our trip to the akron zoo

In July, we went to the Akron Zoo.  We had talked for a year about going and we decided to make it happen. Plus, one of my 100x40 goals was to take Emmy to a zoo that we hadn't been to.  Not too hard considering we have only been to the Columbus Zoo.  

We went up on a Sunday and got there not long after they opened.  It really didn't seem too crowded when we got there, but as we left there were definitely more people.  Akron is small compared to Columbus, but it was really nice.  It was clean.  They had some animals that Columbus didn't have. We both agreed it was worth the drive up there for the day.  The bonus is that you get a discount on admission if you are a Columbus Zoo member.  

The first exhibit you come to is penguins.  It was a very nice exhibit. The neat thing they had was a platform you could climb up and watch the penguins from above.  There was a caretaker nearby who answered questions and told us how to spot the baby.

 

Emmy was excited about the lemurs, which are one of her favorite animals.  We knelt down and watched them eat and play (and, of course, poop).  There were several types of lemurs in the exhibit. The ones above are ring-tailed.  

  

Emmy & I in the giant bird's nest. This is how big an eagle's nest can get.

 

The Akron Zoo just opened Grizzly Ridge that summer.  It was home of, surprise, two grizzly bears. They also have a great river otter exhibit there.  We stood there for quite a while watching the crazy otters swim around and fight with each other.  It actually has a clear slide you can go down through the otter exhibit.  We tried to get Emmy to go down, but it was a no go.  The otters were such a hit with her that she chose a stuffed river otter as her souvenir from me.

  

Emmy's favorite thing had to be feeding the goats. She loves goats. Ever since our trip to the petting farm in Virginia Beach, she's been all about goats.  This was probably the busiest area we encountered all day.

Their little aquarium was nice.  They had jellyfish and an octopus along with other things like fish.

  

Here's Emmy checking out the Capybara. It's the world's largest rodent and looks like a giant hamster.  He was pretty content with sunning himself.

That's our trip to the Akron Zoo in a nutshell.  We had a late lunch at Red Robin's and then did some shopping before heading back home.  I asked Emmy what her favorite part of the day was. Shopping in the gift store was her answer.  Typical girl.

make // a 50th birthday quilt

I had known for a while that I wanted to do something special for my cousin's 50th birthday.  Once she started talking about finishing her basement and making it Ohio State, I knew the perfect thing...a Buckeye quilt.  I cut the material out on a couple snow days this winter, sewed the top together in June, basted in September, finally started quilting in October and got the binding on a few days before her birthday.  For the top, I used various prints in red, gray and black (mostly from Fabric.com). I have made two other Ohio State quilts and some of the material makes an appearance in all three quilts, which I think is a nice touch (the other two belong to my cousin's mom & aunt). 

Unfortunately, this is the only picture I snapped before wrapping it up.  The back is solid black and I made the binding out of the same material to match.  I machine stitch my binding on.  You can find the instructions to make this quilt here: Cluck Cluck Sew: Hunky Dory Baby Top.  Since it is a baby top, I obviously constructed more squares.  I ended up with a quilt that was almost full-sized.  Perfect for snuggling up in.

craft with emmy // fall tree painting

It had been a long time since I'd done Q-tip painting with Emmy.  I decided it would be the perfect time to make a fall tree - one for us and one for Uncle Don, who had just gotten out of the hospital.  I free-handed a tree trunk on white construction paper.  Then Emmy colored in the trunk with crayons and added grass, too. I asked her what color leaves were in the fall- orange, yellow, red, brown - and used those colors.  They turned out super cute.  In the picture below, she was half-way through painting the first one.  Leaves ended up in the grass, too, because where we live the leaves were already starting to fall.

Here is one of my favorite painting tips.  I once got this Crayola Washable Paint Set for a special project we were working on in my preschool class.  When the paint was all gone in the jars, I washed them out and then added our school paint.  Before I was using paint cups, but I was always throwing tons of paint away at the end.  These Crayola jars have lids that screw on and will keep paint good for a really long time.  I buy lots of colors in larger bottles of paint (like this) and refill the jars as needed.  I'm wasting less paint and the jars are perfect for painting with small paint brushes, Q-tips and toothpicks.

craft with emmy // owl painting

On Halloween afternoon, Emmy & I did some crafting.  I printed out this witchy owl template.  I highly recommend using cardstock, especially if using paint.  This website has lots of printables I pinned in the past and I think we'll be doing lots of these projects in the future.

