Best Parts of Yesterday and Go Tigers!

Yesterday, my day had some ROUGH components.  Not every day is amazing, but not every day is as difficult as yesterday was.  No need for details, and absolutely nothing is wrong, just some frustrating situations with my job.

The awesome part is that there were some REALLY great, BEST parts of yesterday that totally redeemed the day and had me falling asleep with a smile.

First best part of yesterday - the kiss goodbye when my hubby left for work this morning.  I was in my process of putting my hair up, trying to be out the door right behind him, so I literally had no hands -- both hands holding my hair, and I was expecting a quick peck goodbye.  He didn't want a quick peck goodbye this morning.  We certainly didn't have a make-out session... but a longer goodbye kiss.  A moment to pay attention to the affection we were showing each other, and moment to give me butterflies to start my day.

It is snowing up valley.  When you live in the mountains there are two ways to respond to the first snow -- you are disappointed that it arrived so soon or you are OVERJOYED that is has FINALLY arrived.  I am OVERJOYED that snow has begun.  We don't have any at our house yet -- just wet, heavy, rain, but I certainly drove through it today.  

This is not a picture from my drive today... but if a
Southerner saw the weather I drove through today,
this is how they would relay the situation.

After being raised in Michigan and then spending years in Virginia and Nashville, there's something very refreshing about being one who lives in the mountains and KNOWS HOW TO HANDLE THE SNOW.  Life does not stop.  Stores do not run out of merchandise.  Citizens do not go under house arrest.  I drove 170 miles today -- in snow and freezing temperatures, and sun and rain and wind, all kinds of elements, and I'm sure this drive is just the beginning of many drives I will safely make this year in ALL KINDS of weather.  I love snow and I love that snow means the BEGINNING of life out here... not the end.

 I made fudge for the first time in my life when I got home.  The fudge was great to make for several reasons -- first of all, I was excited to try a new recipe and have some goodies to send to work with Chris tomorrow for a fun Friday contribution to his colleagues.  Secondly, our house is COLD!!!  The thermostat is reading 59* and Chris and I are NOT ready to pay heating bills... and I'm sure we'll get some warmer weather in a week or so.  The combination of making fudge, washing dishes (and first I did a work out video) was the best way to stay warm this evening.

Check out this great recipe for yourself at Bakerella.

Last but CERTAINLY not least -- THE DETROIT TIGERS BEAT THE YANKEES TO ADVANCE INTO THE NEXT ROUND OF BASEBALL PLAY-OFFS!!!!  

 

 Please don't be confused, I have made posts about following Cardinals baseball, which I do because my husband loves Cardinals baseball.  But growing up, my parents cheered for the Tigers.  As an adult, I've really only followed the Tigers in the post-season... which means I haven't really followed the Tigers.  As I'm sharing my husband's interest in baseball, I now have a huge appreciation for what the Tigers did to win this first series against the New York Yankees in order to advance to the next round.  It was a VERY exciting game and I'm VERY proud of those guys.  Yankee Stadium is INTIMIDATING!!!!  I have been there, and for these guys to pull out a win, for all the marbles, IN Yankee Stadium against the New York Yankees is a huge accomplishment.  Congratulations, to the Detroit Tigers and Good Luck against the Rangers.

I'll be cheering for the Cardinal's tomorrow in the final game of their series against the Phillies.  Luckily the Cardinals and the Tigers are in different conferences so I can cheer whole-heartedly for the Tigers and whole-heartedly for the Cardinals without conflicting interests.  The only time the two will meet would be... you guessed it -- In the World Series...

What were the best parts of you day yesterday?

Cold Snap

It's getting pretty chilly here and the first snow is expected by the end of this week.

 We've started closing the windows and adding more layers... haven't turned on the heat yet, and I'm not sure I'm ready to clear off our wood-burning stove... and we're thrilled for winter to arrive.

Isn't hers the sweetest face you've ever seen?  My cat is such a blessing from God.  The real-life dream-come-true of my life was God sending me Lexie.  It is also such a blessing watching her relationship with Chris develop.  She's still my girl, but they definitely have their own love as well.  She loves having two parents.

"I'm Not Very Spiritual, But..."

I am currently listening to "Three Cups of Tea" on cd as I drive around the Rocky Mountains for work.

