Amish Country

Last Tuesday I went to Amish Country with Nana, Aunt Roise and an old friend of theirs', Joan. Nana and I drove up on Tuesday afternoon after dropping the dogs off at the boarder's. It takes about two hours to get to Amish Country from my house.

Up there, in the country, you can breathe.The air is so clean and crisp! It smells like how the world should; cow poop, fresh breeze, cut grass, straw, and bread baking. The Amish don't use cars, instead they use horse and buggy. There are cars up there, used by tourists and the Mennonite community. Even with the Amish people not using cars you can tell a difference in the air! It is truly amazing. The landscape is very hilly and green! There are trees everywhere. I'm sure it's beautiful up there in the fall. The hills are covered in green grass or they are a field of something. White fences keep the horses and cattle in their space. Cute little houses are on the tops of the hills, over looking the valley. 

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We stayed in the cutest little place; The Inn at Walnut Creek. It was decorated very quaintly. Handmade quilts were on the bed and "shaker pegs" were all the way around the room. The view from the room was overlooking the valley. A few horses were just over the hill from us and I could see them from the window, grazing the night away.

For dinner Tuesday night, Nana and Aunt Rosie and I ate at The Der Dutchman Restaurant. The food is homemade and AMAZING! It's like grandma's cooking. The restaurant over looks the valley and from the windows you can see a wheat field. We watched the Amish men work in the field while we ate. When Nana and I arrived in Amish Country the men had just started cutting the field down, by hand, and by the time it was dark the field was completely gathered and stacked into piles. It was truly amazing. 

The next day we went to Yoder's Amish Home to tour how an Amish farm works. The family owns 116 acres and they still live on the property, but they don't live in the home that we toured. There are two houses that we toured. One was the oldest house on the property. It's called the doughty house, where the grandparents would live. It's a small, one bedroom house with no bathroom. The bathroom is an outhouse close to the garden on the side of the house. The sink is a pitcher and basin. The stove is an old wooden stove. It was so cool to see!

The second house was toured was the bigger house. It was two stories with five bedrooms. This home had a bathtub like we have and indoor plumbing. The kitchen was HUGE compared to the doughty house. The upstairs was all of the children's bedrooms and we got to see the kind of clothes they wear. The picture below is a picture of little boy's shoes in the boy's bedroom. Everything that the Amish have is super clean, super neat and in order. Even their shoes! 

These two are Percheron yearlings. I quickly made friends with these girls.

The second thing we toured at the Yoder's farm was the barn! The barn was my favorite part in the whole tour! There were horses, pigs, goats, chickens, a calf, a beagle puppy, kittens and cows.

There were two young foals, only months old, with their mothers. The horses were Percherons. They are so big! I know that when I get a horse I'm going to get a Percheron. They are so massive and thick, but so gentle. Kind of like a Great Dane is! 

After we were done with the barn tour we went for a horse and buggy ride. Our driver was an older Amish man named John. I got to sit up front with him and Nana and Aunt Rosie sat on the back bench. He asked me if I liked horses, if I rode and if I owned one. I told him that I love horses and that I had taken riding lessons, but sadly, didn't own a horse. He paused, then asked me if I wanted to drive! Of course, I said yes! So, he handed me the reigns and I drove a horse and buggy! It was so much fun. I grinned so hard I thought my cheeks were going to fall off! It was probably one of the best moments of my life. John was an extremely nice man and I am thankful he trusted me with his horse. He told me after we stopped that the horse had only been pulling a buggy for six months. He trusted me with a new horse! How crazy is that?! 

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After the amazing buggy ride we went to the school house and learned about how the children go to school. It's a one room school house with one teacher and she teaches all the grades. The lady we spoke with taught Kindergarden to 8th grade. She brings one grade up to the front and teaches them, then she sends them back and they work on their "homework". The next grade comes up and she teaches them, then they return to their seats and work on their work. It goes like that all day and the students don't take any work home with them. It's really smart and quite amazing. I learned that the Amish don't go to college because they don't need a college education. They work in the fields or with their hands all their lives, so they don't need a degree in anything. 

Eventually we had to leave the farm and we went to lunch. We went to Der Dutchman again, just because it's so good! After lunch we went to a metal shop called Windell August. They make so many amazing things out of metal, like things for your table, or for your wedding, baby things, holidays and jewelry. I got to hammer my own lighthouse onto a thin sheet of metal. It was really fun! Check out the website for more on what they sell and if you have the chance go and see how they make their items. When we went there wasn't anyone there to show us, but we still got to see all of the artwork the workers had made.

