a little spontaneity...

Sometimes it's the last minute and unexpected decisions that in the end turn out to be some of the best.  After such an amazingly wonderful, busy and sleepless trip to Cincinnati, Nick and I were both very slow to make a single plan for this weekend.  The result?  Many new Arkansas adventures checked off the list.  On Friday night we tried a restaurant called Powerhouse Seafood and Grill.  We've been hesitant to try it thus far because it always seems so "college" but since it is still summer break for the students, we decided to give it a try.  After turning down their only drink special of the night - The Kilowatt (aka water tower for all you Miamians or simply a lot of liquor masked by sugar), we had an amazing meal and fun time reminiscing about college.  We then met up with some friends at a new Fayetteville establishment, The Rowdy Beaver, for some drinks and live music.  Because we overslept on Saturday and missed the 8:30am spinning class, we instead headed to the Farmer's Market.  This has truly become one of my favorite things about Fayetteville.  Fresh flowers, fresh veggies, live music and fun people!   With my fresh basil, I couldn't help but spend Saturday afternoon making pesto.  My good friend Kate from Cincinnati gave me her recipe so I was super excited to give it a try.  While it looks like a small disaster occurred in the kitchen, it was actually very easy to make and very delicious!  

- 1 cup packed basil leaves

- 1 clove garlic

- 2 Tbsp pine nuts

- 1 tsp salt (I used even less)

- 1/8 tsp pepper

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- 1/3 cup EVOO

After a night of bowling, we woke up today and headed to Eureka Springs.  In the middle of the mountains, is this small, quaint town with tons of B&Bs, shops and restaurants.  Even in the 100 degree weather, we had fun walking around and enjoyed a great lunch on a balcony with live music, fans and misters.   

Smiling because I won..

can you really believe we went bowling?!

Butterflies were everywhere!!

View from the balcony of our lunch spot

So, in the end, not a single plan turned into a very spontaneous, relaxing and memorable few days.  I love these kinds of weekends.

Proof you can go home again (or for the first time)...

If I would have known how fun it is to come back home, I would have moved away a long time ago!  This past weekend Nicki and I experienced our first ever trip "back" to Cincinnati.  Nicki has many many experiences of taking trips back home as she hasn't lived in her hometown of Akron since she left for college.  For me, this was a first.

It's not like we had high expectations.  In one 2.5 day span we simply wanted to spend quality time with every family member, all of our friends, our entire church small group, some old work friends, play some golf, see Nicki's family and have an early 30th birthday celebration for Jen & Nicki in Columbus, go on a run with my brother, have a chance to visit our old church, eat at Deweys, Skyline, Green Papaya, Silver Spring House, Paxtons, LaRosas, Graeters, First Watch, and have a drink at the Winking Lizard.  I don't see what the problem was?

Mission accomplished (well - we didn't get to some of the aforementioned eateries but the secondary goal was to be allowed back on the flight without needing two seats).

The best way I can describe it, is that we left with our hearts filled.  Nicki and I heard a sermon a couple of weeks back discussing the idea of separating the things in life that bring short term happiness from those that provide true joy.  It is weekends like this that bring the kind of memories that bring true joy, and last a lifetime - or at least fill the gap for the next three months.

Nicki actually got her trip started early on Wednesday and Thursday.  Frankly I was tired just listening to what she had done in two days.  She was able to maximize each moment to catch up with great friends and the Cincinnati work crew.  These were some of the hardest people for Nicki to leave - so being able to spend quality time with them was important to her.  Based on the picture message I received on Thursday, I can only imagine a good time was had by all...

I was lucky enough to start our whirlwind tour of Burlington/Cincinnati/Loveland/Columbus by spending the night at my brother's house and spending the night with my niece and nephews.  Scott picked me up at the airport and we went directly (do not pass go, do not collect $200) to Skyline.  I spent the night playing all kinds of games with Ben and Abby.  We even 'got in trouble' by staying up too late - when Scott finally had to come down and tell us to go to bed.

Note the 'Life' game board in the background - I blamed my dramatically poor performance on having not played that game since I was 7.

Friday started with a 5:30 a.m. wakeup call for a run with my brother.  There is something about running with Scott - no matter the time, no matter the distance, a couple of life problems will be solved when we hit the pavement.  It was, as usual, a wonderful time for reflection and some looking forward.

