Home at last...sorta

Well....22 days after leaving our house in smoke filled pandemonium, we are somewhat back. At least we are able to let the girls hang out here while we try to restore some sort of normal. We still need to have carpets steamed and insulation replaced and hopefully before this day is done we will have mattresses.

Emotionally I am exhausted and done, but then I look out the window as I type this and see three missing houses so how is that for perspective.

I am still wrestling with all of my emotions. God is still God regardless of circumstances. I don't doubt that for one second. However I have a hard time saying we are blessed when I know that the people who lost their houses are no less blessed. I am thankful. I guess that is appropriate.

10 on Tuesday

1. Fall makes me giddy. I love the crisp weather and trips to the Pumpkin Patch.

2. I love Notre Dame football when they win! This weekend was even sweeter because we were at the game and USC lost!!

3. I'm already starting to feel stressed about the holidays. Who is going where and how in the world are we going to afford presents? Every year I mean to budget and set aside money and I never seem to do it.

4. This Sunday our church is cancelling services and we are going out to serve in the community. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do.

5. Mike is going to be taking Grace with him on Sunday to feed the homeless downtown. I'm so proud of him!!

6. I'm kind of annoyed with all the new shows this Fall. I guess it just gives me more time to read, but c'mon...even Grey's is not totally doing it for me.

7. Emma is going to start going to preschool one day a week. I'm so excited and yet I already know those three hours are going to fly by. I already made my list for this Thursday. I'm not complaining...I can't remember the last time I went grocery shopping by myself.

8. I have finally resorted to writing names on toys. We had a speaker come to MOPS last week who made several good points about sharing and how the greater goal should be to teach our children to respect each others property and desires. That being said, Emma has had a crash course on how to spell her name and her sister's name. She doesn't seem to care if something says G-R-A-C-E...she still wants it...NOW!

9. I'm going on another Girl's Weekend in four days. I mentioned it to someone this morning who responded with, "You must have the most understanding husband in the world.". Ummmmmmmm....he is pretty great, but he also left for New Jersey yesterday and won't be home until late Thursday so I'm not feeling horrible about leaving. Besides I won't be that far away and I'll be home Sunday.

10. It is amazing how quickly Baby Fever- "oh my gosh, my baby isn't a baby anymore and I think I want another one" - goes away when the hubby goes away.

Happy Birthday "I Got Booty"

Our little princess is 2 today. It hardly seems possible that time has flown by this quickly. She cracks us up more and more every day. Grace has been trying to teach her the princess names and she nails them all except Sleeping Beauty. It comes out "I Got Booty". She now realizes that it makes people laugh so she says it for no good reason. Ahhh...the things we will look back on!

Speechless

That is the only word is can think of to describe this past weekend. I had a snapshot moment in life that I will look back on forever. I experienced one of the truest forms of community with three other women and I came home refreshed, revived, and loved on in more ways than I could have dreamed.

I went to Denver this past weekend with a friend from San Francisco and two friends from the South Bay. The funny thing is that we all know each other from church in the South Bay and yet while Joy and I lived there the four of us never really hung out. We briefly saw each other about six months ago and I had such a great time that I asked them if they would want to go to Denver for the Women of Faith conference. I was pushing for Denver because Beth Moore was doing the Pre-Conference and it is impossible to listen to her teaching without be blessed beyond measure.

And blessed we were. We all walked away with a lot to process.

Friday evening my "cheese factor" won out and we had dinner at the former Real World Denver house. IT WAS AMAZING! It was swanky and we sat in a booth that had gauzy curtains that the waiter had to pull back to serve us. We had the best mini-burgers I ever tasted. If you are ever in Denver go to Theorie in LoDo and have a rib-eye burger or a kobe beef burger.

After dinner we skipped the college scene next to the old house and headed across the street to Tavern on Market to go dancing. I can't even say this was the best part of the weekend because the whole weekend rocked, but for me personally I can't remember the last time I felt that free and alive. The DJ played some great songs and we could hardly pull ourselves away. Let's just say that if the husbands could have seen us they would have been dyin'.

