Theater for the Thirsty

There is a group at work called Christian Employee Resource Group (CERG) that sponsors different events and activities for employees.

Today CERG had a lunch time event where the theater group Theater for the Thirsty presented their "A Misfit Christmas". The two person play is a fun take on the Christmas Story and their use of scarves for different characters or props was very entertaining. The website has a short preview of the play.

Highly recommend attending a show if possible!

My Daily Dose of God

For about the last year, I've receive daily devotional emails at work. Frequently the topics are timely and applicable and I find myself sharing them with others. This is the one from today and, as usual, it's filled with truth. You can subscribe to these yourself here.


Living Forward, Understanding Backward
TGIF Today God is First by Os Hillman
Wednesday, December 01 2010
"The one who calls you is faithful and He will do it." - 1 Thessalonians 5:24

When I was in my 20's, I participated in a wilderness-training course in a desert and mountain area. For our "final exam," we were blindfolded, placed in the back of a pickup truck, and taken to a remote area. We were dropped off and told to meet back at the camp in three days. We did not know where we were. We had to determine our location with our compasses. It was a frightening experience for four young people who had learned to navigate through the use of a compass only a few days earlier. With our food and water on our backs, we began our trek. It had just snowed that morning, so the way was difficult. We walked through valleys, canyons, snow-covered hills, and forests. In all, we walked more than 60 miles in three days. There were times when we did not think we could go another foot. Exhaustion and frostbitten feet were taking their toll. However, we finally made it to our base camp successfully, and to our surprise, we were the first ones among the other patrols to make it back.

At the conclusion of our journey, we were able to stand on top of a ridge, look behind us and see the beautiful terrain that we had just scaled. The pain of what we had just endured seemed to subside. We could not believe we had actually walked through those valleys and snowcapped hills. There was a sense of accomplishment.

Life is very much like this. It is often lived forward, but understood backward. It is not until we are down the road a bit that we can appreciate the terrain God has allowed us to scale and the spiritual deposits He has made in our life as a result. When you begin to realize some of this, you sit back and breathe a sigh of relief because you know that God was in control all along. It didn't seem like it at the time, but He was.

Are you in the midst of a difficult journey that seems almost impossible to continue? Be assured that God is providing grace even now to equip you for that journey. There will be a time when you can say, "Wow, look at what God has done because of what I gained through that valley." Trust Him with the outcome of where you find yourself today.

Stay Left or What I Did on My 10 Year Anniversary Vacation!

After spending a week in paradise, I thought I'd share a few (or more) highlights of our vacation. I'd like to say where we went, but a co-worker says I should keep it a secret so it doesn't get over-run with tourists. If you know Joe and I, you know where we went.

So, without further ado (and rather boring formatting), here are some of the highlights:

• Pre-vacation pedicures at Taj with Jenny and Michelle - Joe now understands!
• Driving on the left hand side of the road - Stay left was our mantra!
• Snorkeling and seeing nurse sharks, rays, and cuttlefish our first day out
• Rum and Root Beer - Yum!
• Night snorkeling - I was good until a trumpet fish decided to jump at Joe's head. I was done after that.
• Time spent reading - Finished the book Havah: The Story of Eve by Tosca Lee - very thought-provoking.
• Snorkeling and seeing more rays, huge starfish, cuttlefish, and turtles.
• Hiking down a mountain and then back up it - Ouch!
• Kayak and snorkel trip
• Painkillers - hey it's the Caribbean, can't miss the rum drinks!
• Sandwiches from Deli Grotto
• Butter Rum muffins for breakfast
• Joe taking the car keys for a snorkel and then momentary panic when the car wouldn't start - maybe this should be called a "lowlight"
• Being a 2 minute walk to a beach
• Being a 2 minute drive to a different beach
• Being a 2 minute drive in the other direction to yet a different beach (world-class)
• Rental house with A/C, snorkel gear, sunscreen, etc.
• Water so blue it doesn't look real
• Coming home to see the kids. They grew up so much in 1 week.

Fall train ride!

Love this picture of Zach!


Kate is turning into a little picture poser.

Wishing upon a star

Saturday night after getting home from dinner with the Carstens, Kate wanted to wish upon a star (I was thinking it was more like procrastination). Since I was in an accommodating mood, we stayed outside a little longer. She picked her star, one just above the moon and most likely a planet instead of a star, and said "God, please make the star move."

How could you not love that?!?

Little things

There are 2 phrases that come to mind when thinking about "small stuff". The first is "Don't sweat the small stuff". The second is "Sometimes it's the little things".

I'm in a "Sometimes it's the little things" phase right now. Why is it that we can look objectively at someone else getting bent out of shape over a little thing, but it's much harder to apply the objectivity to ourselves? I find myself getting overwrought about what most would consider a stupid, little thing and struggle to break free from it. Then one thing leads to another and I become an emotional, irrational person.

