We Live in a Beautiful World (yeah we do yeah we do)

Happy Birthday!!

2012-01-30T13:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Crystal!

I wish I had a picture from the first night I met you... because I remember it really well. Charlie and I were at you and Nic's apartment... waiting for you, Nic and Risa to come from somewhere. And I was Obviously very nervous about meeting you all. But you came in... and you were all so warm and nice and welcoming and you talked to me about speaking Spanish and your time abroad in Spain. And then I felt silly for being so nervous about meeting everyone.

And now, almost 5 years later, SO much in all our lives has changed... but I can see how God has orchestrated it all into very beautiful things. You contributed(?) the most amazing addition to our family :) And live in Pointe Coupee! (Which I love.) And you remain an amazing wife and mom!

You performed miracles for me at Charlie and my wedding. Yours is a talent I am very thankful to have in the family :)

That was during that whole crazy fall of two weddings and a baby! You were a trooper. And I will swat mosquitoes off of your back anytime!

I am so blessed to have you as a sister-in-law! You have so much wisdom and perspective on things! I'm thankful I will have that to lean on as Charlie and I approach new stages to our life.

I definitely miss having girl-time!

I love this picture of you... I feel like it really captures how beautiful of a mama you are! Fox is blessed to have you as a mom, and we're all so blessed to be your family!

I pray this year is full of more blessings, surprises and joy!! We miss and love you!

:D

2012-01-29T15:39:00.000-08:00

Charlie!
I'm so excited for you!
Tomorrow is your first day at your new job.
You're going to learn more about vegetable production.
And Maple Syrup.
And HoneyBees.

You deserve a really great, fun, exciting job.
Thanks for hanging in there until this one came along!!

Iron Chef

2012-01-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

Charlie is trying to inspire to chef hidden inside of me, so he got me (upon request) a Cooking Light subscription for Christmas! Great gift. And I think it's working!

So far I have made Miso Chicken, which was a big hit. I made it in the crock pot instead of marinading it and then cooking it stovetop. I actually think it may have turned out even better this way. YUMMY.
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/miso-chicken-50400000118603/

Next, I attempted this:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/grapefruit-pound-cake-50400000118562/

Grapefruit Pound Cake. #1: NEVER attempt to zest 2 Tablespoons of grapefruit zest without proper equipment. OMG. It literally took me 20 minutes. And a sore neck. And I gave up before I got 2T. And then Charlie didn't like it, and I did... so I had it eat it all. Yuck. So make this one at your own risk.

And finally, I made this:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/shrimp-lemon-saffron-rice-50400000118563/

It was very good. We used crowder peas instead of sweet green peas, so I added them in at the beginning so they could soften with the onions and bell pepper. It could have used a touch more salt, but it was very good! We also used plain white rice instead of instant rice, so it cooked longer there, too... I'm sure you could do brown rice instead, too! Charlie got seconds, so I know he liked it!

I think we're both pleased with how this Christmas gift is turning out. And. Let's face it. We have freezers full of food just waiting for recipes to use them up!

brr

2012-01-27T10:20:00.001-08:00

thinking warm thoughts....

Peace

2012-01-26T14:29:00.000-08:00

God's peace is so amazing.
I don't think there's a way to fully describe or quantify the affect if can have on you. And I say quantify instead of qualify because I feel like there's a true tangible element to it.
When I found out I was going to Oklahoma for the summer, I started FREAKING OUT. Like... crying all the time and my heart was beating uncontrollably, and I was shaky... and I physically felt my mind and body reacting to this very unwanted and unexpected thing. And I hated my attitude about it. I hated that I didn't feel peace and even that was confusing because I wasn't sure if that meant it was wrong and I should try to get out of it or if that meant I just didn't have enough faith to believe I would be put in the right spot.
But oh my goodness. I feel exponentially better now. Yes, there is a chance I'll get relocated back to Northern Minnesota (yay)! But I even feel okay about letting go of that and just accepting what comes. It's maybe not what I perceive to be ideal (poor Charlie :( ), but... I can't describe it. It's just the peace of God that transcends understanding.
Nothing really changed... just praying, offering to God a sacrifice of praise... and letting go.
Thank you God! That is a MIRACLE if I've ever seen one.

blogblogblog

2012-01-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

i still haven't come up with a brilliant answer for the accomplishment i am most proud of or my career goals. (i don't even know what i want to DO yet except love people.) but i need to get on that. my application is due soon.

I'm really excited about some new projects I'm working on this year. once a month I get to help with a neurodevelopment clinic helping (my adviser) with kids with autism-spectrum disorders. i am really looking forward to learning more about that... and it's amazing i get to tag along! along those same lines, i may be applying for a fellowship for next year working with kids and families of neurodevelopmental delays. amazing! (and it wouldn't hurt if it helped pay for schooool!)

in other news... we had to make the puppies throw up yesterday. we ran to target, and when we came back, we found that rufus had devoured the entire contents of my purse. meds. med bottles. lotion caps. walnuts and craisins. maylox. an entire package of peanuts (entire meaning he ate the packaging, too.) so i went into freakout mode since i didn't know what punkin had eaten... so we decided we had to make them both throw up. enter hydrogen peroxide. we gave them their doses and took them outside to run around and make it work! punkin was the first to go. but, turns out, she didn't eat anything from my purse. so then we knew rufus had eaten like 30 ibuprofens and benadryls. so we gave him more hydrogen peroxide. still nothing. so we brought him back inside (since we were freezing) and waited. and gave him more, and waited. well. he's been throwing up since yesterday. everywhere. yum! (who eats plastic?)

also. today. i had to drive in LOTS of snow for the first time. it actually was kind of scary. interstates had plenty of snow on them... i was slipping around a bit and spinning my tires. but they do a pretty amazing job of clearing it all... by the time i headed home from the new field experience i have at a school it was all cleared on major roads! Praise God!

today is a better day.

2012-01-20T08:56:00.000-08:00

AND it's snowing. today is a good snow day.

accentuate the positive

2012-01-19T14:15:00.001-08:00

when you don't know what to say, talk about the weather.

2012-01-18T16:47:00.000-08:00

it's going to be -12 tonight. i can honestly say i think that's a first for me.

Hebrews 13:15

2012-01-17T19:10:00.001-08:00

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

great expectations

2012-01-17T14:10:00.000-08:00

It's so amazing to me how many expectations we put on things. Even when we don't try... even when we (maybe just me) try to keep an open mind about how something might look, we still internally have this expectation about what it will ACTUALLY be. I want to be more open-minded. I don't want to impose how I think things should go onto situations or people or circumstances. God is wild. His ways aren't our ways. I know that because He usually *coughnever* does things the way I think they should go. It's not bad. It's just not what I would have thought. ENTER:Ada, Oklahoma.14 hours from Saint Paul.4 hours from Russellville, AR.9 hours from Oscar, LA.7 hours from Kansas City.

Beginnings

2012-01-16T19:30:00.001-08:00

Okay semester #2.Let's do this.

2012-01-12T18:41:00.001-08:00

this stinks.i'm going to write a very detailed memoir of our tragic journey, but for now just know we have a fixed car.. and are sad this didn't work out, but know something good can come of it all.:( doesn't make it feel much better.

if you haven't heard.......

2012-01-09T15:41:00.000-08:00

We're making a trip south!! wooo!I would LOVE to see YOU! This trip is going to be very eventful. And PACKED. Charlie really wanted to make this trip a drive, so hold on to your tires because we're going to be burin' up the road.Wednesday: Leave at 5am when Charlie gets off of work on his night shift for inventory. Charlie naps while I drive, I nap while Charlie drives... Spend the evening with my parents. (12 hours of driving).Thursday: Leave early morning for Louisiana... spend the afternoon and evening in Pointe Coupee! And hopefully see a nephew that lives across the street! (7.5 hours of driving)Friday: Charlie wants to hunt, crawfish, and take the doggies to the back to swim and play. I also hear we are picking up two nephews from school, and having a bonfire. Saturday: Again, Charlie wants to hunt, crawfish, and be a Pointe Coupee man! Aaaand I think there are some other things planned?Sunday: head out early for Arkansas. Stop through (hopefully) to see my Aunt and Uncle in Eudora. Then finish the trip up to Arkansas. Spend the evening with the folks. (7.5 hours of driving)Monday: Leave EARLY for Kansas City... spend at least the afternoon with Susan, Al, Caleb and friends from JBU. Leave in the evening and finish the 7 hour drive back to Saint Paul! (12 hours of driving)LOTS of driving. 2 dogs. New tires :) LOTS of family and friends. Lots of Pointe Coupee! (well.. maybe not LOTS, but it's all we've got! So let's enjoy it!!) Can't wait to see you!!

Really, Pointe Coupee?

2012-01-06T11:16:00.001-08:00

You had to be THE worst in the country?!

*EDIT* I failed to attach the article that goes along with this that mentions Louisiana is last in childhood nutrition, and Pointe Coupee is the worst in the state. Wow.

Surprise!

2012-01-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

I love nutrition.
I spent the last two days at a pediatric nutrition conference we could opt to go to.... Not many girls in the program went (I know people are busy and work and it's break) but I just loved it.

If I know you, I probably thought of you at some point during the different topics. Ask me and I probably have a tip for you :)

It feels so good to be doing something I love, am passionate about, and am good at, too!