 

via

The book is not what I expected and I am really enjoying it.  Something I think is interesting is that I have always heard this book publicised as "A man who builds schools for girls in the Taliban region." -- In actuality (although I'm only about half-way through the book, so maybe something will change) he builds schools for ALL children -- boys and girls in these Muslin, Asian, Himalayan regions.  Much of the resistance from Islamic and Taliban leaders about the schools comes from the fact that the schools will educate girls, but the schools are built to educate all children.

In this book, I heard a quote today, that I've heard from a number of adults throughout my life and it is a statement I have never understood: "I'm not very spiritual, but..."; "I'm not really religious, but..."; "I don't believe in God, but..."; "I'm not a person of faith, but..." and then the person goes on to describe a situation completely and blatantly orchestrated by God!

 

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I have heard this statement TIME after TIME after TIME, where a person makes that statement to introduce a story and then concludes the story with, "I mean, I don't believe in God, but I know I was at the right place at the right time."  Or, "It was just meant to be."

You're right.  It WAS meant to be.  It was perfectly planned by an amazing, powerful, all-knowing, loving, merciful, PERFECT God.

via

At this point, the person is taking more energy to keep DISBELIEVING in God, as they have just provided their own witness as to His existence and His love for a human who doesn't even acknowledge Him.

I wish I could express that more clearly -- but by the person saying he/she does not believe in God and then providing a story about faithful divine intervention/something written in the stars/good karma inherently PROVES God does exist and He provides loving mercy and Goodness on each and every one of His children -- even those who do not trust Him or acknowledge His existence.

 

via

This just gives me goosebumps how amazing God is... but it also bothers me the lack of logical thought of these people who keep saying "I don't believe in God, but..." -- the But is the key.

 

via

Lord, I know You will reach these lost children in Your own time and in ways completely specific to the needs of their hearts.  Please give me faith enough to trust Your timing and please use me in any way to help point these lost children back to You.

What Makes a House a Home...

Chris and I have been in our little rental home for two months, and I have to confess, I thought we would be settled more quickly than we have actually settled.

After two months of perpetually missing items, we FINALLY found the last outstanding missing item last night when I asked Chris to grab me a kleenex box from our hall storage closet.  What was the final missing article?  The top of a lamp that holds the lamp shade in place that didn't make it into the box with the lamp and was stored in a different box.  What we didn't know was that it found its way into a kleenex box.

Now that we are feeling more settled, we are on to making this first house of ours into our first home.

I have been busy last week and this week hanging things on our walls -- most of the pictures are not of us yet, but at least the frames are on the wall.  :-D  I have the new picture frames up, but I haven't changed the pictures yet -- one thing at a time.

One of my favorite places in our home is the wood-burning stove in our family room.  Right now I've kind of decorated it like I would the mantle of a fireplace, but I will have to move everything when we start burning wood in there due to a serious fire hazard.

This includes one of my favorite wedding pictures of us, our photobooth pictures from the wedding, the sand that we combined at our wedding, the Willow People cake topper from our wedding and the picture frame Chris gave me as a wedding present (he gave me the frame with pictures AND a book on puppies, to represent that a puppy will be my wedding too -- it was a two part wedding gift).  Behind the first row is a blue vase/pitcher we bought in Istanbul on our honeymoon and our coin jar (for dream purchases).

On the floor in front of the stove are the album of photobooth pictures that was compiled at our wedding (photobooth pictures and hand-written messages from our guests) and a book "Take Me Out to the Ballpark" that my aunt and uncle gave Chris and me at our rehearsal dinner.  We took the book with us when we went to Chase Field a few weeks ago and it was fun to read about it before we got there.

As you can see, it would be a serious fire-issue to burn wood in the stove right now.  But for the moment, it's my favorite place in our home.  Everything else is coming - slowly but surely becoming our home.

There's Only One October...

 There's only one October -- and every year it is my FAVORITE month of the year!
Every since I was a kid, my dad has taught me that October is the MOST EXCITING MONTH for a sports fan -- and what he means is it is the most exciting month for OUR kind of sports fan.  :-D

OUR KIND follows College football and Major League Baseball and October has both in abundance and excitement.

My favorite part of this below clip... and WOW, there could be MANY is the opening when the new coach, Coach Hoke says,
"This might sound arrogant, and if it is, it is, We're Michigan."

College football is in FULL SWING in October.  

• In September, Teams come together.  
• In October, The men are separated from the boys and teams have fun and find their groove or face the fury.
• In November, Seasons are determined and Legends are made
• In December and January, Teams have a last hurrah before the season is over
• College football season is SO FAST and October is the best month.  We're into the season and every game counts, but we're still in the middle of the season with a lot of playing yet to come.

