Over Flowing Blessings

The past week for me has been a bit of an emotional disaster: frustration with myself, with our situation, angry that I don't FEEL God's intervention and direction, feeling stuck, feeling like nothing will ever change, wondering how this life can be of any use to anyone. Although I KNOW His faithfulness to be true. I KNOW He has kept and provided for us, I KNOW he loves me, I KNOW He that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can conceive what God has prepared for those He loves (1 Cor. 2:9). I just FEEL in so many ways that I'm tired of searching, pursuing, seeking with no apparent "return", and have given up on doing that. I want it to just drop down on me. I want to be pursued, for us to just SEE what He has in store for the next page of our life. I want to know that the pursuit is worth it,
But all this being said, I know that nothing will change until my attitude does. If I am not faithful when it's hard, if I am not seeking Him every day, then my selfishness will take over and begin to be the first attitude of my heart rather than a surrendered life. Sometimes it's just hard to make it all fit together. I refuse to go through life not asking the difficult questions and just putting a fake smile on my face and moving forward. Sometimes, it just seems that God is silent and He is testing our faithfulness to Him.
Yesterday I heard something from Beth Moore that will stick with me today, "Don't pursue your calling (or place in life), pursue Him, and you will be on a collision course with your calling." It's hard to do that when there are big decisions facing you and life could turn in different directions, but with another redirect in my mind, I will carry on.

With the latest disasters happening in Haiti, it is so easy to count our blessings!

63. a roof over our heads
64. food in the fridge
65. fresh water!!! REALLY!!
66. choice- although that sometimes is a difficulty in itself
67. happy, smart, healthy children who will still sit at the table and read the Bible together and interrupt a dozen times with questions like, " What does that word predestination mean?" (oh my dear girl, there are novels written on that one), and "What is redemption?" (forgiveness of sin is so much bigger than a coupon for a free pizza). "Was Saul still King even though David had been annointed?", "How come I can't have sheep?"
68. lots of January work for me - how many pairs of disposable gloves did I use last week that someone would die for today in Haiti?
69. knowing where our family is and that they are safe
70. being able to plan ahead further than finding today's dinner
71. a loving husband
72. free pizza
73. a much calmer dog these days, he's turning 3 soon and leaving the crazy teen years behind
74. Godly, pursuing women that I meet with on Monday's
75. spending Mom's birthday money for shoes on new shoes for me :) Thanks Mom
76. health
77. hearing the news of people praising God in the rubble
78. chai tea
79. hospitals that function
80. knowing freedom!

It's Kind of Brown out

... new color scheme.... the other one actually said Merry Christmas even though I really still liked it.. just goes to show you how often I get bored and need to change something

Lois Lane

... and I'm not talking Superman's girl.
KD and I had a free day together after a busy work week for me. One night was til after midnight, we nurses don't like when people get close to stopping breathing. Shift change doesn't seem to matter when someone's life is at risk. I'm sure that's how the rescue workers are feeling in Haiti today. I'll pray for strength for a lot of long work days for them!

Anyways, we decided to meander downtown for a walk along the lake. En route we were stopped by the sign for the "Lois Lane" shop we have wanted to see. It recently moved into a great new location. Kevin has been in before it moved and took this photo. I didn't see any heads today.


Everything is retro or reclaimed and interesting, a must see on your next visit to town (Tara). It is a big barn filled with antiques and neat stuff. The young, hip guy with bed head working there told us if we wanted to see the chairs upstairs, he would let us up, as he made a motion of opening an attic door with his arm. We took that invitation gladly, with Kevin's love of chairs, and climbed the attic stairs through the ceiling into the loft filled, literally, to the rafters with chairs, every kind of chair. KD left his camera in the van, so no head shots today. Lois herself was there and told us she could make any of the furniture red that we wanted, because she says, everyone needs red! I was already awe-ing over a cherry red chair by the door.
A fun way to spend a morning!!

The Perfect Day

I have this friend named Janet. Everyone loves Janet, she is the sweetest thing you'll ever meet. I'm so blessed she's in my everyday life. She's this interesting combination of the most laid back person you'll ever meet (until you meet her sister-in law), calm and consistent, mixed with totally fun and spontaneous. Janet loves to ski, and good thing she has 4 boys and a husband who like to ski too. She drags me up to the ski hill at least once a year. OK, it's not really dragging... (I just have to say that so everyone else in this house isn't so jealous)... although today I just wasn't sure if I could do it (sore knees). I'm glad she proved me wrong!! It really was the perfect day! The trees really did look like this even though I didn't actually take this photo, I stole it right off the internet. When we arrived it was like the sun was just coming up over the eastern hill, making the sky various shades of pinks and golds, and clearing into the most brilliant shades of blues throughout the day. It's a day like today that makes you feel alive and happy... and really stiff! Oh, that quad burn is so good! Thanks God for painting the trees and sky just for us today!