Here is the first one she did that she actually gave to me to keep, which does not usually happen.  I plan on mounting this owl and framing it to use as a decoration next year.  

craft with emmy // scrap art

Back in July, Emmy and I had an art day out on the porch.  I decided that we would do some open-ended gluing. I had purchased the Seafoam 12x12 paper to cut down into 4x6 pieces to use in my Project Life album.  There were leftover pieces of paper and I didn't want to just throw them away.  Into my "Emmy Art Stash" they went and they turned out perfect for her art.

I gave her a pair of scissors and she was able to cut down the strips.  We started with small sheets of cardstock at first - probably 4x6.  Once that was gone, I gave her a piece of 8x11 cardstock.  That is when the magic kicked in.  She decided to fill in the entire sheet. It looked like a quilt when she was finished.

I just love open-ended art like this.  It is so fun to see what kids will end up making.  And maybe Elise - the designer of the Project Life Seafoam Edition - will design some super cool fabric next?  

lunch in the middle of the river

We spent quite a bit of time this summer at the family's new river lot.  There were several dinners and holiday celebrations.  Even now that the weather is turning we are still using it for things like watching Ohio State football.

As our first year on the river, it was amazing to see just how much the water level fluctuates.  In July, the river got almost as high as the bank.  Yet by August it was low again. So low, in fact, that "islands" emerged from the river bed.  Which brings us to yet another check mark on a goal: 

14. Do 40 things I've never done before. 

On a Sunday afternoon, we joined the owners of our campground for lunch.  We went up river to a spot where a large sandbar had become an island in the river.  We anchored the boats and went exploring the shore.  These "islands" are great for finding river glass and other shells.  My aunt referred to it as "Treasure Island."  Then we cooked hot dogs on a small grill and ate cooler corn.  It was a lot of fun.

A few weeks later, we did it again with Bean & Emmy.  It was perfect weather.  We grilled out.  Spent hours combing the island for river glass.  Some of us even ended up swimming in the river.  I hope we get to do it lots more next summer, and the summer after that, and the summer after that...I think you get the point.

driving boats & finishing degrees

I cannot believe that it is October already.  Tomorrow it will be a week since my birthday.  Crazy fast how time flies.  

I not only turned older this year.  I also marked one year into my 100x40 goals.  I made some pretty good progress, but I now only have six years to finish the list.  Six years?!?!?!  I'm half panicked at the thought of trying to finish these goals in the time I have left, half inspired to work hard and enjoy the journey.  Dude, I’m weird like that.

I want to share two goal accomplishments from this summer today.  One was a completion.  One was progress. 

7. Complete Master’s Degree.

This was a big one.  In May, I completed the coursework towards a Master’s Degree in Religion – Church Ministries from Liberty University.  I did it in less than two years.  Lots of work and reading and writing, and by the end my brain hurt, but I truly think it was (or at least will be) worth it.

We were sitting on the porch on a rainy afternoon when my sister presented me with a black tube that came in the mail.  You apparently needed a Ph.D. to get that tube open.  But a few minutes later I was pulling out an extremely expensive piece of paper with my name on it in fancy script.  Just a simple moment, but one that I will treasure.

14. Do 40 things I’ve never done before. 

One of the fun things I did for the first time last year was drive a boat.  I’m sure that is not the correct terminology.  It wasn’t planned.  I just went out on a spontaneous late afternoon ride with my mom, stepdad, aunt and uncle. After going down river in search of the eagles (a mommy, daddy & baby), we headed upstream and, out of the blue, I said, “Let me drive.” 

My stepdad gladly turned over the wheel to me.  He probably shouldn’t have been so quick to say yes.  Because a second later I was asking where the brake was.  Yep, I really asked that.  I think that, in my defense, it is a legitimate question for newbie boat drivers.  So after a quick lesson on using the throttle, we were off for a couple mile journey up the river with myself at the helm. 

I think I did good for the first time driving a boat.  I state the following evidence.

1. I did not get the boat stuck on any sand bars.
2. We did not get lost. (hee hee)
3. No one fell overboard.
4. My uncle, who was in the Navy, said I did a good job.