I have impeccable taste

2012-01-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

Impeccable. When it comes to animals.
I was actually just pleading with Charlie to stop buying pork. I don't know what it is, but that is one animal I just can't eat... for the animal's sake. Look at this pig!! Look at him! Generally speaking, I really want Charlie and I to be stewards of whatever meat we eat.. meaning things he hunts... or raising our own chickens and turkeys. I like this because we then know the animal has been treated fairly, fed healthfully, and had a good life. Charlie thinks I'm dorky (although he's on board with eventually raising all our own meat). But he says I have terrible taste in animals. Dorky animals, he calls them.

Just look at that face!

Camels, too. LOVE them.

You know I'm obsessed with a platypus.

A spoonbill, too. Fortunately, I don't think you can eat these.

king cake season

2012-01-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Dear King Cakes,
I miss you. Very much! They pretend like they make them up here in Minnesota, but they're fakers. They're not real king cakes. Look at that.
However much I miss you, I'm kind of glad you don't live up here. Or else I would be eating one of you every week (probably). Not cool. In fact, I'm giving up sugar alltogether. We'll see how that goes, but not having you around will certainly help.
Mmk. Love you,
Stephanie

Help!

2012-01-02T12:12:00.000-08:00

So. I'm applying like a mad-woman to scholarships for next year.

And I'm stumped by a question... so here's a shout-out to anyone who reads this blog (since you probably know me best)

What is my most significant accomplishment? In less than 100 words.

This is a dietetics scholarship application... so I'm thinking they want something nutritional? But I'm not sure?
HELP?

Welcome 2012

2012-01-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

You have a lot to live up to.

This year, I want to be more confident. I know my confidence has to be rooted in who God is and that He is living in me. He supports me, shapes me, and is always with me. We are separate and yet unified.

I also want to walk in complete obedience. In everything.

God, open my ears so I can hear you clearly.

Deuteronomy 28

Blessings for Obedience

¹ If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ² All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: ³ You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
⁴ The fruit of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.
⁵ Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed.
⁶ You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.
⁷ The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.
⁸ The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
⁹ The LORD will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath, if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in obedience to him. ¹⁰ Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will fear you. ¹¹ The LORD will grant you abundant prosperity—in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your ground—in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you.
¹² The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. ¹³ The LORD will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the LORD your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom. ¹⁴ Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left, following other gods and serving them.

i know it's dorky...

2012-01-01T10:07:00.000-08:00

but here is 2011 in facebook status updates!
some favorites?
SANDWICH (as in charlie made me a chocolate chip sandwich)
SOUTHERNERS
BELLY
FLURRIES
HOGS
RAZORBACKS
DIGITS (As in single digit temperatures)
PUNKIN

I loved 2011

2011-12-31T14:21:00.000-08:00

LOVED it. It was a welcome break from 2010, which I wasn't too terribly fond of.

Not that this year wasn't without struggle, but I just felt so content this year. A feeling of wholeness came as God fulfilled my dream of going to school to become a dietitian.

Here's a few 2011 highlights:

got accepted into Graduate school

spent a ton of time at grand isle

participated in my very first mardi gras! i believe it was fox's first, too!

bird watched

family photo shoot

several loup-family sundays

survived a flood

spent hours in the swamp walking, talking, watching, reflecting, playing

saw plenty of birds

survived a tornado in our yard

a couple of galbo-family get-togethers

an awesome wedding in jersey!

to celebrate these two...

a CRAZY house-search in the twin cities (i still owe you for your patience, mom!)

a really great year at MPT

more hours of crabbing and fishing fun on grand isle

started the adventure of a lifetime with this man (and cut down a minnesota-grown tree)

we also have not, yet, died from the snow!

football games


hours of fun at como park!

2011 has been so good to me. Maybe I should say GOD has been so good to me. 2012, I look forward to getting to know you! I hope you live up to this years' expectations!

New Years' Eve Eve

2011-12-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

Happy

2011-12-29T12:14:00.000-08:00

i'm so proud of Charlie.
we were on our way home from our triple-stop grocery trip.
the car directly in front of us suddenly swerved on the highway.
we then saw it was a huge, 100-lb metal grate that has flown out of a car in front of them.
she swerved past 2 lanes of traffic and hit the concrete road divider head-on and ended up facing oncoming traffic.
i started dialing 911 and Charlie jumped out of the car, ran across 3 lanes of interstate traffic to check on her. she was miraculously okay so he ran around the highway picking up pieces of her car and clearing the road for everyone else. he waited for the police to arrive to tell them what happened and showed the woman what she had almost hit.
she said it almost went through her windshield.
i am 100% positive if it had hit her windshield she would have died.

When we left Charlie said he was disappointed that not very many people stopped to help.
i, on the other hand, thought it was amazing the we, a lady behind us, and another man all stopped to help.

But maybe that's what makes Charlie so special... that he wouldn't think twice about helping someone in a need and it comes so naturally to him that he doesn't understand when more people don't.

I love you, Charles Wilson.

5th warmest christmas on record!

2011-12-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

pretty boy

what a chef!


i tried. i had this orange-french-toast recipe picked out...

but then charlie informed me that he doesn't like food with oranges in it. besides oranges and ducks. change of plans. but it was good! i took the brown sugar and pecans from the recipe i had picked and updated our french toast! it was good.

we ate all of it. rufus got none.

the anticipation of charlie's gift from his parents... i warned him that he would LOVE it! he did!

risa thought of us, too! thanks ris!

we took a family outing to the park to take christmas pics. pernkie was LESS than thrilled.

we're a como-park-lovin' family!

for self-timer pics they turned out really well!

love my little family!

a gift of warmth from my daddy

and a gift of italian beauty from my mom-in-law

Merry Christmas Eve!

2011-12-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

Wishing we were many places right now.
Missing many cute nephews.
Many awesome siblings.
Our 4 great parents and grandmother.
And tons of cousins.
Thankful we (two) get to be together.
Thankful Charlie has a job.
Thankful for the pups.
Thankful for where God has us now.
Thankful life has seasons.
Thankful it's 40 degrees outside.

I wish I had done a better job preparing my heart for this celebration.
Thank you, Jesus, for experiencing life as one of us.
For knowing what it's like to be separated and yet connected.
For making things right.

random assortment

2011-12-23T13:08:00.000-08:00

here's our "clean laundry" hahaha

A VERY thoughtful gift from a very thoughtful mother-in-law

a very sleepy and benadryl-drugged rufie (i'm just so clever)

i think caleb likes his twilight turtle! yay!

here is a picture of half the girls from our cooking class! i love them!

ALSO

2011-12-21T21:39:00.000-08:00

i believe that it takes... ohhhh.... 48 hours for your body to revert back to southern temperatures.

i have been FREEZING for the last 2 days! (and it was above 32 today!)

belated birthday

2011-12-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Nicholas!!

Charlie and I were so sad we missed your party! It sounds like it was pretty awesome (and maybe not so much of a surprise..?) I guess nothing gets past you in your old age :)

Growing up, I always wanted a big brother... and you seem to live up to the big-brother expectations! I know why both your siblings look up to you so much!

I know you had a big impact on the man Charlie is today! I'm so thankful for that!


You're such a great dad, too! It's also so fun to watch you with all of your nieces and nephews!

I'm sure one day our kids will also love and look up to their Uncle Nic!
Happy birthday! I'm sure this year will be the best yet! (Hope to see you soon!)

half-way-there

2011-12-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

I AM FINISHED WITH BIOSTATISTICS FOREVER!!

i'm not sure what i made on the test... but i'm sure it was enough to pass the class.

that is a GREAT feeling.

and with props to this brilliant mind, here is an ode to the completion of my class.

i'm sure you're all thankful it's not a corgi :)

corgi-in-a-swing

2011-12-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

I just love them.

So it's finalsish week. It's coming along. The test I'm most worried about it this Thursday. I think I'll feel much better when that one is over. I will be SO GLAD to kiss biostatistics goodbye.

Can I just say I love teenage girls? LOVE them. The healthy cooking class I'm working with now is a bunch of high schoolers. They can be sassy and independent and insecure and needy and brave and admirable and adoring. I think I would really love to work with kids in nutrition. They're blank slates... many don't know much, if anything, about healthy food or cooking. Most are eager to learn and will love you for any little effort. The class has been kind of crazy, but it's been really telling to me. Who knew?

corgi-of-the-day

2011-12-11T17:36:00.001-08:00

is going to make finals week(andahalf) so much better.

see?

TRY and tell me there's a cuter dog. TRY IT.

what a week.

2011-12-09T14:00:00.001-08:00

this week was finals week except that i don't get to crash now and do nothing for the next month. no, i have to gear up for actual finals.
it's really cold.
i want to be vague and profound because i don't actually want to talk about anything that happened this week. but i don't think i'm that articulate.
maybe for the first time i feel like an actual adult dealing with... being a grownup. and the weight of it all.

yes!

2011-12-08T14:19:00.001-08:00

[AC] Promo 2011 from Advent Conspiracy on Vimeo.

2011-12-06T11:46:00.001-08:00

i need some encouragement. i forgot what "end of semesters" are like.

Basically, it's kind of gone like this.

i hate politics

2011-12-04T18:04:00.001-08:00

I just don't understand what sort of example it sets when politicians get on television and say horrible things about one another.

you know what message i think it sends? (especially to children if they're watching?)

