Magnificent Spring Break Monday

It is SPRING BREAK. We are filling the week with lots of activity. 

Nolan and Alex are working. Alex is busy trying to get caught up, and ahead, with school work.  Stacia and Alex have work samples due on Monday, the 15th. All of Alex's work and grades for the year are due May 1st.

Us gals started the week off with a breakfast meeting at Sophia's. Arielle and Stacia are going to have a table at the upcoming Bella sale to highlight Monat and Alaskan Happy Hats.  They met to discuss their table and shop for supplies. Krista, Benny and I joined them.

Impressed with the cinnamon atop my chai

 We checked out a couple of thrift stores.

Krista and Stacia needed to duck out to get on with the 2nd part of their day....Arielle, Benny, and I made a quick run to the library.

It was snowing all day - but the youth had plans. They decided to do a variety of local activities this year, rather than a youth winter conference. Today, they climbed to the top of Bodenburg Butte - in a snow storm. It was a fine and pleasant misery. 

Pastor Krista 

Go, Stacia. 

 The group at the top - they are NOT on the edge....

Stacia, Jesse, Evan, Josiah, Allie 

 They SLID down the Butte and it made for a much quicker descent than the ascent. Note the depth of the snow on the posts. They are sitting on ice-encrusted steps. 

Success! Back at the trail-head

They showed up at our house for hot chocolate, showers, and to change into wedding attire. All that in an hour - quite impressive. 

Quite the change in an hour! 

 We loaded everyone into our van and raced for the church. We arrived before the start of Ethan and Stacy's wedding.  The wedding was sweet, simple, and timeless.  There was a 2 hour break between the end of the ceremony and the start of the reception. We went with the D family and Mark and Mona to a local cafe for dinner. It was fun to fit that bit of community into the day. The kids kept our conversation lively with stories of their afternoon adventure.

The reception was in a beautifully decorated, historic train depot. We love this couple and are honored to be a part of their story - we enjoyed pre-marital counseling with them.

 I think we cleaned up well. None of us had worn dress up clothes since moving to Alaska. ::snort:: 

Michael and Stacia

Michael and Krista 

Michael and Me

It was a great first day of spring break filled with family time, youth adventures, a romantic wedding, table community, and a fun reception to top it all off.

Resurrection Garden Growing

It's growing. We may need to give it a trim soon. 

I MUST go dig in the snow and find a big rock to close our "tombs." Bella reminds me of this each time I see her. It will be fairly easy to grab some twigs to form crosses from our trees....

Paper Adventures

Our paper delivery man has been interesting in the choice of daily placement of the paper. I've had to call numerous times as the paper is simply not present - or has possibly sunk in a snow drift.

He's taken to throwing it down the driveway or leaving it on the snowdrift in front of the box...either is fine.  We never know if we'll find a paper when I go to get it each day.

This morning....two papers! 

Stacia Encounters Dissections

I don't understand it 100%. I remember being squeamish about dissections in high school. All of the girls have been. I didn't expect it with Stacia! 

We're Alaskans now. We process salmon, moose...

Wait! You were there when we gutted and cleaned 65 salmon this year...you are worried about cutting open one worm? 

She recovered like a pro and found it interesting. 

Into the life of each homeschooling Freshman a little biology must enter.

Lazy Saturday

It was a somewhat lazy Saturday around here.

The men around here tend to sleep in. Dad thought today was Sunday and was up at the crack of dawn to get ready. I explained it was Saturday and suggested he join me for a workout. I encourage this often.

Go, Dad! 

Stacia is interested in learning how to decorate cakes. Does anyone local do this? She has a book and Youtube.... She's been buying pans, tips and such and today decided to give her idea a go.... not bad for a first try and it tasted great. I had a small bite.

The top is especially cute

In the future Stacia plans  to send her practice cakes to BreZaak's weekly church potlucks at Alive Alaska.

While everyone else hunkered down at home I drove across town to a BRIDAL SHOWER!

A bonus is that it was held in Ed and Jennifer's new home and I got a tour. What a beautiful home and setting.

Some people are just fun gift receivers. 

Connection

There used to be a local Friday morning Gather Bible study. We no longer have a study in this time period. We now have one evening study.  When the change was made, I decided to be intentional about making Friday mornings available for "coffee" dates, one on one relational building. It feeds my spirit. NOW - I've often switched Friday to Tuesday or had two or three dates in a week - but I found time in the schedule to connect. This was needed.

Last night I was offered the opportunity to take a quiz to determine my natural rhythm of renewal (Rebekah Lyons book). I was promised the discovery of my most natural rhythm of renewal...rest, restore, connect, or create.  I read the list and knew connect is my natural rhythm. I have enjoyed this year of having ONE local study and extra time for personal connection. More than "enjoying" it, it has fed my soul and kept burn out at bay. Connection feeds my soul as much as rest, but I've learned rest has other important benefits so I make time for it too....I have this book on my shelf to read and am interested in hearing her thoughts about resting, renewal, connecting and creating.

Today, I connected at Crema and then ran errands.  Somewhere along the way I realized I'd not had breakfast or lunch.

I made this revelation while picking up a few groceries and getting a  "loan" of meds for Dad as the pharmacy continues to unwind the maze of referrals. 

