Okay, did anyone see the sky last night? It was amazing! I looked out the front window and my jaw dropped. I went outside and saw the pink/blue colored sky, and started taking pictures. Then I turned around, and behind me the sky was orange! It was incredible!












This verse just kept running through my head:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." Psalm 19:1

On another note altogether...I was getting the pictures off my camera last night and found these funny ones that I took a few days ago. Brad was taking Sadie out to his parents because we were having the youth group over to our house and she would have just barked the whole time. So I helped Brad load her in the car, and as he pulled out, she just looked at me out the front window, and looked so forlorn (well, she is a basset hound, so she always looks pretty sad!)

Beauty Everywhere

After living in Colorado for a year (a while ago), I must admit that I have become a little bit of a scenery snob. I often think that unless there are towering mountains with beautiful rivers running through valleys surrounded by snowcapped peaks, it is not truly beautiful. Obviously, this is crazy, and there is beauty throughout all of God's creation...I sometimes just fail to see it.

The other morning, I arrived at work at about 8:20am. As I turned down the street that the church was on, all I could see was fog! It was weird because it hadn't been foggy at all the rest of the way to work. When I got out of the truck, I turned to close the door, and across the parking lot I saw the most beautiful scene...the sun was shining through the trees and because of the fog it was just amazing. Fortunately, I had the new church camera with me, and was able to snap a few pictures. It does not do it justice though, and I can't seem to quite put it into words.

Flavor Fruit Farms

I look forward to this time of year so much! As soon as the end of summer draws near, I start checking the trees (to see if the leaves are changing) and sniffing the air (to see if I can smell Fall yet). Now, this is a hotly debated issue - does Fall have a smell? I welcome your input on this controversial subject! Also, I had to change my layout to reflect this fabulous season!

Well, as soon as I smell Fall (which I did!), I anxious await our first trip to Flavor Fruit Farms and any other Harvest type things. I love the colors, and the crisp air, and the donuts and cider...I just love it! Last weekend, we were finally able to make our trip with our good friends, the Greens. We love to go and eat tons of sugary donuts and drink fresh cider...it's the best!

An added bonus this year was that I got to see an ELEPHANT! I'm not sure why exactly, but I think elephants are so cool! We pulled up, and saw that there were elephant rides, and the three girls and I gasped SO loud! It was really funny. But it cost $5 a person to ride and mostly kids were going on, so I just watched for a while.

Such a fun day!

Chad and Rachel and their girls (Faith, Grace, and Hope)

This is one of the only pictures of me with my eyes OPEN! I kept squinting too much!

I'll have to work on that for future pictures :)

Visit from Dad and a House Full of Doggies!

This week has been quite an adventure! Dad came to visit on Wednesday as he was passing through on his way to Chicago for business. Jo and Ryan came over as well and we had pizza and hung out for a while. Dad ended up stopping by again today (Friday) for lunch since he forgot something important - Mom's birthday presents! Can't go home without those! It was so nice to see him, even if it was a short visit. Here is a picture of him doing what he does best...making tea!



The other part of the adventure this week is that we are dog sitting. For the next week, in addition to our dog, Sadie, we will have Dakota (Brad's parent's dog) and Sam (Brad's brother's dog). We are happy to have them stay with us and Sadie is so excited to have some buddies over for a week-long party! The first night was kind of rough but last night was much better as we are getting used to each other and figuring out a routine. We also figured out that our dog is actually the little stinker of the bunch...she is such an instigator and gets the other two all riled up! She is also acting like a spoiled little child - heaven forbid that Brad or I actually pet another dog! Oh no, she won't have that at all! It's pretty funny though.

This is Dakota...I don't think she is as sad as she looks here! At least, I hope not! Last time she came to stay, she whined a lot after Brad's parents left, and stood at the door for hours. This time she barely whined at all and has seemed to enjoy being with the other two.

This is Sam. He is a beagle and he is such a sweet little dude! Last night he was sitting on his pillow looking so forlorn, and he kept looking at me with these eyes as though he were saying, "Why do I have to stay here? Why won't they come back for me?" It was so sad! But then I talked to him and played with him and he was fine. His bark is hilarious...I might try to get it on video because it really sounds like someone is trying to kill him!

And here, of course, is her majesty, Sadie. She's having a blast with her friends!

Our next door neighbors have two beagles of their own, so when people walk by our houses now they get an ear full and probably wonder if there is a pack of wild dogs or something nearby!

I hope we will all survive the week!

Celebrating an Anniversary and a Birthday

On Tuesday Brad and I celebrated our third anniversary :) It is sometimes hard to believe it has already been three years...but at other times, it's like, "Wow, it's only been three years? It feels like much longer!" In a good way, of course! I am so blessed to have Brad as my husband and I can't imagine life without him.

We didn't really have any big plans for this anniversary, but we did eat frozen pizza and then go jogging! Sounds very romantic, doesn't it? We followed jogging up with an enormous bowl of ice cream at a new ice cream place in town. I'm pretty sure we undid any of the good effects of jogging, but what can you do? The best part was that I had a gift card, so we only had to pay 82 cents! We sat outside and ate it and it was lovely.

Something that meant a lot to me on our anniversary was that Brad got me a very thoughtful gift. We had been shopping at Kohls a couple of times in the last few months and there was this jacket that I really liked, but it was pretty expensive so I never wanted to buy it. Well, when I got home, it was hanging on my closet door! I think the best part about it was that it showed that he was paying attention and knew what I liked. That meant a lot to me and made me tear up a little. Here's a picture of the jacket:

September 18th is not just a special day because it's our anniversary, but it is also our doggie's birthday! Sadie turned four on Tuesday and so we had to get her a little gift to celebrate. It was so funny, she didn't know what to do with it at first, so she just carried it around from one end of the house to the other. Once she figured out it was an edible treat, though, it was all over! That treat didn't stand a chance!

Fun Times with the Ladies

Last Saturday was a fun day as our church hosted a "ladies day" which included a guest speaker, lots of fellowship, fantastic food, and a funny little skit featuring yours truly. I was kind of nervous about it but it turned out very funny. Basically, I was sitting at a table and another lady from the church, Marilyn, was seated behind me. She put her arms out like they were my arms... you've seen that before, I'm sure. The funny part was that she was doing my make-up while another lady, Joan, was doing a running dialog saying what I was thinking and doing. It turned out so funny because Marilyn couldn't tell where my eyes were so she had to keep feeling my face before putting on the make-up, and I was laughing so hard I was crying (which also didn't make the make-up part so easy!) Marilyn was so afraid she was going to poke my eyes out, but she did a great job and it was a lot of fun. You should have seen my face at the end of the skit!