Maybe next summer I’ll learn how to start the boat and park it, too.  I’m sure they’ve got good insurance.  And if I collide with the dock I can add wreck a boat to the list of things I’ve never done before.  

Works in the Life of a Christian

(This was the basis of a paper for graduate school.)

Works are not needed for salvation. Salvation can only come through faith in Jesus Christ and the saving grace his death and resurrection provide.  But what do works mean for a Christian?  It is said that “faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (James 2:17).  What is the purpose of these works for a Christian?

Evangelism
Matthew 5 might be the most important reason for good works given in the Bible. Its summary is here: “Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven” (Matt 5:16, The Message).    What we have here is servant evangelism.  It is not some new, modern way of doing evangelism.  This is what Jesus taught.  Investing in people’s lives allows the non-believers to “meet” Jesus in a completely loving way.  Today, perhaps more than ever, this is an especially important part of being a Christian.  Doing good works for others may give you the opportunity to share the gospel with someone who is untrusting or dissatisfied with religion.  Showing that you truly care opens their hearts to hearing the truth.  By investing in others, you are potentially growing the Kingdom.

Encourage BelieversHebrews 10:24 tells us that we are to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”  Another reason for works is to encourage fellow believers.  By raking the leaves of an elderly widow, bringing dinner to a grieving family, watching a sick friend’s children…by doing this things you are reminding them in a tangible way that Jesus is with them.  While it may be your body that is doing these works , it is Jesus within you that spurs you to compassion, to put love in action.

Future Reward
In 1 Timothy 6, Paul is telling better to instruct the believers to do good works. “Command them do do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” (1 Tim 6:18). Paul continues that good works are important because in doing them they are laying up “treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age” (1 Tim 6:19).
A by-product of good works is a future, heavenly reward. Luke 6:35 says, “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.”   In Mark 9:41, we are told that if we give “a cup of water in (Jesus’) name” because we “belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”  Matthew 6 also tells us that we will receive rewards for giving to the needy, praying for others, and fasting.  These treasures will be bestowed in heaven.

I’ve Been Reading

I have been a reading machine lately.  I guess that is what happens when you finish the term up a week ahead of schedule. So instead of just a one week Fall Break, mine is two!  Yeah for me!! 

One of my 100x40 goals is to read 100 books.  Here’s my progress so far:

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien – Started way before my birthday, but finished after. So it counts.  At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, but I did.  It is interesting to pick up little bits of things that go along with LOTR.  I still have no idea how they plan on stretching this book into three movies.  But the first trailer looks pretty good.
2. Seven by Jen Hatmaker – You’ll be hearing more about this one. A lot more.
3. My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife by Sara Horn – I liked it in that, to me, it read like a novel. I didn’t like it in that I was expecting it to be more of a “How to Be" book.  But it was interesting to look someone else’s take on the whole Proverbs 31 girl.
4. Almost Amish by Nancy Sleeth - Let me tell you a little bit about that last one.  Don’t you just love this cover??  It just screams, “Pick me up and read me!”

Almost Amish is the true-story of how one Christian family took inspiration from how the Amish community lives and applied these principles in their own family. This book covers everything from technology and family to money and faith.  Nancy Sleeth shares how her family adopted practices from the Amish into their modern, “English” lives.
The main idea behind the book was Nancy’s quest for a simpler, slower life.  This led the family to downsizing their home, planting a garden, buying locally, and embracing their community.  There wasn’t one thing that I didn’t like about this book.  It actually left me wanting to be Nancy’s neighbor. 
I want to fully embrace the principles in this book.  While reading, my mind often wandered to the life I had dreamed about for myself in high school.   What I once wanted and what I now want are two completely different lives.  I once wanted a busy, glamorous life.  Now I crave an Almost Amish life.  17-year-old me never would have dreamed that I would be canning homegrown food in my 30s.  Especially not when I should have been racing with my briefcase to my next meeting on Capitol Hill.  High school me would never believe that my first sewing project was a quilt that I completed all by myself.  Not only that, but I want to learn to make actual clothes. 
Almost Amish is not about trading in your SUV for a horse and buggy (although with these gas prices, one might consider it).  It is not about unplugging completely from the grid.  It is about balancing our dependency on technology so we can engage more fully with our families and communities.  It is about taking better care of our environment.  It is about putting God in the center of our world and putting our faith into everything we do.  I encourage you to read it.  It will make you think and question and, quite possible, make some changes in the way you live.

(Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.)

32 Goals Wrap-Up

Times up on the 32 goals! Completed goals are in purple. Those with progress made are in red. Here’s how I finished:

My 32^nd Year Goals

1. Save $1000 – I have the $. I just need to go and open a savings account.
2. Donate blood – Got my donor card in the mail the other day.
3. Read the entire Bible – Didn’t happen. Definitely on the next list.
4. Weigh 150 lbs. – LOL
5. Dress more girly – I think I am doing this. Most days I’m even wearing a little mascara & eyeliner.
6. Finish my bedroom – Didn’t happen. But I’ve written a list of things needed to be done to complete this.
7. Finish Oh! Shoot class – Nope
8. Finish Portraits class -  Nope
9. Visit a new state – Nope, though we did entertain the idea of going to Delaware…until we found that there is not much to really do in Delaware.
10. Make a pumpkin pie – Sure did!
11. Take 10,000 pictures –  I don’t have all my pictures upload from the camera. But I think I got close to 3/4 done.
12. Learn song on my guitar – Guitar string still broke : (
13. Fix supper 2x a week – I’ve been doing some cooking here lately. Made some pork chops last week and Chicken Parmesan tonight.  Did up the chicken for chicken enchiladas later in the week.  Progress, people : )
14. Finish Emmy’s 2nd year book – Done
15. Do Daily December book – Got plans together for this year’s book.
16. Start Project Life – Done!
17. Read 20 books – Almost finished with The Hobbit. It’s been a much easier read than the LOTR.

1. I Still Believe by Jeremy Camp (which I read completely on my birthday)
2. Middle School Ministry Made Easy (for school)
3. Courageous
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
5. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley (for school)
6. The Castle in the Attic (read w/ my 4th graders)
7. The Hunger Games
8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
9. Among the Hidden (read w/ my 4th graders)
10. The Help
11. The Search Committee
12. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
13. The Lucky One
14. The Vow
15. Among the Hidden (read w/ my 4th graders)
16. Catching Fire
17. Jane Eyre
18. Mockingjay
19. Stand By Me (a House of Hope book)
20. That’s Why I’m Here by Chris Spielman
21. The Last Song
22. Safe Haven
23. Roadside Assistance
24. Among the Imposters (to read w/ my 4th graders this year)
25. A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning (1 of the kids said I had to try it.)
26. Mrs. Kennedy and Me

18. Watch 20 movies – Done!

1. The Grace Card
2. Madea’s Big Happy Family
3. Little Fockers
4. 12 Dates of Christmas
5. Something Borrowed
6. Flypaper
7. Water for Elephants
8. Courageous
9. Miracle of the Cards
10. Crazy Stupid Love
11. Breaking Dawn
12. Abduction
13. The Smurfs
14. National Treasure: Book of Secrets
15. She’s the Man
16. Alice in Wonderland
17. The Hangover
18. In Time
19. Hunger Games
20. The Help
21. The Way
22. Footloose (2011 version)
23. The Muppets
24. Like Crazy
25. A Warrior’s Heart
26. Jane Eyre
27. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
28. The Vow
29. Footloose (the Kevin Bacon version)
30. Soul Surfer
31. Good Deeds
32. New Year’s Eve
33. The Lucky One
34. Mirror, Mirror
35. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

19. Complete 5/K – Going to start training
20. Try 12 new recipes – Done!

1. Loaded Baked Potato Soup
2. Homemade bread – failed
3. Apple Pie
4. Pumpkin Pie
5. Pumpkin Fudge – failed
6. Buckeyes
7. Homemade Pop Tarts – for Christmas Eve brunch
8. Green Monster Spinach Smoothie (it actually is not as bad as it sounds)
9. Hawaiian Sweet Roll Ham Sandwiches – for the Super Bowl
10. Mexicorn Dip – for the Super Bowl
11. Wendy’s Chili – tasted just like Wendy’s chili
12. Corn & Potato Chowder – it was ok. I guess I’m not a chowder girl.
13. Crockpot Pork Chops
14. Chicken Parmesan

21. Daily prayer time – Got my prayer book ready
22. Go camping – Went camping with the Fords at Dillon a couple weekends ago. We had a great time!
23. Make an apple pie – Got apples to make another one with Emmy this weekend…yum!
24. Sew a skirt – got the material to make a few, actually.
25. Build craft armoire
26. Make 10 crafty things – Ok, so I had to stretch to make this goal complete. In my defense, 32 was an extremely busy year for me.  A new job. Grad school was tough, especially five classes squeezed into 14 weeks this summer…I still can’t believe I survived that!

