Dauphin Island 2012

The beach vacation we took last month was such a treat for our land-locked family! I hope I don't bore you to tears with all of our photos!

We chose Dauphin Island because it's where John's brother and his family vacation every summer. They told us that it was very small and there wasn't lots to do there--mainly just the beach and the condo pool--and that sounded great to us because all we really wanted to do was sit in the sun and read a book and stare at the ocean! It was also great that Dauphin Island is on the western side of the Alabama coast because we drove from Colorado and that made our destination just a wee bit shorter. :)

I absolutely loved how uncrowded Dauphin Island was. We took the ferry across Mobile Bay one day and drove into Gulf Shores. The difference between our beach and Gulf Shores was drastic. It made our beach feel almost like a private one! It was really really nice!

John and I didn't watch any weather news before we headed south so we were a little surprised to hear about Tropical Storm Debby. I feel like we really dodged a bullet when she trekked toward Florida. The first day we were there we had tropical storm warnings and the riptide was very strong, but the warnings were lifted by the next day and we had beautiful sunshine and not one drop of rain the entire week! 

This photo was taken on the afternoon of our arrival when we were unsure of the path the tropical storm would take. See how choppy those waves are? And how brown that water looks? That was Debby's doing. 

 This is not a great picture but it was the only one I took of the kids catching sand crabs...hilarious!

We had snow cones every single day...I love snow cones!

 Sarah is holding one of the many hermit crabs she found in this picture. We also found lots of sand dollars--it was crazy--one day they just kept washing up on the beach. One afternoon there were some guys next to us on the beach who had waded into the water chest deep and were fishing. They kept catching catfish (weird) but one of them caught a baby shark and called us over to see it. COOL. Except not. Especially when they were fishing right next to where we were playing in the water! Of course that was the day I opted to leave my phone (and the only camera I took) in the condo so as not to be distracted by all the wildfire news back home, so sadly I have no picture of that baby shark.

 We vacationed with John's family--his brother's family and his parents. I think Papa had as much fun in the water as the kids did!

 I got up and walked almost every morning by myself on the beach. I sure don't have views like this at home! I missed my walking partners though!

 We did NOT get a picture of the five of us on the night we dressed for photos because the sun was setting too quickly. We did get a good one of all the grandkids with their grandparents though! I just don't have it on my phone to share.

 We went to LuLu's for lunch on the day we went to Gulf Shores--FUN place! These are the only pics I took that day. I was a wee bit distracted by the fire situation at home as this was the day we got the pre-evacuation notice for our neighborhood.

 Abbey and John made this sand sculpture one day...

 And John's brother (the artist) made this one. Yeah, he won.

 Breakfast at The Light House Bakery--oh my word--that was some good stuff!

 By the way, I bought a Land's End swimsuit at Sears and I L-O-V-E it!

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention all the seafood we ate while there--oysters, shrimp, all-you-can-eat crablegs, gumbo (oh my word!), crab bisque (a-mazing!), scallops, mahi mahi, etc, etc. One night we got NINE pounds of fresh shrimp and steamed it. The guy we bought it from said it had been caught only two hours prior. We ate until we could eat no more. It was delicious. I think I could eat seafood every single day.

Totally stole my brother-in-law's photo of the aftermath of his crab-leg fest. 

We had a wonderful, relaxing week and I am soooooo thankful for the time spent with our family! It was a beautiful, beautiful week!

Sunday Seven

1. Thank you so much for your prayers and concern during the recent Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs. For non-local friends: the fire is almost 100% contained (I think they're expecting full containment today) and we've actually been getting some rain. Rain at this point is both good and bad--good because we need the moisture but bad because the terrain that was burned cannot absorb it and will likely result in flash flooding in those areas that have already experienced so much trauma.

The pre-evacuation notice for our neighborhood had been lifted by the time we arrived home from our vacation last Sunday. We spend the next day putting everything away that our friends and house-sitter packed up and moved out for us. Of course we came across dozens of things we would have grabbed had we been her to prepare for evacuation ourselves, but we were just so grateful for our friends and their willingness to jump in and take care of us in that way during our absence. I ran some errands on Friday and was finally able to see some of the burn scar. It was pretty hard to take it all in and pretty hard to process what happened. I feel somewhat disconnected from everything because we were away during the most intense week of the fire, but we are so grateful that of the many friends we have who live in the fire-ravaged area, NONE of their homes were lost. That is obviously great news for our friends, but my heart aches for the families who lost everything. I simply cannot imagine.

