Journey: A Year in Review

I can hardly believe it is time to look ahead to a new year, and to choose a new word. Before I explore that, though, I have a lot to be thankful for with the end of the "journey year".

Literal journeys this year added 5 new baseball stadiums to my places visited: Citi Field (Mets), Petco Park (Padres), Angels Stadium, Dodgers Stadium, and PNC Park (Pirates). I also added "on the ice at the Verizon Center" and "on the field for pre-game" at Nationals Park, PNC Park, and Orioles Park at Camden Yards.  I traveled with a new friend to see some old friends in California, and road tripped with Nats buddies to see the team, explore Pittsburgh and meet a new work colleague.

My journey this year also led through some tough decisions - some job opportunities turned down, some memories finally filed away in a place where they won't haunt me every day, and with mixed emotions, a new church home for me and the girls.

I've made some new friends and some amazing memories due to the power of social media. We've laughed together, cried together. Hugged each other in times of great family loss and those moments of baseball agony. Cheered until we were hoarse. Witnessed history live - no hitters and 18 inning marathons. Tried new foods, some which were fabulous and some I'll never touch again, thank you very much. We've made memories I will cherish long after 2014 has faded away.

And I've been challenged beyond what I remembered possible
* with a new organization to give my time in a more deliberate way
* with my kids - the hard questions have started
* with my writing - I tried to go 31 days straight (and didn't get there, but got further than I would have last year)
* with my heart - could I let someone close again?

So as I reflect on the end of the 2014 journey, it's been a great year. Hard times, but good ones. And even in the toughest moments of this year, I wouldn't change a thing if I could. Even the results from the playoffs. Because the agony of defeat makes the forthcoming triumph that much sweeter. The deliberate focus on the process rather than the destination has been excellent for me this year. The journey goes on ... I pray the intentional choices will continue... but as we cross over to 2015, my new word is WAIT.

I am excited ... and very nervous ... about what exactly that looks like in this coming year. Brave, grace, and journey have ALL turned out to be just what I needed. Apparently "wait" is what I need now.

Nationals Park Neighborhood Eateries: Justin's Cafe

Happy almost New Year! After a little side discussion, I am pleased to announce my first guest poster (and she's bringing a feature that will hopefully be a recurring guest post series until baseball season starts!) Meet Beth. She's one of my Nats park buddies, and she lives right in the neighborhood. The Nats Park neighborhood! She's been exploring the new eating places as the neighborhood grows. Since we are always looking for the inside scoop on the new munchies in town, the gang proposed that Beth be our Nats Neighborhood food critic. Only she didn't have a place to post her reviews. I am glad to share them over here - now we can all take advantage of Beth's knowledge and plan our next visit to the ballpark. Welcome Beth, and I hope all of you enjoy our tour of the restaurants around the ballpark. Hopefully we'll have a new post about once a week, and that should take us close to opening day. (Hurry up April! We miss baseball!)
~ Jen.

*Guest post by Beth Dahlman*

Justin’s Cafe

1025 1st St. SE

Opened: April, 2010

I’m going to start off the first write up in this little series with a disclaimer: I’m totally biased about Justin’s. It’s the only place that I’ll be writing about that was in the Navy Yard/Near Southeast neighborhood before we were. Eating there after we toured the condo we would eventually move into in August 2010 is part of what made Dan and I know we could make the neighborhood our home. We’ve met dear friends playing trivia there on Tuesdays. The checks come with our names on them instead of a table number. After dozens of pizzas and hundreds of pints of Racer 5 IPA there’s just no way I can be “objective.” But I hope I can be helpful.

Since it was the only sit down eatery close to Nationals Park for many years it’s probably the spot most familiar to Nats fans, but I couldn’t leave it off the list of places I was going to write about (due to all the sentiment expressed above).

For those of you who haven’t been, Justin’s serves an American food menu focused on salads, pizzas and sandwiches. Dan is partial to the buffalo burger and I always take a couple of the 5 Guys-esque fries when he orders one. But to me the pizzas are the standouts among the Justin’s menu (and offer the most vegetarian friendly options). They are “neopolitan-American” style with a crisp, chewy crust (the chew reminds me of a good bagel, though it’s way less dense). One is more than enough for one pretty hungry adult. Less hungry couples could probably split one and be fine. My standard order is the Wentworth plus arugula (if you could start ordering that as “The Beth” and make that a thing that would be cool). Drinks are focused on American craft beers. There’s also wine and a full bar but to be honest I can probably count the number of times I’ve ordered something other than a Racer 5 without taking off my shoes.