1. Christmas quilt for Maggie
2. Christmas quilt for Cooper
3. Christmas quilt for Emmy
4. Baby blanket for Peyton
5. Pigeon T-shirt for Emmy’s birthday
6. Glitter Christmas ornaments
7. Quilt top (that’s counting, ok…don’t judge me)
8. Emmy’s 2nd year book (yep, I’m counting it on this list twice)
9. Ohio State-M*ch*gan book 2.0
10. Made a card for Scott for Father’s Day (so counts…I had to upload the picture)
11. Mini Moo Cards

27. Do 10 things I’ve never done before – What I’ve found I love about this goal is when my sister reminds me that something could be added to this list. It makes me happy that she helps me with this.

1. Be a gym teacher & music teacher (I filled in a class each)
2. Cooked pumpkins and then froze the meat.
3. Went to a midnight movie premiere…The Hunger Games with Nick & the Schaumleffels.
4. Hair professionally colored.
5. Climbed a lighthouse.
6. Gave blood (so counts for 2 goals!)
7. Went and saw Danette finish Pelotonia ‘12
8. Purchased season ticket for high school football (brother is playing)
9. Ate at Tlaquepaque.
10. Ate asparagus that I planted myself the year before.
11. Cut nearly 10” of hair off and donated it to Pantene’s wig program.

28. Mani &/or pedi – nope : (
29. Start living room makeover – Painted the walls is as far as I got. But I’ve totally written down a plan to get this done.
30. Be intentional with my time – This I think I’ve done better with.  I think my overwhelming summer helped me see how important time is.
31. Clean/organize the basement – Bean got a little bit done. Hoping we can work together and get this done.
32. Clean out the garage – haven’t done anything since it was discussed.
I completed 14 and made some progress on 7 others. I’m happy with it. I think that was great for the crazy busy year I ended up having. And look at the book list…what I did there was not easy. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was difficult and then I also read Jane Eyre. Bonus points?  Those that didn’t get done have been moved over to my new list. And I’m so excited about sharing my next set of goals! 

the one where I climb a lighthouse

The first time I went to the Outer Banks in September 2001, I fell in love with the Hatteras Lighthouse. I’ve since been to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and one in Florida (Sanibel perhaps?). But I have never went inside one. That changed today.

We are in Virginia Beach this week. I had never been to the Cape Henry Lighthouse.  We decided today to go and check it out. Emmy was too short to go up so Todd stayed behind with her. There is actually two lighthouses.  The old one – which is the first lighthouse that the US built – and the new one across the street that still lights the way to the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay.

        Bean in the doorway to the lighthouse. 

 

Bean after seeing the stairs – what did we get ourselves into???

        

We made it to the top!

Now here’s how to get back down.  First go down this small set of spiral stairs:

Then you have this crazy ladder:

Stop to take a picture in the window.

Proceed down this crazy spiral staircase that never seems to end.

Take a second to cool off. The breeze through this window is so nice.

Here’s another look at the staircase that made you a little dizzy going up. It is so much fun to have to pass someone on these steps.  The trip back down is so much easier.

     

We made it back down!

               

Well, who would have guessed? There was a sign on the way up that Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock and I think John Jay & Thomas Jefferson also were volunteer firefighters.

Bean, Emmy & Todd with the New & Old Cape Henry Lighthouses.

Here’s two things I learned today: 1. Even though they allow it, you probably shouldn’t wear flip flops while climbing up the wrought iron stairs of a lighthouse that is over 200 years old.  2. If you or anyone with you is wearing an Ohio State shirt, everyone will talk to you. And I mean everyone – from the military police checking your car for weapons (the lighthouses are on Fort Story) to the people you meet at the top of the lighthouse to that ladies sitting on the bench at the beach front playground to the people in the elevator.  Bean said that everyone seems to have an Ohio connection.  Well, duh – we are the heart of it all!  LOL

just a couple completed projects

I spray painted some flower pots last summer, but never planted anything in them.  They were just your basic terra cotta pots in varying sizes.  Some are this pretty turquoise and some are a basic black.  Emmy helped me plant a few of them Memorial Day weekend. I like the punch of color these give the front porch.



