Project 365 - Day 151

Really wonderful Memorial Day 2010 ~ slept in until 7 A.M. ~ coffee and breakfast with my roommate/ best friend ~ helped at Woodlawn with the annual block party ~ went to the National Cemetery and took pictures of all the gravestones with their flags ~ easy dinner of leftovers ~ walk on the Riverwalk ~ just a perfect day!

Project 365 - Day 150

Can I have too many pictures of the TN River and the Aquarium in the course of one year?! I just love these views!

Project 365 - Day 149

Yay for an unexpected chance to spend time with my cousin Belinda and her son Levi who were in Knoxville for an "Odyssey of the Mind" competition with Levi's team from St. Paul, MN!

I haven't seen Belinda in a really long time and it was great having a chance to catch up. We introduced them to the wonders of a day at Dollywood. Belinda was a little skeptical going in to the day but came out declaring it a great place - I mean where else could you stand in line for fresh Pork Rinds for 20 minutes?!?! You might be in the South if......

It's just so special to have the opportunity to reconnect with an extended family member! Family means so much to me!!

Project 365 - Day 148

Yay for my new license plate for the Cure!

Calmesha will wear it proudly!!

Project 365 - Day 147

My new Thursday routine.....meet with Babs for prayer at 8.....Post Office....Rembrandts for iced tea to go.....short but sweet walk over to the walking bridge before I head back to the office....I so seldom get up to the Bluff View area in the morning and I love the way it looks in that light! Thought these oak leaf hydrangeas were a pretty forefront to the Hunter Art Museum on this morning's mini hike.

Project 365 - Day 146

"We're not in Dutton anymore." Over the past 8 years we've said this often as we find ourselves in some challenging cross cultural situations and today was definitely one of those days. It's a long story.......

Project 365 - Day 145

Every morning when I leave for work I have these little rituals I do such as saying "Good Morning" to the morning glories, grinning at the hydrangea, and going over to the little patch of mint and rubbing its fragrant leaves between my fingers and inhaling its fresh scent.

Today I had the brilliant idea of picking a piece of mint and sticking it in my vent in the car - when I turned on the air conditioning and the fan Calmesha smelled delicious for the commute to work. All-natural car deodorizer!

Project 365 - Day 144

Well, how fun is this?! This is my farewell gift from sweet Laura who has spent her fair share of time in the GTCA. I love it! What a unique, memorable gift from a dear friend!

Eight years ago Dan looked at this little section of the house and said that's going to be the GTCA - the Girl Talk Cry Area - and so it's been ever since. Flowers, candles and Kleenex are non-negotiables in the GTCA. Sitting here right now brings back so many memories of secrets shared, discoveries made, laughter and tears, so much laughter and tears. And hours of conversation. So many precious people have sat in this small circle and hopefully many more will. Just yesterday afternoon a text came from a friend...."How about a spot of tea in the GTCA tonight?" Love it!

Thank you, Lord, for this cozy corner and the blessing it's been. And thank you for Laura - who I will miss so very much. Please bring her back often to the GTCA!

Project 365 - Day 143

Beautiful day in Chattanooga - went downtown after church and lunch. Saw this vantage point idea for a picture in a booth at the Market and went over and snapped it :-)

Project 365 - Day 142

Where I come from

hardly anyone leaves

They stay put

Their roots are deep

Their hearts are content

It is more than enough

The life that they have

But now the

goodbyes

are frequent

A revolving door

of

"hello!

let's do life!

I love you!

Could you pray for me?

I think He's saying Go!

I love you!

Goodbye."

And I've had

to learn the art

of loving well

and letting go

to know that

the Voice

that wooed me here

is the same One

calling them

and I can't keep them

from the adventure ahead

and I wouldn't want to really.

So thank you

Laura friend

for finding a

cozy corner

of my heart

and settling in

for a sweet little while

Word woman

Book buddy

Prayer partner

Faithful friend

I'm already thankful

for our reunion hug.

