My Beautiful People

This is a sort of prose 'poem' I composed off the top of my head this afternoon. I was thinking about how beautiful people are, how detailed and exquisite God's craftsmanship is, and how it blesses me to look at it, and I just started writing about (some of) the beautiful people I know. I wrote about some of them as they are now, and about some of them as I have known them and as I know they can be again.

{Aug. 10th Note: I have edited and added to how it was originally; below is the edited version. And I will most likely continue to add to it in coming weeks - I know many beautiful people :) ! There is not necessarily a particular order, though I have tended to edit related people to be in groups. The paragraphs mostly just flowed from pictures of people I love that popped randomly into my mind's vision.}

"My Beautiful People"

I love how people are so beautiful.

I love Mrs. S's hair, flecked with a bare sprinkle of silver,
how it falls in a dark wing above her forehead.
I love how her words are always soft
but always significant.
How she tilts her head
and makes everyone who talks to her feel like
they are special.

I love how Austin's grin is worth a million dollars.
I love the little wrinkles at the corners of his eyes
and how he is one of the greatest examples of humility and undemonstrative compassion I have ever known.
How his eyes are sometimes contented green,
sometimes quiet caramel,
and sometimes snapping black.
How his thick hair is that dark gold color,
and how he absently plays with that lock in the front when he's thinking.

I love how Ava's brilliant deep blue eyes fill up half her face
and how her huge smile fills the other half.
How she braids a strand of her hair away from her face sometimes,
and how she ducks her head and does this awkward sort of dance up to you
when she wants a hug.
I love how perfect she is for Austin.
I love how understanding she is,
how easy to talk to,
and how she's the one I think of when I have a desire to do something really wacky or childish,
knowing she'd understand perfectly
and would probably do it with me.

I love how Bro. Dennis's laugh fills him up
and fills the room up
and fills the listeners up
so that they want to laugh too, even if they don't know what's going on.
I love his caramel eyes
and brown hair
and sideburns.
How he's so square and stocky.
I love how he cocks his head and glares at you with his eyebrows way up, when you've done something without thinking and he wants to call your attention to it, but in a teasing way.
I love how he thinks about everything, analyzing it until it's broken down and he can look at all it's parts
and then show them to someone else in a way that they can understand it.

I love how gentle-faced
and dignified Mrs. Carrie is.
How slim and tall she stands,
and how she can get from one spot to another quickly, but never appears to be hurrying.
How quietly elegant her style is.
I love her silky hair
and how it falls to her shoulders with gentle waves towards the bottom.
I love her dark-honey eyes
that observe keenly,
and speak volumes if you have the eyes to listen.

I love Oliver's passion,
his dreamer's heart.
How his grin could light up a dungeon
and how his black eyes squint when he is really smiling,
or get big when he's passionately trying to describe or get a point across.
How his black hair and tan skin make him look great in white.

I love Toby's humility,
his resilience,
and his quiet passion for the spread of the Gospel.
I love his blue eyes and dark blond hair,
his kind smile,
and the way he coins phrases or starts using already-invented ones in such a way that use of the expression seems to spread and become part of the every-day vocabulary of most who know him.
I love how devoted he is to Lindy,
how respectful he is of her,
and yet how they goof off and tease each other almost like siblings might.

I love Lindy's powder-blue eyes.
How healthy and gentle her face is.
I love how she's so powerful,
but so lady-like.
How she bends over backwards to make
the others in the situation feel comfortable.

I love Mrs. Renae's deep brown hair
and how it has red-ish highlights.
I love how when she's laughing,
her left eye squints just a little bit.
I love how she rejoices in life like a child might.
How she worships the Lord like no one else is watching,
or like the whole world is.
How she dresses so classy,
and modestly too.