"be rude to people who are different than you. it's the best way to solve problems."

snow boots

2011-12-03T21:04:00.001-08:00

so apparently the right clothing DOES make a difference in cold weather.

who knew?

(we just went on a walk thru the neighborhood with the puppies. in 4 inches of snow.)
(it's still snowing.)

Daddy

2011-12-03T12:53:00.001-08:00

This picture reminds me of the basketball camp you created for me with Pistol Pete when I was in Jr. High (or middle school?) I didn't want to go to a real camp, but you saw potential in me and had me watch videos and do drills and practices for a week one summer. I think at the time it paid off, but unfortunately I didn't stick with it and milk $50 more out of you for being able to jump and touch the basketball rim.

So not just with basketball, but you've always been my coach. A constant encourager and person who sees great potential in me, my sisters, my mom, and any other person in relationship with you.

I love this picture, too. You have a big family of girls! (Which will probably swing to a man-dominated family soon!) I can't think of a better man to be stuck in the middle of a bunch of women and love and protect and support all of us (and sometimes make fun of our soap-operas and girly food.)

I'm so thankful for you, Daddy. I really hope this is one of the best years of your life. I pray God will give you fulfillment and joy and a few more trips up to Minnesota :)

And hey. I love watching you with Caleb. And I can't wait for Charlie and I to have kids so they can meet and love their Papa.

Happy birthday, Dad! Wish we could be there to celebrate you!

Jericho

2011-12-02T14:12:00.001-08:00

I've marched around Jericho 12 times.
I've thought I'd seen it start to fall
       to crumble.
       the rumble of ancient strongholds
                 starting to die.

I've marched around 12 times
   each time, the thought it would
      be my last.
Each begins
      victorious!
Then tedious
      Then discouraging
          Then the realization

                    that I

can never make it fall.

I start the circle again.
what seems a cruel reminder
that the walls still remain.
   that the fortress still stands.
      that I am foolish for even trying.

I can't make it fall
But I can continue to march.
    The Ark of the Covenant
       carrying me along
Reminding me where the
     real work
       is being done.

I'm unsure when it will fall.
       or how.
          or how many more circles it will take.

But I'm thankful He lets me
   walk one more.
It means my journey isn't over.
I march in silence
until the day He tells me to shout.

On that day, I'll shout.
And the walls will crumble.

Joshua 5:13-6:27

well said

2011-12-02T07:03:00.001-08:00

tithe

2011-11-30T05:56:00.001-08:00

i woke up thinking about this and just wanted to share.

so. we've been doing a series on finances in church (the blessed life) and also have decided that RLC will become our home church.

so last week we tithed our actual "tithe" amount for the first time.

later that week we get all the bills in the mail. charlie opens his health insurance, and instead of a bill it says, "we're going to pay for your insurance this month!"

ummm okay! yay! AND his insurance is the exact amount we tithed! that's so exciting! thanks God!

waaaaaahhh

2011-11-29T10:41:00.001-08:00

i don't like tuesdays.

i don't have time for anything (except blogging, apparently.)

i don't know what's going on in biostatistics. notatall.

i have a project due tomorrow that no on really wants to work on.

and i have two more meetings today.

aaaaaaaaand i'm in christmas break mode.

okayi'mdonewhining.

video post

2011-11-27T16:47:00.001-08:00

to the coolest 2-year-old I know

2011-11-27T14:51:00.001-08:00

Dear Fox,

Happy birthday!! Uncle Charlie and I SO wish we could be there to celebrate you!! You are growing so quickly and are so smart! I still vividly remember the day we found out you would be joining our family. We were all so excited and couldn't wait to meet you.

You don't remember it, but you were even with us at Uncle Charlie and my wedding! Your mom was awesome.

The day you were born was SO exciting. We woke up at 5 when your dad called and couldn't go back to sleep so we spent the day at the hospital waiting for the chance to meet you!

We were too excited to do anything else.

And it was worth it!! You were beautiful and perfect and the best addition to our family.

And you still never cease to amaze us! You are so charming.


We love you so much, Fox! Happy 2nd Birthday!! We'll see you soon!		Love, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Steph

So much to be thankful for!

2011-11-24T07:32:00.001-08:00

In no particular order....

The Galbos!!

Our beautiful Grandmother

The "Cuzzies"

Nephew #1

The Loup family

These lovely women

This man. My rock.

The opportunities Charlie had growing up

I know it's silly. But Toto was my first baby and Tiggy is just plain cute.

Work opportunities Charlie had that taught him work ethic and responsibility

These two! My favorite. They have taught me so much and love a lot.

Yay! I am thankful for education... that both Charlie and I were able to go to college.

Nephew #2!

This view (hehe)

The cuteness

The opportunity and adventure we are having in Minnesota. I can't describe how thankful I am for this life-changing two years!

CRAZY sisters!!

The daddy-daughter relationship

That crazy spoiled little boy.

The fam!

first snow

2011-11-21T19:22:00.001-08:00

i thought i was going to die today. like really, actually die.

i had to drive my car on ice for the first time ever. i sent charlie out on a test drive first. it didn't help that when he came home, he squwinched up his face and said, "that was TERRIBLE" especially after it not going so well in his truck either. and watching tons of cars in ditches. and them NOT PLOWING OR SALTING OUR STREET.

me=freaking out. i cried a lot.
because i had class and a volunteer clinic thing tonight in minneapolis and charlie's working and wouldn't even be able to rescue me if i wrecked. and the snow wasn't melting and i felt incredibly lied to because everyone promised they keep the roads here so good.

so we went on a test drive and i slid all over the road. it was scary and i cried some more. charlie put sandbags in the back of my car, and it didn't help. but he said it was helping.

so i left for my meeting tonight like 2 hours early. i prayed in tongues the whole way there. and called the angelic hosts out of heaven to surround my tires. because i was sure i was going to die. and got there and hour and 45 minutes early. and then when i got to the church i was volunteering at they had, not one, but TWO open parallel parking places in a row (so my other biggest fear of parallel parking in the ice was also quelled). i may or may not have parked kind of in the middle of them. whoops. and so sat in my car for a while. and the cop they have on duty was positioned right by my car so i felt safe, too.

when my parents bought me my car 5 years ago he knew i would be driving it in minnesota winters. when i got into school he wasn't surprised that i would have to drive that car around town to different functions in the ice and snow.

His grace is enough for me. Thank you God, for letting me not die tonight :)

our first minnesota snow!

2011-11-19T13:02:00.001-08:00

Hebrews 12:12-13

2011-11-18T14:22:00.001-08:00

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. "Make level paths for your feet", so that the lame may not be disabled, but healed. (NIV)

I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. There are so many more— Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. (The Message Hebrews 11:32-35)

Their weakness was turned into strength. That is how they could know it was God, and not themselves. He took their impossible, and made it reality.

ha!

2011-11-17T13:28:00.001-08:00

sick.

broken shoe. while on the saint paul campus. i fixed it tape-style.

broken toilet. at home.

SO. in order to protest all these recent happenings, i am going to be thankful. a whole week early :)

i am thankful it's been a mild november.
i am thankful charlie was able to find some work... the economy is rough up here.
i am thankful God has opened doors for us thus far with moving to minnesota and me getting into school.
i am thankful the vet thinks Rufus throwing up is just because he eats too fast... nothing to worry about.
i am thankful that illness and pain are temporary.
i am thankful for my ever-loving husband.
i am thankful people i love are only a phone-call or skype away. (even though i'm really bad at using it sometimes!)
i am thankful for the house we live in.
i am thankful for my puppies and how much joy they bring to our lives.
i am thankful charlie and i will get to spend thanksgiving together and hopefully make a few traditions.
i am thankful i have shoes that aren't broken.
i'm thankful we can afford food.

take THAT terrible awful week!

and now my throat hurts.

2011-11-16T13:34:00.001-08:00

like charlie's did right before he got sick.

failureofaday.

2011-11-16T06:50:00.001-08:00

it is currently 8:45

today i have already:

-had a flat tire.
-gone for that fun woman doctor visit.
-walked half a mile in 20 degree weather. without gloves or a hat.
-tried 5 computers in the computer lab before i found one that would let me log on.
-and gotten locked out of said lab. when i tried to call the tech people. and couldn't because i'm in a basement with no reception.

please, day. get better.

come on March 23rd!