Project 365 - Day 141

Planning a weekend date night is so fun! I peruse the Weekend section and find some random concert/play/tour etc. for us to go to! Tonight's adventure took us to Cleveland, TN - Brea's old stomping grounds. We had a BOGO coupon for a restaurant called Oliver's - delicious food and great service! Then we went to Johnston Park in downtown Cleveland for a concert by Russ Lee. This was a solo concert for him - he also sings with the group NewSong. Picture of the day is my sweet, long suffering, often asked to pose for picture of the day husband in front of the Cherokee Chieftan carving in the middle of the park.

After last night's wonderful spring rain shower and a grey day today the sun came out and it was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert. Really enjoyed Russ Lee's music! Hmmm... guess I should have cropped out the knee and hands of the guy who was sitting in front of us - oops!

We parked in front of this very old, very cute restaurant that we want to go in sometime! Next week's concert in the park is "Beatlegrass"....the Beatles music Bluegrass style.....pretty intriguing....might have to head back up to Cleveland for another date night next weekend :-)

Project 365 - Day 140

Just spent a couple of hours with sweet Shannon who's raising support to be an intern with Campus Crusade. I wish I had buckets of money to help these amazing young people who want to give their life away to full time ministry. She really shared her heart - the ups and downs of fundraising - the attacks of Satan - the over the top blessings of the Lord - how her faith is being stretched to the limits. Really blessed time together!

Project 365 - Day 139

Fishing buddies and so much more!

So thankful for Eddie's friendship! When we moved down here and our friend Tom heard that Dale liked to fish he told him he had to connect with Eddie who also liked to fish. Dale Allen had the boat but didn't know where to go - Eddie knew where to go but didn't have a boat. A match made in fishing heaven!! They go as often as they can.

"We Interrupt this Marriage to Bring You Fishing Season" says the little plaque on our garage door :-) Yep, that's true! But they're both such great guys who can complain?!

Project 365 - Day 138

Yay for Tennessee strawberries! As soon as this post is written we're going to have some of these over biscuits with a little bit of ice cream on top - yum yum! I'm so thankful that we live so close to a year round produce stand! And the prices are better than the grocery store! Our local grocery isn't even carrying local strawberries! Boooo!!

Inspired by my environmentally aware DIL I always take my own basket (see below) to Linda's Produce to avoid using those nasty plastic bags. It's fun to loop it over my arm and pick out fresh, delicious fruit and veggies! Funny story about me and Linda's - when we first moved to the South I went there and very innocently asked the woman shopping next to me..."What's that?" "That" being a green vegetable about 4 inches in length. She gave me a withering look and said "Okra." Totally busted as a Yankee!!

Happy 28th Birthday Daniel Jon!

We welcomed Daniel Jon to our family on May 17, 1982. Well, we actually welcomed Baby Boy Vander Woude to our family because I thought he was going to be Baby Girl Vander Woude. After a couple of days we decided on the name Daniel John but when the nurse came to get his official name for the birth certificate Dale wasn't around and I changed the spelling of his middle name to Jon - this caused a bit of a ruckus with his oh so traditional daddy when he found out but it was too late to change it! I'm still glad I changed it!

I just love this picture of Danny & my mom! He always enjoyed being in the kitchen and helping with cooking and baking and today he's a very good cook! His grandma would be so proud of him! And his grandpa - who he's so much like - would too!

This picture really shows Dan's personality as a little guy! He was/is the cheesiest of the three boys! His sense of humor was evident at a very young age!

One day when he was little he started getting big laughs when he would dip us "The Look" and he did it for years! Here he is with one of his "Dan" namesakes - his uncle Dan doing the look together :-)

Dan & Mark all dressed up for Nerd Day during homecoming week in highschool. Pretty sure this old suit of my dad's is still used today by Dan in Young Life skits!

Going through Dan's box of pictures to find these brought back so many memories of his growing up years. He really rocked our world after raising Mark who had a much more easy going personality. Dan drove us to our knees and Dr. Dobson on many occasions! But he also brought us/brings us so much laughter and joy and I'm so thankful for the gift he is! Happy Birthday to my middle son - I love you very much!

