a week full of blessings

Gratitude list #1608 -#1675

 

- Tailgating and a Brewer's game with work peeps. even though the weather made it seem like we were tailgating for a Packer game. (note to self: add "tailgate at Lambeau Field" to my hypothetical bucket list)

- being privy to a co-worker friend's secret

- my husband graciously cleaning and packing before our trip to MN

- a full table at the Brenna's (also a full van and a full church pew)

- watching kid movies with the kids - our nephew and niece

- Loki and Cinders getting some love 

- once again being schooled in all things related to the wii.

- finding good deals at Old Navy (groupon, rewards points, sales ... nice!)

- listening to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law speak in church about their ministry

- lunch at Pho Tai; my favorite restaurant with my favorite people in Rochester (besides family, of course)

- seeing Ian!

- praying consistently for my friend, her little baby growing inside her and her husband who leaves for deployment soon. 

- this picture from the weekend: 

- pots from my parents for my garden

- seeing my brother's new place in Rochester

- biking to Dunn Brothers with Loki and the kids. pretty sure that activity needs to happen again.

- watching the kids on the slip and slide

 

- my father-in-law's garden

- "free" groceries because we are shopping with my mother in law

- stopping on the way home so Loki can run/chase some birds behind a gas station

- knowing that we'll be in MN again in about a week.

 

(tangent #1: I have not counted how many nights we will sleep somewhere other than our own bed in the next few months but my guess is 25. Glad that I work twelve hour shifts and the Christophers' study schedule is flexible so that we can spend a lot of time with people that we love.)

 

- making our time in Milwaukee count: concert in the park tonight and greek fest tomorrow

- getting an evening off of work to go to greek fest this week

- Loki, all tuckered out from the weekend

 

- my husband's wonderful beet risotto. love. 

 

- organic, grass-fed beef in our freezer ... and in the burgers marinating for dinner tonight

- and our friend who organized the purchase of the beef package

- potting plants to go on our patio

- almost done with a sewing project that has taken me a lot longer than I thought it would (because I didn't plan it well)

- menu planning with my husband for dinner with friends tonight

- biking with Loki. He has soooo much more energy than i give him credit for

- reading parts of Eva's gratitude list and knowing that she will be sharing weekly. love her

- being SUPER excited to spend next weekend with friends

- actually winning a game of speed scrabble (at work)

- sleeping

- clean sheets. clean comforter

- my sweatshirt smeling like my in-laws house because I did laundry there. 

 

(tangent #2: I'm trying to take more pictures but I scrapped taking a picture every day because I was just taking one of Loki which is okay but not really the goal. I think I'm doing better, what to you think?) 

Hope you have a blessed weekend!

I think his mama should be proud

(and I hope that someday our son will be just like his daddy)

 

{A shout-out to my husband}

 

The last two weeks have been nice but busy. We have had several social events planned in the evenings of my days off; we joined a gym; I worked lots of overtime last week; we are leaving on Friday to go to Rochester for several days (insert happy dance here) which means a shortened week here at home. You add all of those things together and it makes for a busy two weeks. Not an overwhelming-I-can't-wait-til-it's over week but a busy one with a slight time crunch to get all needed things done.

 

So Christopher picked up on this because he knows me well and he is observant like that and he just began doing the grocery shopping and walking the dog often and texting me at 4pm to tell me that he knows what we are going to have for dinner and cleaning the bathrooms (a job that is mine usually) and he cleared his study schedule last weekend because he thought I needed more time with him and he wrote me a sweet note in the little journal that we share and he and Loki came to visit me at work one night.

 

Bless his heart.

 

Sometimes (um, finals week) we discuss the divide and conqueror mindset. We have the "how can I help you get through this week" conversations and we both know that it may be rough but that we have a plan to get through.

 

And then sometimes (like this week) I realize that my sweet husband has simply shouldered more of the day to day tasks to make things easier for me. He knows I am thankful for him and all that he does but today I wanted to shout his praises to all ... who read this. =)

 

I think his mama should be proud (and I'm pretty sure that she is).

 

love these two

 

Snapshot: Loki playing in the grass

In the quiet of the night, at home or at work, I've taken to writing about the little moments in life. Moments that may seem insignificant but that encourage, restore and challenge me. Moments that could slip away and go unnoticed. Moments that, when put in writing or in a jpeg file, are little snapshots of daily life. Not the big trips, events or milestones but the smaller things that shape everyday life. 

