t-36 hours

i've decided that this whole 1/2 marathon thing
is going to be an exercise in discipline.
spiritual discipline.
as i've read Scripture the last few weeks,
i've been reminded of all the race/running metaphors.
and how important discipline and perseverance are.
that's kept me going during this training phase.

 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

yes, I'll consider Him
and I'm not going to lose heart,
even though this is going to physically difficult.

the feeling I have right now reminds me of being a freshman in college
and showing up for my first basketball workout.
my competitive side makes me want to not just finish,
but finish well.

college basketball taught me that
i can push my body far beyond the limits that my mind has in place.

one of my dad's most infamous lines has always been,
"it's all mental"
when he was teaching me to drive at age 14
(gotta love those farmers' permits!)
he would poke me and do things to intentionally bug/distract me.
when i complained he once launched into this whole spiel about tiger woods and mental toughness...

he wanted me to be mentally tough.
and I'm thankful for that.
it has paid dividends in my life so far.

"In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."

it's been awhile since I have pushed myself the way I will this Sunday.
but I'm up for the challenge.

I'll let you all know how it goes :)

it's time to Rock 'N Roll!!!

Happy 30th, friend!

Today is Keppers birthday.

love this girl.
I thank God for her.
she is real. honest. beautiful.
and we have a lot of fun laughing together.

and a bonus is that we also have a lot of fun with her and her bf chad.

We celebrated on Saturday with an
almost surprise party at the Yard House Downtown.
She figured it out a few minutes before we walked in.

dang it!

then we went out dancing at the Cowboy Lounge.
yah! you all know how I love dancing! :)
it was a blast.
we stayed out to a ridiculous hour....


and spent most of the day Sunday recovering. ha!

but it was totally worth it to celebrate her wonderful life.
and get to dance with my hubby.

Happy Birthday, Kristen.
you make 30 look fabulous.
excited to see what adventures and memories the next year will bring!

happy day of birth!

facebook just told me that 8 of my friends have birthdays today.
EIGHT.
October 2nd was apparently a popular day to have children.
New Year's Babies?
maybe.

anyway....

just wanted to give a very special shout-out to a couple of rob and i's favorite people.

happy birthday, gigi!

we love you lots and can't wait to see you in November.

you are beautiful. and have a beautiful little girl.
we glad you're in our lives :)

happy bithday, atty.

thanks for being such a great friend to my hubby.

and to me.
we have a lot of fun with you.
and we miss you.
even if you pick fights with me from time to time :)

come see us already!

hope you both have great birthdays.
we're celebrating you from afar.

summer recap #4: apartment perks

one of the best perks of living in an apartment
is having a pool.
and our apartment has THREE (1 is indoor).

so while the fam was in town
we took a dip in the pool.



mackoy LOVES his papa.
in fact, that statement does not really capture
the extent to which mackoy prefers papa
over the rest of us.

at one point dad (papa) was holding mackoy
and I swam up behind them and put my hands on dad's back,
and mackoy whined and pushed me away.

don't worry,
I reminded him that he was my papa first. :)
no really, I did.

this daddy's girl still has her place, right?

p.s. yes, you are seeing that correctly. my dad got in the pool fully clothed.
polo shirt, hat, and all. dove right in.
only my dad. gotta love him.
well, you don't have to...but I sure do! :)

summer recap #3: the zoo

my family all came out to visit this summer.
all the way back in June.
(only about 3 1/2 months behind. not bad, right?!)

we spent one morning introducing
Mackoy to all the animals at the zoo.




these pictures make it look like the child is neglected, huh?



don't worry.
he's not.



we all make sure he gets plenty of attention.


we did have stroller around.
mostly for carrying our bags.
but it came in handy during nap time.

all that pointing, talking, running, laughing, watching....
it will wear a person out!

Mackoy napped and we all enjoyed a picnic lunch.
it was perfect weather for a day at the zoo.

sage was in charge of protecting Mackoy from the geese.
no joke.



it was a great day at the zoo.
full of lots of joy!

i'm ready for them to all come visit again.
hint. hint.

i heart adoption

i really love being with family.
rob and i both do.
nothing is quite like being fully known and fully loved.

which is why i grieve so much for the people/kids i work with that don't have this.
who either don't have family.
at all.
or who have families that hurt and harm.
breaks my heart.
literally.

and it breaks God's heart, too.
I believe that God is passionate about family.

God wants us to be known and loved,
and I believe that He designed families for that purpose.
but since earthly families fail,
God reminds us that we are adopted into His family
as HIS children.

this is something that I have been meditating on a lot lately.

In Hebrews there is a lot of language about "adoption"
and being brothers and sister through Jesus.
and it is just beautiful.
and causes hope to swell within me.

i want people to know Jesus.
i want them to know they have a family.
no matter what.
whether that is biological.
or adopted.
physical.
or spiritual.

family matters.
adoptions matters.

