Dear Summer,

I LOVE YOU.

I’m so glad you came back. We always have such a good time when you are around.

Your long absence made my heart grow fonder. I definitely appreciate you more when I haven’t seen you for quite some time.

There are SO many things I love about you. Here are a few, just off the top of my head….I love the heat, the sun, long hours of daylight, sun glasses, lakes, getting tan, severe weather, the US Open, flowers, the smell of mowed grass and hay, swimsuits, grilling, toe nail polish, triathlon season, hot dogs and smores over a fire, Wimbledon, tan lines, playing cards outside, running outside, freckles, car washes, ice cream, flip flops, beaches, good summer books, throwing a Frisbee, summer clothes, parades, fireworks, playing tennis, pools, boating, jet skiing, Twins games, not wearing makeup, driving w/ the windows down, summer dresses, summer-release-big-blockbuster-movies, open moon roofs, playing catch w/ a football....and so much more.

I have a feeling these next few months will be EPIC, and it’s all thanks to you, Summer.

I know you’ll leave way too soon, so I am going to make the most of our time together.

Hello, Hello

Gosh I’ve been distracted.

First it was the FUN and HARD-WORKING weekend at the cabin.

Also, the short week at work is always over-busy.

Been on full-time doggie duty since the roomie is out of town (and I still have NO IDEA how he was NOT in my bed when I woke up this morning. There is absolutely no way he jumped out of the bed, so I fear I literally kicked him out and didn’t know it…..)

Then there’s the novel I’ve been engrossed with until 2AM every night. I LOVE READING NOVELS and I have been eating it up. Should have started reading it AFTER this busy week was over…

Throw a little cleaning, cooking, and planning for a Bridal Shower I hosted in there.

And of course I had a basketball game and SUPER FUN KICKBALL game (kickball and grilling after is about my new favorite thing of summer. The people on my team are HILARIOUS and there are always VERY comical moments – like last night when one of the bigger guys on our team was sprinting toward home and completely tripped, fell flat on his face just short of the plate, and did an army crawl the rest of the way to the base. It looked like the MOST AWKWARD slide in the history of diamond-shaped sports, and it was truly the highlight of my week. Also, one of our boys kicked the ball so hard that when it was in the process of being caught, the girl dislocated her shoulder. That wasn’t funny, it was just shocking. And so weird. And I’m surprised it didn’t happen to me, because my life it very weird like that).

Oh, yeah, my FAVORITE SHOW ON TV also started.

So, if I could be any more distracted this week, I don’t know how it would happen.

BUT IT HAS BEEN SO FUN.

Rawr.

Money Making Machine

I am truly a money making machine this week - which I am enjoying!

First of all, I WON the Biggest Loser competition with my family. Big sis was CLOSE on my heels, but I pulled it out. Now I have $200 (or will have, as soon as everyone forks over their share) that I didn't have last week. Nice.

Secondly, the garage sale is over. Including what I sold online before hand, I made over $250. As Becca said, the hourly wage is very low, but I still think the cash was worth it for me to have a deadline of getting my home cleaned out and organized. And I had a really great time at the garage sale! I'm so glad I took a day of vacation to be there for the first day of the sale. It is SO much work to have a garage sale, and I am so grateful to Becca for hosting and the massive amounts of effort it takes to do so (especially with two small (adorable) girls running around and another on the way!). The weather was AMAZING the first day, even though we were a bit concerned about the wind in the early morning hours. A few of us even managed to get some sun (and sunburn!). I enjoyed chatting with friends, playing with little girls, making a little cash, and NOT GOING TO WORK.

So, this last week has seen a welcome influx of cash - to be spent on much needed home improvements up north!

My Friends' Husbands

They are great.

I am so glad that so many of my friends have married well. I have great examples of what I am looking for in a future husband.

Even though some of the husbands tease me a bit too much from time to time, I know they do it because they know I can take it, and because we have a lot of fun together. I’m so glad that I don’t feel disappointed when hanging out with my friends turns into also hanging out with the husbands.

Here are some reasons I enjoy my friends' husbands (each item isn't something every husband does, rather, it’s a compiled list of things many of the different husbands do):

• They offer to hang up my coat, pull out my seat, and get me punch when we are at a wedding/event.
• They insist on carrying my bags in from the car.
• They call me to play cards when they need a fourth.
• They fix things for me at the cabin.
• They offer thoughtful compliments.
• They call me on my birthday.
• They take an interest in how my job is going.
• They play Ultimate/catch/other sporty things with me.
• They enjoy strange music and force me to listen to it until I also enjoy it.
• They are REALLY good at grilling.
• They are good dads.
• They buy my dinner now and again.
• They put up with my loud laugh, incessant talking, and many visits to their homes.
• They are smart and funny and nice.
• They love the Lord (this applies to all of them).

