Sentimental

December 11, 2011 by · 3 Comments

My husband would tell you that I have a hard time getting rid of certain things.

When it comes to things like clothes or household items, I have no problem donating them or whatever when it’s time to de-clutter.

It’s the little things…the things with sentimental value that I just can’t part with.

And so, I tell you a little story. ‘Cause you all know I like stories. :)

About three years ago, when we were living in Indonesia, I had a pretty tough week. It was

busy, I was super-stressed, and I just needed a day of pampering…so a friend and I headed to one of the local malls for reflexology massages.

$5 for an hour of bliss…really. I can think of NO better way to spend Rp 50,000…the equivalent of about US $5.

After our glorious hour, we went to Starbucks (also at the mall) and I think squeezed in a little outlet shopping, too, before heading home.

I remember that morning so well because I felt human again after all the crazy that had encompassed my life the previous week.

I was about to plop down on the couch for a movie and/or nap when I decided I needed a piece of chocolate… and I broke into the heavily guarded, semi-secret, American c

andy stash we had in the kitchen.

I pulled out a Dove Promise.

And here’s the thing about those…you know how they always have a quote on the inside of the wrapper

? Whenever I eat one of those chocolates, I am careful to never tear the wrapper, just in case the quote is a keeper.

And this one was.

It said?

Get your feet massaged.

Really?!?!

What are the odds

?

I know it’s nothing earth-shattering…but it m ade me smile, it w

as ironic, and it reminded me of a happy time.

And so I put it in my wallet on that day a few years ago.

I’ve switched wallets a few times…and that quote has survived all the switches.

It’s a tiny piece of foil…but to me, it represents so much.

Laughter with a friend. Memories I’ll always cherish. A day that was a good one. A place that will always be in my heart.

So if you ever catch me staring at something in my wallet and smiling, now you know.

Those sentimental things are worth keeping.

Sig

Filed Under: friends, Indonesia, remembering

30 Days of Thanks, Day 28: Prayer

November 28, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Every single day I’m thankful for prayer…

Not just because I know I can talk to my Father anytime but also because I know He is listening.

All the time.

And that He always cares…and always answers in His way in His time.

There’s a family we know from Indonesia that really needs your prayers right now. In fact, if you’re reading this, will you stop and pray for them? They got some very scary news today regarding their husband/daddy’s health.

They have been so Christlike through the last week as they waited and waited for test results…and also after learning the results. Quoting Scripture, clinging to the promises that God has given, trusting completely that He knows what is best. It brings me to tears to read updates from them.

But the fact is, it’s a serious situation.

They’re being showered in prayer by people all over the world. Will you join me in praying for them?

Thank you, God, that we can always cry out to You and know that You hear.

Sig

Filed Under: 30 Days of Thanks, friends, Indonesia, prayer

30 Days of Thanks, Day 20: Snapshots

November 20, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

One thing I really, truly love about my husband is that he takes photos.

And he doesn’t just take them… he takes t

hem well. He always thinks to capture moments when I’m busy living them but not recording

them.

:)

Today, I am really thankful for this snapshot.

Three lifelong friends, ten kids, and laughter so real and

so true that my sides still ache nine hours later.

😀

A couple hours with two amazing women who will forever hold a special place in my heart is something I am so incredibly thankful

for today.

And I’m even more thankful that we got a snapshot of it.

 

 

Sig

Filed Under: 30 Days of Thanks, blessings, friends

30 Days of Thanks, Day 17: Coffee

November 17, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Ok, today I’m abandoning serious, deep thoughts.

Though coffee

is serious business, folks.

A good cup of coffee can start a day off perfectly; and a bad one can ruin it.

We don’t want that now, do we?

I could just end this post now by saying you should go here to get your coffee, but even as an employee of that place, there are other good coffee places out there, too. Though I really like Firefly.

:)

Coffee really became part of my life when I worked at Caribou the year before we went overseas.

I mean, I drank it in college (what college student doesn’t?!) but it was there that I really learned to appreciate the finer points of pulling the perfect espresso shot, the proper amount

of froth for a latte, and what a true macchiato actually is. (And for the record, folks, it does not involve caramel sauce, though that IS tasty stuff!

;))

In Indonesia, coffee became even more important.

Yes, I drank it every morning…it’s kind of necessary for surviving life as a teacher.

But it also became that thing…when I needed some girl time, we’d all go out for coffee just to talk and laugh.

When Tobin and I went on a date, it almost always included Starbucks. We’d take our cribbage board with us and play a few rounds while sipping our usual…an iced Caramel Macchiato for him, a skim  hazelnut latte for me.

When I was having a bad day, I’d get Becky and we’d hop on a bike and go down to Starbucks (or Excelso…mmm, I miss that place!) for some caffeine, some laughs, some tears, and some heart-healing.

