As is consistent with our summer thus far, our schedule this week kept us busy. This week in particular though, we were reminded of why we like St. Louis so much and what makes our community here so special.

The Move
On Thursday, Amanda's friend from home, Chelsea, flew in for a visit. No sooner had she arrived than an opportunity for Amanda and Heather to get free furniture also presented itself. Clay, a good friend of ours, recently moved to Seattle to do VS and before he left, he told Amanda and Heather that he had a plethora of free stuff for them. But since the items (a futon, coffee table, TV, etc.) weren't likely to fit into our little Honda Civic, Amanda and Heather's free stuff sat waiting. However, Thursday night, a truck was offered to them and they took it. And that's how Tiffany, Heather, Amanda and Chelsea ended up in a St. Louis suburb at 9:30 at night, feeling our manliest after hauling and loading furniture for an hour. It was more work than any of us anticipated (especially poor Chelsea who had anticipated a relaxing evening after traveling all day) but we did eventually get everything home. And now, though it looks like our house is an indoor garage sale, Amanda and Heather have a lovely little start for their apartment.

The Weekend
Our weekend was filled with St. Louis classics. We started on Friday with a Muny show which was fantastic and fun. We followed that treat with another: frozen custard from (where else?) Ted Drewes. On Saturday, we took Chelsea to our local farmers market, a great love of ours, and ended the day with a free concert at the Arch. On Sunday, of course, Chelsea got to meet some of St. Louis's finest: the St. Louis Mennonite Fellowship. Our church has been doing summer "Olympics" for the past few weeks and this Sunday the event was giant Dutch Blitz. It was an injury-laden good time. Though the Yellow team triumphed (the Green team however, is in the lead overall) everyone went away smiling...even if they were also limping. We spent Sunday afternoon with friends we invited over for a barbecue lunch and then a movie. We used some of our Ed/Rec money to see "Mamma Mia." Truthfully, our absolute and total elation over the greatness of this movie is just mildly embarrassing. But if you ask us about it, don't mock us for falling in love with this exuberant, flamboyant, brilliant, masterful, beautiful, bubbly movie.

Isn't It Nice?
Yes, our city is great. There are funky little places to eat and play like the City Museum or Blueberry Hill and old classics like the Muny that are always brilliant. But what we like even better than the fun we find in the city, is the family we find every Sunday. We might run into them (literally) during an "Olympic" event, or we might be invited over for dinner during the week. We might discuss church doctrine or social issues in Sunday School or talk about mundane VS financial issues. We might offer to babysit or be offered free furniture. Whether we're sharing their joy, pain, panic or possessions or they're sharing ours, it is the fact that we are together throughout that makes sharing seem natural. And that's what's so nice about St. Louis.