August at a Glance

I can't believe it is December and I am posting about August! I am so far behind, but definitely want to make sure I document what went on with us {or at least some of the more memorable things} during that month. So, here goes...

On August 12th Heather put together a blood drive. She donates blood regularly and there is a huge shortage in Texas {and everywhere, I guess!}, so she decided to do something about it! It was a huge success. What a difference she made that day!

*****

 This picture was taken on August 24th. Near the end of the previous week Jason was offered and accepted a job in San Antonio. While we had been wanting to move closer to family, leaving our sweet friends and College Station family behind was one of the hardest decisions we have ever made.

Once the decision was made, things moved very quickly! We packed and moved that whole weekend. Granny even came on Saturday to take a load to storage in New Braunfels!

 As previously mentioned, we have the Best. Friends. Ever.

Ever!

They all came over on Sunday and helped as we spent 14+ hours repainting the house to get it ready to put on the market. The kids were there and were keeping things lively as usual! Here they had found a box of gloves {maybe in my nursing box?} and were putting on a show!

 Barbara- who might as well be a professional painter. She is amazing! She also claims that painting is therapeutic. Crazy? Maybe. I didn't question it...

 Jenny and Kristin

 Kristin

Kristin is wearing two different sets of clothing because we actually taped on Saturday and painted ALL day Sunday. Stacey was also a huge help! Troopers, I tell ya. Sweet precious friends.
*****

 One evening during the next week my home church friends took me to La Bodega for a farewell dinner! Bitter sweet times. :)

Love these ladies!

Coming soon...

September!

OMG!

I'm not sure who even says that anymore... but apparently I do. Especially after today. And after last night.

Last night I stayed up late working on my list of Random Acts of Kindness that I want to do for my thirtieth birthday. I looked on the internet at what others have done, I looked on pinterest, and then I just sat here thinking about my life and those whom I could impact directly.

Unfortunately I am in a bit of a hard spot. In College Station I have friends who act as family and I know beyond a shaddow of a doubt that they would jump in the car with me in a second to ride around and live out my crazy dreams of blessing people in sneaky ways.

Here in New Braunfels it isn't that easy. I don't know that many people here and the ones that I do know, well I'm not sure that I want to introduce them to my crazy just yet... :)

So, last night, after everyone was asleep {we are living with my parents, remember??}, I dreamt up this list, and I decided to bite the bullet. I decided that I am going to invite pretty much everyone I've met in New Braunfels over to my Mom's house to make Blessed 2 Bless bags. We made them two years ago as a family, and I really wanted to do it last year but then everything got a bit too crazy to actually organize it all.

So this year- we are going for it! I am gathering email addresses from my Mom and contacting people on face book. I am going to beg and plead with them ask them over for a nice evening of stuffing ziplocks full of stuff for people who need it all the while drinking yummy coffee and eating way too much sugar. Hey, could be worse!

Part of me is saying that I shouldn't do this. It would be so much easier to just add another "little" random act of kindess to the list and put this much bigger idea out of my mind.

But then I was on the way home and I saw a guy standing on the corner by McDonalds. He wasn't very old-- maybe early twenties. He was dirty and holding a sign that said "Broke. Traveling. Hungry." He was staring straight at the ground. I couldn't help but think of a story that my Mom told me the other day about her friend's son going missing about this time last year. It turns out that he was living under a bridge in San Antonio- just because he made a few bad decisions and got involved in the wrong crowd. And suddenly I wasn't just looking at another homeless guy; I was looking at my Mom's friends' son; I was looking at my son.

I rolled down my window and waved around some money, and he shyly walked over to me. It was only then that I saw the huge black eye he wore. He smiled a genuine smile and thanked me with such kindness in his eyes. Then he walked back over to where his bag was on the ground, folded up his sign, gathered his things, and started walking towards McDonalds. As the light turned green and I rolled slowly by him he turned around once more and gave me the smile of a lifetime.

All of that for $5. And sure, there was a small part of me saying that I shouldn't give him money, that he would probably just go blow it on alcohol or cigarettes. And you know what? He might. But, the fact of the matter is that what he decides to do with that money is not my issue. I felt a tugging on my heart to give it to him and I answered. That is all I need to know.

So my prayer is tonight that he is warm with a full belly, and that whatever has lead him to this place will release him so he can be all that he is meant to be.

On the way home I heard a song that rang so true to all of the thoughts repeating through my mind.

 

"We are the saints

we are the children

we've been redeemed

we've been forgiven

we are the sons and daughters of God."

 

Redeemed and forgiven. Not only me but the guy on the street corner. How amazing that we share in that grace.

Then I got home and told my parents that I almost brought a guy home for dinner and Bible study with my Dad's baseball team and checked one of my favorite blogs that I haven't checked in a LONG time. And guess what it was about??

Ok God, I get it. I hear you loud and clear!

I am diving in. I am making coffee and baking desserts. I am inviting people I have spoken to once. Crazy? Probably!

Blessed to Bless bags next Sunday...

