So Much To Tell

Last Sunday Scott and I and family left for Maryland. It took us about 9 hours. Virginia just seems to go on and on and on. Even though our trip was a long one it was good. It got dark as we were traveling and a full moon came out. The light from the moon lit up the surrounding farmland. It was beautiful! The family spent most of the next 3 days visiting, eating, and just all around having a good time. We went from house to house celebrating. I enjoyed my time immensely. It is always good to visit with family and make new memories.

After our whirlwind of Christmas festivities we decided to head to Ohio to take care of some house business. On Friday Scott and I drove around the area. We were in Rushsylvania and talked to some of the people that worked at Eversole's. (that is the market, deli, and gas station in town) One thing led to another and we ended up talking to Mrs. Eversole who happens to not only be the owner of the business but is also the village mayor. She spoke with us for I know at least a half hour. (We got many phone numbers and names from her that will be helpful when we begin building.) We were able to learn a lot about the village of Rushsylvania. If everyone in town is as friendly as she is then we will love living there!

On Saturday we were driving around the countryside and admiring the beautiful farm land when Breanna spotted two deer in a field. We watched them and they watched us. All of a sudden they started to run. I mean RUN. I was surprised at how fast they could move. Scott and I had noticed deer prints all over our land when we were out on it the day before. We went by Mr. Daniel Miller's house (the Amish man who will be building our house) but he was not home. We had tried visiting with him on our last trip with no success. (that is one thing about the Amish, one has to be there to talk to them, no telephones or computers) Well, we drove into the nearby town and thought we'd ask around and see if anyone knew him. Our thought was that maybe we had the wrong house. Well, we walked into a little antique shop and there were 4 Amish women in there. I was nervous but approached them to ask about Mr. Miller. They were very kind and helpful. We found out that Mr. Miller is a bachelor so he didn't have any family at the house...no wonder no one was ever home during the day! They suggested we go back around 7 or 8 to speak with him. I laughed when the older lady said, "if he's not there when you get there just hang around and he will show up." (I'm sure he'd not find it strange to have a van of 'Englishers' sitting in his driveway at night.) Long story short, we went back at 7. He wasn't there we left and so we went to the gas station and when we got back there was a flicker of light in the window. He was home! He was a young man, maybe 25? Black trousers, blue shirt and suspenders. He doesn't have the beard as young bachelor men don't have to grow one. (after marriage they grow the beard) He had a woodburning stove in his living area. Boy did it put off the heat. He had oil lamps for light....but Scott and I did find it interesting that he used a hand cranked flash light. (the kind people use for camping) It was amusing that he asked Scott how he found his house, "Do you have the GPS?", he asked. "Those are cool." It was a merging of two totally different worlds. He was a very nice young man. We liked him a lot and he really seems to know and understand all the zoning issues, and permits needed in order to build. He said he would put up our house, "not a problem".

We finished up our trip with a visit to Calvary Baptist Church in Bellefontaine. We really liked it a lot and I think that will probably be the church we will attend once we move. It is only about 15 min. from where home will be in Rushsylvania.

All in all we had a good trip. We were exhausted when we got home last night, but had spent a great week visiting family and working on the details to get ready to build the house.