2. Will left for YoungLife camp last night. He's at Lost Canyon in Arizona this week and although we'll miss him (already do), the girls have lots of girly stuff planned, including Sarah's 14th birthday celebration. You might want to pray for the lone male in our house this week...

3. I have lots of photos from the beach that I want to post and I hope to do that this week. We had a such a GREAT time! I've always considered myself more of a mountain girl than a beach girl, but after this trip I'm open to changing that. Sand, sun, and surf? Yes, please! It was such a relaxing vacation. I hope we can do go again next summer.

4. I didn't take many pictures on the 4th of July but it was a little non-traditional for us this year. Our neighbors that have always hosted our 4th of July neighborhood pancake breakfast moved last summer, so my next-door-neighbor and I hosted a potluck breakfast instead and it turned out great! Our small town-parade that I love so much was cancelled for reasons relating to the wildfire. I think everyone was pretty bummed about that but my neighborhood rallied and hosted our own kid parade and street carnival and I must say it was AWESOME! Kids decorated their bikes/wagons and even built floats and paraded around the block a few times. Afterwards, kids went from yard to yard for different carnival-type games and activities, one of which included making thank-you cards for local firefighters! I've said it before but I need to say it again: I LOVE our neighborhood! Our local fireworks show was cancelled long before the fire broke out in our area and even though it was understandably the right thing to do, it was still hard to not end the day that way! However, we were thankful to see not one but TWO fireworks displays when we were driving through Dallas on our way back to Colorado the weekend before the 4th. We drove so close to one that I made John roll down the windows so I could smell the smoke from the fireworks. I love that smell! Even though things felt different than normal this year, it was still a very fun day!

5. I have to go to court tomorrow for the speeding ticket I got at the beginning of June. Yuck. I'm sure I'll have a hefty fine. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. After buying new tires for the van before our trip, and replacing a valve on our hot water heater this week, July is proving to be a spendy month. Blech. I'm thankful for provision and for a husband who works hard to take care of those necessary things and still take us on fun vacations and send our kids to camp!

6. Speaking of vacations, John and I are going to get away by ourselves for a few days next month and we're trying to decide where to go. We want to stay in Colorado and we'd like to go somewhere we haven't been before. I think we've narrowed it down to Telluride or Crested Butte. Anyone been to either place? Have opinions? Recommendations? Favorite places to eat? Hike? Please tell!

7. We're taking the girls to see Spiderman this afternoon. We're kinda movie-crazed these days! We took the kids the other day to see Brave, but I was pretty disappointed with it. Have y'all seen it? I loved the Pixar short film at the beginning of it, but I just didn't think the storyline was very good. Definitely not my favorite Pixar film. One night last week John and I trekked down to the Kimball to see Moonrise Kingdom. We LOVED it. It's one of those indie films that some will find weird, but that's kind of our speed and we both want to see it again.

I took this picture of the theater marquis that night... I think it sums up the feeling of our entire community! Again, thank you for all your prayers for my community.

Peace out, peeps. Hope you have a great week!

Safe, but heartbroken. Please pray for Colorado Springs.

Good morning, friends.

As you probably know by now, much of the area where we live is being threatened by a wildfire. My family is safe and sound on the Gulf Coast and we're keeping an eye on things from 1400 miles away.

The images we're seeing online are heart wrenching. Many, many friends have been evacuated from their homes and they are not out of danger yet.

Yesterday, we were alerted to a pre-evacuation notice for our neighborhood. At this point it is NOT mandatory but precautionary. If the fire progresses north of Colorado Springs (we live just north of the US Air Force Academy) then evacuation will become mandatory. Our house-sitter, along with the help of some friends and neighbors gathered up the things most valuable to us and moved them to a safe place. One of them even videoed the contents of our home. We are so blessed to have amazing friends looking out for us.