2011-11-14T10:16:00.001-08:00

and i'm so excited i have people to watch it with!! :)

loud bus-talkers

2011-11-11T18:12:00.001-08:00

so. 8 or 9 in the morning. on the early morning bus ride (okay it's not THAT early... but it's full of sleepy undergrad students...) from the saint paul campus into the east bank minneapolis campus. and notta-one person on the bus is talking. until we get to the last saint paul stop and pick up another group of students. enter loud phone talker.

at first it was startling because i thought he was talking to himself. then i realized his old-school headphones were actually some sort of blue tooth. then, seeing as he was making the ONLY NOISE on the whole entire bus and speaking VERY loudly, i decided i might-as-well listen in.

at first he talked about different interviews he'd had around the country and how well he'd done at them. then he talked about his son and how, since they'd probably stay in minnesota until he is 18, it might be interesting for him (the dad) to go to school (i'm guessing med school..?) in a very different place.

then things got really annoying. he referenced a possible move to Starkville, Mississippi. first he started off with a monologue about how in Starkville, they have this old-school mindset and put all their jails in the middle of the town so everyone can see who's in jail. and you can just drive by and see who is in it!! (the horror!) and can you believe there are places that still have that old southern mindset?!

then he continued that they'd be able to find a nice home on 5-acres for $500 a month. because that's what everyone in starkville, ms lives on because of the feral dogs. you can't go outside at night to walk your dog because feral dogs will attack. so you have a nice fenced-in 5 acre lot that you can walk your dog on.

okay, so i'm not from starkville... and i haven't lived there. so maybe every person lives in a cheap, 5 acre lot to avoid feral dogs and drives by the open-air jail every morning to see who is in it. but i seriously doubt that.

there are old-school ideas alive and well in the south, yes. but please, sir. do not pretend like you know what it's like until you've lived there. or assume that giving inmates fresh air (usually on secluded highways) is to expose and embarrass them. it's easy to pretend to know what other cultures and people are like. these things take time. and patience. and a willingness and receive and learn and adapt instead of assume.

broken

2011-11-08T18:06:00.000-08:00

# 1. i'm obsessed with pinterest. it's so terrible.

#2. so one of the places i'm volunteering at is a free neighborhood clinic in minneapolis run by students. it's one of the first places like it in the country... we have preceptors and it's very interdisciplinary--meaning we have huddles and the med students and pharmacists and nutrition students and nursing students and social work students collaborate about the patients that come in and we work together (with our preceptors) about how best to treat the patient. so this is awesome, right?
welll the not-so-awesome part is that it's in a really sketchy neighborhood. you know? the kind that needs free clinics. so someone in said neighborhood figured out that twice a week a ton of cars of rich-grad-school students would be parked on the street. cars with iphones and computers and gps's and other valuables. so cars were getting broken into increasingly.
it got so bad that they had to shut the clinic down for a while while they figured out what to do.
the solution? a cop that would stay in the church parking lot (where the clinic is) and would circle around and keep a watch over the block and the cars. this is great, huh?! problem solved! neighborhood safe!!

you'd think.

they started hearing complaints from people in the neighborhood. the cop made the kids nervous because many of them are undocumented. they are more afraid of a cop than of bad people who break into cars and rob people. and possible assault or hurt people.

i'm not making a statement on immigration policy... i'm just stating something that breaks my heart. how could a child be more afraid of someone who is meant to keep them safe than of the people they are keeping them safe from? ugh!! my heart hurts for them! and what do you do? the solution was for the cop to show up after dark when kids are "safe" in their homes. how is this a solution? IS there a solution?

i'm sorry. i love him.

2011-11-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/Tim-Tebow-why-the-heck-do-we-hate-him-110211

hey pointe coupee

2011-11-05T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Pointe Coupee, It's been a while. Here are a few things I miss about you.

I miss taking our dogs to the pond or the swamps and letting them swim and run around.

I know, right? Friskey?! But she was my first and only cat. And now there is no one to boss Punkin around.

We're juuuuust a little over 3 hours from Grand Isle now.

And it's not quite flower season here, either.

And let's face it. Our puppies are lonesome. They just have us and each other. But I'm glad to know MooMoo is living the high life now :)

There is something so beautiful about a swamp

And watching your man work doing what he loves to do best (Or looking for gators :))

Yep. We don't have those either.

Birds. Who knew I loved swamp birds so much?

I think this picture speaks for itself

And last but not least... these ladies. (This picture is no inclusive of every person I miss!!)

picture update

2011-11-04T20:15:00.000-07:00

I just think they're so cute and snuggly

For some reason, Charlie and I were extremely amused by this...? I think we imagine it as a dog-carrier

SO sad I won't play with him

So sweet

A lovely afternoon at the park

My favorite

The whole family.

Aaaaaand LSU... you have to look closely, but it's there!

Oh, JBU

2011-11-02T13:00:00.001-07:00

How I miss you...

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/College-basketball-8217-s-best-technical-foul-r?urn=ncaab-wp5820

72

2011-11-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

I don't make a regular habit of blogging about pop culture... but this topic has kind of been knawing at me all day.

72 days.
1) I don't know her situation. Sometimes people marry someone who isn't who they thought they married. That happens, and I acknowledge that. In certain cases I think it may be better to just walk away than suffer with it forever.
2) Why should she uphold any sort of standard? I actually think I believe that marriage should strictly be a religious institution, and all others should just have civil unions... contracts that aren't made between two people and God... just with each other.

But ugh! This really bothers me! I think Kim got "wedding-ed" instead of married. On the one hand, I am offended that she would take marriage so lightly... and put on a huge production and call it quits after 72 days. What does that say about her? And what does that say about (and to) the culture we live in. Marriage is NOT easy. It takes a lot of work and determination and it something that has boundaries and needs to be taken seriously. What IS marriage? What is a wife? What is a husband?

I keep hearing over and over again that "the Kardashians are sticking together through this as a family"... but shouldn't her husband be included in "family" now? At the very least at the same level as her sisters or mother? Charlie told me they figured up that she made $10,000 a hour for this "weddiage". I don't know if it's true... but it makes me sick. What a mockery of such a sacred thing.

Oh Lord, You're Beautiful

2011-10-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

this may actually be a common practice, but we did something in Church i had never done before. we were taking communion together... and when it came time to thank Christ for his body, we actually physically broke the bread (which was a wafer). maybe this is symbolism i have always missed when we tore bread off of a loaf... but it was powerful for me! i have never considered that before as a physical act: to acknowledge that we were both a part of Christ's breaking and, ourselves, very broken.

Oh, Lord, you're beautiful.

2011-10-29T16:23:00.000-07:00

homework. ALL DAY. on a saturday.

charlie. working through football. on a saturday.

what can you do? it's character building moments like these that help define life.

also. i really wish we were at a certain wedding this evening instead. it's full of people we love and miss. this is the hardest part about being far away.

my babies

2011-10-29T11:27:00.000-07:00


They are clean, their bed is being washed, and Punkin's stuffed-dog-pillow is, too.

The (very easy-to-clean) couch it is.
If I wasn't afraid of them running away again, I might let them spend the day outside... it is BEAUTIFUL here!

the 1% or 99%

2011-10-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

so this was super interesting.

have you seen it floating around the internet? at first i really appreciated it. especially with how debt is such a crazy-massive problem in the states. i've always been on the conservative side of money. i love to save up and always have. fortunately, i'm married to another penny-pincher, so we can pinch our pennies together. which i suppose is good because we have been... very poor. ever since we got married.

but i guess i should define poor. one or both of us has been in school since we got married. meaning at any point when either of us was able to work full time... we weren't making much. but i'll get back to this later.

it's really easy to judge. really easy. charlie and i were both so blessed. both sets of our parents felt college (undergrad) was so important that they saved and put us through college... and paid for housing and food and cars along the way. that's pretty huge. and puts us in pretty remarkable situations. situations most people could only dream of having. and, until i started grad school and excluding our trailer, even with the only full-time job we've collectively had being a close-to-minimum-wage job... we didn't have any debt.

it would be very easy for us to think we did this on our own. and we partly did.. we're conservative and spend carefully. we don't buy ourselves expensive things... we're always thinking about the future. i was able to get in-state tuition and half of the rest of it covered with an assistantship. BUT. did we "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps"? did we do this by our own power and internal will?

not really. we were born into really fortunate families. we were given good educations. we have good role models and amazing support systems. we have encouraging parents who made sacrifices for us. we haven't earned a ton of money since we've been married... but we are very wealthy. charlie has had land and employment in his backyard.

so yes, our decisions have been important... but no. we can't take credit for the hand of cards we were dealt.
and sometimes a little debt for school is okay... i'm so thankful i can take out loans so i can learn how to be a nutritionist and do what i love!
i can't think of a smooth way to end this blog. sooooooo abrupt stop now.

hungry for the hunger games

2011-10-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

dorkiest title ever. i'm so clever.

what do i have to say?
best books ever. LOVED them. couldn't put them down. so good.

aaaaand they're making a moooovie! march 23rd, 2012. i'm going to be there.

i feel good about how they cast katniss. she looks like how i imagined her. i know that's a hard thing any time they turn a book into a movie... because it's hard to capture the character's essence and make them into a real person that fits everyone's expectations... but i think she looks like a katniss.

i know they said gale was good-looking in the books, but i don't think he should be so much cuter than peeta!! but i guess he looks serious and angsty so he'll probably be a great gale.


i know i shouldn't have a crush on a 17 year old boy from a young adult fiction book, but i just love peeta. and we'll just have to see if he lives up to my expectations in the movie. i guess i imagined him really big... because he's always protecting katniss. but who knows? maybe he'll be great and i'll love him, too.

anyway. this was a super-dorky post. but i am really excited about the movies coming out and very grateful to susan for letting me borrow all of her books!
now to find something new to read...

psalm 42

2011-10-23T16:07:00.000-07:00

Psalm 42 from Shift Worship on Vimeo.
This is a video we watched in church this morning that I thought might be encouraging to someone.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Psalm 42

For the choir director: A psalm^[a] of the descendants of Korah.

