In Memory of My Grandpa

Yesterday marks 2 years that the Lord called my Grandpa to be home in heaven with Him. I have such mixed feelings of my grandpa being gone. On one hand I miss him terribly and wish he were here to say "Goodnight Sweetie" to me every night and watch The Andy Griffith Show with. But on the other hand I know that in heaven he is having a wonderful time. He has a new perfect body and is loving being in the presence of the Lord. 

My grandpa was a really neat guy. Not everyone knew that. He was very quiet. But those who knew him well knew how great he was. He loved is wife and would do anything for her. He loved his children and showed great pride in his grandchildren. He worked hard, and I mean hard, all of his life. He was dedicated to his church. He loved music. And he loved to laugh. It was so fun to see him full on laughing and wiping tears from his eyes. But really even his chuckle and shaking of the head was worth the effort. 

Even to the end of his life those character traits showed. He was a wonderful example of what a husband, father, and friend should be like. 

I'm especially missing him right now. He was a die-hard Cubs fan. And he would be so thrilled to see his Cubbies in the World Series tonight. I'd like to think that he is in heaven cheering them on, but in all honesty I think he's enjoying the Lord more than he would his baseball team right now. So, in loving memory of him I will don his favorite Cubs hat this week and cheer on his team! 

I love you, Grandpa, and miss you dearly! 

Go Cubs Go! 

Flight Over Wisconsin!

If I ever say that my life here in Wisconsin is boring then I am a big-old-liar! I've experienced so many things here that I don't think I ever would have done before! Today a cousin of mine took me for a ride in his airplane. IT WAS SO FUN!! I wasn't nervous about flying with him. I was more afraid of it being bumpy and feeling sick. But it wasn't bumpy at all. He even let me fly for a few seconds!! How cool is that?! He tried scaring me a few times with sharp turns (which he warned me about right before each one) but I wasn't scared. He told me after that I am fearless. :) I totally have an adrenaline rush from it! I saw my house, church, school, several homes of people I know, and the my grandpa's lake! We even went far enough that we could see Lake Michigan.
The fall leaves looked incredible from the sky! That was the main reason I asked him if I could go with him. And I wasn't disappointed! I'm so glad that God allows us experiences like that to see His amazing creation! God's love for me is so great! 

So...Much...Fun!!!

 

Ouch That Hurt

Seriously, people.
Be careful what words come out of your mouth!
Words can hurt.
Words can sting.
Words can stay with you for a looooonnnnngggg time.

Just 1 sentence out of your mouth can make or break someone's day.

Clearly this happened to me recently.

There are people like me who overthink the words that come out of my mouth and others who don't think at all about what comes out. There has to be a balance.

But unfortunately there will always be people whose words just eat at you. Regretfully I've been the one to sting another with my words before. And I hate how I feel afterwards.

The hard thing is that there are some people who just don't know how their words make people feel. They have no clue.

What do you do? How do you respond? Do the words roll off your back? Do you confront them or just walk away?

I pray.
Ask a friend to pray.
And find something to do to distract me from the sting of the words.

40x40 - Cubs' game CHECK!

It just occurred to me that I can cross something off my 40x40 list!! 

This summer I went to a Cubs game! It was such a fun game! Of course I was rooting for my SF Giants. But I also was thinking so much of my Grandpa while I was there. He would have loved that I had been to that game. He LOVED the Cubbies! A good friend of mine got of free tickets to the game so we had a fun weekend in Chicago right before school started.

Bring on the Chapstick!

It's beginning to be that time of year again.
The time of year when I have a chapstick everywhere. My purse, desk, bathroom, nightstand, and pocket of every coat I could possibly wear. I should buy stock in chapstick. Once it starts getting cool and dry here my lips dry out. Now my problem is that I need to find all of the ones I had last year and put them where I need them. Hmmm...what purse did I use last year?
On a completely different note, I have been feeling so thankful lately. All summer long I feel like I was having a pity party about friends. 2 years ago I moved away from my close friends and over the last year 2 of my closest friends in Wisconsin moved away. And I was really feeling sorry for myself. But you know what, just this week God has been showing me how incredibly blessed I am. I really do have so many friends here. It's different now, because I don't have one super close friend that I hang out with almost all week, but I have friends! A couple friends have been so great and started inviting me to go and do things with their families or even just hang out with them in the evenings. I had that in California, but hadn't had here until now. So thankful for these friendships! God is so good to me!

Baby Quilt #?

Working on a pretty cute quilt if I might say myself! Just have to finish up the binding then it will be ready to send off to a sweet new little baby! I love the color combo on this one! I really do love quilting. I'm not a perfectionist like most quilters. My corners aren't all perfectly lined up. But you have to look pretty close to notice it. AND I'm very proud of myself (!), except for the backing and binding, I used all fabric that I had on hand! Yay! All that collecting of fabric has paid off for this quilt!

Here we go again!

I'm not too thrilled with how I've been taking care of my body lately. I've been eating everything and anything. And I feel awful! I'm afraid to step on the scale because I know I've gained at least 5 pounds and I'm afraid it is more than that. I'm trying to be better about using my treadmill at night which is good, but I haven't been consistent yet. I'm ready for a change!
Starting tonight (after I run to the grocery store) I'll be starting my Whole30 diet again. I felt so good when I was following that diet. It definitely takes a lot of time, but it is so worth it!  It's time I felt that good again. My lunch is not following it because I was out of town for the weekend so I still need to get a few things from the store. But once I get to the store there will be no more sugar, no more gluten, no more beans, and no more dairy.
I know I can do this!
NO excuses!