that parenting is a very difficult thing, if a parent wishes for their child to learn discipline and consistency in life, a wonderful way to teach this is by having them learn a instrument.  No, not every child will wish to be a concert pianist someday as a result of these lessons, but with time, and without quitting when it "isn't fun anymore", each student WILL be a better person because of the lessons. 

  

Catch up time

It seems like not long ago, I was posting and claiming that I'd be posting more often.  Time has flown by and now I am in the middle of many large projects. 
My husband works with the Spanish ministry at our church and he has been planning to start free English classes for Spanish-speaking people this month.  I will be helping him with that, so we have been planning and preparing for that, and passing out flyers advertising the class. 
In the school where I teach, I am helping to co-ordinate the Fine Arts program.  And the planning and training involved in that consumes much of my times as well. 
In my personal life, I am on the last leg to completing my masters degree in music.  I completed my last online class two weeks ago and began working very hard on my thesis project.  Perhaps when it is finished, I will post it here.  Lord willing, I will be graduating in May.  I certainly hope that this is the case at least, since I already bought plane tickets for us to fly to California then.

This winter has been a somewhat hectic one.  Christmas seemed to creep up on Dan and I.  We actually celebrated our Christmas several days after Christmas.  And we left our Christmas decorations up through January.  I just finished packing them all away on Saturday.   

It's so hard to believe that winter is nearing its close and we have not had a single snow (that actually stuck to the ground for more than 3 minutes).  I'm seriously hoping that before February is over, we get some good snow. 

My ipad is ancient now and no longer takes decent pictures most of the time, and my point-and-shoot camera gave up the ghost, so that is why there are no pictures here. 
I will begin taking more pictures soon though. 
I hope this post finds everyone doing well.  I simply must get back to working on my thesis project, but I wanted to quickly post and say that I am still alive and well, just busy. 
Until later!