Our last stop of the day was Pleasant View Furniture. Everything in the store is made by Amish men and it's all hand carved. That place is amazing and the furniture they have will blow your mind. There are rocking chairs right inside the door to the right, at least three dozen different ones! I love rocking chairs and was in rocking chair heaven in that store! Of course, they make and sell other things, like dressers and tables and cabinets and highchairs. Anything you would need to furnish your house, they have it.

My time at Amish Country was so much fun! I really enjoyed learning how the Amish people live. The simple lifestyle is really what I want. Being around people that lived that way encouraged me to see why we should live simple and how much fun it can be! Of course, I would have air conditioning and a car, but who needs a computer or a TV? All you need is the Lord, family and the outdoors. 

Big Changes in a Little Time

This past month has been a whirlwind! I feel like I have been running around, not stopping and not even having time to breathe. I moved out of my apartment in Kansas City, with the help of my little brother Luke and Nana, my grandmother. It was a long couple days loading the suburban up with all of my stuff, leaving only enough room for Chance and Luke to sit in the back. We had things stuffed in every open area we could find! We drove from Kansas City to Galena, Ohio in twelve hours, including all the stops. I was pretty impressed with the team work I had with my family. We did such a good job. One of the main reasons we hustled back to Ohio was because I was picking up Trinity the next day!

On Friday, May 24th I drove two and a half hours to Hillsboro, Ohio to pick up Trinity. Nana, Tyler and Luke came along with me and I gave them directions for when we first saw Trinity. I read in one of Cesar Millan's books that when you're picking up your puppy you need to make no eye contact, don't touch and behave like you're the pack leader. Pack leaders do not go up to the lower members of the pack and greet them. The lower members of the pack come up to the alpha dog. I wanted Trinity to know that all humans were above her; we were her pack leaders.

We arrived at 3PM to pick up my new puppy. I finally met Zandra, the wonderful woman who raised Trinity for me and I finally met my dog! Zandra came out and opened the door for Trinity to come meet us. She was very shy at first, but I waited until she finally came up to me. When she did, I bent down and let her smell me, then I picked her up and allowed Luke to pet her and meet her too. Zandra and I signed papers and then, finally, Trinity was mine! Zandra said goodbye to Trinity and then I loaded my puppy into the car and we made our two hour ride home.

Meeting Zandra for the first time

Finally holding my baby 

Zandra saying goodbye. It was a bittersweet moment

The Countdown Begins

Not too much longer and I will finally get to bring Trinity home! I'm going to be leaving Kansas City, May 24th and I will be picking Trinity up the next day! I have almost everything prepared for her arrival. Only a few more little things I need to get so I will have everything she needs. Look how much she's grown in the past month, let alone how much she's grown since she was born! Only eight more days until I get this beautiful pup!

Trinity (on the right) and her sister, Daisy (on the left)

The Significance of a Yellow Butterfly

My mother passed away June 30th, 2009. Finding out that she passed away and how I reacted to the news is a very long story and for another time. Yet, I want to write about the little sign that God allowed me to see the weeks after my nightmare came true.

A week after my mother passed away, I was extremely numb and I was extremely angry with the Lord. The question of my heart was, 'Why God? Why did she have to die?' People understood that I was asking that question and the answer was always the same: Your mom is in a better place.

That answer was probably the worst thing that I heard in the months after Mom's death. I hated hearing that from people. I understood that Mom was in a better place and in heaven with Jesus, but I didn't want her in heaven. I wanted her here, on earth, with me. In my mind, God had not answered my prayers for Him to heal her. Even though, in a way, God had answered my prayers! Mom had been in so much pain and God took her to be with Him, to be free of pain forevermore! I did not understand this at the time though and every day I begged to have her back.

God heard my pleas and my cries even though I was extremely angry with Him.

One morning, when I was taking Chance out to use the bathroom, I looked over to the small flower bed and saw a bright, yellow butterfly. I knew that the butterfly was a sign from the Lord that Mom truly was okay. I saw that same yellow butterfly for a whole entire week! Every day, without fail, no matter what time of day, I saw that butterfly in the flower bed. It was a little drink of water of love from the Lord. He gave me that drink, even though my heart was bitter and angry toward him. I will never understand His love toward me.

