My Favorites of the Summer (so far)

These "favorites" aren't anything new or anything extraordinary that I didn't know I liked before (well most of them). They are simply things that I have rediscovered that I enjoy, and it's because of the summer that I have rediscovered them.

listed in no particular order:

1. Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty. You can never go wrong with some good old Flinstones. I am nannying this summer, so we watch a lot of cartoons in the morning. Flinstones is one of my favorite that we watch. Sometimes I wonder if the kids even realize what's going on in each episode because there is so much adult humor (which makes it a lot more enjoyable to me)!!

2. Flowers. This is nothing new to me since I worked in a flower shop one year of college and loved every minute of it, but it wasn't until last week when I walked into a flower shop that I realized how much I miss/love flowers. You just can't walk into a flower shop with a bad attitude or a frown on your face. There is just something special about this beautiful creation that puts a smile on my face. God is SO creative!

3. Sports. DUH! Why wouldn't this be a favorite, ESPECIALLY with the World Cup AND Wimbledon going on right now! I played tennis in high school and just love the game and love watching people who are REALLY good at the game. I watched Isner win finally win the match that will go down in history. 138 games in one set is just mind boggling to me! Congrats to Isner! Also, the world cup! This one is a "new" favorite. I don't really know anything about soccer. I watched my first soccer games when i went to college and still didn't really understand the game, but yesterday, i will admit, i jumped up and down AND screamed in my apartment by myself when USA scored to win the game! I never thought I would have that kind of reaction!

4. The Pool/laying out. I always forget how relaxing this is until I do it one time, and then I'm hooked. Thank goodness for kids who want to go to the pool every day!!

5. Market Street Grocery Store. There is just something about their produce section that reminds me of the farm, home, and family!

Ok that's all for now. I'm sure there will be more discoveries seeing that it's only June 24.

God Is Good All The Time!

I've been sitting here typing the beginning of a blog and then erasing it. typing again, then erasing. so i'm just going to ramble now. at least i will feel somewhat productive.

Last Sunday at 3:30 a.m., my granddad, P (mom's dad), went to be with Jesus after a long and hard fight. He went peacefully with Landon by his side holding his hand. It couldn't have been more of a God thing for Landon to be with him during that time. I'm so thankful he was there with him. While it was so hard to see him go, he is not in pain and has a completely restored body in heaven with Jesus, and for that, I am so thankful! My grandmother, Mamurmer, is doing really well. She is so strong and I'm so thankful for her! Please continue to keep her in your prayers!

Also in my last post, i mentioned my uncle being really sick with cancer and not doing well. He is my mom's oldest brother, and he was so sick he wasn't even able to come to my granddad's funeral. Luckily, earlier in the week, before my granddad passed away, my uncle Mike was able to come one day to see him. His update is that he is at home with hospice coming twice a week. We are still praying and believing for a miracle, and we have seen miracles already. The first couple nights he was home, he wasn't very good. But the days following he has been out of his bed, on the back porch reading the paper, telling stories with friends and family, and sleeping all night with little or no medication. This is truly a God thing because how does someone begin feeling stronger after they have gone home with hospice? the Answer again, is GOD!

Thank you for all your prayers over the last couple of weeks. They have definitely been felt by my family. I'm continuing to ask for prayer for my uncle Mike, aunt J'Carol, and their two sons. Also pray for Mamurmer (grandmother) as she has lost the love of her life and now her son is very sick.

I promise i'll have a fun/happy post soon. But isn't God SOOO good?!?!

short, sweet, to the point

it's been a busy last few weeks (as you can tell with my lack of posts). so a quick recap with as little details as possible to catch you up on whats going on without boring you.

May 14- parents came into town to help us move into our new apartment

May 15- MOVE OUT/IN DAY!!!!!! we moved to a 2 bed 2 bath apt. it's SO much bigger and so much nicer. we are really enjoying it! i'll try to post pictures soon.

May 23- we celebrated our 1 year anniversary! i can't believe a whole year has gone by! it's been one of the most challenging, exciting, and fun years of my life. on our wedding day, it was hard to imagine that i could love landon even more, but i love him more now than ever! on our anniversary, we went to church, lunch, and then just spent the day together shopping, watching a movie, eating our cake, and just relaxing. we exchanged gifts and landon gave me an AMAZING gift! i'll post pictures of that soon too! we have a friend who is quite the artist, so landon gave him one of our wedding pictures to paint to hang on our wall. it is awesome!!!!