My step-cousin had a baby boy a couple months ago and I finally mailed out this blanket I made Baby Peyton. I’ve had it done for well over a month…oops. Hopefully, he’ll get to enjoy it for a little bit.  It has been pretty cold here.  This was the first blanket I have ever made and I was very intimidated by it.  But I think it turned out pretty good. I followed this tutorial.

Emmy wanted to help me out. She had just gotten up.

I got this fabric at Joann.com. I thought it was pretty cute for a baby boy.

The backside has this light brown flannel.  I love how the dark brown stitching pops on it.

Lord, I Lift Your Name on High

This praise song was in my head one morning last week as I got ready for work. It got me thinking about the scripture behind this chorus. So I looked some up.  Sometimes I think we just get used to the words and don’t think about what they are really saying.

Lord, I lift your name on high

Hallelujah! You who serve God, praise God! Just to speak his name is praise!  - Psalm 113:1-3

Lord, I love to sing your praises

Come, let's shout praises to God, raise the roof for the Rock who saved us! Let's march into his presence singing praises, lifting the rafters with our hymns!  - Psalm 95:1-3

I'm so glad you are in my life

The God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this very day… - Genesis 48:11

I'm so glad you came to save us.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. – Titus 3:4-7

You came from heaven to earth, to show the way

I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me. – John 6:36
 

From the earth to the cross, my debt to pay

Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. – Ephesians 1:7-10

From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky

After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God…As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. – Acts 1

Lord I lift your name on high.

I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. – Psalm 63:4

the best gift

Every year I say I am going to write it down. I’ll finally put pen to paper (or rather fingers to keys) and write about losing my dad.  Every December I vow to record it.  And every year it doesn’t happen. But it sneaks up on me.  Not the day.  I know it is coming.  It’s everything else that goes with it.

Dad died 12 days before Christmas.  There isn’t one thing about the season that doesn’t not make me think about what we lost.  You can’t hide or out run that day.  All through the year every siren I hear or fire truck I see makes me think, if only for a split second, of him.  Football season brings it’s own memories.  Christmas brings back the bad memories.  Christmas trees, lights, carols…it’s like every year you have these reminders of that day and the days that followed.  Even poinsettias, because some people had sent them to the funeral home.

I don’t write this for you to be sad.  I’m not sad.  I may be crying right now, but I wouldn’t say I’m sad. I’m far enough on this grief journey that I usually only cry a few times a year.  Sometimes on Ohio State-Michigan game day.  But usually not until 15 days before Christmas.  I’ll remember the last time I talked to my dad on that night and that will start it. I can still see him standing there in my doorway, silhouetted by the hall light.  Our last words were not goodbye.  By the time my sister and I got to the hospital he had already been gone for probably an hour or more.  Our last words came two nights before that. He stopped at my room before going to bed.  “Good night”, that was the last thing he said to me and the last thing I ever said to him. It’d be the last time we’d see each other.  It was a Saturday night.

“Say goodnight, not goodbye, you will never leave my heart behind.” When I heard this song on the Dawson’s Creek finale years later, I was so glad that our last words had been goodnight.  Not goodbye – that is so final, forever.  My dad had given us the greatest gift that anyone could give their loved ones – the hope of seeing each other again.  To be absent from the body is to be present with Christ (2 Cor 5:8).  Two years before he died, my dad had gotten right with God.    I couldn’t even imagine how unbearable it would have been to go through that and not had that hope that this wasn’t going to be it.  Don’t get me wrong, burying him was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.

So the point of this post is to encourage you, if you haven’t yet, to get right with God.  Don’t put it off. You never know when your number will be up.  There may not be enough time at the end.  From the NIOSH report, I think there was less than sixty seconds from the time Dad collapsed until he technically died.  I believe that there is a heaven and therefore there is a hell.  Heaven is wonderful, hell is not.  Everyone will go back to the Creator one day.  And you will either stay with him in heaven or you will spend eternity in hell.
No one can be good enough to get to heaven on their own.  Not Mother Teresa.  Not Billy Graham. Not Greg Rodgers. Not even Tim Tebow. Only by the grace from Jesus will anyone get to heaven. It is simple to get.  All you have to do is confess that you are a sinner (the Bible says that all have sinned – have you ever lied? stolen? said the Lord’s name in vain?)  and ask Jesus to come into your heart.  Then turn away from your sin and start living your life for Jesus.  It won’t always be easy, but it will be the most important thing you could ever do.

