2009 has already been an incredible year. I write this as I still recover from surgery this past month. Recovery has been difficult for me. I am not a “do nothing” kind of lady. On August 8th, I wrote on my facebook status that I was ready to turn my "doing dials up a notch". Too much T.V., huh? I guess I did not know how hard this would be going into this, because it has not been fun. I thought I would try to watch one movie every day, but that did not appeal to me much at all. I read a couple of books and enjoyed that thoroughly. Otherwise, I have sat using Nathan’s laptop staying updated on the world and my friends. I enjoyed that quite a bit, but that also contributed to the thought of not being able to do anything but pray for my friends that needed something. I made some phone calls. A couple friends came over, but there was still more hours in the day to feel useless in.
I have gone back to work and I have been able to do some things. That has helped, but I come home and sit so I make sure I feel like going back the next day. Friends that have had this done tell me that in a few more weeks I will be so glad I did this and that it is behind me. I pray that is true. I am ready for it to be in the past now. I thought I would have awesome times in the Word of God and I have, but I only felt like doing that for some of the time during my days. Don’t get me wrong, the LORD and I had some quality time some days. He has been right here with me the whole time, but maybe you understand I wanted so much more from this time. I am sure I can blame some of it on the lack of energy, but I did not feel like sleeping and I still had to get up quite a bit with all the water the doctor had me drinking.
Those have been my feelings and as I read back over them it sounds so depressing. Maybe that is what is referred to as “after surgery blahs”. But I am so ready to get past that and I am going to start now.
Nathan has been back at work for 2 weeks already. Maybe that contributed to my “blahs” as well. I am definitely not ready for our summer to be over. There was so much more I wanted to do. WHOOPS, Sorry! I am over that right. Nathan enjoys his new position. He can hardly wait for Monday to get here. The students are excited. I think they have caught that from their incredible teachers and staff at New Tech High School. It will soon have a new name, so be listening for that soon.
We had an awesome trip to Michigan in June. We left here on Derek’s Birthday after waking him up to breakfast in bed and planning a surprise at choir practice that evening. Jonathan Krake and fellow choir members pulled that off for us. David disliked us leaving on Wednesday but he got over it. He does not like to miss church ever. We were given free tickets to the Ranger Game, the one that got rained out on June 10th. We are glad David is a forgiving young man. Since David did not really want to go anyway. He and I went to Poncho’s right around the corner from our cheap hotel. It started raining before we got finished eating our not so good Mexican food. It was a good thing we parked right by the door, but we still got more wet than Daniel and Nathan did at the rained out game. I felt like a drenched wet dog when we got in the Tahoe. David took a shower to warm up and feel better when we got back to the hotel. I put dry clothes on. Wrapped up to get warm and waited for Nathan to call and say to come get them. Daniel and Nathan had fun exploring the Texas Ranger stadium. They had seen it all before, but not in a leisurely way. They were not allowed to go to their seats because the storm was pretty severe. It wreaked havoc over the surrounding area as it moved through the DFW area. Anyway, they hung out until the game was called off for the night.
The next morning we took out pretty early heading for Memphis, Tennessee. We visited my maid of honors parents in Eads, Cheryl and Mike Avent. They had a beautiful home in the country outside of Memphis. There are tons of pictures on my profile page on Facebook. If you are not my friend on Facebook then I would encourage you to join whether you want to be my friend or not. You are probably already my friend if you are taking the time to read this already long blog entry though. We stayed with the Avents two nights. I was so blessed by Daniel and David coming to me and saying, “These people are just like our grandparents; they are treating us just like we are their own grandkids.” In other words they loved my best friend’s parents and enjoyed being in their home. It was a joy to see Karen, my best friends little sister, as well.
Cheryl let Nathan and I sleep in her very comfortable bed. She did not have to do that. She insisted. Cheryl went sightseeing with us all day, our third day out of Abilene. We went and checked out Elvis Presley’s Mansion. There was so much to see and it was hot after we actually saw his little house. The boys thought the house was very tacky and cruised through it very quickly. They are old enough that they will remember it though. With Michael Jackson’s death just days after we got home, June 25, 2009. They probably have a greater understanding of what significance will be done to make Michael Jackson’s memory last for years to come.
