Get Organized

My mom is an organizing genius.  She arrived at my house when I felt like I could not unpack one more box.  Her energy helped me get going again.  We took many trips to Ikea (one of my favorite things about living here...only 15 minutes away!).  And I listened to lots of advice.

 One of her great ideas for the girl's room was to put the books on shelves in the corner.  We were able to save so much space that way!

She turned my linen closet into the most amazing storage area.  Each tub is labeled and easy to find.  You can see the bottom shelf is bowed a little (one of the fun things about living in a rental!).  

I have never had a very good system for bills, receipts, coupons, and other excess junk that tends to gather as you enter the door.  I love my new filing system that she suggested.  It is easy to toss in and easy to find when needed.

I wish this picture were a little better - but one of that greatest areas she created was a pantry for me.  This is a small coat closet right next to the kitchen.  She stacked cubes to the left and made a ton of space for pantry foods.  She put hooks off to the right for purses, bags, and the broom.  And above, there is more storage.  My little galley kitchen seemed much more doable!

I cannot thank God for a great mom and a well organized house.  Let's try to keep it that way!

First Experiences

It has been almost two months since we arrived in Colorado.  The summer is flying, and we are settling in.  We have had some lovely first days here.  Not the least of which was celebrating my sweet baby's third birthday.  We enjoyed a strawberry shortcake party at a nearby park.  I love that girlie.  She has gone through this transition like a champ, which I see as God's grace to me.

Shortly after we moved into our new apartment, my mom arrived.  She was amazing at getting us settled in.  I will soon post a few pictures of her "organizational magic".  As always, she loved on my sweet girls, and that made me very happy.

It did not take long to discover local events.  We stopped in at the Colorado Irish Festival, and it was a blast.  There is nothing like some great Irish music as you enjoy God's beautiful creation.

 Yesterday we checked out Golden, CO.  It is about a 20 minute drive.  They have such a quaint little town nestled in the mountains.




They also have the most amazing farmers market.

Rob and Brynne enjoyed this stream nearby on a very hot day.

I also loved this sweet house and all their flowers.

Hopefully we will enjoy many more views like this one.

Moving is very hard.  I will not lie.  But I see God's direction, goodness, and grace every day.  We are glad to be here, and are settling in to this adventure.

Brooke at 9

Here is our sweetie # 2.  Little Miss Brooke is growing up.  Today she is officially nine months old.  She is a very busy young lady these days.  Brooke is definitely much more motivated to be up and about than Brynne was at this age.  However, she is much worse at sleeping!  I guess I have to give her a little break on that score since she has lived in four different houses since she was born.  We love her big blue eyes and happy little smile.  She adores her big sister, and I think I am seeing the beginning of the girls playing together.  We love this little bundle and thank God for her.

Too Much Celebration

Today was a lovely day.  We enjoyed celebrating number 30 for me and Father's Day for Rob.  We had a little gift exchange this morning, worshiped with Sola, ate an amazing steak dinner, and finished off the day with cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.  Red Velvet.  That's all I have to say.  

Poor little Brooke was plumb tuckered out!

I am so thankful for God's goodness to me every day.

Celebrating Seven

We began discovering Old Town Littleton on Friday night.  Our dinner at JaJa Bistro was awesome!  Many thanks to Chad and Melody who have not only let us invade their house, but also watched our girls so we could have a belated anniversary celebration.  These last seven years together have been amazing.  We both thank God for His goodness to us as a couple and look forward to many more adventures together.

Virginia Favorites

Our first seven years as a couple have come and gone.  I can hardly believe it.  Here are a few memories from our "seven" in Virginia.

Outer Banks with our buds

Fixing up our first home

Lots of great races

Great times with my family being close by

Many glorious trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains

Get-aways to DC

Fun times with the Colonial youth group

Welcoming Brynne to our family

Getting to see my nephews and nieces born

New York (and many pj visits) with Steve and Sarah

Graduation from Seminary

Being so close to Rob's family

Olde Towne Portsmouth

Growing up with the cousins

My brother's wedding

Little sis arriving

Being a part of seeing the Body of Christ grow

Living life with our best friends

And a million wonderful finds at the flea market

I am so thankful for the joys of the last years and look forward to our new adventure in Colorado.