¹ As the deer longs for streams of water,
      so I long for you, O God.
² I thirst for God, the living God.
      When can I go and stand before him?
³ Day and night I have only tears for food,
      while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
      “Where is this God of yours?” ⁴ My heart is breaking
      as I remember how it used to be:
   I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
      leading a great procession to the house of God,
   singing for joy and giving thanks
      amid the sound of a great celebration!
⁵ Why am I discouraged?
      Why is my heart so sad?
   I will put my hope in God!
      I will praise him again—
      my Savior and ⁶ my God!
   Now I am deeply discouraged,
      but I will remember you—
   even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
      from the land of Mount Mizar.
⁷ I hear the tumult of the raging seas
      as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
⁸ But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
      and through each night I sing his songs,
      praying to God who gives me life.
⁹ “O God my rock,” I cry,
      “Why have you forgotten me?
   Why must I wander around in grief,
      oppressed by my enemies?”
¹⁰ Their taunts break my bones.
      They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
¹¹ Why am I discouraged?
      Why is my heart so sad?
   I will put my hope in God!
      I will praise him again—
      my Savior and my God!

Dear Charlie (and Louisiana),

2011-10-19T14:28:00.000-07:00

I am sitting in a
computer lab waiting for you to get off of work, and it has me thinking about our new life together. Not even two months ago we were cozy in our little home with our country life and Grand Isle and crabbing and MooMoo and tons of family functions and taking the dogs running in the swamps and birding and our crazy-flexible schedules.

Now, we're cold and living in a neighborhood with the dogs inside and have instant access to parks and lakes and dog parks and gardens and museums and waterfalls and malls and every restaurant in the whole world. The land of many apples and orchards. And living with one car (Seriously. I can't believe we did it.) And you working a job that has hours (and spending 12 hours a day looking for jobs and interviewing with people you don't know and who don't know you which I know is 100 worlds apart from where you came). And me having 10238234 meetings every week. And you venturing out and finding places to shoot and hunt and buy local produce. And learning our area like you were born here.

That's a lot of change. And you did it for me. Even mostly with a smile on your face.

You gave up a lot, Charlie. And I recognize that and I respect that.

There was a time when I was still learning you (I suppose I will always still be learning you) when I was trying to determine what your values were. I never doubted that land and Louisiana was up there on your list. But this sacrificial action made your words come alive (as you're always encouraging me to look at your actions as a means of determining your motives.)

You've never given me a reason to doubt you. You are more solid a rock than I could ever deserve. And you literally are being my foundation during this time. Thank you for your sacrifices. I genuinely pray that this time will be as beneficial and wonderful for you as it has been so far for me. I pray that this time wouldn't be about ME, but about US. Because I'm rather fond of us, Charlie. There is no one I would rather spend time with and share my life with than you. Just think about where we came from... think about how God brought us together. That US is pretty fantastically destined to do great things and love a lot of people along the way :)

(Oh, and happy late birthday :))

really?!

2011-10-17T15:42:00.000-07:00

I have been in Minnesota for around a month-and-a-half now. Close to two.

School started off slowly, but has really taken off. And this program is AWESOME. Can I just tell you the things I am already involved in??

1. Classes. Including Medical Nutrition Therapy and Public Health Nutrition Leadership. Who ever knew I would think tube-feeding was so interesting?

2. My field experience (hours going toward my RD license.) I am working with a program called Cooking Matters where we teach low-income individuals (moms and grandmothers in my class) about how to cook healthy, low-cost meals and about nutrition.

3. The Latino Infant Nutrition Initiative. I haven't gotten too far into this one yet, but it is a great organization. I am helping them launch an obesity month in Puerto Rico including a march through the city (probably San Juan...?) Doesn't this sound crazy?!

4. Latino and Hispanics in Dietetics and Nutrition... I did a little bit of research for one of their publications.

5. I am also on a group dedicated to abolishing the sales of raw milk in Minnesota... people don't realize it's pasteurized for a reason, apparently.

6. The Philips Neighborhood Clinic. I am going to be volunteering in a low-income neighborhood and acting as a student nutrition clinician in a free, student-run clinic. I'll be working with preceptors and other students in different disciplines (med students, PT students, social workers, etc) to help people in the community!

7. I will also be assigned to a community outreach site in the Philips Neighborhood. I asked to work in a meal-program of some sort.

But seriously. How crazy and amazing is this list of things? And this is only the first semester. I am so blessed to be given all these experiences and really meaningful opportunities to make a difference in people's lives as I learn to be a dietitian. And how awesome is it that most of my learning is hands-on?? I do spend quite a bit of time on homework and studying, but the majority of my time goes into personal interactions with people. Awesome.

corn soup

2011-10-09T10:27:00.000-07:00

i know we have batted the idea around of using our blogs to share recipes... and since ashleigh asked for a corn soup recipe, i thought this might be a good time to start sharing!

3T butter/oil
3T flour
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3 garlic cloves ,chopped
1 can rotel tomatoes, diced
1 lb shrimp, peeled and de-veined
5 cups chicken broth
1lb frozen corn (you know we love corn.)
salt, pepper, cayenne to taste

make a roux with butter and flour. add onion, bell pepper and cook until softened (5 min?). add parsley and 2 cups chicken broth. slowly add the juice of the rotel tomatoes, stirring well. add the garlic. add the tomatoes and cook a little. add the rest of the chicken broth slowly bringing to a simmer. add the corn and simmer for about 30 minutes. add the shrimp and simmer until shrimp are cooked through.

we add enough red pepper and black pepper to make ours pretty spicy. we also cut our shrimp into bite-sized pieces so we can have shrimp with every bite!

(we really have like 12 containers of this in our freezer. we're such corn-and-freezer-loving-loups :))

2011-10-07T12:18:00.001-07:00

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!

(also... epic fail that i failed to blog about my dear husband on his actual birthday... but seeing as he despises his actual birthday anyhow... i'll blog about him on his non-birthday. aka sometime this weekend.)

well THAT sure expains a lot...

2011-10-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

when i was in college i took a "personality" test called Strengths Finder for iLead. they have narrowed down strengths into 26 categories, and after taking an assessment, they determine what your top 5 are. the premise is that people are much more successful and productive when they focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses.

when i was in college my strengths were:
achiever
connectedness (that the world has greater purpose and we're all a part of that plan)
input (it's like collecting things... including information or knowledge)
learner
intellection (deep thought)

I actually kind of hated my results. i felt like they were very "me" focused and that... basically... i was a big nerd. i always complained to my boss, Becci about this. i told her i didn't like my "strengths" and that i didn't see how they could help me or benefit anyone else either.

well. fast-forward 6 years and here i am in grad school in a Public Health Nutrition Leadership class and they've asked us to take it. so i decided to take it again rather than just depend on my old results. i took the advice of our teacher and tried to answer "extremes" on the scales on the test rather than answering moderately. i was really nervous when i pressed submit because i was afraid i would get the same old nerdy scores.

but then they came up.
i'm still achiever. of course. that one will probably plague me forever.

i'm still connectedness. this one is just part of me, too. i see life as a very connected thing. i see people and people groups as needing one another and being part of the same great story.

i'm still intellection. which i don't think i understood when i took the test back then. but i definitely spend a LOT of time just thinking and processing. everything.

and then i added two great ones:
Developer and Strategy.

I want everyone to know their potential and have an opportunity to reach it. ...and strategy. with every single thing that happens... i think of every single outcome. my brain follows these webs of "what-if" to the n-th degree. about everything.

this explains so much!! strategy + intellection = scary.
every conversation i have i dissect and review it. i think of everything i could have said or they could have said and how that would have changed the conversation. i think about everything that has happened and how if one thing had changed, it would have changed everything. i think about the future, and how each decision i make has a ripple effect. it's like i see these mazes of possibility.

in some ways this makes me sound pessimistic because i can see potential barriers. or because i can think of every single bad thing that could ever happen. ever. what i've got to get better at is putting plans into place so i (or someone else) can overcome the barriers i can see out there in the future. i've always kind of felt guilty that my brain works this way, but it has been such a relief to understand myself a little better and to know it's not a BAD thing! i can use it as a strength!

if you've read this far, i owe you something nice. and you are an impressive friend. my maze-like brain just needed to unload this :)

synergy

2011-09-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

ugh. i've been so uninspired lately. and not to mention busy. very very busy. when the semester started, i thought i was going to have plenty of free-time and really not be that busy.

i was wrong.

i think the busyness comes from all of the different things i have to do. field experience. research assistantship. travel to and from different campuses. STUDYING. homework. reading. lots of reading. meetings.

it's funny to think about how life kind of builds on itself. one experience, however different it may be, prepares you for another type of experience. i find grad school is drawing from all of the different pieces of my history. i learned from ilead, not only about leadership, but about being really busy! i wasn't always great at this. i didn't sleep a lot in college. but i have learned since college how much better i feel when i sleep 9 hours a night. i learned about people skills and a different kind of hard work in the hospital. as well as a lot about healthcare. even being married has helped prepare me for this phase. i can handle more. i have learned to live differently because it's not just me... i have someone else to consider. laundry has to get done when it needs to get done... not whenever i feel like it.

maybe this sounds too obvious, but i've just been thinking about how thankful i am for all of my past experiences.

in other news... i turn 25 tomorrow! woohoo!