I got to thinking about these husband-people today because one of them was featured at C.J. Mahaney's blog. Matthew is attending the Pastors College in Maryland and recently talked about his experience there. I was very excited when I saw this post in my Reader! Matthew is an incredibly gifted speaker, preacher, and teacher. I have missed hearing him preach these last months and it was nice to have a small glimpse into what he has been doing and what brought them there. I have MISSED them this year (OH, HOW I HAVE MISSED THEM), but their trust in God's plan is encouraging and they both have amazing faith.

A Year Later

Spent the weekend in Green Bay with my parents and sis. We celebrated Mother's Day a week late, and I ran with Dad in his first cancer-free 5K! We played a ton of Rook and some Black Queen, ate lots of good food, laughed, watched some Lifetime Movies, and got up entirely too early today to run the race. Dad and I were wishing that the other sisters could have run with us, but there were schedule conflicts and a fractured foot that got in the way. Thankfully we had a gorgeous morning to run - a bit cool, but the sun was shining and there was significantly less wind than yesterday (when it was blowing 30 mph all day) and no rain. Yes!

In twelve days it will be one year from when Dad first called me to say he had cancer. It is crazy how thinking of that day brings back very raw emotions and it feels like it was literally yesterday. It is also crazy how thinking of the year since then can seem like five years. So much took place over this year. As soon as he was diagnosed we said that we wanted to run a race - a cancer-free race. We made him a shirt for Christmas a month after we found out he was in remission. We are so thankful for, and continue to pray for, healing in his body. And we look forward to doing many more cancer-free races!

A Side of Humility, Please

I’ve fallen behind on the sermons at church (per usual when I am helping with children’s ministry) so I’m catching up. Last week's message on James 4:13-17 made me look at self-discipline in a new way.

Often when my daily devotions are inconsistent, or my eating habits are poor, or I avoid exercising like the plague, or I am procrastinating on everything job related, I think “If only I had more self-discipline”. I long to have the discipline I had during my favorite summer at camp. Thing is, I don’t necessarily have any less self-discipline now (I certainly wasn’t any less busy at camp, or less prone to distraction there), but instead it is more likely that I had less pride then. In other words, it’s more likely that my “lack of self-discipline” is a manifestation of pride.

I had never thought of it in these terms before. When I don’t put priority on my daily devotions, I really am saying that I don’t need that time in the Word. I can handle things myself. My schedule is more important. All of the mundane things of my life really need to take precedent over my devotions. I’m actually displaying pride and selfishness, not just a lack of discipline.

I’m thankful for reminders to check my pride so that I can make the adjustment before things get way off course. My life is a VAPOR and I need more humility to do discern and accept the Lord's will.

Almost Done

We are almost done with our Biggest Loser Competition. I had a disappointing week in the working out and eating categories last week, so I have to make this final week count! I seriously CAN'T lose the money by mere fractions.

I'm also almost done getting ready for the garage sale I am participating in this week. Oh, yes, there is no good reason for me to need to be in a garage sale at this point in my life other than my AMAZING PACK RAT SKILLS. Oy.

I should have listened to everyone who said that getting ready for a garage sale is exhausting. They are right. But it has felt REALLY good to purge, clean, and organize - and I might actually come away with some cash! Everything is priced and ready to go for Thursday - I just need to put a few ads online for some of my "bigger ticket" items (my old computer, a printer/copier/scanner, a palm pilot, and a notebook power adaptor....interested? Let me know before Thursday....). Since I don't have the FOGGIEST IDEA about garage sales, I read a few tips online and I should hopefully be a little more prepared for Thursday.

I'm a Dog

Saw a funny post of a Dog Diary vs. Cat Diary. I've always been more of a dog person than a cat person (even before throwing up in my shirt). If you've ever owned either a dog or a cat, you should read the diary entries - they are pretty funny. After reading them I realized that maybe I like dogs more because I have that same exact personality. EVERYTHING IS MY FAVORITE! I'm just a little excitable.....

