Is this a blog?

“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." Hebrews 13:15

OK, you may have thought we abandon you, it has been awhile since our last blog, but just like the Lord, we will not leave you.
I will start where we left off…
After a wonderful few days with Lance and Palm family we headed for Nebraska. We reached Omaha just in time for Sean’s bachelor party. Then we spent a week in Lincoln with Richard, Sean’s brother. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to see Jordan’s parents, sister and brother. From there the hitchhiking continued through South Dakota and into Minnesota and Wisconsin. A few nights with Jordan’s teammate Liz and her fiancé Jeff were relaxing (notice a wedding theme anyone). Then the 4th of July was spent with more AmeriCorps friends in Chicago (thank you April for your hospitality). A night in New Lenox with Naz Farm friends and it was off to Michigan (which happened to be the best hitchhiking state yet!) Our first MI night was with Brandon and Taylor in Grand Rapids. Then a few quick rides and we were in Gaylord.
Whew…
What a great time having all the family together. Our first weekend was Blissfest (blissfest.org) a wonderful folk music festival that my family has frequented for years (dad is even on the board now). It was a really good festival this year and great to have everyone with us, my parents, my brother and Ashley and their son Logan, Jeff a good friend from high school, Courtney a childhood friend, and Brandon and Taylor even came up for the festivities. Jordan even saw Seth and May (musicians) for the first time.
The rest of the month (or 23 days as mom and dad will say) was spent wedding planning, playing and spending time with those we love. We helped my Grandma Garthe move and hiked around the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore a bit. My dad took us to Mackinac Island for a day and found some sweet bike paths through the island. Mom made us some delicious meals (and I made some too) and don’t forget dad’s salads each night, here is the recipe:
1.) Find big bowl(s)
2.) Add 2 scoops cottage cheese in each
3.) Rifle through farmers market basket for all vegetables, cut up into small chunks (i.e.
radishes, pea pods, carrots, tomatoes, onion, green onion, strawberries,)
4.) Rifle through fridge/cupboards for other salad items, cut into small chunks (i.e. olives,
pickles, croutons, sunflower seeds, walnuts, dried fruit, canned beets,)
5.) Use up entire container of items if they cost less than $1 each (“I mean if the bag of
croutons only cost 87¢ I think we can use them up in one sitting”)
6.) Yell to each person in the house about each item (“SWEET LYNNIE ARE YOU SURE
YOU DON’T WANT ONIONS IN YOURS?” “JORDAN (pause) BEETS?”)
7.) Mix up a few instructions just so they appreciate the work you are putting in also you can
say things like, “Well tomorrow you can make your own salads”
8.) Wash some lettuce (try to remove all slugs, but hey those vegetarians need more protein
anyway), tear into pieces and add to bowls

Overall (and besides the rainy/gloomy weather) it was great to be home and see everyone. But all good things must come to an end (unlike bad things which never seem to end, I’m talking to you ‘War-in-the-Middle-East’ – 9 years?!), yesterday we left for Nazareth Farm. Thank you again mom and dad for letting us use your car for two weeks (I will be going back to Gaylord on the 12th for the Raatz/Grosser wedding!!) It was an eleven hour drive (including stopping in Toledo for Indian food). We arrived and dinner was waiting- tasty black bean burgers, corn on the cob, green beans, etc. etc.
Now we are all settled in (Jordan is in the workshop making a boat to race in the creek). We are really looking forward to the time we will spend here on the farm and will be telling you about it as we go. The Nazareth Farm website is www.nazarethfarm.org and I suggest just checking it out to get an understanding of the organization we will be working with, it is truly unique.

Thank you for your prayers that have brought us to this point.
Please stay in contact, below I have added our mailing address (not a P.O. Box) and feel free to call us but the iphone, without service, has become a fancy watch, just leave a message and we will check them when we are in service. And we can always be contacted via this blog or facebook.

Jordan and/or Jessie
Nazareth Farm
RR-2 Box 194-3
Salem, WV 26426



Peace and Love,
Jess and Jordan

Come see us at the farm!