I love how deep 'my brown-eyed boy's eyes are,
and how deep his voice is,
though he is so young.
I love how his hair is such a rich dark brown -
almost black.
How great he looks in dark teal.
How polite he is.
How, when he laughs, it's a squeak deep in his throat;
how it contrasts with his speaking voice.
I love how he gets in 'beast mode' when there's a job to do -
how his focus narrows so that he gives his best to do his part.

I love Piper's freckles,
her round-ish face,
her piercing eyes,
that are so wise.
I love her meek and quiet spirit,
her calm sensibility.
How she stands at an angle and looks at the ground ahead of you and sort of leans toward you with her near arm out just a little, when she wants a hug.
How when she wears her glasses,
she looks even cuter. And sortof scholarly.
How she is the perfect size to hug and prop my cheek on the top of her head,
but how she will probably end up taller than I am.

I love how Abigail is so brown and healthy-looking
from all the time she spends outside.
How she sometimes sweeps a little of her hair away from her face on either side in a sortof vintage style.
How she closes her eyes and then sweeps her head to face you and opens them dramatically when she's making a point.
I love how she blinks and sniffs at the same time,
how it wrinkles her nose and shows off her freckles
and her lovely eyelashes at the same time,
but how she doesn't even know she's doing it.
I love how she's always got a pun or corny joke to share.
How her giggle sounds light and free and pure.

I love Law's eyes; that amazing summer-forest color - a patch of sky, a few leaves, a glimpse of loamy earth.
How his light brown hair sweeps across his forehead like his mom's does.
I love how tall and broad-shouldered he's getting to be,
how brown he is from working outside in the sun all the time.
I love how when he smiles it lights up his whole being,
how his eyes get big and round and excited.
How fun-loving he is,
and yet, how responsible
and serious he can be when it counts.
I love how the joy of the Lord seems to fill him up
and pour out of him to bless and admonish others in his life.

I love Archer's sharp brown eyes, one of only two pairs I've ever known that could truly be said to 'twinkle',
how he smirks when he finds something amusing,
making that slight dimple come out in his cheek.
How he rocks back on the chair legs when he laughs, his chuckles starting as a squeak in his throat, his eyes squinting, and his nose wrinkling up.
How carefully and yet unknowingly he lifts a wing of dark almost-black hair away from his eyes with his fingertips, or rakes his hand through the top and pats it down.
His biting sarcasm that he then softens with a smirk and a twinkle as he cuts his eyes slyly at the victim.
His heart for service,
and how he doesn't back down from his decision unless presented with what he considers intelligent, compelling reasons.

I love how Julia's so pert, almost sassy,
in the way she teases her friends;
how her rude comments (that probably no one else could get away with) are her way of showing her friendship,
and how she hurries to assure you she was joking, even though you already knew she was.
How frank and honest you can count on her to be.
I love how naturally scrunchy/curly her blond hair is.
I love how she's the queen of crazy faces,
how she can make this bug-eyed stare and hold it long after you've given up staring back and are doubled over laughing.
I love those brilliant blue eyes of hers,
how she uses them with her fine blond eyebrows and
how she tilts and moves her head to be so expressive.
I love how she and Autumn (not being related at all) can be such close friends that they're like sisters.

I love Autumn's naturally scrunchy light brown hair,
her almond-shaped dark brown eyes,
how her smile shows how straight and white and perfect her teeth are,
and makes her dimples come out.
I love how she's not very tall,
but is so athletic
and sturdy.
How she doesn't brag,
but her talents just randomly come out when they're needed
and everyone thinks, "Wow."

I love Camille's strength,
not only physically,
but inside too.
How tall she is.
How thick and rich her brown hair is
and how it can get so long so fast.
I love how bright her green eyes are
and how clear and bright her complexion is
when she doesn't wear make up
and her hair is up out of her face.
How she seems so brusque
and almost tough,
but is really such a softie.

I love Bro. Mike's gray-ish hair
and short goatee
and slightly pointed ears
that earned him the nick-name, The Garden Gnome.
I love his kind blue eyes,
his short stocky build,
and how he believes in hard work
and in doing your best.
His wise,
calm,
loving,
understanding spirit.

