Night of Laughter

I'd like to introduce you to some very special people in my life. Pastor Steve and his wife, Denise, moved here just over a year ago to work at the church. I didn't know it at the time, but they were to become dear friends to Brad and me. We are so glad they came! Working with them has been such a blessing.

Tonight a bunch of us got together for dinner to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary with a fabulous dinner at the Olive Garden. It was so much fun and I was reminded as I looked around the table of how much I have to be thankful for.

Pastor Steve and Denise

Brad and his buddy, Josh. Wow, I just realized that they both look very happy!

Me and my dear friend, Tamara (Josh's wife).

This is Pastor Glyn and his wife, Beckey. I have worked with Pastor Glyn for almost 3 years now (where has the time gone?) and we get along so well. I am so thankful to work with people who not only care about me, but take time to challenge me and encourage me in my walk with the Lord. Oh yes, and we laugh - a lot!

TOMORROW: Tomorrow morning is the big race! I am excited and not as nervous as I have been for my previous 5k runs. I got some new shoes this week and my knees have stopped hurting!!! I am so thankful and am making plans to increase my distance after this race. I think that mostly I am excited about the race because a bunch of my friends are doing it, too, and I get to run with Rachel. We have about the same pace and it is so much more fun with her. It's supposed to rain so that may add an interesting dimension to this race! Hopefully I will have a good report to post tomorrow!

This Week in a Nutshell

Happening this week in the Hunt household:

• Brad fixed the car! Yey! We are so grateful that his parents let us borrow their car for over a week and were glad to return it in one piece to them (it's always scary driving someone else's car!)

• Brad finished his online adoption training...before me! He has been rubbing it in continuously since his certificate arrived in the mail. I am hoping to get mine finished tonight, but I keep getting distracted with BLOGGING every time I sit down at the computer!
  

• Daisie had her special puppy surgery (ie we are now puppy-proofed) and had to spend the night at the vets. She is back home now and has assured us that it was not too bad of a trip (from what she can remember)

• Friend Rachel has been cleared for running and all are rejoicing!!!
• I have been having knee trouble from the running and am feeling a bit discouraged. They ache all the time and the race is on Saturday. Yikes!

Back to the Scrappin'

I am very behind in my scrapbooking. I'm not sure why, but until this month, I haven't really scrapbooked ALL YEAR! I decided that I would only scrapbook when I wanted to, not because I had to...it took me a while, but I'm back to it again!

Here are a few pages I've completed recently:

(This one's my favorite - it's about our trip to Seattle)

My big news of the day: I ran 5k in 29 minutes and 5 seconds! I have never broken the 30 minute mark before so I was very excited about this personal best :)

Houseguest

I'm pretty sure we have the cutest houseguest ever...

Meet Bella, an itty bitty kitty who was rescued by a friend a couple of weeks ago. My sister, Joanna, was going to take Bella to the humane society for her, but when I called the next day to see how the drop off went, she informed me that their family now includes two cats. I knew she wouldn't be able to say good-bye to this little one!

Joanna is away this weekend, so I am on kitty duty. She sleeps a ton and I really just get her up to feed her. So far so good...and Daisie has not yet tried to munch on her!

Brad announced early on in our relationship that he is not a cat person, but....you be the judge!

It's Been a Long Day

Do you ever have those days that just leave you so tired and emotionally drained that you can't possibly sleep? That's what I'm feeling tonight. I spent an hour and a half with my eyes closed, but sleep just would not come.

It has been a long day.

Today, a dear friend was having surgery to have a tumor removed. I spent the morning praying and pleading with the Lord to not let it be cancer. The call came a few hours later - no cancer! We are praising Him and feeling so thankful for His grace.

Today, my long-time friend and running buddy Rachel had to go to the doctor because of some high blood pressure issues. She was told she cannot run right now. We have been training for a 5k together for months and just ran that distance for the first time together on Monday. She has been an encourager and I have come to look forward to our runs together so much, not so much because of the running, but because of the company. I am so sad and disappointed that she will not be able to run with me.

Today, an older gentleman from the church who I worked with for a couple of years went home to be with the Lord. It was sudden, but not unexpected...if that makes any sense. I will miss him and am hurting tonight for his dear wife.

It's been a long day.

Weekend Laughs

What a lovely holiday weekend! On Saturday, we spent time with Brad's family (always fun!) and enjoyed a cookout and some very fun games. I don't know the last time I laughed so hard, and strangely enough it was brought on by the game "Scattegories"! Brad's family is very...creative!

Niece Abbey is getting so big and has started to crawl! What a cutie!

Niece Emma...always makes me smile :)

On Monday, I awoke to the sounds of many voices in my living room! I was happy to find that our friends, the Greens, had stopped by to see if we wanted to do something SUPER FUN like go to the beach! I have been wanting to go to the beach all summer and we just hadn't made it there yet. So, we packed up two vehicles (with everything we own - including the dog and everything she owns) and headed to a nearby lake.

When we arrived, I just had to take a picture of us with all the stuff. It was a pretty funny sight.

Daisie had a great time and didn't bark at all.
She was so pooped by the end of the day!

Funniest moment of the day - I was walking with Daisie and the girls back to the car, and suddenly I looked over and saw this. Poor Rachel had the job of pushing ALL of our stuff UP a great big hill! I laughed so hard because it just made me think of that little dog Max in the cartoon movie, "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" when he's trying to pull that great big sled full of stuff...I don't know, maybe I just got too much sun! Anyway, Rachel and I had a good laugh! She is Wonder Woman!

Feeling very blessed today to have so many wonderful people in my life!