Gladys Rocks Ellen!

This aired originally on Jan 17, 2007.
I saw it again this morning.

This is the first time Ellen had spoken to Gladys.
Now she talks to Gladys quite often.
This is so hilarious!!!

Luke is 14 Today

My baby turned 14 today.
Hard to believe.
We went to church, and out to Red Robin for lunch.
Then, this afternoon, Luke and I went to Rich Valley golf course and went golfing.
We had a great time. I had never gone golfing with Luke before.
Luke said he didn't golf as well as he usually does.....but driving the golf cart off set his irritation with golfing poorly. As for me....I never golf....so the fact that I hit the ball a few times made it fun for me.

Olympics '08: Phelps Swims Into History

WOW!!

blog snafu

Weirdest thing.
I just looked at my blog and discovered all these videos that I posted in the past all showed up at once. I posted these periodically during the past three weeks, and they all showed up TODAY!
Not sure how this happened, but it's kind of annoying.
I also just posted Michael Phelps race from tonight.....I suppose that will show up long after the Olympics are OVER.
GRRR!!

Friends And Lovers - 9/10/85

OH MY GOSH!!!
This so brings me back!

Oh Praise Him

David Crowder is ONE OF A KIND!!!
This was so awesome!

Superchic(k): Stand in the Rain

This was the FIRST group we saw when we got to Sonshine.
I was WAY back at this point. As I go along...I get a LOT closer to the front!

SonShine Festival

This is NOT MY VIDEO...but I was totally in this audience on the right side of the stage (if you were looking out on the crowd!)

Superchic: Stand in the Rain

The first performance I saw at Sonshine!!
This song is so awesome!!

Classes

I am finishing up my first class at Hamline.
During some discussions a classmate said that one of her colleagues says:
"First the heart, then the mind."
As a teacher, I am passionate about literacy, and strive to instill the love of reading in each of my students. I actually think I do a pretty good job of it too.
I am going to begin The Writing Workshop this year.
The quote "First the heart, then the mind." really hit me as I begin this. It's about grabbing the heart of my students, and the stories they have to tell....and helping them get it down on paper.
I believe I am actually excited to start school.

Madonna

Remember how awesome Madonna was when she first started her career?
I wanted to BE Madonna.
Her film, Desperately Seeking Susan, was my favorite at the time.
I recently saw a photo montage showing the 50 best looks of Madonna.
This is by far my favorite era of Madonna.
Lucky Star, Burning Up, Crazy for You, Borderline...
No real reason for a Madonna post, except that I saw this picture and wanted to write a post about it because it reminds me of my first few years of college, oh, so very long ago.

Jason Lezak

I've been feeling badly for Jason Lezak.
If you watched that AMAZING 4 by 100 relay in which Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian in history, you will know how Phelps got all the attention.
I saw an interview in which Chris Collingsworth spoke to Jason Lezak and asked him about that race. I was pleased to hear Lezak say that he wasn't thinking about Michael Phelps getting another gold medal....he was thinking about winning the race.
Jason Lezak is a great athlete, and a real team player.

A Surprise

When I came home from Georgia, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Angela, Brenda and Tracey replaced the 15 rotten boards on the deck. The previous owners had put a hot tub on the deck, and it had caused the wood to begin to rot.
This was a project that I had been meaning to get to this summer yet.
SO, I was so excited that it was done....and done SO NICELY!!!
I wish I could include pictures of the work being done....but unfortunately I am the one who takes the pictures, and I wasn't here.
Thanks to the three gals for their hard work to make the deck so much better!!
Gotta love friends who are handy!

Anniversary

Yesterday was our anniversary.
Just a short little jaunt brought us to Stillwater.
We ate lunch at The Freighthouse, and sat on the patio by the river.


After we ate, we spent a long time watching the boats and all the people by the river.
We even saw a wedding party with one bride, a groom, and about 10 groomsmen.
Honestly, there were NO bridesmaids. It was the weirdest thing.

We came home and built a bonfire, and sat outside for the rest of the evening enjoying our beautiful back yard.
An amazing day with an amazing woman.

Bejing 2008

08-08-08

The beginning of summer Olympics

a country oppressed

set aside for 17 days
the world comes together
other things pushed aside
thrilling every four years

Seth

I just returned from Georgia. What a crazy trip that was.
A lot of driving...and hard work as we pulled together Seth's apartment.
As I was in Gainesville with Seth, I realized that Seth is exactly where he is supposed to be.
I watched him with the youth at church, who practically tackled him when we walked into the room. (One of them even broke his sunglasses.) He is his own person there. Sure, he could have gone and continued the college road, but by choosing the road less traveled, he not only piled up a year of experiences, he returned home a man.
As a parent, this is your fondest wish for your children - that they will make their faith their own and learn to navigate this complicated world on their own. But it can't be done safely. It requires risks to raise radicals. I entrusted my son to God and He returned him to us as a radical, a young man who has had his faith tested repeatedly and who has seen that God can be trusted.
I am so proud of you Seth....and even though I miss you more than you will ever know....I can trust in the Lord knowing that He is using you in many ways according to His plan.

Hot Day in Georgia

This was another hot day in Georgia. It must take a while to get acclimated to this type of hot. It's a humid, hard to breathe hot.
Seth's power wasn't turned on in his apartment...there was some sort of snafu.
We painted his bedroom a warm brown. Seth and I did all the cutting in, and Dave came through and did the rolling.
We are going to roll a quick
second coat after church tomorrow.
Tonight we went in to Atlanta and Seth bought some stuff for his apartment.
He even bought a plant.
We had a fun time in Ikea...even though we were
there for a VERY long time.
We were quite ready for a snack of cinnamon rolls and
soda (and sweet tea) before the trip home.
Tomorrow we will finish up Seth's apartment.
Chloe and I have to come home early on Monday morning.
I'm not quite ready to leave my son behind in this new home of his.

We Are Here

We FINALLY arrived in Georgia. We are at our friends, Dave and Vicki's house in a suburb of Gainesville!
After we ate dinner, and settled in a bit. Then we took off to Adventures in Missions. This is where Seth works. We got to take a look at the entire campus.


Here are our friends. Pictured above are: Dave, Josh, Vicki, Seth, Jeremy, Ashley and Chloe.
Outside of AIM!
LOTS more to come...but wanted to at least let you know where we were!