I love Landon's good-natured spirit.
How he is the image of country-boy charm,
with his work boots, faded jeans, worn t-shirt (or button-up with the sleeves rolled up), and white-and-blue ball cap.
How that white-and-blue cap is almost as much a part of him as his name is!
How round his brown eyes are
and how high his eyebrows get when he's telling about one of the adventures that seem to constantly seek him out.
The air of hospitality,
kindness,
gladness,
and friendliness
that is part of his character.

I love how courageous Bro. Earl is,
how he can narrow his vision so that he can focus on the job at hand, and shut out the rest of life's difficulties for the time being.
I love how he always has a complement,
a joke,
or a pleasant remark
for whoever he runs into.
I love how he's so squarely built,
how he stays in shape even though his job is not one that requires much physical activity.
How his style is both relaxed and yet classic.
How he always has time to talk,
and how he will tell you if he doesn't have the answer,
but will try to help you find it.
How he's a preacher, a pastor, but he's just a regular guy too,
he's not hight-and-mighty,
he's humble,
and willing to learn.
I love his teal-blue eyes
and dark-gold hair like Austin's.

I love Mrs. Shannen's nod -
the way she bobs her head and smiles Bro. Dennis' grin when she agrees with something.
The way she says, "Goot!" instead of "Good!",
that would sound annoying on anyone else,
but is part of her.
How her short hair flips out just a little.
Her gentle spirit
and meekness.
How she's so motherly,
so kind,
how she keeps on going,
even when the going is tough.

I love the way Russell dances (almost litterally) through life,
using his flambuoyant tendency toward the dramatic (singing, acting, dancing, etc.)
to entertain us,
to put smiles on our faces,
to lighten the heaviness that life sometimes is.
How his striking blue eyes contrast with his brown hair,
and how they squint and disappear when he grins.
How he'll pull out the 'grandma voice' when he's talking to little kids,
or the Scottish accent when he's ordering at a restaurant.
How he gets so serious and technical when there's a job to do,
rushing around on his long legs like a grasshopper.
How his eyebrows raise and wiggle,
and his eyes sparkle when he's goofing off.
I love how he's joyful even when his life's hard.

I love Trent's sense of humor when you get to know him a little bit,
but how he's just an ordinary teenager otherwise.
How 'dressing up' is, for him, a white button-up shirt, unfaded jeans, and boots.
How thick and rich his blond hair is,
how quiet and observant his eyes are,
how slender he is,
and how tall he's getting to be.

I love Aron's strength, both of body
and of character.
How protective he is of his wife and child,
how he serves them
and guides them.
I love how he is such a hard worker
and such a loyal friend.
How his jet-black hair and dark eyes and deep tan skin are so striking, and
how his laugh is so powerful, but
so boyish and freeing.

I love Henley's sensitivity to people,
her down-to-earth outlook
and kind heart;
the way she draws others in, making them at home.
I love how her long, straight, dark-blond hair has natural bright-gold highlights in it.
Her big blue eyes.
How patient she is,
always trying to see the positive in a situation,
how she respects her husband Aron,
and protects her little son.
How she has chosen to stay at home and serve her family,
instead of trying to make 'her' place out in the world.

I love how Joy is so tall,
how I hug her and it's more comfortable for her arms to be around my shoulders while my arms are around her waist, even though I'm ten years older.
I love how her eyes are the color of dark copper
and her hair is just a little darker than that.
I love how she calls herself my long-lost sister because we're so much alike that it's uncanny sometimes.
How she lights up when she's telling me about something that stood out to her in her Bible reading.

I love Justice's confidence,
how his voice has such a low pitch that, if you're not used to it, it almost makes you want to plug your ears to lessen how much it makes the room vibrate.
I love how his Irish blood comes out
in his stocky form,
curly brown hair,
bright blue eyes,
pale freckled skin,
and passionate nature.
I love how tender-hearted he is toward things of God;
how he has a heart for young people,
and how he has such a gift as a teacher.