Taking Loki for a walk is perpetually on our to-do list. When we wake up it has to be done, before going to bed we need to take him out and during the day he does better with a long walk or bike ride. Usually I walk him with a goal in mind, whether it be a time goal (30 minutes) or a destination (the waterfall in the park). The other day, though, I was still in my pajamas and he was looking at my expectantly so I grabbed a sweatshirt, put the long leash on him and went out the patio door. We meandered around the small area of grass outside of our apartment. I sat down in the shade and Loki sniffed and tried to dig in the newly laid dirt at the base of the tree. He rubbed his whole body in the grass, an action that I think has something to do with scents but I like to think that it means he is blissfully happy. He comes over to me, rolls over and I scratch his belly. The birds sing in the trees and the summer breeze lifts my hair and I just sit, enjoying the time with my dog. There is no agenda and no plan and while both of those things have their place, I think both of us need time to just sit and be together. Without training or working on walking on a loose leash, without the distractions of the tv or my laptop, even without toys or playing fetch down the hallway, sometimes it is nice to simply be. 

 

It's been awhile since I posted a gratitude list so this one spans a bit of time.

#1579 - #1607

- the generosity of my family and friends in the tangible gift of a beautiful new laptop

- seeing my friends' babies ... and my friends too!

- being able to tell family and friends in MN "we'll see you in a few weeks." This will be a common occurrence over the summer

- night shift e-mails to my friend working elsewhere

- the "summer weather switch" finally turned on in Milwaukee. (Loki is exhausted with the adrupt change in temps)

- kissing on the beach

- sand from Lake Michigan between my toes

- trying to convince Loki not to be scared of the water (in his defence, it was cold and wavy and he is scared of just about everything!)

- my trusty chacos

- long shadows from trees

- fans and ac

- cook-outs with friends who work some magic on the grill

- a huge pile of thank you notes ready to be send off

- lunch for $10 a piece downtown. (we were supposed to go with friends but that didn't work out so we had an unplanned date instead)

we always take pics of the food

- getting free pots from my parents to plant a mini potted garden. For some reason I had scraped the whole idea of a garden earlier since we don't have a yard but now I'm super excited to try a potted garden. And, hey, since I'm already late to plant things, may as well wait another week so I can get lots of free pots from my parents. =)

- a nicely planned trip to Sam's Club. spent exactly as much time as I wanted to and spent less money than I thought I would.

- making gifts for summer birthdays

- first trip of the season to the farmer's market

- easily navigating through Milwaukee several times in order to avoid construction

- finding out that friends are pregnant =)

- dinner with my grandma finished off with some wonderful tapioca pudding

- knitting with bright yarn

- a week without overtime! (hopefully the whole summer will be without overtime)

- a free cool new coffee mug for work (thanks Eva!)

- just a few days til we see the Butz family!

- my sweet husband coming to visit me during a slow evening at work and bringing me something to do for the patient-less night ahead

- green grass, green trees and summer flowers

- our unit moved across the hall to accomodate some construction and now we get to see beautiful sunrises in the morning

Snapshot: holding a new baby

In the quiet of the night, at home or at work, I've taken to writing about the little moments in life. Moments that may seem insignificant but that encourage, restore and challenge me. Moments that could slip away and go unnoticed. Moments that, when put in writing or in a jpeg file, are little snapshots of life. Not the big trips, events or milestones but the smaller things that shape everyday life. 

 

May 31st, 2011
On the first really nice day of summer, we go to a barbecue to welcome a new student to the Marquette community. We sit on the patio and eat meat hot off the grill as the guys talk about professors and theologians and dissertations and qualifying exams. The little baby sits in his car seat, neglected by the single theology students who, unlike most people at social events, are not all that interested in the three week old guy tucked into his carrier. His dad starts chasing his older brother around the yard and when he pauses by me I ask if I can take the baby off his hands for awhile. I am introduced to baby Jack as he is put in my arms. He is lighter than I thought he would be and I worry that I am going to drop him onto the cement. He squirms for awhile, arching his back, his little hands grasp one of my curls that brush over his face. We dance for awhile, I'm not at all sure what he wants so I sit and then stand, rock back and forth, pat his back. I talk to him and am surprised when his blue eyes search for my face. My husband smiles warmly at us from across the circle of chairs. Later he tells me that it looked like I am ready for a baby; I tell him that I had no idea what I was doing. Little Jack continues to arch his back, kick his legs, tug on my hair as he makes tiny baby crying noises. His mama walks by and hands me his pacifier. I slip the pacifier into his mouth and in the space of about thirty seconds, his body relaxes, his eyes close and his legs curl up into his body. Turns out mama does know best. I stand for a few minutes more before I slip him back into his car seat in order to enjoy the warm rhubarb cake that is waiting for me.