Despite all of the scary images and uncertainty of this fire, we are having a GREAT vacation. We're obviously a bit distracted by the fires back home but being here has it's perks. I just wish I could dump a fraction of the water we've spent our days staring at onto the parched soil of my beloved Colorado.

Please pray that the winds would die down and that those who are working SO hard to manage this beast of a fire could see some containment soon. We have lots of firefighter friends who are working the front lines on very little sleep and in some pretty extreme temperatures. Pray for supernatural strength for them. And pray for rain! We need it desperately.

Ho-hum...

It's just another summer Thursday around here but I have a few minutes to blog and nothing really exciting to blog about. Since I tend to be listy, how about a list?

1. Sarah gets home this afternoon from YoungLife camp! Yay! I've missed that girl. She was home for about 24 hours last weekend in between a church trip and camp so needless to say, we've all missed her. Abbey has had a harder time than I expected without Sarah around--those two are pretty close and it's very, very sweet.

2. The smoke from the wildfire in Fort Collins about 2.5 hours north of here has permeated the air outside. It's weird. It's super hazy and smells smoky and I'm hoping and praying that they can get that fire contained. So devastating. We need rain so desperately.

3. We ate dinner with some friends last night and she made the Barefoot Contessa's Chinese Chicken Salad. Oh my gosh, it was so good. I could have eaten the entire bowl, I think. I'm going to have to make it soon because John and I both loved it.

4. I have to go swimsuit shopping very soon. Is there anything more dreaded than swimsuit shopping? I have one suit that I like but I'd like to have another for the beach. Any suggestions on where to look? I don't mind spending money for a good suit, but I'd really like to keep it reasonable.

5. I got a speeding ticket a few weeks ago. I find it upsetting because I hardly ever speed, but on this particular day I was out shopping with Sarah and she was chatting my ear off and I didn't notice the posted speed signs in the construction zone (if you're local, it was Powers/Union--so be careful--I saw five others get ticketed that same day). I knew the normal speed limit (and was actually driving the same speed as everyone around me) but I got pulled over and ticketed. Ugh. I don't know what the fine is yet;  I have to go to court. And I actually have to go to the courthouse tomorrow because my court date is the day we leave for vacation and I have to appear in person to change it. It's such a pain in the butt and such a costly mistake. When I think about it, it makes me sick. John was super cool about it though and I love him even more for that.

6. Yesterday we pulled out our ice shaver and made sno cones! I was telling some friends about the recipe I use for homemade sno-cone syrup. Super easy and super yummy and super duper sugary!!

7. I'm obviously not being as careful with my sugar intake lately as I was last summer/fall. In fact, I came across this dessert yesterday that I can't wait to try. And I'm going to make this cobbler for dessert tonight. I use frozen mixed berries and it's really, really good!

8. Okay, that's all for now. I must get to work. We have a friend coming to dog/house-sit while we are on vacation and I feel the irrational need to leave my house in immaculate shape, so I'm on a mission to clean every nook and cranny. And just so you know, that is an impossible task to accomplish, but I'm determined to give it my best shot!

Peace out, peeps.

Catch-up-palooza

I've been a terrible blogger lately. May was so incredibly crazy around here. The kids got out of school before Memorial day and I feel like I'm finally catching my breath and settling into my summer pace. And it's g-o-o-d.

It would take forever and a day to fill you in on all the happenings around here but I'll hit the highlights!

We enjoyed a having my mom here for a week-long visit in early May. One day while the kids were in school, we rode the cog train up Pikes Peak. I'd never done that before and it was really cool!

In case you were wondering, it was c-c-cold at the top! Awesome, but cold. 

Part of the reason my mom chose early May for a visit was because Sarah was confirmed at our church and we wanted her to be here for Sarah's special day. We were really proud of Sarah and this faith-step. One part of the confirmation process for her was writing her faith statement, outlining her beliefs about things such as the Trinity, grace and forgiveness, scripture, prayer, the body of Christ, communion, baptism, etc. I'm continually amazed at kid's ability to grasp big concepts. I guess I shouldn't be, but I am. She took a trip last week to South Dakota with our pastors + all of the kids in her confirmation class and they further explored some of their confirmation promises. She had a GREAT time.

