Wichita, Kansas: July 10-13

Brian was stationed at McConnell Air Force Base from Nov 85 to May 89. It was a very special time in our lives because it was the first real home Brian and I shared after we were married. The first year of our marriage was apartment after apartment while Brian was in training. Bethany was only a month old when we arrived in Kansas, Jordan was born there, and I was expecting Aaron when we left. We met some very special friends in Kansas that have remained friends over the years.

The first thing we did was visit base housing to see what our first house looked like. We were not surprised by the addition of an entrance gate into the housing complex that wasn’t there before, but we were surprised to find our house and the adjoining house completely gone. Everything else was pretty much the same: the base ball diamond across the street, the surrounding houses, etc. But 2800 Arnold Blvd exists no longer. We took a picture anyway because the tree Brian planted as a sapling just before Christmas in 1987, was still there.We stayed with our dear friends, Cathy and Paul Lavender. These two special people led our 2:7 Discipleship group for two years. They had a huge influence on us as we grew in our Christian walk as adults. We had a great time together. Saturday morning we did a little site seeing in down town Wichita. We stopped at the famous HatMan Jack’s. I hear that this is where the rich and famous buy their hats. They were even scheduled to do the hats for Michael Jackson's up- coming tour until his untimely demise. We purchased our Tilley hats there. I think they look just great, but our kids threatened to not claim us as relatives if we wear them near them.


We then visited The Keeper of the Plains. The Keeper of the Plains is a 44-foot tall steel sculpture standing at the point where the Big and Little Arkansas rivers join together in downtown Wichita. This land between the two rivers is sacred ground to the Native American people. This impressive sculpture just gets more impressive with age and patina. It really takes my breath away every time I see it.

Paul, Cathy, me, and Brian

Rich Mullins mentions the sculpture it in his song Calling Out Your Name.

Where the sacred rivers meet
Beneath the shadow of the Keeper of the plains
I feel thunder in the sky
I see the sky about to rain
And I hear the prairies calling out Your name

I call it my Kansas song because every time I hear it, it reminds me of our time in Kansas.

That evening the Lavender’s took us to an impressive production of Taming of the Shrew. And we reminisced as they reminded us of when they came to me in The Princess and the Pea way back when at the Derby Community Theater.

We enjoyed going to church with old friends…new building, but old friends. We hadn’t seen some of them for at least a decade but the great thing about these friends is that when we walked into church Saturday night (a little bit late) they recognized us immediately, stopped the music they were playing and gave hugs all around. It meant so much to me. The following day the Lavenders had them all over so we would have time to visit and catch up on each others lives. It was great. We talked like it was only a week ago that we left. These are truly special people. It made me think of how heaven will be when we join loved ones who have gone before. What a day of rejoicing that will be!

OH NO!!!

Oh no!! I have let too much time pass again! I just don’t know how you people do it. Staying on top of things like this. So here goes…a “catch up” John Grogan style (you have to have seen Marley & Me to appreciate that reference)…

Feb. 5-8 …I go to Berlin with Nicki & Joey and family. We ride bikes and trains and walk a lot to see the sites. Here’s Clara and myself (and the others in the background) at the Berlin Wall. Awesome trip.


Feb. 9-13… I watch Nicki’s kids while she and Joey go to Venice for work. Yeah, right.

Feb 14-15 …Nicki and I go on a tour to Prague. We had a great time. Prague is a beautiful city and very easily walked but… I have never been so cold in my entire life!!!!! I don’t know if I was fighting off an illness or if the extreme cold got the best of me but I came home from Prague with some beautiful garnet earrings and very nasty sinus infection.




Feb. 24… I celebrate my birthday with Nicki, Joey and all, with schnitzel. Yum, yum. Thanks Joey.

Feb 26…My days in Germany come to a close all too quickly. I spent the last week fighting that nasty infection and helping Bethany through a major crisis. But I will always remember my time in Germany as wonderful. It was a blessing to get to spend so much time with my nieces and nephews. I hope they remember it as fondly as I do.

Feb. 28…After a few days of recuperation and a Rx, I hold auditions for Steel Magnolias and start rehearsals the following week.