Why, oh why?! I shouldn't care that much since it feels like what I obsess about is society-driven and I like to think I don't go for that. I feel embarrassed to say anything to anyone because it sounds very petty or "Real Housewives...".

Admittedly, my ability to nitpick at words/phrases and obsess about them is partly what keeps me off social media. It's something of a defense mechanism in an attempt to not feel badly about myself.

While it feels that knowing God loves me should be all that's necessary, I'm human and struggle with having "just" that. In an effort to change my mindset, I'm starting the book Me, Myself, and Lies: A Thought Closet Makeover by Jennifer Rothschild. I'm not yet sure how I'll handle watching the videos, but I'll get started and see how it goes anyway.

Something needs to change, so I'm looking forward to redoing my closet.

Boat ride!

Labor Day weekend resulted in a trip to Waverly to spend time with Joe's parents. The extra long weekend made it easier to find time to meet up with our friends Liz and Kurt who live about 20 minutes from Waverly. We headed over there Sunday night for supper. They live along a river and have a pontoon boat docked nearby, so we went for a boat ride up river shortly after arriving. These are some of the pictures from that trip. It was Zach's first time wearing a life jacket and he handled it really well.


Joe and Zach


The girls (Lexi, Kate, Erika)


Love the wind blowing in the hair!


That driving bug starts really early!


Zach was always trying to keep up with the girls. There's something really cute about this photo because of that.

After our visit, Joe commented about getting a house on a river. Sounds great to me, but then rivers have one drawback that lakes generally don't have...Floods! A couple summers ago, Liz and Kurt were 2 inches away from having a flooded house. Yikes!

More than a Game!

While flipping through the TV channels tonight, I happened upon a program about 6-on-6 girls basketball in Iowa. Oh the memories!

Pause now, and if you are in the Twin Cities, go Tivo or record it. I saw show times for Thursday, Sept 2 at 3 am and 3 pm on tpt-mn (2-2 or 243).

I played 6-on-6 through my freshman year in high school. The girls' state tournament was a really big deal (it also guaranteed a bad snow or ice storm that first week of March). I was an 8th grader the last time my school's team went to State for 6-on-6. School shut down the day of the game. T-shirts were sold, pep rallies held, posters put up all over school. My 6-on-6 days were way past the "hey day of the game", but it was still a really big deal.

Two years into 5-on-5, we went to State. I was on the team and we were losing our first game in the tournament so badly that the benchwarmers got to play (including me!). While Vets wasn't packed that day, it was quite a feeling to be this little person with a basketball on a wood floor in a big auditorium. I still have my t-shirt I bought at the tournament with my school's name on the sleeve. It's not really wearable, but I can't see getting rid of it yet.

Before you start knocking 6-on-6, did you know that Iowa girls have been playing basketball for over a century? Did you know that it's a very high scoring game? Did you know it's more of a passing game? Did you know there were no Classes, so winning the tournament meant you were the best team in the whole state? Did you know it was common for there to be over 5 million TV viewers of a tournament championship game?

Here's a link to the program on the Iowa Public Television website.

Tired

I'm mentally and emotionally exhausted. I need a break and October isn't coming soon enough. Think I can curl up in a little hole and sleep until then?

New kind of Facebook search?

I was reading a Time magazine article last night about adoptees using Facebook to find birth parents. Not sure why I was surprised by this, but I was. The woman in the article spent 30 years looking for her birth mom until she decided to try Facebook. She found her within 1 day. She also found her birth father and the boy she gave up for adoption.

I've never thought of doing a Facebook search for our birth mom, but it briefly got me wondering if she has ever tried looking for us. My guess is not which would be my preference since I think adoption searches should start with the adoptee.

And while I'm not really concerned about being found, it won't be via Facebook since I recently deactivated my account.

And the tickets have arrived!

Wicked tickets arrived in work mail. Is September really next month?

Where, oh where, has summer gone?

Oh, the things kids say!

Kate met a little girl about her age at the park last night. They had a great time playing and Kate decided to introduce Joe and I.

While I thought the usage of titles had sunk in a bit, I guess I was wrong. Kate introduced me as Sarah and Joe was introduced as Uncle Joe.

After some awkward laughter, Kate corrected herself. Oh the things kids say.

Please vote!!

A few years ago my church started a project where we assembled backpacks for homeless people. The project was created by Carol, who always drives by homeless people on her way to work downtown Minneapolis. She started talking to a couple shelters about creating a backpack to store some essentials and what those essentials would include. The bags include a blanket, rain poncho, water bottle, first aid kit, pen and paper, toothpaste and toothbrush, brush or comb, etc. Union Gospel Mission and Simpson Shelter have been recipients of the bags.