I love Noel's curly black hair.
I love how she looks up to Justice, her husband.
How she defaults to him in any decision.
I love her child-like simplicity,
and how she tries to make the best of a hard situation.
What a grateful spirit she has
and how matter-of-fact she is.
How she's willing to serve wherever she can,
and how quick she is to point out other's talents and strengths.
I love how she tucks her chin, cocks her head, raises her eyebrows, and looks at her listeners from the tops of her eyes when she's making a point.
I love how she leans her head back and giggles.

I love how Trissy's hair is so straight
and fine
and long
and golden in the sun.
I love that she doesn't wear make up,
but is still attractive.
I love how she makes that self-deprecating smirk
and shrugs when she does or says something that everyone except she thought was funny and they all laugh.

"5 Small Things Friday" No. 94

Go back and read this post for the story behind "Five Small Things Friday".

For this week, here is my list:

1. Sight: D-Now Pictures / Austin

2. Hearing: Autumn, Julia, And Julia's Mom Laughing

3. Smell:

4. Taste:

5. Touch: Hug From Julia

The stories behind the list:

1. Months before he left, Bro. Mike gave me a plastic box full of youth group pictures to sort and organize. We'd been having some conversation about the pictures around the youth room (he always tried to have a bulletin board or display out with pictures of the latest youth event or mission trip Victory Rd. had been involved in), and I asked what happens to all the pictures when they got taken down to be replaced. He replied that there was a box full of them somewhere. I expressed disappointment that they were just stuffed in some box instead of people being able to enjoy them still (me being the history buff that I am). Long story short, I volunteered to go through them and see if I could get them put into albums, and Bro. Mike was happy to let me. Well, since then, I haven't had much time to work on them. It turned out to be a little bigger and more involved project than I had invisioned, and the plastic box has been sitting in a corner for several months. This past week I decided to tackle the project, and it has been a neat experience.
I came across the envelope that had all the pictures from D-Now in 2011. My, how time flies. I spent a long time going through that stack of photos, re-living memories, studying faces, thinking of all that life has brought to the people in the pictures since that time. Looking at many faces that are gone from Victory Rd., and studying some that are now leaders in the youth group.
It was a bitter-sweet experience, going through those photos. But mostly sweet, knowing the God that was great then is great now, and still may have wonderful surprises in store for those lives.
/
Austin came to the restaurant Wednesday to get lunch for the lawn-care crew he works with. It surprised me when he came around the corner, and his big grin and teasing really gave me a pick-me-up.

2. Trissy and I were some of the last to leave church Wednesday night because of the visiting we like to hang around and do. When we finally headed outside to leave, Autumn was still parked there, talking with Julia and Julia's mom at their car, so we stopped and chatted and joked with them a little bit. All of us were needing to leave, but it seemed like every time we'd 'finish' the conversation, someone would say or think of something else to tell, and we'd keep going.
Finally we said good-byes and Trissy and I went to get in my car. I slid in, adjusting myself in the seat. When I turned around to reach out and pull my door shut, a little 'shape' was perched on my steering wheel, staring back at me unblinkingly in the half-light. I jumped and yelped, and an erruption of ecstatic cackles exploded from the three ladies parked on the other side. I realized almost immediately what the 'thing' was - a giant black and gray horned beetle, probably two-and-a-half inches long and an inch wide. I'm not afraid of beetles (even giant ones), but the unexpectedness of seeing 'something' on my steering wheel, about ten inches from my face... Well, I think I had a right to be startled!
My mind was working in a whirl, trying to figure out if it was real or rubber, if Autumn and Julia had brought it back from their recent mission trip to Central America, and what made them play the joke on me - I actually felt quite honored (you'd have to understand these two girls - they'd only play a prank like that on someone they really liked)! Autumn was by this time beside my driver door, laughing hysterically. I got back out, laughing and congratulating them on their cleverness, and she reached in and plucked the beetle from my steering wheel.
Law had found it and somehow it had come into Autumn and Julia's possession, and they decided it was too good of an opportunity to pass up - they needed somebody to prank! They noticed my windows were rolled down a little and they tried the door. When they found it unlocked, I was chosen as the 'victim'. And you know the rest of the story! Evidently they had been waiting all that time in the parking lot, just so they could see my reaction!
We said good-bye again and left, laughing the way back to the house, my evening made!