2011-09-22T18:26:00.000-07:00

new post on the nutrition blog!

go here!

internet=picture post!

2011-09-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the random nature of these pictures... I'll try to upload my camera ones soon! Including some of the house!

Susan and Caleb on my way through Kansas

The awesome GIGANTIC sign I saw somewhere in Iowa

The small garden in our backyard

Sunflowers the previous tenants left us

Pretty fence! This is the entrance to our backyard!

Our back yard pre-charlie's work in it

Caption should be, "I love my daddy."

Rufus has become so accustomed to snuggling with charlie on the couch that we found him ON THE COUCH when we came home the other day. Getting a little too wild there, FruitLoup.

Rufus tries to snuggle with charlie alllllll day long.

punkin is settling in nicely!

i felt the need to keep proof that i paid that stupid ticket imean "welcome to minnesota" present.

Roses and a picture frame he narrated!

My sweet charlie's anniversary present!

this was the only place charlie could catch the game. we set up a pretty sweet bathtub suite including blanket, pillow, and "Tv stand" :)

good ole' JBU!

2011-09-13T19:19:00.001-07:00

sorry... i'm proud!

brrr

2011-09-11T13:36:00.000-07:00

I hope I'll soon be able to start a "place of the week" post every week... but right now it's just too hard with our internet situation. but we've been doing some really fun things!

Friday night we went to downtown-ish Saint Paul to a little Thai restaurant... we got Massaman curry and it was AMAZING! the pad sayew wasn't bad, either.

Saturday, we went to the Saint Paul farmer's market. it was amazing! they had TONS of vendors and every sort of thing you could want to buy. the growing season is also (obviously) pretty short, so they had every sort of thing all together. peppers... flowers... okra... corn... flavored dried pastas... eggs... brussel sprouts... tomatoes. We stocked up on a few little things, but it was just a fun experience!

today, we went to church! yay! it feels like forever since we've been... and we finally got to check out the church we've been listening to as a pod-cast. it was very good! it was their creative arts sunday... so the service was just worship music interspersed with reading the entire book of Colossians. they also had a painting station set up for someone to paint and journaling materials. it was just a very good introspective time. i think we'll keep going back!

and then this afternoon, we took a picnic to Minnehaha Falls... it's kind of like a little offshoot of the Mississippi river... and it was just as beautiful as i remember! i took some pictures we'll hopefully be able to post soon.

All the advice people have given me is to do EVERY SINGLE THING OUTSIDE while you still can... and then to explore indoor things like museums when it is too cold to be outside. i thought that was good advice. i think charlie and i are also going to attempt cross-country skiing at the park close to our house when it gets that cold because i've also been told that the winter is much more bearable if you have something fun to do outside. SO. those things plus warm clothes and i think we're set! :)

happy birthday!

2011-09-11T13:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Mr. Chuck!
I am so thankful to be a part of your family and that my husband grew up with you as an example. He learned so much about hard work, stewardship, and the the ins-and-outs of everything involved in farm life. I am continually amazed at all the random things Charlie knows how to do... and I know it's because of you! I appreciate all of those things you passed down to him (and your other kids, too!) That takes time, patience, and love for your kids to take the time to do that!

I also really value your heritage. I think it's really exciting that our kids will have access to that wealth of resources and land and culture that come from you. I can't wait for them to learn from you like Charlie and I have.

I'm sorry we're missing your birthday, but I'm also excited we'll get to see you soon!
We love you!

professional public transporter

2011-09-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

i guess i should update this blog, too since i started a new one!
check me out at

nutritionfoodie.blogspot.com

we are settling into our new home nicely. we have set up bank accounts, direct deposit for my research assistant position (did i tell you i get an office with a desk and chair and computer?!), have an appointment to get our internet put in, and have explored our little part of the neighborhood.

the dogs are falling into routine (aka NOT trying to escape the backyard anymore) and this is the most beautiful weather... ever. i think they may be my first true "fall" ever.

i mentioned earlier that navigating the cities was my biggest fear. but let me tell you about today's accomplishment.

7:30 charlie dropped me off at the St. Paul campus
7:35 a campus connector bus came through and i hopped on to the Minneapolis campus
7:40 we get to the east bank campus
8:05 we finally arrive at the west bank campus... i freak out and try to re-imagine where my bus stop is... and finally decide it's the next one, so i push the "request stop" button and make a squeaking noise when it buzzes back at me.
8:10 i hop off the bus and begin walking to my meeting in the west bank office building. i even cross over the interstate.
8:25 i reach my building.
8:30 right on time... i make it to my meeting.
8:45 my meeting is over and i ask where the division's shuttle picks people up to take them back to campus.
9:00 our shuttle starts back to the other campus.
9:15 we reach the other campus. i then follow a seasoned phd student through a MAZE of connected buildings to my class.
9:30 i reach my building and actually find someone i know!
10:00 class starts.

let's face it. i'm a pro!

hello

2011-09-06T06:56:00.000-07:00

so, we still don't have internet, which is why i haven't been posting. but we are getting nice and settled into our house. we love it! it's very cozy and the dogs have a nice-sized backyard to play in. i'm sitting here waiting on my very first class of grad-school to start. i'm nervous. but i made it here! which was a big accomplishment to navigate parking and then getting on the shuttle and then working my way through the minneapolis campus to my class. i'm pretty proud.

what a great day!

2011-08-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

we had the entire School of Public Health orientation this morning and then the Nutrition portion of the division of Community Health and Epidemiology this afternoon. It went well and we had a LOT of information thrown at us.after we were officially finished, my new friend Courtney and I decided to take the campus by storm and get a few needed things done. we trekked to the student union and made our ID cards.... she filled out info for a bus pass... and then we trekked over to the health center to make appointments to get our TB tests done. we're not allowed to start on our semester's field experiences until we do. It felt REALLY good to get some of the lingering things done. it also felt AWESOME to navigate the campus without too many issues. it's nice to have someone with you to discuses which direction you think things are in... and it seemed so much less intimidating. i also did NOT get another parking ticket today and actually found free parking. and i'm definitely getting more use to CRAZY big-city traffic.and then i rewarded myself with frenchfries :)

beginnings

2011-08-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

soooo i've updated my blogs on the trip up to minnesota.

my first few days of orientation have gone well. this program fits me SO well. when i listen to the other girls talk (the ones in my year and the ones we heard from today from the 2 years ahead of me) confirms that i'm in the right place. everyone really has a holistic approach to dietetics practice. i heard girls ask today how to separate emotions from patients in difficult situations like they saw a lot of nurses and other practitioners do during their internships. the responses were overwhelmingly that compassion IS what makes a person a good practitioner. while you have to be professional and have to... hold yourself together at times for the sake of the patient... it is perfectly acceptable to be overwhelmed with compassion for people. our adviser even noted that it keeps patients from turning into objects instead of people.

obviously i am not saying that all other practitioners have a patients-are-objects approach... but i have been in health care long enough to know that there are a lot of people who do. i am just so glad to know that i am surrounded by and will be learning with other women who truly love people and want to make a difference in the world.

i have also been overwhelmed with how much of an honor it apparently is that i got accepted into the program. there are only 8 of us and i think a LOT of people applied. and on top of THAT, i got an assistantship which i think are available close to none. our adviser already thinks highly of us, and i'm so thankful that God orchestrated all of this for me.

charlie will be here soon! yay! i'm enjoying alone time in the hotel more than i thought... but i'm also really lonely. i'm ready for my partner to be here. our communication really struggles long distance (how is that?? we did it SO well for 10 years!!)

also. i got my first ticket today. our meeting went a little long, and my parking meter ran out. $42. really?? for an expired parking meter?? on the ticket it says it's a nissan, that it's black, and an suv and my license plate number. but it says (typed) AK instead of AR. i don't know what to do. can they hunt me down with that much info and the wrong state? i really don't want to pay $42. i have dollar signs in my eyes from all the costs involved with going back to school and moving. yuck.

not ending on a bad note. this is going to be a great 2 years!

the land o' lakes

2011-08-28T19:07:00.000-07:00

aaaaaaaand minnesota it is.

i think that this week (as i may be slightly bored) i'll add to my blog posts below about my trip up. i made some AMAZING videos on my drive. these are just from today. i'm sure you'll be begging me to post the rest after watching these.

this first video is extremely long. just warning. it's snipets of WOW 1996... the most amazing album ever produced. i had to play boring samplings. i just had to.

oooon into iowa

and des moines

FINALLY in minnesota!

hello and goobye missouri and kansas!

2011-08-27T11:42:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, i do not have a video in siloam with Stacy... but we had a great talk. she asked me 3 questions: what is your favorite color, and why? What is your favorite animal, and why? and what is your favorite place in nature, and why?

OBVIOUSLY my answers were 1. Grey because it's soothing and slightly non-conventional (although it seems to be a very popular color these days...) 2. a roseate spoonbill. because it's pink and gooooofy. and 3. the ocean because it's so calming even if there are a million things going on, and there's always sunshine and a breeze.

if you answer these same questions for me, i'll interpret them for you!

don't judge me for this one. but superchick is really very positive! i wish we had more encouraging music like this these days.

and finally, i got to spend a day or so with the hunt family! caleb was as cute as ever! and susan and i got to spend some good quality time together.

see how cute!

soooooo he didn't feel like walking! he doesn't have to. he's a superkid anyway!