And now, the project is a semi-finalist for a $15,000 grant and it needs your vote!!

Please go to http://www.givehappychallenge.com and vote for Carol (she's the one in a blue shirt with an orange bag). Voting is everyday into June and will be done in a couple different rounds.

And please pass this on! We could create and distribute a lot of backpacks with the money.

Not a fun Monday morning

1. Mom takes daughter to 3 year old wellness visit/checkup.
2. Mom tells daughter there are no shots after hysterics have ensued about getting shots.
3. Mom and daughter arrive at clinic where daughter tells receptionist "no shots!"
4. Receptionist confirms there are no shots for 3 year old visits.
5. Nurse isn't all the way in the room when daughter vehemently tells nurse "no shots!".
6. Nurse kindly says "oh, we'll see sweetie", then proceeds to tell Mom that a new shot was added 2 weeks ago.
7. Mom feels like a liar and feels resentful of the nurse.
8. Daughter does fine through rest of appointment with the doctor.
9. Daughter does not do fine when the nurse comes back in the room with the shot.
10. Hysterics and tears.
11. Mom still feels bad about telling daughter there are no shots.

They are not so little anymore

We had Kate's 3 year old and Zach's 1 year old pictures taken by Michelle last Saturday. Michelle did newborn pictures of Zach and then family pictures last Fall. We love her work and it's been fun to develop a relationship with a photographer.

Here's a link to a sneak peak on her blog.

Baby Elbow?

The joy of a 3 year old (or almost 3 year old)! This morning, Kate was sitting on the bathroom counter when Joe came in with Zach. She saw him without a shirt on, pointed at his left elbow and said "That's the daddy elbow", then pointed to his right elbow and said "That's the baby elbow".*

I have been wondering if, and when, she'll really notice that her dad is different. So far, it's been amusing things. She'll be laying on the couch with me and complain that my arm is in her way, but she doesn't have that problem with Joe. Then again, I think it's easier to snuggle with him too.

As I think further ahead to those adolescent years, I sometimes worry that she'll be embarrassed about his arm. For now, I get to cherish the fun moments like we had this morning.

* Obviously you have to know us for this to make sense.

March...in like a lion, out like lamb?

March has been quite a month for us.

The Lion
It started off with my visit to urgent care with chest pain, feeling faint, and high blood pressure. EKG, chest x-ray, and a stress test showed my heart is fine. So, the only thing we could conclude was some odd events converging at once and maybe it was the flu which has been going around work.

Then we needed to find new day care. Thankfully I already had a few plans in place and it set up in less than a day. Talk about relief!

After that, a really fun surprise scheduled for a friend had to be canceled.

Then Joe was sick, then Kate, then Zach, and then me again. This wasn't just a couple days kind of thing. Joe was home from work for 5 days and even when he returned, co-workers asked why he was there since he sounded awful. We all still have some coughing, goopy eyes, and runny noses.

Add in performance review season at work and I'm so ready for April!

The Lamb
Vacation plans are starting to fall in place for our 10th anniversary in October. The week has changed and another couple may be going. A travel book for St. John has arrived and I'm ready to book flights. October may be 6 months away, but it'll be here before we know it!

Where to go?

Joe and I have our 10 year anniversary this October. We've been talking about going somewhere for a vacation without the kids. We haven't had an overnight together without kids in over 2 years, so the idea of a whole week is rather mind-blowing. My problem now is figuring out where to go.

That leads to deciding what kind of vacation we want. Museums, hiking, lay on a beach or by a pool, stay on a boat, warm or cool, all-inclusive or house/condo rental, etc. How to narrow it down?!?

Right now, I'm really thinking about the US Virgin Island of St. John. A coworker's family goes every year and says it has a nice mix of sights and activities to relaxation and laying in the sun. Sounds good to me!

So, anyone been to St. John? Recommendations? Other vacation destination recommendations? I'm pretty sure I want relaxation and laying in the sun.

1st "real" haircut

We have meant to get Kate to a real hair salon (instead of doing the bang trim myself), but it's never a high enough priority to actually get it done. So, a couple weeks ago Kate and I were out shopping and drove by a kid's hair cut place. A quick call to Joe to say we were going to be later than planned and we turned around and went back to the salon.

It was a place called Snip-its - Haircuts for kids. The short story: Kate did great sitting there and we had a successful haircut. Long story: At each station, they had kid sized chairs, TV screens with a short movie, a "mouse" kind thing for the kids to hold on to, prizes, stylists who were engaging, and more. While Kate didn't want to have a cape put on, she did pretty well sitting still enough to not get hair all over.

Here are a couple pictures.