it was a wonderful weekend! full, busy, tiring – but so great! I got to go to PA to see my family. Dave and I were going to drive, but when we saw that tickets only cost $44 for one way, we realized it was the same price to FLY as to drive. the heck with day-long drives, we said!

we flew into DC Saturday morning. the flight was only an hour long, but the drive home was almost 2 hours! any airport we fly into is at least an hour and a half from where my parents live, so that’s not actually all that bad… we were just laughing that most of our travel time came from trips to/from the airport.

Dulles is an easy airport to fly into – we just exited the plane, took a shuttle the main concourse and walked out the front doors. we flew Independence Air for the first time and had a blast. seriously. it was fun! the airline has geared its marketing toward younger business people (my age, it seems), so there were a lot of traditional things done NOT so traditionally. the safety announcements, for example, were done by a comedian on the way out and by an actress on the way back. our flight attendant going was a youngish man who goofed off the entire time. =)

so, from the moment we got to my parents’ house until the moment we left for the airport EARLY EARLY Monday morning, we didn’t stop going. =) it’s good to be home, but there are so many things to do, so little time to spend with the family!

Saturday was mostly spending time with each other (but in a busy way). we all had to catch up, Dave had to teach Leah some algebra II, we sang through a bunch of songs to figure out what to sing the next day in church, etc. later in the evening, we pulled out Melissa’s digital recorder and recorded some songs. our family sings together – my Dad’s family has done this since before I was born, and he carried the tradition into our home – and we took the chance to record some of the music that means the most to me – the music I grew up hearing and singing. afterward, we ate dinner cooked by my chef grandfather, then watched Porco Rosso. exhausted, we went to bed at midnight or so.

Sunday, we sang in church and Melissa got to give a talk about what she’s been doing in Dallas – that church is supporting her missionary work/schooling there. after church, our Sunday School class had a picnic for us (the Woodrums) and invited all of our friends from the church. it was wonderful! we got to spend just a little time talking with the people who mean so much to us… it was over much too soon, though.

Monday, we had to get up at 5am PA time, which is 4am ours… and if you know me, you know how I feel about mornings. =) but our flight left Dulles early, so we had to be there early.

ugh, Dulles! it’s a horrible airport to fly out of! it makes me so grouchy I’m ending my sentences with prepositions! the airport was designed so well that every single person flying out has to walk through the SAME security checkpoint line. which means that the line is seriously almost an hour long. I can’t imagine what it would have been like at peak times. grr.

but even though the line was SO long, things went smoothly. we made our flight, we got picked up in Indy and taken to our car. David made it to Taylor in time to teach his two afternoon classes, and we made it home with just enough time to eat then pick up our apartment enough to have folks over.

this morning, bright and early, we left for Anderson. Dave has an 8am class at the seminary there, so I dropped him off shortly before it. then I drove on to Indy for work. now, there’s only one question on my mind: when do I get to sleep? =)

today’s featured filter: Elmer Fudd. =)

I’m better! thanks to those of you who wished me well – I’m feeling comparatively great, and not far from normal. let’s just hope now that David doesn’t catch whatever it was that I had. =)

lots of things going on lately…

1. got some RAM online and have installed it – it works beautifully! I’m now chugging along at twice the speed and with no clipping-skipping-buffering issues. thanks again, Mike!
2. friend Steve’s birthday is today, and we’re going to a cookout tonight to celebrate. will be a blast – I’ll post pictures as soon as I get internet access again. which brings me to the biggest news of the weekend…
3. I get to see my family tomorrow! Dad had to take a class in DC this past week, so he, Mom, and Leah flew in last weekend. Melissa is flying from Dallas and Dave and I are flying from Indy to meet up this weekend. our church back home is going to have a lunch for us and has asked us to sing in the service, and we’re celebrating Daddy’s birthday. it’s going to be a great weekend – I’m so excited about seeing my folks. it’s been since the wedding since we’ve all been together, but with three of us in Hawaii, one in Texas and two in Indiana, the chances we have to all get together are few and far between. I can’t wait! the only downside: the flight out there is a 7:30am flight, which means that we have to be at the airport at 6:30am, which means we have to get up at 5:30am so we’ll be ready to leave downtown for the west side… and if you know me, you know how much I like to sleep. =)