Go if you’re looking for:

• Fun, neighborhood atmosphere for lunch or dinner. It’s the “Cheers” of Navy Yard.
• American craft beer
• Pizza!
• A selfie with a MASN personality
• The chance to lose to my team in trivia on Tuesdays

You might want to skip if:

• Crowds bother you (a smaller space + being the only option for so long means the place can get pretty packed, especially right before and after Nats home games).
• You’re looking for a leisurely, traditional brunch. Justin’s has a tasty but limited brunch menu (and it’s not served on game days).
• You’ve got little ones in tow during prime time. While I’ve always found Justin’s warm and welcoming, I can see the seating situation and crowds of baseball revelers making it a tricky option for families when it’s crowded.
• You’re a strict vegetarian with a soup craving (most of their soups are made with chicken broth)

Time for a Change

This isn't an easy post to write... the big ones never are.  I have been wrestling with a decision for close to a year, and The Lord has finally made it abundantly clear what the new path should be. Honestly, at first, I didn't like the answer, so I resisted the change. I continued to ignore the gentle hints. I plowed ahead. But there comes a time when you just need to listen. And obey.

It has been our privilege and pleasure to serve with our friends at Temple Baptist Church for more than 10 years. Friends, you have supported our family through the depths of despair and on our hardest days. You have rejoiced with us in our best moments of celebration. You have cried with me, held me, brought us meals and studied God's Word with me. You have loved my children and watched them grow. You have changed their diapers and wiped their noses; held their hands, taught them about Jesus. You have sung with us, laughed with us, played with us. You have been an example to us. And most importantly, you have prayed - both with us, and for us, every day. I can never thank you enough for being a part of our family, and for providing, with the Lord's help, just what we needed, exactly when we needed. it. We are forever grateful.

It is with mixed emotions that I say farewell to you all - the Lord has called us to serve elsewhere, and to grow in this next chapter of our lives in a different church community. We are excited for this new opportunity - the next step in our family's journey - but please know that we love you, and we are so glad to have had this time with you. We aren't moving physically - so we will still be around. Don't be strangers. We still want to see your smiling faces.

Love,
Jen, S & A

Dear (Five Minute Friday)

I didn't finish my 31 days of writing. I might get back there. And I am a few Five Minute Fridays behind. I may or may not get back there.

But there's no time like NOW to get back on the wagon. I saw the word this week and it hit close to home. So I will write on.

Join us? Here's the link to "how it works" and at the end of my post is the link for this week.

DEAR

I'm a letter writer. A pen and paper girl. And for a very long time, I saved EVERY letter I got in the mail. Ever. Cards and notes and affections scrawled by friends of long ago. You would think I'd be a better emailer and keep in touch-er because of my draw toward letters, but I am lousy at real-time keep in touching. I stioll love a good piece of paper and a pen to send a note, though. And there's a few folks from my long ago writing days with whom I am still really close, albeit slow about my notes.

Last weekend I was cleaning out some more boxes from the move. (Yes, I know it has been a year since we moved, but at least I am still giving thought to this!) And I found the collection of letters and cards from my ex. The "dear Jen ... " From when we first met - and from before we met in person. And the cards and notes I had saved through all the years of our marriage. Including ones from the last few years.

I'd originally had in mind to save them for the girls to read someday. So, I;ve been moving them each time we moved, including the last 2 times when I moved without him, since he's no longer living with us. And as I pulled out that box, I took the time to really read the letters this time. Including those last ones. And I made a bold decision. They are filled with a lot of lies. Stuff the girls never need to see. I put the box aside and gave it some more long, hard thought. And I came to a decision. I shredded the whole pile. Every last word. Every card.

There was no way for me to continue to carry the lies and dead weight with me. I felt relieved once the shredding was done.

What about the early years? The letters that were "real"? Well, the stuff in there, based on the actions of the later years ... I don't know about that either. So it was better to get rid of it all than to engage in endless mind wars with myself.

My girls have the opportunity to know and love their dad as he is, and don't need to see the transition from who he was through the period of terrible to who he is now. They can form their own opinions and their own relationship, and don't need to see the spiral of hurt from this other perspective.

They are smart girls and they will ask the right questions when their hearts are ready to know. And then I can share an honest, but full of grace, perspective of how we got from those days to where we are now. But no collection of lies, mistruths, truth and clouds of letters needs to be sorted through to do that. So I shredded and today my heart is a little lighter.

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Link up with this week's crew over here.