Even here, coffee is kind of what helped me fit in. It was only after going out for coffee with a few different friends that I finally started feeling like I belonged.

And my job and making connections through that is helping, too.

So whether I was being serious or not when I started this post is debatable.

😉

But, I AM thankful for coffee.

I’m thankful for a lot of other things, too, which you can read about here, at my new post for the Patch.

Sig

Filed Under: 30 Days of Thanks, coffee, friends, remembering, the Patch, Tobin

30 Days of Thanks, Day 16: Unexpected

November 16, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

When we moved to Illinois, I expected a lot of things.

I expected…to only be here until Tobin could find a job in Minnesota and we could move home.

I expected…I would never like it.

I hoped…I was wrong.

The first few weeks lived up to my expectations. My life was baby-baby-baby, and the only time I even stepped outside was to either let the dogs out or to go to Target to get more necessities for setting up a house.

All that changed on a Monday night about three weeks after we moved in.

There was a knock at our door. A neighbor was stopping over to invite me to a Bible study at her church that Thursday morning. Really, I’m surprised she didn’t run away because she got quite the greeting from Andre and Sam. :) I was feeding Mae when she was here so I couldn’t even say hi to her.

But she had sent a nice note with directions to the church, letting me know she’d love for me to come if I wanted to.

I hesitated…because this?

Was not what I expected.

But I somehow found some courage and let Tobin talk me into going over to talk to her Wednesday night. I’ve never told her how nervous I was about that. :)

We ended up talking for over an hour.

And that night, I let it enter my mind that maybe I could like it here.

She gave me and Maelie a ride the next morning. I was overwhelmed when I walked into the room…there were a lot of people. But there were also?

Twin baby girls, three weeks older than Mae.

Coincidence?

I think I needed a little reassurance, not just for me, but for Maelie, too.

I loved these women immediately, though it took me a few weeks to actually talk. But I kept going back because I felt safe. And, because I hoped that maybe…maybe…they’d want to be friends.

God shattered my expectations with this group of women, who I am now blessed to call my friends. We laugh, we cry, we have good times, we have girls’ nights out sometimes…they are so much a part of what makes my life here happy. They made it ok for me to get out of bed in the morning and smile because I knew Thursday was coming, whether it was one day away or six. (And I wish I had a picture of them all! I’ll get one. Soon.)

God shattered my expectations with this group of women, who I am now blessed to call my friends. We laugh, we cry, we have good times, we have girls’ nights out sometimes…they are so much a part of what makes my life here happy. They made it ok for me to get out of bed in the morning and smile because I knew Thursday was coming, whether it was one day away or six. (And I wish I had a picture of them all! I’ll get one. Soon.)

God shattered my expectations even more with my neighbor, Kris. He gave me more than some one in the neighborhood who was willing to reach out to the lonely new girl on the block. He gave me a dear friend, a fellow coffee-lover, a texting-buddy, and also something I hadn’t even realized I needed.

Someone to love my daughter, too.

In all of my expectations, I hadn’t realized that Maelie would need people, too…that she would need to be loved even more than I did.

Kris and her husband, Jon, are now Maelie’s godparents. I will even admit sometimes that I think Mae loves them more than she loves us. But that’s ok…because they are such a blessing to us. :)
We truly love it here and are so thankful for the people God has placed in our lives. We couldn’t have chosen a better place to raise our daughter…and let’s be honest, we didn’t choose it….and I know we’ll always be thankful for that.

I’m so thankful that God, knowing all of my expectations, chose to give me Unexpected instead.

 

Sig

Filed Under: 30 Days of Thanks, friends, remembering

30 Days of Thanks, Day 7: Old

November 7, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Ok, I’m not old.

Sometimes I joke that I am, especially since yesterday morning, after running that 5k on Saturday, I could barely get out of bed.

Sometimes I look like I am, especially since, at the age of 33, I have the beginnings of crow’s feet and gray hair. Thank you, God, for makeup and a fabulous hair stylist.

When I think of old…I think of things that have lasted a long time.

Like my church, Immanuel Lutheran . It’s been around for 150 years, and I think that’s rich. Th is h

istory, the legacy that place has is phenomenal. We’re thankful and blessed to be part of it.

And like the Volkswagen Beetle. I really? Want a classic.

If I’m lucky…in my lifetime, I may get the new one.

A convertible would be even better… but man, it would be fun to drive the old one.

Can’t you just see me cruisin’ C’ville in a classic, orange Beetle?!

I can. 😀

But I guess when I think of old…I think of people who have been in my life for so long.

My lifelong best friends…Missy and Becky.

Neither of them are old…but our friendship is as old as it can get for the ages we are. :)

Missy came to see me in the hospital the day I was born.

(She was 8 months old.) Becky (her sister)  came along 14 months later.