I’m really enjoying being here at Taylor… I wondered if I would, not knowing any students. we’re a complete generation removed, so all of a sudden I’m fitting in more with faculty than with the student body. it’s alright with me – I’m a little too old to be hanging around with 18 year olds, anyway. =)

went to chapel today – the place from which I work closes during chapel hour, so I really didn’t have much choice. I enjoy chapels (most of the time), and it’s good to be a part of a body like this in a more real way than just attending dinners and working from one of the academic buildings.

some things never change – the Sammy boys still carry on the way they did while I was here, and the chapel opens with a praise band whose mics are pumped so loudly over the speakers that a) the balcony speaker was cracking and b) you can’t hear yourself (or any of the other hundreds of people in the room) singing. ah, well. =) such was/is Taylor chapel life.

I like the “new” campus pastor. he’s been here for four years, but this is only my second time hearing him (the other was a prayer at a funeral). he obviously loves the students and plays to them quite a bit as he speaks. they seem to very much enjoy him, as well. I like that – while I was here, there were two campus pastors, but neither stayed, and neither were as open as this man.

okay… onto the pictures. I have a few camping pictures up online at my photo gallery. the blurry ones were taken by Dave, who accidently had the camera set on manual focusing instead of auto. we’re working on getting the others from the Gardners. enjoy!

camping was a blast. we had such a good time with the Gardners! we’re already talking about another trip soon, and I’m feeling inspired to just take David camping a couple of times before the end of the summer/warm fall… we just have to get one of those little two-man tents and we’re set. we can take our grill and charcoal (like we did this weekend), and we won’t even need firewood.

we drove down to this place called “Clifty Falls” (sounds like someone ran out of creative/good state park names before they got to this one), which is right off the Ohio river. the namesake of the park, the Clifty Falls, turned out to be an impressive rock shelf with an UNimpressive trickle of water falling from it. our site was wonderful, however – right next to water and the restrooms, but not near enough to smell them from our tent.

some pictures (our pictures, that is – Jason took more than we did, and it’ll be a while getting them from him) will be posted soon – tomorrow – as soon as I can get to my camera. we haven’t exactly completely unpacked yet. =)

good day today, too… last night I went to bed sore and tired (at 9-something) and this morning I woke up feeling great. (oops… just realized I had my music up high enough that other folks here can hear through my headphones. I hate being rude like that!)

we went to Anderson this morning because David has class there at the seminary and because we’re short a car this week. a GC/U-town friend’s grandfather died last week and the funeral is today in Michigan – her car broke down a day or two after she got the news, and they’ve been a one-car family since her husband’s car’s engine died a month ago. the least we could do, we felt, was loan them a car to make the trip to the funeral. they had other options, but our car was free; it was nice to be able to do something at a time like this to make things easier for them.

so, we went to Anderson and I worked from there. went to chapel with David and the seminary students/faculty – it was interesting! some things are the same in church services, no matter where you go, but some things are really different. I found myself checking the bulletin several times trying to figure out what to do – stand up, sit down, silently reflect, say something liturgical after the scripture is read – it kept me on my toes. =) free lunch after chapel, made by Dave’s Dad (thanks, Dad A!) was tomato soup – it was good to have some hot soup in a building that cold!

on the way out, Dave and I stopped by the library to figure out the wireless network stuff so that if I come with him again on a Tuesday, I can work from the school. today, I had offline things to do, but next time I may not.

yay for doing things outside with friends! I love this summer. camping, canoeing, a cookout next weekend with Anne and Russ and our Indy/GC friends… life in Indiana is good. =)

it’s a slow day, and boy, am I grateful. I’m tired. =) this weekend was so much fun. it was hard, though, too, in ways I didn’t expect.

the shower that my mom and sisters had for me was amazing. it was luau-themed, so everywhere you looked, there were bright colors, flowers, leis and drink umbrellas. they decorated the tables with sarongs they’d bought in Hawaii and very colorful plastic fish trays holding nuts and goldfish crackers. there was so much food, and there were so many games and so many presents – and most importantly, so many people! it seems like everyone who’d ever meant something to me (in PA) was there. the folks I’d grown up with at church, the parents of my high school best friends, family friends and teacher colleauges of my mother’s… plus all the husbands of those women (who spent the evening snacking in the kitchen instead of doing girly things in the luau room). Mom and Melissa took tons of pictures, and as soon as I find the cable to my camera, I’ll upload some of them to my wedding photo gallery (which is, I know, slim right now. hopefully these pictures will beef it up).

the whole time, there was a video camera aimed at me – my dad couldn’t come because he’s in the process of moving to Hawaii (Mom is joining him this week to look for a place to live)… but he sent presents to the shower with us, so having that camera running meant that he got to “see” me open them.