And off we went

Our first stop on our trek to Colorado was Smith Mountain Lake.  We enjoyed a little down time with our family on Rob's side before heading out on our 20-some odd hour trip.
We fared quite well.  Tuesday we made it to St. Louis, MO and enjoyed a fun boutique hotel for our anniversary.  Two kiddies in the room makes it slightly less romantic, but hey - we made it the best we could.
Wednesday we arrived to stay in Smith Center, KS with Rob's brother and his family.
Thursday we drove the last six hours to our new state - Colorado!  I have to say that it is pretty awesome to drive smack dab into a bunch of incredibly beautiful mountains.
The first few days here have been crazy.  Rob is sending out resumes like crazy.  He is interviewing for a couple different jobs next week.  We are staying with friends until we secure housing.  We already lost out on one place we really liked!!! So we are learning once again to wait and trust.
God is good and faithful.

Coming along...

I am amazed every time I tell someone we leave on Friday.  The last few days have been a whirlwind of activity.  We have been packing boxes, organizing, cleaning, trashing, weeding out, good-bye "ing", and packing some more.  Little by little, it is all getting done.

I have been feeling a little schizophrenic through it all.  One moment I am ecstatic and so ready to get on the road, get to Colorado, and get settled.  The next, I am weeping and sharing last moments with friends. God has blessed us with the most incredible friends and church family here.  Even though I am sad to leave them, I feel so much joy at God's goodness to us here.  I know He remains the same through this change.

I was very blessed to spend the day yesterday with our church ladies.  We discussed how and where to find true contentment and joy.  I desperately needed to be reminded that my satisfaction is found in Jesus.

One of our recent good-byes.  Did I mention, we love skype?

Hopefully we will be in Colorado on the 31st!  I will keep you updated.

Direction

Yesterday marked three years since Rob graduated from Seminary.  That is an amazing thing for me to write.  I find myself wondering where those three years went.  As Rob finished his schooling we imagined clear direction to a ministry position for him.  We were sure we would be leaving Virginia Beach pretty quickly.  God had other plans for us.  There were many times that I fought this plan.  I struggled with the path He had.  Now as I look back, I feel only gratefulness.

I'm overjoyed at so many experiences - so many relationships - so much growth - so much of God's faithfulness to us.  I would not trade this time for anything.

I thought so many times "God, why won't you direct us?"  "Why do we feel like we are in the dark right now?"  Now I realize He was directing.  His direction lead us on a different road than expected.  We have seen His hand on us here in Virginia Beach.  We have seen it in ordinary and extraordinary ways.  Now He is directing again.  His recent direction actually does take us to a different state and a different "position" in life.

We are overjoyed to be planning our move to join Sola Church in Colorado.  We have been asked to serve alongside the Mondragons, Gomez's, and Endyks in this ministry.  There are many fears attached to such a change.  But we are trusting God's direction and goodness.

I will miss so many wonderful people here in Virginia.  The relationships have been so sweet.  However, I look forward to settling down in a new community.  I will love the opportunity to be very intentional with where we live, work, and play.  I will love seeing what God has in this new "direction" on the path of life.

We appreciate your prayers for this transition.

Want a good workout and a lot of fun?

Try picking strawberries with a toddler and a six-month old.  I'm so thankful for the beautiful day we had to enjoy God's creation and stock up on the best berries ever.  Brynne was much more productive this year than last year.  I think we actually managed to put most of the strawberries in the bucket instead of in her mouth.

 I had to add this picture too.  This is the biggest head of romaine lettuce I have ever seen.  It was only $1.50.  I love those little farm stands!

Busy Bags for Busy Toddlers

Sometimes while taking care of this little sweetie...

I need something to entertain my big sweetie.

One of the ladies in our church recently suggested we do a "busy bag" exchange. If you haven't heard about this, it is a great idea. Each mom picks a self-contained project appropriate for young children and makes enough for the group of ladies participating. Once you exchange bags, you have a bunch of fun little activities to pull out at just the right time.

I enjoyed making my "button snakes" and can't wait to see all the other projects.