It has been a while. We moved into this house over spring break and the move went very smooth.
Katie got confirmed, the school year came to a close, summer came and went in the blink of an eye. The girls started 7th and 8th grade last Wednesday.
I would put some pictures in here, but I cannot figure out how to download from my phone to the pc. I will have to wait to for Mike to show me because when I googled it, it did not happen the way they said it should.
I facilitated the Women's Evening Bible study for the summer with my friend Amy. It was Stronger by Angela Thomas and was very good. I will facilitate the fall study with Beth Ann and it will be No Other Gods by Kelly Mintor. I can tell it will be powerful. It has already caused me to evaluate some areas of my life and make some adjustments.
Mike is beginning his FINAL semester of school this week. Yay!! He will graduate in December. We will drive up to UTEP and watch him walk the stage for his MSN, FNP degree. He will have to take the board certification before he can work as an FNP. It seems like he has been in school for so long on one hand and on the other is has been a blink of an eye. In another blink the girls will be starting college.....
Frankie is still living with dad at the ranch. He loves is out there and dad loves having him. It looks like he will spend the rest of his life living life on the ranch in doggy retirement. Meanwhile, we bought a puppy golden retriever. Her name is Darcy (and as soon as I can get pictures downloaded, I will post some). She is the cutest thing. She loves to swim and has stayed wet pretty much all summer. She will go and just sit on the top step of the pool and hang out. She loves, loves, loves Binxy. We call him her "feline friend". She always looks so happy and when she gets in trouble, she gives you her paw....hard to stay mad at that :-) Her birthday is the beginning of May (we couldn't remember the exact date, so we say it is May 5--Cinco de Mayo).
Mike and I are training for the Chosen Half Marathon in October (to benefit Melody and Zach's second adoption). I am up to a good 6 miles, but did run 8 today. Actually walked the last 1 1/2. Mike ran 13 today, but he had to walk the last 3 or so. The girls are in cross country this fall. In middle school they run no more than 2 miles in a meet. In high school they run 3.1 miles or so. We will see how it goes this year. This is a big year for Lisa--8th grade field trip, picking a high school (which will most likely be LHS, God willing), Spanish 2, Algebra I and she may qualify to take a college credit US History course in the spring if she does well. She is also taking an elective this quarter that I pray strengthens her faith in Christ.
It is exciting to see their little lives unfold, but very scary too. I know they will have their own lives to live, their own walk with Christ will have to develop. They will have their own faith walk, it will not be mine. My prayer for them is that they choose to walk with Christ, for their lives to honor Him and for them to be "awe-inspired" by Him. I recently had a conversation with Lisa which she said that the Bible is not "awe-inspiring", that with technology today anybody can walk on water and because she has been brought up with it, nothing is new. I wish that I could have said something profound, but all I could do was listen. It broke my heart, though. She said that she has heard all of this since she was a baby. True. I prayed to God that He wants us to raise our children up in Him, this is what He has called us to do, so why does my oldest feel so far away, like it isn't relevant. How do we do this Lord?
In October we will be a host family for a baby coming from Uganda for heart surgery through Samaritan's Purse. They had our information from last year and kept it and gave us a call a couple of weeks ago to see if we were still interested in hosting. We said yes and kept taking the next step and it looks like everything will happen. We are getting the garage room all ready and the Cabana all ready. Our hearts are ready and the girls are ready to have a "baby brother" for about 2 months. His mom and interpreter will be with him. Mike may get to fly with them back to Uganda. I wanted to do that until I found out it would be just me, not me and Mike. I can barely pick somebody up from the airport without getting lost, it would be crazy for me to navigate an international itinerary all by myself.
I hope to blog about our experience with this opportunity.
That is the top layer of our lives at this point. I really need to start documenting our lives because it goes by so fast and I forget so much.
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
A Day Called Birthday
42 years.
4 decades and then some.
I don't want to sit here and think that my life is half way over--because that could have been 21 years ago...or it could be now. Only God knows.
We are at an exciting time. We will be moving from this apartment in 3 weeks and 5 days. But who is counting :-) Apartment life has been peaceful. Except for the parking and the new dings in the doors, it hasn't been that bad. The lady below us may beg to differ. She may think that she has a herd of elephants living above her.
I know that there are things that I have taken for granted living in a home that I now have an appreciation for:
Parking: Suburban + small spot + full complex + hill=frustrating moments of parking
A bigger kitchen: Our pantry here is the depth of a box of cereal. The good news is that nothing gets lost in the back of the pantry.
A bigger kitchen: Not more than one person can fit in the kitchen comfortably. Once all four of us were in the kitchen when I was trying to cook. Not one of my finest apartment moments.
A bigger kitchen: counter space is at a premium.
A yard. We love yard work. We are moving to a beautiful 1.5 acres.