Jim and Jessie came for the weekend to see Dave n’ me – they brought a most excellent black forest cake (made from scratch by chef Jim) and (drumroll, please)…. they brought DDR. Dave and Jim (and now Jessie!) are DDR fiends, dancing up a sweat and pulling out 180 combos like it’s nothing. I was almost inspired to dance myself, then realized that people would watch. Dave and I are going to get some pads and the game (I just got my PS2 yesterday) – I’ll learn then. =)

…

it’s less than five weeks to the wedding! that’s quite the shock to realize. that means in just over a month, we have to have everything done – and even scarier than that, EVERYTHING is about to change. that floors me, and almost makes it hard to *do* anything I know I need to do. don’t worry, Dave, I’m not getting cold feet or thinking any other such nonsense – I’m excited and ready for this! but the changes we’re about to experience, if you sit and think about them, are staggering. what a huge commitment!

so, recap: luau, miss my Daddy, pictures online soon, yummy cake, sweaty boys, AH! I’m getting married!

lots of visits to the site the last couple of days… some from funny searches:

• “Marty Songer JoAnn Rediger”
• “exfoliate your lip”
• “tara church”
• “girl butt photos”

what is it with this butt thing? =) I guess it’s my fault for posting about that search in the first place – now search engines are finding that post about the first search and referring folks to my blog. one wonders why I fall so high on the list, though… interestingly enough, I shared the first page of hits on that search with the dooce, a blog I sometimes read that really doesn’t have anything to do with rear ends, either.

…

so, I’m at my parents’ house this weekend. my dad’s in Hawaii, so things are a little different than usual. my mother’s much more strung out – tired and stressed and missing him. the house is messier (just a little bit, but I can tell). I miss him.

spent the day running errands and the evening watching my fiance and his friend Jim (who’s visiting *us* for the weekend while we’re visiting my *folks* for the weekend) sweat like crazy (Dave sweats in a heart shape when he really gets going!)… Jim brought over DDR (Dance Dance Revolution). tomorrow, I may get some video and post it of Jim going nuts on the harder levels – he’s pretty great at it. my kid sisters love the game, so they were all in on it while I was hanging with Mom for a little bit.

tomorrow’s going to be busy – lots of prep to do for the shower/party (so many more people coming than normally come to a wedding shower), and I’m in charge of food. then, I have a meeting with the lady who’s doing our flowers, then I actually have to *go* to the shower.

ooh… gotta go. Jim’s modeling a Brewers jersey – I don’t wanna miss this. =)

we’re about to head out. I’m finishing my last couple of hours of work (well, eating lunch right now) and then we’re off. it would be raining today… I’ve been wanting it to rain all week, but it’s just started this morning. and it’ll follow us to PA, too – it’s going to rain there all weekend.

the shower last night was fun. Mom A (Brenda) took a few pictures with my camera, which I’ve posted at our aukerman.org gallery in the “Dave and Tara’s Wedding” section. it was relieving that I knew some of the people there… but I was well aware that they were there and gave such wonderful gifts because of how much they loved David. =) Dave seems amazed that people gave us some of the things that they did – but he would. he’s always surprised that people adore him.

lots of hilarity about a maglite – who knew that flower vases, silverware drawers, and lampstands could all be related to maglites?

great cake – it was made by the lady we’re hoping will make our wedding cake. if we can ever reach her. =) the punch was AWESOME – strawberry sorbet & some kind of 7up or ginger ale, with lots of cut up strawberries floating around. yum!

we got the 90′s Trivial Pursuit and played a game last night. very fun – I love Trivial Pursuit! thanks to the *two* sets of folks who bought it for us. =)

http://www.daskeyboard.com/

I want one of these. =)

