Loki

I love my dog.

There. That is my disclaimer for writing a post entirely about Loki.

He hurt one of his legs the other day. And my response to his pain was different than I thought it would be. I'm a nurse so I see people in some kind of pain basically every day I work. Now, I view myself as an average-ly compassionate nurse and I do what I can to help alleviate whatever is ailing my patients. But, when all the tricks have run out, I give my patient the call light and tell them that I hope whatever I did helps whatever their suffering may be and I leave the room and continue about my shift.

My response to when my husband is in pain is usually "take an advil and let's see how it is in the morning."

So I was a little surprised when my dog's pain brought tears to my eyes and was all I could think about for awhile. Maybe it was because he relies on us to care for him (an argument that could be made for my patients and my husband in a sense); maybe it was because he couldn't really tell us what was wrong. Whatever the case, Loki's pain made me sad and worried.

He seems fine now though and when he went to the vet for his shots yesterday, he was declared "fit as a fiddle."

So, when, during into our walk today, he began limping, I was distressed. Granted, it was a little humorous when he started hopping about on three legs, but after about a block of watching this, I gave in and began carrying him home. And yes, I did feel a little stupid carrying my dog those couple of blocks. But I thought it was worth it - until we got home and he walked just fine. Maybe he just didn't like the snow ...

Wimp.

Home

The last year and a half I have had a hard time defining home.

I struggled with it in this post, soon after we moved and since then, I have kind of waffled between calling Franklin home and calling Rochester home. 

We visited Minnesota last week and I remembered where I was from ... 

and I knew where I am to call home.

I walked with Loki along the Zumbro (a little river in Rochester) 

and I found the place where Christopher and I sat when we first talked about getting married.

I thought of how our life has changed in the last two years. 

and of God's faithfulness. 

I know that I will always call Rochester home, 

in the same way that I will always call Hastings home. 

I bought my first home, developed lasting friendships and fell in love in Rochester. 

And all those things I take with me (except the house, thankfully!) 

Rochester will always be a part of my past - and my future. 

But for now, Franklin is home. 

And in my journey to find home, I have also found contentment, joy and strength.

I think I will always struggle when our life changes but I can look back

and see God's faithfulness in the these years and know that

in the most important way, I will always be home.

 This picture reminded me of the reflection in a puddle picture that my sister in law posted earlier this month.

Photo Challenge ... finish or fail

ummm ... I didn't really finish my photo challenge

that I started in ... ahem ... November. 

But here are some pictures that I took to finish it off. 

My sister in law is doing a photo challenge for the new year, 

one picture a day.

Not me but I will enjoy her pictures! 

Something Orange

 

Faceless Self Portrait

Sunflare

Animal

 

 

yes, he's under there ... i know, he has it rough

 From a Distance

Close up

Flowers (??)

  

Black and White

okay, all done! clearly taking - and posting - a picture every day is too much for me. 

In fact, the most inspiration I have had lately has come from Whitnall Park. 

Maybe this week will change that ...

End-of-the year thanksgiving

 this was titled "Christmas thanksgiving" but that would imply that I actually would post it around Christmas. now it's longer and I changed the name.

1918. Advent and the promise of new life, given for us and to us
1919. working with some pretty amazing people
1920. a phone call from my cousin, inviting us to visit in Jan. I was touched that she remembered our conversation from this summer and am excited to visit and see their kids.
1921. Christopher, who works hard a school and finished the semester well!!!
1922. Loki's little winter jacket. he is so cute!
1923. the first snow of the season
1924. tis the season ... for clementines!
1925. making Christmas gifts
1926. having enough time off to go see our families over Christmas
1927. a Christmas party with friends. nerf guns = cool
1928. music
1929. our second Christmas - making traditions for our little family
1930. a whole month of no classes for Christopher! In the interest of full disclosure, this also means several weeks that i don't have to do the cooking. =)
1931. the beautiful babies that my friends are having.
1932. good weather to drive to MN
1933. and a husband who drives while I sleep
1934. spending Christmas Eve with my family ... seeing my brother for the evening even though he was on "main call"
1935. Christmas carols sung by a choir
1936. Loki opening presents.
1937. skyping with the Butz family. Can someone please tell the kids to stop growing?
1938. thoughtful gifts from family
1939. being a push-over when it comes to Loki. I've decided that sometimes it is okay, besides, I really can't resist his brown eyes.
1940. amazon's awesome customer service.
1941. seeing extended family at my grandma's.
1942. knowing and expressing my emotions to friends.
1943. giving away knitted gifts (mainly headbands but I also made a tie for my brother and he says he really likes it)
1944. sleeping after busy nights at work.
1945. extending our Christmas til Jan 6th with dates and gifts and fun.

well, i think there will be pictures in the next post. =)