Journal Entry....May 18, 1982

I finger my hospital name tag at 2 A.M. I cannot sleep - I have just delivered a miracle and one doesn't sleep well after a miracle. It says Maribeth VanderWoude - male - Meyer(my doc). I know quite well the names on the ends but who's the little stranger in the middle? We've been together for 9 long months, but you were always a question - he or she? I've seen you now my precious son, and you know I love you, but we are still strangers to each other. You are in my world now and I welcome you to it. Come morning sun! This "male" and I must get on with the business of discovering each other!

I am still delighting in that discovery 28 years later!

Project 365 - Day 137

One of those days when we're on our way for our nightly walk and I realize 2 things.....A. I haven't taken a picture yet today. B. I don't have my camera along.

Thank goodness for technology and the faithful Verizon - took a few shots in the Sculpture Garden and this one is the best of the bunch.

Horticultural Headline

For the longest time I've wanted a hydrangea - I just love them! And for some reason I've never had one - until now! Instead of the traditional hanging baskets as a Mother's Day gift from Dale Allen I opted for a hydrangea instead.

Isn't it beautiful? It's an "Endless Summer" hydrangea!

All loaded up and ready to go to its new home!

Perfect! Looking forward to many years of beautiful blossoms & bouquets!

Project 365 - Day 136

What a mess - and I love it! A rainy Sunday afternoon is perfect for spreading out on the breakfast nook table and getting organized! Going through old magazines cutting out coupons, fun pictures/ideas/words to tape in my journal, intermittently checking email/Facebook, Googling random thoughts that come to mind, listening to a little Pandora throughout = Contentment!

Project 365 - Day 135

Gracious what a crazy day! We were planning on being at Victoria's graduation ceremony at 9 this morning but last night she sent me a text that she wasn't walking. I figured it was because her dad hadn't come through with the requested money for her hair and a new dress and I copped this huge attitude about that possibility. I was so frustrated with her already because earlier this week we worked out a plan where I would help her finish her senior project and get her to graduation practice on time but later she texted me that she didn't want me to do all that.

Anyway.....long story short....I found out just before we were going to start her party this afternoon that the principal of Howard had called last night to tell her she was not allowed to walk (still don't know exactly why he said that - maybe because of the unfinished senior project?) Her whole family was understandably very upset and that's probably why they were all calling me last night at 10 pm - but my stubborn Dutch pride refused to pick up the phone and get involved in whatever drama was occurring that late at night (late for my culture - just getting started for Victoria's :-)

The next weird part of the story is that her friends told her that her name was called at graduation and after graduation the principal called her again to tell her that he had made a mistake and she could have walked - but this was after the fact - so she missed out on her graduation ceremony. Which is a huge shame since she is the first in her family to graduate from high school!!

ANYWAY......all of the above drama involved alot of miscommunication, cultural differences, pride, impatience, etc.!! But the Lord - oh my sweet loving long-suffering Lord - redeemed that awfulness with a really fun little after party - wait I guess there would have to be a graduation to have an after graduation party - but I digress!!

We couldn't find a table available at Coolidge so we went over to Renaissance Park and found the perfect table in the shade, next to a grill, with a view of the river and the Aquarium. Our wonderful friends the Terpstras joined us and then Victoria, her dad and her half-brother, came. We had such a good time hanging out while Mr. Dale cooked his famous Italian Dressing marianated chicken. Really great conversation with V's dad! And her brother was really nice too!

We had just finished eating when the entourage arrived - V's sister Angelique and her 3 adorable little girls, V's brother's "wife" and her 2 adorable little boys and a neighbor girl who just came along for the ride. They were wild and crazy and hungry! Loved it! Pour those drinks, wipe up the spilled drink, cut up the chicken, get more grapes out......it was like the much beloved Sunday dinners of old except we were out in God's green creation so Dale didn't have to worry about the carpet:-)

V received alot of sweet cards and gifts including some from our family and friends who have watched her grow up and have loved her with us!! So grateful for that! I think she had a really good time at her party! We took lots of pics which are on Facebook.