I love this picture! I have lots more but they're on John's computer--which is with him at work.

May was a big month for Sarah. She also finished middle school and had her 8th grade continuation ceremony. Can't believe I'll have TWO kids in high school this fall. 

Other than that, May was filled with lots and lots of year-end activities and lots of work craziness for me with two huge back-to-back fundraising events. Yikes! I was so run-down that it's not surprising I got really sick the last week of school. Thankfully, I survived and still managed to pull off a simple "Welcome to Summer" neighborhood party after the last day of school. Thank you, Pinterest. 

Movin' on to June...

I had so much fun with my neighbors last year when they had their annual garage sale that I decided to see what I could scrounge up to sell. When I say scrounge, I mean scrounge because we'd donated a ton of stuff to the Young Life garage sale a few weeks prior. I didn't make a ton of money (shocker!) but I did have a fun time hanging out with my neighbors.

I've also been hiking a LOT this month which makes me crazy-happy! Here are a few pics from recent hikes.

The pics above were from Stanley Canyon on the USAFA property. The pics below were from Roxborough State Park. If you're local and you've never been to Roxborough State Park, then you absolutely MUST go. It is so beautiful and is like a hidden treasure tucked away just south of Denver. Honestly, it was stunning!

Sarah is at YoungLife camp this week and we're all really missing her. I don't know what I was thinking when I agreed to back-to-back trips for her! We're leaving next week for vacation--to the BEACH--and we're all very excited. We've never taken a beach vacation as a family and even though I consider myself more of a mountain girl, I'm really looking forward to parking myself in a sunny spot and staring at the ocean. I'm counting on it being pure relaxation!

That's all I've got for today. I'm going to try to get my blog groove back this month!

Pigs must be flying!

If you should happen to look up and see a flying pig, it's probably because I (finally) gave in and joined Pinterest. Wow. I had vowed more than once not to give in to the Pinterest craze but one night I found myself desperately trying to stay awake until midnight (to report for my after-prom volunteer shift) and Pinterest seemed like a logical way to kill a couple of hours. It's probably been a good thing that I've been too busy to spend much time searching and pinning. There are some seriously creative people out there with some amazing ideas and creations!

My weekend-o-sloth and other thoughts on self-care

Hello friends...it's been awhile.

Blogging has been on my to-do list for weeks now, but it's the first thing to get bumped when I feel overwhelmed and honestly, the pace of life has been pretty overwhelming lately. If you know me, you know I dislike being busy. I dislike it very much. Interestingly I've found that as the school year winds down, activity winds UP. It's nearly impossible to avoid busyness this time of year.

Like many of you, I've been going pretty much non-stop for the last several weeks. On top of that my mom was here visiting (more on that in another post) and I don't know about you but when I have company I feel like I have to be "on", even if it's someone I'm comfortable around like my mom. I was talking to John last Thursday afternoon and had a little epiphany about caring for myself. I've been missing my hikes with friends and some other things I love and I guess I was kind of whining about it all. John looked straight at me and said, "Mer, the only person who can care for you is YOU." I nodded emphatically and started making a plan to restore some of my joy and energy this week.

Thanks to a wet and cold forecast, the Young Life garage sale that we were supposed to help with over the weekend was postponed. I may or may not have cried tears of grateful relief when I learned of the decision. That postponement allowed me to experience the most delightful weekend of rest I've had in a looooong time. I dubbed it the weekend-o-sloth because I pretty much stayed in my pjs all weekend while doing a whole lot of nothing. I told John that all I wanted for Mother's Day was to veg on the couch. Not only did I get one day like that but I got two and it was amazing. I napped, read, watched television, and re-watched Downton Abbey with my girls. By Sunday afternoon I was feeling like myself again and to my great surprise, I wasn't completely wiped out and ready for bed by 8pm.

Rest. It does a weary body good.

I also cancelled a few activities for this week, dropped one recurring commitment that I just cannot keep any longer, and scheduled some time to hike. Being outside energizes me. I need and crave that time and like John said, if I don't make it happen it probably won't, especially during busy seasons of life. I got together with some friends today and have plans with two other dear friends later this week. Sure, there's still lots of activity and commitments but at least there's also some fun in the mix--some great things to look forward to! That's so important for my mental outlook.