Ever since Mom passed away I wanted to get a tattoo in a memorial to her. I got a tattoo on my right thigh of two elephants with their trunks interlocked and a yellow butterfly at the bottom. The elephants are significant to me because they are my favorite animal. Another reason I got elephants is because the female elephants stay in a herd together all of their lives, while the males go away and form their own herd only to return to breed. The bond between female elephants is extremely strong and they mourn when one of their family members pass away. I love that aspect of the gentle giants.

The tattoo is not quiet finished yet, but once I get enough funds I'm going to finish it. I have about five hours of work put into what I have finished so far and I'm guessing about another two hours will need to be put in to finish it. It will be mostly black and gray, but the butterfly at the bottom will be color and the flowers at the bottom as well. There are a few flower pedals throughout the tattoo that will be colored too.

Since the artist is in Kansas City and I'm leaving, I won't be able to finish this piece until next January after the OneThing conference. I'm okay with that though because this piece is so huge! Doing a tattoo on a huge part of your body takes you out for a few days. I will be sure to update everyone as soon as I get the tattoo finished. I may post a picture of it healed too, because the picture to the right was taken the moment I got off the table. Super fresh!

The butterfly is a reminder that I will see my mother again, and that God is extremely faithful, loving and compassionate! Seeing a butterfly lets me know that the Lord truly loves me and cares for my aching heart. Having this tattoo on my thigh is a constant reminder of that, but nothing beats seeing the real creature fly by on a day you don't expect.

20th Birthday Celebration

Sunday, May 12th was my 20th Birthday! I had an amazing day that started out with me refereeing a football game for my friend. Adam, Chance and I went to the football field around eleven o'clock and we sat outside in the sun for a while, waiting for all of the boys to show up for their game. It was so much fun to boss a group of thirty plus boys around! 

My best bud, Adam

After the football game Adam, Chance and I went to go pick up Lily. Chance and I waited in the car while Adam ran in to get her and change his clothes because we were planning to go hiking after we picked up lunch.

Chance's face as he waited for Lily

We drove to State Line Road and picked up Chipotle for lunch! We got three extremely yummy burritos and then drove to Minor Park. We ate our lunch at the park to kill an hour before my hiking party. 

 

The hounds staring at Adam and I while we ate

During lunch my burrito fell apart and I asked Adam to go see if there was a fork or something in my car to eat with. He came back with a roll of duct-tape and said, "We can duct-tape a stick and you can use that!" I laughed my head off picturing myself eating Chipotle with a duck-taped stick. He thought his idea was genius! I thought it was ridiculous and decided to eat the extra burrito we'd gotten and save the messy one for dinner. 

After about an hour of eating, putting sun screen on and watching people my friends began to show up for my hiking party! 

Karlynn with her double glasses! Super cute

Leah putting my Nikes on to go hiking; yet she ended up using her flats

We hiked to one of my favorite places along the Blue River trail. It's a little beach area that is down off the trail. It's the perfect place for Chance to go swimming and the perfect place to sit and talk! 

Leah, Brianna and Dondria hanging out 

After everyone left Adam, the dogs and I went to McDonalds and grabbed a McFlurry and a sundae and headed back to my place for dinner and a movie. We finished the Chipotle and had ice cream while we watched Wreck It, Ralph. 

Tired pup on the way home

The tired pups at the end of a long, but super fun day!

I really enjoyed spending time with all of my friends, even though it was a hard day. Sunday was also Mother's Day and I lost my mother almost four years ago. She's with Jesus, but it was hard having to very big days meshed into one. I missed Mom, but I knew she was smiling down on me as I hiked and laughed and enjoyed the sunny day.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday really special!

Favorite picture of the day 

RAW

I want to start this post off by saying: GOD IS SO SMART! 

I have been doing research about the RAW diet for Chance and Trinity and ran into a woman who is all about keeping her dogs healthy. She told me about this website, Natural Rearing. I read every article on that website and got my mind filled with information! There are articles about the diet you should give your dog, the water you should let your dog drink and the truth about vaccinations.

The best article I read on that site was, Enzymes: The Master Key to Health. Though the writer is very big on "mother nature" and how "she" created the body to be a certain way,  this article opened my eyes to how the body functions and what cells do! God is so smart to create our body this way, and it isn't just our bodies, but it's the bodies of all the creatures that He created!

