Oh, The Bliss!

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

I sang on the worship team this morning and the hymn, It Is Well With My Soul, was sung right before the sermon. I cannot count the number of times I have sung this hymn, yet the third verse ALWAYS give me goose bumps. And it makes me want to do a happy dance on the spot.

Praise God that my WHOLE sin is nailed to the cross! I bear it no more! I pray that knowledge will always thrill me and cause me to praise my Heavenly Father.

Summer!

Summertime ahhhh!

Okay, so I don't really hang out in water with a hat full of flowers, but I love the relaxing part of summer. And I am a huge fan of Mary Engelbreit, who is the artist of the above picture.

We are having a good summer. We've managed to have a few of Megan's friends stay for a meal when they have just been hanging out with her. That's been fun. We hope to have more.

We get to go see Caleb soon. I do miss having him home, but he is having a great time in Colorado. He's working in the kitchen at Bear Trap Ranch and has even been in charge of the kitchen a few times. He says the summer has been really good spiritually. That's what we have prayed for.

Trivia

I have read these question/answer things on other peoples blogs and in emails. I find them interesting. So get ready to find out some random things about me. Exciting. I know.


What time did you get up this morning? 9:30ish. It feels sooo good to not have to wake up to an alarm!

Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds. They go with everything.

Last movie you saw in the theater? Get Smart.

What is your favorite TV show? The Office

What did you eat for breakfast? Rhubarb Crisp. Yum!

What is your middle name? Lorraine (don't really like it).

What food do you dislike? Well, the obvious -- Liver. I think I only know two people who actually like it -- my friend, Cheryl and my brother-in-law, Mark. I'm also not a huge fan of pepperoni, which makes ordering pizza with my family interesting since they all really like it.

What is your favorite CD at the moment? Travis Cottrell The Lamb Has Overcome

What kind of car do you drive? A pretty green mid-size SUV.

Favorite sandwich? I almost always get the same sandwich at the place where my daughter works. Grilled Honey Ham. It is on seven-grain bread with ham, provolone cheese and a honey mustard sauce, grilled. Yum! Or there is the Southwest Turkey. Sourdough bread, turkey, provolone cheese and guacamole, grilled. Yum!

What characteristics do you despise? Arrogance or know-it-all. Kind of the same thing.

Favorite item of clothing? Pajamas. I'm always on the hunt for the perfect pair of cute, comfortable pajamas.

If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? New Zealand or Italy.

What color is your bathroom? Green.

Where would you retire? Possibly Colorado or nearish to my kids and grandkids. We'll see.

Most memorable birthday? My 30th and my 40th. On my 30th my husband took me to see the Harlem Globetrotters. I had always wanted to see them since I was a kid. On my 40th he took me to see a circus (think Cirque de Soleil). It was in Singapore. I also did something to celebrate my 40th birthday 5 or 6 days in a row. That was fun!

Favorite sport to watch? Kansas City Royals baseball. I really can't stand to watch many other sports. Football is the yuckiest.

When is your birthday? January 10

Are you a morning or a night person? Most definitely a night person. This makes my husband a very patient man since he is most definitely a morning person.

What is your shoe size? 8 wide. (ugh)

What did you want to be when you were little? I really don’t remember.

What are you today? Wife and mom.

What is your favorite candy? Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.

Your favorite flower? Yellow Rose. I carried them in our wedding.

What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? Next Thanksgiving. My husband's side of the family is having a family reunion and I LOVE them all. It will be so much fun.

What are you listening to right now? Gilmore Girls on TV with my daughter.

What was the last thing you ate? Rhubarb Crisp.

Do you wish on stars? No. But I like shooting stars! (When they are in season...)

If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red

What is your pet peeve? People who leaved their grocery carts in the middle of the aisle and wander off. And people who don't pull up at a stop sign so I can make a right turn.

Last person you spoke to on the phone? A friend from church who I had sent a text to.

Favorite soft drink? Diet Coke. Sadly, I have to drink Caffeine Free Diet Coke mostly because I like the caffeine, but my heart doesn't like it. :(

Favorite restaurant? I have a few...Panerra, Chili's, oh and most definitely Shakespeare's Pizza

Hair Color? Ummm... let's go with brown. Yep, brown, that's a good color. Do we count all the highlight colors?

Favorite day of the year? January 10. My birthday. I get to decide what to do and it usually involves my family and some dear friends. I have had so much fun celebrating it the last few years.

What was your favorite toy as a child? My stuffed panda bear with a band-aid over its missing eye. I took it to camp with me even when I was 14.

Summer or winter? Summer! Most favorite season is spring. There is so much renewed hope in spring.

