walking next to you...

today was just good. in every way it could have been, it was. i think everything i needed for today was provided and i am so grateful. this morning i woke up not too early like i normally do:) i woke up at a normal person's time on a day off... almost 8. is that normal wake up time for an off day?...lets just say it is:) i took a quick drive up to forest falls and came back down for the best play date. lindsey, jac, buggie, and sarah. the lincoln shrine and the redlands bowl. one stuffed snake and one little stuffed toy mouse. i love that jac picked out a stuffed snake from the toy store! they had these fun hats and they ran and played together and were so amazing and free and sweet and i just loved that. it was so nice sitting with lindsey, what a sweet spirit she is(lindsey, if you read this, you really are a gem). it was so nice chatting with sarah as well, she is just lovely and good and i am proud of her.

we decided to take a little walk to augie's. jac held my hand and we talked about swimming and so many things and jeez, she is brilliant. she and buggie are both the smartest little gals. when we got there we got goodies and kim was there and bri and austin and it was nice. i had a nice walk and chat with kim and went home. and when i got home i did something nice.

before that something nice, i took care of some business. bills and stuff like that. i wrote birthday cards...july is filled with birthdays! i made a couple important phone calls. once i did all of that, i did something nice. i grabbed a bag of gummy bears:D if you know me, you know i love gummy bears...but mostly only the red ones. i just don't enjoy the other flavors. so i sat and started picking out the red ones....ehehehehe. i did some online shopping, i made some fine itunes purchases, if i may say so myself, one being the weppies' new single, BE MY THRILL. another thing you should know about me, if you don't, is that i adore the weepies. they are so simple and sweet and i think they probably give hugs. they just seem so nice. watch and listen to these. the first is a watch and listen, the second is mostly a listen:

once i finished making good buys, and browsing for potentially good buys, i continued picking out the red gummies and i pulled out this project i am working on. it is a really nice little project that is turning out quite nicely. i won't say too much about it right now but maybe once i have finished it, i will post a photo:) maybe. i will say this, it is a bit minty in color which is really nice. eating gummies and making things, well, it is a nice combination....along with good music and a break for writing aura in french and romanian. i love her. she is such a nice big sister and i can't wait for a long awaited chat come wednesday. i played with penny a bit, she is a sweetheart. i was telling my mom today that i really needed a penny at this point in my life. she is good for me. i even cried a bit today when i left her this morning. i know how silly it sounds but sometimes we all need a little something and sometimes that something is a sweet pup and it is ok to be grateful. i liked today even if there were some rough spots here and there. it was just simple and full and nice. back to creating...

i have been really enjoying these lovelies lately. bed time. indeed. excited for a play date with lindsey, jac, buggie, and sarah. enjoy too. over and out.

i got home from camp yesterday and well, it was really wonderful. i went to summer camp with a bunch of junior high kids for a week and wow, wow, wow, it was such a neat experience. don't be shocked but i didn't take one photo...that is because everyone else took so many photos, linda included, so i figure if i wait just a while, i will get some and post them for you to enjoy:) it was such an amazing opportunity for me to be able to spend a week with junior high kids. if you know me you know i have a crazy weakness for junior high kiddos. i don't know what it is about them but they are amazing and free and no matter how complicated they think they are, from the outside looking in, they are simple folk and i like that:) they live in everyday, not rushing like crazy and not dwelling in the past and they are just fun. we ate together and tried to sleep in the same cabin together...it took a while for the sleep part but once they settled down, the sleep was super...and i am pretty sure they were grateful that they didn't stay up to crazy hours of the morning!

getting to be a part of their lives for a week was so lovely and it made me remember how much i love that age group and how much i miss working with them. we spent time in the word together and for anyone who thinks junior high students don't know much, i'm sorry but you may be wrong. they are the smartest girls and they were so there and they understood what was being spoken and they received it so freely. the theme for the camp was identity, self identity, how we identify others, what we are called to be in Christ. it was so good and i know it spoke to the students but it really spoke to me so loudly as i am in a transitional period of my own and identity is key. i know i was supposed to be there.

i got to see bec while i was up there because she is on the summer rec staff and she is so good there:) i am so proud of my little sis and how so not little she is. she has been growing into such a lovely young lady and it is so easy for me to talk about the billion ways that i am proud of her. it was good but it is good to be home.

today was just rough all around. i think the thing that brought about the blah feelings all around was a funeral i attended this afternoon. it was for a dear family friend. a friend who was at the airport with his family when my family moved here. a friend who loved the Lord, his family, and others deeply, honestly, and with great compassion. he was a really good man and today we celebrated him but it was not without great sadness and i think that is ok. i know he is with the Lord but it is always hard to lose someone.

i shopped for a bit after all was said and done. it really was a long day and shopping isn't on my radar very much these days so today i did. i don't regret it either:) when i got home, i decided to do myself a favor and relax. something i have not done in a while so i did. and it was SO good. i had dinner, played with the newest member of our family...a little pup named penelope(penny for short...i will post a photo soon:), pulled out a little project i am working on, grabbed a cactus cooler(my guilty pleasure, not often but tonight i did:), and run fat boy run. seriously, if you have not watched the movie, i recommend it. i bought it before i watched it and actually tonight was my first viewing and i loved it. silly enough, i even cried during parts, perhaps due to preexisting emotions. who knows... i watched, ate, crocheted, it was so good.

it felt like one of the longest day ever. i was grateful though but i am glad bed time is just minutes away:D

this made my day. jac made this for me a while ago and i found it tonight and smiled. thank you jac.. i will post camp photos soon and one of penny indeed!

noapte buna friends:)

over and out.

i was thinking of a good word to use to describe this past week for me and the only one that really seemed fitting was madness. this week has been filled with so much madness. there were moments where i experienced joy and peace and moments when my heart literally felt like it was going to collapse and in all honesty i am not sure that i have yet figured out where the balance is. or if there is even a balance.