As for baseball -- until I met Chris, I pretty much only watched baseball in October (please don't tell my hubby I said that).  Now, I watch throughout the summer because Chris follows the Cardinals with the same passion with which I follow the Wolverines (we're so meant to be together!) but in October, things REALLY get exciting.  Even before I met Chris,  I really would watch baseball in October -- its PLAY-OFF season!

The best of the best of baseball come together for play-off games throughout the country topped off by the World Series.  I know I may not be writing to hard-core sports fans, but take my word on this, if you ONLY watch the top plays of Sports Center ONCE a year, watch some of the top plays in October.  These are the plays that hard-core fans remember FOREVER and talk about for years.

In the course of looking for a pictures of the St. Louis Cardinals, I found this blog post explaining "Ten Reasons Why the St. Louis Cardinals Should Win the 2011 World Series."  I agree with him.

I LOVE October!

I LOVE October!

October has been my favorite month for years and I am VERY VERY excited that it has arrived -- with five weekends, a change in the air, my first hunting expedition, Michigan Football in this element (5-0 so far this season) and the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wold Series Play-Offs.

I love October.

Here is a video Chris sent me a few days ago about a gun "we will need when we hunt in Africa"... I'll withhold my comments on the likelihood of that happening and instead just show you the video.

The animals in Africa are BIG, so a gun with a LOT of power is necessary.  The video is pretty funny.

Small Town Homecoming

This week, Chris and I got to experience an old-fashioned, small town high school homecoming.  The high schoolers must have had a half-day, because they were seen walking/driving all over town come early afternoon.

Meanwhile, the police force was monitoring mainstreet right in front of the middle school all afternoon to prepare for the homecoming parade.  All the middle schoolers filed out of school and onto the sidewalks around 2:30 to be on time for the 2:45 parade.

In addition to the high schoolers and middle schoolers, Rifle residents of all ages lined the sidewalks to support the small town event.  Here was the freshman class float -- they had the 60's I think.

When I was in high school, homecoming was definitely a big deal -- but it definitely wasn't a community event.  Our homecoming "parade" occurred during half-time of our football game as pathetically decorated "floats" circled the running track.  All in all, most of the students and football fans preferred our marching band's halftime show to the homecoming parade... we had a REALLY good marching band -- state champions 3 of my 4 years in high school.

 Football team's float

If I had grown up attending a homecoming parade like the one I saw today every year, I might have wanted to be a cheerleader -- they looked pretty cool (especially if you're a little girl).

I think the Cheerleaders had the coolest vehicle...

The only thing I have against the entire event is that no one stood in respect as the flag passed.  I commented on it to Chris and he informed me that all the kids needed to stay seated -- it was how they kept control of the whole thing.

I was surprised at how ingrained it was to me to stand with my hand over my heart as the flag passed.  I haven't attended a parade in over a decade, and I haven't stood beside my parents at a parade in nearly two decades and yet, when I saw the flag on its way down the street, it was completely instinctual for me to stand and put my hand over my heart... and become pretty bothered that no one else was showing the same respect.

 

This weekend will be a good one -- after two weekends of traveling, we are staying close to home while Chris writes a paper (although I have vision appointments for students in Grand Junction tomorrow).  The Michigan v. Minnesota game is tomorrow and I'm trying to get some pictures hung in our home (slowly but surely).  I've also been trying new recipes in the kitchen... this week included my first pot roast, homemade pizza dough and homemade pizza, and mint chocolate-chip cookies.  I'm definitely having altitude issues with the baking...

 

I'm trying to keep a grateful heart about life this weekend because I am missing my five-year college reunion this weekend in Lexington, Virginia.  I really wanted to get back to my Alma mater, Washington and Lee University, this fall for the celebration and I wanted to take Chris with me to introduce him to the magic and honor that is W&L.  He also could have met some good friends in town for the reunion, and some who still live in the area.  He also could have experienced a window into my years there... there are only a few places on earth where the campus is smaller than some shopping malls and where all students wear coat and tie (or female equivalent) for tailgating and football games.  Not this weekend, but we trust God will allow us to visit eventually.

This is how Chris fell asleep last night:

He held my hand for nearly an hour while he was sleeping before I needed to take my hand away.  I love being his wife!