flash back

Last summer around this time Josh and I were anxiously awaiting our wedding day! We decided to purchase a new camera as our wedding gift to each other so that we would have decent pictures from our honeymoon. We ended up taking 1000 pictures on that trip! And have taken many more since then. When we first got the camera we decided to go to the Botanic Gardens in Denver to practice using it and I just found some of those old pictures today.

Enjoy!

My parents

So my parents were hit with that nasty weather that struck the Midwest last weekend. A huge tree fell on their house and they have been without power since Sunday evening. It is now Thursday… that is a very long time to be without electricity when you are not camping! Back in November their church had planned to have a spaghetti supper just to invite people to come and have a free meal. They had originally planned to do a bunch of promotion and mailings to the community but it never happened. So they were still planning the dinner but had no idea how many people would come. Wednesday came around and that was the day they were planning to have the dinner. There were still quite a few people without power (oh about 150,000 at that time) but one of their people called the local news and told them about the dinner and listed it on some community boards. They ended up having a good turnout, my dad said about 75 people came. I have been thinking about helping people this week and this was just another reminder of people who work to help other people. They also made it on the news for about 3 seconds if you want to see it. They are Union Lake Church of the Nazarene about halfway through the video. I've met the guy that they talk to but I cannot remember his name now. They still didn't have power at the church so they had lots of people helping out to prepare the food at their homes and transport it there to be warmed.

I love stories like this.

Josh gets home tomorrow. I don't know how he is going to reclaim his spot in the bed…Charlie has thoroughly enjoyed all the room this week. J

Psalm 57:9-11

I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.

Lamentations 3:21-23

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

God's love is so great. His song comes in the morning light. I just spoke with my dad and the tree that has been lying across their house since Sunday is finally being removed, as I type this. Oh, and the tree fell while they were at church so they were spared from even being near that. And their house will need some repairs where the tree hit it but it is livable for now.

Happy Thursday, it's almost Friday!

Mid-week

This week I have been on my own again. Josh is volunteering as a counselor at MDA Summer Camp. He has one boy that he is helping out for the week. I think he is having fun. They have been playing games, singing camp songs, fishing, and having camp fires. How could he not have fun with that? They also do other activities like skits, soccer and kickball (this is a true group effort), and camping.

When he told me the level of care that some of the kids require I hoped that this week gives the parents a nice break. I am thankful that there are organizations that help people and make life just a little bit easier.

So in Josh's absence, Charlie and I have been playing a lot of fetch, catching up on some fun knitting projects, and listening to lots of music as well as cleaning the house and doing laundry. We are also looking forward to Josh's return on Friday! This has been a slow week! J

I have still been keeping up on my workout plan and last weekend I made some time to run outside. It was a nice switch after running on the treadmill for so many weeks. Nothing quite compares to having the sun shine on your back and feeling the fresh air rush through your lungs as you run down the street. I am still trying to get that "I love running" feeling back but it is coming slower than I hoped. I am sure I will get there soon enough.

So Josh returns on Friday and then works a half shift on Saturday. I wonder if I should take him to the circus this weekend.

Randomness

• A text message I received from my husband during today's thunder/rain storm: "I was taking the flag down and my hair all started standing up."
  

  Note to self: remember to pray for our public servants who put themselves in harm's way every day or 10 days per month in his case. Well come to think of it, he is pretty dangerous even when he is not at work.
  

• If you like potatoes like I do then you will L-O-V-E this recipe. You will also do yourself quite a humorous favor by clicking around the whole site.
  
• The best steak marinade we have found: no marinade at all. Instead, simply rub the steak with a mixture of lemon-pepper seasoning and ye ol' standby Lawry's. Also, allow steak to come to room temperature before grilling. Your life will be changed.
  
• It has now been 2 consecutive nights that our 60 pound dog has decided she must sleep on the bed…wait that is nothing new, let me clarify…in MY SPOT ON THE BED. Josh and I have both been edge of the bed sleepers and usually the big dumb dog will sleep at the foot of the bed and that is just fine. I like when she keeps my feet warm (in the winter). The past 2 nights however she thinks she has to sleep like a human. She waits until about oh hmm yes I looked at the clock both nights and it was exactly 12:55 AM when I awoke with a fright. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a big dumb black Labrador leaping to bed. She puts her head by my pillow and pushes me out of the way. Because you know dogs don't curl up in a neat little ball, no they lay as stretched out as they possibly could be. So now I have to lay awake for hours sleep smashed up next to Josh when our house is 80 degrees. It is fine though. Being newlyweds we probably shouldn't keep to our own sides of the bed as much as we have been. Maybe the dog thought we needed to sleep closer. Let's see if it happens again tonight. I will say last night I didn't realize what was happening and woke Josh to say, "There's someone in our bed!" "No, really, someone is trying to get in the bed!"
  

Ok that's all from me today.

 

ae