Gratitude in the Post Christmas Blues

It seems Monday's aren't always the easiest days to be thankful... maybe that is why it's the best day to do this... I hope you're getting back to normal too.... I'm thankful for...

41. family Christmas memories
42. big, juicy snow flakes falling lightly all day making me slow down and enjoy
43. getting organized ~ new rubbermaid bins! Yes, I fell prey to the predictable January sales.
44. children that woke up on time for the first day back to school
45. whoopie pies
46. a husband who stood in the long return line at Costco today
47. a strong, healthy, beautiful daughter who can hit a volleyball like nothing (practice started last night)
48. putting off organizing my month for another day since I couldn't find a calendar today that wasn't Hannah Montana, Jonas brothers, hot cars, or French impressionist paintings! I'm trying to be thankful about it, because I really like to have it sorted out! I'm kind of particular about my calendar, the U of A engineering calendar just won't suffice.
49. needle free carpets and clean sheets
50. a new niece or nephew due in 7 1/2 months!
51. snow tires
52. a few late Christmas letters arriving in the mail
53. boys who sleep in their beds after nights of sleeping with the dog in the fort that used every spare blanket in the house. Ahhh.. boyhood memories... and so happy to have it all put away too.
54. all functioning appliances and vehicles
55. attempting to anticipate more joy in 2010
56. more motivation today than I've had over the holidays :)
57. a really mellow, obedient dog since we came home, he must think he was punished by being sent to the Spotted Spa kennel for a week
58. fuschia Christmas cactus blooms
59. hearing about a friend's daughter who had heart surgery that went well!
60. happy kids coming home from school to rush out to play in snow!
61. knowing that where I am is not where I want to be, and looking to change it... but thankful for the experience of it to know the difference
62. a new globe, it's a great gift, thanks Mom

Ahh... that feels better!

Christmas Memories 2009

I think it's pretty fun to see what different families do when they are together at family events. I've been at different homes to experience some of this, but you get sort of used to what your family is up to. Some people's families involve a lot of TV, or sports, or board games or eating and drinking. We Drews do those things too, but are a bit of a strange sort as well... here's a few fun candid moments from the holidays...

~have a great fondue dinner

(Kevin said I have to post this one- I'm eating cauliflower though, so healthy)

~and then pull out Papa's old med. school microscope and look at stuff: hairs, blood, boogers, onion skins, and the already prepared slides that came with it. Onlookers generally scratch their ears while this is happening.

~try out the new Christmas curlers between dinner and dessert

~he's just too cute to pass up
~sport some serious bed head!
~try out the new Magic Bullet. I actually took this photo to show how short Gramma is getting.

~make banana splits, I do think this should become a new Christmas Eve tradition~walk on Uncle Paul's back
~who knows, but I am so admiring!
~get your Auntie looking cool!
~Attempt a photo of the grandparents with the grandkids, 3 not so cooperative, and this is the best one!

~being 15 makes a lot of these things a little boring :)

But Martha would be proud of Rose's table setting!

2010

We had no big plans for New Year's this year, and really we're pretty darn boring when it comes down to it :) Really I just hadn't taken the time to plan anything for us to do, so threw together a few things and thankfully had a "theme party package" just waiting to be used. We decided to go sledding with not quite enough snow, so it didn't last long, then have some late night appetizers, while we watched a movie together.


But, a light shone into our boring New Year's plans and we were privy to a miracle of life!! A friend called to say their puppies were being born, so we headed out at 10 pm to see! 6 had been born already - 5 boys and 1 girl, just minutes to hours old.

Who is this cute when they are in labor??


What a sweet Mama, she let us hold them and pet and snuggle them. She's had 30+ puppies before. Moms seem to let more things go with the younger siblings I hear.

Such a neat thing none of us had seen before! We headed home with more light in our eyes and more squeals of delight!! 2 more boys were born that night, 10 minutes after we left and 4 hours later! That poor sister~ 7 brothers!