Super Sunday Night and Beyond

Wow have I been learning a lot about life!  With everything in my "to keep doing" pile I am becoming overwhelmed, yet confident that somewhere in the future the sun will shine on Mike and I.

These past three days, Mike has been in Las Vegas attending an EIFS class to get certified.  Just hearing what the city is and has become is quite saddening.  He had to deal with quite a bit, but is now home and happy :)  While he was there he expressed how much I mean to him which subsequently melted my heart.  

After dropping him off at the airport on Sunday, I was able to make it to a Sunday night service our church calls "Super Sunday Night".  Lots of things happen at the service, but this Sunday, I think that God had a divine intervention planned for me.  Part way through the night, I just got completely overwhelmed.  Everywhere I looked there were children.  As much as I tried to "be happy" and convince myself that it didn't matter, it did.  I excused myself to fill up my water bottle, and began wading through the aisle amidst the 3,000 people or so situated worshipping in the pews.  As soon as I hit the back of the sanctuary I could feel the burn in my eyes - a familiar sting.  I filled up my Nalgene and tried to gather myself to go back in to sit down.  I got about half way and my emotions took over.  With tears streaming down my face I took a place in a back "corner" (the building looks like half a sphere and only has a type of supporting post in the back).  I tried so many times to be okay, but my heart wasn't allowing my tears to dry and go back.  While in the corner, I had a friend console me and ask if someone could come pray with me.

(Sorry if this is long.  I like writing too . . . just the story of my life!)

A woman, who I didn't know, came beside me and looked me straight in the eye with conviction and deep love.  She and a group of others had been praying for me ever since Arie died.  Her words flew and yet she didn't miss a beat.  So many things she said to me that night still bounce around in my head.  She said that Arie had a purpose and that she lives out that purpose in me.  Arie will never be forgotten and although I have been in a winter season, I will soon be recognizing the blossoms of spring in my life.  

I am beginning to come out of my winter!  Even though the loss of my precious baby girl still brings tears to my eyes and tugs on my heart, she also brings me smiles at times.  She is right now the most influential person in my life.  And if all of this just means all of that, it's enough for me.

Since Sunday night, I have had the opportunity to chat with some friends, talk with Mike and read away.  All of this seems to be making me think all that much more.  Fortunately, God likes thinking people and I have taken the plunge in to that pool right now.  

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On a different note, it's weird to be home alone after I've been together with Mike for so long.  It's nice to have the bed all to myself, and at the same time, I'm craving his warmth.  All the chores still beckoned, life still moved on, but in a different pace, with different meaning.  Quite odd.

Mike is now back home and we are going to be starting a new adventure!  We have weighed the cost and measured the benefits.  We have decided to participate in athletic classes.  At first it really will be like personal training because the company we are going through is trying to get bigger and are just starting the classes.  But it he future, it will probably end up a little more populated.  Right now, we will have the opportunity to work out almost one-on-one and reap the benefits of doing it together.  We are both hoping this will help us get healthier, sleep better, cause us to appreciate common ground, and the benefits just don't end!  

Onward ho, to the next adventure we go!

Moving Day

Well, I wish that this was actually the topic for us, and although it's not, it is still exciting! Today we were able to move my parents . . . which means that they have actually sold their house and are making the transition from the house they've lived in for years to another transition home.

This cottage that they are renting for the time being is super cute. As you walk in there is a cozy front room in which you can see the dining room and kitchen as well. The floors are hardwood . . . and I think that they're actually real wood. It's got two bedrooms and one dainty bathroom. When you walk in you get a warmth that is indicative of previous owners who loved the house. My mom is able to look out the kitchen window and gaze on birds and trees instead of the back door of a neighbor's house. She will absolutely love it. My dad doesn't yet have his Man Cave--I'm referring to either his super testoerone-filled mechanic's room, or his den where only men with the secret password can enter so as not to taint the essence of the room. I do, however, think that he will find things to do to keep himself busy.

I was able to hang with my sister for a bit and enjoyed unpacking the kitchen with her. While all the men were grunting and creating the foul aroma we like to call sweat, Melissa and I conversed about where the salt should go. We left all the insane lifting (like my mom's upright piano) to the men who like to use their bicep guns to get-r-done. Melissa and I haven't had the opportunity of speaking in quite a while, but even being around her for a while was a sweet reminder of what an amazing woman she is. I have appreciated her in my life and am looking forward to her maybe moving nearer sometime in the future (okay, if I'm speaking realistically, the WAY FAR OUT THERE future).

We were all fitting in to what seems like the new groove for my parents. After clearing out the trailer, my dad treated us to dinner where Norma and Paul (long-time family friends), Aunt Diane and Uncle John (Mom's sister and husband), Uncle Don, Aunt Patti, and Carrie (Mom's brother,wife, and daughter), and Mike and I chatted for quite a while. The room sparkled with smiles, fun stories, catching up with each other, and the unspoken excitement my mom felt to be within ten minutes of people she cares about. When she wanted to go home, she realized that it was just down the road, instead of hours away. Through the tiredness of moving, I could sense her anticipation. Ooooh, all the fun she is going to have being near family again.


On a different note, Mike and I have been crazy!!! Recently we were looking in to what it might cost to work with a personal trainer (whewie!). Albeit expensive, we were able to attend a "class" and see what they were capable of doing, and wow was it super cool and fun. Because of where the business is, we were the only two there. Meaning, the trainer could really whop us! Mike seemed to outdo me, which was sad because I have been working out forever with a friend, and he hasn't. Mr. Man was able to get his workout in and so was I. We basically cross-trained with a focus on suspension bands . . . These things are awesome (and CRAZY hard might I add). Hanging from a metal loop on a brace drops a flat nylon cord with two handles attached. From this, you can do just about anything--suspended of course. So we proceeded to do bicep curls, push ups, abs, triceps, forearms, and on and on and on! Needless to say, this was on Thursday which means that super soreness re-enters our life on our parent's moving day (Wahoo! . . . ouch)

Lots of things have been happening for us. To name a few, we've been doing all the normal keep up our life things like grocery shopping, and added small group, Mike's Photo classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, I go running with a friend every night of the week we can, meeting with two different sets of couples, moving our parents, looking at starting a Photography business (link to come soon hopefully--we've got the logo and everything . . . I'm anticipating what this might mean for us), trying to find a home, wait, nope, wait, yup, wait nope, wait, what was happening, and of course, the still fresh dealing with Arie emotions.

We'd love to get a house, settle down, and just be downright boring for a while. Anybody hear me? Boring sounds a bit nice right now :)

Hopefully, I'll update this more than once a month! So much happens. I just have to realize and be comfortable with writing a paragraph (I just get too in to writing!)