Bad, bad, bad

So, apparently I am not good at keeping up with this blog. We have had a few things going on lately. Things like starting new jobs and moving to new places and meeting lots of new people. We've also been enjoying way too much amazing Mexican food and going to fairs in the rain and wearing out the road that my parents live on with once certain little tractor and trailer.

In all of this, while I have not been so good at writing, I have kept up with the reading of certain blogs. I love reading and feeling what these women are saying and connecting with them, even if it is only on some weird cosmic cyber level.

I have been following Sarah Bessey's blog for a while now, and I love, love, love what I read when I clicked on it today. She is raw and real and after watching one of her video blogs I can almost hear her thick Canadian accent each time I read her words. Good stuff.

So, I will keep on going with all of the chasing and nose wiping and digging into this all too short life, and I will savor words of women like Sarah who choose to share a little bit of their world.

Happy Wednesday!

The Frio

In July we spent four days at the Frio River with the Ruples. My mother-in-law has been camping at River Bend since she was a little girl, and she is the master camper. I was amazed at all of the equipment it took to camp, and at her efficiency in all of it. She had three meals a day planned for each day as well as drinks and snacks. She washed dishes, etc. We helped as much as we could, but she was pretty much amazing! We had a wonderful time and will definitely be going back again next summer!

 

Everyone else stayed in the camper and we also had another campsite where we hung out when we weren't in the water. I am not so much for roughing it, so we stayed in a kitchenette. It was perfect!

The fishing tank at the top of the hill...

Granny turned 60!

 Brothers

Decorating Granny's cake...

Sweet cousins!

 

This picture depicts their personalities perfectly. I said "Smile!" The girls posed and Bryson turned his back to me.  :(  Toot!

 Cade serenading us! The kids had a blast dancing the night away!

Jessica and Laynie

Bryson (I) caught the first fish of the trip! 

 

The serious fisherman...

Jason's Bass

 Watch out!!!

I french-braided Granny's and Maelynn's hair one day. She was so cute prancing around and posing. Sweet girl!

 A kayaker stopped for a break near where we were playing and let Bryson pose for a quick shot! He thought he was pretty hot stuff!

 Tubing...

 On the evening of Granny's birthday we headed over to Garner State Park for the dance. I used to go camping there with my aunt and uncle when I was younger and I have so many great memories of this place. It was so much fun to go back and see it ten years later!

At the pavilion waiting for the dance to start...

We swam

and relaxed

and slept

and ate

and celebrated

and turned 60!

and danced

and sunbathed

and tubed

and jumped off of big cliffs

and fished

and grilled

and got dirty

and cooked

and used nets to catch minnows

and skipped rocks

and enjoyed some great company.

It was a time of renewal and peace.

Bryson is still talking about the "riber."

We can't wait to do it all again next summer

{and every summer after that!}.



Team Caroline

We had a great turn out for our Team Caroline weekend. We had so many friends and family members that were able to travel into town for the weekend. It was overwhelming!

On Saturday night we had a come-and-go dinner at Koppe Bridge. One of my friends compared it to a wedding- I got food at 6pm but was so busy talking to people and walking around that I didn't eat until after 9pm! Our pediatrician and my OB came. Even Angel {my nurse from Texas Children's Hospital} came! It was an amazing experience.

After dinner we headed to get tattoos. I had been wanting to get something in memory of my sweet Caroline for a while, and with a little push from my sister-in-law I decided that this was the perfect time to do it! We stayed out way too late but made so many fun memories. I ended up with a white outline of a fat little bird on my left inner wrist. It is perfect and just what I wanted!

The next morning it was race day! We woke up at 4am to the bitter cold and headed to the hotel to pick up our family members. Talk about craziness!

I asked everyone to be there early (around 6:20am) to get a photo.

The first picture is of the people who made it in time for the picture. We ended up having eighty people join us! Some ran the 5k, and some walked it with me. A few of the really brave {or crazy?!?} ones ran the half marathon {including Mandy, Wendy, and Julie!!!}.

It was such a sweet, sweet time of remembrance and a beautiful way to honor baby Caroline. A group of my friends reached the finish line and actually turned around {without crossing it} to join back up with me so we could all finish it together. When I saw them coming back to get me {I was not too far out from major surgery and wasn't moving too quickly!}, I almost couldn't handle it. I truly have the most amazing friends.

With the tears flowing we neared the finish line which was lined with everyone who had already finished. They were all cheering. The announcer then said "Go Team Caroline!" on the loud speaker. I think we all lost it at that point!

Jason was waiting for me just on the other side.

I will never forget the feeling of crossing that finish line while literally being held up by all of those who had held me up in prayer and love over the course of the past four months.

I will never be able to express what that support meant to me and I will be forever grateful.

Here are some pictures from race day. Of course I took over 200 {good ones!} so these are a very select few of my favorites...

 

 Rounding the corner... almost at the finish line!

Go Team Caroline!

 

 

We set a goal of raising $2,500 for the Spina Bifida Association and ended up raising $5,375! We were completely blown away.

Thank you to everyone who donated and supported us in so many ways.

We are blessed beyond measure and continue to marvel in this amazing weekend of honoring our sweet girl.