Upheavel

Our home is in a bit of upheavel right now. We decided to re-do all of our flooring - replacing all the carpet with laminate, and all the linolium with tile. BIG project. For Nik. Not me. I'm pretty useless still.

Phase 1 - rip up all carpet and prep for flooring. I came home to Nik, in the middle of this on Tuesday  night. I had no idea he was going to start the project, but he did! So far, our 2 spare rooms, hallway and living room are just about ready. He promised to leave our bedroom alone until Sunday.

We have a plan of what flooring we are purchasing and will do so on Saturday. Unless we find a better deal elsewhere on Black Friday...you never know!

Phase 2 - Monday starts the phase of actually laying the floor. Thankfully, Nik will have some help from our Pastor!

Phase 3 - Put everything back in order!

Phase 4 - Tile. Wait until we save more money.

My husband is awesome and I'm so thankful he can and is willing to do all the work by himself!

Ding Dong Ditch

Sunday night after PM service, the Youth Group participated in Ding Dong Ditch.

Ding Dong Ditch is just what it sounds like - the teens ring the doorbell (or knock loudly) and then run away and hide. But the catch is that they leave a basket full of food in front of their door!

This is an event that Nik puts together every year at the church. Weeks in advance he asks our church members to begin bringing food to fill a number of Thanksgiving baskets (this year he did 11). These baskets are put together by the teens with food items to make a Thanksgiving meal.

Nik asks around to other church members and people in the community to find families that are in need of such a basket.

The teens have the best time together running around in the dark through neighborhoods and apartment complexes planning their ding-dong and ditch strategies. Many of them find a hiding place so they can see the people open their door and find the food.

This is a very humbling and touching time for our teens. It is a pretty easy thing for our church to do, but the impact of this small gift is great. And the lesson of how to be the hands and feet of Jesus that our teens take away with them is most important.

Every year memories are made at this event and we had the best turn out yet, with 15 teens! They only got chased by a dog once, and fell down a couple of times!

The local paper found out about this event and even did a short write-up on it!

I hope your Thanksgiving is good. I hope that you are grateful. Each year, I know that I become more thankful and aware of the blessings I have.

What I Have Learned

The following are some lessons that I have learned on my broken-hand-journey:

*  I am grateful for every single one of my body parts.

*  It is okay to ask for help.

*  People can surprise you with how competent they really are when you don't automatically do everything!

*  It is alright to say "No" when being asked to do more than you can handle.

*  Your body works in amazing ways - especially how it compensates for limbs that don't do their job.

*  How to drive (and work) pretty well one-handed.

*  That if you are really slow doing something - your husband will probably help you do it.

*  That it is ok to do things a little slower and on your own - just to know that you can.

So are you tired of reading about my broken hand yet? I'm sure you are. Maybe I can try to come up with some better blog material...

Have you been wondering about Nik lately and what he is up to? Well, he has been busy taking care of me. And Upward. And sick for about 24 hours after having a tooth pulled. It was bad. He was helpless and pathetic. Thankfully, he is better now.

Here's to hoping for better blog posts....!

My New Cast

Well, my cast is off! I thank God for the healing that has taken place in my hand. But I still have a ways to go. I have to be in an air cast for at least 4 more weeks. I can (thankfully) take it off about 4 times a day (including shower time) to work on some exercises. The goal is to be able to make a full fist by the time I go back to the doctor. Currently, I can barely move any fingers!

Here's a new pic of my cast since I know you are just dying to see it!

My hand is feeling pretty good, although the first day it really hurt. I have been trying to do more things - I washed about 10 dishes (I'm slow and made a mess), I fixed a Salad with stuff in it (again, super slow cutting with my left hand), and I cooked Red Beans and Rice (I was trying to stir and hold the lid - apparently too much for me, because I dropped the spoon and it splattered everywhere) and it turned out good.

Even through the frustrations...I am grateful my hand is healing and that it was not a whole lot worse!

My Mother-in-Law

Today is Kay's Birthday!