March 8-14…All five of us (me, Brian, Bethany, Jordan, and Aaron) spend Spring Break at a lovely condo on Grand Cayman. Brian and the boys did some scuba diving, girl’s went shopping, Bethany and Aaron went para-sailing, and we all did some snorkeling.

We had a wonderfully relaxing time, cherishing every moment since who knows when we will all be on vacation together again. I attempted to take a family pic but didn't realize the camera was on video setting. But here it is anyway.



March-Apr.-May…The weeks pass quickly while Steel Magnolias takes up most of my time with rehearsals, set design and construction, props and a million other details.

April 12…Southeast Christian Church Indiana Campus officially opens their doors on Easter Sunday. Yeah!!!

May 6… I deliver a van full of hand-me-down furniture to Jordan for his new apartment in Muncie and pick up a van load of dorm paraphernalia helping Aaron move home from Ball State.

May 14-17…Steel Magnolias is a huge success breaking playhouse records for attendance and logging the first ever standing ovations.

June…was spent catching up on gardening and other house projects that have fallen by the way side during Steel.

June 15-18…I return to Prague with Brian (his favorite layover of all time). We had a wonderful time. There were a few other “tag-along’s” (family members of crew). Several us of ran into each other at dinner at a roof top restaurant at Old Town Square. We talked and laughed like loud Americans and watched the sunset on Prague castle which was breathtakingly beautiful. This picture just does not do it justice, but unless you make the trip with me, it’s the best I can do.

June 21-July 5…Nicki and her kids come to visit (Joey comes for a few days too). We enjoyed many wonderful things with them… shopping, sailing, swimming in my kind neighbor’s pool,

and contra dancing… Mom and Clara came almost every day to work puzzles and all the siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins came and went to spend time together. July 3… The drama queens and drama mama’s …Nicki, Bethany, Mary, and I went to Kentucky Center to see Mame. We all enjoyed the evening and enjoyed critiquing the production as well. We would all make good theatre critics. July 4th …The whole mob (the count comes in at 31, if you count Aaron’s friend, Michael, who practically lives at our house) comes for fireworks.

July 5…We sit and listen to the quiet and remember that the Hickox crew left this morning. We miss them already. We drown out the quiet watching Mission Impossible and Brian discovers a goof… The morning after the disastrous mole hunt in Prague, the sun is seen rising over Prague castle, in actuality the sun sets over the castle. Having actually watched the sun set over Prague castle, it was easy for him to spot.

July 8…This vintage puzzle was a stray left at my house on the dining room table. Someone was kind enough to put together about 95% of the edge pieces and sort all the rest. I slowly finished it in between returning to my many house projects and just enjoying the quiet.


Well, that about does it… Hope you enjoyed my whirlwind of highlights. I am sure I missed something but, oh well…maybe next time.

Guten Apetit!

This morning I woke to the sound of Reuben cock-a-doodle-doing in the next room to wake up Seth. It made me smile. I have so enjoyed being here with my sister’s family. It seems like it has been forever since I have spent time with them and I feel like I’m getting to know them all over again.

Nicki and I took a USO German baking class today. We had a great time. We learned to make Buttermilcheschnitte (Buttermilk cake), Fantaschnitten mit Pfirsichschamand (Fanta cake with Peach Cream), and Glasierte Nuss Schleifen (Glazed Nut Bows). The Fanta Cake tasted a lot like my sister, Joni’s, Easter Cake. The buttermilk cake was delicious too but the crowning glory, the ultimate, the creation I would never share was… the Nut Bows!!

Just take a look at these pics.Are you drooling yet? Now, we’ll see if I can actually recreate them. It was pretty complicated and time consuming. But we had fun anyway as you can see.

We enjoyed it so much we signed up for another class on my birthday, the day before I leave Germany, and I signed up for one next week while Nicki is away in Venice. Guten Apetit!