Goodness what a ride it's been being matched with that girl! We've been through alot together! Our relationship has revealed so much sin and pride in my heart! It's taught me so much about cultural differences! We have quit on each other a couple of times and then hugged and made up. We have talked, fussed, laughed, cried, yelled and I'm sure there will be a whole lot more of all that in our future. She has taught me many lessons about grace. She has reminded me how much I have to be thankful for and not to take for granted that I can look back and see believers in my family line and look ahead and see the promise of the having the legacy continue.

Before we moved here one of my friends up north asked me if I really thought that African American children would relate to me - a middle aged white woman - my answer then and my answer now - is that I believe the love of Christ conquers all barriers and differences. It would be so much easier not to be involved with Victoria and her family but the love of Christ continues to compel me! We love because He first loved us! Wow! Bring it on!!

Project 365 - Day 134

There is a very important segment of society that I give far too little time and prayer to and that is the folks that are in the military. But lately the Lord is bringing it the forefront a bit more.

One of the members of our church small group is a sweet young wife of a soldier who is finishing his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Jody & Zoe will get to be reunited soon! And my good friend, Laura, a Young Life leader in NW Georgia, is raising support to go on staff with Military Youth Community Ministries in Europe - which basically means she'll be a Young Life leader to military "brats".

Both of these relationships have made me more aware of the role of the military. Our church has this outreach to military folks which they call "LOVE boxes" and it's headed up by my very wonderful friend Shirley. Our church collects suitable items that we can send overseas and stateside and a few times a year Shirley and her volunteers get together and pack the boxes, stuffing them with all kinds of goodies, practical and just for fun stuff.

This morning I took a couple of hours off from work and helped pack the boxes. I've been wanting to do that for a long time and I'm so glad I could help. I'm so thankful for Shirley's heart toward those who are fighting for our country!

Celebrating

If mom was still on earth it would have been her 79th birthday today. It seems like every time I turn around there's some kind of reminder of the loss. But it was such a sweet day of remembering and being thankful.......

I celebrated your birthday today my mom
in a hundred little ways
I celebrated your life
Remember how we’d always give each other a special book
For birthdays and Christmas?
I read from Richard Foster’s “Prayers from the Heart” this morning
During my quiet time and I thought to myself
“Mom would love this book!”
I know you would.
You instilled a lot of loves in me….
God, family, music, words, nature
As I roamed around The Barn Nursery
I remembered how you tried to plant
Impatiens in this unforgiving chert on Rocky Top
The weekend we moved in here
I’ve learned a lot about Tennessee soil in 8 years
And I wish you were here to see the transformation
Knockout roses, hostas, daylilies, monkey grass now thrive and you would just delight in that!
I saw your blue eyes reflected in Joey’s when he stopped in at work
I heard your sense of humor while talking to Danny
I felt your example of elastic love as I received hugs from college girls
You were all around me today
Because you are a permanent part of me
We were mother and daughter but we were also

Kindred spirits

and that goes beyond the grave
And though you celebrated today in heaven
(where there’s no calories to count in the cake!)
I felt your presence in such tangible ways!
Love you forever
Like you for always
Happy Birthday my mom!

Project 365 - Day 133

My other obsession besides used bookstores is The Barn Nursery especially this time of year! After a long day at work I love to wander around there looking for the perfect plant to fill in some gap in my landscaping. Their selection is huge and their employees are really helpful. Today I met the son of the owner. He's working there this summer after just finishing his freshman year at college. I said to him with wonder "So someday all of this will be yours!" He said "yep!" He's a blessed young man! On the commercials for The Barn this boy's dad always says "It's Springtime! Now go play in the yard!" and I was so tempted to ask that future owner boy to say those words to see if he can say it as fun as his dad but I didn't.

Happy Third Anniversary, Dan & Brea!!!