Scott, my dad, Ray Moorman, and I braved the heat on Saturday and played golf during the day and finished up with lunch at Silver Spring House.  This was quickly parlayed in to a trip up to Columbus to celebrate Nicki & Jen's 30th birthday (a month early).  We were able to see Jen & John's newly renovated, and fantastically updated, home - and Dale and I even worked in a couple of Christmas ales at the Winking Lizard Christmas in July celebration.

Nicki's parents got her and Jen Build-a-bear Smurfs - in reference to their 1st birthday party which was a Smurf themed party.

I did not get a hat.

After breakfast at First Watch with the family on Saturday we ventured back down to Cincinnati - and were lucky enough to see a large amount of family and friends at a cookout at my parents house.  It simply couldn't have been better.  We had the entire day to catch-up, celebrate, and just enjoy being together.  It continues to amaze me how easily we fall back in to the flow of things with such great people.

My Aunt Rita's birthday gift was her first ever Razorback shirt.  In light of this, she was forced to learn to "call the Hogs" - woo pig sooie.

Moments to treasure.

I had asked Shane if he would perform a solo version of How He Loves Us to just me...because I love when people sing to just me...

The post grill out events involved a dinner at the Green Papaya with the McGowan/Cunio crew and the Dr's Robertshaw.  We then ventured to a local establishment and spent the entire night enjoying some revelry with a large group of friends.  It was the perfect way to round out a fantastic day.

The 'boat of sushi' is what happens when you don't get a chance to eat somewhere very often and you're not sure when you'll get it again

Sunday was even more amazing.  I had the chance to meet with a great friend for breakfast at Panera for some much needed catching-up.  Nicki and I were looking so forward to heading back to our church, and couldn't wait for Shane and the worship band to provide our fill of moving worship music.  As I should have expected, the whole experience was beyond expectations.

We ended the trip by getting to spend some quality relaxing time with my parents.  While they threw an outstanding event on Saturday - they were so consumed with being gracious hosts we didn't get a chance to really connect with them.  We went to Paxtons for lunch, drove by our old house, tried to play some basketball with our old neighbors, and then just talked for a while.

Needless to say we were a bit worn out and tired of eating by the time we got home.  But most of all we were happy.  Fayetteville is, thankfully, becoming our new home faster than we could have imagined.  We love the life we are building together here, but there is, as we found out this past weekend, something about going home that just feels right.

When just being normal is outstanding...

Nicki gets very frustrated with me because I like to treat the blog like a twitter or Facebook account.  If you don't have something to blog about, don't blog.  Now, that probably is not the best way to approach things - especially when you are trying to keep family and friends up to speed on how life is progressing in a place they all think is just short of off the map.  But it does prevent me from blogging about spending a night watching hours of DVRd Tour de France coverage...

That said, it hit me the other day as I was feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt about not posting for a week or so:  we have settled in to a sense of normalcy.  And that, in itself, feels great.  Certainly, that doesn't mean every day is not a new challenge, and that each and every 'event' is a chance to make memories in this surprisingly wonderful place cut out of Northwest Arkansas.  The thing is, after three months of being here it has been nice to settle in to a routine of sorts.  We each have been blessed incredibly to meet wonderful people since we've been here who have all helped us to settle in so smoothly, that exceeding expectations would be a grand understatement.

All of that said, we did have a couple of wonderful highlights over the course of the past few weeks.  First and foremost we got a visit from some friends from Cincinnati.  Mike McGowan and Lindsey Cunio are great friends of ours who made the trek to NWA over the 4th of July.  Lindsey is actually from Springfield, MO and the two of them are getting married there in October - so they cut out some time with us during a visit for some wedding planning.

We had a night in Fayetteville, and more importantly, we had an entire day on Table Rock Lake in Missouri with Lindsey's parents.  As both Nicki and I have expressed before on the blog, it is amazing to be apart from friends for an extended period of time, and then just settle right in to the flow like nothing had changed.  We had great conversation and enjoyed every minute we had together.  Of course, it was hard no to enjoy when you are surrounded by a beautiful lake and scenery.

Next weekend we are off for our first visit back to Cincinnati!  We can't wait to get back and see family and friends, and who knows...maybe try to eat at every favorite place we had in one weekend (LaRosas, Skyline, Deweys, Paxtons, Greaters, Nada, Green Papaya...I just don't know if we'll have enough time.

