Ainsley's a big sister!

Congratulations to John and Alexa for their new baby girl, Kathryn Elaine Eidam

Look at him...

He's too cute! My little buddy Jude is 3 months old!

A Simple Change

I just got finished reading the most beautiful love story ever...although, maybe it's not over yet. It was the story of Misty and Darren Leblanc. Misty lost her battle to brain cancer last night at 9:15. I have followed her story every day for the past several months. I went to Messiah College with Misty and Darren and while I did not know them very well at all, they have inspired me and so many others more than words can express. Their love towards each other, their love towards others and most of all, their love towards God was indescribable. You'll just have to read a bit of the story for yourself.

So, I ask that we all make a Simple Change in lives (me included)...

• Hold someone a little closer today
• The people you love...tell them. And, go beyond that and tell them why you love them
• Forgive someone and stop holding so many grudges
• Stop criticizing others because you never know what may be going on in their lives and more importantly, their hearts
• Find the simple things in life that make you happy and remind yourself of those things often
• Find the good in life that each day holds. And, even if something bad happens today, find the best in it. There's a reason for EVERYTHING. And, you can find something good out of every situation (I'm going to work harder on doing this personally).
  
• Be passionate about life
• Don't say you're sorry unless you mean it (I couldn't imagine doing something like that!)
• Be thankful
  
• Touch the life of another (Pay it Forward concept)
• Follow Jesus Christ...following Him does not always make life easier, but He forgives ALL sins, loves unconditionally, and will give you a peace beyond all understanding.
  

P.S. Please keep Darren and his 20 month old daughter, Olivia in your prayers.

And, one more,,,

Yea! Danaun and Lisa got engaged over the weekend! I'm so excited for them. Danaun is my great running buddy. Matt and I have grown close to Danaun and Lisa over the past year. We appreciate their friendship. We're so happy for you guys!

Congratulations to...

Luke and Mindy

Kim and Graham for the birth of their baby girl, Natalie

Mark and Jamie for the birth of their baby girl, Ava

The Weimer Boys

Rob and Kathy were our dear neighbors for 4 years. They moved last Fall and while they are only 10 minutes away, we sill miss stopping over every day and kicking our feet up together and telling each other about our days. On our wedding day, Rob and Kathy told us they were expecting their first child, Price! Matt and I love that kid! He's so funny and he's just the sweetest kid in the world! Well, Rob and Kathy just gave birth to twins in late July....William and Wyatt. So, here are the three beautiful Weimer boys.

I want to be a LOSER, do you?

I'm so excited, my favorite show, BIGGEST LOSER, is back on and I'm going to play along this year. Who's in? I don't have any ideas yet on how this is going to look, but if there's others of you out ther that want to play along, let me know. You can e-mail me at jessica@pavelko.org and we'll figure something out. Suggestions are welcome!

Two Fast Weeks...

What a great two weeks! Boy, did they fly by! Mattias is quite energetic, but most of us know that already. Gosh, we had so much fun together!

So, to give you a little recap here on the rest of our week...

Thursday we went into Grace's school to see Kim Lansinger (she's married now, but I forget her married name). Mattias and I sat in Grace's class for a bit and then took a quick tour of the school. We also got to see some of Grace's friend's artwork. When we saw the art teacher, the art teacher came running over and said "Are you Grace's parents?" Mattias put his arm around me and said "Yes, we are very proud of Grace." Then we just laughed and told her the truth. Hahaha...Grace resembles Mattias so much too! After walking around the school, we sat in at a jazz class, which was very interesting. Later that day we grabbed a bite to eat at Luciano's and then headed back to Barnes and Noble to go through a few books. Afterwards, Mattias wanted to try out Lancaster Brewing Company. Notice Matt's creative shot! Love it! After grabbing a beer, we went out to Tobias Frogg again for more wings and beer. A few friends met up with us there.
Friday was a bit dreary outside, so we spent most of the day indoors. Mattias is quite passionate about serving the homeless, so my dad arranged for us to go to Water Street Rescue Mission to have a tour of the Mission. It was quite amazing...I have been there several times, but it ceases to amaze me every time. I'm better at holding my emotions in these days, but a few tears slipped out. One guy that was living there shared his story with us and how he has been clean and sober for 14 months. We both shook his hand and congratulated him. After our tour, we went to Prince Street Cafe (one of my favorite cafes downtown) and then went to see Matt's school. We had the privledge of seeing Matt teach a class of first graders! It really was too cute. Matt is absolutely wonderful with those kids. Our favorite part of his lesson is when he sang "I love Dr. Seuss" on his guitar with his kids. Mattias even has a recording of it. Maybe I can somehow get it onto the blog. I'm sure Matt would love that! :) We returned back home to rest a bit. My dear Renae (my 10 year old neighbor buddy) came over and Mattias had the chance to get to know her a bit. We propped up our feet and relaxed for the afternoon and then Mattias taught me a few salsa moves. I knew a few already, thanks to Latin Funk, but it was fun applying a few of my steps. Does anyone know of any local place where you can take salsa classes? After my salsa lesson, we stepped into the kitchen to make a few of our own creations...yummy apple crisp and homemade ice cream. Later that evening, we just met up with some friends at Annie Bailey's.

We slept in on Saturday and then went up to Harrisburg to see Our Body with Nick and Kerri. Great exhibit! We walked around Harrisburg for a little while and then Matt and I took Mattias to Duke's on the Water (used to be the GMan in Harrisburg). After lunch we took a little drive, visited Sam Lewis State Park and then enjoyed our last evening together at Valentino's and Marion Court.