…

in other news, I’m going to be like a truck driver this weekend – living on the road. tonight, I have to drive to Anderson for a wedding shower. tomorrow I go somewhere called Rising Sun, Indiana (far away, I hear, but I know nothing other than that) for a conference for work. tomorrow night, I drive to Pennsylvania for bridal shower weekend extravaganza. then, Jim and Jessie are driving to see US after we drive around and run errands on Friday. then, Sunday, we’ll drive back to Indiana.

this weekend was good. it was great to see my family again – I always realize how much I miss them when I see them. same with the folks at church – I have a good life out here, but I always find myself wishing I could stay longer when I’m standing there with them after church, with only a few short moments to catch up and say goodbye again. I wish everyone lived closer – I don’t often wish I’d grown up in only one place, but at times like this, I envy David for living in his hometown (even his home state!).

anyway. here’s a weekend recap. =)

Friday:

got up blessed early and spent the entire day driving. there was a lot of traffic because of construction – on 70, 79, 68 – on every highway we traveled on. I took some fun pictures as we drove – you can see them here. a couple of the pictures are of an evil housewife who was cussing us out and flipping us off because she couldn’t get around us before the construction. =) we instigated, I must admit, by not letting her butt in – we didn’t deserve the horrid display she put on in front of her teenaged daughter, though.

I would just like to take this opportunity to tell you why I will NOT be a housewife. disclaimer: this applies to modern housewives. housewivery was a respectable occupation for a woman in my parent’s days. but today… today’s housewives have this club where you have to be evil. here is an excerpt from the rulebook:

• you must not engage yourself in gainful employment. if you do, you’ll be worthless to the cause because you’ll be doing something meaningful with your time and won’t have any unrelased rage. remember, stored-up angst is the key to this movement’s success.
• you must drive a minivan or suv. no other vehicle is suitable for bullying surrounding traffic or wasting gas. you must waste gas because you don’t earn the money that buys it. you must bully traffic and cause jams because you have to release your pent-up aggression.
• follow no traffic rules. if someone tries to make you, cuss loudly, gesture widely, and finish with a flip-off flourish. then, if possible, tailgate them.

but I digress. =) the rest of Friday, after the drive, was great. saw the fam, watched a movie (Shaolin Soccer – so fun), put together all the little plastic boxes, played with this blog and posted some images to the gallery.

Saturday:

spent most of the day out – went to Sam’s Club to buy the Skittles and granola bars, went to Starbuck’s, went dress shopping for Melissa and Leah in this super-crowded, TINY David’s Bridal, met friends for dinner and had ice cream afterward. when we got home, everyone collapsed. we played a round of progressive rummy, then the last hand of that game several more times (I won all but the last 3 of 4, I think). Dave and I stayed up filling the boxes with Skittles, then went to bed exhausted.

Sunday:

church – it was really good. my sister is going to be a missionary/Bible translator with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and this Sunday was her commissioning ceremony. she gave her testimony – told the church things we didn’t really know about her struggles with faith and her walk as a Christian. I’ve never been prouder of her. =) my little kid sister is grown up – an eloquent, well-rounded, level-headed woman who has a purpose and is taking the steps of faith to meet it. it was a neat experience, being there.

after church, we went to lunch with family friends and spent some time talking. had to leave all too soon – then we were back on the road, going the other way. the place where we had come to a standstill and the evil housewife accosted us was backed up for miles and miles in the other lanes – we were certainly relieved to have missed THAT horror. we’d only spent an hour in traffic there, and those people were going to be there for much, much longer.

I’m glad to be home. I passed out last night – fell asleep while watching Ocean’s Twelve – the first time in AGES I’ve not finished a movie. I just couldn’t stay awake. it was hard getting up this morning, but I’ve got energy now. I’ve spent some time during my lunch hour posting this mammoth of an entry and organizing the side bar and links. let me know what you think of the new layout/features. =)

this weekend Dave and I are traveling to PA in the new Honda. I’m looking foward to it – both to the trip and to seeing my family. pictures shall follow.

I’ve been working on the wedding website – it’s a trip. I found some really obnoxious photos of David and myself and used them all over the site. I figured that if people go (to find out where we’re registered and to look up maps and hotel info), they’ll appreciate the chuckle. we’ll see. those of you who read this blog should let me know.