This past weekend, Derrick & I took a few days off to head up North for a little vacation. We spent 3 wonderful days enjoying some peaceful relaxation! Thursday was spent in Petoskey. We were both impressed with how nice this little town was. Our first good impression was with our hotel. If you ever plan to spend a night in Petoskey, look up the Apple Tree Inn. Service was friendly, rooms were nice and clean (and not too old-fashion looking...that's always a plus for me!), and it was competitively priced compared to other hotel in the area.
After checking in, we headed downtown...they had many great shops, a nice walkway down to the pier that headed out to Lake Michigan, and nicely kept-up landscaping along the streets and in the parks. It was a great spot to start out weekend! On Friday, we headed to the town of Harbor Springs. This is a peacefully quaint harbor town. We walked the streets doing a lot of window shopping. We stopped to have lunch at a great sandwich shop, and grabbed some dessert afterwards at a cookie shop. (It seemed like we did a lot of eating during our weekend...oh well, gotta sample the local favorites!)
Friday afternoon, we hit the road again and rode up along the shore of Lake Michigan for a while. Before we turned to head east to Mackinaw City, we made a quick stop to get some fresh air at a roadside beach.We made it to Mackinaw City late afternoon on Friday. We checked in to our hotel, and then headed out to walk the shop-lined streets and play some mini-golf in Mackinaw City before calling it a night.
Saturday was our day to head to Mackinaw Island. We hopped the ferry in the morning, and spent the day on the island taking a carriage ride, walking the streets, taking a bike ride around the island, and exploring. Our weekend away made us realize how beautiful God has made this world...even the places that are close by that we sometimes take for granted. We were refreshed by our peaceful and relaxing getaway!
So, I was talking with my sister yesterday, and we were discussing books, and what makes a good book. For me, in order for me to consider a book good, it needs to do 1 of 2 things for me: 1. It needs to make me cry. I consider this to mean that I've connected emotionally to whatever the book is about. And, face it...every girl needs to have a good cry once in a while :o) 2. I need to have an "ah-ha moment", or a "hmm, interesting" moment. What I mean here is, if I'm reading something, and the statement or sentence or paragraph sticks out to me...causing me to reach for my pen and either underline or make some mark by it. My most recent "good book" has been The Shack by William P. Young. There's been a bit of discussion floating around town about this book. I'll admit, there were some parts in it where I found myself questioning whether or not what I've read is something I can believe (for a lack of a better word). But, overall, I really enjoyed this book. I found myself underlining or marking something up quite a few times. And, there was one particular chapter where I just bawled.....good book :o) Thinking back, one of the earliest books that I deemed as good books were anything by the author Lurlene McDaniel. Anytime those book orders would get passed around the classroom in elementary school, I would page through the 4 pages in search of one of her books. She would write about young kids (basically elementary/middle school/high school age) who had cancer, or some other type of disease. Call this some type of preparation that God had for me! I still think that was His way of exposing me to a small view of what a life dealing with cancer was like. As I think back right now, a little lump is forming in my throat. It's amazing how you don't think of something for quite a while, and then when it surprisingly pops in your mind again, triggered by some little thing, it stops you in your tracks a bit. Hmm...anyways...I haven't read anything by her since probably early middle school. I'm half-way tempted to pick one of her books up again just to read it from my post-cancer-experience point-of-view...just to see how it is. But, I'm a little scared that the read won't be quite as good as I'm remember them to be when I was young. Maybe I'll just leave those books for that time in my memories. Some other books that I've read that I consider good books are My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult, and Experiencing God by Henry T. Blackaby. This one is more of a devotional/bible study book. But, when I read through it back in that time of my life, it was truly life changing! When I read a good book, I quite often finish it quickly...cuz I'm so hooked! Needless to say, I find myself in search for my next one!
Apples are Derrick's favorite! And, the buzz around town this past week was that Honeycrisp apples were going to be open for U-Pick this weekend, and probably this weekend only. So, Derrick & I planned that we would go down to Fennville to pick some! Well, this weekend rained...all weekend long. That didn't faze us, though...we had our minds set on getting some apples, and we were going to do it rain or shine. Saturday afternoon we gathered our raincoats and umbrella, and braved the elements. It was on the messy side...mud puddles everywhere, but everyone at the orchard was in good spirits. We walked away with 3 bags of apples!Since we were in Fennville, we decided to find a little gelatto shop that my parents had told us about. Since coming home from Italy, we each had a little craving for the delicious treat, so we were pretty excited when we came upon it! It wasn't quite like we had in Italy, but it was close enough!
