Easter Weekend

This might be long.....
Good Friday was the beginning of spring break for me and it was also the beginning of a great weekend. Friday afternoon I ventured in the wet late March snow fall to White Bear Lake to meet, greet, hang, eat and laugh with my friend Nate. He always makes my afternoons so worth it!!! That evening i headed to Open Door's Good Friday service. Which is where this painting was done. The service was fantastic, time spent reflecting on the cross and what Jesus' did - and how he 'finished' it for us. Matt- a friend of mine, attended with me and seemed to enjoy it also. Afterwards we ventured to Champs to catch the end of the UNC game (which wasnt even on cuz they were beating the team so badly) and enjoyed some good food, great convo and of course had some good laughs together.
Saturday, again in the wet snow fall, i headed to jens house for a late brunch cooked by Jay-bird. There i enjoyed great company and some fantastic ball games.

Sunday morning i woke up extra early to hit the sunrise Easter service at Open Door before i headed home to Mora for the day. Easter has always been one of my favorite Holidays. the meaning of it always seems to penetrate my heart. remembering what Jesus did and how he suffered is always hard to do and understand. that i, and you, am worth that sort of sacrifice boggles my mind. And than the power that is displayed when he Arises....so cool. love it! love that Jesus' loves me that much! it's a hard concept to grasp; a concept that i have been thinking on a lot the past couple of days. the family gathering was small this year. My younger bro's family is all in Mexico, my older bro and his son were sick, and most of the cousins were out of town. so- 2

aunts, 2 uncles, 2 cousins and their families, mom, dad and me. it was small- but fun. chatted a lot and drank multiple cups of coffee. good times. of course the kids had to have a Easter egg hunt; which is always fun to see how much joy kids can get out of something so simple.

home and ready to enjoy my week off from work. what am i going to do????

61 hours!

All last week I felt like I was never home. So I tried to go back over my week and figure out how many hours I actually was at home- from Sunday to Sunday. There are 168 hours in a week (right?). Total (remember this is an approximate number), I spent 61 hours at home, and of those 61 hours I spent 45 hours of them sleeping. That means that I spent 16 in my house, awake-...which if you divide 16 by 7 that means I spent 2 hours 28 minutes a day in my house; awake!. Really, is that it? No wonder I feel like I was never home. As I think back I know that Monday I only spent about an hour awake in my house and than on Sunday I spent 4 hours in the afternoon chilling out watching some fantastic NCAA basketball games (side note- Go Tar- heels).... Most mornings I take an hour to get ready for work, but last week I think it was closer to 1/2 hour cuz I woke up tired and always pushed the snooze button. I was in and out of the house for a quick clothes change or to grab something to eat before I headed off to things like bible study, tutoring a kid from school, meeting friends for dinner, grad class, time at the library, working out, and a occasional errand run. I barely had time to do the dishes, and at times didn't do them (which drives me crazy). I really don't like feeling that way. I like my house and I enjoying spending time in it. But I will admit that last week was a good time. Some of my highlights were taking a long walk with my friend Sara. It was actually warm enough to walk without a coat on. Does that mean that spring is finally here? I also went and got adjusted by Doc Nate, and got a ever present headache taken care. Did juicy lucy burgers with friends on Wednesday night and played The Wii, which is sweet. Tennis is super fun! Grad class on Thursday night and than went right to Hannah's house to watch Lost and eat pizza, which was awesome. Friday after work I was home long enough to throw some clothes into my bag, headed to the Library to tutor, and than went straight to Mora. My god-children had a big birthday bash on Saturday that of course I could not miss...also a highlight of my week. No wonder it's now Tuesday night after my crazy week away from home and here I sit with a horrible cold, a low grade fever that wont seem to go away and am exhausted! Spring break arrives on Friday and I am really trying to push out my body- I hate missing work before a long break. I have a feeling tomorrow morning I am going to really have to talk myself into thinking I feel good enough to go to work. But I am a strong believer that if you tell yourself something long enough- you'll soon believe it. So- 'I FEEL FANTASTIC!'. (do ya believe me?)
So 61 hours spent in my house last week. I have every intention of doubling that number this week. Is that possible?