I am adopted by God,
and I want to be an advocate for adoption each and every day.

I have heard by some that they don't believe anyone
could ever love adopted children as much as biological children.
I sure hope that is not the truth.
I believe that God loves me just as much as He loved His own son,
or why else would He have let His son die for ME (and for you, too!)?

i have no idea what God plans to do in my (our) life in this area,
but I want to always be open to it.

i think that adoption is a beautiful
(read: difficult, scary, hard, challenging, rewarding, terrifying, exciting)
adventure.

p.s. I really have no idea why this has been on my mind & heart lately. but God does. and I am His. and my blog is His. so....yeah....that's all I got :)

summer recap #2: salida/crestone

last spring rob talked me into training for a 10k.
the furthest i had ever ran up to that point was 3 miles.
in college.

we settled on running a 10K in Salida during the
FibArk whitewater festival.

liz, the other autism teacher at rob's school, ran too!

not only was it a great place to meet our goal of running a 10k,
it was the perfect opportunity to get out of the city for the weekend.

which is good for this country girl's soul.
so good.

we stayed the weekend in Crestone.
nestled against the Sangre de Cristos Mountains (blood of Christ)
in a beautiful, charming casita (little house).

the casita belongs to my mom's best friend from high school.
her talented husband built the ENTIRE thing by himself.
wow.
i loved everything about it.
but my favorites were in the kitchen.

the old farmhouse sink.
blue spanish tiles.
handmade wood island.
copper pots hanging.
(copper reminds me of my mom's kitchen growing up)
wood beams.
and these doors.

these incredible blue doors.
old doors, painted and distressed.
my favorite shade of blue.
love!


we could literally walk out the front door and start hiking.
so that's exactly what we did sunday morning.



it was perfect.
the other day I looked back in my journal from the entry i wrote that weekend.
it started with...

"my soul is at rest. it took about 24 hours after escaping the city
to finally feel like my mind was clear and my spirit still..."

tracee and jim,
thank you for opening up your beautiful home.
it has become one of my favorite places.
you both have incredible taste and amazing talent.
thanks for sharing with us.
love,
erica and rob

summer recap #1: manitou springs

i'm going to do a series of summer posts.

we had a crazy, busy summer.
full of wonderful things,
just very full.

we started the summer off by celebrating
3 years of marriage
in manitou springs.

our first night we went to a melodrama/dinner theatre
i was really skeptical to start.
but it ended up being very funny and entertaining.
i laughed a lot.


we walked around downtown manitou.
swam and read by the pool.
hiked around Garden of the Gods.

haha. oh, robby. he's so hardcore :)
we were both really sunburned.
the hats were necessary.

on our way back to denver
we stopped at the castle rock outlets :)
a great way to start of the summer!
and celebrate 3 years with my incredible hubby.
blessed!

get what you give.

we saw zac brown band at redrocks two weeks ago.
so. much. fun.

they were awesome.
super talented.
i've been listening to their cd all summer.
so when i heard they were coming to Red Rocks...it just seemed perfect :)

they opened with this song.
and the crowd went wild.

She'd trade Colorado if he'd take her with him, Closes the door before the winter lets the cold in, And wonders if her love is strong enough to make him stay, She's answered by the tail lights Shining through the window pane

and then they played their cover of the DevilWentDownToGeorgia.

it was better than this video.
because it was redrocks and a live concert.
but you can get the picture of how talented their fiddle player is.




it was drizzling rain throughout the whole concert.
not enough to get wet, just enough to add ambiance.

we stood the entire time.
dancing.
singing.
loving every minute.
it was on my summer list to go to a concert at RedRocks.
and Zac Brown was the perfect choice.

KP went with us. i love this girl. so much.


great location.
great company.
great seats.
incredible music.
they put on a great show.
gosh, i'd go again tonight if i could.

for now i'll just listen to this song and quiet my mind. :)

and enjoy the ride!

rmnp

this was our 4th summer in colorado
and rob finally made it up to
Rocky Mountain National Park.

we stayed the night in Estes Park
after his tri
and then drove up into the park
to do some hiking and fishing.

still goofy after 30 years.

my parents hadn't hiked since our family vacation
to Yellowstone in 1998 (or something like that)
i had braces then, that's what i remember.

and my mom's last hiking experience was....
well, let's just say, she wasn't lovin' it.
and we caught it on video. HA!
but this time she did awesome!

it was quite the trek up to the lake,
so mom and dad decided to head back early to do some
reading and resting.


but the Robert Haudes and I
made it all the way up to Fern Lake.
the hike up was beautiful.
as was the view at the top.


we spent some time fishing.

yes, even I fished.
a little.
I like to cast.
and I even caught a fish!
rob and his dad spent a lot of time tying flies.
haha. they lost them or they didn't use the correct ones.
i think there was probably more fly tying than fly fishing.