The three of us grew up together…there are few memories I have of life as a kid that don’t involve them.

As we grew up…we became very, very different people, but we always managed to find that common ground and keep a friendship going despite challenges.

Missy married young. She has a beautiful, amazing family of eight.

Becky married two years later and has three beautiful boys and a pretty great husband. (He was a college friend of mine, so I can say that. :)) I got married the next year, but having Maelie took us awhile, and so there were many, many years when my two best friends had lots of kids, and I didn’t have any.

Missy stayed in Iowa, Becky lived in Michigan and Wisconsin before returning to Iowa this past year, and well…you know my story. 😉 Visits with them for five years were very sporadic and it often felt like eons passed between the times we could catch up.

We managed to stay friends, anyway…I guess because our friendship is just that rock solid.

Life has taken us separate ways, but we always seem to find our way back.

We still laugh at the same things…like (very off-key) singing competitions around their piano…picture three young girls scream-singing at the top of their lungs; games of hide the tape recorder; listening to old tapes of sounds we made and laughing so hard we nearly wet our pants…that’s mostly because I tried to sound like lightening, and well…I never should have done that. They also should have never recorded it!!!

We still remember things, too…like the day Missy almost drowned and how God truly intervened that day. It tears me apart to even think of how my life would have been vastly different without her. Like the years I decided God wasn’t for me…and how they never gave up on me and loved me through some ugly, ugly years. Like singing together on my wedding day…when our voices had grown up and found that thing called pitch.

:)

It’s a beautiful friendship, one that has stood the test of time.

I love these two and the lifetime of memories we hold.

I am so,

so thankful for friendship.

I am so, so thankful for the two sisters I never had.

Miss, Mel, Becky

Sig

Filed Under: 30 Days of Thanks, blessings, friends, remembering

Halloweenin’ It

October 31, 2011 by · 4 Comments

We h ad

a really fun Halloween.

It’s a holiday that neither Tobin or I really celebrated growing up, but we always thought the dressing up part would be

fun, and we didn’t want Mae to miss out on that, especially since she’s at such

a cute

age.

:)

So… we dressed her up in her UH-dorable ladybug costume and took her to spread some sunshine to the neighbors.

She’s too young to appreciate the candy, but that didn’t stop her from taking it.

:)

After trick-or-treating, we headed home so Tobin and I could put on the pig costumes some friends graciously loaned to us.

:) Then we met up with our good friends, Jonny and Kris (who totally rocked their cow costumes), and we all headed to Chipotle for $2 burrito night.

I had thought I would need to title this post something like…Friends don’t let friends wear farm animal costumes in public OR The things we’ll do for a $2 burrito…
😉

But I don’t need to do that because it was a really fun night, and not nearly as embarr

assing as I thought it might be.

We just had a really good time.

Although next year, I’ll come up with something a little more creative.

:)

Happy Halloween!

Sig

Filed Under: adventures, friends, just life, Maelie, Tobin

Um…?

October 15, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Having a bit of writer’ s block tonight.

Don’t worry, I won’t give you Round 2 of “Mel and Tobin Finish Each Other’s Sentences”….though it IS tempting!

Maybe I’ll just tell you about my day

?

Yeah, I’ ll do that.

:)

If we’re being technical, my day actually began at the Village Squire.

I was out with some friends and didn’t get home until about 12:30. Ooops…short night of sleep, but so much fun to hang out with them!

I did manage six hours of sleep before I woke (BEFORE my alarm) to the sounds of Maelie protesting the confines of her crib. Seriously, kiddo?! It’s still dark out!

I dragged myself out of bed anyway, showered and got ready, helped get the girl ready, and then went to coffee with my friend, Kris. Yay for Caribou and a chance to catch up! AND a short trip to Goodwill, which really is starting to grow on me.

I love a good deal, and today I got TWO of them! 😀

Definitely a good start to the day.

:)

I came home for a few hours, played with a cranky (perhaps sleep-deprived?) girl, fed her lunch, and then she was happy again when I left for a bridal shower.

(And took a close-to-FOUR-hour nap while I was gone!)

I spent about four hours helping with a painting project, and it was fun. Good company, and I perfected my tropical flower-painting skills.

I even managed a palm tree…which was kind of cute.

Kind of.

Then it was home, a quick two-mile run (well, “quick” is subjective), dinner, bath time-play time-bedtime for my Mae, and now…

There’s laundry to do, a blog post that is (almost!) done, and sleep to get.

I like that last part a lot.

:)

G’nite, friends.

Sig

Filed Under: friends, just life, Maelie

Grandpa Don

October 11, 2011 by · 6 Comments

He wasn’t really my grandpa.

In fact, I didn’t even meet him

until my first week of 3rd grade when he walked through the door to his daughter-in-law, my teacher’s, classroom.