Today is Dan & Bre's third anniversary! Their wedding was so beautiful! Love their unique story of God's leading in their lives - that they found each other in Tennessee after going to the same high school up in Michigan! And now they're serving the Lord together in Louisiana. So fun to connect the dots of God's providence and faithfulness in His children's lives!

Project 365 - Day 132

Well, friends, you know it's been one of those kind of days in Project 365 land when it's 9:30 at night and you remember that you still need to take a picture so you're grasping at straws to find something, anything to fill the day's requirement!

Trying to think of how I can wax eloquent about today's picture but I got nothin'! But maybe years and years and years from now having the "Hey Buddy!" truck on here will remind us how thankful we were in 2010 for steady employment in a crazy economy!

Project 365 - Day 131

Our Knockout Roses are doing beautifully this year! We pruned them way down this winter and we're reaping the benefits of doing that now! So fun to come around the corner for home and see this burst of pink waiting for you!

Project 365 - Day 130

Another Young Life golf tournament in the bag - PTL Hallelujah! The morning round made it without getting wet but the afternoon round was rainy pretty much start to finish! But I only saw one team leave early because of the weather! Hard core golfers!! We play at a beautiful course in Lookout Valley but today was pretty much a grey, drippy day! Glad it's history!!

Project 365 - Day 129

Today we (me, Joe, Dale Allen) went on the Delta Queen for Mother's Day Brunch! I was so excited to finally see inside the boat I've taken so many pictures of! After a DElicious brunch on very pretty stoneware in a beautiful atmosphere we walked around the inside and outside of the boat. Sweet Dale and Joe let me wander around and take lots of pictures though I'm pretty sure I could have stayed twice as long as I did if they would have let me which I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have!

Really wonderful Mother's Day - but so full of so many different emotions!

Wishing my boys and their wonderful wives and those precious babies lived close enough to come for Mother's Day dinner!

So proud of the young man Joe continues to become and so glad he's here!!

Missing my mom!

Cringing when the pastor asked all the moms to stand up knowing that there are women who HATE that moment on that Sunday because they would love to be one of those standing and aren't!

So thankful for Tara making me more sensitive to the feelings of birth mothers, foster moms, adopted children on a day like today!

Loving my kids sooo much and so thankful for cell phones and Skype!

Etc., Etc.!!
Sure would be easier to be the kind of person who doesn't feel all those feelings and could just write...
"Really wonderful Mother's Day" and leave it at that!
And it really really was but I'm kind of glad another one is over.

Mother's Day

Remembering Mom today which isn't very different from most every day! She was my best friend and I sure do miss her a ton!

When Nancy and I were little she would make us new flannel nighties for Christmas! We loved that!

One of the last things she made for me with her loving hands was this fuzzy hat to keep my head warm during chemo. She was so proud of that hat while I was pretty embarassed by it :-) But I sure didn't let her know that! This picture is one of the last we had taken together - October of 2005. What a dear mom she was! Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful, Christian mother!

Project 365 - Day 128

Had a great evening with our friends the Bridgers! Love this couple! Kris is my friend who always brings the Mary Oliver quote to mind..."She spent her life married to amazement." This describes her perfectly!

After a yum dinner here we planned to go to the Grand Re-Opening of the Red Clay Pickin Barn but when we got there it was not re-opened! So we kept driving and went to Red Clay State Park which made the married to amazement lady very excited since she's always wanted to check out this area and park which has great significance in the history of the Cherokees. We walked around till the park ranger kicked us out. We hope to go back again some day when we have more time.

Project 365 - Day 127

Had to change my usual morning travel routine because streets were closed for the Armed Forces parade which meant I had to park in an entirely different area to get to the post office. That's when I saw this very fun building with these signs all over it. The picture above is pretty close up and the one below shows the size of this cool old building and the number of signs. Love it!

It's kind of hard to see but each sign has someone's name at the top of it. What a fun thing to discover - yay for a change in routine - maybe I should change my route more often?!

Project 365 - Day 126

"Living in the past is a dull and lonely business; looking back strains the neck muscles, causes you to bump into people not going your way" writes Edna Ferber.

