Finishing Well

Today I want to dedicate my post to my grandma. Grandma went home to heaven on Sunday morning. It was almost two years to the month that my grandpa died. From what I heard through the grapevine, Grandma was eagerly anticipating meeting her Savior. Knowing that she was ready and excited, helps put my heart at ease and helps me know that Grandma finished her race strong and well.

In my Evangelistic Leadership and Mentoring class this past week, we talked a lot about the concept of finishing well; finishing well in job situations, in relationships and in life. As the Bible says:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
Grandma ran a long race- eighty-three years here on earth. She endured hard times in the death of one of her children, making due with limited income, a broken marriage, and the passing of her own grandparents, parents, siblings and her husband (my grandpa). She also enjoyed many joyous moments, like the birth of her six children, her marriage to my grandpa, numerous grandchildren, and her salvation story.

I have very many fond memories of Grandma. She held a very special place in my heart, especially because my other grandma died when I was just four. Grandma and Grandpa lived just six miles from my childhood home and I was always out at their house with my sisters. Grandma always had crafts for us to make and make-believe games we could play.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all cupcakes and happiness. I remember one time my older sister and I were staying at her house and we were supposed to be going to camp during the day, but one particular day I didn't want to go. Grandma allowed me to stay home with her, but she got after me for not wanting to finish my scrambled eggs that she had made. Bless her heart, but she wasn't the best cook (except for her mashed potatoes, which were divine). I think that might have been the only time she spanked me. Honestly, I deserved it and I always ate my eggs after that.

Grandma helped raise me, she taught me to enjoy God's creation and to take joy in the little things. She taught me to knit, crochet and perm hair. She taught me to get my point across, but how to choose my battles. She taught me by example through her own actions. She was a blessing and I look forward to seeing her again. My life was richer for having had her as a grandma.

It's Raining... It's pouring... I know an old man somewhere must be snoring!

If my grandpa was still alive he would be telling someone to go outside in the rain, but not to get wet today. He always loved that saying and he would quote it to me whenever I was about to run out and jump off the pier at his cabin. He was such a teaser.

Today I am thinking about Grandpa because it is raining cats and dogs outside. Around 6:30am this morning I was startled awake by some serious lightening, but it didn't seem like that much water was coming down. Then, when my husband was driving me to class this morning, we were flabbergasted by the amount of standing water. We live in a relatively low area, but we have never seen flooding like we did on the ride over. We saw three cars with water up to their middle and then we saw one truck that actually got stuck on Main Street and had to be abandoned!

When we arrived at my school building/workplace (same structure), the parking lot was shut because it had been transformed into a lake! I wish I had picked up my camera this morning, to record all of the chaos. I am not the best photographer, but I fancy myself a closeted-photojournalist. I did manage to take some video of the parking lot and if I can figure out how to upload it, I will.

In the meantime, I hope my husband made it back home. He had our little nephew with him and that adds pressure for safe driving (not having kids of our own, our anxiety levels tend to shoot up whenever a little person steps into our car). It was so funny, but on the way to school, the little guy kept saying "we're a boat!". It was a fairly accurate statement.

Blessings on your rainy day!

Loving Dillon, CO

Have you ever been to Dillon, Colorado? If not, you are sincerely missing out. What a breath-taking town- way up in the Rocky Mountains. My husband and I have had the pleasure of being to Dillon several times while on vacation. It is the kind of place that nurtures my outdoorsy spirit every time I go there.

What do I love most about Dillon? The lake, the snow capped mountains, the tunnels you have to drive through to get there, the small town feel, the clean, fresh smells, the mountain goats, the bite in the air... What do I not love about Dillon? Hmmm.... the fact that it is so far away, I don't get to go very often.

This post addresses what's on my mind most right now- vacation! I just have to get through class first and then it will be time to turn my mind towards packing checklists, actual packing, and pre-vacation cleaning the house. Stay tuned for more vacation thoughts and loves later.

School's Out for the Summer (or is it?)

You walk outside today and you see kids running through sprinklers and college students working at the local pool. Everyone is on vacation for the summer.... Everyone but me.

Over the past three years I have been diligently chipping away at my masters program. I am attempting to get a masters degree in Intercultural Studies. Intercultural what? Intercultural Studies is basically the study of missions and serving in different cultures. It is an amazing program with amazing professors, but it is unfortunate that once you reach the masters level, summer break kind of flies out the window.

I should clarify that I could have a summer break if I wanted one, but then I would be looking at adding one more semester before graduation (no way Jose!).

So, here I am... the day before my summer class will commence. This summer I am taking a three day intensive. I will have class from 8:30 to 5:30 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Before you start poo-pooing my lament about a lost summer, you should know I have already completed three pre-class assignments and there will be another paper due two weeks after the class is over.

Why take intensives? It is so that I don't have to take too much time off of work. To be honest though, they are not my favorite. I am a thinker, I like time to process. Intensives cram as much information into your brain as you can possibly stand and then some. I normally do not get done processing all of the class information until weeks after the class is over.