He was quiet.

And he would sit in the classroom while we learned and grade papers or help Mrs. D with projects.

But when recess came or we had a break

?

He was there.

It was as if he couldn’t wait to love us. He’d walk with us at recess, tell us stories, jokes, make us laugh. Sometimes he’d even eat lunch with us.

Names had to be put into a hat to be drawn because we’d fight over who got to sit by our beloved Grandpa Don.

Somewhere in those first weeks, we connected.

We were friends…this third grade girl, this mid-60’s man.

Soon, he began stopping over once in awhile on a Saturday. He’d bring lawn darts and chocolate ice cream, and sometimes my parents would come out to talk to him, too. He never asked to come in; he was content to sit on our front porch and talk.

I’d look forward to his visits, waking up on Saturday mornings and wondering if this might be a Grandpa-Don-comes-to-visit day.

A couple times he took me fishing and when we didn’t catch anything, we’d go to Taco John’s instead to have potato oles and chat.

I can’t tell you much about the conversations that we had.

But I can tell you that his friendship meant so much to me.

Over the years I’ve wondered why I was the one who

was special to him.

I never asked him but have often thought that maybe every child was special, and he had the gift of making us each feel that way.

I’d see Grandpa Don here and there after third grade, but once I moved on to middle school, I rarely saw him.

When I did, he’d always greet me with a monstrous bear hug. Really, he squeezed so tightly that it hurt.

But none of us ever cared…some things are worth pain.

Grandpa Don died during my sophomore year after a long illness.

I remember the day I found out he was gone and the ache that filled my heart…the same one I feel today as I reflect on this friend who knew how to love so well.

And who taught me so much about love.

I also remember the day that I went to the cemetery

to look for his grave stone and feeling disappointed when I saw how small and simple it was.

To me, the size of his grave stone should have matched the size of his heart.

But then I thought about it.

How, often, the simplest things in life like friendship are the things that end up meaning so much to us. And how, though he was full of love for everyone, he really was a simple guy.

To him, living was loving.

About ten years ago, just before I graduated from college, I went back to Mrs. D’s classroom to visit her, and we started talking about Grandpa Don.

I’ll never forget what she said to me.

You were always so special to him. Just like one of his grandkids.

That made my heart happy and reminded me that friendship and love come in many ways…and often when we least expect them.

I still think about him.

I still miss him.

But I can also still feel those bear hugs.

Jennifer at Getting Down With Jesus challenged her readers to write about a person from their past who had a profound influence on their lives. Hop on over to her blog to read more stories.

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, friends, remembering

Contemplating Joy

September 25, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

My sweet blogging friend, 10 cheap generic mg nolvadex

engirl.blogspot.com/”>Sara, passed away late last night.

She is at peace, in the presence of both her earthly fat

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her and her Heavenly Father, pain free, and dancing.

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Dancing…I’m sure of it. :) There are so many reasons to find joy though  my heart aches for her family and friends.

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Please keep them in your prayers this week as they say goodbye.

This morning I went to sign in to my blog to find out it was

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hacked. Big time. What a mess.

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Yeah, it stressed me out, but I was able to leave it alone and go on with my morning. Maybe thinking about Sara just put things in perspective…it is only a blog.

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And five hours later, it was back up.

I realized when changing Mae’s diaper right before I had to leave for church that her rash had gotten worse and that she now had it by her mouth and on her feet as well. No church for the girl…home with daddy it was.

Despite her rash, though, Mae was a really happy girl today, full of laughter and giggles…and joy.

And I went to church this morning, discovering all three of these things within less than an hour of when I had to be there.

I was full of anything but joy…but I was aware of it, and I prayed that God would give me that joy.

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I found a friend right before praise team practice, let some tears flow, and moved on, determined to smile.

Friends, it is true that God gives joy, even on the bad days.

There were So. Many. Reasons. To. Smile. today.

:) Time at church that left my heart happy.

:) I really, really love to sing. And we sang my very favorite song ever today. That was special.

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:) Absolutely gorgeous sunshine, which defied the weatherman for the second day in a row.

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Yahoo!

:) Time to get a few things done and to…ahem…cook. (Still not sure if I find joy in cooking, but whatever.)

:) A sweet end to the Packers/Bears game.

:) Good friends (and Bears fans!) to watch the game with.

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:) All of us laughing hysterically at the antics of Mae…there will be a picture posted very, very soon of her toddling around in her too-big footie pj’s. So, so funny.

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It did my heart good to laugh that hard!

:) A bit of reflecting and realizing what a gift Sara was to so, so many people. I will miss her but am so thankful for the piece of her heart she left with each of us.

God is Good.

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And He gives Joy.

Love.

Sig

Filed Under: blessings, friends, just life, what I'm learning
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