Mammoth Cave

This week, from Thursday to Saturday, Adam and I were in Mammoth Cave, Kentucky with a portion of the Cox family. We had so much fun doing cave tours, hiking, eating, and going to the souvenir shop more than four times (it wasn't for me, it was for the kids!). There was so much that went on in those three days that I'm just going to give a list of my top 8 trip highlights (in no particular order):

1. Mammoth Cave: kind of self-explanatory I guess, but did you know its the biggest cave in the entire world??? The WORLD. Like, the ENTIRE WORLD.

2. Sinkhole exploring: The destination of one of our hikes was a giant sinkhole (Cedar Sink). It was crazy! And the craziest part was that we went all the way into the bottom of it! And once at the bottom of it we realized how cool this thing really was, it was like descending further into the core of the earth like in Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was incredible!

3. Trying to get out of the sinkhole: After realizing how cool the sinkhole was we realized that the signs that said "don't go off the marked trail" were serious and we weren't quite sure how to get out. I used a fallen tree as my way up the completely mud-covered hill and nearly lost a shoe in the process, but I felt pretty accomplished once I was done!

4. Following 3 deer in front of our hotel room: Our hotel was literally on the edge of the national park and one morning Adam and Samantha and I left our room to find the others and we spotted three deer just chillin in front of our room. Sam kept getting closer to them and occasionally they would look up and stare at her with the signature 'deer in headlights' look and then keep chewing. They almost let her get right next to them! Adam caught it all on video, it was great

5. Dramamine-induced productivity: I get car sick pretty easily these days on long trips so I took a dramamine before we left on our trip and I was able to read for my classes the whole way there and back! I got a lot done and slept a little too:)

6. Three trips to the Lincoln boyhood home: One of our stops on the way to Mammoth Cave was Abraham Lincoln's birthplace. We liked it so much we went back two or three times (the left-behind backpack and needed passport stamp were part of the reason too)

7. Spending time in nature: In general the whole trip I just enjoyed being outside, looking at the complexity and intrigue of nature. There's nothing to figure out or to understand, its simple and beautiful and not-so-simple and not-so-pretty (I'm mainly speaking of the millipede) and I love all of that about it. Nature is a great place and I wish we spent more time together but my grades probably wouldn't appreciate that, so I'll just relish in the time we had together and say "we'll always have Mammoth Cave." C'est la vie

8. Making a new traveling tradition: In one of our many trips to the gift shop Adam and I decided that we are going to be magnet collectors:) Its not lame, I swear. We are going to fill our fridge with magnets from all the places we go together in our wonderful and adventurous life and we are super excited! Our Mammoth Cave one is already up too!

Lean on me

Yesterday in one of my classes a professor brought a much needed devotional for our class. You see it's midterm time and that means that we graduate students start to get a little frazzled and slightly out of control. She brought these verses from Exodus 17: 

"So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle."


I was really struck with the beauty of this scene when she read it aloud to us. It was a perfect picture of weakness and how God provides people to support us in our weakness. Sometimes its so hard for me though.... I tighten my fists and say 'I can do this by myself, I've got this, my arms are strong enough.' But that's not how its supposed to go. You are supposed to look at those closest to you and let them see how tired you are, how weak your arms feel and let them give you a seat and some rest from your work. Needing other people doesn't make you needy or dependent or weak, it makes you human - a human that God made with the unique desire for relationship and community.  

Relaxation

This past weekend was full of some much needed fun and relaxation! Saturday we started our day by stuffing ourselves with breadsticks from Fazoli's and then headed out for a Fall-filled day. We went to Tuttle's orchard and picked some juicy apples for me to enjoy.

 Then Adam embarked out through the pumpkin patch to find the perfect pumpkin for this year. We always try to find a pumpkin thats not quite perfect but has some character that lends itself to a fun face. Last time we picked a pumpkin we looked for a grumpy one, so this year we looked for one that might be good for a big goofy up-turned grin. I think we succeeded but we'll have to wait and see what Adam's artful mind produces!

Then.....I was sooooo excited because we decided to do some Christmas shopping in Indy!!! I love shopping, and I love shopping for other people more than anything! I was literally hyperventilating at points....Adam tried his best to calm me down and keep me from passing out. For dinner, we ate at Five Guys for the first time and talked about how restaurants should always just have one dish that they are really good at instead of serving a million different options. Needless to say, Five Guys makes excellent burgers and fries (and veggie sandwiches) and that's all they make, hence our insightful conversation!
The day ended with some pumpkin frozen yogurt (!!!!!) and a recap of what a wonderful weekend we had. We sat on bright colored couches, eating frozen yogurt and breathing deeply.... I didn't think about homework or work or lesson planning for church or anything else that frequently bogs down my thoughts. It was an absolutely perfect weekend that served to refresh us both and make us ready to face another week of busy-ness. I'm so thankful for these days where I can focus on sunshine and conversation and relationship and fun, it makes things feel right.

Turn your face to the sun

Life feels awfully sunny when you have some friendly flowers to greet you at home. 

Sick

Marriage Lesson #22: In marriage you share everything, including sickness.

Well, for the past two weeks I have been in varying stages of having sickness...sore throats, coughing, sneezing, congestion, aching, etc. And then my dear husband, who waited on me handed and foot, received his reward this week in the form of a stuffy nose, headache, and fatigue. Needless to say, we have been a lot of fun for the past few days. We have gone through several boxes of tissues, consumed two and half gallons of orange juice, and drugged ourselves with allergy medicine, vitamins, cough suppressants, and mucinex continuously. But thankfully today we are both feeling ten times better than earlier in the week. All this is to say that in the past two weeks I drank more hot drinks than I have ever in my life and I came to a realization..... I want a giant coffee mug! I want a big mug that you have to hold with two hands so that it can warm your hands while simultaneously giving you a steamy facial. You know the kind people drink out in the movies when they are home alone on a rainy night and the mug makes the way they drink it look artistic and classy. And it can't be shallow either, no one likes a shallow mug. So while I avoided homework during my sickness I looked for mugs, but to no avail. However, I did find some great pictures.....

This one is a little big for my taste, but don't you wish you lived in this town???

This one isn't out of the question, and if Amy Poehler drinks out of it, it must be great! 

So the hunt continues for the perfect mug with hope that I find it before the cold creeps in and that I don't need it due to sickness for a long time.