I'm not living in the past but this time of year inevitably brings up memories of the May of 2005 - Dad had just passed away, I was diagnosed with cancer, Mom was dealing with acute leukemia. Life as I knew it changed so dramatically in such a short period of time that even today I want to say "wait, what?!"

This afternoon I dug out my journals from that year and have started going through them. The opening quote was one I had written in my journal while I was spending time with dad two weeks before he passed away. I think I found it in some book of mom's that was in her library. Not sure why it caught my eye during that week when time seemed to stand still - when the whole universe was in that den with the hospital bed.

It's kind of interesting reading old journals - looking at my lists of "Future Goals" and "Dreams for 2005" and never realizing that "Cancer Treatments" would intercept them.

It was in February of that year that I went on my first Silent Retreat and wrestled with God - a conversion experience of surrendering to the furious love of God - it shook me to the core. And now looking back I see that I had to have that experience to prepare me for the dark days ahead. There it all is in black and white and it ain't all pretty!

Time to get back to transcribing mom's journals! I haven't done that for awhile so tonight I decided to work on them at least 1 hour a day. Tonight I immersed myself in February and March of 1998 re-recording the weather, what kind of pie she baked, who they played Sluff with, etc. It is a task of love. As I type I can almost smell that cherry pie - my, she could bake a cherry pie!

I had just typed "Sid watched the first Tiger ballgame at night - they won 11-6." And then I called my big brother Dan and he reminded me how much dad loved /hated his Tigers and how cool it must have been when dad met Ernie Harwell in heaven this week.

Tonight it's all mixed in together. Time, memories, words, family, journals, living, dying, moments, past, present, future.....and it's all good only because God is good!

Project 365 - Day 125

Made Aunt Ev's Strawberry Pie for small group tonight but it was Strawberry Soup! Guess it didn't set long enough for the Jello to gel properly! Oops!! Everyone was very gracious about it :-)

I love digging out old family recipe cards like this one! Just seeing Aunt Ev's handwriting brought back the day I asked her for the recipe and so many fun memories of visiting her and her family up North on their beautiful dairy farm. Besides being a wonderful mother and grandmother she was a poet!! One of the treasures I have from my mom is a book of Aunt Ev's poetry.

I saw an idea once in a magazine that I think I'd like to do - you simply gather some precious recipe cards like the one above and put them in little frames and display them in your kitchen. I really like that! Besides the familiar handwriting each smudge and smear is a testimony to a time of fellowship when you thought a piece of Aunt Ev's Strawberry Pie would be a good piece of love to share!

Writing about Aunt Ev encouraged me to go and find her book. Here's one of her poems......

SPRING

Spring is for the senses -
to see, to hear, to smell -
its beauty, music, fragrance,
Who can begin to tell?

Can words describe a lily?
What phrase could be employed?
A flower's loveliness should be seen
to be enjoyed.

No artist ever captured
the countryside in May -
one cannot paint soft breezes
nor perfumes they convey.

No one can set to music
the singing of a bird,
to know its trilling sweetness
its warbling must be heard.

the pungent, earty fragrance
of soil warm in the sun
is sensory enjoyment
to be compared to none.

No poetry or picture
or song that one can sing
can tell it to another -
one must experience Spring!

Project 365 - Day 124

This adorned our front yard for the past month! Don't know that its presence garnered any votes for Bill since the Court doesn't get much traffic but Mr. Dale insisted and he insists on so little so what could I say?

Today was election day so after duly voting for Bill we came home and uprooted the sign. According to Facebook he's ahead - 60% to 40%!

Project 365 - Day 123

This is the aftermath of Phonathon Night 1 - we're doing it on Thursday night too. It's been a bunch of work getting ready for but I felt ready for tonight - unfortunately we didn't have alot of callers come to help. Calling someone asking for money isn't anyone's favorite job!

Project 365 - Day 122

Saw this today during our Sunday afternoon walk by the Sculpture Garden and thought it was so cool with the iris underneath it!