It was time to say goodbye on Sunday. I'm never very good at saying goodbye...especially when it comes to saying goodbye to my best friend who I only ever get to see every few years. We always have so much fun together. Fortunately, I don't think it's going to be another four years until we see each other again. And thank goodness for internet and phone, we still talk several times a month. We spent the day in Philly and had to get a cheesesteak before he left (which, by the way, I started a diet yesterday). We walked around town for most of the day and then we took Mattias to the Philly airport where we said our goodbyes. Both of us had tears in our eyes and then after he walked away, my flood gates opened up. We had a great time and I wouldn't have changed the past two weeks for the world! Talk to you soon buddy!

Life in Lancaster County

Ah...we're having such a good time but the week is flying by way too fast! Not a day goes by when we don't have a heart to heart conversation or we find ourselves bending over laughing so hard it hurts. We have found ourselves playing games each day too...little things like favorite this or that or what we're thankful for and/or proud of in life. We always strive to pull out the best in the other.

As far as what we've done the past day or so. Tuesday we went to Valentino's for breakfast, sat around the house and talked for a bit, walked downtown to see Mrs. Armstrong and then walked around market, and then came home, made brownies and took them over to my parents house for dinner. Mattias had the chance to play the piano a bit and see my sisters again. We all shared a few laughs as always and then later that evening Mattias, Matt and I watched August Rush. Great movie!

Yesterday, I had an appointment in the morning so, I dropped Mattias off at the mall until I was done. After that we went into Lititz and walked around...visiting Wilbur Chocolate Factory, Cafe Chocolate and walking around the quaint shops. Later, we stopped by Cherry Hill Orchards for a fresh peach (so yummy) and then picked some apples (I think we'll make an apple pie today). After being out in the sun for a while, we decided to go somewhere a little more shaded, so we stopped by Susquehannock Park. Great times! Mattias and I had a great talk, as always. Somehow we can talk to each other in different ways that we talk to most people. We always have great conversations with each other! We have so much to learn from the other. As we walked back to the car, I found this great big hill and said "hmm...looks like a nice hill to roll down." He said "what are you thinking?" And of course, I ran over, layed down, and rolled down the hill. He did the same. We laughed until we cried and had grass stains all over us. I felt like a kid again and loved every second of it. After that, I decided to teach him a few other games and again, we fell over laughing (quite literally). On the way home, we stopped by and picked up a case of beer and some corn on the cob and then grilled some of the leftovers from Friday night. Trevor came over too. It was a nice layed back evening.

By the way, I have to mention...I'm so proud of my hubby...he rode 34 miles on the bike yesterday! Go Matt!

New Things...

Today was filled with new things! Mattias and I started off the day by walking downtown to try out a new cafe off of Chestnut Street. Gosh, I don't take enough advantage of living downtown. It was nice to take a walk a few blocks away to have breakfast in town in this quaint little cafe. We sat outside and it was a beautiful morning. After that, we took a nice little walk around town and then came back to the house and chatted a bit. Later we stopped over to visit mom and then packed up and headed to Lake Grubb. Who would have known there was a beautiful big lake right here in Lancaster! It was really gorgeous (by the way, Matt and I found it by accident the other day). It's my new 'relaxing' spot in Lancaster. It must be the best kept secret in Lancaster.

After taking a walk around the lake we stopped by Caruso's for a cheesesteak. We stopped at home to say a quick hello to Matt and then headed back out to the mall to do some shopping. Our first stop was for me at White House Black Market. It's nearly impossible for me to go to the mall and not walk into that store to try on some of their latest fashions. Love that store! After that, I decided that I wanted Mattias to experience Coldstone Creamery. Yum! We sat outside and shared a cup of Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate Chip. Later on we went over to Barnes and Noble to pick up a few books to read. After spending a good hour or two in the bookstore, we finished the evening off with wings and beer at Tobias Frogg. It was a great evening outside and it was the first time I ordered wings. Mmm...

My two favorite boys...

Good times...

I decided to have some old friends over from High School to see Mattias again. It was a fun evening and it was great to see everyone again. Time flies...I can't believe it's been 10 years since graduation. It's always nice to catch up with old friends.

He's back!

Mattias arrived yesterday at 2:15 at the Philadelphia Airport. It was funny because I didn't have my glasses on, so I barely noticed it was Mattias until he was practically right in front of me waving his hand. We both dropped our stuff and ran up to each other and gave big hugs. It was so good to see each other again. We kept giggling...we couldn't believe we were seeing each other again after 4 years! I, of course, brought him some Oreos and Fritos and he brought me some yummy chocolate from Sweden as well as this yummy mustard (guess you have to experience the Swedish breakfast to know what I'm talking about). We were going to head down to Philly to get a cheesesteak, but Mattias was pretty tired and we figured we would just lay low for the afternoon/evening. Instead, we stopped by Wendy's, which is his favorite fast food restaurant and took a nice car ride home through the country roads catching up. We have so much to catch up on! I needed to stop by the corn wagon for some eggplant and Mattias decided he would get a tomato. He said their was nothing like the tomatoes here, so he bought it and immediately bit into it like an apple. It cracked me up! So happy he's back! There are a lot more posts to come...he'll be here for two weeks and I'm sure we'll take some adventures while he's here.

Catching Up

Sorry, it's been a little while since I've posted. A lot has gone on the past couple of weeks. Here's naming a few...

1. Steph and Brent's beautiful outdoor wedding in Pottstown2. Nissley Winery with friends
3. Dad and Grace's bday celebration
4. Orioles game with dad and his 3 girls - if you can't read our shirts it says Happy Birthday Dad. My creative sister Carrie made the t-shirts for us that night. We had so much fun wearing those t-shirts!
5. Vance and Jenn's wonderful wedding
6. Book study with Jenna (and Jude too) - we're reading Boundaries together...great book!