Artistry

Today I was reminded of the depth and breath of art as I was sitting in my sylist's chair. J is great as what she does, cutting, coloring, straightening, waxing, and I'm sure many other things.
Not only is she skilled at her craft, but she designs and colors as an artist does. It is beautiful to watch and benefit from. I was able to capture some images of the artist and her work. I'm feeling like a walking canvas today!

A few days away

Brent and I had a great 2 days spent with friends and family. Saturday, I was able to re-connect with a life-long friend. It was such a good time of fellowship and catching up. I hope we don't wait 2 more years to do so again. Then we were gifted a hotel room in Kansas City for one night, which was a wonderful get away. We checked in, went out to eat at one of our favorite spots in town, Bo Ling's. It is a great Chinese restaurant, authentic with great ambiance, reasonable prices and big portions. Check it out if you live in town. I got this cookie and was inspired to capture an image as a sort of challenge to the 'fortune' given. So, here's my creative side: We had a relaxing evening in the hotel with hot tubbing and cable TV! We enjoyed watching myth busters-those guys are crazy-fun! This morning we were off to the family's place and had a great time swimming, playing with the nephews and niece, and chatting with B's brother and sister-in-law. We really loved it. We are home now for a full week before we leave for our vacation, which I am SO excited about.

I buy the meat he cooks it.

Some of you might know that I HATE handling large pieces of raw meat. It really gross me out. Raw chickens (whole ones, chicken breasts are okay), pot roasts, hams, turkeys, ribs. If it is large and raw I don't want to touch it. It is mostly the slime factor that bugs me and vegetarian tendencies rise up in me sometimes. My husband loves meat. Large pieces of meat. Alas, our solution to this problem: I'll buy it you cook it. It works really well actually, and he does a great job! Last night, it was pork ribs. Look disgusting in the package, but sooo tasty in the mouth. My hubby is a great cook-what a perk!

Addendum to the last post

Well, Dr. Horrible ended up being well a bit disappointing for me. First episode was awesome. Second episode lost some of the comedic zing that I enjoyed about the first. Third episode took the turn that Joss often does, went dark and at the end Brent and I looked at each other and said, huh? FYI Episodes 2 & 3 aren't as 'family friendly', were they include some let's call it male humor.

On a different note, I am sitting in my living room with my husband on the floor because he seriously threw his back out when he was bending over to kiss me this morning. So, now it is my turn to take care of him. For his sake, I am praying that this passes quickly.

Morning laughs!

This morning I watched the funniest thing. Dr. Horrible. It is basically a series of short films created by Joss Whedon (Firefly, Buffy, Angel) that was a response to the writers strike earlier in the year. There are three episodes, one yesterday, tomorrow and Saturday. You can watch them for free until July 20. It is laugh out loud funny, especially if you like Neil Patrick Harris. Quirky, satrical, it's a sing-a-long blog. Genius. I think our family will be into this the rest of this week.

So grateful

I am so grateful for the ways that I see provision in my life. There are the simple things like food and shelter. Then there are things like my health, I finally feel like I have recovered! Then there are these unexpected things that seem to keep happening to us. Just wonderful reminders that the Lord is with us and that he sees our needs. About a month ago someone gifted us 2 frequent flyer tickets to go on a vacation. We were stunned and really excited! We decided after hours online, that we would go to Boston and Maine in the beginning of August. I am so excited for this vacation and love traveling with my hubby. We have been trying priceline to get cheap hotel rooms and have been trying for a few days with no bids accepted. You have to wait 24 hours to make another bid, so we have been doing that. Yesterday morning at church we were telling some friends about our plans, and having been to Maine themselves recommeded a B&B up the coast. We were appriciative of the suggestion and later in the afternoon they called and told us they wanted to pay for us to spend one night on them, at this beautiful place. It blew us away, again. I am really amazed at how God is taking care of us in a way that is for our leisure. Somehow I am hearing Him say, rest. Take time to play, explore. Take a trip on me. It makes me want to jump up and down with gratitude.

My favorite

This is one of my favorite things, holding hands with my husband. It is a place of safety, a place of being known, a place of truth. These last few weeks, my husband has been such a wonderful reminder of the love of God. He has pointed me toward Him when I am fearful or want answers. I am so grateful to be married to this man! I know that he has and is going through a lot too these days. I can only pray that somehow the Lord will use myself or others to encourage his heart.

4th of July in Lincoln

We went to Lincoln for the 4th and had a great time with family. My parent's neighbors purchased about $400 of fireworks (many from missouri, if you know what i mean). It made for quite a show and several close calls from misfires. I tell you, it is amazing how quick a person can duck and cover. Here are some pictures from our adventures from the weekend.My nieces and nephews rock!

We played mini golf-my mom won!

The aftermath-that is $400 worth of explosives

Another humorous thing was as we were driving through marysville, ks I spotted this sign and just laughed out loud.