A Beautiful Day with a Wonderful Boy

Pumpkin Patch

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Vacation with a Four Month Old

If you know us, you know we can be a little crazy. 

So you won't be surprised when I tell you that we just took a vacation with Joshua to Breckenridge, CO. 

Yes, yes--we are crazy. 

But to be completely honest, when I stop being overly dramatic and negative and look intstead at the positive, we had a wonderful time. 

Did I get a break from nursing? No. 

Did I vacation from nap schedules? No. 

Did I receive rest instead of sleepless nights? No. Not even close. 

But did I lounge in my pajamas? Yes. 

Did I giggle in bed with Josh instead of getting up to work? Yes. 

Did I take lots of walks in near perfect weather? Yes. 

Did I soak up sunshine with my smiley baby boy? Yes. 

Did I indulge in good food and lots of popcorn? Yes. 

Did Erik and I watch an entire season of Everwood? Yes. 

Did I start and finish two novels? Yes. 

Did I kick back with good friends and a glass of wine? Yes. 

Did I sing Patti Cake and Head & Shoulders multiple times just to make Josh smile? Yes. 

Did I stay off Facebook and the Internet for the whole week? Yes. 

Did I converse with my husband over coffee and Bibles? Yes. 

Did I vacation? 

YES!

I may be just as exhausted as when I left, but boy am I glad we went. Motherhood changes everything ... for the better.

Missed Meaning

Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending a concert at Red Rocks with Erik, Kelly and Mike. I am normally not a huge concert person, but I had actually looked forward to this one for some time: Switchfoot and Goo Goo Dolls. (Our last two concert experiences were not the best. re: Green Day and Blink 182.) However, this concert had many things going for it.

A. It was at Red Rocks. How can a concert NOT be good there?
B. I had studied the music for weeks prior. So I would be able to sing along. :P
C. I love Switchfoot.
D. I was with good friends.
E. Now being a Mom, this was a date night. Totally different level of appreciation for time alone now.

Switchfoot was everything I expected and more. What a great show! Finally, they played "Meant to Live".  It was, as expected, solid and emotionally charged. That song (that album really) instantly transports me back to Junior year of college, hanging out in the dorm, blasting music with my door open so as to be available for the many girls on my hall (I was a R.A.). 

As the chorus came around, the crowd was definitely into it. Arms in the air, hands swaying back and forth, the masses sang along:

We were meant to live for so much more ... have we lost ourselves?

Maybe we're bent and broken ...

We want more than this world's got to offer. 
We want more than this world's got to offer. 
We want more than the wars of our fathers.
And everything inside, screams for second life ....

We were meant to live for so much more ...

At 6,450 feet, in nature's greatest amphitheater, some 9,000 people, without even realizing it, were crying out to God. My heart broke as I watched literally hundreds of people in front of me reach up toward the heavens and proclaim these truths of life ... "We want more than this world's got to offer" ... and yet we all settle for what is offered by this world ... "And everything inside, screams for second life" ... and yet we apathetically live our first life without seeking out more.

It just struck me. So many people, singing these lyrics ... and most of them probably missing out on Christ. Missing out on the "so much more".  And then I look to myself, and know that even while, yes, I know Christ, I still settle for what "this world's got to offer" and forget that there really is so much more.

Opened My Eyes

Today I went on a walk with Josh, and I made the conscious choice to open my eyes.

Have you ever noticed the graceful dance of wild wheat? 

Or the delicate bend of a tall cottonwood?

The exuberant splash of a dog meeting water; the purposeful hop of a mama robin?

Have you paused to stare up at the clear blue sky, and count the puffs of cotton? 

Or truly enjoyed the music of gravel, noisily crunching underfoot?

The distant giggles of kids on bikes; the friendly smile of a passing stranger?

Have you stopped to notice the purple wild flowers trailing in the grass? 

Or the outline of mountains in the distance?

The ripples fading after a duck in the water; the silent sweep of a crane overhead? 

These are all the wonders I noticed, when I made the conscious choice to open my eyes. I praised the Lord for his majesty; His creativity dwarfs my own. Praise the Lord for nature, and the glory is brings to Him! Thank the Lord for nature, and the joy is brings to me. Praise the Lord!

Broncos Fever

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending my first Broncos football game--ever. Come to think of it, it was my first professional football experience as well.

Of course, I have a few things to say.

#1. A person really feels out of place at a Broncos game when not wearing any form of Broncos paraphernalia. However, I hate wearing orange, and I'm not even super fond of that particular shade of blue, so I wasn't feeling too sorry for myself. Maybe next time I'll just wear white; my pink shirt definitely stood out.

#2. As a pretty impartial observer (I don't really care about professional sports at all), I found the hoopla of it all fairly interesting. It would be fun to analyze all of the hype and try to better understand that crazed look in peoples' eyes when the mascot runs across the field. I think he looks silly, but apparently everyone else (i.e. Broncos fan) have some sort of incredible affinity for him.

#3. Ok, seriously--we wonder why these guys have egos? It's quite the spectacle just getting the players on the field. It's no wonder they think of themselves as pretty special. And I'm not saying they're not special (for all you sports nuts out there). I'm just making observations...

