Love: Week 6 Challenge

• I love coffee laced with chocolate.
• I love icee mochas - which are coffee laced with chocolate and blended with ice into perfection.
• I love chocolate.  Like an extra large cut of moist rich chocolate cake topped with fudgy, creamy milk chocolate frosting kind of chocolate.  Otherwise?  Meh.

Chocolate covered strawberry cake on the table Valentine's morning

• I love my husband.

My eyes are teary.  It had been a rough day.

• I love my children.  And my mom.
• I love my friends.  I am so blessed to have old and new friends.  There was a time when I stood in the back yard of our old house in tears because I felt so isolated and alone.  My husband put me to work digging something up in the yard because "Nothing beats sadness better than hard work," he said.  That year God brought me two friends from two mission trips that have been by my side through thick and thin since then.  And my two longest, dearest friends who remain so and can pick up right where we left off in spite of distance.  I tell my kids, you don't need lots of friends, you just need a few good friends.  I am lucky to have a few very good friends.

Me, my BRE, and Crazy Timi

Best Friends

• I love the front of our house.  I drive up and think what a lucky girl I am that God allowed us to have this house.  I like the inside, but I don't love it yet.  There is still a lot of work to be done on the inside and it paralyzes me in the magnitude and the choices and the opportunities and the what ifs, and I just do nothing.  That, and there's never enough time.  John is great at making lists every weekend and working on those projects to completion.  Like the linen closet in the basement.  I pulled some sheets from the bottom of a box last weekend when my brother came to visit and the box and the closet exploded on me.  Yes, a box we had packed two years ago and moved to this house and shoved in the bottom of a basement closet exploded.  A size XL packing box from Storage USA.  I couldn't even push my entire body weight against the door to shove it closed to hide the explosion.  That kind of a blowout.  My sweet guy tore the closet apart and built new shelves for me yesterday afternoon.  All I have to do is place the sheets and blankets on the new shelves as soon as I get a few minutes.  I love that man.  Once, I made a list of things that would help me begin to love the inside of this house.   It included updating the pantry and the laundry room.  Both are done.  I'm still a little wishy washy about the inside of the house, though.  Weird, I know.  But I do love it.  Just not all the way.  We lived in our old house 17 years and built it from the ground up aesthetically.  I think I'm sentimental about it.  A lot sentimental about it.  I do love this neighborhood, though.  I love that the kids have friends across the street, and they are either all here or all over there all the time.  Even the adults go visiting, often with their 6-packs.  When Jerry's garage door is up, we all know the bar is open.  It's a cul-de-sac and the littles down the street are coming out more and soon they will be one big pack of kids.  Sara is rarely without a playmate between her own siblings, the next door neighbors' granddaughters and CeCe across the street.  Luckiest girl on the planet.  I can't keep snacks stocked.  In the summer, it's ice cream bars.  These kids can eat.  I love it (even though I complain about the grocery bill).

Snow on Valentine's Day

• I don't love the back of our house nor the yard.  I really miss our old pool.  But I do love the land behind us.  Someday I fear it won't be there like it is today - it will be sold off into a subdivision with too many houses and not enough yard.  I would love to buy the tract right behind us when that time comes.  Or the whole thing.  We'll see.  In the meantime, I like the yard and I love watching the kids play there and there is plenty of space, so I really should love it.  It's OK.  :p

I love the view out my bedroom door,
that I have a bedroom door out to the back
and that to the left in this picture is a glowing fireplace.  In my bedroom.
And snow is falling.  Love.