Minnesota... i'll see you tomorrow! eeeeeek!

Bye bye Arkansas

2011-08-25T20:36:00.000-07:00

ByeBye Louisiana. Sisters... I'm coming!

i had a great time in Arkansas... i hung out with my parents... went for a few walks in my mom's school (isn't it great to exercise in the air conditioning?), dad even fixed up my old dinosaur ibook so i can use it again! it's really very exciting. 7 year old laptops are slow. i think that's 369 years old in computer years.

2011-08-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

well... here we go!

i filmed this video about... oooooo 1 minute before my phone died. charlie and my dad thought i was dead because i didn't answer allll the way up to pine bluff. but i was alive. i thought they had received my text about my phone dying so i didn't stop to get a car charger. but the trip wasn't bad! i listened to "shoe addicts anonymous" which was surprisingly entertaining. it had a good reader, which was probably a big part of that. i hate bad readers. overall, it was a good trip!

goodbyes

2011-08-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend was an emotional one. We said many goodbyes to many wonderful people. We had 3 great parties to celebrate the family and relationships and friendships we cherish down here.

What pretty cousins! I am really going to miss these ladies! They welcomed me into the family and became my best friends in Louisiana! I'm so sad I'm going to miss out on so much over the next two years!

Ugh! I'm going to miss these, two!

iiiiii am -really- going to miss this crew of people (risa wasn't present, but she is definitely included). I am so thankful for being a part of the MPT family for the last 2 years! I wonder if I will ever work with such crazyfun people FOR such batcrazy patients ever again!

Before we left, Charlie gave his old Razorback hat to Micah. It made me cry. Not just sad, but real tears. It's really going to be hard missing out on Micah, Nathan, and Fox growing up!!

I guess here's to us. Hopefully we will keep an attitude of counting the gains of this season (which I know will be great) more than our losses (which, unfortunately, are also great!).

turnin' tables

2011-08-22T13:22:00.000-07:00

This was Punkin in January 2009 when we adopted her. She weighed 42 pounds and has since lost 10. wow.

This was Tiggy (my parents'/sister's corgi) around the same time.

I wish I had a current picture (maybe I'll get one this week in Arkansas), but let me just say... My how the tables have turned.

I can't lie...

2011-08-18T15:18:00.001-07:00

i'm excited. let's get this started!

Happy 100th

2011-08-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

 Contentment is the philosopher's stone, which turns all it

touches into gold;  the poor man is rich with it and the rich

man is poor without it.





I actually cannot find a good quote source for this online, but I like

the quote anyhow.This past weekend we went to Arkansas for a

family reunion/my Great Aunt Josephine's 100th birthday party.

This was the quote chosen to honor her.  It struck me because this

is how I want to live my life--in total contentment.  I really believe

the rich can feel poor very easily when they are left always wanting

more.  I also believe the poor can live very satisfying lives when

they appreciate everything they have.  Yes, good quote.

2011-08-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

i'm feeling much better today, thank you.

things are coming to a close in Louisiana so quickly i can hardly stand it! it seems we have almost every minute planned until the exact moment we pull out of our smalltown Oscar driveway.

thank you, God, for doing this in a way that I cannot doubt it's you. thank you for that.

bestfriend

2011-08-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

August 8, 2009

2011-08-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

i have a sinus infection/tonsil issues/a cold? i dunno.

this kindasorta ruined our anniversary plans.

in sickness and in health, huh?

charlie, i hope you know how much i love you. i have a sneaking suspicion you do. you're my best friend and i'm pretty sure you know i'd rather spend time with you than anyone else on earth.

i'm also pretty sure you know how much i respect you and how clearly you hear from God (without knowing it an awful lot of the time), and how creative and funny and awesome i think you are.

sorry i ruined our plans tonight, but hey. we've got like another 75 or so to go :)

August 2, 1980

2011-08-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!

To the best couple I know!!

I have learned so much from the two of you... I was just talking with Charlie about how incredible blessed we are that we come from unbroken homes. There is something really special about watching two people dedicate themselves to each other. And that's the kind of relationship you two have. I've seen you both support each other in different times in different ways. You compliment each other so well.. both with your listening ears... Dad with your vast knowledge and wisdom... and Mom with your prayer and practicality. As I am now married, I have really learned the importance of the give-and-take cooperation it takes to make a marriage work. Through your marriage, you have helped give counsel to so many other people and been God's hand in helping save many marriages. I can only hope that Charlie and I will follow God with as much unity, joy, and passion as you two!! I love you both so much!

Crazily enough, Charlie's parents also share our same anniversary week! I think that's pretty cool... All the August anniversary couples together!

Mrs. Annie and Mr. Chuck... you have displayed such an awesome example of tenacity and the simple joy of... enjoying each other!! We love yall!

help?

2011-08-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

i have a problem. (actually a couple of them, depending on how you look at it. such as how are we going to get charlie's truck, rufus, and punkin up to minnesota.) (or how randomly moody/emotional i can be at times.) (or who in the WORLD is going to adopt moomoo. i've asked every single person i know.)

but in particular, as far as THIS post is concerned, i have a major problem with fear. i'm reading two books right now on being brave and going after your dreams and not letting your fears prevent you from reaching your potential... but i honestly don't have toooo terribly many fears in that department. this is a raw, basic fear of someone breaking into my house and hurting me.

i'm not afraid of airplanes or car wrecks or shark attacks or normal things that people have serious fear about. but i can't _handle_ being home alone at night. i can't do it. the last time charlie went out of town i "slept" in the living room with every light in the house on and the tv on and my 120lb lab next to me. seriously? i'm (almost) 25.

charlie keeps telling me that he can't always be with me so i have to work through this. and yes, i totally agree. but more sleepless nights -really- aren't going to solve it for me. and this isn't something i can just "get over"... i tried that. promise.

he keeps asking me what-in-the-world could happen. and i can think of millions of things that could happen. murders and rapes happen. i happen to know a few people those things have happened to. then there's kidnappings and stalkers and just a LOT of really bad people out there. my mind can think up PLENTY of things that could happen. and to the question, "do you really think being afraid will help you?" i reply, yes, actually, i do. at least if something happens i may be somewhat ready for it. God's job isn't to prevent anything bad from happening to us. i know that because i've observed life happen. and honestly, that scares me even more.

i honestly haven't a clue who reads my blog. there may be one dear reader (my mother?) (or two if you count her reading it aloud to my dad.) but i could really use some encouragement or words of wisdom. i copied down a million verses last night about fear. and i am going to start memorizing them. but seriously. i need your help. email me or facebook me or leave me a comment. please?

dream

2011-07-29T15:15:00.000-07:00

i've fallen out of the blogosphere again. i hate it when i do that. i've been to grand isle 3 times in the last 3 weeks. this has been a most excellent grand isle year... i had only been a couple of times before this year because in summer of 2009 i was in arkansas throwing a wedding together and then the oil spill ruined last summer. so this summer has been really fun. charlie has introduced me to crabbing on a line and i LOVE it. love. it's really exciting to sit on the beach and talk and listen to the waves and then wade out into the water and anxiously await each bait line to see if we caught zero or 4 crabs. and if they're big or small. it's really fun. aaaaaaaand i'm also excited about putting up some crab meat for fancy special occasions. like seafood gumbo. when charlie and i need to thaw our bumbums out in minnesota.

i've had a couple of crazy dreams lately. one involved both my mom and i being pregnant at the same time... and giving birth at the same time. crazy, huh? i'm pretty sure it's just because both my mom (and dad) and me (and charlie) are all in transition right now... about to birth something new! although, i'm not going to lie. i realllly look forward to the day charlie and i get to start our family. i can wait for it.. it's not like i'm anxious for that day to be today or even this year... but i look forward to it. charlie is going to be such an excellent daddy... that makes me very happy.

(back to my dreams...) i also have a recurring nightmare about a man peering into my house (always a house i used to live in)... and as he's peering in i make eye contact with him and it's the scariest moment of my life. i've had the dream occur in each of the houses i've lived in except for the trailer. in this last one i apparently got really brave and started yelling at the man from our front door... and screaming downstairs for my dad to come help. my dad came up the stairs and we started chasing him (and his partner in crime) and when we caught up with them they grabbed both me and my dad and said, "it's too bad you caught us... now we're going to have to kill you" and pointed at a sink full of water. i woke up in a panic and sweat. i HATE that dream. and i don't really have an interpretation for why i have it over and over again... and why it scares me just as much as the first time i had it every time.

purrrr

2011-07-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Punkin is magical. she lived as a puppy mill dog for most of her life, but she somehow escaped and came to live with us. she is my baby. NO ONE believed either charlie or i that she can purrrrr. it's usually in the morning and usually when she's really excited. and always accompanied by sneezes of joy. this video may be SLIGHTLY more embarrassing for me and charlie (because you can hear how we talk to her), but it's worth it.

she also got a new coat for minnesota. she looks beautiful in it.

earlier this week we took a quick trip to grand isle on my day off. it was maybe my favorite trip to grand isle! we fished, went crabbing and ate some yummy food.

sunrise on the boat

the island of pelicans we fished by. (definitely my new second favorite bird.)

they flew off, but came back to entertain me.

windblown hair.

he's a great husband. he caught less fish than he could have because he was helping me with... everything. BUT he did catch the biggest fish of the day!