The kids have school this week and next until summer begins (I think I can, I think I can!) and I am looking forward to a relaxing summer but until then, I'm reminded that during seasons of utter crazyness, I MUST take time to nurture my heart and to not feel guilty about it. It's a simple lesson with such great reward.

What about you? How do you care for your self? Have any other great thoughts on self-care that are too good to keep to yourself?

Five On Friday

1. I don't know about y'all but I eat the same thing for breakfast every single day. It used to be two slices of Ezekiel bread but since last May (when I quit eating sugar and wheat) it's been a brown rice cake smeared with almond butter. If I get really crazy, I'll have a couple of eggs. Anyway, I'm kicking myself because I let myself run out of almond butter earlier this week and haven't remembered to grab some when I've been out and about. I'm tired of eggs (after two days), so this morning I ate a bowl of cereal--and I'm not a fan of cold cereal. Mental note: get thyself to the store for almond butter today.

2. All of my kids have the day off from school today. I'm usually pretty OCD about transferring dates from the school calendar to our family calendar but for some reason I didn't have this particular day noted. Imagine my delight when I realized that our week would be short and our weekend would be long! Happy, happy, happy!

3. After five years of faithfully hauling all of our recycling to the recycling center, I finally signed up for curbside recycling. I am giddy. Seriously. I put it off for a long time because I really thought I shouldn't have to pay to do something good for the environment (more like hey, you should be paying ME), but mainly because I'm very loyal to our disposal company and didn't want to switch to different one just for the recycling service. Our disposal company finally began a recycling program and now all is right in the world. I am so happy I can just haul a receptacle to my curb every two weeks instead of sorting, loading, and making a special trip downtown to drop it off!

4. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I volunteered to help with after-prom this weekend. Check in time is 11:30pm. I think someone caught me in a weak moment. Not really. I happily said yes. Prom is only for juniors and seniors so Will isn't going but they were trying to recruit help from the parents of freshmen/sophomores. I'm kinda excited about it, just really dreading the lack of sleep. I'm normally in bed by 9pm each night. I see myself taking a super long nap on Sunday afternoon.

5. I'm just gonna be honest and tell you guys that I'm not doing okay these days. I'm dealing with some really messy relational stuff. It's not marriage, thankfully, because John is my strongest ally. It's pretty much sapped my energy and my joy for the last week or so and I'm trying to pray/discern what I need to do next. The sad part is that this path has been all too familiar to me for the last year--different characters but similar situations.  I'm feeling pretty beat up and it's all too easy to start believing certain things (lies) that the I believe Satan continually throws my way. If you're a praying person, I would covet your prayers for peace, wisdom, and discernment. Happy Friday, y'all.

Popping in with some random schtuff

I only have a few minutes before I have to wake Abbey up and get her off to school but wanted to pop in and say post something on this neglected blog.

It's Monday. Sometimes I like Mondays, sometimes I don't. I'm choosing to embrace this particular Monday and hoping that it brings with it fresh start for the week ahead.

Our weekend was really nice. It was a good mix of busy and restful which is how I like to roll. We woke up on Sunday to several inches of snow and it continued off and on throughout the day. It's a good thing we haven't packed away our boots and coats because we needed them yesterday! Back to flip-flops tomorrow though--just the way I like it! And by the way, most of the snow has already melted. What's left will be gone today or tomorrow.

Sarah's big news from the weekend is that her sweet daddy bought her tickets to a One Direction concert in Denver in July 2013. Twenty-thirteen. I sure hope she still likes One Direction when the concert finally rolls around. For now though, she's thrilled. She is slightly obsessed with One Direction at the moment. John texted me while I was at Costco on Saturday and told me I would have the pleasure of accompanying her next summer. Woohoo! (I think!)(The last concert I went to was sooooo loud and I ended up leaving early.)

Will had a track meet on Saturday and afterwards he worked on making food packets to be sent to Haiti. He is required to earn five community service hours each semester so he knocked out about half of them on Saturday at a non-profit center in Co Springs. I love that our district makes community service a requirement for students. I think it's very important to get kids thinking beyond themselves and to encourage them to be civic-minded.

