Fall Color

After working Mom and Dad hard all week, Bryan and I took them up to The Ranch near Grand Lake, where we got to catch up with Mark and Toots and Uncle Cal. Then we took Trail Ridge Road across to Estes Park, where we did a little window shopping and had some dinner. It was a gorgeous day to be out and see some fall color!

Painting!

Two weeks ago Mom and Dad drove out to Denver to help us paint the inside of our house. We could NOT have done it without them...we probably wouldn't have even tried. We ended up painting the walls, trim, and doors for the entire downstairs, the stairs, the upstairs landing, and the office.

How did we pick the colors? Well I went and picked out a gazillion paint chips which we stared at for a while, then sheer genius struck and we went "up the hill" to the model home in a new million-dollar-houses neighborhood. We really liked the paint job, so I pulled the aforementioned gazillion paint chips out of my purse and we started comparing. Then another flash of genius hit...we waited until the sales agent was showing someone a different house, walked into the office, and copied down the exact color numbers from the design book. Score! The walls are Basket Beige, the trim/doors Dover White, and the accet color Portabello - a medium brown. I did have a sudden urge to add some yellow to the kitchen, which Bryan kindly accommodated, so two of the kitchen walls are Your Copy yellow.

The paint totally changed our sterile white house into a warm home, and I'm excited to add more finishing touches that make it even more that way! An enormous thanks to Mom and Dad for all the help and guidance, but just as much, the love, advice, and all-around fabulous company!

Enough

I often find myself worried or reluctant (or perhaps even worse, constantly apologizing) because I'm afraid that what I have to offer isn't good enough, fast enough, smart enough, tasty enough, big enough - just not enough.  "Enough for what" would be a fair question that deserves further pondering.  I think a big motivator is prooving something to someone.  Prooving that I am indeed successful, or deeper yet, am worthy of love or capable of fully loving another. 

But constantly trying to prove yourself, even if it's for a "good" reason, is an exhausting way to live.  Better is to remember that the glory of God is within you.  That He calls us to offer our best, no matter how we judge it, and allow Him to make it enough.  Chances are the little boy who offered the loaves and fishes knew they weren't enough to feed the crowd of thousands.  But he had something good, and offering it allowed Jesus to multiply it, to feed everyone with leftovers...to make it enough, more than enough. 

It may not be readily obvious that what you vulnerably put out there is indeed enough.  There might not be a sudden burst of neon lights flashing "This is excellent and so are you."  There is no promise that everyone else, or even the person you most want to, will notice your efforts, much less applaud them.  But they're still valuable...they are the manifestation of the glory within you...they are the avenues through which all is made enough in due time.  And that, in itself, is enough.

And so I study, I work, I cook and pay bills and wash clothes...I laugh, take walks, and give myself pedicures...I listen, share, and love deeply...and I even write...believing that my glory is not only being put to good use, but perhaps growing a little brighter in the process.

Every long journey starts with a single step…..

Hello and welcome to our family blog. I hope to share our family’s thoughts, dreams, events, experiences, and current events with you.

Kristi and I are so blessed to have all that we do. We know this….yet we get so busy and consumed with what we are chasing from day to day that we forget how much we have.

This blog is a way to keep us honest….to keep us in the moment…to keep us focused on all the good that we have….day to day….and to give the glory to where it belongs.

I am exited to take this journey with you. I will learn as much about us from this blog as you will.

Thanks for reading and God Bless ~

Something New...

Since we've embarked on so many new things (jobs, trips, school, wedding planning, marriage, etc) in the last year, Bryan and I decided to start recording our various adventures along the way.  As we grow together and with those around us, we want to share our lives with family and friends both near and far!  Stay tuned for upcoming tidbits!