Hugs or kisses? I like both!

Chocolate or vanilla? CHOCOLATE!

When was the last time you cried? Monday night when I told my husband how much I love him and how much I need him.

What is under your bed? Too much dust.

Who is the friend you’ve had the longest? Laura P.

What did you do last night? Had Bible study with great people from church.

Favorite smell? Freesia flowers. I have had real ones in my house and they make the house smell good. Also, fresh baked bread. Specifically my mom's Swedish Rye Bread. Yum!

What are you afraid of? Loosing my husband or my children. Driving on mountain roads. But I LOVE the mountains. Go figure.

How many keys on your key ring? 4

Favorite day of the week? Sundays and Friday nights!

How many states have you lived in? Four--Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Minnesota. And one foreign country, Singapore.

Do you make friends easily? Kinda.

How many words did spell check have to correct? Too many to count. I always make typos.

So, did anyone learn anything new about me?

Many waters cannot quench love;
rivers cannot wash it away.
If one were to give
all the wealth of his house for love,
it would be utterly scorned.
Song of Solomon 8:7

My Man

I'm less than a week late to wish my man a Happy Father's Day! But it's not like I haven't gushed and gushed about him.... Click here and then here. I love you sweetie and am proud of how great of a father you have been. Thanks for being my partner in parenting.

The righteous man leads a blameless life;
blessed are his children after him.

Proverbs 20:7

Yep! She Did It!

Only a week and a half late, but here are pictures from Megan's graduation.

The graduates going crazy with the silly string.

The happy graduate. The yellow cord is for all her hard work for the last four years. (Summa Cum Luade -- according to Wiktionary, it's Latin and means "with highest praise") (and yes.. she is home safe and sound from Costa Rica!! WooHoo!!)

Maybe I Will Get Used To This...

When I first woke up last week with no one else in the house, I thought it was very strange. But this morning I'm thinking this could be a good thing.

Sleeping peacefully until 10 or so? Love it!

I'm sure eventually I'll get caught up on all the lost sleep from all those school mornings I got up early, and not sleep so late. But today I enjoyed it.

Now if I can just get rid of this headache I've had for 5 days now...

Below are some pictures of the colors of summer! It's been such beautiful weather lately.

I do miss Megan and can't wait for her to get home from her trip to Costa Rica. It's just comforting to know I can do this empty nest thing -- I'll be okay.

For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Psalm 57:10

Hate 'Em

I have a terrible headache right now that I haven't been able to shake all day. I just can't relax and go to sleep, so here I am at the computer. Ugh. I hate headaches.

Friday we are off to The Big City. I get to see the heart specialist again. I've been having problems with my feet and hands swelling and suspect it's the heart medication I'm on. Hopefully he'll have some answers for me.

The best part of the day will be seeing our dear friends who moved away a few weeks ago. So looking forward to catching up and seeing their new house!

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26

The Last Day Ever

I wonder if Megan will mind if I swipe another one or two of her pictures... Well, she won't know. She's out of the country!!

This great picture is of Megan and her friends on what they called "The Last Day Ever." This was the day after graduation and the day before their friend went back to Italy. So this was the last day they would all spend together.


Did you notice they all look a bit dusty? That would be from the flour fight they just had. Oh what fun!

Hmmm....

A few weeks ago Megan and I went to a baby shower for a couple of her co-workers. They are a FUN bunch of girls. I really enjoyed myself.

The shower was accompanied by a REAL shower outside complete with pea-size hail.

When we walked out to the car, we saw this chicken wandering around in the parking lot:
So, I was wondering if we should change the expression from:

"It's raining cats and dogs"

to

"It's raining chickens?"

2 Corinthians 12:9

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! [Amplified Bible]

Swiftly Fly the Years

It has been a great honor and privilege.

Whew!

After two straight days of doing laundry, I finally have a moment to post!

Megan's Open House was a success!! The first pictures are of the mountains of buns and cupcakes we started out with! Thanks Mom and Dad for helping me frost the cupcakes!


The garage all decked out:
See how it was all nice and sunny? Well, a few minutes later it looked like this:

We had those tables in and out a couple of times. But by the time the party started, the weather cleared up. It was a beautiful night.

People enjoying the party: (Caleb and Amanda were here!)
Rumor has it this little one had 4-5 cupcakes! She really enjoyed them, huh? I bet she was responsible for some of the fingerprints on the sliding glass doors...
At one point in the evening when there were LOTS of people here, I put my arm around Megan and asked, "Do you feel loved?" She nodded her head "yes" with a big smile on her face.

Thanks to Dan and Cheryl for helping so much with keeping the food rolling during the party! Couldn't have done it without you!