Saturday we ordered the most expensive oatmeal on the face of the earth from room service and then we were treated to a personal training session by Joy. It felt great to sweat and even better to have a pro giving me some exercises to get rid of the deflated baby tire around my middle. After that we headed to lunch with Joy's brother, Chad and his wife Heather, and I continued my walk down Real World Memory Lane. It was exhilarating to be sitting on a rooftop patio in LoDo drinking beer and eating bar food. With full stomachs we headed back to the hotel because Joy and Cassie were scheduled to go have massages and facials. Stacy and I opted out and instead each took some time to hang out with God. Stace fired up Joy's IPOD and hung out by the spa and I took a solo excursion to Larimer Square. It made me a little bit giddy. The tall brick buildings that were over 100 years old and a street side cafe with a barista who made me her own special coffee yummy somethin-somethin. All I know is that it had Espresso, sweetened condensed milk, cinnamon and some other good stuffy. I sat at a sidewalk table and listened to music and journaled for almost two hours. I literally had to pull myself away, but I didn't want Stace to start worrying. Once I got back to the hotel, I stopped in the bar to have a beer and catch up on the football games. I don't think I had ever sat by myself in a bar before. Granted it was a hotel bar, but it was still a little bit empowering. As many of you may know the scores were less than promising and it put me in a not so good mood. So, I texted Stacy and we planned to meet at the 27th floor of the the hotel in the lounge to watch the sun set. Neither one of us were prepared for the breathtaking view of the entire city. It was glorious. I didn't necessarily need it to be glorious because I clearly fell in love with this city before Saturday but it brought tears to my eyes. Ten months ago I had never been to Denver and this past weekend was my third trip there. There is a little piece of me that feels like it is a home base; a place of safety. So, Stace and I met, had a heart-wrenching talk in which she forced me to be honest with myself about some stuff, waited for the other two to arrive and then the four of us stayed there until past 9pm. We affirmed one another and shared how God has been so close to us in the deepest of valleys this past year. The affirmations were almost too hard to handle. It is tough to sit and listen to people you love and respect so much build you up. I felt like such a fraud and yet I knew that these women knew me incredibly well and that my "mask" never made it to Denver. I allowed myself to be known by them and they still thought great things about me!

So that is pretty much it. We stayed until Sunday afternoon, but Joy left early that morning and Stacy, Cassie , and I just wound things up. We prayed together and left the hotel and weekend ready to come back to our lives as mommies and wives. I felt like there was nothing unfinished about the weekend at all. Never in my life did I know that relationships with women could be like this. There was no drama and jealousy. There was no judgment and no criticism. There was simply love between four daughters of Christ who relished in a moment to bask in His glory.

Ten on Tuesday

1. It is finally starting to feel like Fall. I think I need to go make a bouquet of sharpened pencils.

2. I need a vacation.

3. I'm leaving for a mini-vacation is 48 hours!!

4. I am SO ready for the new season of TV shows to start. Mike made me watch K-VILLE with him last night and I was bored out of my mind.

5. I think I have over committed myself for the school year.

6. I can't believe my baby is going to be 2 in less than two weeks.

7. I have baby fever, but I can't seem to get over the dread of being pregnant again and waking up in the middle of the night.

8. Yes, I know that is selfish.

9. I'm in love with the new Casting Crowns CD.

10. Did I mention I leave for a mini-vacation in 48 hours!

A Sassy New Haircut

Even at the age of 4....a haircut can completely change your outlook on life~

Some updated pictures and answers to prayer

We need to have a picture of our kids with us for our MOPS nametags so we took this before church on Sunday. It was amazing they could sit this close without bickering. Actually this is the last one we got before Emma shoved Grace off my lap and declared, "My Mommy!".

Last Saturday was the first day of soccer. We don't have a final verdict just yet, but it seemed to go well enough. Grace liked that she had her own ball, but she refused to wear her cleats or shin guards. Maybe if they were purple with sparkles it would help.

Preschool update: God is good! It was a whirlwind week and a lot of tears were shed...by me. Two angels crossed my path this past week and both of them shared that what was considered the "best" preschool wasn't exactly a Christian preschool...and that is really important to both Mike and I. We were kind of shocked being that it is a church preschool, but after further investigation we discovered they were right. I made the call today to a different preschool...one that I have known of all along and that came highly recommended this week...and sure enough they have a spot for Grace on the days we want, at the times we want, and two girls that Grace knows will be in her class. It is really the ideal situation. I can't tell you the sense of peace I have knowing that she is going to a school that she is going to love.