It is the most beautiful of days. The weather is perfect: 78 degrees, no humidity, a bit of cloud coverage and the most wonderful breeze. (not too much of a breeze though, enough that you feel it, but not so much that you couldn't play ultimate frisbee. :) ) We turned off the air conditioning and opened up the windows; (and the doors!) I love it.
...As you can maybe tell already I do not have that much to share, haha! I just thought that it has been about a week since the last post and since I was the first one to post, I thought maybe it was my turn again. So here goes, a random report on what I have been up to in no particular order.
This summer has been wonderful my friends. Already it has been filled with such marvelous times with friends both new and old, good conversation, lots of laughter, time spent outside, delicious food, and glorious weather. Last Saturday Hannah and I both ran in a 5 mile race through Lancaster City and it was spectacular. (I didn't know she was running it and it was such a wonderful surprise to see her!) I was a little worried because I thought the race was only a 5K and only found out it was 5 miles only when I returned from La Vida. haha Fortunately La Vida prepared me well and the race was not nearly as hard as I thought it might be. In fact, it was such a joy to run it! What a friendly and encouraging time as all of the little Lancaster people stood on their porches waving and cheering you on as though they knew you personally. It was really quite beautiful. It made me want to run in more road races. Maybe we should look for some road races up at Gordon to run in! That would be swell!
So this week has been filled to the brim with so many random activities. My older sister Leah and I have been doing some "landscaping" this week which has been going fairly well. We do it every morning from 8-12 for these people who are such a mystery to me. (The wife was vacationing in Africa, the husband is a lawyer, they have a "playhouse" for their children that has furniture inside of it and Claude Monet paintings on the wall! AND a loft! they have a pool that they aren't opening because no one swims in it.. they have a daughter at Harvard, a few beach houses, one with an elevator, etc.) My brother found them on craigslist (they were searching for someone to mow their grass) so we have been mowing their grass for a while now but never have we done anything else. This summer they were looking for some people to help out with some basic landscaping so my dad volunteered my sister and I which I am actually quite thankful for even if sometimes it feels long and tiring. Their yard alone is HUGE and takes about 12 hours to mow so you can only imagine how many flower beds they have! They said we could easily weed 20-30 hours a week, craziness! It's a really bizarre setting to me; somedays I feel like a little servant girl. haha (but then I remember how much they are paying me to weed and I no longer feel like one.) There is another older couple there who weed with us and their names are Fred and Ethel; they are 75 and 78 and SO dear. It is a pleasure talking with them; they have been working on this property for 20 years! It's actually a really nice blessing to work there and get to be outside. After La Vida all I wanted to do was be outside and now I get paid to be outside! Hurray!
So I weed in the mornings :) and then the rest of my days have been spent picking strawberries, catching up with friends, baking, hanging out in Lancaster, playing outside, etc. This was my last week before my babysitting job officially begins so I have been trying to soak up the afternoons as much as possible! Beginning Monday I will be babysitting until 4 everyday.
One of my favorite "events" (haha) that happened this week was GAME NIGHT on Monday. My friend Laura had a bunch of people over and we played whiffle ball! (as well as ping pong when it got dark) It was quite hilarious because Laura and I ended up being the only girls for a while so I was feeling rather intimidated knowing how bad my hand eye coordination is and all of that. BUT IT WAS SO FUN! And guess what my friends? I was dubbed MVP hahahaha I do not really know how that happened or how I was able to hit and catch the ball, but it sure made for a delightful evening. The weather was perfect and the sunset was breath-taking, such a sweet summer night.
Tonight we are meeting to play kickball and tomorrow I am going to the bouncefunplex with some people so it should be a good weekend! I start working at Rita's tomorrow morning and then babysitting begins Monday. If you think of it, you can pray that I would balance my time well, friends. Summer has been filled to the brim with many lovely activities and people but I keep forgetting to make time for just me and God, forgetting to make time for listening and noticing and being- all things that I need to do. I fear that things will only get busier as my other jobs begin and I have to make wise decisions as far as how I will use my time. I do not want to miss anything that God might have for me this summer; I want to be fully in tune with the Holy Spirit.
OH MY GOODNESS I CANNOT BELIEVE I FORGOT TO MENTION THIS!
----> This past weekend Zach came home to visit (he is working in New York for the summer) and guess what he brought home for me??
A BICYCLE-BUILT-FOR-TWO!!!!!!
I could not even believe it. Overjoyed, that is how I felt. I have wanted one for quite some time now but never really thought I would have one. The first time riding it was so fun I could not stop laughing. Zach and I rode it to church on Sunday which was quite the experience. (I was really proud of us for riding there and back... although we did have to stop and walk it up large hills once on the way there and once on the way back for it doesn't have any gears so hills are KILLER. When we got home my mom said "I think those bikes are only for boardwalks and flat roads" haha) I have it at least for the summer, Zach might take it back to New York with him in the fall but I guess he hasn't decided yet.. if he doesn't take it back, I am going to do my best to get it to Gordon and we can go on the best of adventures! Oh my goodness you girls would love it. It's red and lovely and has the COOLEST horn :) (AND a bell!) Maybe if I feel like taking the time later I will post a picture or something.
Ok.. this has gone on long enough. I need to go shower. I'm still pretty dirty from crawling around in the weeds today.
You all remain in my thoughts and prayers.
Much much love,
ashley
p.s. i'm glad we're doing this blog!
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