{He’s here but not here, He’s gone but not gone.}  This line from a song from Ladder 49 is awesome.  My dad is not here on earth physically, but he lives on through the people who’s lives he touched. My dad is gone from this earth, but he is not gone. The part that made him who he was lives on.  Isn’t that amazing?  It really is the best gift.

New Goals

My 32^nd Year Goals

1. Save $1000 – I’m hoping this is possible this year with actually having a job, but I am only working part-time and Bean is currently laid off.  So I do realize that this might not actually happen, but I’m hoping I can do this. 

2. Donate blood – I really can’t believe I’ve never done this before.  I don’t even know what my blood type is.  I’m totally not scared of needles.  I’m scared of the possibility of passing out afterwards.  Crazy, huh? 

3. Read the entire Bible – This keeps getting put on my list so I think this year is the time to check it off. 

4. Weigh 150 lbs. – I’m being more specific than just saying “lose weight”.  I’m hoping that starting to train for the 5/k will help me with this. 

5. Dress more girly – With my new job, this is starting to happen.  I need to add more pieces to my wardrobe.  I actually love wearing my new pair of black flats. 

6. Finish my bedroom – Several years ago, I completely gutted my bedroom down to the studs, removing all the old plaster.  All the major stuff is done.  It just needs some finishing touches – pictures and shelves on the wall, a new bookcase, the ceiling repainted and a rug I’d like to make are on the list.

7. Finish Oh! Shoot class – I started this photography class right after Emmy was born.  It just wasn’t a great time with a new baby in the house, working full-time and taking a full load of classes.  So I want to finish this to better my photography skills.

8. Finish Portraits class -  I bought this class because they fill up so fast. I had the intentions of finishing Oh! Shoot before this one started, but it didn’t happen.  This class will help me take more awesome pictures so I can bless others.

9. Visit a new state – I’m hoping that this one will be easy.  As of right now, it looks like I’ll have my summer free.  So I’m hoping a trip to somewhere I’ve never been before can happen – even if it is just a weekend in that state up North.

10. Make a pumpkin pie -  I’m planning to use one of the pumpkins I grew to make this.

11. Take 10,000 pictures –  Calculated, this is like snapping 27.4 photos a day. But I’ve probably got a pretty good chance of doing this.  So far I have two senior shoots to do.  Mom wants a family picture.  Got a 3rd birthday/family shoot possibly this week.  I’m also doing the Daily December & starting Project Life (see below) this year. 

12. Learn song on my guitar – So I had myself convinced that I couldn’t do this on my own, but I could never find anyone to teach me.  But I recently got thinking that if I can teach myself to quilt using only the internet, I can probably learn a song on my guitar as well.

13. Fix supper 2x a week – This will be a challenge as we don’t have the habit of eating supper.

14. Finish Emmy’s 2nd year book – I want to have this done by Christmas. She so enjoys looking through the books I made of her 1st year.

15. Do Daily December book – Ali Edwards has this challenge of making a scrapbook that details something about celebrating Christmas every day during December. I’ve wanted to try this for several years now and I’m going to do it this December.

16. Start Project Life – Another scrapbooking project I’ve always wanted to do is Project Life.  It’s by Becky Higgins and it is all about documenting your everyday life.  It likes like a very interactive process and I’m excited to finally be committing to it.  I had trouble deciding when to start it, but settled on making it all about the year that was 2012.

17. Read 20 books – I actually have two in progress already – Jeremy Camp’s book and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (inspired by last year’s movie goal).  I have two more books I’ve ordered to read plus I’m sure there’ll be some books for school.

18. Watch 20 movies – One of those WILL be Breaking Dawn.  Another will be Courageous after it comes out on DVD.  I also have The Grace Card on hold at the library.

19. Complete 5/K – Have all intentions of completing the Brad Harper 5/k later next month.

20. Try 12 new recipes

21. Daily prayer time – SO looking forward to this!!

22. Go camping – did not happen at all last year.  This fall would be a great time, hint, hint.

23. Make an apple pie – from scratch, of course.

24. Sew a skirt – carried over from last year.  I have a job where I can wear skirts so this would be nice (& more girly).