So think of me as you rest in your hammock, sipping lemonade on Saturday. I will be studiously type-type-typing away on my Mac- taking copious notes about leadership and mentoring and who knows what else.

What do I love today? Getting a couple credits closer to graduation!

Peanuts! Get your Peanuts here!

Growing up in a small town, my newspaper was always missing its most vital component- the cartoons! You can imagine then, what a treat it was to visit my grandpa's house near Chicago. Every Sunday I would wait for the mailman (seeing a mailman was a treat in and of itself because we didn't have those back home either) and then I would run to the mailbox to grab the paper before my sisters. We would fight over who could read the cartoons first.

My two very favorite cartoons have always been Peanuts by Charles Schulz and The Family Circus by Bil Keane.






















I also have a bit of a soft spot for Marmaduke and Mutts.

Now that I am older, married and living in a house of my own- my husband and I get the paper every Sunday. I like to read through the entertainment section, the editorials, some of the main headlines, but my favorite section has and always will be the cartoons. My husband, who likes to read the sports section and cut coupons, always sets the cartoons aside for me.

The fifteen minutes it takes me to get through my weekly funnies is like a mini-vacation from adulthood. When I read the comics, it is like I am five again, twirling on my grandpa's big orange chair.

Those pictures I Promised

Here are some pictures taken at my sister's 30th birthday party last Saturday. Enjoy!

A Cake Disaster and Then a Recovery

A lot has happened since I blogged last Friday. Actually, the biggest event happened right after I clicked post.

Just as my finger hit the enter key, my phone rang. My mom was on the other line and she sounded distressed. "They lost the cake". Those were her words, simply put, but it took me a few moments to get over the shock. When I did, I got angry. "What do you MEAN- they LOST the cake!?!" Turns out the lady who took my order never filled out a pink slip and so the cake slipped through the cracks and was never made. The bakery initially offered to sell my mom a sheet cake for half price, but I said- NO WAY. Didn't these bakery ladies understand that the strawberry cake was the centerpiece of the entire party? Didn't they know how much I was looking forward to seeing my sister's face when she saw that cake? A plain 'ole sheetcake was not going to elicit the same reaction.

I told my mom (who was a true champion for being the middle-woman in this situation) to put me on the phone with the manager, but just as she was about to hand the phone over, Mom made a comment like, "My daughter wants to talk with you and she is REALLY angry about this whole thing, REALLY ANGRY." I could hear the manager respond with, "Well... I don't really need to talk to her... I think I need to go stock grapes... in the meat aisle. See ya around." Oh geesh.

I hung up with Mom, telling her I was going to call the manager through the store's direct line. Before I could dial the store's number though, Mom called back to say they had agreed that we could have a free cake, but it would have to come from the shelf because the baker/cake decorator was gone for the day. So, it was a score for us, but it was still not as exciting as the awesome strawberry cake would have been. Sometimes, you just have to roll with the punches. In the end, we got two 1/4 sheet cakes, both chocolate. Mom had them write "Happy Birthday" on one and then "Happy 30th Birthday Sister" on the other.

But that is not the end of the story (psych)! At approximately 3pm on Friday, my mom got a voicemail from the baker I had originally spoken with about the strawberry cake. She felt awful about the mix-up and wanted to make the cake for us and deliver it to my parent's house! Mom, who had had enough of the cake debacle asked me to call this lady back and strike a deal with her. So, I did. I called the lady and she explained how things at the bakery had been crazy that week, but that should not have affected their customer service. She felt just awful that the cake was not made on time, but wanted another chance. Even though it was her day off, she said she would make the cake, deliver it to my parent's house that night (around 8:30pm because Mom and Dad were leaving the next morning at 7am to drive to my sister's town) and she would do it all for free. Would I allow her to do this- she asked. Hooray- YES!

We ended up with three cakes! I told my mom to freeze the one that just said "happy birthday" and then to bring the other two (the strawberry cake for the party and the other for my sister to take home). Believe me when I say that there was a whole lot of cake going around this weekend and it was all free!

In the end (and it really is the end this time), my sister was very surprised by her party and she loved the strawberry cake. A fun time was had by all. I will post pictures later today, so you can see how it turned out.

Cake of Course!

My first blog after the redesign- oh the pressure. What am I loving right now?

Well, it is cake of course! Specifically, it is a birthday cake for my sister's surprise 30th birthday party tomorrow. Oh my gosh, you may say- you just announced that you are throwing a surprise birthday party for your sister on the internet. No worries, I am pretty sure she does not read my blog (not yet, but she might start if she learns I am posting things about her).

The cake I picked out for her birthday is focused on her love of strawberries. She also loves cats and music, but I selfishly don't want to eat a cake that looks like a cat or an eighth note. Instead, her cake is going to look like a giant chocolate covered strawberry.

I requested a chocolate cake (her favorite) with strawberry filling. The chocolate strawberry coating will be created using a yummy chocolate ganache.

I personally, am not a chocolate lover, but seeing my sister thoroughly surprised and happy with the cake makes me a huge fan. Hooray for cake!