(don't worry, stacy... we let her go. apparently big redfish are only good for laying eggs for more redfish :))

40 speckled trout and 7 flounder later, we came home.

deuce

2011-07-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

i'm not ready for this week to start. they always go by really quickly... i'm just not ready for it.

i feel like everything continues to come together for our move. my adviser/who i will do work study for is also the lady who assigns me to all my field experiences and summer internships. she is also from Guatemala which i think is awesome because i imagine she will have some great insights into cross-cultural nutrition and the needs and challenges that come along with it. i also got a parking spot on the st paul campus and get to stay in st paul 2 days a week. awesome.

over the past couple of years i have questioned whether or not God cared about me. not in a general sense, because i know how much he loves us... but in a very personal way. probably a selfish way. i feel like with each step of this process of going back to school God has gone before me in such a way that i have no choice but to take it personally... i have no choice but to acknowledge His hand and His leading and His... unmistakable seal of purpose and plan for me. Thank you, God.

charlie and i are approaching our two year anniversary. 2 years. it's flown by. and i really appreciate how our relationship has grown. he is absolutely my best friend. sometimes i want to squeeze his little head off... but those moments are diffused by our hearts and lives being sown together into one life. there's no one i'd rather spend time with. there's no one i feel more at home with. there's no one who can make me laugh harder or smile more or be more honest than my husband. i can always find rest in his arms. it's almost scary to think about what 10 or 20 or 50 years of marriage will look like if you can learn so much about each other in 2. bring it on!

in other news... charlie and i saw him on ACL and really like it. this is GOOD country.

far from over

2011-07-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

last night charlie and i went to see super 8. i think we'd both highly recommend it. it was enjoyable and just an overall good choice for a night out at the movies. (i also REALLY liked going on a weeknight! charlie and i rarely make it to the movies, and when we do it's ALWAYS a busy weekend.)

on the way to the movies we discussed a few different political/moral/controversial issues. i think i used to feel really sure about my opinions. but over the past few years as i've seen more and learned more and experienced more... i've decided that i actually have very few firm opinions on things! life is complicated!! people are complex! as are the systems we use to organize them. it used to bother me when people weren't sure what they thought about this or that, but i suddenly understand. it's not that i don't care about things or think about things--but the vastness of certain issues is sometimes just a little too much for my brain to definitively comprehend with no questions left to be answered.

in any case, i was apparently thinking about similar things 5 years ago on my xanga... and wanted to share this post.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Currently Listening
The Cosmic Game
By Thievery Corporation
see related
a few weeks ago i was with a group of people at dinner... and somehow evolution came up. they were upset that their pastor couldn't convince one of the JBU profs that evolution wasn't real and never happened. not even God initiated and designed evolution. now... i grew up anti-evolution. "of course it didn't happen! God created the world in 7 days! the platypus is evidence!" but after taking a few science classes and hearing the reasoning behind these Christian professors saying evolution could have happened... i've started to lean that direction.
especially after someone at the table said "doesn't that sound like a wimpy God? one who couldn't make the earth in 7 days?"
and i thought "NO! absolutely not! since when has God been about poofing things into being...?" i am _certainly_ not saying that God doesn't have the power, means, or capability to create the earth in 7 days... he could have snapped his fingers, etc. but think about your life. what in your life did God just go *poof* and it was complete or fixed? okay, your salvation was... but isn't your Christian walk a process? don't we go through slow times of growth and fast times and hard times and good times... everything as a process...?
it just seems so like the character of God to me to design something as intricate as evolution. (i'm not saying i think we came from monkeys... but that maybe we have an old earth and that He created things to change and evolve into other things.) maybe God created this _amazing_ process that He could bring the earth through.... have His hand involved in... be there present, in every step... just as He does for His children. i kind of like that thought.

(linda, this is for you)

2011-07-08T17:51:00.001-07:00

i'd like to go on a little flashback to may 25th, 2011.

i entered one of my favorite types of contests... linda's {gimme gimme}

i had already won one contest, but i guess greed got the best of me, so i entered another contest. and won! the best prize ever. and beat out 3 other people to win it!!

i told linda to wait until the smith wedding to give it to me since it wasn't that far off, and to my surprise, she remembered to pack it along with alll of the other wedding stuff, and presented it to me before we parted ways.

i packed it up, took it to minnesota... and quite honestly forgot about it. then charlie and i started our trip home. all of our stuff was kind of mixed up between our two carry-ons, so charlie claimed one and i claimed the other. i breezed through security and was waiting on charlie when i heard the dreaded "BAG CHECK!" call for security. it was directed at charlie. so i headed over to see what the commotion was about while charlie got his shoes back on.

"Ma'am, is there anything in here that could potentially harm me?"

My brain overthought this question and was thinking about how razors or high heeled shoes could potentially hurt someone, but he snapped me out of my thought process by making big, serious, "be careful here" eyes at me and said "MAAM... is there ANYTHING in here that could HAAAARM me?"

"Ummm... noooo?"

"Good." He unzipped the back, ran some sort of strip around the edges, and started digging. "Is there some sort of trophy in here?"

*light bulb* "Woooooow. ACTually... there IS. Please don't laugh at me...."

"Sometimes trophies are filled with something heavy and it can set the alarm off."

"No, really... PLEEEEASE don't laugh at me when you find it... it was a joke!" Mr. TSA kept digging until he found said trophy. And he laughed. A very hearty laugh. He even bobbled the owl's head. He then placed the owl in his own little bowl, and ran that and the suitcase back through the x-ray machine. He brought them both back, still grinning, and said, "Yep! That was it! Enjoy your flight!"

Crisis averted. My owl is now happy at home until he makes the long voyage back to Minnesota. Thanks, Linda! :)

kindergarten

2011-07-07T16:40:00.000-07:00

i thought of things to blog about all day. dorky? maybe. and now i can't decide what to say.

when we were in minnesota last week, we went to the U of M campus to scope things out and for me and charlie to get a t-shirt to support our upcoming residence. (i avoid the word "home" here for 1) my mom and 2) louisiana residents.)

but "the U" (as allllll locals call it in their very northern accents) was... totally and completely overwhelming. i... freaked out, for lack of a better word.

i went to an undergrad of 1200. total students. my high school (10-12th) was the same size. i could walk everywhere... i knew where everything was. although i went to LSU for a semester, i had my dear husband charlie to help me out. he _delivered_ me to my classes, and i VERY rarely had to go alone. and he taught me how to find close parking spots.

and then i come here. 3 campuses in the twin cities: st. paul, west bank minneapolis, and east bank minneapolis. my classes will be split between the latter two. with the mississippi river running through. and very little (expensive) parking. this means: public transportation! which i am also terribly unfamiliar with. my mom was excited and ready to go find my buildings and meet the administrators for my program... and i froze up. i felt like a kindergartener starting graduate school. and all i could think was that we needed to leave immediately.

i am excited about the next two years, and i am also terrified. this is going to be an incredibly stretching time for me, for charlie, and for our marriage. but as i just read in my new Joyce Meyer book (sorry for those of you who don't have the same love for self-help books that i have!), it is better to be moving through something hard than to not be moving at all. and i believe that. i believe we are moving toward (and through) something hard and good.

catchup

2011-07-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

what a boring blogger i have been lately.

But not for lack of things to do!!

The Smith wedding in New Jersey was AWESOME.

to give you an idea, this is how the DJ introduced the new couple... he forced everyone to fling around their napkins to welcome them into the reception. and then he "forced" us to start dancing at 6:30 (right after supper) until 11. it was awesome. we had a really great time. It was probably the best wedding ever.

here's the only picture i got of them at the wedding? whoops. that's what photographers are for, i suppose. but they are just so in love... it was really sweet.

cutest ring-bearer ever.

and some of the JBU crew. (Jill... we need the full JBU picture!)

In all the craziness, I did not get a chance to honor my mama on her birthday!! Happy (Very) late birthday, mom! She and dad met me the day after her birthday in Minnesota to help me house-hunt while dad worked. This picture was from our last trip to Minnesota... we didn't get a chance to go back last week (to Minnehaha Falls), but hopefully Charlie and I will know of even more fun things to do by the time she/they come to visit again!

The week was a CRAZY hunt for a rent-house. We went into some VERY sketchy neighborhoods and looked at some very... interesting homes. And my mother was a constant cheerleader and source of positivity even when I was ready to quit or yell or pull my hair out. And it paid off!

Thanks, my beautiful mama, for being that sort of support for me... for listening to me and calmly reassuring me. I have learned so much from you about how important an attitude can be in any situation... and your boldness also challenges me to step out and not be afraid to present myself to people and to be myself always... I love you so much!

And then, after Charlie and I came home we had visitors come to stay! This is a 2.5 year old picture of Lexi, their youngest. I can't believe I have been in this family long enough to start watching babies grow up! It's fun! It was so good to see Rhett, Mel, and the kids... and to have a 4th of July fireworks party with them, the Vargus's, the BR Loups, and Nathan and Micah.

Things have been so busy, but all of it has been good. I'm kind of looking forward to maybe? hopefully? having a slooooow July/August before things take off at 100 mph again when we move and try to adjust to the Twin Cities!