Splitting Hairs

The thing about a lengthy stay is that eventually you need a haircut. I was so busy at Christmas time I didn’t get a haircut before I left. I thought I would muddle through and just get one when I got back but it started driving me crazy and I still have about three weeks to go. I knew I’d never make it. So I had Nicki make an appointment with the lady who does her hair. It was a little unnerving since I have had the same lady cut my hair since I moved to So. Indiana in 1992. Yesterday, while the rest went to Reuben’s basketball game, Mary and I made an afternoon of it and she got her hair done too before going off to her Honors Drama Ensemble camp today. We took the dogs with us since this same lady loves dogs and will be dog sitting for Belle and Abby next week when we all go to Berlin. Then in the evening we all went out to dinner for some schnitzel. Here’s a few pics of our new do-s.

Wicked

I am not sure what his true motives were (maybe guilt- for having me watch his kids for a week by myself, or maybe he was just trying to get me out of the house for a bit) but Joey thought it would be a grand idea for Nicki and I to take a quick trip to London to see Wicked. Not one to ever turn down an opportunity to travel, I jumped at the idea. So, there we were, Nicki and I, playing "planes, trains, and automobiles" (not quite in that order). We took the car (30 min. drive to Zwiebruken) and then flew to Stansted airport, and then from there we took the train into London. A quick stop to check into our hotel and grab lunch and off we went again to catch a view of some masterpieces at the National Gallery













before our dinner reservations at 6. Let me tell you, two hours is just not enough in the National Gallery. But even a few moments with a van Eyck, Botticelli, Vermeer, Monet, Serat, Cezanne, or a van Gogh is enough to make my heart go pitter, patter. I could spend a week in that museum. Perhaps someday I shall.

Precisly at 6 we had dinner at Chez Gerards, a lovely French restaurant close to Victoria Station. The food was fantastic and not just because we were famished! Then we headed to the much anticpated show.














Finally, I was going to get to see what all the fuse is about. Well, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. Suddenly, all the songs from the soundtrack that I have heard them from a miraid of different sources, made sense.

Nicki and I will have memories to last a lifetime of this little trip. Thanks for the idea, Joey.

Bern Switzerland

I am not a morning person but I suppose 2 AM is considered more middle of the night than morning. That's when we (myself and my sister, Nicki) got out of our nice warm beds and made our way into the cold night to catch the tour bus. It was well worth it though. A view of Bern was like looking at Camolot straight from a King Arthur story book.














Our first stop was not Bern though. It was Emmental, a sleepy little town known for cheese making (Swiss, of course).
It was very interesting to see both methods: the old fashioned way stirred by hand over an open fire and the updated machine method overseen by experts. After our brief tour, we got to sample some.














Once we got to Bern, we enjoyed our walking tour. Our guide showed us the bear pit, the cathedral, the prison tower, a famous Zyttlglocken clock tower, and the House of Parliament all while sharing some of Bern's interesting history. After a delicious lunch of cheese fondue and a typical swiss dish called "rosti"... which is hashbrowns with toppings (ours had eggs, bacon and cheese), we had some time to explore and shop on our own. We bought some Swiss chocolate and a soft drink made with milk to bring home for the kids to try. It is called Rivella and taste a little like Ginger Ale. (For more pictures and a different perspective see Nicki's blog, 7redzinmotion.)

A New Leaf

Wow, it’s the end of January and I haven’t posted since August! In all fairness, I have been extremely busy traveling with Brian and when I’m home I’m catching up on what I missed and preparing for the next trip. Yet, I am put to shame by my sister, who runs a busy household of five active children, a husband, a dog, and two recently deceased guinea pigs, and she updates her blog religiously! I had to sit and think about that.

I decided the reason I don’t update my blog is a combination of reasons:

1. I’m not sure anyone really cares “Where I am in the world?” except for a few loved ones who know anyway.
2. I think if I share I have to tell the whole story and it’s just too big a mountain to climb.
3. I’m quite a procrastinator and times passes and then the whole thing seems irrelevant.

Now…I have decided to give this blog thing another shot anyway (I may even do some back posts), but I have to overcome some of these excuses for not updating. To address #1, if any one who reads these would leave me just a short comment, it will help me know that someone is actually reading them. (#2) If you want to know more about a particular blog let me know, I’ll be glad to tell you all about it. (#3) I may not always be timely but “better late than never” will have to be my motto.

Check my back blogs now and then because I’m going to try to catch up on them too.