An indoor washing/drying area. Our washer and dryer are out on the patio and I keep calling it the garage. Our washer froze when the temperature was in the 20's. I always took for granted my indoor washer and dryer. Not anymore!
Our pets: Coco Puff and Lilly Pie are at Cindy's (learning VERY bad habits and annoying Cindy [and Isabel and Snickers]; Binxy is at the Goff's (they say he is a very friendly little guy and likes to hang out at the dining room window and look in and watch them home school); Frankie and Ellie went to the ranch to stay with dad. Ellie died on January 21 after getting hit by a vehicle. We are so thankful for dad. He took great care of her in her living and in her dying. He buried her at the ranch on the hill above the pond. He made a cross and we went out there and he and the girls put the cross in the ground. Ellie was a good dog. Frankie seems to be fine. Every year I think this is his last (for like the last 4 years), now I think he may be eternal. :-)
We have been running/walking a lot. It certainly keeps us from being all over one another and the benefit of exercise, win/win.
The girls do have a loft with their bedroom and their own bathroom--that is a life saver.
Today the girls are in a babysitting class all day. They are learning the "whys and how to's" of babysitting. A little CPR, Heimlich maneuver, what to do in case of emergency like fire/gas leak/water leak. How to entertain the children you are babysitting...should be a great class.
Mike is working today so that left me alone in birthday bliss. A beautiful, sunny 75 degree Saturday with the whole apartment to myself. Beth called me early this morning and it was so nice to visit with her. I did my Bible Study (parked on Epaphroditus in Phil 2--what a friend), went for a run, had lunch with Cindy, went to HEB and did laundry. All by myself--with Pandora on and some essential oils in the diffuser and a cup of coffee. Bliss.
Mike has something planned for tonight....it will be fun, I am sure. Last night we took the suburban to a $5 car wash and as we were going through the wash tunnel he looks over to me and says "How do you like this Valentine's Day tunnel of love?" :-)
Psalm 91:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days.
Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
4 decades and then some.
I don't want to sit here and think that my life is half way over--because that could have been 21 years ago...or it could be now. Only God knows.
We are at an exciting time. We will be moving from this apartment in 3 weeks and 5 days. But who is counting :-) Apartment life has been peaceful. Except for the parking and the new dings in the doors, it hasn't been that bad. The lady below us may beg to differ. She may think that she has a herd of elephants living above her.
I know that there are things that I have taken for granted living in a home that I now have an appreciation for:
Parking: Suburban + small spot + full complex + hill=frustrating moments of parking
A bigger kitchen: Our pantry here is the depth of a box of cereal. The good news is that nothing gets lost in the back of the pantry.
A bigger kitchen: Not more than one person can fit in the kitchen comfortably. Once all four of us were in the kitchen when I was trying to cook. Not one of my finest apartment moments.
A bigger kitchen: counter space is at a premium.
A yard. We love yard work. We are moving to a beautiful 1.5 acres.
An indoor washing/drying area. Our washer and dryer are out on the patio and I keep calling it the garage. Our washer froze when the temperature was in the 20's. I always took for granted my indoor washer and dryer. Not anymore!
Our pets: Coco Puff and Lilly Pie are at Cindy's (learning VERY bad habits and annoying Cindy [and Isabel and Snickers]; Binxy is at the Goff's (they say he is a very friendly little guy and likes to hang out at the dining room window and look in and watch them home school); Frankie and Ellie went to the ranch to stay with dad. Ellie died on January 21 after getting hit by a vehicle. We are so thankful for dad. He took great care of her in her living and in her dying. He buried her at the ranch on the hill above the pond. He made a cross and we went out there and he and the girls put the cross in the ground. Ellie was a good dog. Frankie seems to be fine. Every year I think this is his last (for like the last 4 years), now I think he may be eternal. :-)
We have been running/walking a lot. It certainly keeps us from being all over one another and the benefit of exercise, win/win.
The girls do have a loft with their bedroom and their own bathroom--that is a life saver.
Today the girls are in a babysitting class all day. They are learning the "whys and how to's" of babysitting. A little CPR, Heimlich maneuver, what to do in case of emergency like fire/gas leak/water leak. How to entertain the children you are babysitting...should be a great class.
Mike is working today so that left me alone in birthday bliss. A beautiful, sunny 75 degree Saturday with the whole apartment to myself. Beth called me early this morning and it was so nice to visit with her. I did my Bible Study (parked on Epaphroditus in Phil 2--what a friend), went for a run, had lunch with Cindy, went to HEB and did laundry. All by myself--with Pandora on and some essential oils in the diffuser and a cup of coffee. Bliss.
Mike has something planned for tonight....it will be fun, I am sure. Last night we took the suburban to a $5 car wash and as we were going through the wash tunnel he looks over to me and says "How do you like this Valentine's Day tunnel of love?" :-)
Psalm 91:14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all of our days.
Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
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