Sweet Sunday Love

I've written about how DH and I met once before... but a dear reader has asked to know how we met... It's very simple and sweet. We met at church. My good friend and yardsale buddy, Mary had decided to take on a boarder to help make ends meet. She had done it in the past and with electric rates in Maryland taking another 86% jump, she felt that she needed a cushion.

She put the word out with her friends from a few other churches in the area... she was looking for a male boarder. It took about 3 weeks for her to get someone. John had called her and set up a meeting, but didn't make it. He called her again, and rescheduled, but again didn't make it. The third time, she just about turned him down cold, but he explained that he had gotten called out to work both times and didn't have her number with him when it happened. He asked her if he could come over directly then to see the room and talk with her. She told him, ok... come now!

He went to her house, saw the room, and sat and talked with Mary and her husband, Rob... telling them about his job, and how he needed to find a place quickly. He moved in that night. He even had a good deal of his things in his work truck. That was on January 9th. On January 13th, he came to church with her. She introduced us at greeting time... he had a nice smile. I looked like a wreck, I had been crying... my Dad had died the day before and I was grief-stricken.

Mary invited me back to her house after church... she cooks a great breakfast on Sunday morning... we always went to the early service. So... I went to breakfast. We had pancakes and bacon and eggs... she makes great buttermilk pancakes! And we sat across from each other and started to talk. We talked for 3 hours, in between eating, doing dishes, and figuring out what to make for dinner that night. I finally went home... did some stuff around the house and got ready for the week ahead. I do remember that Mary had mentioned coffee house at church the next Saturday... I asked John if would like to go and he said, "Yeah... that sounds like fun." So I made arrangements with him to pick him up on my way.

Mary had given John my phone number... but he misplaced it. So... I asked if I could have his number... she said she'd ask him, and he said it was fine. He had gone out of town for work... and was staying at a hotel somewhere up in PA. I called him on Wednesday night to ask him if he still wanted to go to the coffee house... he was excited about that. So... on Saturday, I stopped at Mary's to pick him up... and we went to the coffee house to enjoy the music. We had a great time, we even danced in the Conga Line! After, we went to the Double T diner for a snack. We talked for a few more hours and realized that we needed to get home to sleep so we could go to church in the morning. I made it to early service... and he was there. I sat next to him... and then went to Mary's for breakfast again. We got "grilled" about coffee house and how the evening went. It was fine... we had a nice time.

Later... over the phone... I learned that John loves theatre... and there was a small theatre company in Annapolis that had a production under way... while I was on the phone with him... I went and booked tickets... We had our first official date scheduled for January 20th! It was no big deal that I did the booking... and we went out to dinner first. John was still feeling uncertain, because he didn't have a lot of money at that point... I told him, "Look, if this is going to work, You're going to have to relax and enjoy the evening... I asked you out... and I have no problem paying... there will be other nights that you can pay for... if this works out."

He relaxed, and enjoyed the evening... which was really a huge interview! We discussed so much over dinner... and while waiting for the play to begin. And it was a magical night... we ended up having the best seats in the house, we had a great dinner, and I brought him back to the house for a quick introduction to Nolli... who barked at him at first and then settled right down. We also had our first kiss that night... and we knew that something special was about to happen... that God was doing a great work. In the days ahead, we would each seek and receive confirmation that we were each whom God had intended for the other.

That's Sweet Sunday Love.... in it's truest sense!

Thanks for reading... be blessed!

~Suzanne

Our Fun Afternoon!

It is a rare thing that DH gets home from work early. He was due home by 11 but made it home by 12:30. So after a quick bite of lunch and a shower, we were out the door to a new adventure.

We headed West on I-80 and I drove... because poor DH always drives and never gets to really look at where we are going... and he had already driven 160 miles yesterday.

So off to Lewisburg, PA we went... We hadn't ever been there and I've heard great things about the antiques and downtown area... we weren't disappointed! It has a charming downtown area, it's home to Bucknell University and wonderful hospitality.

We drove through the university campus... beautiful, spacious and clean. We both said if we were young, this is the kind of college we would want to attend.

Then we drove through downtown... didn't end up stopping because I was on the phone and didn't know where to stop and kept on driving! (Next time I am stopping and strolling through downtown.) We ended up at Roller Mills Antiques... that was great fun to go through and there were some interesting things in there... but decided it was a little bit pricey!

We hit another antique mall that we past on our way into town... it was great and the prices were good and we will be going back there again. I can only imagine what it's like on the weekends in summer for Farmer's Market as well!

We did pick up a few things...

I have been looking for some glasses to use as juice glasses (they don't sell juice glasses anymore!) I discovered these little Fostoria glasses that will work perfectly! ($3.50 a glass!)

I love depression glass and I love sherbert glasses... I have a little pink one of these and wanted to move it with the rest of my pink depression glass and this will make a nice addition to my little shelf above my kitchen sink... again, perfect! (it was only $4!)

Lastly... we like oil lanterns but we don't have many. In this part of the country, it's a good idea to keep a few of these around... and this one is Not an Antique, but it is a good size. It was also on sale if we were writing a check... so it ended up being around $5.50.

Oh... I mentioned that I got my haircut 2 days ago... You may want to adjust the screen... or even look away! Here I am in all my glory last night after a full day of play! (I told you it was really short... and look at all the gray hair!!! Yikes!)

I told you it was bad!

Thanks for reading... be blessed!

~Suzanne

Date Night

We went out two nights in a row for dinner. Friday night, we went to our new favorite Chinese restaurant... got the same table and the same server. She is such a kick in the pants and she did remember us. We both had the same thing... Cashew Nut Chicken and the best pork fried rice ever. We ordered a side of boneless BBQ pork... that was sooo good and came with a side of teriyaki sauce. I will have to refrain from placing a large order of that next time we go!

Last night, it had been such a rainy, windy day... and I was wanting mexican food. We were just going to run up to the top of the hill and go to Taco B(h)ell, but I wanted chips and salsa. So... we ventured out to a little cantina up on the west side of Hazleton (the big town that lies east of the valley we live in.) We weren't too sure about what we found, at first. It was located in the midst of a residential area, on a corner and the outside lighting was out. We went past it at first, went around the block and came back. We found a place to park and followed a party of 5 inside. The first thing we were asked was, "Do you have a reservation?" DH replied that we had looked them up on the Internet... they said it would be 20 minutes for a table. When you enter... you come in to the bar area directly. I asked if we could just sit at the bar... and the bar tender said that, "Yes, of course you can!"

That was a really smart move to do so.... the service was great. He took the time to find out about us and that we were new to the area. The food was good and just enough for us. DH ordered a beef Cantina Burrito and I ordered a beef Tostada and a cheese Enchilada. It was yummy... and after I took off the olives from the enchilada, DH finished that. We had pumpkin cake for dessert... it came with both whipped cream and ice cream. (Oh, and the chips and salsa were really good... we had seconds on those!) Our dinner check came to $25.00 for all the food and drinks and dessert. We will definitely be going back... and we will make reservations.

And when we came home.... we pulled into the parking pad to see our resident doe and her half yearling slowly walking across the grass to the bridge to go back into the woods. Not sure if someone put out dear corn or apples... but they usually don't go up towards the road like that. We sat in the car and watched them feed down by the water... I love where we live and it was a great ending to our date night!