Pretty much the worst experience to date

Okay, I'm hoping that no one sees this who shouldn't, but I just have to write about last weekend. It was so crazy! I'll use nebulous language when referring to specific people/places/things so as not to offend anyone. (I love that word--you know which one). Last Friday and Saturday we were with our favorite Marylanders, the Clarks, and it was a great time--this is not at all included in the bad weekend. On Friday night they took us out to eat and we watched a movie at their house. On Saturday we went to Annapolis and saw the Navy academy and made plans to meet up there again in October to go on the "ghost tour." I don't know if that would excite anyone else, but I am pretty stoked about the idea of having someone lead me around and showing me all the so-called "haunted" places in Annapolis. Pastor Brian said that he and his son did one of those in Gettysburg, and their tour guide was convinced that he was a reincarnated civil war veteran. He and his son laughed through the whole thing, and that story made me laugh really hard. I always laugh so hard with them!
Anyway, so after a great two days with them we headed to our meeting in let's just say the Trenton area. The pastor led us to the place we would be staying and it was with an aging lady (let's call her Liva) who lived in a very cramped apartment. Thankfully Liva did have two bedrooms, but unfortunately, our bedroom door did not close, and our two bedrooms were right across the hall from each other. Uhhh. We had little room to spare once we got our luggage in--which by the way, we have too much luggage this time around for some reason. I think it's because we had absolutely no idea what the weather would be like. It was snowing in Iowa when we left, and today it was 87 degrees in New Jersey. Anyway, we got settled in at this apartment and listened as Liva told us in depth about her life, which was interesting to a degree. We went out to dinner that evening with the pastor and his wife, and the pastor mentioned casually to not eat anything that Liva offered us because past missionaries who have stayed there have gotten sick off of her food. Uhhh. The next morning we took Liva to church with us and she and Andy had words about which way to get to church. Andy likes to stick with Mandy (our GPS), and I don't think our host even realized we had Mandy leading us on the straight and narrow (a similarity to the other Mandy in our lives). :) After Sunday's activities we came back to Liva's house and settled in for another night. We watched an episode of the Office on our computer, and wondered if she could hear it since we couldn't shut our bedroom door, I'm pretty sure she couldn't hear it. The next morning we were ready to leave, and we headed off for New York for a couple of meetings with pastors. We were looking forward to that evening when we were staying in a motel. Now, here comes the worst part. Andy was feeling really sick Monday night, and couldn't figure out why. He hardly ate dinner, but just figured that he was stressed out. The next morning he found a tick on himself! Ahhhh!!!!! Where did he pick that up???? We had been either in the van, or in Liva's house for the last three days! I can only believe that he got it at Liva's house--she had sooo many plants in her house that she had just brought in because they had freezing temperatures. I had to get the tick out of him, but I was virtually at the point of tears because I was so grossed out. I was not able to get all of it out. I wanted Andy to go to the Dr. right away to get it out and to get antibiotics for Lyme disease, but he wouldn't go until after our meetings. So as we were sitting in the New Jersey pastor's fellowship seminar that morning, all I could think about was this tick in Andy---sorry if you are getting grossed out like I was. You can stop reading if you want. After we got to our resting place for the night, I called a local family practice office and got Andy an appointment with a doctor for 6:30 that night. We went and I'm glad to say the tick is gone now. As Andy came out of the doctor's office he said to the receptionist, 'Well, we got the bug out!' and everyone in the waiting room heard, and I was a little ashamed. shhh! That's so gross. I will not show you a picture of a tick, it is too gross, instead I have attached a picture of something very pleasant to me--a picture of the Clarks. :)

oddities out East

We've spent a little over 40 hours in the van in the last week and a half, and I've heard many artists on the radio that I haven't heard in years. I've heard "Don't go Chasing Waterfalls" by TLC twice, Ace of Base songs twice and Real McCoy twice. There must be more demand for songs from the early 90's around here. That is something I can support, I've enjoyed singing along. I will always proclaim the "jughandle" one of the weirdest things about the East coast, specifically New Jersey. Today we had someone honk at us because we were making a left-hand turn instead of using the "jughandle." Also in New Jersey they don't let you pump your own gas and that frustrates Andy. This isn't so much an oddity as it is a really fun time, but yesterday I went to the biggest thrift store that I have ever been to. I went with a friend in New Jersey, and it was awesome. I always like to get stuff for Andy when I shop at thrift stores. I can usually find some brand name dress shirts and some jeans that he can work in. That was a lot of fun. While I was there, Andy went to the biggest tool market that he's ever been to. He picked up another antique tool to add to our display table. We've learned some things out here too. We've learned about Jewish building techniques, Andy has decided to add the word "ambiance" to his vocabulary. Also, thanks to a pastor in Newfield, NJ, Andy and I have stopped to consider the redundancy of Panera Bread...don't ask. sheesh.

Hershey, PA

Well, we're out East again. We haven't even had our first meeting yet, but it feels like we've been here forever. I think it's all those miles in the van. The first day we traveled eight hours, the second day was twelve hours, and today was only around four hours. We had a fun day today. Last night we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast in Pennsylvania. The people who own it let missionaries and pastors stay there for free, so that was a special blessing for us. The only problem was that they don't have televisions in their rooms, and I really wanted to watch Thursday night TV. We brought along "The Bee Movie" from our Netflix subscription, so we watched that. It was a cute movie. So, this morning the lady made us a really good breakfast, and Andy was happy about that. We decided to spend our day in Hershey, PA since we didn't have to be at our overnight place until 5:00. I wanted to tour the Chocolate factory, but we couldn't see the actual factory where they make the chocolate. We went to Chocolate World in Hershey and learned all about Milton Hershey. He and his wife did a lot of great things for their community and for kids all over the U.S. We bought Paige and Patrick's wedding present today (!!!) and some other gifts. I got a sweatshirt that reminds me of Deb because I think she has one like it. After we were done there we went to the local Panera Bread and I told Andy that I love that restaurant! After that we decided to head for Glen Burnie, MD. We have a supporting church there and the pastor there is awesome! He's the one that took us to Ocean's 13 in the theater when we first met them last year. He and his wife and their kids are so much fun, and we always try to see them when we are out this way. Them and Pastor Jim Johnson, whom you will remember from a former post on this blog.