Oh...and one last point - as you will see in the picture at the bottom - we gave Jack a...well...lets just call it his summer haircut.  Needless to say it took us a bit too long to find a groomer - and PetSmart finally told us he was too matted to have 'groomed'.  So they brought out the razor and gave him an official high and tight.  We actually think he likes it especially given the 105 degree weather we've been having...but yes, he looks just a bit ridiculous.

Mr. and Mrs...

Last Wednesday Nick and I made our way to Akron to partake in the long awaited wedding week for Jen and John.  This was our first time back to Ohio since our move to Arkansas and also our first time seeing Jen and John since the move.  What a weekend!!  PERFECT is really the only way to describe it.  I will start with the wedding details because that's what everyone has been asking about.  First and foremost but to no surprise, Jen was the most beautiful bride.  The ceremony was at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, reception at Portage Country Club and Sunday brunch outside at the Hilton.  Lolly the Trolley, The Paul Otten Band, a horse and carriage, Swenson's late night food, LuLu Lemon Jackets....all were highlights of the weekend.  To prevent from writing a novel, I won't share all the memories, but one of my favorites was the song Jen picked to dance to with my Dad.  She started with a brief introduction with the background of why this dance would be so perfect for the two of them.  As many of you know, our Dad is quite handy and can make, fix, hang, build and design just about anything.  Having two girls, I think he knew he had to be creative for us to learn even half of his man skills.  The answer - Jen and I grew up thinking This Old House was the cartoon every other kid in the neighborhood also watched on Saturday mornings.  And so, Jen and my Dad danced to the theme song of This Old House.  It was awesome and completely surprised my Dad.

The other PERFECT part of the wedding weekend was our chance to spend time with family.  Mom, Dad, Sister, Aunts, Uncles, cousins, second cousins, in laws, second aunts and uncles... (without getting out the family tree, I can't keep up with the official description of the Freygang clan), friends and neighbors.  As we've shared with you before, the hardest part of our move to Arkansas was not having family even remotely close by.  This weekend was just another example of how much we appreciate and love the quality time of family and friends.  

On Sunday, while Jen and John packed their bags for St. Lucia, Nick and I packed our bags and headed back to Arkansas.  While I still haven't perfected the "goodbye"  without a few tears, we left knowing Jen and John had the most perfect weekend celebrating their new beginning as Mr. and Mrs. Young.  

Lifechanging - in a much different way

You know you live in a good city when all the life changing events take place in the mall parking lot.  Two weeks ago we were lucky enough to attend a David Crowder Band concert in the Northwest Arkansas Mall parking lot at a makeshift amphitheatre which actually made for an awesome concert experience with even better friends.

While that experience was one of the most impactful worship experiences of my life, our past weekend was certainly life changing - just maybe not in as dramatic of a fashion.

We decided that we couldn't pass up the chance to attend the 2011 Fayetteville Wingfest.  It is a conglomeration of the region's best chicken wing places all located in the mall parking lot in a 'festival' type atmosphere.  In all honesty I was just kind of longing for a good old fashioned west side church festival and this was about as good as I was going to get.

We went with Wormer and two good friends of ours from P&G (Dan and Kate).  The main 'action' of the night took place right away as we were talked in to trying the chicken wing that has won the "Hottest Wing" category for the last 5 years.  As you can see below - Nicki had her camera at the ready and documented the downfall of me eating the wing and then suffering its wrath.  It was, without a doubt, a life changing experience - meaning:  I will never eat that hot of a chicken wing again!

All in all we had a blast - it was yet another "Fayetteville" experience - and another chance to hang out with new friends at a new event.

Preparing for the festivities - this was less than 30 seconds before my life changed forever...

Note to self:  if they have to give you a glove to eat the chicken wing so that you do not get it on your hands...don't eat the wing!

The bite....

The recoil....

The aftermath...eyes red, swollen, mouth on fire, headache....yep...life changing indeed...

Your guess: did I just get done eating wings or finishing a bag of cheetos?

Jack was there to comfort us when we got back to the house...

We are off to the Freygang/Young Wedding 2011!  We can't wait to get to Akron to help Jen and John celebrate their wedding festivities.  It will be a great chance to catch-up with friends and family we haven't seen since we left, and of course a chance to grab a bite to eat at some of our favorite NE Ohio establishments.