The following day we drove to Louisville, Kentucky. We did spend some time in Nashville. Drove around downtown and wound up right in the middle of the CMA festival. There were tons of people lining the river listening to someone sing. I asked one of the parking attendants at the stadium who was singing, but none of us recognized the name they told us. The boys thought the artist sounded like Reba. My comment to them was that everyone sounds like Reba from this distance. And Nathan added that Reba McIntire would most definitely not be out there in the heat of the day on a barge singing. She very well may be the musical artist singing at prime time this evening but not right now. We drove past the Grand Old Opry. When we got to Louisville, we went to the Louisville Slugger Museum and baseball bat factory. They were even making bats that afternoon. I guess we went at a “high demand” time because they don’t always do that on Saturdays. We even made it in time for a tour. Our time with our friends there was very enjoyable even though it was fast. We kept them up way too late. Thanks for staying up with us Edward and Jennifer Heinze. Braden and Kara Beth stayed up way past the bedtimes as well that night.
The following day we drove to Grand Rapids and dropped Nathan off for his week of training for his new position. After we dropped him off, we drove to Three Rivers, MI and spent the week with our dear friends, Rick, Cheryl, and Brooke Salas. The boys and I relaxed for a couple of days then we went back to Indiana and checked out Notre Dame, the College Football Hall of Fame, and a chocolate factory. Notre Dame was fun for David and me. Daniel was not that impressed. We did get to see “Touchdown Jesus”. Both the boys enjoyed the College Football Hall of Fame. It would be a little bit of a stretch to say I enjoyed it. I did enjoy seeing my boys enjoy themselves though. I did beat them at a game of football we played. It was a game of highlights from a game. The film clip would role and then stop just before the play ended and you had to predict what would happen. I just chose the same button the whole time. On the last one I chose my play and which direction the ball would go. I predicted correctly and beat both boys. I asked them to take a picture because my camera had broken before this trip, but they would not do it.
Our last stop was the South Bend Chocolate Factory. We were not impressed at all. The sample we got was an orange flavored dipped pretzel. It wasn’t even chocolate.
The next day we went to Shipshewana, an Amish community. I was so glad my friend Cheryl went with us. The boys would have given out long before I would have been ready to leave. It was like Fredericksburg, TX so many little shops to go in, so much to see. Cheryl and I went into an Amish grocery store and had so much fun. The boys sat outside and people watched. They did not complain once, but if it would have been just us. I don’t want to think about it.
The next morning the boys and I went back to Grand Rapids to pick up Nathan. We spent the morning at the zoo and ate at Subway. Then we all rode back to 3 Rivers so Nathan could spend some time with the Salas’s especially Rick. Rick was a gracious host all week. He grilled out for us. Cheryl had to work some. As we left Kentucky our “service engine soon” light came on. Nathan was not too concerned about it because we had had trouble with it turning off and on. I told him though that since the boys and I would be venturing out some without him I would like to get it checked. Rick took it to a place in 3 Rivers and found out all that we needed to do was take the gas cap off and put it back on. The light went off and we were good to go. Thanks Rick and Thank You Jesus for taking care of us.
The next morning we took off early for Chicago. We walked the pavement there from 10:00 a.m. till almost midnight. There is another video on my facebook profile with just Chicago pictures on it. Check it out. David is a wonderful photographer.
The next morning we drove to Rogers, AK. We spent the night with another exceptional family, Becky, Kent, Caitlynn, and Hannah Shaffer. We were excited to hear about an incredible ministry that this family is involved in. Check out www.savinggracenwa.org There is more information on the facebook group called Saving Grace out of Arkansas. Look for the icon with a lighthouse to find the group.
On Monday, June 22nd, we drove home via a stop at the national Oklahoma City bombing site, Earl's in Bricktown, and Nathan's two aunt's houses in Pumpkin Center, OK. We also made one more stop at my parents on the way into town to see how the Longhorns were doing in the College World series.
We had an incredible 9 state journey in 13 days. We put 3,465 miles on our vehicle.
Earlier in the year, Daniel and I had a wonderful time in Washington DC over spring break, David had a great time on a Youth Ski trip, and Derek spent the week in Mexico on a mission trip. All the boys went to camp this summer. David and Daniel went to New Mexico to Glorieta and Derek went to Taos, NM.
Now we are two days away from the beginning of David’s senior year and Daniel and Nathan’s first day at New Tech High School. We all plan on having a great end to our year.
We are looking forward to a couple of weddings and the birth of another nephew/cousin the day after Thanksgiving. Derek is in a wedding in Colorado on January 1st. Hopefully, we can spend part of our holiday in beautiful/cold Colorado.