Update

Kristie requested an update on my exciting life. Since I don't have an exciting life, I will update you on mundane things. Which, really, is what all of our lives are. Mundane. So you have to try and make the mundane interesting and fun and educational, I think. Otherwise you will convince yourself that you have a boring life. And that's not true either. Even though it's not exactly exciting. Make sense? I didn't think so. But that's how I roll. So here we go.

• Camp: Was great. Good conversations were had, especially after the Sunday session. I made everyone laugh (not to toot my own horn or anything, I just did) and my sister made everyone cry (of course). Every time I go to camp I realize how much I MISS THAT PLACE! And it's funny because I don't necessarily miss the people that I interacted with as much as I miss the place. I'm not sure how to explain that, but Camp is a special place where I've experienced great growth with God. My most significant summer there was important not because of the friendships I made, but because of my spiritual growth. It was my second summer on full-time staff and I knew that I would be tempted to get really busy/distracted and neglect what was really important (funny how that happens at a Bible camp). So, I declined being on the worship team (knowing that I would be doing it for myself and for recognition), and I made a strict rule that I would be in my room when the lights-out bell rang for the campers. It was a hard rule to stick to since many of the fun and funny times with the staff happen after the lights-out bell, but I knew that I would again be focusing on how much fun I could have instead of how much I could invest in my relationship with God. It was a sweet, quiet time to end the day with devotions and prepare myself for the next day. It was an exercise in self-discipline (if there is one thing I DON'T want to miss it is FUN with staff!!) and humility (guess what, I don't think anyone noticed that I wasn't hanging out anyway. And that's fine and good). Anyway, I don't know if that makes much sense other than to say that I worked with so many great, fun, godly people at Camp, but that isn't what I miss (even though I do miss them) as much as I miss being in a place where I could find solitude with God and dig into that relationship. Anyway. I also loved spending time with my mom and sisters, fresh blisters from guitar-playing and all. We even did a craft, so that was different.


• Big Girl Pants: I've been wearing them. After going to the cabin on Friday to deal with the mouse problem, I found out I also need to deal with the rotten siding problem, the broken water heater problem, and the standing water in the crawl space under the cabin problem. Needless to say, I left the cabin in tears and under a lot of stress. Again, being away from that and at Camp this weekend helped, so I had a fresh perspective this week. I've been getting estimates, talking to contractors and siding experts, and I'm even looking into refinancing my house (with the cost of the siding built in and at a MUCH lower interest rate - which means I would actually SAVE MONEY....PTL!!!!!). So I definitely have been acting like an adult more than my fair share this week, but I am encouraged that much has been accomplished in these regards and it is only Wednesday. Continued prayer, though, please!


• Ripped-Off: Went to the movie Wolverine on Sunday. I did indeed like it!!! But that doesn't mean I am recommending it to you because a) I have no backbone when it comes to recommending movies and b) I mostly liked it because I am a total nerd for X-Men (mostly the cartoon version that I watched after school growing up) and c) Wolverine is THE BOMB DIGGITY. They could have made the dumbest movie ever about Wolverine and I would have loved it. The only thing missing was JUBILEE! She is SO my favorite character EVER. In the cartoon, she is basically Wolverine's sidekick (which is maybe why I love her) - they sort of had a big brother/little sister thing going on. She also shoots FIREWORKS out of her fingers and can control them with her MIND. So, if that isn't an awesome super-power, than I don't know what is. AND there's the yellow trench coat. She's just the coolest. She's just BARELY in the three other X-Men movies, but she wasn't in this one at all. But back to the part where I felt ripped-off. The movie cost $10! For a matinee! Maybe there was some special thing where you couldn't get matinee price on this particular movie, but that is expensive! Guess I'll be sticking to RedBox and Netflix, athankyouverymuch. Except in the rare case where I REALLY want to see it in the theatre (like Wolverine). I just LOVE going to the theatre. But ten bucks.....sheeesh. Also, I need friends of my own. I went to the movie with Eva's friends, just like I went to the concert last week with Eva's friends. WHERE ARE ALL MY FRIENDS!?!?! Oh, yeah. They live ALL OVER THE COUNTRY except in MINNESOTA. Okay. Got that off my chest. And it's partly a lie, because I do have great friends in Minnesota, too.

So. That's Jubilee. And that's my update. Guess I had more to say than I thought. Good thing I blogged. Now it's not just rolling around in my brain. I suppose I could have made these three different posts with more interesting titles than "Update" (I'm thinking "Camp", "Big Girl Pants", and "Ripped-Off". What do you think?). But oh well. What's done is done.