No "big bang" could create tiny little cells that work together to keep a body functioning. I'm in awe of how God can create something with just a word! All the creatures that were made came into existence by a word spoken and all of their cells work perfectly! Yet, as humans we think we need to add all of these things to our dogs, cats, horses or whatever animal because "science said so". I understand that medicine is a good thing, but bodies are created to fight things off without the help of so many different medications. I believe that medicine is used when the body cannot function correctly, but on the topic of vaccinations, I think that we shouldn't pump our pets full of things to protect them. Their bodies can do that on their own. Having a little boost once in a while is a good thing, but not every year, all the time.

I understand that by law we have to get certain vaccinations for our animals, but I am going to continue to research this subject out so that I can make an informed decision about what I'm putting into my dog's bodies.

Now, on the subject of food! Ever since hearing about the RAW food diet for Great Danes, I've been reading about it and trying to understand it. Simply put, dogs in the wild eat raw food all the time from the prey that they kill. Lets say that a pack of wolves hunt and kill an elk. The first thing that the wolves eat are the organs, specifically the stomach and the intestines. They eat this part of the elk first because it is packed with everything that the wolves need in their diet; meat, vegetation and the vitamins found in the liver and whatnot.

God programmed wolves and wild canines to eat what their bodies need. Humans domesticated the canine and back in the "cave man days" the dogs who lived with the humans ate the scraps from their owners. They basically got the same thing that their cousins in the wild got; meat, vegetation and vitamins. (Believe it or not, a human as a similar diet to that of canines!) Then, as humans got more advanced in a sense, we began feeding our dogs whatever the vets told us to give them and in this day in age we give our pets whatever is best advertised on the television.


I have never looked at what is put into pet food until I started studying out the health of Danes. Learning about the process of bagged dog food makes my stomach turn. This article, Its in the Bag, gave me a clear understanding on how bagged dog food is made. Reading that article pretty much sold me on feeding my dogs a raw food diet from now on! I have heard many times that dog food is not as good as it seems, but I never thought it was that bad!

I plan on starting Chance on this diet as soon as possible, but I also plan on starting to treat myself better as well. Reading up on how the body works and what it needs to function makes me want to start helping my body out a lot more. If I want to live healthy, keep my body functioning well and not being so sick all the time I need to put things into my body that will help it function better. God created my body to run a certain way and I haven't been taking care of it very well. My body is the temple of God and I'm not keeping it healthy at all!

I really love how God moved on my heart and mind while I was studying something for my "hobby" in a sense. He has the funniest ways of encountering me and showing me that He loves me! I have been told by doctors, family members and friends that I need to "get healthy", but to me that was just working out and all that jazz. Now, I finally understand what they are saying! My body needs to be healthy if I want to live my life to the fullest, meaning functioning in the Prayer Room and eventually getting married and having children. I'm twenty and it's time to start getting my body healthy!

Updates and Announcements

Chance snoozing on my clothes while I tried to pack by bags. 

It's been a while since I've posted on here, but it has been a whirlwind recently! The first week of June I went on a ministry trip to Forest Lake, Minnesota. There was a group of 66 students from International House of Prayer University that went up and partnered with Crossroads Church to start a house of prayer there. It was such a wonderful time for me to grow closer to the Lord and to get a little taste of my calling.

Of course, Chance couldn't come with me so he stayed with our friend - Marilyn - in our apartment. They had a really good time together, sharing a bed and hanging out until the wee hours of the morning. He did really well while I was gone, which surprised me. There was only one problem while I was gone. Chance stole half a steak off the table... Oops... That just means he needs a bit more training, but we've been working on it!

Chance and Marilyn enjoying a non-alcoholic
pina-colada! 

Speaking of training, Chance has been doing really well with his process. During meal times he sits, quietly at my feet and looks up at me while I eat. Before we started training he would whine like nobody's business while I was trying to eat. He is starting to understand that I am the pack leader and I eat first. If he's quiet and sits still I'll let him lick my plate, but only if he behaves through the whole meal!

Our off-leash training is going pretty well too. I took him on a walk with our friends Adam and Lily (Lily is the Great Dane we had over while her owner was gone for spring break). Adam rode his longboard and Chance and Lily chased after him. Chance did really well staying close to either Lily, Adam or myself. That was until he saw some Canadian geese. Being a bird-dog, he did the natural thing - he chased after them. The poor geese had a nest with five eggs in it that they were trying to protect, but the Cocker Spaniel in Chance came out and he chased those geese until he was sure they wouldn't come back! Thankfully for those eggs, once we left, the parents came back. It was amazing to see his hunting skills come out, even if he did almost get hit by a car (yes, I about had a heart attack).