• I love studying the Bible.  I love Bible studies that help me understand the intricacies and the stories and give application to life in this season.  We are in the middle of a good one right now called Rooted written by Tim Wesemann, who is a friend of ours.  We're in the final stretches, and it has been interesting how this Bible study has been there for me in the middle of some difficult moments of processing life these last few weeks.  God is good like that.  Very good.
• I love this cat that just climbed into my lap.  He may be my favorite of all time.  The dog I love but I kind of just "like" him because I hate it when he runs off.  Or gets skunked.  HE *loves* the neighbors' bird feedings.  He can be found there licking the ground at least twice a day.  They live four houses behind us.  Some day he won't come home.  I know for sure he will get skunked again, and that I hate.  I need to add peroxide to my grocery list.
• I love the pictures my brother brought down last weekend.  I love that he came and that bonds were re-established and there is good and there is bad and there is family.  No matter what.

Me and my brother.  His hair is crazy.
These are his bunnies.  They were all albino after the first litter.

• I love seasons.  I especially love snow.  And new flower blossoms.  And canon balls.  And dramatic foliage.  I kind of just love it all in its time.
• I love spanish.  I love that my husband is taking me to Spain for our anniversary because I once told him I'm not the girl who gets to go to Spain.  He told me I am.  Our community ed spanish class we are taking this semester is kicking my butt.  I love it.
• I love mornings when the house is quiet and the coffee is hot - or cold - and the day is ahead with opportunity and I haven't lost my patience or yelled at anyone yet.  Not even once.  I'm a great mom in the morning before everyone else wakes up.
  

Guess it's time to get everyone up.

October 7th

She is light and fun, sassy but so sweet, a dear and genuine friend.  When Pookie had her seventh open heart surgery last spring, it was she who texted at midnight to say, "I am headed to bed.  You were the last thought in my mind before sleep" and another day at 6AM to say, "Thinking of you, and praying for you right now."  Quiet love.  Constant but not overbearing.  I told her I wanted to be her when I grew up.  To be that kind of friend.

Today is her birthday.  I sent her a text while shopping.  I said, "Did you know there are no birthday cards that read:  Today sucks.  Happy Birthday anyway?"

She is 41 today.  She has cancer and starts 10 days of round-the-clock chemo tomorrow.  I love her and do not know how life would look without the fourth chamber of my Bazouki heart.

Please pray for her, for her three sweet babies.  For their strength.  And for their hearts.  Complete earthly healing Lord, God of Miracles.  That is all that is acceptable.

31 days of Tired and Worn

I'm tired, I'm worn, 
My heart is heavy 
From the work it takes to keep on breathing 
I’ve made mistakes
I’ve let my hope fail 
My soul feels crushed by the weight of this world 
And I know that you can give me rest 
So I cry out with all that I have left 
Read more at http://www.songlyrics.com/tenth-avenue-north/worn-lyrics/#ZMUcu6FecIoTsq6o.99

Like a tired pair of shoes, I sit at the computer tonight, determined to be renewed.  Today was a remarkable day of new hearts for a 19 year-old beauty queen, fear of leukemia in a Bazouki friend, and an overriding sense that God loves.  Even in our tired, worn-out days.  

Thunder cracks against the night sky as I sit and love Him in return.  We don't deserve it.  I don't "get it."  But He reigns.  He wins.  And in that alone is any hope I have in this screwed up  world.

Thank you, Lord, for a new heart for Angela.  Though my own heart breaks for the family who made the decision to save another in the midst of their loss, God reigns.  He wins.  May Angela live the life He dreams for her!

I pray for my Bazouki Nation.  Rally the Troops.  He reigns.  He wins.

Good night, dear friends.  Supernatural Rest for all.

Friends Since Seventh Grade

When I was little, my mom and I lived in a farming/college town in northern Missouri.  My mom was a real estate agent there.  We lived in a big two story house on a busy thorough-fare through town.  We had plum trees in our backyard and wild raspberries.  We used to keep a key hanging just inside the garage door so I could let myself in after school.

At some point, maybe 6th grade, I think, my mom got a job two hours away - in Kansas City.  It was a good, steady job with benefits.  She began commuting there five days per week.  And yes, I said it was two hours away.