An eventful trip yet safe arrival in Germany

Bethany and I left Cincinnati (thanks for the ride to Cinncy, Jordan) on Jan 8^th arriving in Frankfurt on the morning of the 9^th. Bethany has come to Germany for a semester of student teaching at a DoD school in Baumholder, Germany (for a link to her blog see “European Bloodstream” on my blog list). I came to spend some time with my sister Nicki’s family (while Brian is in Gaum) and see what there is to see in Germany.

The trip was not the smoothest I have ever taken. It began smoothly. Abby, our 6 pound spoiled poodle, survived the car ride to Cinncy in her carrier very nicely and we began boarding right on time. Bethany and I were given roomy seats next to each other in the center of business class where we looked forward to enjoying all the amenities life has to offer (Bring me the head of a boar!”) and a completely reclining seat on a 10 hour flight that was completely full. We made ourselves comfortable and settled in for the flight.

Shortly after we pulled away from the gate and began taxiing, the plane turned around and began heading back to the gate. We were informed over the PA that they were just made aware that a passenger who didn’t make the flight had luggage that did. According to the powers-that-be (don’t remember if that is FAA or Homeland Security but…) that is an absolute no-no and we were heading to the gate to remove the offending luggage. Or, at least we thought. After sitting at the gate for several minutes, I noticed a man was escorted off the plane carrying one of those metal briefcases that make you wonder what on earth could he be carrying that warrants that kind of protection. Shortly after that, another man was escorted on. Knowing the non-rev system as I do, I suddenly felt very sorry for the metal briefcase carrying guy (more than likely a buddy pass passenger) who thought he was home free but was asked to de-plane to make room for the tardy yet revenue-paying passenger.

We pulled away from the gate a second time, taxied out to the runway and began acceleration toward take-off. Just as I was relaxing, looking forward to that feeling you get just after take-off that resembles the drift into a deep and restful sleep, the pilot suddenly slammed on the brakes. The plane quickly swung into the next intersection leaving the runway, taxied briefly, and came to a stop. Everyone on the plane got very quiet. Bethany and I looked at each other with questioning looks and waited for the PA explanation of what just happened. Evidently, a light having to do with the brake system came on and it was not safe to take off without checking it out. After several minutes, we were informed that it was necessary to return to the gate AGAIN to have the brake system checked out. So we did. By this time passengers were getting a bit antsy and a little nervous. An old man (about 80 and apparently a bit senile) walked up from coach and was heading toward the cockpit. A flight attendant stopped him but he insisted he needed to talk to the pilot. For those of you who knew him, I could s-o-o-o see Grandpa Friedley doing something like that, very well meaning, but insistent he had vital wisdom for the pilot that only he could convey. The flight attendant stopped him close to where I was sitting so I could hear him trying to convince her that for the good of the passengers he needed to tell the pilot that it just wasn't safe for us to take that plane. After some convincing on her part that the pilots would take care of it in the safest possible way, she kindly ushered him back to his seat. Well, after some time we were again cleared for take off. I guess the third time is the charm. We finally took off and the flight was uneventful except for Abby.

She was good until dinner was served. The smell of food was too tempting and she was able to wiggle out of the carrier. Bethany and I were half reclining and calmly enjoying the fruits of a business class dinner when Bethany spotted Abby sticking partway out of her carrier that was at our feet. She had freed herself to her middle and was beginning to scale Bethany's legs. I swung my food tray out of the way and was able to get her back in her carrier before anyone really noticed except the lady across the isle from me who wasn't concerned. We were able to finish dinner without any more appearances from Abby, but I was afraid that when I tried to sleep Abby would escape unnoticed and cause untold problems. So Bethany and I began "Operation Covert Canine." When the lights were lowered for the night, I quietly took Abby out of the carrier and stuffed her under my blanket. It took a bit to convince her that she had to stay under the blanket but she finally settled down and we slept with her on my lap. When we began our final approach and everyone was stirring to re-stow their carry-ons and such, I slipped her back into the carrier and no one was the wiser. Thank goodness she is black and easily disappeared in the shadows of those big fluffy blankets in business class.

And so it was that we arrived safely in Frankfurt, albeit almost two hours late. We both look forward to a good and productive time in Germany.