Ludington...Sunday

Andrew has a friend and former co-worker who lives with his family in Ludington. He hasn't seen him in a while, so we knew that we had to get together while we were there. 

His friend is now a pastor at a small church in a nearby town and invited us to join them on Sunday. They were also having a potluck after church. Church and food? Who could say no?

After a wonderful time of fellowship, they invited us to go see the house they are fixing up. It is an old house. Andrew has shown me pictures from facebook, so I jumped at the chance to see it in person. This is what it looks like on the outside.

Isn't it cute?

We had some time before we had to leave, so we headed back to town for some ice cream and a couple quick pictures before we left for home.

Shawn and Jen are both shorter, so their son wasn't too sure about being up to high on Andrew's shoulders!

We obviously had a lot of fun!

It's so great to meet people that I have heard so much about! Looking forward to being able to head up there again when it's warmer!

Ludington....Our Adventures on Saturday

Although it wasn't all that warm while we were there, we took a nice long walk on Saturday after breakfast. Our first stop was the marina.

It was still quite icey.

There are a number of statues here for the different industries in the Ludington area.

This is also the area of town that the car ferry docks. Since it is winter, it isn't running right now and has been docked for the winter.

While we were at the marina, we could see firemen spraying their hose. We have no idea what they were up to, but I caught a rainbow!

We continued our walk from the marina and headed for the beach. We got a view of the lighthouse.

We could have walked out to it, but the walkway was still icey and it was chilly by the water!

It was a great walk, but we were tired when we got back to our room, so we took a nap and took it easy until we headed out for dinner. 

Tomorrow...Sunday and seeing friends.

Ludington....Our room

I realized that I showed pictures of the Bed and Breakfast that we stayed in, but not our rooms. So, today's post is our room. 

It wasn't anything huge, but it was perfect for us. 

It had a number of older items, like this radio.

I especially like the old radiators. They reminded me of the ones we had at our last place.

We had our own bathroom, complete with this clawfoot tub.

The bathroom door also had this wonderful transom window.

That was our room. Nothing extravagant, but perfect for our weekend getaway!

Tomorrow will be our adventures...I promise! 

Ludington

This past weekend Andrew and I went up to Ludington for a little weekend anniversary getaway (since the 21st was our anniversary). We stayed at this great little b & b. It's called The Inn at Ludington. 

The moment I saw a picture of it online, I knew I had to stay there. I love old houses and have a dream of owning an old victorian someday. This house was built in 1899 by a pharmacist. It has some great character. 

You will have to wait until next week to hear about our adventures around town!

My Birthday!

Last week Tuesday was my birthday. Andrew had taken the day off work, so we had made plans for the day. I started my day off with breakfast in bed. 

Later that morning my wonderful sister and her youngest, Ruby, came over. She had brought coffee for me and Andrew and a card with a gift certificate to one of my favorite stores!

They also brought a picture that Alaina had drawn for me.

It's a picture of me, Alaina, and Ruby. I'm not sure why Alaina is the same size as me, but Ruby has to be so much smaller. 

After a quick lunch, we headed out for an afternoon of fun. Our first stop was Dave and Busters. Neither of us had ever been there before. It's like Craig's Cruisers or Chuck E Cheeses for adults. We had a blast!

Because it was Valentine's Day, they had a special going on. We each got a bunch of tokens to use on games and we got the most fabulous desert. They call this the Brookie.

It is a cookie surrounded by brownie with layers of ice cream and chocolate and caramel sauces in between. So yummy and worth every calorie!

For dinner we headed to Pizza Ranch to meet up with some friends. 

If you have never been to a Pizza Ranch, you are seriously missing out! It is a pizza buffet. They have salads, fried chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, and lots of pizza. So yummy! 

One of my friends had brought a couple very large balloons. We thought Oliver might be afraid of them, but he wasn't. He just wanted to chew on the strings. 

My wonderful husband also got me a gift. It might seem childish to some, but it was perfect for me.

They are large and rather flat, for stuffed animals, but work really well for a pillow and are super soft. Oliver likes them too.

It was a great day, filled with family, friends, and lots of love.

Old Books

I love history and reading. One of the most relaxing past-times for me is sitting with a good, historical (fiction or non) book. But, one step above that is buying an old book from an antique shop. There is not much better than that smell. I have numerous stacks of old books, but some of my favorites are old Bibles. Knowing that someone else used it and loved it, makes me love them all the more!

Spring!

I know, it isn't spring yet, but I live in Michigan. Winter is never ending! So, I have added a little touch of spring to my home. It isn't much, just some flowers in my table centerpiece, but it makes the cold, snowy days much more bearable!

And it's all thanks to Michael's!

More like home

We finally got our pictures hung on the wall. 

I know what you're going to say, and I know. We did move in back in October, but things got busy with the holidays and I needed the help and advice of my wonderful mom and sister. So, between our three crazy schedules, we finally carved out some time and got it done. 

This is hanging above the couch. I got the large "S" from Hobby Lobby a couple years ago and am so happy to finally have a place to hang it!

It took a bit of work to get this to all line up.

This was the sign that was used in our wedding. 

You might recall seeing it on my mom's blog in this picture:

Or this one:

Getting back on track....

We got these put up in the hallway.

And these in the dining room.

Meanwhile, Ruby was hanging out playing with some toys she had brought with her. Mom tried her hardest but it is very hard to get a non-blurry picture of her!

When she saw that I was eating an apple, she decided that she needed one too! Even doing something as seemingly innocent as eating an apple, she looks like she is up to no good. I wonder what naughty things she was contemplating.

We still have a couple things to get hung up yet, but it is very nice to have the bulk of it taken care of! I couldn't have gotten it done without mom and Laura! Thanks guys!