Happy birthday to a wonderful lady! Hope that your day is filled with many good things - you deserve it!

In other News...

Nik was asked to give the invocation Friday at a city gathering. The gathering was put on by Keep Temple Beautiful. The director and Nik have a great relationship - Nik and our church have helped them many times in the past. But the most important thing about this is what I got out of it: A new bag filled with goodies! Nik knows how to please his woman!

I am seriously considering making my own Laundry Detergent. I have found a really great recipe for this and I can make a batch for around $10.00. The great thing about it is though... that batch will last me about a year! Once I find the time to do it, I'll let you know!

I finally go back to the ortho doctor about my hand Tuesday. Pray with me for complete healing. Besides, if the doctor tells me he has to cast it again - me and him are going to have to have words. Not nice words! I have even been dreaming about using my right again. Seriously, I dreamed Thursday night about washing my hair with two hands! If that is not a sign that it is time for the cast to come off, I'm not sure what is!

We have cleaned out closets to see what we can give to a local clothing place that is in need of clothes. Especially men's dress clothes. Check - we have those!

As we were cleaning out closets, I came across these:

Bags and bags, and bags in bags! Seriously, how many bags can, should a person have? Well, we also made a trip to goodwill with some clothes and bags!

That's all the news for now...!

Wedding Weekend

The (long-time-coming) wedding of Ryan and Anna finally happened - and what a weekend it was!

Nik and I pulled into Texarkana about 1am Thursday morning. Nik got to rest for a few hours, then he and Ryan drove to Dallas to meet up with Chris for a man-day. Their man-day included Twisted Root, and Top Golf (what else?!).

Nik, Ryan and Chris

Kay, Anna and I ran errands and helped get the church ready for the Rehearsal and the Wedding.

Friday was much the same as Thursday....errands and finishing up last minute details! Friday night we attended the Rehearsal Dinner and then rehearsed the wedding. Here are a few pics from that night:

Ryan and Anna

Groom's Men - Jordan, Nathan and Nik

Rehearsal Dinner

Anna and her dad

The Groom's Party

Side note - funny story: When Nik's family showed up to the rehearsal dinner they came over to me and handed me a gift. I was a little nervous about it because of the looks on their faces... Guess what it was? A pair of Training Wheels for my bike! Ha! They said they thought of me when they saw them and had to get them for me so I wouldn't fall off my bike anymore! Thanks!

Aunt Melody and I

After the rehearsal a few of us went bowling with Ryan, Anna and their kiddos. It was really fun, especially with me, trying to bowl left handed! Just for the record - I bowl just about as good left handed as I do right handed!

Anna and Ryan

Nik and I

Saturday was the big day!

Ryan, the morning of the big day! 

Caleb wanted to take a picture of me - so this is the 'before' pic
Hair a mess and no make up

Nik and I met up with our good friends, Chris and Kylee for lunch before we went to the church to start getting ready. We like to take every chance we get to see them!

Here's some pics of us before the wedding:

Anna, getting her hair done. 

 Kylee and I (the after picture)
Thanks so much, Kylee for helping me get ready!

Helping Anna with her dress and veil

In the Brides room, waiting for the ceremony to begin 

Nik and I all spruced up

 

The Wedding Ceremony!

This is what you get when you let Chris and Kylee have your camera (plus a few others)!

The Wedding and Reception was beautiful! We had a great time and I am so excited for Ryan and Anna! After the Wedding, we went back to the house to unwind and crash - we were all exhausted.

Sunday, we attended Nik's parents church. Then we went out to eat and napped the afternoon away. Well, I did anyways. I think Nik and his dad dozed through a special on TV about snakes....good thing Nik did not have any nightmares that night!

Monday we headed home and on the way, met up with my mom, Scotty, Jennifer and Christian for lunch in Dallas. It was really nice to get to see them. We will see them in a few weeks for Thanksgiving, but any little visits we can fit in are always great!

What a wonderful weekend we had celebrating Ryan and Anna's new life together!