3.

4.

5. When Julia went on that mission trip to Central America, I gave her some money and asked her to pick me up some souvenirs. There have been teams or individuals from Victory Road taking mission trips to a country in Central America since 2010, and I wanted a couple of specific items like ones they'd brought back before. Julia said she could get them for me.
Wednesday night when she came in the room before class and saw me, she threw up her hands. 'I forgot to bring your things!'
'It's fine!' I assured her. 'Just whenever you can get them to me is fine. Hey, and I want you to keep the change and save it for your trip next year,' I said as she gave me a hug (which is rare - she doesn't just give out hugs). There had been about $30 worth of things she hadn't been able to get for me because she'd been sick on the day they were going to do their main souvenir shopping.
She shrugged it off exclaiming, 'I won't keep track of it 'til then!' She's planning to be down there for the whole summer next year, and I knew good and well that she'd be starting to save for it soon.
'Sure you can! Put it in a bank account or something!'
The conversation moved on with other people in the room, but before she left (it was her turn to take care of the babies in the nursery this week) she whirled and gave me a long, super-tight-squeeze hug - the kind I'd only seen her give to people I know are really special to her - and I wondered if, in her own way, she was thanking me.

"5 Small Things Friday" No. 93

Go back and read this post for the story behind "Five Small Things Friday".

For this week, here is my list:

1. Sight:

2. Hearing:

3. Smell:

4. Taste: Hot Dog And Tomato Sandwich

5. Touch:

The stories behind the list:

1.

2.

3.

4. There were some hot dogs and tomatoes left from our family's Fourth of July cook-out, so I decided to have a hotdog and tomato sandwich for lunch Monday. I love BLTs (bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches), so I didn't figure substituting a hot dog for bacon would be too different. I split a hot dog in half, both length-wise and cross-wise, and put the four pieces flat side down in a skillet with the fire on very low under it. When a lot of the grease had cooked out and they were a nice toasted brown, I spread a little mayonaise on some toast, laid my hot dog pieces on, added a nice thick slice of a fresh garden tomato, and I had me one humdinger of a delicious sandwich!

5.

"5 Small Things Friday" No. 92

Go back and read this post for the story behind "Five Small Things Friday".

For this week, here is my list:

1. Sight:

2. Hearing:

3. Smell:

4. Taste: Milkshake

5. Touch: Lake Water / Hug From Piper

The stories behind the list:

1.

2.

3.

4. On the days when I work at the restaurant, I've started taking a home-made smoothie/milkshake for my lunch. It's quicker, easier, and just as healthy (or maybe better) than packing a 'lunch', and the food at the restaurant is too unhealthy and expensive for me to get all the time. I've got a recipe that I've altered from the one Mom makes for our family breakfast on Sunday mornings, and I personally think it's pretty good! But at work Tuesday, when I went to the refrigerator, got my milkshake, and took the first swallow, I thought, "Wow! That's good!" The perfect chocolat-y/peanutbutter mix. I think it was just about the best one I've made!

{Note: For anyone who's interested, I'm including how to make this shake. Warning though: I don't measure, I just estimate my ingredients then taste the finished product. If it tastes like it is lacking a little bit of something, I add some. Also, this shake is not very sweet. I'm used to not eating alot of sugary foods though, so it's delicious to me.

