sarah lee

today is the birthday of one of my dearest, sweetest, most precious friends.

sarah is someone that i deeply admire and greatly respect.
we have walked together through some very difficult and very joyous times.
she is a incredible mother,
a steadfast friend,
a loving daughter,
a self-less sister,
and much much more.


i honestly can not imagine my life without her.
we met our first weekend of college. we were both moving into the same mod.
top floor of Regier Hall. middle mod.
who knew that we would become such life-long friends.
she is like a sister to me in many ways.
i feel at home with her family.
i love her daughter Taylor with all my heart and miss her like crazy.
and when i say life-long....i say it with more certainty than words convey.
our friendship is simple. deep. easy-going. genuine.
that is why i know that no matter where life takes us.
how far or close.
how many days pass before our phone tag turns into a real conversation.
no matter what.
she'll be there when i need her.
and i'll be here when she needs me.
that's the kind of friend she is.

and that is the kind of friend she inspires me to be!

sarah, i celebrate you!
not only today, but ESPECIALLY today.
i praise God for your life and that he continues to allow us to be friends.
i look forward to experience more adventures with you as the years go by.

i love you.

campfire evenings

camping is not camping without fire.

amerie, dianne and i have been hiking/camping together now for four years.
every year my job is to start the fire.

this year i drove up a day later than the others because of work
so they ate microwavable meals and didn't have a fire

it is good to know that people need me :)
here are my feet warming by my work of art
i take pride in my fire building abilities.
so keep your comments to yourself!


dianne and tiffany enjoying the fire.
don't let the look on dianne's face deceive you. she liked it.

our meals consisted of burgers and bbq chicken.
as always, cooking over the fire was an experience.
the chicken got a little burned.
the beans were either boiling hot or cold.
our face hairs were singed from leaning too close.
we didn't have the most appropriate utensils for cooking over a fire
but with my mad problem-solving skills, we made do....
yes, that is a towel wrapped around my arm and a small fork in my hand.
hey. it got the job done. no one starved.
see. Am is enjoying her veggie burger.
cutting it up into tiny little pieces.
eating it bite. by bite.
by little, tiny bite.
that's how she rolls. :)
i love you, Am.

and no campfire meal is complete without s'mores.
the first night we went through one entire bag of mallows.
i'm blaming it mostly on Amerie.
i lost count when she passed 20.
the second night Amerie and I were alone....
and we consumed HALF of another bag.
disgusting?
nah!

i just couldn't get enough.
i even combined my love of choc. covered strawberries with my love of s'mores.
a.maze.ing.
seriously. you have to try it.
you know you want to!
my mouth is watering. literally. watering.
maybe i'll dream about it tonight?
that might be as close as I should get to a bag of mallows for awhile.

the mountains

Denver is known for being a city of transplanted citizens.
people move from all over the country
just to live near the Rockies.

i count myself blessed to be one of those people.
especially on a hot summer day
when i'm HOT and SWEATY and HOT
and only a couple hours away from sweet relief.

we don't make it up to mountains as often as we would like.
but this past weekend, i made my escape.

to Estes Park:
Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park

where i met up with three friends from high school.
well, from PRE-school actually
but who is counting the years :)

we spent a couple nights at the local KOA
and all day Saturday hiking

you can almost SEE the silence in this picture.
i l.o.v.e.d. that.

we hiked UP for three hours.
and then the path and trees
opened up into




it was beautiful.
and worth the grueling hike.

we ate lunch


and crawled out onto some boulders where we could nap in the sun
i wanted to get to this one
but we all know how i feel about water creatures.
we're not bff's.

so i settled for a much smaller boulder that was closer to shore.
i fell asleep listening to nothing but the water lapping up against the side of the rock
and it was glorious.

there was a mountain stream emptying into the lake
i was determined to get some good pictures
which required me crawling through some crass and flowers.
after i snapped the photo,
i noticed that i was surrounded by butterflies

they were ALL over.
sucking the nectar
so they were peaceful and still.
sigh.
it was great.

God's handiwork was all around me
and i couldn't help but admire it all.

i found myself meditating on all the tiny details of nature
and how God knows ME and all the details of my life
in the exact same way.

incredible.

with all the changes of the past few months:
school ending. friends moving. new job. church.
especially church.

with all those changes,
it was good for me to remember how much God knows.
and cares.
and loves.

remembering that brings me peace.
and on most days, i can not have too much peace.

can you relate?

can you hear my soul resting
as you read this post?

i feel at rest all over again as I look at the pictures
and remember the day.

i hope that in some way you can rest for a few minutes, too.

introducing...

sweet Lydia Jane Waldron
isn't she just precious?