I remember during this time setting my old white, buzzer alarm clock for 4:00 in the morning and sitting, dazed, on the edge of the toilet seat with my eyes closed while my mom french braided my hair.  On the days I wanted a french braid.  Then I'd go back to my room, reset my alarm for a more normal hour, very carefully sleep so as not to mess up the braid, then get up again when my alarm went off to get my breakfast and make my own lunch, knowing my mom was almost at the office - me in Maryville and her in Kansas City. 

This went on for quite some time because I didn't want to move.  And my mom never made me.  She just woke up day after day and drove hours and hours to make a living.  It's just what she did.

Then one day my best friend Sara told me she was moving to Cowgill, Missouri.  The next day I told my mom I was ready to move to Kansas City.

I remember my first day at Pleasant Lea Junior High.  I was way out of my league.  The young lady who showed me around - who happened to be cousins of one of my classmates in Maryville! - wore a starched white cotton top with a pale yellow peasant skirt.  And matching pale yellow pumps.  And yellow fashion earrings.

I wore a white romper with tri-color buttons on my shoulders that I'd sewn myself and who knows what on my feet.

Luckily, God had mercy on me that day.  Or, at least, within three days He did.  Because on my third day at my new school, I met Cherrie (pronounced like the little red fruit - "cherry").  Cherrie and I were inseparable best friends every day for the rest of our lives.  Well, at least until we were juniors in high school.  And then we did the unthinkable.  We let a boy come between us.  And then Cherrie moved away our senior year.  But during freshman week at college, we found each other again.  We also found our husbands.  And through the years, we found a kid.  Or two.  Or eight. 

This weekend, Cherrie and her family came and spent some time with us.  I'm telling you.  I am the luckiest girl in the world to have her as my friend. 

Love you girl!
~k

Friends are Friends Forever

I am so fortunate to have visited three lifelong friends over the last year whom I had not seen individually or collectively for years.  I am so fortunate to have people in my life who I consider lifelong friends. 

Recently, my friend Cherrie - my friend since 7th grade - posted this quote on her Facebook wall:

everlasting friends go long periods of time without speaking and never question their friendship. These friends pick up like they just spoke yesterday, regardless of how long it has been or how far away they live, and they don't hold grudges. They understand that life is busy… and… you will ALWAYS love them.

This week I reunited with another friend - from college - whom I hadn't seen since her oldest (now 11) was a newborn. And the meeting was pristine.

First, the best part of the photo above is the cropped portion:

(our two 9 year-olds searching for snails in the mulch!)

Then, Kathleen suggested Yogurtini - which is basically a frozen yogurt bar {YUM!}.  With dozens (let's call it a quillion) flavor choices and endless topping choices (YUM times a quillion!).  I had to squelch a few Littles from putting me in the poorhouse with all their sugar-in-a-bowl (you pay by the ounce)!

not too sugary-sweet

truthfully only missing the kitchen sink

And finally, just talking, and catching up, and letting the kids run around and get to know each other...was a tangible reminder that this is what life is about: connections.  There's a reason that we go through what we do and we know who we know and our paths and lives are entertwined the way they are.  Once or a million times.  The people in our lives matter.

And sometimes?  Sometimes we are blessed to have Friends - who are friends Forever.

Just for fun...

snail races, of course

The Eager Entertainer

So I haven't even gotten the chance to tell you about the other part of our weekend here at Chez No.6 Cottage!  Mid-week last week, my dear sweet friend from college messaged me via Facebook that she and her family were headed to the StL!  Could we fit them into our Saturday?  Do cows fly?!  HELLO!! 

I haven't seen Erika for 12 years.  12 years.  Seriously.  She's my "Will You Be My Friend?" girl.  She stood beside me when I married the mister (thus the 12 years thing).  And she and her mister and her StarWars fan and her Pretty Princess were coming to our house!  Now, there would have been a time in my life where I woulda freaked out and gotten all nervous.  Cuz I am so seriously like that.  But I told the kids, "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" a la' The Nester (I bet they didn't even notice all those piles of clothes lying around waiting to be traded for cold-weather stuff), and we decided to just have sandwiches and chips for lunch a la' The Reluctant Entertainer ~ and boy howdy we had the best time!  {I sure hope they did too!}

I'm thinking they may have.  Since her mister sent me a note this week asking me to forgive him for taking a squirt gun to Pookie in the middle of the living room.  Oh.  And for taking Princess and Pookie's pretend pet rabbit hostage and running through the house screaming.

