Really great song!!

Just Showed Up

by Sara Groves and Joel Hanson

Spending my time sleep walking
Moving my mouth but not saying a thing
Hoping the changes would take by working their way from the outside in
I was in love with an idea
Preoccupied with how a life should appear
Spending my time at the surface repairing the holes in the shiny veneer

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's finally clear and it changes our lives

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

Oh the glory of God is man fully alive
Oh the glory of God is man fully alive

There are so many ways to hide
There are so many ways not to feel
There are so many ways to deny what is real

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

You can go here to find out more about this great artist.

Did you know?????

When you get stung by a bee, you can put yellow mustard (yes, the hotdog kind!) on it and the mustard will make it stop stinging!! I couldn't believe it, but it worked. My friend Susan said that it worked for her once, and Maddie agreed because...

the poor little thing got stung by a yellow jacket at the pool today on her back. It got her twice! She cried VERY loud at first, but was then very brave. She has a pretty red spot on her back, but the mustard (and the grape popsicle!) helped. When we got home I put some hydrocortisone cream on it. with a cure all band - aid. This is her 4th sting - I can't believe they keep getting her.

By the way, just to make sure Susan was a truth teller :), I googled mustard and bee stings and sure enough... www.tipnut.com
had mustard as a standard for treating the sting.

Bucket List time

I've ALWAYS wanted to do a white- water raft trip; in fact it has been one of the things on my "list" to do before I die. BUT... I have been really afraid to do it. I don't know why... mostly because I didn't know how, but I was afraid of the water, of falling out of the raft, of hitting my head on something, of drowning. Well, on Saturday, I DID IT! Patrick and I went on a raft trip down in Buena Vista, CO on the Arkansas River in Brown's Canyon. It was SO much fun. I was really nervous (see above listed fears) as we were getting ready to get on the boat, and as we started out, but as the trip progressed I began to relax and enjoy myself. It helped to have Patrick with me, as well as a lady who sat beside me cracking jokes the whole time, and to top that off a very good guide named Sam. None of my fears came to pass, and even getting wet was welcome as my wet-suit and splash jacket had made me a little bit warm. The lunch that we ate was the best lunch I've ever had. We were pretty hungry as we were working really hard paddling. I was so happy that I finally did this. I told Patrick that I want to go again and again!!
He thought that sounded fine :).

The reason that we were gone from home was that we were celebrating our 5th anniversary. The 2 of us had a very nice time together. We relaxed and talked and ate good food and enjoyed being by ourselves. We were blessed to be able to leave Michael and Meredith with our sweet babysitter and friend Vicki - she is such a gift to our family. We would not have been able to go if it weren't for her. Marky and Maddie were gone for the weekend at their dad's house. So, all of this made our trip possible, and I am so glad. I really need to "get away". We camped at a really great campground called "Chalk Creek Campground". It was clean and had LOTS of amenities such as showers, ice, wood, clean toilets. We want to take the kids back because they would have enjoyed it a lot. It was right on the river and had a nice playground as well.

Both Patrick and I feel so blessed for what we have in our marriage and in our family. It hasn't come without the hard stuff, but our lives are overflowing with good things and we are thankful. On to year 6!!!