Sara Jo went into labor this morning at 3am and Lydia arrived by 8am!
she must have been in a hurry to meet her wonderful parents.
she knows how great they are already.
I mean, look at 'em!
proud parents for sure!

Sara and Lee,
we love you both so much.
and we love Lydia already.
I can't wait to meet her.
I'll be counting down the days.
CONGRATULATIONS!

step into

my office!

and sit down on my comfy couch...

in case you were wondering if I'm qualified,
you can check out my diploma :)

more importantly, however, take a moment to admire the incredible painting done
by the beautiful and talented Sheena-bo-beena.
She is great. so thankful for her!




ta-da!

you want to water my plants?
sure!
mom planted them and gave me instruction on how to water. :)
and take a look out the window where you can see the mountains.
or if you prefer, ignore the mountains...

...and check out my SWEET curtains!
why, yes! they were made by yours truly!
you want me to make you some for your office?
okay...i can probably arrange that! ha!



if you're looking for me during the week,
there is a good chance i'm sitting here.
at my desk. with my mug of coffee.
lovin' my job. (most of the time...)
eventually there will be inspiring poems and drawing hanging from the ribbon above.
my clients have yet to be too inspire, i guess :)




if you prefer, you can sit on one of my awesome retro chairs.
i found them in the storage room and they were the original inspiration for the office.
nice, huh?



come again!!
we can have some coffee!

tabor tots

in college, people lovingly called students whose parents attended tabor
"tabor tots"
not sure why.
i wasn't one of them.

a few weeks ago i posted about a friends getaway we had in the mountains.
with tabor couples.
you can read about it here.
it was decided that next year, the trip would include children.
children who could one day become "tots."

layne and staci have a precious little girl, Taylin, who will be 2 yrs in November.
she'll be really fun next year at the lake :)

Lee and Sara Jo are expecting their first little one in just ONE MONTH!
Doesn't she look great?
The Waldrons are really special to us, and we can't wait to meet little Bean!!!

and the Garcia family!
John and Shayley are expecting their first soon, too!
They are such a great couple and they will be such wonderful parents!

so many babies!!!
and they weren't the only ones expecting on our little trip....


caleb asked me to take this picture "of the Mason family"
and right as I clicked the button, he said "all three of us!"

they had been holding out on us all weekend!!!
we'd been talking about pregnancy and babies all day!
I had even asked Arika when they wanted to have kids.
ha!
the timing was perfect! it was great to catch it all on film.
the guys were all so excited for caleb.
call me cheesy---but this is such a beautiful picture of friendship.

who is next?


the greenhaws?
they have been married the longest...


the schenks?


or will it be us?
:)
all bets are on....feel free to wager.

it will be fun to see all the little "tots" grow!

mr. & mrs. myers

**Warning: this blog is a little long and random. but totally worth the read :) **


last weekend we celebrated the marriage of two dear friends.
i played basketball with stacie in college.
rob has been playing sports with grant since middle school.
another tabor couple in the books :)

it was such an honor to get to be a part of their special day.
stacie was a very beautiful bride.
grant lit up everytime he looked at her.
seriously. his love for her was evident in every look.



a bunch of shafter boys were there.
it was fun for rob to catch up with both childhood friends and tabor friends.

i had a fabulous time hanging out with old teammates

donya kept me laughing the whole weekend.
just like old times.
it was a huge blessing to get to reconnect with people i spent
SO MUCH time with during college.
being a part of a team really is a special thing
and it is great to know that those relationships are for life.

we told old stories.
tried to canoe in dresses.
talked about dating and marriage.
and laughed. A. LOT.





cindy got to come out for the weekend which is ALWAYS a wonderful thing.
rob and cindy got to spend a lot of time together while i fulfilled my bridesmaid duties :)

here we are at the rehearsal.
it was a beautiful summer evening in kansas.
and i even got to catch some lightening bugs!
it had been so long!



these cupcakes were amazing.
the cupcake tower was constructed by grant's dad and brother.
decorated by his sister-in-law
and the cupcakes were yummy, yummy, yummy.
cindy and i may or may not have had two each :)

grant and stacie: we love you guys.
your wedding was a blast.
you are such a fun couple!

a few words from one married couple to another:
laugh often.
forgive often.
and always make time to look each other in the eyes.

we are praying for you as you start this incredible adventure called marriage.