Yeah.  We had fun acting silly.  Good times.  Good times.  But seriously, thank you to the Erika Crew for taking the time to head over to the StLMO side ~ I cannot wait for the next time!  Love you guys!!!

The Tale of a Tripod, a Timer, and a Trip Together

Recently, my man and I did something we never do.  He took a business trip and I joined up with him to spend some time vacationing together ~ just the two of us. 

The extra-fortunate part of the whole thing was that the part of California where his company's headquarters
reside is just a wee bit south of the town where my best friend from high school lives!  It was a win-win situation, so I begged him to make it happen.  Lucky for me, he loves me like he does.  Cuz the next thing I knew, I was on a plane to San Francisco!

Day 1: I ditched The Man and spent the day hanging out at the beach with Frizzy and Yaya!  (OK, actually, he was working ~ and I was spending his money.  Isn't that what I do every day?)  Even though I'm pretty sure Frizzy got all frizzed-out trying to figure out what to do with me for the day, she knew I'd be perfectly content walking and driving around just looking for pretty things to take pictures of.  And the girl has quite an eye for pretty, letmejusttellyouthatforsure.  It was perfect - she'd see a spot, pull over, and wait for me to get my shot, then off we'd go to find the next little gem! 

My single request for the day - besides just hanging out together - was to find a cupcake.  Yup.  Just a cupcake.  And Frizz came through there, too.  Ask any of my kids, "What's Mommy's favorite store in San Francisco?"

Kara's Cupcakes @ Ghirardelli Square!

The next day, The Man and I visited Armstrong Woods and spent a lovely afternoon traveling through the Russian River Wine Country.  We ended the day at Lucas Wharf eating lobster mac-n-cheese and sipping pomegranate mojitos.

The absolute best part of the whole day was when my husband said to me, "This entire day has been a God-thing."  We didn't know what we were doing or where we were going when we began touring the wineries - and after a heckuva long hike up a heckuva steep mountain, we didn't have a ton of time left to do the one thing we really wanted to do: Visit Wine Country.  But I prayed that it would be special for us and I was led to the beginning: a very good place to start.  The letter A.  I found a winery that began with an A and I directed my sweet manly man to it.  Once we were there, the very nice lady behind the counter gave us a ticket to go to four additional wineries with the tastings at each spot on the house!   WooHoo!

At the fourth winery we visited (HopKiln), the wine steward happened to be the person who wrote the computer program in the 80's in Silicon Valley that my husband's company runs today.  For the man's company.  At Winery #5 (Twomey - we drove by it four times in what could've been horrible construction traffic, yet each time we got right through - and just before the winery closed!!!), the wine steward was a native of Hawaii who gave us intimate advice on where to go - even where to buy frozen peas to feed the tropical fish in the bay - when we go on Pookie's Make A Wish trip.  We learned a ton about wine ~ and maybe we drank a ton of wine ~ but it was exceptional!  We loved the whole day!

On the banks of Bodega Bay

The third day, we walked across the Golden Gate Bridge {brrrrrrrrrrr!}and had an absolute blast touring San Francisco with the very funny Yanni on our Segways!

The coldest winter I ever spent was my summer in San Francisco (not, actually, Mark Twain).

Totally worth it to take a Segway Tour ~ We had a blast! ~ in front of Alcatraz.

So there you have it.  Memories to last a lifetime ~ I can't wait to put together a photo album of all 600 pictures I took.  Golly it's a good thing I have a tripod, a camera with a timer, and a man who is willing to listen to my crazy ideas and take me on a trip ~ just the two of us, together!