#5

It's been 16 days since Aunt Na's accident & I am still blown away by the amount of people praying, sending well wishes, asking how they can help....it's been incredible.  She still has a long road to recovery,  but every day there is progress.  To God be the glory.

In January, I started writing about my Top 10 memories from 2013.  So naturally my #5 memory is one that has to do with my #1 Auntie. 

I think it was the summer I turned 12.  I'm almost positive that was the year I had my first Yosemite camping experience.  My family...I mean my Dad...doesn't really camp.  And when I say camp, I mean tents-sleeping-bags-thin-air-mattresses-1-shower-a-week kinda camping.  The only kind of camping there is, really.

So growing up we were deprived of this privilege.  I have no idea what bet my Dad lost to end up sleeping in a tent for a week, but I'm so glad he did!  Somehow, Aunt Na got our family to commit to camping with her in beautiful Yosemite...and that summer literally started the best tradition our family has.

Our camping group has grown over the years...extended family, grandparents, friends-who-are-like-family, high school friends, college roomies...now that we kids are grown up, we bring our spouses & kids....anyone is welcome, you just can't complain about the dirt. Or the tents.  Or the bugs.  Or the no make-up or showers for a week. 

Going to Yosemite is always a highlight of my year.  Especially now that I get to take Steve.  The first couple years, he wasn't really into it.  Then he learned how to relax & now he loves it!  And we've been taking Claire since she was 5 weeks old.  Just this morning on the way to school, she was asking how long until we get to go...& I love that she still calls it "Yo-Somebody."

After asking how many days til we get to go, she said, "Maybe we shouldn't go this year until Aunt Na gets all better.  She loves to go rock climbing & she might not feel good enough to do that yet."

Yep.  She said it.  What we've all probably been thinking, but don't really want to say out loud.  Yo-Somebody wouldn't be the same without Aunt Na.  She's the most fun to bike with, hike with, cook burgers with, night bike ride with, raft down the river with, play games at night with.  She knows all the best hikes, wild-life areas, cool shortcuts, best fly-fishing spots.  She's the one we all fight to spend time with.  She's the one who makes it a point to spend time with each of us, teaching us, laughing with us, snuggling with us, laughing with us, jumping off bridges into the freezing river with, LAUGHING with us.  She's seriously the best.

Yes, we may still go to Yosemite this year.  And yes, we'll still have fun.  We'll still bike, hike, swim, sleep-in, read, make foil dinners, fish, sleep in tents, not shower, & explore.  And hopefully Aunt Na will get to go, too.  Because it wouldn't be the same without her.  She's the one who made that part of our lives what it is today.  She's made it so important for our family to have our thing we do every year.  She's been the one to go the extra mile & find ways to make it extra special & make everyone feel like sleeping on the ground is the best thing ever.

There are still so many unknowns when it comes to Aunt Na's future.  We're praying hard for a full recovery.  But that just might not be a part of God's Plan for her life.  Yosemite might not be the same kind of trip it's been for the last 23 years.  And so I'm holding on to these memories with all my heart....

#6

I've made a list of my Top 10 favorite memories from 2013, & my number 6 goes well beyond just one memory and one year.  It is something I'm still experiencing weekly.

At the beginning of 2013, I told the Lord I wanted to be READY for any and all things He was going to do in my life that year.  At the beginning of the year, I had a very specific list of things I told Him I was ready for.  But as the year went on, I began to see ways He wanted me to be ready...ways I was not completely prepared for.

One thing we began to pray about last February was what school(s) should we consider for Claire.  There are so many options here in San Diego...our neighborhood school, Christian school, home school, home school part-time go to school part-time, charter school...it was a bit overwhelming.  As I began to research, I started to realize that if I continue my job in full-time church ministry, I would be on a completely different schedule than Claire!  I'd be working on the weekends when she'd be off from school.  Summers were always a hectic time in children's ministry, which is when Claire would be home from school.

Steve & I began to pray harder about what we should do.  There's a part of me that would love to stay home & home school, but I knew we weren't ready for that.  Teaching was something I had done for 4 years before Claire was born & I'd always said I'd love to go back to it when all our kids were school age.  Well, since we haven't been able to have any more kids, I decided to start looking into going back to teaching.

