Spring Things

I love the sound of kids playing and laughing outside.

The smell of neighbors grilling their dinner.

The sound of lawn mowers.

Robins chirping.

Open toe shoes!

The blooming wisteria at the entrance of Messiah's campus.

The smell of blooming lilacs.

The beautiful Dogwood tree blossoms.

The sound of the Pileated Woodpecker (Woody, as I affectionately call him) knocking on the trees around our house.

The warm sun, finally!

Stepping Out of the Shadow

Garret is 17 today! I just cannot believe it. I am so excited for this year for him. He has so many abilities and interests and I think it will be a good thing that Chad is moving on to the next step of College so that Garret will have a year of making his own mark on things. He has so graciously lived in Chad's shadow, especially at school, so I think this will be a great year for him. He doesn't realize it now, but working hard for all these things will serve him well. He knows how to deal with disappointments, and how to work for what he wants. I am so proud of my cute red hair boy. We celebrated Sunday with my parents and had his favorite German meal, sauerbraten, spaetzle, and fruit trifle (this isn't so German, but who's counting).

Healthy, Schmealthy

I know, two posts in one day, but I just tried this new V8 Garden Broccoli soup for lunch. Um, yuck! My personal review of this soup, yuck! Thick, green, albeit healthy, not for me. Now I can sit here the rest of the afternoon, wishing for something delicious for lunch.

A Dog's Life

Tucker makes us laugh, a lot. He spends most of his time sleeping, as any Coonhound should, but also spends a lot of time staring at food he wishes he could eat. He never jumps up to get anything on the counter, but will stare at it all day long hoping that a handout will come his way. Here are some pictures of the day in the life of Tucker.

Mercy

My Aunt Janie, my mom's sister, lives in Murfreesboro, TN. with my uncle, and as you may have heard, had the frightening experience of living through a tornado this past weekend. I cannot even imagine experiencing this, but even more so, since my aunt is blind. I turned on the news and heard reports of the devastation in Murfreesboro and immediately called my mom. I'm not sure what is a more helpless feeling than not knowing if your loved one is OK in a situation like that. Mom fell to pieces. I think even more so because she has a deep burden for Aunt Janie to come to know the Lord. My mom and aunt went through some unimaginable hardships growing up, and sometimes I think my aunt must question if there is a God that could have allowed her to go through some of those things and the fact that she has been blind her entire life. She must question the justice. She is not willing to listen to anything that has to do with God.
God did show his mercy by sparing them and their house. Houses in front and behind theirs were destroyed. One person actually witnessed the tornado jumping over their house. My mom was never so glad to hear my aunt's voice. She was shaken up and very upset that they weren't expected to have electric restored for up to four days, but was OK. God sent kind people to check on them and provided a generator so that they could have some power for the necessities.
The night before this happened my mom and I were actually talking about how burdened she is for my aunt. My mom said she wants Aunt Janie to walk with her in heaven. There is a reason God showed his mercy to my aunt and uncle through this.

Occupational Hazard

This is a picture of just some of the shoes Chad has. He works at Foot Locker and I guess since he is someone that loves sneakers, it is natural he has a few. I fear I have somehow given him this fascination with shoes. I may or may not have more shoes than I wear, and I loved getting cute shoes for the kids when they were little. We are a little concerned for where he thinks he is going to put all these shoes when he goes to school. He might scare his room mate if he shows up with this many shoes. I don't think he is finished buying more either.

Ashtanga Doga

My friend Yonette and I tried a 3-hour yoga class a couple weeks ago and it was "enlightening" and helpful, minus the chanting and mantra. I see it's value for stretching and flexibility. I so should do some sort of downward dog thing everyday. And speaking of dogs, there are Doga classes available for you to do with man's best friend. Ok, I love Tucker as much as is humanly possible, but really, I could NEVER even imagine him finding his center long enough to stop eating socks and getting toilet paper off of the roll and streaming it through the house. Instructor Kari Harendorf says "We're going to Om, but I want you to actually Om towards the dog," in front of a yoga class for dogs and their owners. "Inhale, Ommmm, Ommmm," she continued. I'm sure Tucker would think I was completely out of my mind if I were to Om towards him. For a clever and funny take on Doga, see this Youtube video, http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/696530/3131599. Is it pronounced Dog-a or like Yoga, but with a D? If they want to come up with this new word, they should explain how to say it at the very least.

Grandpa Knight Lives On

I remember being a shy 20 year-old and meeting Grandpa Knight, Rich's grandfather, and how special he made me feel. I'm sure he made everyone feel that way, but at that time of my life, it meant so much to me. He was one of a kind, for sure. He made us laugh with the funny things he said and did. There will be stories in our family forever, I'm sure. The other interesting thing about him is that he was a legend with Prudential Insurance. He sold insurance most of his career and made a huge impact by being diligent, honest, and hard working. Well, his grandson, Rich, inherited that same spirit.

I'm sure that Rich would have liked his career to have taken another path, but sales is what he has ended up doing, and he is very, very good at it. He has had a rough couple of months with his largest account that he has nurtured and cared for for 18 years. He mainly deals with purchasers with what he does, and this company has seen a few come and go. The most recent one, that he had a great personal and professional relationship with, actually quit and walked out while Rich was there on his weekly sales call. So there is always the big question of who will replace the old contact. Well, things went all kinds of bad when Rich started working with the new purchaser at this account. He accused Rich of gouging prices, using lesser product to make a profit, among other things. I was so amazed at how well Rich has handled this. He has bent over backwards to do the right thing, he has been professional, and up front. I knew if he kept at it, he would prove himself. Yesterday he got a phone call from this purchaser telling him that he is the best vendor he has worked with in 30 years of being in this business and how much he appreciated Rich's honesty, hard work, and not taking his business for granted. We all know Rich can fudge his way through a story better than anyone, but when it comes to what really matters, he is a man of deep integrity and honesty. I love that about him. He will someday be a legend like Grandpa Knight was, I have no doubt.