March and April Highlights

It was a very busy two months! I didn't have time to put together favorite posts, but here's the rest!

I got to meet Sarah for a library book sale, which was incredibly fun. They had a huge room filled with bins of books and it was amazing! I didn't get a ton, but it was fun to go. 

My mom, sister, and I went on a shopping trip and got new running shoes. I haven't done running a lot before, so it was fun to get new shoes as I gear up for taking on that. Breaking them in has been miserable, but I have loved running more!

My phone was having some issues, so we had to reset it. Thankfully it fixed the problems, but setting up my phone again and regaining some lost numbers has been an interesting thing. 

Rebekkah and I at our camping trip

We went camping with a dear family from our church! I had never actually been camping before, so it was interesting. The first night we got there we just set up our tent, played with the boys we were helping watch, and had amazing chili (our hostess makes award-winning chili that is truly the best.). That night our mattress deflated, and our heater didn't make much of a dent against the 33-degree weather, so it wasn't super fun. But the next day was better. We got to go for a hike on our own, and I got a nap in the warm tent when we got back. Then we hike a peek with the whole group. That was exhausting, but incredibly fun. We had a hot dog roast that night, and the next day we packed up and left a bit early because of my work. But first, we got to walk around the river, and then we made the 4 1/2 hour trek back. 

We went to a childhood friend's wedding. We have known their family since I was about six, so that was an awesome event. It was a lovely wedding, we got to catch up with some old friends, and Rebekkah caught the bouquet!

Since Rose was leaving for Africa, we made one final trip up to Tyler to visit her. It was a short visit, but we got to give some final hugs to hold us for the next two months, and that was awesome. 

We had a string of tornadoes hit our area, and Rebekkah and I were actually sent home early from work that, and we had a touchdown near us, so we all squished in our inside bathroom for half an hour while we waited for it to pass over. Thankfully it completely skipped over us, but it hit right next to our work! We got the opportunity to volunteer with Samaritan's Purse and help with the clean-up, and I really enjoyed that. They have such an amazing attitude and a great system for helping. I thoughtfully enjoyed my time with them. 

My sister and I had a full-blown craft day. We put on movies and just worked on everything from sun catchers to shadowboxes. She helped me do a plaster pawprint of my dog because he is just the cutest thing. <3 

April:

I decided to do Camp NaNo this month. My original goal was 20,000, but then my laptop broke. My sister was incredibly generous and shared hers with me, but it wasn't as easy to type, so I got pretty behind. By the time I got my laptop back (Thank you to my awesome brother for fixing it), it was too stressful to go for 20k, so I lowered my goal to 15k and finished on the 28'th!

Grace and I did the bubble run! So it's a 5k charity benefit run with gates that give off huge amounts of colored bubble suds. By the end, we were completely covered in all the different colors, and it was a blast!

Well, the oak pollen was horrific this year, so I spent a lot of two weeks with a fever, congestion, and a cough. Thankfully once the pollen went down, it got much better. 

We decided rather quickly that we wanted a beach day, so we packed up and went to Galveston for the day. We swam a ton, and then we rode the ferry where we saw a baby dolphin! It was a wonderfully relaxing day. 

We celebrated passover with a family from our church and then had a fairly quiet Easter where we mostly just sat and talked. <3 My church met in a hotel ball room this time, and it was squished, but delightful none the less. 

Our family at passover (Rose was in Africa)

I had a cold for about a week of the month. Nothing horrible, but it kept me from doing a lot other then just sitting on the couch and cuddling my mom. We took advantage of the time to work through a lot of Emergancy! So now we are almost done! 

I went to Frisbee with my sister for the first time. We used to be part of an awesome group, but they disbanded, and we recently found that our church had a young adults group that met for Frisbee. Sadly, it's on one of my consistent work days right now, but I had the day off and got to try it out and had a blast. I was so sore it hurt to walk to the next day but it was 100% worth it. XD 

My sister Grace and I had a writing date at a coffee shop (Where I promptly drank tea). We co-wrote a thousand word story about a magical bookshop, which was a ton of fun. I haven't co-written anything in years, so it was interesting getting back into it. 

My sister's goat had 4 babies! One was a runt, and not being nursed by it's mama, so we're having to bottle feed it. Since we don't intend to keep it long we have just been calling it "Tiny" since he is so little. Having a goat around the house is definitely interesting since they do try to eat everything, sleep in tiny spaces, and follow you wherever you go. XD

This is FT when she was about six months old and hadn't filled out yet. 

Our much loved barn cat FT (Which stood for Feirce Tiger) died of a snake bite. She had eight kittens a few weeks ago and spent her last hour pulling them all up onto our deck out of harms way. We didn't have the time to take care of them all so we found an awesome shelter in our area that takes kittens and will re-home them for free and gave them most of them. My niece kept two. <3 FT was only three, but it feels like we had her forever, I get home late from work a lot, and she would always wait for me on the deck so she could nuzzle me before I went in. 

I did my first overnight job babysitting! I did not expect it to be that nerve wracking to be the one in charge through the night but I now have a lot more respect for my mom who used to tell me how stressful it was when dad was gone, and I simply didn't get it. XD 

We went to Palmetto state park and hiked around the river, and through gorgeous woods, and a swamp. Honestly, it was nice to just get out in nature after a long work week. 

And by time you are reading this my family and I are going to be on our way to Colorado! We are taking a week long road trip

March books. Favorite new: Ivanhoe, it was amazing!! Least favorite, Trixie Beldon. 

April: Favorite new book: The Cross Centered life. An amazingly short, but good book. Favorite re-read: MBS book 4. It's a favorite. 

I mainly rewatched this month, but my sister showed me Captain Marvel (My first Marvel movie) and I really enjoyed it. I got to re-watch Ivanhoe after reading the book, and that was so fun. 

How was your March and April? 

Darkness and the Dawn

I wanted to write something to capture the feeling of this holiday, I couldn't write anything I really loved, but this is what I did come up with. 

Passover is a time of joy 

Of bringing together family 

Of celebrating freedom 

And all God has done 

It’s looking back at the slavery 

And rejoicing in the cross 

It’s somber tugs of sorrow 

Of all the pain endured 

It’s a time of reflection 

And moving on 

It’s a time to say thank you 

But Friday is the dusk 

And the darkness only lasts the night 

Sunday is coming 

And with it comes the joy 

The time of new birth 

Or celebrating His coming again 

It’s rejoicing in His light 

And His glory 

And just feeling His presence 

It’s the joy of knowing 

He is with us 

It’s celebrating the morning coming 

After a long and dark night 

We lived in darkness 

Hiding in fear long enough

It’s time to join the others and celebrate 

He is Risen!

(If you noticed the lack of March Highlights, they will be coming, rolled in with my April ones. I was unable to post due to my computer being broken, but my awesome brother fixed it, so there (hopefully) should be no more delays!) 

Happy Ressurection weekend!!