Apples, anyone?

Nathan and I came home last Thursday to our home sweet home!
- a very stuffy house
- two piles of dirt on our front lawn – we’re doing some landscaping…
- weeds in the garden where I’d just weeded for hours before we left
- tons of apples, both on the tree and on the ground
- an empty fridge and cupboards
Despite the work that was waiting for us, Nathan and I were very glad to be home again. We were dying to get away at the beginning of the month, but two and a half weeks later, we were definitely ready for our own bed and our own sleep/eat schedule and our own food. Fast food only appeals to the appetite for so long. So the day after we got home, we went on a massive grocery shopping trip to Winnipeg because we’d emptied our fridge/cupboards for being away. Then, the next day, Nathan borrowed a wheelbarrow and shovel and moved the two piles of dirt from the front yard where it was dumped to the back yard where we wanted it. I got the much easier job of leveling the dirt once it was hauled. I offered to help shovel, but Nathan said he was fine…men, I tell ya…they’re wonderful to have around, aren’t they? I also had quite the job of picking up apples…there are going to be SO many to pick once they’re ripe!!! Does anyone want some apples??? Wow. I never knew so many apples could come from one tree. I shook a few branches the other day, wanting some apples to put in the house for decoration because they’re a lovely bright green right now, and I had close to sixty just fall right off! Unbelievable! Anyway, enough about apples.
Vacation was good. We spent about a week at conference…it was ok. Those things are always eye-opening for me. I think it’s because I get so bored that I have hours and hours in which I’m just forced to think. God showed me some great things in those hours of thought. After conference was a pastor’s retreat. Basically it was a few extra days in the hotel…mostly free time with daily sessions where we fellowshipped and encouraged each other. After pastor’s retreat, Nathan and I went to Niagara Falls. After a few missed turns and some construction that we had to find our way around, we made it and spent the night in a hotel just a ten minute walk from the falls. I wasn’t too impressed with them. I saw them and my first reaction was, “That’s it?” I mean, it’s amazing that God directed all those millions of litres of water to fall over some cliffs, but I think I’ve seen more wondrous specimens of God’s creation. After Niagara Falls, we drove to Nathan’s grandma’s cottage in “northern” Ontario. Really, we were about the same latitude as the northern states, but it’s considered “northern.” Weird…It was beautiful there. I got to meet one whole side of Nathan’s family and they really are wonderful people. I was tired at the end of the weekend, but it was fun to be a part of that family. I also got to go sailing for the first time with Nate and his uncle and aunt. It was a cool experience moving that quickly over the water with no noise of a motor or anything. (maybe even more amazing than Niagara falls…) So yeah, that was our vacation, and now we’re back home and Nathan’s back at work, and I’m enjoying my time at home, trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. Stay tuned to see what I come up with! Oh, one last question… Apples, anyone?