I have grown up in Hamilton, Michigan...and have stayed in the area my whole life. But, one thing I hadn't done was to climb Mt. Baldy in Saugatuck. Yes, Derrick's family was a little surprised that I hadn't...since I had lived so close. Well, what can I say. I guess I take advantage of the 'local attractions'. So, last Sunday, we went with the whole family and climbed the infamous dune. And, it was kinda fun. Lots of steps, but a nice view of Saugatuck at the top, and an enjoyable descent down the dune on the other side. Instead of climbing back up the dune to head back down the steps to where we parked, Derrick's parents had known about a trail that took us back through the woods.After making it out on the other side back to the parking lot, we spent a few minutes by the channel. Low and behold, the sheriff boat came along. The guys knew one of the water patrol guys, and he invited us to hop on the sheriff boat with them. So, all 10 of us boarded the boat, and got a special escorted ride up and down the channel. Boy, did some of the people stare at us, trying to figure out why all of us were on the sheriff boat.It was a great afternoon, and I can now say I have been to and climbed Mt. Baldy!
Currently I am totally hooked on a particular beverage...Lipton Diet White Tea with Raspberry...I buy it in bulk! (Well, the 12-pack, that is) I first tried the regular non-diet version, and thought it was good. But, when I saw the diet version, I gave that a try, and it's just as good - tastes the same as the regular, with just a lighter taste. I don't quite notice the raspberry flavor in it...the best way I've found to describe it so far is that it faintly tastes like white grape. And, I don't taste a huge "tea" flavor, either (I'm really not a big fan of the unsweetened tea flavor...I always think it tastes like the grass soup I used to make with my sister when we were little) It also seems to be pretty good for you, too...well, not bad, at least! No calories, fat, carbs...only 2%DV of sodium. And, I can actually pronounce and know what the first 4 ingredients are! (that's always a plus in my world) I'm sure someone will tell me how it's not good for me, but so far, I'm excited about my new "healthy" find :o) So, I highly recommend it!! Give it a try, and let me know what you think...
So, I realize that I haven't posted anything as of lately... I myself know that when it comes to doing something routinely, I'm not very good at sticking with it for an extended amount of time, which bothers me sometimes. So, it's way past time for me to get back in the groove of doing this on a semi-regular basis :o) I can't say that I've been too busy...we've pretty much been relaxing and trying to enjoy what may be the last good ol' days of summer. Yes, it makes me sad to even say that, but after what the weather was like yesterday - chilly, rainy, barely reaching 60 degrees - it makes me realize that it is September, and Christmas will be here before we know it. We had a few highlights on our Labor Day weekend. Saturday we got out and enjoyed the beautiful weather by spending the first part of our afternoon doing a little shopping for bikes! Both Derrick & I have been wanting to get bikes all summer, and we've done our shopping around. However, the kind of bikes we want just happen to be the same kind that everyone else wants. So, needless to say, here it is the end of summer, and we still don't have any. Anyways, the other part of our Saturday afternoon was spent out on Derrick's parents' boat. We rode it out from shore a ways, turned the motor off, and just floated to where the waves took us. There were a lot of other boats out that afternoon. It was pretty neat to look out over the water, and see handfuls of sailboats floating around, too...it was almost like a picture (which, I wish I would have had my camera along, cuz I would have taken one) What a great day to spend on the water! Then, that night we went out for dinner with my sister & her boyfriend. Even though they've been dating all summer, we're just starting to hang out with them (you know how it goes, the two of them start "hanging out", then they officially begin to "date", and now they're bringing each other around their friends and family) But, we're excited to get to know Tim, cuz it sounds like he may be around for a while... Then it was Sunday. Church was great, but then when we got home, I started to get in a bad mood. Earlier that morning we figured out that our dryer wasn't working. (Like I said earlier, I'm not too good at sticking to a routine...which includes doing laundry regularly. I'll admit, I let it pile up until Derrick complains he's out of socks or underwear.) Derrick being the great husband that he is kept trying to get me in a better mood about our dilemma...he suggested so many other fun things that we could have done, but I think he sensed that the whole laundry thing was the dark cloud hanging over my head, so Sunday afternoon, we spent at the laundromat. Fun stuff, huh. We made the best of it by bringing along one of our favorite games, Five Crowns. One game of Five Crowns, six loads of laundry, and about $13.00 later, we were on our way home with four baskets full of fresh smelling laundry! Monday we both slept in a bit, which is a special treat for me...I have to work on Saturday mornings, which is Derrick's day off...so we don't sleep in together very often. Derrick's brother Jeff had washed up one of the big trucks from their work, and was going to drive it in the Labor Day Truck Parade, so we made our way downtown Holland to watch it. That afternoon was spent doing both of our favorite things to do: Derrick washed both cars, and I read my book. Then to finish off the weekend, we headed to the Brink family cottage to relax and catch up with some of the family in the summer quietness by the lake. We couldn't have asked for a better holiday weekend...God truly blessed us all by making it a beautiful one!
the huizenga's are a guy and a girl who met for the first time in 2004, fell in love, decided to get married two years later, and have been enjoying life together ever since
We made it to Mackinaw City late afternoon on Friday. We checked in to our hotel, and then headed out to walk the shop-lined streets and play some mini-golf in Mackinaw City before calling it a night.