May 28- we came to friona for my sister's high school graduation. my parents are down to 2 left in the house! it's only been 1 day, and it's been so nice being here with my family. i haven't seen them in 2 months.

also, my grandad, P, had a stroke on monday and has been in the hospital. he isn't doing very good, so please keep my family, especially my mom and grandmother in your prayers.

also, my mom's brother has cancer and we have recently found out that it is worse than we even knew. so right now really is tough of my mom and grandmother having to be the strong ones.

praying for peace.

Letters

Dear Husband, Thank you for dancing with me this morning while you were on hold with the Apple Store and they were playing Techno Music. You are a good Techno Dancing partner.

Dear Steroid Shot, you are a lifesaver. not only to me, but to my husband too. Now he can breathe for the first time in 3 weeks and my trash can won't be filled with so many kleenex.

Dear Blog and Blog readers, I'm sorry I have neglected you lately. I'll try to do better.

Dear Tomato Factory, Do you really work?? I'm tempted to try you out, even though I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes.

Dear Marriage, It's coming up on a year. Where has the time gone? You are a lot of fun, but I will give all the credit to Landon since he is the reason for the marriage and the fun.

Dear God, You are BIG...a lot bigger than me. Thank goodness!!

camping..like hardcore camping

for the last couple of months, we have been planning a camping trip with landon's parents and a couple friends to Arkansas. landon went back in October and wanted all of us to experience it!

When i say we went camping, i don't mean like we had a picnic table and a little grill to cook hamburgers and hot dogs and we just pitched a tent and then took showers in the bathroom building a few yards away. No, this was real camping, like hiking through a mountain while carrying huge packs on our backs, we pitch a tent in the first clearing we see after hiking 3 and a half miles, and eat peanut butter and crackers, beef jerky, and freeze dried food with water from the river.

anyways, i was excited to be able to do something with landon that he is so passionate about and get to hang out with his family for the weekend, but i wasn't too sure about not taking a shower all weekend, not eating a real meal all weekend, going to the bathroom outside all weekend, and sleeping on the ground all weekend. but i have to admit, it was a LOT more fun than i thought it would be! i will definitely do it again, and landon and i talked about how it will be fun to take our kids to do stuff like that one day. it was just nice because there were no distractions, our phones didn't have service, it was just us and the bears.

we hiked a total of 9.6 miles up and down and around the mountain, and as sore as i was when we got done and the next day, i have to say that it was a very nice relaxing weekend.

the whole group

landon and his uncle Chris. they like to match. and i think landon looks hott!

our fire man doing his thing

God is so creative

the girls!

me and Amy

look how big my pack is!

me and Tami

for women only

Women of all kinds, married, dating, engaged, or just wanting to be a good wife to your husband someday, please please please read this book!

I am always looking for a new good book to ready, but i more enjoy fiction rather than "self help" kind of books. I was walking through Barnes and Noble one day just getting ideas of different books to look for at the library. I picked up this book to scan the pages and I instantly wanted/needed to know more.

I am continually learning how to be a good wife, how my husband thinks, and how I can better serve him. This book is written by a christian woman, Shaunti Feldhahn, who did random surveys of men (christian church goers, married, single, etc) and wrote this eye opening book for us women. It's a quick/easy read but it is extremely helpful in the life of a woman who is still trying to figure out the opposite sex.

I told Landon that I was going to try to read this book once a month. He asked me if he was "that" bad. Let me clear up that this book is not at all about bashing men! It is a book of explaining God's creation, how he created them, and how we can better understand them. Reading it once a month will continually remind me of things I may forget or get frustrated about.

I'm excited to continue learning to understand my husband. It's an exciting adventure:)

Guys, there is a book for you too, For Men Only! :)

Easter weekend

I saw a friends facebook status post that said this:

Sometimes I find the Easter story too familar to understand it at the appropriate depth

I can't help but feel the same way. I've heard the Easter story for as long as I can remember. It's such an awesome story of grace, redemption, and love, but I don't think I fully understand what that really means. I'm so thankful that I have grown up in a Christian home and have experienced the love of Christ from an early age, but sometimes I feel that it's the new Christians that truly understand and appreciate the Easter story and what all it means.

This Easter weekend, I have tried to really focus on what this weekend is all about. I saw another friend's facebook status yesterday with the chorus of a song that I hadn't heard in a while. After I listened to it, I decided it is one of my new favorite songs. It tells the story of Christ's love for us, what he did on the cross, and how he made a way for us to be in a complete loving relationship with him. It's such an awesome song, and it tells the depth of what this weekend is about.