Kyrie's Healthy Chocolate/Peanut Butter Shake

1 1/2 frozen bananas
1 raw egg (we raise our own chickens and eggs, so feel that it's fine to use them raw for this purpose)
1 1/2 tablespoon Hershey's unsweet cocoa
1 level tablespoon peanut butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
20 oz. skim milk

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!
(If anyone tries this, I'd love it if you would comment and let me know what you think!)}

5. At the church picnic, later on in the afternoon after we had eaten, Joy, Piper, and I were waiting beside the pavillion for a couple of others and we were going to walk down to the lake together. We were just standing, talking and waiting. The weather was nice and mild, and the late-afternoon light filtered through the trees. After a few minutes, we stood silent, quietly absorbed in our own thoughts. Suddenly without warning, Piper turned and put her arms around me. She rested her forehead on my shoulder, sortof standing with her feet farther back so she leaned against me at an angle. I was caught completely by surprise. She said nothing before or after to indicate her reason, whether she was tired and I provided a comfortable 'rest', or if she was sad for some reason and needed the comfort of a hug, or if it was just a simple gesture of friendship and trust. But whatever it was, after I got over my surprise, I put my arms around her shoulders and leaned my cheek down against the top of her head. And I had an incredibly strong desire to protect this precious little friend, to be a friend worthy of her trust, and a Christian worthy of her imitation.
/
For this story (also at the church picnic), visit this post.

Recent Happenings No. 6

So, time for another "Recent Happenings" post. One of those posts full of random little things and events that are too small to each get their own, but which I'd like to remember.

Last Wednesday, after months of talking about wanting to do it, we (Mom, Trissy, and I) finally made muffins and took them by the UPS store where Archer works in the 'big town' about 45 minutes north of us. He always loved our muffins whenever we'd take them to the Thursday night college Bible study, and it would be an excuse to get to see him again (Trissy and I had only seen him once since he left in January, and Mom had not seen him at all). He was on the job, so we only got about 5 minutes to stand and talk, but we'd told him we were coming, and he had been looking forward to it and was expecting us.

Friday, Abigail, Piper, and Joy came over to the house for the afternoon. We'd invited Lela too, but she had somewhere else she already had to be and couldn't come this time. That was disappointing, but we had fun with the other three! We made headbands using t-shirt scraps and these instructions I found on Pinterest, then we made bread and, while it was in the oven, went for a walk in the woods and played with our two kittens, "Murphy" and "Fin".

When the bread came out, we had hot PB and J sandwiches with home-made jam and played a partial game of Skip-Bo until it was time for me to take them back to meet their folks in town. It was a very nice afternoon, and hopefully we can do it again before four months have passed! The last time we had Joy and Lela over (we'd invited Abigail and Piper, but they couldn't come that time) was in February.

While the girls were at the house and we were working on our headbands, of course we talked alot about hand-made crafts in general. Somehow the wooden pig cutting boards that Bro. S. makes came into the conversation. I'd heard about them before - he uses one of his grandfather's cutting boards as a pattern (his mother has the original from 48 years ago), and makes them for the 'hope chests' of girls in his family. When Piper first was telling me the story, I told her to be sure and tell him that if he ever started making them to sell, that I wanted one. Friday when it came back up, I mentioned again that I wanted one if he ever sold them.
Well, Sunday morning as Trissy and I walked down the street beside the church building, headed to the gym building for Sunday School, the S. family's van pulled up beside us on their way to Sunday School. Bro. S. leaned out the window and called good morning to us, then said, 'Oh, I think we have something for y'all.' and held out a pig cutting board! I felt like one very special young person!
That evening when I tried to pay him for it, he wouldn't let me.