I'm very pleased with his progress in training because that means when Trinity finally comes home with us, she will know the rules and all she has to do is watch her older brother!

Trinity will be joining the pack Tuesday, May 28th! I'm extremely excited to finally pick her up and bring her into our family. She will be two months old on May 10th, but she is already growing so fast! Compared to her pictures in the last post, she looks like a totally different dog. I can tell from pictures that she is going to be a sassy little girl. I'm not sure who will be the more dominate dog in the pack. Chance is a grumpy little butt, but Trinity seems to know she's a princess. As long as they know I'm the pack leader, it doesn't matter who is the more dominate one!

Look at that sass! 

I'm thinking of having a welcoming party for Trinity a few weeks after I get her. We would invite all the doggies that are healthy and have all their shots (so that she doesn't catch anything) for her to make friends with! I want her to be socialized as much as possible for numerous reasons. One, she is going to be a big girl! Second, a lot of people are afraid of big dogs and I want her to be calm, mellow and allow anyone to come up and pet her or pull her tail!

The other day, I took Chance with me to get some pizza and a group of five girls were out front of our apartment. They were about eight or nine years old and they all squealed when they saw Chance. Of course, I let them pet him, but one of the little girls grabbed his tail - whatever stub of a tail he has - and jerked really hard. I was so proud of him because he didn't yelp or even turn around to look at her! His nose was going a hundred miles an hour, sniffing the girl's popsicles. I think Chance didn't mind because I have messed with his little nub since I got him. It just shows how well training does effect dogs and how if they are used to something, they won't snap or even growl. I'm really going to work on that kind of stuff with Trinity because I'm sure little kids will want to jump on her back or pull her tail. I'm also going to work on touching her paws a lot and having other people touch her paws. That's something I need to work on with Chance, but Trinity is going to be different.

MY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

In August, Trinity, Chance and I will be moving to Orlando, Florida to join the Orlando House of Prayer! 

The Lord really moved on my heart during my Life in Ministry class. He really marked my heart with raising up houses of prayer to worship His name 24/7. I started asking Him around the beginning of February to fulfill that marking on my heart. I didn't put that burning desire in my heart to be in a Prayer Room for the rest of my life! That is totally the Lord and I told Him that. I told Him this wasn't my dream until He put it in my heart and He needed to tell me when to move, where to go and for how long. That was when my closest friends here at IHOP - Martin and Kellie - told me that they were moving to Orlando to join the house of prayer there. Something started burning in my heart and I knew soon after that I would be moving down to Florida. 

Martin and Kellie

Sampson with his ear over Delilah 

I met Martin and Kellie this fall playing powder-puff (women's football). Martin was my coach and his wife, Kellie, was the team captain. We bonded quickly and they became my spiritual mentors and best friends. We're still working on the planning, but I may end up living with them and their two dogs, Sampson and Delilah. Martin and Kellie are still figuring out their positions in OHOP, but they are called to this ministry just like I am. I am truly blessed to have my best friends moving down to Florida with me. God knows my heart really well! He knew I would need someone to help me with this journey and He chose the two perfect people! 

The housing situation is really funny! We have been trying to find a house that will allow four dogs, with two of them being Great Danes. (Sampson is a two year old, black Great Dane. Such a handsome stud! We are planning to breed Sampson and Trinity in a couple of years, if everything works out. That is a long time from now.) We've been searching and searching for a place that will allow Danes, a boxer and a Cocker Spaniel. It's been difficult, but we found a potential place in Winter Garden, Florida. It's about fifteen minutes away from OHOP. Nothing is set in stone yet, but we're hoping the Lord keeps this place open for us because, believe it or not, they will allow four dogs! We're completely trusting the Lord with housing, but I really hope I can share a house with my best friends and their mutts! I'm sure I will get many blog posts from our adventures living in a house with four dogs. 

I am in the process of trying to sell some of my things and figuring out how to get back to Ohio. I'm going to be going back home for the summer to work three jobs and connect with my family. It's going to be a fun summer! I have a family trip planned to go to the beach - Topsail Island, North Carolina - in June and then I will be heading up to Cedar Point sometime in July for a five day trip. Cedar Point is probably my favorite place in the whole world! I'm excited to go spend time with my two brothers and watch my two cousins. I'm also looking forward to laughing with my favorite - and only - sister ever, Kaitlyn! I'll have to make a post about my family members soon! 

Until then, Blessings!