This picture is of my shoe and Emma's shoe. Emma is my 4 year old God-Child. She is super cute and is totally into shoes. So, I (and her god-dad) got her some new funcky shoes...dont ya love em?

pride

why is it so hard to swallow your pride? i've been wondering at why a conversation i had with a parent this morning at church has challenged my pride so much and why it annoyed me so, and even sort of hurt my feelings. i've been volunteering in the 3 yr old toddler room at church and love it. the kids bring smiles to my face every time i go...but like any sort of volunteering, at times you wonder why you do it. today's message was about giving, but giving without having any expectations of getting anything in return. it was a good reminder!! and this morning i had to put that thought of giving with out getting into practice. a parent, who was very nice about it, reminded me how important it is as a volunteer to make sure the parent picking up their kid shows their ID card to make sure it matches up with their kids ID card. well, after volunteering for 6 months i know pretty much all my kids and their parents and most don't have a issue with the ID card thing - cuz i know who belongs to who. and if someone different comes to pick up a kid, than of course i check ID cards...well, this parent nicely reminded me i need to check cards all the time. at first it really hurt my pride cuz i feel like i do a great job. so after he left i returned to teaching my lesson on sharing and found myself very distracted by my thoughts. it was a pride thing that i really needed to let go of. who am i???? if a parent wants me to check ID cards- i should appreciate their advice and go with it. but, it took me almost the whole hour to let it go and be ok with his advice and his challenge. my pride got in the way today. and i hate when that happens, and like jen (the speaker at church) said in her message- sometimes ya gotta give even when you get hurt...and ya gotta continue to give even when you know your going to be hurt agian at some point! so i will continue to give to my 3 yr old toddler room and take the advice of a caring parent to heart and move on. goodness....the older i get the easier you'd think these sort of lessons would be to learn, but they aren't.....

its super sunny out, but cold...but i think i am going to hit the pavement and go for a quick walk and clear the head.

nothing to new

it must be the month of February...(even though it is March). I've just not had much to rant and rave about this past month. nothing is happening and for sure nothing worthy of picture taking. so as i sit this fine Sunday afternoon, i wonder at what I've learned this past month. huh....good question?

well first I've learned that puppies don't stay puppies very long. i did head home a couple weekends ago to visit with ma and pa and Dakota is no longer small. she is big...I've learned that patience is a virtue! I've been waiting to hear back from a friend for almost 3 months and finally, after a lot of praying and wondering.....they called back and we got to re-connect. it was so worth the wait. i am continually remind how important communication is when in relationships. and how important forgiving and forgetting and moving forward is.

I've learned that fake finger nails hurt! yes, for some odd reason today i just got this idea in my head to go get fake finger nails, which for those of you that know me know that fake finger nails is not really me. but- that's OK. they hurt. it's hard to type. the dude (yes a dude) that did them was horrible, and it took him almost 2 hours. not sure it was the best experience, but i did get a free tanning session out of the deal. I've learned that when you function and make decision off emotions, well you're usually gonna make a ass out of yourself (excuse the language). i sort of had a run in with my younger brother yesterday and lets just say it didn't make me look good. i had to humble myself, which is always hard to do.

I've learned that coffee is good. since detox, I've tried to cut back and am doing a pretty good job, but gotta say that caribou is fantastic. and of course, caribou with friends is even better.

I've learned that the lady eagles basketball team have accomplished most of their goals. they won the conference and are headed to regionals this weekend. go eagles!

I've learned that good friends are a must. Jen has been gone for 2 weeks in Ethiopia and i miss her. but it's good. it's good to spend time apart. you really realize just how much you appreciate good friends and what they bring to life. I've also gotten to hang more with her boyfriend while she is gone, and that's never a bad deal!!!!! oh baby.

I've learned that God always wants us to 'come home'. i am reminded at how faithful God is to me....regardless at how i treat Him, what i do to Him, and or how mad i am at Him. He always wants me...and will always allow me in his house. church is good...all the time.

I've learned that LOST, with a doubt, is going to drive me insane. i want some answers.

i am sure there is alot more I've learned this past month, but those are what came to mind.