Today is my designated domestic day. I have big plans to clean and organize, and work on a couple of small projects I've been putting off. I have high hopes for what I want to accomplish today, so I bid you farewell and hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Impromptu date night

It was a long, hard week around the Lifeat7000Feet casa and we were all grateful when Friday afternoon rolled around. I was thrilled when John told me not to worry about dinner--that we'd go out. We don't eat out a lot but if I had to pick a night when I most welcome the break from cooking, it's Friday.

When John got home from work and it came time to decide where to go, none of our children wanted to leave the house. That's probably because two of the three had already changed into their pjs. They definitely inherited our homebody genes. Eventually they decided they'd like food food from various places with drive-thru windows which is not what John or I had in mind at all, so I suggested we make a run for the border by way of the golden arches, drive back home and drop the sustenance off for the starving children in our home, and then he and I go and dine somewhere alone. Win-win! We've entered a season in which our children are old enough to be left at home alone when we need to sneak away for dinner or meetings or errands, and let me tell you it's a beautiful season!

We ended up at a local mexican place where we had uninterrupted conversation over chips and salsa and enchiladas. I love time alone with my husband and it was the perfect end to a really long and hard week. When the check came, we laughed so stinkin' hard because the type on the receipt was so small that NEITHER of us could read it. John was holding it about two feet away from his face and squinting and I was laughing so that I was crying...which made it even harder when he handed it to me to decipher. I'd left my bi-focals at home, dang-it, but I sure hope we read that amount right and left our server enough tip!

I decided last night that we are growing old. Old enough to have kids who can babysit themselves. Old enough for us to both need bi-focals. And old enough to come home from dinner and need a pre-bedtime nap.

Happy Saturday, y'all!

Happy Sigh of Relief

Remember when I went for my mammogram last week? Yeah, well, I got a call a couple of days later right as we were leaving for Denver that my doctor had reviewed the images and ordered additional views. Sigh. I reluctantly scheduled another mammogram and ultrasound and tried not to think about it too much. Impossible. I wasn't too worried until I realized that the request was for additional images on the right breast--the opposite one with the lump that I had biopsied last year. My appointment was this morning. I'm happy to report that after my tests today, the area of concern turned out to be a simple cyst. BIG HAPPY SIGH OF RELIEF. I'm sad to report that the radiologist, the ultrasound tech, and the mammography tech each told me to expect this kind of scrutiny each year. I guess I need to be thankful that they do a thorough job, even if it does cause me some mental angst.

Big exhale. 

Moving on.

Today was a rude awakening for all of us after a week of being "off the clock". Everyone got up on time this morning but I'm not sure anyone was cheerful about it, including me. It didn't help that temps were in the 70s/80s all last week and weekend and today is c-c-c-cold, dreary, and windy. I traded my shorts, tank top, and flip flops for jeans, my down vest, UGGs, and my winter coat! How rude of mother nature to jolt us out of our lovely spring pattern. It's soooooo dry here and we need moisture badly, but I sure wish that the weather system heading our way would bring rain instead of the frozen stuff. Wishful thinking I'm afraid.

Our spring break was wonderful. We went to the movies (I really liked Mirror Mirror), shopped, ate out, hiked, had a couple of sleepovers, grilled out several times, visited with friends, and John and I even went on a date one night. I loved having a week to do a whole lot of nothing. Traveling is nice, but it's not as restful as staying home in my book.

(Photos for the grandparents)

We picked up Abbey's new glasses last Friday. The sides are a fun pink-blue-purple pattern which is precisely why she chose them. John and I think she looks so grown up in them and Abbey thinks they make her look smart. She's pretty smart as it is so I don't know about that...

Oh, I most certainly DID make everyone hike with me last Friday and surprisingly they had a good time. I wanted to say "I told you so" but I zipped it instead. I've learned that it's best not to say that too often.

And yes, I have three children but one of them is a 15-year-old boy who does NOT like to have his picture taken. :)

This week is back to business with schedules and track meets and homework (loved our break from that) and carpool. Eight more weeks of school until summer break and I am definitely counting down! Spring break gave me a really bad case of summer fever. Hope everyone's week is off to a great start.