We had a Fifth Sunday/Fourth of July church picnic Sunday evening at the local reservoir/lake. It was such a nice time! We reserved one of the pavillions near the swimming area, and everybody took lawn chairs and food to share, and someone hooked up a couple of ice cream freezers to their truck battery and made home-made ice cream! "Doc" (one of the men of the church who's a doctor) had his boat, and took little bunches of the young people tubing on the lake. Someone thought to take the church's portable volleyball net, and there were volleyball and softball games going on sporadically throughout the evening. They'd also taken several folding tables and chairs and these were set up under the trees near the pavillion. It was just a great time of fellowship and being together.

I had a wonderful time, and even got a bonus - getting to cross two things off of my Bucket List: 1) Jump into a pool or lake with every-day clothes on, and 2) Ride a motorcycle.
After we'd all eaten, Ava, Trissy, Piper, Joy, Abigail and I walked down to the lake because Doc was going to take them out tubing again. Neither Trissy nor I had thought to take swim outfits, so we weren't going to get in the water, but we could ride in the boat. Neither one of us had ever been tubing or even seen it done, and it was alot of fun racing across the water with the wind whipping our faces and the four girls bumping along behind us. Only Joy seemed confident (her grandparents have a house by a lake in a near-by state, and they go there alot, so she has been tubing many times); the other three were just hanging on and trying not to fly off when Doc would swing into a curve. But they all fell off at least once, except Abigail, who somehow managed to keep her grip. A couple of times when Doc slowed down and went back to pick up someone who'd fallen off, he asked if we wanted to try it. The girls had been trying to talk us into it since we first went down to the water. But since we only had our regular clothes, we'd declined each time. I just didn't want to have to spend the rest of the evening up at the pavillion looking like a 'drowned rat', as Mom would say. But I really really was hating to miss it! Eventually, Doc said we'd be going in in about ten minutes. Joy had fallen off fairly close to shore and when we went back to pick her up, Law was swimming out. Ava, Piper, and Abigail were tired and decided to get in the boat, but Law and Joy were going to ride the last few minutes. Doc could tell I really wanted to try it and offered again, and the girls were encouraging me to just do it. My spirit of adventure was up, and I was beginning to be afraid that if I didn't take the opportunity, I'd always kindof regret it. When Trissy, with her sensibility and strong sense of propriety and decorum, seemed to think it was alright and urged me to go ahead, that made up my mind. I handed Trissy my glasses, kicked off my flip-flops into the bottom of the boat, Ava gave me the life jacket she'd had on, and I jumped in! The water was warm and comfortable. Half-way to the 'float', I realized I still had my watch on, so I hastily pulled it off and struggled back to hand it up to Trissy. My only discomfort was embarassment at my slowness and lack of elegant swimming skills (I can stay afloat, and painstakingly make my way from one point to another, but I'm no pro, and certainly not very graceful).
Law and Joy showed me how to hoist myself up and where to hang on, and after checking to make sure we were ready, Doc started off. It was deliciously fun, and I managed to not fall off! On my first time too! And when the time was up and we went back to shore, it actually didn't take a very long time for my clothes to dry, at least somewhat.

And then later, one of the men of the church (the same man who drove the bus and cooked for us on our mission trip to Chicago last month) was giving rides on his motorcycle, and I got to do that too!
So that's two items crossed off my Bucket List in one day :) , just a fun 'bonus' added to the blessing of the already-greatly-enjoyable evening with my church family and friends.

Mom's really beginning to get anxious about getting Trissy's and my dresses made for Toby and Lindy's wedding. It's only about a month and a week away, and we needed to get them started, but Mom still had some questions about the pattern. So, she asked Lindy to come over Tuesday evening to talk about details. And after all that was settled, Lindy just stayed for a while to visit. She hadn't been to the house in quite a while, and even though we see her at church all the time, she's just one of those friends that is easy to want to share life with. We went outside in the back yard so she could see our two kittens (Lindy loves kittens), and we just sat in the grass, getting to do alot of catching up and just talking about life. It was so nice.

{Zig-zags courtesy of Jones Design Company}