Michael texted and asked if I would like a Southwest salad. WHAT? I love the McDonald's Southwest salad. I do. Alex had suggested they stop and pick one up for me after Michael and he finished their study.  Look at God and my men taking care of me.

I pulled into the driveway right behind them and was happily eating a fresh salad (without cheese) within minutes.

The boys stopped over. We had a nice visit. We ate pizza. They took Cody home.

I didn't take a single photo that would go well with this blog post.  I did take THIS photo....a new batch of kombucha bottled, another batch getting started. I suppose this new hobby/skill was born of connection. Sandy, whom I connect with,  is the one who started me with a scoby and answers my relentless questions...so maybe this is a good photo for this post afterall. ::snort::

Thursdays....Friday is coming....

It seems fitting to discuss hungering and thirsting for righteousness while one is eating out.  I am enjoying Stacia's insights.  It was a good thing to have our study, Gather, and Bible Babes all move to the same study.  This was a good week of focus....so much to consider. I continue to ask God to "increase my appetite for Jesus," quite often...and the 20/20 challenge is in full swing with the ladies of our church. 20 minutes of a spiritual discipline and 20 moments throughout the day to focus on God.  Both practices have been helpful in increasing my hunger for Jesus.

We were running late today for our Bible Study....we were made later when we pulled into the parking lot and realized I didn't have my purse with me. Um....not only did I not have a license,but no way to pay for drinks...we drove back home, grabbed the purse, and started again. We decided instead of driving out to Sophia's we'd find a place downtown. We like Vagabonds - but it is not the best place to try to have a Bible study....there are times people hover around the table waiting to snatch it. At Sophia's, we are always welcomed with smiles and given just the right balance of service and privacy. LOL 

We opted for Turkey Red - Stacia's choice.  It's much closer. Dad's comment when I took him there for pie and coffee last summer was, "It takes more than high prices to make a fancy restaurant." ::snort:: Michael doesn't like it as the one time we went we had two ladies sitting arm distance away from us griping about their church, children and husband through our entire mealtime. C'mon ladies!!!!

We discovered today the prices for the food and drinks really aren't different than anywhere else around here. The expensive items are the desserts - $6-8 an item...but WE aren't eating sugar. We decided they do this to encourage the idea that sweets are a luxury. ::wink:: It IS nice they use local produce, local Kombucha, have many vegetarian and vegan options, and have good meat-lover options too. 

We arrived at 10 - after the breakfast rush, before the lunch rush - and we were the only ones in this section. It worked for today. 

I do think Stacia had the better meal option...but I don't want to do syrup...or a lot of carbs.  The Vegan crepe below had carbs..but it was made from beans and rice and I didn't have any urge to put syrup over it...the veggies are all 0 points...I chose to eat 1/4 cup of the potatoes and counted those....a filling, low point breakfast. Stacia didn't like her non-fat Greek yogurt and it was exactly what I needed to spice up my meal. It's another 0 point food on WW.

It didn't seem  very cold today. The sun was shinning bright! However, once we got down to town...it was WINDY...like 50 mph gusts, snow swirling in the road, and stinging your face and eyes. It was difficult to run errands.  The door slammed shut twice as I tried to get into the car...that kind of wind. Miserable. I turned down a side road directly into big piles of snow the wind had deposited in the middle of the road...when I turned the other direction the roads were clear. It was fascinating to watch (and feel)  the wind patterns.

I was amazed once again to get home, open the car door and discover NO WIND up here. We do get wind - but nothing like the towns.  In fact, it was toasty warm inside our home. Check it out. 

Michael has perfected the use of the wood stove. He has little thermometer that helps him keep the heat where it needs to be to efficiently heat our home. He keeps it close to 70*...I have noticed it getting warmer and warmer lately and finally realized Dad is also feeding the fire. We were up to 82*, Dad was in shorts and taking off his shirt, Michael was opening the window and I gleefully pointed out it is not just "me" who was hot. LOL  For those who worry about us being cold, there is nothing as satisfying as wood heat on a cold winter day. I appreciate all the work Michael, the boys, and Dad do to keep it stoked.

Thursdays are BUSY....our Bible study, piano lesson for Stacia, Japanese lesson for both kids, prepping for Life Group, dinner is always by 5 these days as most evenings have something going on, and Life Group begins at 6:30.

I only had time for 45 minutes of a workout this morning and really wanted to fit in at least another 15 minutes.  Alex finished cleaning up dinner dishes so Stacia and I could run Cody out for a quick walk before Life Group.  20 more minutes....slower than our best times, but ok with slippery roads and wind.  It was a win simply to fit in more active minutes. We don't get much vitamin D on these walks - certainly aren't exposing 30% of our bodies. We do love having sun at this time of day! Gone are the 3 p.m. sunsets.

The Husky in Cody comes out on these walks. He does NOT want anyone to catch up to him - he must be the lead dog...we're happy to let him lead.

This morning there was one long piece of grace in our Resurrection Garden.  By dinner time we had THIS. This is the first one of the three to start sprouting. The directions said to spray it every morning, but we found it impossible to keep the ground moist that way.  Michael suggested soaking the rocks and spraying the top mound with the bottle.

I still haven't found twigs to make crosses...or large stones...but I plan to find time in the near future to dig under the snow and find such things so we can finish this. For now, it's enough to have the something green growing. LOL