Long story short, I got hired at the school where I'd previously taught, Literacy First Charter School, annnndddd...Claire got into one of the kindergarten classes!  Her teacher, Mrs. Todd, and I used to teach 3rd grade together for 3 years and I've always just LOVED her!

I am so overwhelmed with God's goodness to our family in this way.  I never take for granted the fact that I get to be on the same campus as Claire every day and be home with her on her days off.  With Steve's schedule always different and changing, this is our constant.

I love that Claire comes to my classroom during her breaks and that my students know her..."Hi Claire!" they all say when she comes in.  She pretends to be embarrassed, but loves the attention from the big kids!  Her classroom is the next hallway over from mine, when she goes to after school care, she's 2 doors down from my classroom.  I've been able to watch her grow and develop her friendship and I'm so proud of the friend choices she's making.  She's become so confident in who she is as a person, and I've been able to watch it all first hand!

I don't know how long the Lord will keep us in this place, but for now it's good.  And I'm so grateful.

#7

It's fun looking back at my Top 10 memories of 2013.  But it's also so hard to choose!  God has been so good to us and so to narrow it down to 10 memories is really difficult.  2013 will definitely be one of those years that I look back on with a lot of gratitude & thankfulness in my heart.

2013 was a fun year for the hubs & I.  Since he works in production...lighting, staging, & set design...going to concerts has always been something we've loved to do together.  So when we had the opportunity to go see Justin Timberlake & Jay Z, we jumped at the chance!  I took the night off work & we drove up to the Rose Bowl...us and half a million other people!

These were the seats we payed for....

...these are the seats Steve got us upgraded to...it's good to have friends in high places....

So much talent on one stage...it was such a fun night!  And even more fun to spend it with my Babe!

Steve's favorite band of all time is Match Box Twenty...I know, so 1998.  But he LOVES them...actually, he loves Rob Thomas.  So when we had the opportunity to go see them in concert, we couldn't pass it up!  It was the 2 of us, 2 friends of Steve's, who also love Matchbox, & a bunch of 40 & 50-somethings.  Awesome!  But we had a great time.

We've already purchased tickets for 3 concerts this year! I can't wait! 

#9

So I'm not putting my Top 10 Favorite Things From 2013 in any specific order.  Because if I was, this would def be in my top 3.  But I really wanted to blog about it now, so I am!

I'm so thankful for our friends...Chad, Amie, & Tins. 

Chad & Steve were college BFF's & roomies.  Amie & I worked in ministry together at our church.  We've been in each others weddings, thrown showers for each other, traveled...and now we get to be families together.  Our girls adore each other, and I'm so thankful for that.  Their friendship is funny...just over 2 years apart, they don't always know how to "be" together.  But the love & friendship are there.  We've all got "it" for each other.  And it just works. It's awesome.  And I feel so blessed.

 I love that my BFF & sisters love each other.

 This is just one pic Claire took of T during their photoshoot together.

 

 Super awkward...but we do this a lot.  And I love it.

2013 was a good year for our friendship.  I am SO excited about some of the things we have planned for 2014 together...hopefully one of those things is finally going on a trip!! We love you BeMents!

#10

So I thought it would be fun to do a "Top 10" of my favorites from 2013.  I went through all my photos from last year, & I seriously could do a Top 20!  But I thoughtfully narrowed it down to 10. 

Ok...so #10...would have to be reconnecting with my girlfriends from high school.  We proudly represent the class of 1997.  Part way through 2013 we got together & decided to make it a habit.  We seriously have so much fun....4 girls with completely different lives, beliefs, perspectives, relationships, family situations, jobs, hobbies, habits. 

But we all serve one God.  That's what keeps our hearts connected.  

That and the fact that we all have some high school dirt on each other.  Nothing worse than that!!  It does provide a lot of good laughs though.

Unlike Leah, I love these girls enough to NOT put up high school pics.  Oh my...we thought we were the coolest...but now we know we've arrived. ;)

Plus, I have no idea where my high school pics are...hallelujah!

I'm so thankful for this group...and each of these individuals.  There's just something about a friend who's known you for 17 years...including those awful high school years!  We've seen each other at our best & worst, and still choose to love & like each other.  I'm so thankful the Lord kept these ladies in my life...looking forward to seeing what the next 17 years brings!