#4. Football is so much more exciting to watch than baseball. I never realized this before.

#5. I love my husband. Yes, this realization struck again. He was watching the cheerleaders and he said, "They all look so much alike ... they cancel each other out." Ha! Made my day.

#6. It's really easy to get caught up in the thrill of the game. Granted, the announcer said that yesterday's game was probably the most exciting one in Invesco's history thus far, but I also felt that even a dull game can draw people in and make them love football.

#7. I started the day as an impartial, slightly detached viewer. I moved into my usual position of observing, labeling, critiquing and analyzing. But, somehow, sometime, I crossed over. I may never purchase orange clothing, or get one of the "Broncos Country" bumper stickers, but I might just have had an awakening. Football is the quintessential American sport. It draws us together--no matter what our background, income, political views, ethnicity or status--and makes us a family. I now have a better appreciation for the American spectacle we all call football.

Lessons on the Mountain

Lessons on the Mountain

my musings while climbing Grays and Torreys

1. Look up--a metaphor for life. When hiking, it's ironic that we all stare at our feet when the whole point is to see God's creation. Just like with life, it's safer, and easier, to focus on the circumstances around my feet--the boulders, the cliffs, the snow--instead of looking up to soak in God's majesty. Look up in the face of fear, and enjoy the view!

2. This wife learned a lesson in support. Erik got a pretty bad case of altitude sickness and could barely climb. I stayed with him every step of the way, even though I could have finished much faster. At one point, I could see my mom and friends at the top of the peak, relaxing, chatting, eating.....It's amazing to me that I can be so selfish. I was actually annoyed at Erik for getting sick. But God pointed that out quickly, and I learned a lesson in selflessness.

3. I am a doer; I accomplish stuff. Cleaning? Done. Friendships? Done. Prayer? Done. Grad school? Check it off the list. Done. While hiking, (and being forced to stop and wait for Erik), I learned a lesson in pausing. Pausing to enjoy the beauty, instead of just "doing". It might take longer, it might even require more energy, but pausing to enjoy the view was the smartest thing I did that day on the mountain.

4. Lesson learned: Oxygen is important.

5. Our bodies are amazing. When my lungs are screaming, "Stop!", and my heart is beating faster than it ever has before, all my mind has to do is say, "Ignore the pain; you can do it", and I keep on going. God has given me an amazing machine to use, and it's so wonderful when I remember all that I am capable of--mentally and physically.

6. Mountains, whether real or metaphoric, are tough to climb. Without my mom, cheering me on, and commiserating with me, I never would have made it. And on the flip side, without Erik needing me, I might not have done as well. Life without friends--mountain climbing without support--I'm not sure how it's done. I guess it all comes back to this: It's all about community.

Lastly, and I quote my mom, "Climbing a 14er is like childbirth--in the midst of it, you think 'never again!', but a year later, it's easy to forget the pain, and easy to remember the view."

Thanks goodness the pain fades, and all I remember is the amazing feeling of accomplishment, the lessons I learned and, of course, the breathtaking views of God's endless majesty.

The Rodeo

The Wild Wild West. Apparently, that's where I live, though I choose to deny it. I've never been much for the open plains...I'm more of a city/suburban girl. Oh, I enjoy a jaunt with a horse once every few years, but that's about all. Boots, spurs, horses and cattle just aren't my thing.

Until tonight.

I may be a City Girl, but I'm a City Girl who likes to be able to say that I've experienced my city. And, in all honesty, a large part of Colorado as a whole is the Wild Wild West. And so, in an attempt to better understand a large piece of the culture we live in, Erik and I went to our first Rodeo--The Greeley Stampede.

1. The first thing we noticed about the Greeley Stampede is the amount of qualifiers in their tagline. "The World's Largest 4th of July Rodeo and Western Celebration". Does that mean there are 4th of July rodeos that might be bigger? Or larger western celebrations that aren't on the 4th? Just curious....

2. Second, I seriously felt as if I had been transported into the movie "Big" as we wandered through the carnival area. I never did find the fortune telling head machine that made Tom Hanks "Big"....Kind of bummed about that.

3. Thirdly, which I wasn't super surprised about having spent high school in Brighton CO, we noticed that another language was being spoken--and I'm not talking about Spanish. Cowboy-ese, I guess they'd call it. Wait, it wasn't even the cowboys. It was the people who came to watch the cowboys...so, Cowboy-fan-ese?

4. Mutton busting is the most hilarious thing I have ever seen.

5. Bull riding is awesome...when the bull riders stay on the bulls. I know it sucks more for them than for us, but wow--what disappointment. The announcers spend 4 1/2 minutes building the crowd up, telling us about these famous cowboys, how many trophies they've won, how awesome they are...and then they fall off.

All in all, the rodeo was a fun experience. Well, fun might not be the right word. Culturally eye opening might be. It was somewhat intriguing, satisfied my low-level of curiosity, and the best part of all, I can say I've done it. Which means, I won't have to do it again.

To each his own, and this was not "my own".