25. Build craft armoire – I need some real storage behind doors for my sewing and other craft supplies. Got the plans. Just need to borrow the saw.

26. Make 10 crafty things – I’m on pinterest and have been pinning things I’ve liked.  Must make some of these things.

27. Do 10 things I’ve never done before – always a fun little goal to work towards.

28. Mani &/or pedi – didn’t happen this year but will definitely happen this year.  Hey, I didn’t have anywhere to go last year to show it off (:

29. Start living room makeover – This is kind of a vague goal, but I need to leave it that way because of finances and not knowing if the money will be there to do everything.  What I would like to do is paint the walls, put in a ceiling fan, replace the carpet (may have to have the bare wood for a while again), hang photo gallery and look into slipcovers for the furniture (I have found this place that sells really discounted slipcovers from places like Pottery Barn – it’s just deciding if they’ll fit my furniture). 

30. Be intentional with my time – It was hard to name this goal…basically I just want to be a good steward of the time I’ve been given, which could mean a lot of things.  I just want to intentionally do that.

31. Clean/organize the basement – Christmas break project, maybe??

32. Clean out the garage – I want to take everything out, hose it out and then only put back the stuff we’ll actually ever use (Mom – you better start thinking about what to do with the trunk).

31 Goals is over

It’s that time of year again…my birthday.  I actually just finalized my list of goals for this year tonight.  Some of the goals are going to carry over from last year, ones that didn’t get completed or even started that I’d like to accomplish during this new year for me.  I’m thinking that after this year I might follow my friend and fellow 9/25er Lyndsey in setting more goals but for a longer time period (she’s doing the three years before turning 30).

Before I list the new goals, I’d like to take a moment and reflect on last year’s goals.  I’m not too disappointed in the goals that didn’t get completed because I did actually start most of them.  I’m very excited about the ones I did complete.  Reading 20 books was awesome because I read the Twilight series.  So excited I did.  The 20 movies was great because I watched some great movies, including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which I probably would not have watched had it not been for the challenge of watching 20 new-to-me movies.  Mom & Scott were thrilled with their quilt, which was the 2nd quilt goal I had set.  Although late to start, my new job requires me to dress up.  So dressing more girly has kind of been happening. It’s weird to have a job where you actually have to think about your wardrobe (Genesis was either scrubs or a Genesis tee and I worked there for 6 years). The hosting the dinner party was awesome because it was actually a life goal of mine I sat years ago. Do you know which goal I was most excited about checking off the list?  Growing the pumpkins.  Yep.  After two years of failure, they finally grew.  They now decorate my front porch, my Mom’s house, my aunt’s house & my school library.  I’m hoping to at least get a pumpkin pie from them, if not canning some of the pumpkin as well.

Here’s our harvest from a couple weeks ago (we may actually have more waiting for us):

garden update

Scott & I went to the garden {very early} this morning to do some picking and weeding before it got too hot.
The corn is growing nicely despite the wicked winds that have knocked some over. Should be ready in a week or so. You can see the difference between the first planting and the second planting several weeks later:

Here’s the tomato plants. We’ve also got some nice banana peppers growing. And cabbage!  Last year the bunnies ate every single cabbage plant.  This year we have one bunny who jumps the fence and just today was the first signs of a deer being in the garden.

Do you see that little white speck in the middle of the next picture?  Guess what it is!  It’s one of my Boo Pumpkins growing.  I’ve had a goal for three years to grow a pumpkin. Container gardening didn’t work. Last year’s garden crop didn’t work.  So excited that it is growing this year!  I planted Boos, Jack Be Littles and I think Connecticut Field Pumpkins.

Here’s some of our cucumbers to make pickles with:

Not sure if this is a pumpkin or a melon.  Their vines have kind of intermixed.

One of the melons we have growing.  And there’s a lot more blooms, too (:


We’ve also got potatoes, onion, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, cantaloupe, green peppers,  butternut squash & spaghetti squash growing, but I didn’t take any pictures of those.

Here’s the loot we took home today: a lot of banana peppers, 2 bags of cucumbers, a couple spaghetti squash, a couple cabbage heads and some broccoli.