Video Tour of Our Home

Who Is Messier?

Hannah or Josiah?











Josiah wins!

River Constantine

Carry me, Your love is wider than my need could ever be
Come to me, and I will walk along the shoreline
Where Your crashing waves sing in time with the pounding of my heart

Come down, pour out on me
Come down, pour out on me

River deep, could I know You as well as You know me
Constantine, we will travel faster, farther than these
Legs could ever trustworthy be

Come down, pour out on me
Come down, pour out on me

Carry me

by Jars of Clay

I've loved this song since my freshman year of college, but it's meaning resonates deeply within my heart now more than ever. When I became pregnant with Hannah, I sang this song every day. With so much on my mind -- the gamut of worries, fears, gladness and gratefulness -- God gave me a song that reminded me that He is my peace. Even now in my new home, I sing this song over Hannah on night's that she has trouble falling asleep. And in the dark as I sing my child to sleep, I see how my Heavenly Father holds me even still.

An Hour To Myself

The air is cool.
The sun is hidden.
My family naps.
The spiced candles are lit.
My mug is full of hot tea.
Ah, nothing but the sound...

Wawa, Day & Si

So Laura made the point yesterday that we've been friends for nearly one-half of our lives. We became fast friends in high school and it's really fun that we get to raise our families close by. Hannah adores the Suttons, too, and asks to go play with them all the time. Why wouldn't she?!

Tour de Fat 2010

Here's a picture of our riding crew for the Tour de Fat this year. Our group included Chris, Hannah, my Dad, David, Ryan and me. As you can see, we didn't dress up quite like we did last year and especially not as much as the other riders! But we all had a great time cruising through Fort Collins in the bike parade, talking to the other riders and checking out all of the other bizarre costumes. Even Hannah enjoyed everything, never fussing once.

There was a huge turn out this year - approximately 15,000 turned out for the ride! After the bike parade, we left Hannah with my Mom at our house while the rest of us went to the Celebration in Old Town. The Celebration includes live music, food, art and more - all enjoyed by a bunch of costumed crazies! There we heard one of our new favorite musicians, Ben Sollee, who rocks a cello like a champ. (He's the dude on the right not wearing a mustache in the picture below.) The folks there were a bunch of dancing fools, paying no mind to all of the dust they were kicking up. I felt as if I stepped straight back into the 60s.

As if seeing Ben Sollee wasn't cool enough, we saw one of the most incredible bands - Mucca Pazza. Though they describe themselves as an "astounding circus - punk marching band", you have to see the wonderment for yourself. You don't have to be a band nerd to enjoy them, I promise! Check out the videos we took and even experience a hug from Tony Danza in the second video - yes, those are his arms encircling the crowd for a group hug.

It. Was. Awesome. The whole day. If you don't have plans the first weekend in September of next year, why not join us!

I Love My Girl

Oooohhhhhh how I love my daughter. I love her for a million reasons that at times I can't explain how deeply or why. And when it seems that I couldn't love her any more, I do.

Here are a few recent pictures. She's growing up so fast!

Two Weeks in Fort Collins

For a girl who is rarely at a loss for words (written, at least), I've been stunned on how to begin to update everyone on how we're doing. Two weeks ago we moved into our home in Fort Collins, and we've been going non-stop ever since. We're adjusting to our new life just fine, but it is an adjustment, that's for sure. All-in-all, we're loving it here!

I have a lot to say, but I think for now I'll just use broad strokes. The house is slowly coming together. We moved into a really cool old fixer-upper, and the only rooms we have completely unpacked and decorated are Hannah's room, the bathroom and the kitchen. The garage is still full of boxes! So I don't have a lot of pictures from around the house yet. Soon, though!

Hannah has adjusted fine on the most part - she's still sleeping on Texas time, though. We live around the corner from the city park, which has an incredible toddler playground, so she's enjoying being outside quite a bit! We seriously have the most outgoing little girl in the world and have even made friends with the neighbors and their dogs because of her friendliness.

I have started working for the ad agency I met with when we visited in May, the Mantooth Company. There's so much to say about how this all worked out, but for now I'll just say that I'm enjoying every second of my job. I'm able to work from home on my own time and for clients whose organizations are doing such great things for the community. I never thought I could be so fulfilled in my work.

And Chris is working hard with David in planning for our new church. There's really nothing new to report on this front as of yet. But we are at a point where we're going to make a coordinated effort to meet people in our community. We're increasingly surprised just how friendly all of our neighbors are!

One of our favorite things about being here is living so close to our best friends. We consider ourselves blessed to have friends we can basically go through life with. Not many can say that.

And other than that, we're loving the weather and discovering the cool things about our new city.

So those are the high points. In everything, I can't help but feel God wooing us to Him. From the way He's worked out some of the major details in our lives and then right down to the smallest, most thoughtful gestures, He shows us He cares about us. I suppose sometimes it takes being out of the daily grind to open your eyes and see it. Surely, it has been a great two weeks.